Sky+ played tricks with me on Tuesday night

Having been out on Tuesday night, I completely missed the Carling Cup semi final embarrassment against Spurs, and as such had to Sky+ the entire match and watch it on Wednesday when I got back. Thanks to some luck, and instructing people that I wanted to avoid the score will all my might, I managed to get home without having an inkling about the outcome.

Sitting down to watch the game on Wednesday afternoon, I couldn’t help but be struck by something. The programme was supposed to start at 7.30, and end at 10.15, but the recording was 192 minutes long, more than three hours and would’ve therefore ended at around 10.40. With kick off at 8pm this told me one very simple fact – the tie had gone to extra time.

At first, I was disappointed to have noticed this – I hate knowing what’ll happen before it does, but as Spurs took the lead, I relaxed, knowing that a comeback was imminent. When Spurs scored a second, I allowed myself a little smile. You see, knowing that the tie would go to extra time put a whole different spin on that second goal – it meant that by the time we would come back and force the extra half hour, we’d be leading on away goals. Perversely, the second Spurs goal was good news.

Early in the second half, Spurs got a third, and I experienced a slight flicker of doubt – what if I’d worked it out wrongly? What if Sky had messed up the recording? When the fourth went in, I began to seriously worry – the recording time made me believe a comeback was on, but this was becoming more and more unlikely by the minute. Adebayor’s goal made me relax a touch, and even wonder if this would be a famous comeback, but as the minutes ran on I came to the horrible realisation that my sense of security was indeed false. There was to be no miracle.

So Sky taped about half an hour of the subsequent programme, and I sat there cursing a hammering that I hadn’t even been able to digest at the time, so convinced was I that a famous recovery was on the cards. Until the last five minutes, I remained convinced that the tie was not over.

Thanks for that, Sky. You swines.