Three previous MUFC visits to Plainmoor – two for which away supporters were admitted (October 2017 and August 2019) – and all three had been on Tuesday nights; this was to be our long-awaited Saturday debut, but, despite it being a bank holiday weekend and so perhaps an obvious contender for a stopover, Fancy Dresslemania XX at Grimsby the following week meant we would be travelling there and back on the day (with beers in Newton Abbot)
Ouch! The left side of my mouth was inflamed, extremely sore, and had kept me awake for much of the night, hence the swallowing of painkillers with coffee on the 09:30 from Reading (*not* the 08:15 from Manchester); I was sitting next to a Brentford fan (an EV Consultant from Southall on her way to visit family in Barnstaple), and – bearing in mind the big MUFC-related news this week – it was interesting to talk with her about the Bees' move from Griffin Park (plus Len Townsend and Ivan Toney)
Railway Brewhouse was the first stop on our pre-match pub crawl (conversation included Craig telling us about the time that he saw Kirsten Scott Thomas in a bar in Paris), followed by visits to Maltings Taphouse (surroundings reminiscent of the Neptune Beer Emporium in Chesterfield; a decent beer selection, but overall I much prefer Dhillon's in Coventry and Fixed Wheel in Halesowen), and Teign Cellars' sun-drenched patio garden
Quick drink and group photo in the clubhouse after our taxi ride to the ground before purchasing match tickets from a box office because Torquay is one of those clubs; indeed, the worst yet, as they were insistent on people providing names and addresses! ("Thanks, Mr Hippolyte, that wasn't so hard, was it?")
Unbelievably good goal from Sam Barratt, which opened the scoring in the second half, stood out like a sore thumb in an end-of-season game otherwise totally devoid of quality; a late equaliser (conceded during a rendition of 'Alan Devonshire's Black and White Army' – the second time that has happened this season), and substitute Reece Smith creating a golden opportunity for a winner that any half-decent (if not half-fit) centre forward would've gobbled up, was disappointing but not earth-shattering for the noisy travelling support (well, some of us were noisy)
Aldi – complete with an eye-catching signal gantry – back in Newton Abbot, for a supermarket sweep, before an entertaining second visit to the Railway: Macleod (M) chatted at the bar with some random bloke former Slough Town ("staying down") player and Beaconsfield SYCOB manager Simon Delahunty (who now lives down that way and who'd been at Argyle's 5-0 home shellacking by MK Dons); Craig and I sat outside as Plymouth and Exeter fans bawled the same songs ("One team in Devon," etc.)
Yours truly – returning from the toilet, not long into our journey on the 18:55 train – would find Craig and Macleod (M) in conversation with a couple of crusties who'd moved to sit alongside us; these twentysomething blokes (from Derby and Bracknell, originally) were on their way to the Beltane (May Day) celebrations at Glastonbury, and it was a relief when they left the train at Castle Cary (we made sure that they didn't miss their stop this time!) as they didn't half spout some absolute horseshit ... much to the amusement of Ruth and Pete, a couple from Winnipeg – en route to Heathrow after a three-week holiday that'd featured visits to Cornwall, London, and Bourne Town vs Blackstones in the United Counties League Division One (!) – who were significantly less irritating travelling companions worthy of several photos and a spare beer (and not just because Ruth likened Macleod [M] to Vinnie Jones!)
I'm not saying this is a low key, end of season flip-flop and lilo football match but the loudest cheer of the afternoon so far has been for the 2 Maidenhead who have spent 25 minutes valiantly unfurling the biggest flag you've ever seen across the away end.
— Ben Currie (@bencurrie8) April 30, 2022
No comments:
Post a Comment