By apb
April 15 2005

The timer at the top of the message board says its just about 28 hours to go until undoubtedly the biggest moment in Leeds Tykes' short history. The kick-off of the main event on Powergen Finals Day, the Cup Final itself.

I read Glen Leat's excellent preview the other day and thought I'd try to put together a similar article on how I feel about the forthcoming trip. Just the very act of writing this has upped the old heart rate a little. I sit here writing this rather than getting on with my last "day" of tedious day-job work before the event and suddenly I am even more uplifted by it all. I certainly know that when the alarm clock goes off at 6.00am tomorrow morning the adrenal glands will fire on max and will race me on the short journey over to Headingley in the blink of an eye. (Note to self: remember Junior is coming with you!).

Junior has been looking forward to this very much and has started bouncing around the place with almost as much anticipation as he has with the thought of the imminent arrival of the Lego tie-fighter he ordered over the web. If I were to have to choose which excites him most, I think the Tie-fighter probably just shades it, but the thought of a "lads" day out on the coach to the home of English Rugby has also captured his imagination! (although he is a bit worried about the seating arrangements; the only time we ever sat down at Headingley the poor lad managed to get his leg trapped in the excitement and his cries of pain were the only noise in the otherwise deathly silent stadium as BVS slotted over the equalising penalty). But hopefully the carnival atmosphere and the sights and sounds of a Twickenham Cup Final will soon push that from his mind.

Excitement, then, on our trip down to the big smoke, but perhaps not as much as I would normally feel. Why? well, there are a number of factors at work. The first is that - like with the recent Leicester and Gloucester league games, I'm not sure I can quite believe we have a chance against the opposition. Which, going on past performance, is clearly nonsense. We've always given as good as we've got against Bath - sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but its always either been a close final score or at least a close game for the majority of the eighty minutes. But, until those lads run out on the pitch, and the first kick is taken, and the first big tackle goes in, I can't quite bring myself to give us a chance.

The second factor at work here is that we're still not secure in the Premiership next season. Propping up the bottom of the ZP (albeit it on points difference) and with the relegation battle guaranteed to go down to the wire, there is that background of anxiety about other competitions - undoubtedly more important to the club's future - that takes a bit of the shine off the occasion tomorrow. Perhaps (and this is just a friendly suggestion) the Powergen Cup final should be the end-of-season extravaganza that it's differently sponsored previous incarnations once were?

What can we expect from the game itself though? How can we possibly know? As I said above, I'm finding it hard to dare hope we have a chance, although I know we have the weapons in our armoury to win, and to win well. The league game at Headingley was a very close and tense affair, and the neutrals among us (and I'm assured there will be a large swathe of those) will probably be thankful for something similar. Those of us in a particular risk-category however may not be able to cope with the near unbearable tension of that match, with the Bath ranks camped on our line for a full twenty minutes before cruelly snatching the victory away from our grasp. I don't want to go through that again! So, a good, clean, clinical and massive victory, a la Gloucester last week, will do me just dandy.

Whether that actually happens, however, is another matter. It won't be for the want of a crowd though. At least 10,000 Tykes supporters will be making the trip down, and several thousand more supporting the other two Yorkshire clubs appearing on Finals day. Bath fans may well outnumber us, but we'll give them a shouting match and - with Al4Betty as our not-so-secret weapon - we'll see who's the loudest! As with the Bath contingent, we will be taking a number of "non-regulars", which is brilliant! The more people who are exposed to our beloved team, the more likely they are to come again - particularly if that big shiny cup is placed prominently in the Headingley trophy cabinet. Just imagine having BOTH Powergen Cups in the same cabinet? Wouldn't that be gooooood?!

Whatever the result tomorrow, though, Junior amd I will have a great day out and will enjoy (almost) every minute of it, including the banter. If the blue-and-ambers (OK, and white!) manage to bring back a shiny thing as well, that would be icing on an already very nice cake.

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