|
|
|
AWAY DAY TO WOKING It was yet another long trip following last weeks marathon to Gravesend, whoever decided we should have two long distance trips on successive Saturdays. This meant yet another early start, not quite as bad as last week but the alarm going off on a Saturday is not my idea of fun. This trip had to be made on the train again and as the Liverpool fans had taken up all the cheap tickets from Liverpool to London it meant the trip had to be made via Wigan in order to make use of the Saturday Day Out ticket. It was an uneventful journey down with the train arriving at Euston 10 minutes early. A tube ride to Waterloo to meet up with the daughter and we were on the 13.15 out of Waterloo to Woking. The impressive Sandown racecourse could be seen on route and I can now visualise the famous railway fence at the course much better, it really is very close to the line. We arrived at Woking in plenty of time to get a quick bite to eat and walk to the ground. We took the scenic route through the park which carried a warning that women and children should not use it alone. It was a very pleasant walk through leafy Surrey with some most impressive properties on display. I think it would need a sizeable Lottery win to own one mind you. We got to the ground at 2.30, plenty of time to take a few photos and soak up the atmosphere. It was £12 to get in and the programme was £2.50 and a very good read it was with few adverts and lots of reading material. It was also interesting to see they have three people working in their commercial department alone. I guess that if your gates can't sustain full time football you have to work very hard at getting the money in through all the available channels. It was a new ground for me, number 144, and whilst the new main stand was excellent the rest of the ground was quite ordinary and I was a little disappointed. I always thought Woking had a really top notch ground but I now know different. Once again the heat was stifling. All around us it seemed to be raining, the Test Match at The Oval was interrupted and on travelling back to London after the game it was raining and it was evident that a lot of rain had fallen in the afternoon but Woking was in a little oasis. As for the game, I was once again left feeling disappointed. We appear to have gone ultra negative and using spoiling tactics from an early stage in the game. I can understand it to a point but it's not pretty and I had some sympathy with the Woking fans when they started slow handclapping mid way through the second half. We created very little and didn't have a clear cut chance all game. Seeing Robbo as the last man defending in the first half summed it up, we just had no outlet so the ball just kept coming back. The BBC text commentary seemed to make a few people believe we were on top, we weren't. A few snap shots but that was all. Going in to the 90th minute you start to think that a points a point whether it be a 3-3 draw or a 0-0 draw and a valuable point it would have been, alas, a set piece after a tired foul by Jerome lead to the winner from Woking and despite 4 minutes of added time ironically caused by our time wasting it was not enough to get the goal back. You could tell the Woking fans were relieved. Their team was not that good but better than us and they did deserve the win. Robbo's injury looked bad and he was booked for his pain but you can never tell with these things and he was seen on the bench on crutches at the end of the game. Let's hope it wasn't as bad as it looked. If anyone still needed convincing that this season was going to be hard, today was the day you had all the evidence. One positive thing to take away though is that this time around we have 100% effort and team spirit and a great manager. I am sure that combination will see us through. People have to lower expectations, the Conference has progressed way beyond my expectations since we were last there and we need time to consolidate. Let's hope that fickle fan sticks with us through the tough times, that is when your true test of support is needed most. It's easy going to Harrogate to see your team win a title but where are they now, all those fans who took great joy in getting players shirts at Harrogate, dancing on the pitch and celebrating long and hard seem to suddenly have gone into hiding. Now is the time to give the team your backing. My count today was 54 Southport fans that I knew were Southport fans, around the same as Gravesend. We had to get out of the ground pretty sharpish in order to make sure of getting the train back to London. Daughter departed at a rain soaked Clapham and I was back at Euston well in time for the 18.35 to Wigan and now the fun started. Everyone who knows me knows of my intense dislike of anything Liverpool Football Club related and their fans despite what they would have us believe are not the best. You can imagine my delight then at being sat in a carriage full of Liverpool fans travelling back from the match at Tottenham. I would have moved but the train was full and there was nowhere to go. I was a captive! The language, attitude and behaviour did nothing to enhance my view of the wonderful Kopites, what a lovely breed! I managed to keep quiet, how I don't know, in the face of such drivel but I was outnumbered. The train arrived at Crewe 5 minutes late and I knew I was going to miss my connection at Wigan for the train back to Southport, a phone call to my wonderful wife (I promised her I would say that) to see if she would pick me up at Preston station and that was the plan. We then had to get off the train at Crewe for some reason or another but there was another train waiting to carry the journey on so we arrived at Preston just 15 minutes late. I had bumped in to another Southport fan, Gary Holmes, at Crewe station, he had been in another carriage on the London train so we did the Crewe to Wigan leg together on a relatively empty train. Another long day, 14 hours 25 minutes, with a total cost involved of £54.45. Thank goodness for a couple of home games coming up. At least it's two long journeys out of the way. Now let's have a look at where it is next, lovely, Canvey Island on the Saturday followed by Scarborough on the Tuesday. Anyone know an understanding Bank Manager?! |
|
|
