A real sickener

The giant mess in the MRS.

Ych a fi

There have been plenty of nauseating sights at Y Cae Ras over the years. Alex Hamilton on the Kop. Richard Hope’s defending. Chester fans in the away section. Yet none, as far as I recall, have been stomach-churning enough to cause someone to actually spill their guts inside the stadium.

But, on Tuesday night, it finally happened. A 5-1 thumping by a play-off rival was just too tough to swallow.

Fans in the Mold Road may have been privy to one unfortunate supporter vomiting down the back of a chair during the second half, apparently moved in all the wrong ways by the scene of carnage unfolding on the pitch.

That’s what happens when you don’t train your stomach for a while, I guess. For too long at Y Cae Ras, it’s been nothing but Michelin-starred meals. When we finally did get a rotten serving for the first time in yonks, we’d completely forgotten how to digest it.

Unfamiliar as it was surprising, the Soton thrashing also came at an enormous cost. After months of Premier League dreams, we’re now left worrying whether we’re actually going to make those coveted play-off spots at all.

Who could have seen this coming? Even when we went 2-0 down, with Saints playing in FIFA Legendary Mode, we still believed. The comeback at The Hawthorns on Good Friday was still fresh in our minds, and if we’ve learned anything this season, it’s to never write off the Reds.

True to form, Windass pulled one back (the consolation goal is probably his favourite kind as it does not necessitate a celebration), and another Wrexham Revival looked like it could be on the cards. At half-time, commentators gushed at what a game we had on our hands, chastising those who had chosen to watch Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich in the Champions League instead.

Those who stuck with Wrexham v Saints did indeed get to see a flurry of goals. But they were all at one end of the pitch.

While Mbappe and Kane were busy doing bits over at the Bernabeu, Saints’ Cyle Larin was channelling Gareth Bale by surging through to the Tech End and almost ripping the goal apart.

The floodgates opened in the final few minutes - which felt like an eternity as Saints continued to mercilessly pour forward. Only the woodwork and a fine feat of athleticism from Arthur in stoppage time prevented a battering from becoming a historic humiliation.

“We haven’t had many nights like that since I’ve been here,” Parky sulked in his post-match presser.

He’s right. You have to search the memory banks pretty hard to pick out a pummelling that comes close to this. Losing 5-0 at Stockport in 2023 was, I guess, a little worse: One because we didn’t score, and two because their fans still dine out on the story of that game. But not even that pasting at Edgeley Park caused a poor fan to puke.

We’re all a little green around the gills right now, and having to go back to Birmingham again isn’t exactly a good remedy for an unsettled stomach. Brum’s season has fizzled out, but they will be in no mood to treat us kindly - and the opportunity to bang a nail in the coffin of our play-off push will have the same kind of appeal to Tom Brady as a gigantic plate of organic food balanced on a weights machine.

The Saints left some stains on our shirts, for sure. But this is no time to sit in shame, feeling sorry for ourselves.

There’s five huge games left to play. We need to find our appetite again.

COYR.