“1’ Underway at Meadow Park! 0-0” I type into my Gooner Fanzine live blog as the referee blows his whistle to get Arsenal Women versus West Ham underway on Sunday evening.

“Goodness me!” begins my next blog post. For Alessia Russo has raced through on goal and West Ham’s Amber Tysiak had to lunch in to prevent an opener with less than 15 seconds on the clock.

It was that kind of night. A blink and you miss it game, the best for the neutral, the heartstopper for the fan, and every emotion for the players and coaches.

But what for us journalists? I’ve pondered all day whether I genuinely enjoyed covering Sunday’s seven-goal thriller, which included a ridiculous three Arsenal goals in six minutes, in the heat of the moment, or whether the excitement has only hit me the following day.

I’m asked a lot about how I stay unemotional in the press box. Quite simply, my perspective, and what I’ve been taught along the way, is that it’s a place of work, full of professionals all under considerable pressure to type, talk and react at breakneck speed.

To jump up and go crazy when a goal goes in, or scream in protest at a refereeing decision, it’s simply not the done thing. Even when every other human being in the ground is doing that thing.

That’s why I love commentating, particularly on my own team, because you have that license to let out those feelings of joy, disguised behind description, when a goal goes in or the full-time whistle blows. 

My commentary background, having started at the age of 14, means when I’m writing live blogs or sending out Tweets, the language used is usually in a similar style to what I would go for behind the microphone.

So in short, I’m quite proud of how I’m able to subdue my emotions in the press box, allowing myself usually a first pump (under the desk!) when Arsenal score. It sounds wrong, I know, as an Arsenal fan, but I would hate to compromise the standard of my reporting by getting too involved in a game.

Some games, I look back on all of my coverage with real pride for the quality of work, in my self-critical eyes, but others deserve to be viewed in a different lens. Juventus away, for example, when I was shattered from a long day of travelling, freezing cold and hungry, was a case of simply getting everything done on the night- getting through it. 

Sunday at Meadow Park was similar. It might not have been the most analytical and detailed live blog I’ll write, but I didn’t miss a moment, even when the game went completely and utterly crazy in the second half.

Arsenal were very poor in the first half, Chloe Kelly’s goal giving them hope before Shekiera Martinez eased her way through the Gunners’ defence to make it 3-1. Just over ten minutes later, Renee Slegers’ side were 4-3 up.

Even in the dying embers of stoppage time, Daphne van Domselaar is making crucial saves and Beth Mead a heroic goal-line clearance. It was an absolutely brilliant spectacle of Women’s Super League football.

We cannot control games from the press box, we can only react. If West Ham win 3-1, my player ratings are very easy. In the end, they were almost impossible. It’s hard enough as it is to rate up to 16 Arsenal players whilst putting together the rest of my coverage, but a game like that? Oh, and my aim is to publish them as soon as the final whistle blows. A calm head is pretty important!

Photo of the day. What an absolutely superb shot of Chloe Kelly’s @ArsenalWFC’s goal from the brilliant Suzy Lycett shot for the @GoonerFanzine here at Meadow Park @Boodlepim pic.twitter.com/HqNqVqdAPz

— Layth (@laythy29) March 2, 2025

The Meadow Park press box is a cramped one. When it’s full, journalists and reporters are packed together like sardines, with a few rows of fans loud and proud in front of us. Sunday was a case of helping each other out as the goals rained in- ‘Was there a foul in the build-up?’ ‘Who got the assist?’ et cetera.

This aspect of collaboration is vital. I always turn notifications on for the WSL and Sky Sports WSL’s Twitter pages to be able to watch replays of goals as soon as possible, to spot anything I missed with the naked eye. This isn’t always possible, particularly when I cover games lower down the divisions, and it’s become an incredibly useful tool, but one I’m conscious not to become reliant on.

What on earth happened after West Ham’s third goal then? I’m still trying to make sense of it. Katie McCabe jumped between two defenders like a nimble pitch invader skipping past stewards, before scoring from a ridiculously narrow angle. Two minutes later, Leah Williamson heads in off the crossbar to equalise. I first thought it was Alessia Russo- yes, Arsenal’s abundance of blonde players makes my job difficult- and at this point I was still typing about McCabe’s strike!

The chaos continued. Arsenal had not one but two shots cleared off the line by a valiant West Ham defence before a blatant handball saw the Gunners awarded a penalty after a fairly long pause by the referee. This decision actually allowed me some breathing space, a tiny window just to update my player ratings and keep everything in good order. Meadow Park fell deathly silent, and Mariona scored.

“I need to lie down in a dark room for a week,” I then penned in my live blog. There were still 26 minutes to be played!

In summary, these are the games that test so many aspects of matchday reporting as journalists. For large parts, you feel like you’ve barely been able to look up from your laptop, and when you do, it can often be too late! It’s a real skill, and one I’m very much still learning.

And as things go, the next game I cover will probably end 0-0, and I’ll be wondering what to write about.

Spoke to Chloe Kelly, about the Meadow Park atmosphere and her recent international break, after Kelly scored her first Arsenal goal after her deadline day loan move from Man City in a remarkable 4-3 win over West Ham- @GoonerFanzine ??https://t.co/O310dv1t2v

— Freddie Cardy (@CardyFreddie) March 2, 2025