CCFC 3 v 6 LIVERPOOL

Ignore the 'jumpers for goalposts' score line. Some games you just don't get what you deserve. Not for one minute am I writing this piqued with a sense of 'we wuz robbed' injustice. But we surely deserved more, and on another day under the gaze of more benevolent football gods we might have been better rewarded for our efforts, but today “Unseen in the background, Fate was quietly slipping lead into the boxing-glove.” -P G Wodehouse.

The day began with a march to the ground by a couple of thousand 'We'll always be blue' protestors which although ultimately futile represents a sentiment shared by the huge majority of fans (and certainly more than Vincent Tan's dissenting '10%'). A sense of rebellion was in the air which, in a full house, made for a cracking atmosphere.

Those of us who were anticipating humiliation at the hands of an opposition who have emerged as genuine title contenders were recalibrating our mindset from resignation to hope within minutes of the start as we forced the early pace. After 2 minutes Campbell turned Gerrard on the edge of the box and was the victim of a desperate lunge from the England captain's no doubt cultured left peg, earning the scally a deserved yellow card.

The 5-4-1 formation was working well with wing backs Fabio and John getting forward at pace, Medel and Mutch controlling midfield and Bellamy and Campbell making darting, incisive runs. After 10 minutes we were rewarded for our domination as Mutch appeared to be gifted the ball on the edge of the box and was given the time to choose his spot, planting the ball coolly past Mignolet.

For the next 10 minutes the Canton End choristers ran through their entire repertoire of Scouse-bating numbers, some bordering on the amusing but referencing the usual tired old clichés and received wisdom about 2008's European Capital of Culture and a fine city to boot.

The only drawback about Solskjaer's adventurism is the high probability that quality opposition is likely to take advantage of the spaces that inevitably open up. And so it proved when the powerful Johnson got behind John to fire in a low cross for Suarez to send the ball past Marshall for the leveller. A couple of Liverpool fans sitting in the Ninian Stand announced themselves with ill-considered revelry and were persuaded to vacate their seats whilst they still had a full complement of limbs, each located in the sockets that evolution or God (depending on your point of view) had determined / predetermined.

With exactly 19.27 minutes on the clock Vincent Tan's fabled 10% (more accurately approx. 90%) raised their (our) blue and white scarves above their heads and joined together in a rousing chorus of 'we'll always be blue', drawing applause from the Merseysiders and spurring on the boys in red (the home team) to retake the lead as Mutch again found himself in space to set up Campbell to slot the ball past the keeper. 2-1!

Shortly afterwards, a rampaging John did old man Gerrard for pace as the youngster was sent sprawling. Surely a second yellow and a sending off? Just like Rooney before him, Gerrard has the benefit of 'national treasure' status which apparently offers him immunity from such sanctions. This is just one of many incidents that should exercise the MOTD pundits and have conspiracy theorists nodding sagely.

Liverpool were proving capable of breaking at a frightening pace, as organised as fleet-footed automatons. On 40 minutes Coutinho got round the back of the trailing defence and sent in a low cross that was met by a marauding Skirtel to level the scores and make the half time oranges slightly less palatable.

The half time chatter was complimentary but realistic, the consensus being that a point was just about achievable, given a fair wind and a helping hand from Lady Luck who has yet to take her seat at the CCS this stadium despite increasingly desperate overtures.

In the event, divine providence would have been no match for the continuing partiality of referee Neil Swarbrick who time and again gave the benefit of the doubt to the opposition. I'm not suggesting conspiracy or collusion, it's just that some referees are in awe of a player or a team's reputation and are overly lenient.

Ten minutes into a finely balanced opening to the second half Suarez or Sturridge - I can't recall which one but they're interchangeable in their propensity to irritate - was adjudged to have been fouled on the edge of the box. The resulting free kick was blocked by the wall and the follow up blast at goal almost decapitated Kev T-C whose battered noggin deflected the ball out for a corner. With both T-C and Mutch, who'd also been felled in the box, statutorily sidelined Skirtel found plenty of space to edge Liverpool into the lead for the first time.

This is a rule that must be revisited. Two players are genuinely injured, one of them completely pole-axed, but are capable of playing on after treatment. The rules don't allow the ref to discriminate between a genuine injury and fabrication. At present there is a presumption of guilt.

The away fans found their voice for the first time during the game and you sensed that the tide had turned. When only 6 minutes later another Sturridge overlap found Suarez it was 4-2. SAS for them but S.O.S for us as the call went out for reinforcements. Zaha and Daehli came on for John and Kim, soon followed by Jones replacing Bellamy who left to a standing ovation from all corners.

Olly's folly in resorting to a reckless all-out forward assault may have had some justification if it was predicated on a solid impenetrable defence but the fundamental flaw in his strategy was again cruelly exposed as Liverpool broke away for the Johnson-Suarez-Sturridge combination to stroll in a fifth.

A well-worked move which concluded with a Jones knock-down for Mutch to grab his second gave the crowd something to sing about for a short while, but the knowing 'we're gonna win 6-5' was inevitably short lived as Suarez chased the ball down and with the assistance of a blatant shove in the back and another generous assessment from the trailing ref, was able to tease Marshall before stroking the ball into the net to complete his hat-trick and a barely credible 6-3 victory.

For the neutral the afternoon provided wonderful entertainment but for the partisan, to quote Wodehouse, “The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of the gun.”