Season 9 Episode 19 Episode 375 Sky One Transmission Date: Sunday 26th February 2006 Directed By Peter Hoar

Fletch, Lynda Scarlett The three survivors Maloin The lads are proud of their... loss

GS: Marlon Baldon (David Gyasi) Asa Maloin (Christian Pederson) Merrick (Alisdair Simpson) Oji (Jason Barnett) Court Clerk (Lawrence McGrandles Jr.) Lynda is interviewed on the team going back to the Millennium Stadium for the first time since the crash, while Danny, Tyson and Ryan meet with Mrs Alexander. Alex opens the latest letter he has received from the owner which reads "Remember Alex, it's just another game". Merrick informs Eugene and Chloe the judge is allowing Marlon’s plea change. Marlon tells of how Eugene was the one who beat the associate they were robbing with his baseball bat, prompting Eugene to yell Marlon is a liar. Casper approaches Liam in a desperate bid to save Eugene, and tells Liam he must say that Eugene was with him all night. Liam is called, and sticks with his later statement that Eugene arrived much later than he originally thought. He however cracks under Oji's cross-examination and is forced to admit it could have been later, to Chloe's horror. The team are furious with Liam for what they see as he not standing by his team mate, and Sully goes to Lynda and states if Alex takes Liam to Cardiff he's lost the dressing room. Casper suggests a way of helping Eugene's chances - by talking to Scarlett. Eugene is against the idea, but is clearly dreading the possibility of going to prison for five years. The day of the League Cup Final arrives, and Casper tells Alex he won't be travelling with the team. Sully again makes it clear to Alex that Liam doesn't play today, and the coach leaves without Liam. At the Grange, Cass is waiting when Scarlett arrives. Casper tries to convince her that Eugene needs her help. Scarlett asks how can she be expected to help send her own brother down, but seeing how desperate Casper is to save his brother manages to change her mind. The team take a look around the Millennium Stadium, and the lads leave Sully, Ryan and Tyson to reflect on their own. Sully wants to see where the coach exploded as he wasn’t there, and they visit the sheltered VIP car park, where he says he thought there’d be something to show what happened there. It becomes too much for Ryan who breaks down crying, to be comforted by Sully and Tys. Harchester prepare to kick off, with Ryan to make a speech in front of the TV cameras. Seeing how much this is affecting Ryan, Alex calls time on the memorial, announcing they aren't honouring the dead players in the way they should be - by winning the trophy, which already seems to perk the lads up. Liam shows up and Alex confirms that he has selected him after all. As the two teams line up in the tunnel, Hector is taunted by one of the Chelsea players, Asa Maloin, and Liam makes it clear he will be keeping an eye on Asa. Casper takes the score to 1-0 after a pass from Hector. Shortly before half time Hector is taken down by Maloin in a bad tackle. Maloin receives a yellow and Liam is so furious he too ends up booked. In the second half, as soon as Maloin gets the ball Liam takes him down with the same tackle Maloin used on Hector. Liam doesn't wait to be sent off and marches to the dugout himself, with Alex unable to look at him. Harchester struggle without Hector and Liam, and soon Didier Drogba has equalised. Harchester's fortunes take an even worse turn when a header from Danny leads to an own goal. The final whistle goes and Harchester have lost the Carling Cup. As they re-enter the dressing room the lads are down. Until Ryan speaks up and says they have done the boys proud, by taking on the best team in England, possibly Europe, and almost winning. The team huddles round and Casper promises that come May they will be back here again, and will win. Lynda confirms to Alex even though the deal was four wins he is still manager. At the courthouse, Scarlett is called where she backs up Chloe's story that Eugene went to have dinner with her early in the evening. Scarlett adds that Marlon is implicating Eugene simply because he is jealous, as Eugene became a pro at football and Marlon had nothing. Marlon openly asks Scarlett how she could do this to him, and Scarlett tells Merrick she doesn't want to send her brother to prison, but is no longer in love with Eugene, so cannot be seen to be lying to save her husband. This is followed by a long distance glance between Casper and Scarlett, showing that there is still ground to be covered there. Notes: The Best: Going to the Millennium Stadium again, and as the coach arrives in Cardiff the large contrast in the reactions to those who were there last year (Sully, Ryan and Tyson) and those who see the Millennium excitedly for the first time (Alex, Ashleigh, Hector, Amy). Quotes: Tyson recalls the play off where “Just down there…that’s where we all piled on top of Presley when he scored” Continuity: Danny speaks of Curtis, Presley and Fletch. We see a montage of Harchester’s win from 8.32 Play Off and the team coach exploding. Kevin Keatings refers to it being almost seven years since Harchester brought a (Premiership) trophy home (2.76). The photo Lynda views of she and Fletch looks far more recent than her pre-prison years, like Terry Kiely with his S8 shaved head re-growing popped back for it to be taken. Additional Info: Liam and Chloe have been together for four years and she has been Eugene's agent throughout that time. Casper’s goal is the fastest scored in Carling Cup history. What Was The Score?: In the League Cup Final of 2006, a painfully-ironic own goal from Sully adds to a 2-1 loss for the Dragons. Soundtrack: Embrace: "Gravity", Fatboy Slim: "Wonderful Night", The Verve: "Lucky Man" <<SE09 EP18 |  Season 9 Main Page | SE09 EP20>>