I actually quite enjoyed last night's penalty shoot out. Obviously not as much as I would have if we'd won it. But the fact that it didn't really matter if we won or lost meant that it didn't really have any stress involved.
It is only the third Gills' penalty shoot-out that I've experienced (or at least which I can remember!). The first of these was at Brighton years and years ago. I was only very young and it was definitely the best. Phil Kite had been set off and Paul Haylock replaced him in goal (well before substitute keepers!). I remember him pulling off a couple of saves during the game but then he did the incredible and won us the shoot out by saving the decisive penalty. It was magical!
The next one I can remember was the one I don't like to recall. It was without doubt the most stressful I've ever experienced ( I only have the England shoot outs to compare it with - in terms of stress levels - and although the two semi-final shoot outs with Germany induced extremely high stress levels in me, they weren't as severe as that afternoon at Wembley) and the most deflated I've ever felt after a football game.
In terms of the game last night I was again pleased with the performance and proud of the team. We certainly look like a far more cohesive unit than last season and we are creating opportunities. It's very early days and I reallydon't want to get carried away. Any talk of the 'p' word or even reaching the play offs is way too premature. However, all this pre-season fear of relegation and talk of being happy to finish 20th is also way off the mark. We have got the makings of a good team. It's all very positive and I'm now even considering going to Walsall on Saturday....