Macleod (M) had family visiting from Inverness, while Craig - thinking that the season didn't start until the following weekend - was at the Berlin Beer Festival, so yours truly (resplendent in new Alan Devonshire t-shirt from Cult Zeros, an early birthday present from the wife) would be the sole KSG representative at Maidenhead's debut National League fixture
Apparently, I'd have to re-join MUSA to be allowed on the supporters' coach - league rules, according to Mr Logic - so instead decided to drive (and offered a lift to Rhys from the Youth)
Inclement weather meant that the journey took longer than I'd hoped; no time for a pre-match ale in the highly-recommended Flower Pot :(
Drunk as a skunk! One of the Youth, immediately ahead of us in the queue at the turnstiles, could barely walk straight and would be thrown out before kick-off
Stadium will be nice ... when it's finished! The covered ends behind the goals were absolutely packed, so the travelling contingent had to make do with an uncovered and unterraced side-line (I'm not sure Macleod (M) would've put up with that!)
Thought we looked unsure of the artificial pitch and a bit nervy ... unlike their #3 - Alex Finney - who was an absolute colossus, despite only signing on loan from QPR in the preceding days
One-nil down, early in the second half, to a direct free kick (which the press and TV raved about but looked eminently saveable to me)
No complaints if we'd gone further behind; we were uneasy at the back, especially under the high ball
Euphoric celebrations - in pouring rain - after impact sub Sam Barratt powered home a header with two minutes remaining, much to the annoyance of the Maidstone wrong enders (who got my travelling companion ejected after falsely claiming that he'd punched one of their children!); one can only imagine their reaction - and ours - if Dave Tarpey had hit the net rather than the bar, from a yard out, in added time
(Match highlights here)
Willie T gave my Dad and me a lift into town for this; my Dad's first Maidenhead game since the televised FA Cup replay with Port Vale
Really not happy to discover that the away fans - decent in number and loud in voice - had been given a bit of the Bell End (only a bit, admittedly, but still)
Early pressure from the Magpies; performance was much better - from the off - than on Saturday
X-rated defending, though, allowed Manny Smith to nod the Welsh side ahead
Happily, United levelled almost immediately; a deflected shot fell to Tarpey, and he made no mistake
Another defensive lapse, from a cross, accounted for Smith's second of the game
Massey's header was well-saved late on, and so we were left to reflect upon an undeserved defeat, over pints of Rebellion Rocket, in the Barley Mow
(Match highlights here)
Harrison - Pool's new manager - looks like Richard Herring and his pre-match comments were worthy of a Chortle Award-winning comic
An early kick-off; sun shining as Macleod (M) and I walked into town #chewinthefat
Rose closed, and so, after meeting with Craig at the top of the High Street, we headed to the Bear (drinks with Mickey Creighton and his son, Joe)
TV cameras present for a minute's applause in honour of the recently deceased Bert Randall; second on the all-time appearances list (531) and, by all accounts, THE class act during a golden era for the club
Light grey away kit for Hartlepool - yuk!
Even Maidenhead Boys Under 9s would've been embarrassed to have conceded the opening goal in the manner that Hartlepool did: long punt from Pentney, flick on by Marks (who, after not managing to lay a glove on the Maidstone and Wrexham centre-halves, was bullying those from Hartlepool), and Tarpey did the rest
Photos with Creighton and Obi Ulasi - just the 500+ appearances between them - at halftime
Only Scott Loach impressed for the away side; he saved well from Tarpey on a couple of occasions but was powerless to prevent the striker from doubling our lead with a thunderous shot off the crossbar
Oh shit! James Comley blotted an otherwise impeccable display (his third in a row) with a clumsy challenge that gave Hartlepool a late penalty - converted by the otherwise anonymous Padraig Amond - but, thankfully, it was merely a consolation
Long journey home (and, one suspects, a long season) for the Hartlepool fans ... not that we cared too much as we stalked James Richardson, laughed at Chelsea, and supped pints in Stripes, the Hand & Trousers, and also in the patio garden of the Maiden's Head
(Match highlights here)
An away game not to be missed; this season's 'I was there' moment - so said Macleod (M) when the fixtures were released
Feel particularly sorry for him, as such, that work commitments meant he wasn't able to attend as initially planned
Craig picked me up at 1pm, and we made good time up the M40, M6 etc.
You cannot help but be impressed by the set-up at AFC Fylde: free car parking, main stand and bar (complete with match-specific betting coupons on the tables - Maidenhead United to win 4-1 was 75/1; Maidenhead United to win 4-1 with Tarpey scoring first was 175/1) worthy of a much higher division, glossy programme (featuring a thoroughly-researched article on some 'well known' former Maidenhead players), just £13 to get in (I thought £15 was the league minimum?), friendly and knowledgeable fans - I wish them all the best
Luck wasn't on their side: they hit the woodwork on multiple occasions and played well with ten men, particularly after manager Dave Challinor - who, in stark contrast to the Hartlepool boss, spoke a lot of sense in his pre-match interview - made a couple of subs at half time (one of these - #7 James Hardy - really caused us problems)
David Tarpey did for them, though, with yet another four-goal haul: two penalties (a long wait before the first, although not long enough for me to win the golden goal competition!) and two exquisite second half strikes (incl. a breathtakingly-good free kick)
Early hours before we got home, but I'm sure the 43 travelling fans were glad they'd made the long midweek trip; REM's The Great Beyond was playing in the car as Craig dropped me off at approx. 01:30, which was kinda apt
(Match highlights here)
(Match highlights here)
Every husband knows that he needs to try and keep his wife happy
Back-to-back-to-back-to-back Maidenhead games meant that I had little or no credit in the bank, as it were
Binfield (the Jack O'Newbury) - via a shopping trip to Slough - for pub lunch then, rather than to York Road
Shearing our wildflower meadow and cleaning the garage door - in preparation for a new coat of paint - were also on my list of chores before I could settle down in front of the TV
Final Score on the BBC would be my usual choice - we don't have Sky - but, for some reason, I found myself watching the BT Sport equivalent of Soccer Saturday; how annoying is Chris Sutton?!
Left-winger Harry Pritchard has, for several seasons now, been one of our most important players, and so I was delighted to see that, after a somewhat inauspicious start to the season (by his usual high standards), he'd put us ahead
Excellent goalkeeping from Nathan 'Mel Capleton' Ashmore kept the scoreline close before an equaliser - soft - came early in the second-half
Expect some Ebbsfleet fans to bang on about how (1) Tarpey failed - once again - to score against them, and (2) they're unbeaten in the league since the dawn of time ... as if the National League South 2016/17 CHAMPIONS give a shit about that!
Top ten (9th in fact, with eight points) after five games - I'd have snapped your hands off for that start
(Match highlights here)
(Match highlights here)
Been there, done that (me, re Barrow away)
As such, I wouldn't be joining Craig and Macleod (M) on the 06:40 train from Maido
Rail replacement, due to the Bank Holiday weekend, and so they'd be going via Reading rather than London (their train tickets - not incl. seat reservations - apparently resembled a pack of playing cards)
Reserve team is an inaccurate description, but Alan Devonshire wasn't bluffing when he said, "It's going to be time to use the squad": multiple changes, with Comley, Upward and Marks on the bench, plus Pritchard and Tarpey (and Clerima) missing out altogether
One jibe after another from the BBC Radio Cumbria commentators re Carl Pentney ("He couldn't keep pigeons"), especially after the home side had equalised early in the second half (they were, however, very complimentary towards Sam Barratt)
Would probably have taken a draw before kick-off; it sounded as if we should've been more than one up at the break and could've nicked it at the death (great save, then goal disallowed), but both Craig and Macleod (M) seemed happy enough with the point (if not the referee)
(Match highlights here)
(Match highlights here)
League club alert! (Proper League club as well: 112 years, albeit only one season - 1962/63 - in the top flight.)
Eighty-seven points Orient had managed in 2013/14, good enough for third in League One; Maidenhead got 46 points that season, 'good enough' for 18th in the Conference South (another 'great achievement' by Drax)
You'd have gotten long odds, as recently as last season, on me giving up a Bank Holiday Monday in August to attend a Maidenhead United home game, but I wasn't going to miss this, even if it meant cutting (slightly) short a long weekend at the in-laws; we left Monmouthshire after breakfast and had navigated the Second Severn Crossing before half ten
Tartan Army duty for Craig (#vilniusvacation), while Macleod (M) said that he'd meet me at the ground, so I walked into town on my own and had a pre-match lager in the new 'beer patio' area down the Canal End (benches required)
Our 'Kop' - the Bell End - was unsurprisingly, but no less irritatingly, allocated to away fans; the club prioritising expected gate receipts over the matchday experience of Magpie supporters
NOT happy - any dispute with the Spiritualist Church regarding an entrance down the Canal End (see the above photo) could/ should have been resolved YEARS ago if we'd bothered to build and use a turnstile down there when first suggested by MUSA and the original Supporter-Director (and, I'm sure, by others; hardly rocket surgery)
One-nil down early on from ANOTHER header (this time after Rene Steer - in his first appearance of the season - had been inside out)
Reasonably safe to assume that Jake Hyde would've started if he wasn't injured (don't laugh!); Tarps didn't look anywhere near 100%
It was always going to be difficult in the second half - against full-timers, in sweltering conditions, playing up the slope towards the away fans (only 734 in actuality; could've stuck them in the corner) - but we made a decent fist of things
End-to-end stuff, with both Carl Pentney and his opposite number, kept on their toes; it just wouldn't fall for us, though, in their box
No disgrace losing to an Orient side who are probably the best that we've played against so far this season; they were certainly hanging on at the end, and I think that a draw would've been fair
Tranmere, Aldershot - or whoever - get the whole of the Bell End, moving forward, and I'll think twice about going
(Match highlights here)
