OVER THE MOON..

Yesterday was a gamble.   It could have been `over the moon` or `sick as a parrot` for Snopper Street`s footy teams.   It ended with the former as Charlton, Gillingham and the Saints all won their matches again.   I`ve checked the records and this is the first time the elusive nine points out of nine has been achieved on consecutive weekends since the days when teams such as Clapton Orient, Glossop and the Royal Engineers provided the opposition.

Southampton managed a 1-0 win away at Barnsley thanks to a deft header from David Connolly and some stout defending in the last few minutes.  Gillingham went up the junction to Crewe and came away with a 2-1 victory to go second in the League Two table and once again our street`s pacy hardworking flanking wideman, Scott Wagstaff, scored in Charlton`s 2-0 win away at Notts County.

So much for the bald facts, but Waggy`s goal deserves a little more description than it has received in today`s papers, who seem infatuated with the Premier League, which kicked off yesterday.   It`s as if it has never gone away as we had the usual fisticuffs from serial scuffler Joey Barton, lame excuses from bewildered Neil Warnock and yet more myopic squeaking from Arsene Wenger.   There are literally pages and pages of newsprint dedicated to the antics of the Premier League and yet the whole reportage of the combined Championship, League One and League Two is confined to just one tightly crammed double page spread.

Anyway, Waggy`s goal was yet another gem to match his screamer from last week.   He ran on to a perceptive pass, rounded the opposing custodian and planted the ball firmly in the back of the Notts County net from an acute angle.   The only thing missing was The Brick but even with that omission, surely his place in the starting line-up must now be assured.   The Saints start to the season has seen club records tumble.   Yesterday saw the club start the season with two wins out of two for the first time in 23 years and the victory at Barnsley extended the record breaking winning streak to eight games on the trot.  

So, with the Gills in second place in League Two only on goal difference, with Charlton heading the League One table and with the Saints top of the Championship, I`m reminded of the words of the legendary Gordon Strachan.   Some distant years ago, Southampton had just beaten Manchester United 1-0 at St. Mary`s to go fourth in the Premier League.   Strachan was asked how he was going to celebrate, to which he replied that he was going home to watch  the league table on teletext all evening.   I imagine the residents of Snopper Street might well have been doing the same.   However, as we know from bitter experience, this week`s moon jumping could easily turn into next week`s parrot sickness.

But it`s nice while it lasts.