I couldn't believe it. I don't know what shocked me more, the result or the nonchalant way the commentator on Fulham FC radio announced the winning goal at Hillsborough.

Normally he is frantic when he heralds a winning Fulham goal away from home - this time it was like he was announcing the team changes.

To me, a comfortable 2-1 win away against one of the toughest teams in the division was like finding the Holy Grail in your garden shed.

It was a glittering wonder to behold, especially against the sackcloth backdrop of last season when we were in 20th and every game involved a prayer for us not to end up with Fleetwood Town on the fixture list.

It can happen. I am of the generation that can remember losing 2-0 at home to Hayes and scraping a 2-2 draw away to Ashford United (where ? exactly!) in the cup.

Our prayers were answered, from the penalty spot, by Micky Adams on that latter dark day in Kent. I was in Zambia, on assignment, at the time and it gave me a headache just reading about a week later in the British papers.

So all points to Reading at Craven Cottage this Saturday in the first leg of the play offs. I am afraid I cant give you any predictions for this one as I am a bit superstitious and all my fingers are crossed, which makes it difficult to type.

Fulham FC's Stefan Johansen (right) scores his sides fourth goal English Football League Sky Bet Championship Huddersfield Town v Fulham FC 22/04/17 (Pic by John Rushworth) Football Images are covered by DataCo licence agreements. For Editorial Use Only No Free Use permitted.

Anyway I am glad that the match is being shown live here in Johannesburg and I will watch it at home. No, I will not be attempting the folly of watching the game in a bar - I am of the age where I don't like going through a full gamut of emotions before strangers.

That is also not advisable in this town where the oval ball is king in most of the pubs. In any Johannesburg sports bar you will find 20 television screens and at least 19 of them will be tuned into rugby games.

People just want them tuned into Rugby, when they are standing drinking, even if the game is highlights from last year and no one is watching.

I have seen fist fights in the cause of getting football on TV in some bars.

Even when you win the battle they never leave you alone. I remember once fighting tooth and nail to get Wigan v Fulham on one of the 20 TVs in the bar box in a bar. I can't remember what year it was, but I do remember that we had to win to stand a chance of staying up.

Ten minutes to go, no score, the tension was killing and I had my head in my hands. Some bloke came up to me: "Couldn't I flick over to see the Arsenal - Man City game?"

The polite version of my answer was: no.

Clint Dempsey scored two in the last five minutes and slammed my fist down on the bar table and screamed: yes!! each time. The so called Arsenal fan looked at me like I was mad; proof that he didn't care that much about the game anyway - otherwise he would have understood.

So I will be safe, at home, for the semi-final with a bottle of English beer at room temperature. Come on Fulham.

Chris Bishop is the managing editor of Forbes Africa and follows Fulham from South Africa. You can follow him here: @ChrisBishopZA

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