STEAM, SUNSETS AND SHAKERS

It comes to something when the best bits of a day`s excursion to see an FA Cup match are the sight of a steam train pulling a string of Pullman cars away from the docks at Southampton and a quite astonishing sunset across the waters of the Solent.

I hadn`t intended to go to see Saints take on Bury in the 4th round of the Cup, such has been my recent disenchantment with the `entertainment` served up. But, in the end, the withdrawal symptoms were just too strong, so along with my eldest son, we made the effort, enjoyed each other`s company and had a good day out.

As so often in recent times, the game saw Saints struggle to make an impact against a team from the lower leagues and if they thought they could use the departure of George Burley as an excuse, then their opponents were also without a manager following the dismissal of Chris Casper a week or so ago. No, Bury more than matched Saints for effort, skill and commitment and so we were a bit embarrassed to come away with a 2-0 victory, courtesy of a deflected goal from Andrew Surman and a dubious penalty converted on the third rebound by Gregorsz Raziak. The word that comes to mind is `unconvincing` - and that`s being charitable.

Bury FC crest

A word about Bury. It`s a long way from Southampton but 1400 of their supporters made the long journey, behaved impeccably, cheered their team to the echo and have much to be proud of, both in their club and in themselves. They are nicknamed 'The Shakers' thanks to their first chairman, JT Ingham who, before a Lancashire Cup game with Blackburn, said "We will shake them. In fact, we are the Shakers." And they certainly gave Southampton the shakes yesterday afternoon.

Bury have won the FA Cup twice. In 1900, they beat Southampton 4-0 at Crystal Palace and Derby County by the record score of 6-0 in 1903. I wish Bury well as they renew their bid to avoid relegation and, unless there is a dramatic improvement, Saints could find themselves with relegation worries of their own along with the unlikely prospect of seeing much more FA Cup action. But I guess I`ll still keep going - if only for the glorious sunsets on the waters of the Solent.