IT is hard to explain the male obsession with top five lists. Maybe it’s down to watching High Fidelity once too often.

It might just be me, but a great game of football is rarely measured in isolation. It must be ranked against the top five.

Accrington Stanley 7 Gillingham 4 should make it.

There is a reason why many of us, whoever we support, spend each weekend travelling the country to watch football.

The risk of the 10-hour round trip to Southend is worth it. It could end 0-0, but it could also produce a game you’ll never forget.

I had no great expectations as I headed to Accrington v Gillingham on Saturday, yet 1,933 people witnessed one of the best games they will ever see and were able to say they were there.

Stanley boss John Coleman didn’t seem to enjoy it too much, and Burnley manager Brian Laws said after Preston’s 6-4 win at Leeds last week that such games are not good for football because of the defending on show.

Matches like that are pretty good for the fans, though, and Saturday’s scoreline happened thanks to Stanley’s commitment to attacking football with the ball passed to feet.

Not everyone lumps it in the lower leagues. Stanley’s crowds are on the rise and, with a promotion challenge also looking possible, this may represent their best chance for some time to boost attendances further.

The most goals I had seen in a game before was nine.

The match was Aston Villa 6 Blackburn Rovers 4 and, yes, I can count.

Rushing from the office after work to help with post-match interviews at Villa Park at last year’s Carling Cup semi final, motorway delays meant a dash through the streets of Aston before arriving at my seat just as Nikola Kalinic was celebrating Blackburn’s first goal.

Typical.

My top five games

5th: Russia 3 Netherlands 1 (Euro 2008)
4th: Burnley 3 Tottenham 2 (Carling Cup semi-final)
3rd: Aston Villa 6 Blackburn 4 (Carling Cup semi-final)
2nd: Stanley 7 Gillingham 4
1st: Middlesbrough 4 Steaua Bucharest 2 (UEFA Cup semi-final).