Carling Cup Memories (Part 5)

After three weeks of headlines, hype and hysteria - during which the media simply couldn't get enough of Doncaster Rovers, this was the night that everyone had been eagerly awaiting.

Whether it be the local shopkeeper or the old lady living across the road, everyone in every part of the town was fully aware that Arsenal, managed by none other than the legendary Arsene Wenger, were at little old Belle Vue for a mouth-watering Carling Cup Quarter-Final.

Having already disposed of two Premier League teams in Manchester City and Aston Villa during their remarkable cup journey to date, could Dave Penney's side work their magic once again and pull off what would have be their biggest cup shock yet by shooting down the Gunners?

Of course, it wasn't to be, as the night ending in agonising heartbreak for Rovers' heroes, but the overwhelming sense of pride and high esteem which both general townsfolk and supporters far and wide held towards their football team during this period, means it's a cup journey that will forever be recounted with fond memories.

After all, it did take a dramatic, last-gasp injury-time equaliser from a World Cup winning midfielder deep into extra-time to force the penalty shoot-out from which Arsenal's young guns eventually scraped through by the skin of their teeth.

Why oh why didn't Paul Heffernan just keep the ball near the corner flag?

With excitement levels amongst supporters completely 'off the scale' from the moment Aston Villa were mercilessly ripped to shreds in Round Four, much of the mainstream media attention was centred around Arsenal's manager. 

Wenger openly expressed when the Quarter-Final draw was made that he knew very little about Doncaster other than it was sometimes a stop on the train en route to away games in the North-East and his travel plans raised eyebrows on this occasion as he opted to fly to the newly-opened Doncaster-Sheffield Airport by private jet, with the return flight pencilled in for around 10.45pm! Clearly, someone wasn't expecting extra-time or penalties!

The Frenchman was under growing pressure after three successive league defeats; his worst run since becoming manager at Highbury, and just three days earlier, he'd been involved in the latest in a long string of bust-ups with arch-nemesis Jose Mourinho when he refused to accept his Christmas card. 

Thankfully, he was in a more joyful mood on this night as he gratefully accepted Donny Dog's hand-delivered card infront of the Sky Sports cameras before kick-off without any furore!

Speculation and questions beforehand were also centred around what sort of team Wenger would select? Would he rise to taunts by John Ryan, who stated his reserves were better than his first team, and pick names such as Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg or, as what happened in the previous round, would he opt to blood some youngsters? The travel arrangements had probably ruled out the non-flying Dutchman, Dennis Bergkamp, who was in his final season with the club!

In the end, it was a mostly youthful line-up that were given the honour of experiencing Belle Vue's squalid and dilapidated facilities with only Philippe Senderos, Alexander Hleb and Robin Van Persie remaining from the side which were beaten by Mourinho's Chelsea.

With a packed capacity-crowd eager with excitement, the watching faithful could hardly have hoped for a better start because with less than five minutes on the clock, Michael McIndoe netted the opener infront of the Town End - squeezing an angled low shot past Gunners' 'keeper Manuel Almunia to spark incredible excitement. Could another cup shock really be on the cards?

By the half-hour mark, the Gunners were still firing blanks and Wenger was far from amused when Van Persie, undoubtedly the biggest name on the pitch, limped off not long after a crunching challenge from Steve Roberts to unceremonious taunts from those watching who suspected (probably correctly) that the Dutchman didn't fancy a difficult night in the bitterly cold South Yorkshire weather. Van Persie was replaced by Nicklas Bendtner. 

Still leading up to and beyond the half-time interval, Rovers were acquitting themselves well against undoubtedly more technical and talented opponents - even going within a whisker of establishing a two-goal cushion when Paul Heffernan had a shot palmed away by Almunia who somehow got up quickly enough to deny Lewis Guy from the subsequent rebound.

The double save proved crucial as Arsenal soon got back on level terms with a goal which owed plenty to good fortune. Quincy Owusu-Abeyie received possession on the edge of the box and hit a speculative shot which would have posed no problems had it not taken a wicked deflection off Sean Thornton's foot which diverted it goalwards and into the bottom corner.

At 1-1, the tie was now teetering on a knife-edge.

The Gunners certainly became livelier as the encounter grew old but despite a Hleb effort momentarily causing Jan Budtz some issues, they couldn't create any meaningful openings and so the game progressed into extra-time when Rovers' hopes were raised once again.

Senderos, referred to in some football circles as 'Ponderos' due to his tendency to 'dilly-dally' in possession, lived up to his nickname as he inexcusably took his time whilst dealing with a loose ball in his own six-yard box following McIndoe's cross. There seemed no danger until Paul Green charged in, dispossessed the Swiss centre-back and smashed the ball home from a few yards.

Immediately, there was an outpouring of euphoria, delight and joy. It was pandemonium in the stands and on the terraces and at half-time in extra-time, Penney's men were just 15 minutes away from booking a two-legged Semi-Final clash with Wigan Athletic who'd been drawn out as next round during extra-time.

Seconds felt like minutes during the second period of extra-time but Rovers ran the clock down well with loanee Sam Oji coming on to shore things up in place of Guy. That substitution, coupled with other brief stoppages in play, resulted in two minutes being added on at the end of extra-time. Two more minutes to survive and create more headlines in this remarkable Carling Cup run.

But then came the infamous and instantaneous moment which swung the pendulum in the cruellest of fashion as Heffernan, with the ball near the corner flag and easily able to keep it there and waste a few more seconds, attempted a cross into the box which was cut-out by Senderos.

Before anyone could catch their breath, the ball was suddenly at Emmanuel Eboue's feet who was accelerating down the right flank like a man possessed in a breakaway counter-attack and it was from his low ball into the area that Gilberto Silva stuck out a leg and put a shot beyond Budtz to make it 2-2.

Immediately Belle Vue was silent. Previously vocal voices were completely crestfallen by what they'd just witnessed - as the saying goes, so near but yet so far!

There was still a chance that Rovers could emerge victorious on penalties but it just wasn't to be for the shell-shocked heroes in red and white hoops as Neil Roberts struck the post, whilst Heffernan and Green had their efforts kept out by the imposing Almunia.

And that was it! The cup run was over in the heartbreaking and gut-wrenching fashion but retrospectively, what a fantastic journey filled with incredible moments and memories it was!