|
|
|
STANDING ORDER FOR GOALDEN LOTTERY
|
AWAY DAYS TO DAGENHAM I remember in my first ever Away Days report two years ago against Wakefield & Emley I said you just had to go to the first game of the season no matter where it is, this was no different, you just had to be there to welcome in a new season in the National Conference. We, the missus and I, decided to make a weekend of it and take the opportunity of seeing the eldest daughter who is working in London as part of her degree course for a year. We travelled down by train on the Friday and Lime Street was already awash with Southport fans, well, Dave Radcliffe and his friend were waiting for the same train as us so there were four of us. Nothing exciting on the way down except noting how well Wembley was coming on. The Saturday morning saw us take in visits to Highbury & White Hart Lane, no chance of getting in at Arsenal but I thought I was in with a chance at Tottenham but the very friendly chap on the gate who had gone off to find the key came back and realised they had changed the lock without telling him so I had to make do with a few pictures outside the grounds. We also walked round to the new Arsenal stadium at Ashburton Grove, what an impressive site that is, it really does look superb even in its incomplete state. The missus was definitely impressed, so much so that she was concentrating so much on getting the best photo that she completely missed a rather dodgy looking character exposing himself to her. I'm not sure if it was deliberate, he may have just forgotten to cover up but it wasn't much to write home about! Just shows how well I have trained her to accept that football comes before anything else. We made our way to Dagenham in plenty of time, we arrived at the ground at 12.45 and managed to buy the very first programme sold! We wanted to get a few pictures of the team arriving so had to get there early. The coach duly arrived at about 1.30 and everyone looked confident enough, I think I even noticed a little smile on Leady's face but it may have been wind! Having got the required pictures outside the ground we made our way to the turnstiles, they were still closed and we had to wait until 2 for the gates to open. On entering the ground I had my bag searched and had my water bottle top removed as they constitute a danger to Tony Roberts (the former Welsh International goalkeeper) whose on field antics have been known to wind up fans to the extent that they used to throw their bottle tops at him. Having seen the over the top way he celebrated their third goal I can see why, what a clown. Surely he should be told to tone down his antics rather than have us have our refreshments taken away? It was £10 entry and the programme was £2.50. I was quite impressed with the ground. I'd been told it wasn't that good but there was a neat main stand (photo in photo gallery) and cover down the whole of one side of the ground. The only thing lacking was covering behind the goals but that apart I rated it a good ground. What a friendly lot of people the Dagenham lot were. They had cordoned off part of the covered terrace for us as they had heard the weather forecast was for rain. The guy on the gate started telling me that it never rains in Dagenham and we nearly struck up a wager that it would by the end of the game but he chickened out, good job he did as the second half was played in steady rain. It was nowhere near as bad as it had been up north mind you as the games at Chester and Macclesfield both fell victim to waterlogged pitches. In August! We got chatting to Liam for a good five minutes before the game, what a great guy he is and his "thanks for coming down" comment summed up football at this level for me, he and several of the players whilst they were getting off the coach all said the same and it really does make your day to know your support is appreciated. As for the game, the first 20 minutes were edgy but we were getting into the game when they scored but to go straight down the other end and equalise showed a lot of character. Half time came at the wrong time as we had them under the cosh for the last 15 minutes. The second half was a different story with only a couple of chances but Syd's excellent shot well saved by Roberts could so easily have gone in and we could have had the draw. It was not to be Leberl's 51st minute goal and a second from the very impressive Mackail-Smith in added time gave the Daggers a 3-1 win and the 98 fans that I counted standing up went home disappointed but the ovation at the end was well deserved and showed the lads that we had appreciated the effort. The result was a disappointment, but my hopes are not as high this season. It's going to be tough but you know that unlike in 2002/03 you will get 100% effort and that counts for an awful lot It was back to London on the tube. By the way we had excellent value out of our £6 day travel card which was tremendous value for a full days travel around London. We were straight on the train, what an excellent service these Londoners have, and with a few other Sandgrounders resplendent in their old yellow shirts, made the journey back to the city. We had a lengthy delay at Upton Park as a fairly empty tube suddenly became packed with hundreds of "Happy Hammers" who had beaten Blackburn 3-1. A few strange looks at my yellow shirt but no comments passed. A meal in London with the daughter and her boyfriend an Everton fan (they can't all be perfect, at least he's not Liverpool) and it was back to the hotel. It had been a very long but enjoyable day, The journey back on the Sunday was also uneventful and we arrived home in time to see the Wigan v Chelsea game were for a few minutes at the end I found myself for the first time in my life willing Wigan to score, they very nearly did in added time but then Chelsea went straight down the other end and did score. That is the difference between Champions and the also rans so lets just hope Wigan also run straight down out the Premiership now. They are my second least favourite team, I think by now everyone knows my first. Rob
|
|
|
