Jordan knows how to win derbies
Monday, 24th Dec 2012Pars defender claims defeating United in the Manchester derby doesn't get any better for lifelong City suppporter.
Stephen Jordan travelled south after training on Monday, to have Christmas Day at home in Warrington but before leaving he stopped long enough to talk over the Boxing Day fixture against Falkirk. Coming from a Manchester City supporting family he recognises the importance of local derbies but initially he was puzzled by the Falkirk v Dunfermline derby tag but admitted that there were similarities with the way Liverpool and Manchester United treat each other.
"People tell me every other week that the game is a derby and when I found out where Falkirk was I would say 'why is it a derby?' But when the game kicked off you could see why it was a derby. The fans were up for it and it was great, quite an intense game really.
"Everybody enjoys these kind of games. There was a good atmosphere and you raise your game. We have Falkirk, Morton and then Raith - three tough games over the Christmas period but we will be trying to win all three."
Stephen played in three Manchester derbies without coming out on the losing side and was directly up against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs.
"It was a brilliant atmosphere in these games but it was really the build up for the whole week that was special. All my family are City fans and they would be on at me all week making me more nervous but as soon as you got into games you can feel all the hype and it was just brilliant."
As a City fan Stephen understood the importance of the fixture, especially at a time when United were dominant. City have since bridged that gap but any kind of a result against United was good for City at the time.
"We were playing against the best players in the world but in the games I played against them we played well as a team and nullified them quite well. It was tough but enjoyable."
Flashback: 14th January 2006 | ||
MANCHESTER CITY | 3-1 | MANCHESTER UNITED |
D James; S Jihai, R Dunne (N Onuho 69) S Jordan, T Sinclair. J Barton, S Ireland, A Riera (R Fowler 77), A Cole (K Musampa, D Vassell Subs Not Used: A Sibierski, L Croft |
E van der Sar, G Neville, R Ferdinand, M Silvestre, P Ecra (A Smith 45), C Ronaldo (s/o 66), D Fletcher (L Saha 71), J O'Shea (K Richardson 86), R Giggs, W Rooney, R van Nistelrooy Subs Not Used: W Brown, T Howard |
Lancashire derbies with Bury, Rochdale and Oldham; Preston and Blackpool, Blackburn and Burnley don't quite come up to the Manchester experience.
"Over the years it was United and Liverpool who were challenging a lot together but now City are up there. It is quite similar to the Falkirk / Dunfermline situation."
Stephen intends to use the fairly unusual occurrence of a day off at this time of year, to enjoy Christmas Day off with his little daughter and he wishes everybody a Happy Christmas.
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