Away Day Diary: Oldham Athletic 1-0 Maidenhead United (15/04/23)

Overnight stay in Manchester ahead of our away fixture with Michelle Marsh's Boys had been discussed, along with similar stops in Nottingham and Newcastle-for-Gateshead, as far back as last summer's Lord Grenfell beer festival; I booked the Travelodge – the same one in Ancoats that the Macleods and I had stayed in before FDXIX at Salford – in mid-January, and Craig sorted the train tickets the following month (with our subsequent 1-0 win at Halifax convincing Rainey to join us)

Lest we forget that the Latics were founder members of the Premier League, with Boundary Park becoming the first ex-Premier League ground to host the Magpies; I've read that the season – 1993/94 – they went down from the top flight started to go pear-shaped for them when a 119th-minute equaliser from Manchester United's Mark Hughes denied Joe Royle's side an FA Cup final appearance ... well, the day before that April semi-final at Wembley (att: 56,399), the other MUFC had defeated Barking 3-2 at York Road – with goals from Kevin Stone, Tim Cook and Paul Mulvaney – in front of 77 people!

Due to ongoing repairs to the Nuneham Viaduct – slated to last until June! – our Friday afternoon train journey began at High Wycombe;

...

...

Here's a peek behind the curtain, dear reader. How the sausage gets made, and other such idioms. Basically, I wrote the above in advance, before a Good Friday spent at the in-laws in Monmouth and an enjoyable, post-Easter three-night stay in Deal with the wife and kids. I had hoped/ intended that the rest – the H, A, M; A, T, H, L, E, T, I, C – would more or less write itself, after the event, with tales of the following: diverse and riveting conversations during a non-delayed train journey to Manchester; a chilled Friday night pub crawl featuring delightful pubs and delicious ales; an inexpensive but tasty fry-up, on Saturday morning, before a trip on the tram; a comprehensive list of pre-match watering holes (Nb. both the Ashton Arms – £15.90 for five pints – and especially the Fox & Pine *were* excellent); backing a winner in the 2:25 at Aintree; Charlee Adams and Kane Ferdinand fit to start in midfield after injuries (knee and back, respectively); a veritable horde of boisterous Magpies (i.e. more than 56!) in the Chaddy End; a disallowed-for-offside Oldham 'goal' (after only two minutes); a superb goalkeeping display from Joe Walsh Alexis Andre Jnr; a red card for John Rooney; innumerable shots on target from the away side, before a Ryan Upward winner in the 90th-minute; confirmation coming through that Scunny had won at Aldershot; the aforementioned Ms Marsh waving flirtatiously at me from her corporate hospitality box; a mass, triumphant sing-song on the schlep back to the nearest tram stop, etc., etc.

Alas. Instead:

Oh my

Lord!

Disastrous.

Hoping for

A

Miracle.

(BBC report; match highlights)

Maidenhead are pants

— Mills. (@loud_MM91) April 15, 2023