Survivors

THERE are two different types of Gashead.
There is the eternal optimist and the raging pessimist.
My mate Haydn is of the first variety. Every time we go to a game he says: "I've got a good feeling about today."
And at the start of every season he predicts: "I think we're going to do well this season."
I guess I sit strictly in the second category.
I can't help it.
Although after 40 years of supporting Bristol Rovers I prefer to call it realism, rather than pessimism.
But I look at it this way... if I don't get my hopes too high then every time something goes well it comes as a pleasant surprise.
Mind you, I still cancelled my wedding because of our chances of making the play-offs last year, though I had no firm grounds for believing we would. We had just finished the previous season with a run of poor results.
The date was all set when my brother sent me a text, warning: "You do realise that the date you have planned for your wedding co-incides with the League One play-off final, don't you?"
My Mrs wasn't too happy, until I explained: "Imagine us walking down the aisle and all I can think of is what is happening at Wembley. Just think. It would come to the point where we make our vows and I'd somehow get confused and say 'I Rippers, take you Ricky Lambert to be my lawful..."
She had no option. We brought the date forward two weeks.
And cursed any chance of Rovers making the play-offs in May.

The reason I mention my pessimism and how it can sometimes work in my favour is that on Saturday I held out absolutely no hope of us getting anything from our trip to Oldham.
We had just been thumped 4-0 by Southampton while our opponents were sitting pretty in the top reaches of the division after a good start under new manager Paul Dickov. Added to that, our loan goalkeeper Mikkel Anderson was away with the Danish national side, and our best midfielder Wayne Brown was ruled out injured.
But I must say by the end of the day I was feeling pretty chirpy.
For two reasons. Let me backtrack to the start of my Saturday...

I jumped in the air, shouted, and sat back down again.
People in the room must have thought I'd sat on a particularly sharp nail.
I hadn't. It was Oldham 0 Bristol Rovers 1 and our new boy Will Hoskins was on target again.
Then I looked at my watch. 82 minutes.
82 painful minutes to hold on to our slender lead. I knew it was going to be a tough afternoon.
Still, it was one of those days which was promising good possibilities.
You see, we have a game called Saturday Survivor in the office.
It goes like this... you put £10 into the kitty and then have to pick a different team to win every week. You can't have the same team twice.
Anything else but a win and you're out... it's sudden death.
The money rolls over until there is one person left standing, and he takes the pot.
It was the fifth week of competition, and I was down to the last three.
There were 12 original entries, meaning I stood to win £120.
The team I chose was Chesterfield. I figured they were pretty good at home and capable of scoring goals. Their opponents Lincoln don't travel well.
My opponents took the seemingly easier options. One bloke lumped on Southampton, thinking they were hardly likely to slip up at home to Rochdale, particularly after destroying us at the Mem.
The other thought Peterborough were a good bet, away to sorry Tranmere.
It was a nail-biting afternoon.
Saints went behind, Peterborough went behind and Chesterfield went in front... all before half-time.
Oh please, let it be my day.
Well, it was.
The two outsiders held on, and Chesterfield bagged a 2-1 win.
And though Rovers conceded just before half-time they also left me feeling relieved and happy, particularly after Danny Coles was sent off after 86 minutes and the ref then decided to play eight gut-wrenching minutes of injury time.
As I listened to Iain Dowie relaying the final moments from Boundary Park on Sky Sports my heart was in my mouth.
With the last kick of the game, Oldham hit the bar.
But we survived.
Fifth biggest town in Greater Manchester 1, Biggest city in South West of England 1.
And I was a Survivor, too.
I felt like I'd won the lottery - £120 better off and a point for the Gas after all the horrors of the previous week.
Mind you, I can hear those optimists even now. We have Brentford at home, Dagenham and Redbridge away, Notts County at home and Tranmere at home in the next month.
On the Gas fans forum one bloke is already predicting 12 points from those four games - conveniently forgetting one of our only three centre backs is suspended for Brentford, Dagenham and Tranmere have just won tough games at home, and Notts County have recovered from their early season malaise and are starting to look good.
Realism, you see.
But I'll be ecstatic if the optimists among us prove right this time.