Some enchanted evening

WHAT am I thinking?
It's a night off.
Monday.
Wife's gone out for dinner with friends.
Baby is tucked up in bed.
The world's my oyster.
Among the more printable options open to me are Law and Order UK on the box, or a few episodes of Mad Men on DVD.
I could even enjoy some sports fan's porn - the box set of England's two home Ashes wins in 2005 and 2009.
Or converse with fellow Gasheads on the Bristol Rovers fans' forum.
But, no.
Tonight, Matthew, instead of all those things I am sat in front of the TV watching a Sky Sports 1 Football special. Greater Manchester meets Merseyside.
But hardly Manchester United v Liverpool.
It's a little matter of Oldham Athletic v Tranmere in League One.
And what a choice of game Sky have come across here.
Nationwide appeal? To be honest you would struggle to fit the fan base of both sides into a phone booth.
Clash of the season between two exciting, in-form teams? Oldham have scored two goals in their last 12 games. Tranmere have only won once in eight matches. My enthusiasm for the action at Boundary Park shows no boundaries.
So why can I not reach for the remote control and swiftly change channels to something more interesting - like Strictly Come Paintdrying?
Because the Gas have at least a partial interest in the game in that, if we somehow managed to go on a record-breaking winning run, Tranmere are one of the sides we could possibly leapfrog in the battle for League 1 survival.
Hence, I am hoping for Oldham to break their barren scoring run and at least grab a goal to keep Tranmere within our reach.
I suspect I am not the only one. This is what your ordinary, lower league football fan does when his side appear doomed to relegation.
Snatches at every straw available to you, in the hope you can find that glimmer of light that will direct you to safety.
My reward for this selfless, nay masochistic act . . .
Boring Old Team from Lancashire 0 Equally Boring team from Merseyside 0
It means Tranmere are six points above us, with a massively better goal difference, and have games in hand as well.
Still a chance of catching them, though, the more optimistic of my brethren will be thinking.
And I must admit I find it amazing how some within the Gashead ranks can put a positive spin on almost ANYTHING.
I was pretty happy with our 2-2 draw at home to Peterborough on Friday night, if only because it was a point against a side who would probably have hammered us a couple of weeks ago.
It meant we have taken seven points from the last 12 since become a Social People's revolution under Worker/manager Stuart Campbell.
Then came a nervous Saturday waiting to see how our relegation rivals got on.
The way Orient had been playing I was extremely hopeful they would see off west country rivals Yeovil. But by half time the Yokels were 3-0 up having played against 10 men from the 14th minute.
It couldn't have been worse. They finished up winning 5-1 and we play them next.
However, this might be to our advantage one loyal rose-tinter told his fellow Gasheads on the fans forum.
We have Yeovil up next at Huish Park and perhaps they have used up all their luck in front of goal in one game and that they will now dry up when it comes to taking on the side with the leakiest defence in the division. Umm, not sure of the logic there.
Dagenham, meanwhile, fought back to draw 1-1 at home to Sheffield Wednesday. Not good enough, argues another.
They have a really tough run in and are going to slip up inches from the finishing line, just like when Devon Loch famously did the splits when in sight of Grand National victory. Good theory. But does it really take into account that the Daggers are on a run of six games unbeaten and have games in hand of us, too?
Too many games, according to this eternal optimist. Their players will be worn out and finally collapse, collectively, at the key point of the run-in.
Of course, I cling to the hope that these theories are insightful rather than blindly optimistic.
But somehow I think that if we are to achieve escape it will be brought about by a miracle of our own making . . . a magnificent winning run of the kind that saw us sneak into the League 2 play-offs and earn promotions with victory at Wembley over Shrewsbury four years ago.
Here's hoping.