A Good Old Fashioned Rough and Tumble

Time moved on and all too quickly, the team was announced. It was Reina, Carragher, Kyriakos, Insua, Agger, Masherano, Lucas, Gerrard, Kuyt, Rodrigeux and Ngog. The substitutes were Cavalieri, Aquilani, TRiera, Aurelio, Babel, Degen and Skirtel. I sat down after hearing this and thought for a moment, but my mind was set on the score being 1-0. How I wish I had actually gone down to the bookies and placed a bet. It was definitely going to be one of those afternoons.

The television was switched just as they switched over to Anfield and the scene was set. The stadium was bathed in sunshine and the crowd were in full voice, it was the day when red and blue were against one another, a day when you could possibly guarantee at least a couple of cards and a sending off - After all, although that is not really the way to go about things, it shows the rivalry and fighting spirit amongst the players.

With every player on the pitch and ready to go, referee Martin Atkinson blew his whistle and the 213th Merseyside Derby came into life with Liverpool kicking off. Jamie Carragher immediately set the tone for the afternoon by going into a tackle with Pienaar rather hard. Within minutes there was a melee around the Everton goalmouth and it looked as though the Liverpool defence were a little uneasy. Oh no, I thought, that is all we need, as over the last few weeks they had shown signs of improving. It appeared that the brilliant sunlight was causing problems and the players were unable to see the YELLOW ball properly. The game continued at a very fast pace although it seemed that neither team were able to settle into a style of play. Before long another tackle took place and Stevie G won the first of many free kicks. It was saved by with ease by Everton's American goalkeeper Tim Howard before being kicked back into the field of play, most of which seemed to be high balls. I don't know whether it was nerves or just the occasion but for some reason, the teams gave the impression that they were playing netball rather than football. This though was where the new hero of the Kop, Kyriakos excelled and he again seemed to be playing very well.

But as always in the Derby games, tempers were now beginning to fray a little and Masherano did, what Masherano does best and got himself in trouble. He is good player with good intentions and is not afraid to voice his opinion, which sometimes goes against him. Martin Atkinson dealt with it quickly and allowed the game to continue without any further comment.

I guess it was at this point in the game that Everton were beginning to show that they were slightly out of their depth. Liverpool was now in control of the game. They had won yet again another corner, which Stevie G took. The ball landed at the feet of Lucas, who then passed it to Agger, but unfortunately his final kick was too high and went over the goalmouth. Lucas who is improving game by game picked up the ball at this point and passed it to Jamie, which produced yet another corner. Stevie did what Stevie does best and the ball was kicked into the waiting crowd of players arriving at Ngog's feet. I don't know whether he was having a bad day but he simply did not seem to be able to keep hold of the ball, so yet another chance wasted. It had by now begun to look as though it was going to be one of those days - good play, good tackles but that elusive goal seemed as far away as ever. Then came a tackle on Langdon Donovan who was playing in his first and possibly his last Derby game by Dirk Kuyt who was subsequently booked. This gave Everton a free kick, which was taken by Leighton Baines and hit over the bar by Pepe Reina.

The game continued and with free kicks being given almost every couple of minutes, Pepe Reina for a short time appeared to be very uneasy in the goalmouth. Along with a defence that had still not settled into the game properly. The amount of tackles that were taking place reminded me of the days when the game of football was a lot rougher and the players did everything they could to win the ball. It was becoming a very enjoyable game to watch.

It was at this point though that things began to turn a little nasty. There were a couple of incidents that involved Dirk Kuyt and Martin Atkinson appeared to not be taking an awful lot of notice. The second yellow card though was quickly issued after an incident involving Pienaar and Mascherano , with Pienaar receiving the card. Liverpool was still making progress and Ngog who had suddenly found his feet, had a good shot but it eventually went wide. Jamie Carragher was playing his heart out and encouraging the team to do the same and it was a pleasure to see. The Liverpool team were determined to show that they were on the way back. Dirk Kuyt though suddenly gave everyone a scare by starting to limp. It appeared that his knee was troubling him again, although thankfully he managed to run it off.

Pepe Reina was now making up for the few scares that he had given everyone earlier in the half by making some wonderful saves. It was at this point in the game that Kyriakos and Fellaini went in for a tackle. Kyriakos unfortunately used both feet which resulted in the obligatory RED card. Liverpool was down to ten men and Fellaini was injured. This led to the first substitution of the game when Arteta who was now back from injury replaced him. The game now restarted and I honestly wondered if we could go on to win it. Liverpool had to re-shape quickly - This led to Ngog going upfront on his own with Stevie dropping back into the middle. Martin Atkinson added four minutes and I was so glad when he finally blew the whistle. It had been a very physical half - The television commentator said that it reminded him of the film Rollerball, and to be honest I have to agree.

Everton kicked over the second half knowing that with being a man up they certainly had a chance to grab hold of the game and win it. But would they, was the question on everybody's lips. The free kicks immediately took over the game with Stevie G winning the first one of the half. This was picked up by Dirk Kuyt who hit the bar. Although throughout the game Everton did have spells on the ball Tim Cahill had the perfect shot placed in front of him only to have it saved by Reina. The camera then switched to the touchline and we were shown Riera warming up and I wondered if he would come on but nothing happened.

Tackles were now as much a part of the second half as they were the first with Arteta bringing down Ngog. This led to a free for all in the goal area with Dirk Kuyt finally picking up the ball and Liverpool were 1-0 up. The stadium came alive and the noise was as it should be. The reds were down to ten men and a goal up. We were winning and it had to stay that way. Maxi and Heitinga had a set too which led to Heitinga receiving a yellow card. The second half was now in full swing with both teams trying to ensure that the other was not going to make further inroads around the score.

We had now reached Rafa's favourite point in the game. The clock showed that the teams had played 63 minutes, and yes the first Liverpool substitution was made. Babel, who was now back in favour with Benitez replaced Ngog. Would his pace give us the means of getting a further goal to secure the game, I wondered. He certainly had something to prove and that would be one way of doing it, although today he did have competition from Insua, who was having one of his better games.

David Moyes by now I guess was getting a little exasperated and made a double substitution. Osman and Saha went off with Anichiebe and Yakubu coming on. Play quickly picked up and it was Kuyt that let Martin Atkinson know that Arteta had gone down but thankfully he was okay.

The camera at this point switched to the stands and showed a very pensive Bill Kenright before swinging across and showing a happy looking Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish. Each face told a thousand stories and you can guess which couple were the happiest. What I was also very pleased about was that Rafa was again being more demonstrative on the touchline. This is something the players have needed for most of the season.

With the match entering its closing minutes maxi, who to be honest had been anonymous throughout the game was replaced by Aurelio. We had now reached that critical point where our defence gets a little slap happy and I will be honest with you they did, but Pepe Reina saved the day and calm was quickly restored. But was it, Martin Atkinson was still dishing out yellow cards, this time they went to Stevie G and Anichiebe, but it had been that sort of game and was not over yet. Reina went down and hurt his head, thankfully though this time, it appeared he had tripped over his own two feet.

The game was now in its closing seconds when the board went up showing that there were still 5 minutes left to play. These were not without incident and with Liverpool clinging on to their 1-0 score line, tackles were being caused by players from each side, with one finally resulting in Pienaar getting the red card, he should have received much earlier in the game. Why at this point Rafa introduced Martin Skirtel for Dirk Kuyt I do not know but seconds later Martin Atkinson blew the final whistle.

As the clock struck 96 minutes and 33 seconds Liverpool Football Club had won the 213th Liverpool Derby with 10 men. It had indeed been a good old fashioned game with lots of tackles and was a joy to watch.

It was a good day in Liverpool for the red side of the city. This morning Liverpool Football Club's Go penguin was sold for more than the Everton Penguin during the auction at St George's Hall.

We then had the football result which has resulted in Liverpool Football Club reaching fourth place. We are still there this evening so hopefully fate has finally decided to play us a good hand. I know if we do make our way up the table I will have an awful lot of apologizing to do but it will be worth it.

Finally The Battle of the Mersey with Ian St John and Ian Snodin - This was won by Ian St John and a young man named Steven. Snods and his contestant Kevin lost.

I am sure though by now families have been reunited and the pubs of the city are filled with people having a good banter about the game.