How a goal against the Bluebirds cost Swans supporter £25,000 win
YOU couldn’t make it up. That was the reaction of Swansea City fan Alun Harris when an injury-time goal denied him a £25,000 payout in this season’s new free game Footie5.
And guess who cost him the bumper payout? You’ve got it, arch-rivals Cardiff City.
Alun, from Llangyfelach in Swansea, was at the Liberty Stadium to see his team beat Millwall 1-0 in the Championship, but was also keeping an eye on the five Premier League matches he had predicted for Footie5, which is part of the Football Pools relaunch.
To win the £25,000 prize he had to correctly predict the scores for five games.
He sailed through the first four – Crystal Palace 1 West Ham 1, Huddersfield 1 Arsenal 2, Liverpool 3 Bournemouth 0 and Watford 1 Everton 0.
But it ended in tears as Southampton grabbed a 91st-minute equaliser, with Cardiff immediately going back up the other end to score again.
They won the game 2-1, but Alun had predicted 1-0 to the Bluebirds, which was the score heading into stoppage time.
However, despite missing out on the jackpot, Alun did still pick up £667 as a share of the £2,000 on offer for getting four exact scores right.
“I couldn’t believe it when Southampton equalised in the 91st minute,” said Alun, who is a Parcelforce driver.
He knew the results early evening, but it was a few hours after that he found out exactly what had happened at Southampton in terms of the last-gasp drama.
“I knew I hadn’t won the £25,000 then, but I didn’t know what happened until about 10.30 on Saturday night,” he said.
“I could have won £25,000, but that’s the way it goes with football.”
It is the second time that he has played the great new Footie 5 game and he is a confirmed fan.
“It’s fantastic,” said Alun. “It makes it more exciting.”
And he has already entered for this week’s game, which features five FA Cup ties, two of which involve Welsh sides.
He is taking the Swans to beat Brentford 2-0 at the Liberty Stadium, and predicts another 6-0 win for Manchester City, this time at Cup giantkillers Newport County, to follow up their demolition of Chelsea last Sunday.