Been to the Hive before - Macleod (M) and I went to see Bristol Rovers' first away game as a non-league side - but I had a pass (of sorts: the wife had assumed that the Magpies were at home) for this one, as it was my birthday on Sunday (subsequent gifts included an A4 print of the Bell End)
Adjacent to us on the tube sat Chinua Cole (impressive, when called upon, since signing as a backup to Rene Steer); good to chat with him and telling, I thought, that he laughed when his manager at Staines Town came up in conversation! #drax
Recommended - by Craig - pre-match watering hole was the Wetherspoon's (did the job; don't be fooled by Willie T's half-pint) in Kingsbury; the NW London district where, incidentally, I'd spent my first five years
No surprise that Barnet had ideas above their station, we were warned to expect as much: the stewards made us hold up all of the flags to the CCTV cameras, before entry, to ensure that they didn't feature any racist or offensive slogans, while the 200+ away fans crammed into a tiny section of the new(ish) stand (that had been a decent, covered terrace - packed with Gasheads - back in 2014) #pathetic
Early goal - Craig and I were still in the (sizeable) bar - settled a poor game (the only saving grace was that thanks to a free ticket from the Chairman, I didn't pay to get in); not much else to add except that the home side missed a late penalty - almost as much as they missed David Tarpey - and ultimately deserved their narrow win over a below-par Maidenhead (who weren't helped by ineffectual substitutions, which only served to provide Barnet's impressive #26 with unnecessary heading practice)
To the Royal Oak in Borough, straight after the final whistle, for a beer up with some of our old friends from Wealdstone (on their way back from a 1-1 draw with Dulwich Hamlet at Tooting & Mitcham): almost too much fun ... a case of 'my memory kinda hazy' towards the end of the night and I, for one, was feeling somewhat delicate come the following morning!
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