As I’ve reported already, Rosie loves her football. She senses the tension and reacts in a remarkable way. Every time we get onto the edge of our seat, she takes the opportunity to throw herself onto Archie snarling and spitting, giving him a good handbagging when all he wants to do is snooze on his bed. She has her collar felt throughout the match in normal circumstances, with DM and I taking it turns to hang onto her so she can’t get an attack in.

So, picture the scene.

It’s Sunday afternoon, 24th February and Spurs are at Wembley trying to de-throne Chelsea, the then League Cup holders. It’s a tense affair and at the end of normal time there is nothing between the two sides. Rosie is beside herself. We are beside ourselves.

Extra time begins. I am too tense to wave my flag. DM is on the edge of his seat. Then Jonathan Woodgate pops into the air in front of goal and, with a bit of help from Petr Cech manages to put the ball in the back of the net. Yee haa.

DM leaps up, I leap up, the flags get waved and Rosie gets forgotten. She takes full advantage that the ref isn’t watching her and goes for Archie. Handbagging ensues. Then, with us hanging on to the slimmest of leads, I am cowering on the sofa, peeping out from behind my fingers going “only 19 mins to go, only 14 mins to go” etc etc. DM is on his feet. He’s pacing the carpet and the rug in front of the fireplace this morning shows signs of singeing where he’s dashing back and forth. He’s reaching out to help Robbo make saves, he’s booting away the clearances himself, he’s saying “over here” pass it down the left side to me in Cornwall, that’ll stop them.

Rosie meanwhile is having a field day. She’s handbagging Archie with every grunt, gasp and groan coming from one of us. She handbags him so badly that she injures herself and since then has been limping. We’ve felt her leg up and down, no breaks, no yelps. She’s limping quite badly but she’s obviously not in desperate distress (no panting, no licking, still plenty of get up and go whenever the door is opened, not off her food etc etc).

So, it is with great sadness that I must announce that Rosie is injured and will be out for the rest of the season and won’t be available for selection either by Juande Ramos or by Fabio Capello. It’s the boots you see, they don’t make them strong enough and all players get their metatarsals broken from time to time. She has, though, made a valliant contribution to the success of the team so we wish her a speedy recovery!

Oh, by the way, did I mention the score? Yes, the game ended 2-1 to the Spurs and we are now the holders of a very shiny trophy. My heartfelt thanks to the team, the manager, the supporters and everyone else who made this victory possible. As I said yesterday – COYS!

Last year, chillis!