Offbeat for a reason

 A week ago today, I played board 5 for the Surrey U-140 team away against Hertfordshire, in the title decider for that division. This was a much higher placement than usual for me, and a consequence of the team now being composed on the basis of January grades, where I went up 15 points.

 I played a 136, Gary Ruddick, with white. My opponent went for a sharp and unusual line of the French Defence, which against someone who likes playing against it, is a recipe for disaster. So it proves here, as with a few inaccuracies black quickly winds up in a lost position:

 So a pretty clean win in the end against an opponent of respectable strength. As the reader might have noticed, I enjoy playing against the French, especially the McCutcheon, and it seems that the strength of 8... g5!? must be called into question. I wonder if my opponent was trying to surprise me with the McCutcheon, then resorted to this when I quickly played out the main-line? In any case, the popular moves are played regularly usually because they are the best moves.