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Dave Roos derby day

I'm a City fan... get me out of here!

Posted: 01st December 2008 10:36

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Wayne Rooney Manchester City Manchester United Premier League

Rooney celebrates his goal at Eastlands

Sunday was a day to forget for poor Man City fan Dave Stubbs, not only was he on the wrong side of a derby defeat but he was also given a lesson in the rules of football by the viewers of FanZone!

Derby day in Manchester is eagerly awaited by both sets of fans and there is no room for niceties on the pitch, let alone the FanZone booth. You could sense the tension in the air as Darren Briggs (Red) and Dave Stubbs (Blue) exchanged firmer than necessary handshakes before the big match at Eastlands.

Dave was in a confident mood with an unbeaten record this season in the booth, but United fan Darren wasn't mincing his words either and predicted a 4-0 victory.

As the game kicked off there was plenty of huffing and puffing, and that was just from Darren when Rafael was booked for kicking the ball away. It was hardly a classic - a Ronaldo header skimmed wide off his gelled locks and Benjani produced his trademark shot into the side netting.

However, as the game drew nearer to half-time things took a comic turn. Dave made what can only be described as a schoolboy error on the mic. Hear at Sky Sports we vet our FanZone commentators and ensure they have a thorough, if not encyclopedic knowledge of the rules. Somehow the boy Stubbs must have slipped the net.

Questioning an offside decision from ref Howard Webb he failed to observe that you must have two defensive players in front of the ball, and this doesn't always include the goalkeeper.

Despair

A more charitable co-commentator would have quickly changed the subject and glossed over the glaring mistake, but that's not Darren Briggs! Straight away he appealed to the watching viewers, who much to Dave's despair, responded within seconds!

One United wag commented that Dave should go home and practise with the salt and pepper pots. And if things couldn't get any worse, on the strike of half-time Wayne Rooney pounced from close range to give United the lead. Darren danced with glee and Dave once again appealed for offside; when will he learn?

The second half followed the pattern of the first, more Benjani misses and more rude texts for Dave. To be fair he kept his composure and almost had the last laugh when Ronaldo was sent-off for handball.

The Portuguese trickster appeared to be shielding his pop star hair as he palmed the ball away. Anyway it proved a costly attempt to save Brylcreem with Webb flourishing the red card.

But despite the numerical advantage City failed to nick an equaliser, and it will be the red half of Manchester who are walking around the city centre with their chests puffed out all week.

A sombre Dave trudged out of the booth mumbling something about looking for his rulebook. He was last seen in the Sky canteen playing with the condiments...