After The Noise

Everything Is Equal

Tuesday 07 April 2026

Cheltenham Town v Cambridge United – BBC Radio Gloucestershire / BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (2026)

Bank holiday Monday. Another massive one. Nobody wants the play-offs. Ours are a strange mix anyway. Two wins, two defeats, never gone out at the semi stage. Balanced, in a slightly cruel way.

After this lot, it feels inevitable. You can’t keep flirting with it and expect a different ending.

For reasons known only to technology having a quiet laugh, I got the Cheltenham commentary first half. Fair to us, but they kept talking over each other. Constantly. And drifting into cricket. During a football match. Bold choice.

It was scrappy but one-sided enough. Cambridge United on top. Cheltenham Town looked like a team already thinking about next season.

The goal came on 34 minutes. Sullay Kaikai with a beauty. I celebrated quietly, which still wasn’t quiet enough. Told off. Fair.

1–0 at half time. A scoreline that now feels less like a lead and more like a warning.

A bit of fiddling at the break and normal service resumed. Doug Shulman and Mark Johnson back in my ears. Familiar, steady. Feels like home.

Elsewhere, Notts County were winning. Pressure ticking up. You could hear it in the commentary.

Chances came and went. One sitter in particular. Louie Appéré missing the target entirely. These moments always look small at the time. They never are.

Neil Harris made the change. Midfielder off, defender on. Protect the lead. We’ve seen how this goes.

91st minute. Just see it out.

Long ball. Jake Eastwood comes out. Sun maybe in his eyes. A mistake. 1–1.

Same script. Same sinking feeling.

Doug and Johnno sounded close to it. So was I. Notts County held on. Automatic spots gone.

I sat there afterwards, head in hands. We’ve done this too often. Not killing games. Letting teams back in. And twice now, punished in injury time in successive matches.

Two points should have been six.

Two points behind Notts County. Game in hand. Them next. Which turns it into something simple and horrible. Win.

I’ll be there to cheer them on!

Those dropped points hang heavy.

Effort isn’t the problem. Habit is.

And bad habits don’t fix themselves.

END OF LISTENING LOG

---