An away day per month is ideal for me, so I was pleased with singular scheduled trips in August (Notts County), September (Wrexham, the day after my birthday), and October (Chesterfield), only for the passing of QEII to put a spanner in the works: Wrexham got postponed (nice one, FA!), while a delayed rail strike affected my plans for Chesterfield
Life in the way – e.g. I missed MUFC's 13th post-war FAC1RP exit as I had to help clear out our garage (in heavy rain!) ahead of the impending delivery of new kitchen units – also contributed to a return to levels of non-attendance not seen since the Drax years: Aldershot (A) would be my first game since Oldham (H) on 8th October; my second away game of the season (and the first since the opening day); and only my fifth game in total thus far
Decidedly unappealing destination as well – especially bearing in mind our dismal record at the Wreck and the fact that they've seemingly stopped letting us have half of the excellent East Bank – but I was pleased to reacquaint myself with Macleod (M) at the top of the road ahead of our walk to catch the 10:29 train and looked forward to post-match beers with CJ, my old workmate and an Aldershot resident
England rugby union fans en route to Twickenham packed out the train from Reading, but, fortunately for us, and unlike in previous years, we changed at Ascot; topics of conversion included bus journeys to football matches (Cinderford; Herne Bay; Daventry; Maidstone?) and Exeter City's new(ish) manager (can you guess who was travelling with us?!)
Remarkable change in the weather compared to the previous Saturday: pleasant sunshine as we walked to the Wetherspoons (where Craig's CAMRA vouchers resulted in three decent pints costing just £5.37) and then to the George (where Tucker Junior was pleased to be able to watch Man City vs Brentford and I was pleased to catch-up with John G for the first time since his move to Bletchley)
Superb – utterly dominant – first-half performance from the Magpies: two goals to the good ("Alexa, play Modern Romance"), and it could have been more if the inept officials (terrible, even by National League standards) had spotted a blatant penalty box handball by an Aldershot defender
Half-time rocket (and two subs) from caretaker manager Terry Brown had the home side on the front foot, only one goal behind after the astonishingly smug referee ignored a push on Alan Massey that would've resulted in a whistle and a yellow card if roles reversed; the Magpies were on the ropes for a while but managed to ride it out, with the vociferous away support (136) helping them over the line
On the beers! Regardless of the result, we would've gone drinking in the Crimea (much better options than before, e.g. Laines Brew's Fader) and the Garden Gate, with CJ plus Ian and the other Aldershot fans we've become friendly with over time. (But, seeing as this was our first win at the Wreck in 13 attempts spanning 25 years, it *was* a special occasion!)
The train journey back wasn't as seamless as one would like, but that didn't dampen our spirits; a beer in Pub Formerly Known As The Bell with Scouse Mick (on his way from seeing a Pink Floyd tribute act in Basingstoke), conversation with our Pakistani taxi driver about the upcoming T20 World Cup final ("revenge for '92") and then a celebratory cheese omelette at home as The Champs played on repeat ("Clerima!")
Today was a good away day. https://t.co/04FH5WaQdQ
— Crispy Hornet (@PrinceShort) November 12, 2022
No comments:
Post a Comment