Revenge. We are told it is a wrong, in the guise of wrath it is considered one of the seven deadly sins, we can go all the way back to the 4th century and the monk Evagrius Ponticus for its origin. What are the main traits of wrath and revenge? Hatred, self destructivness, violence but to name a few! All things to be avoided we are taught, if not by christianity then by a parent a teacher a coach.

Sport also teaches us these values, so if that be the case why are athletes so nearly always in some part if not entirely, driven by revenge?  The desire to set things right, put one over an old adversary, prove someone wrong, settle the score!

I write this as someone who openly admits to seeking my revenge. 

Defeat is a constant in sport, no matter how long you play, coach, support, you are going to have to deal with defeat.  Sir Alex Ferguson once said i learn much more in defeat then i do in victory and he knew something about victory, prolonged at that! But what was his driving factor and motivation if not revenge, to famously knock an all conquering Liverpool off thier infamous perch.  What drove the late Ayrton Senna to collide with Alain Prost in Suzuka in 1990 other then the revenge for the percieved injustice and defeat at the hands of the frenchman the previous season.

Sport is littered with examples of victory obtained through the sheer desire for revenge. And so we come to our little corner of the world and our tale of sporting revenge. How long do you have to wait before you reach that point just before self destruction sets in, how many finals need to be lost to the same opponent before you feel the need to resort to violence?  A long time and this title has been a long time in the making, just long enough for all those defeats all those setbacks all the heartache to drive you to the point of madness, a crazed revenge filled individual perhaps. 

The ancient Greeks had a goddes of revenge, Nemisis also called Rhamnousia, well she payed a visit to RWW this weekend and exacted her retribution with a wave of Grenat.  We knew we were not far, that we had the talent to find the last few inches to get us to where we wanted, maybe we just lacked a little self belief or maybe the fire of revenge was just not burning bright enough.  Whatever it maybe the defeat in the final of the cup was the last log on the fire, now with a raging blaze in our hearts with the breath of Nemisis on our neck and our own Greek army of Grenat to will us on we were ready. 

And the scoreline? 5-1 over two games home and away, no further questions my goddess! You can have all the talent in the world sometimes you just need something more the last ingredient and sometimes it can be something as simple and human as revenge. Thank goodness it arrived when it did because self destruction was knocking at the door! 

Patrick Montalbetti