Another early start as I set off at 9.15am to board the coach
that left on time at 9.45. Sempie mentioned a cold was developing so I decided
not to sit next to him, maybe that was his plan! Matty Brown was the last one
on board and he grabbed a seat next to me.
Two hours, overhearing Sempie sing to himself and an in depth
discussion about parenthood later, we arrived at a lovely pub somewhere in North Lincolnshire for breakfast. I must say, Foxy does a
great job at finding these places as the food and beer served was cracking. The
breakfast was demolished in my usual animalistic way, to Matt Browns amazement
and there was a chat about possible design ideas for future Trafford FC away
kits – Dave Browns pink with spots on was a firm favourite! It was upon leaving
here I realised that this was going to be another away day where I would do
well to remember any of it!
Half an hour or so later, we arrived in Stamford . A 10 minute walk into the town
centre with Cappy’s tours and we were soon sampling some more lovely ciders in
another lovely pub. Cappy was in his element, although I put a slight dampener
on his day by whooping him at pool!
The walk back to the ground saw us stop off at a hotel bar,
where half a cider and a shot of rum sent Sempie back some £8!! As lovely as Stamford was, it was
equally expensive!
I don’t normally do any info about the club but it was
interesting to find out that Stamford’s nickname is The Daniels – named after
Britains fattest ever man, who came from those parts. Brilliant. If I get fat,
I wonder if Trafford could adopt a nickname in my honour!?
Anyway, Stamford
is a club in a similar situation to ourselves in the league (we’d both be near
the top if you switched the table upside down!), so if ever there was a 6
pointer, this was it! The few of us that had made the journey all felt positive
and had a good feeling about the outcome…
… Inside the ground we were less confident about the type of
game we’d see as the pitch itself was poor (and that’s being kind). The grounds
man had obviously taken a sabbatical – either that or the lawn mower had
stopped working! The game kicked of and the Trafford faithful had been joined
by singing superstar, Foxy. 3 minutes in and we were one-up, captain for the
day, Shelton Payne getting the goal. The game was then very scrappy, an
equaliser and another Shelton
goal saw us go in at half time 2-1 to the good. Other highlights were seeing
Martyn Andrews (suspended for the game) getting involved and shouting
encouragement from the side of the pitch. A definite future manager if ever I
saw one!
The second half was very scrappy, a proper non-league game with
Stamford doing most of the pressing but Trafford defending as a team and
looking comfortable… until the 90th minute when Stamford were given an
early xmas present from the ref/linesman in the form of a penalty when a)
Kieran got the ball and b) their player was offside anyway!
All in all, a draw was fair but it was so frustrating to
concede in that manner. Straight to the bar and whether it was drowning my
sorrows or celebrating a hard-fought point, the outcome equated to lots of
alcohol! This would also equate to lots of my usual waffling. I think, and I
say think because I can’t really remember, that Goodie and Minnie got the short
straw of my repeated ramblings on the way home. The two beers in my pocket and
two ciders on my seat meant the waffling was going to last all the way home.
Back in Manchester
and a visit to the Nags head was clearly called for. More beer meant more
waffling. This time (I think) Tom Schofield was on the end of my wise words
haha!
All in all, I had another cracking day out. This game is why
I love Trafford/non-league football. A 9.45 start, visiting places I’ve never
been, plenty of beers with plenty of good folk, chatting (sh*t) to
players/management (although they probably don’t enjoy this as much as me haha)
and boring the wife with it all the next day!
Three away games on the trot undefeated now and another long
away game out of the way. The future is bright.
Ratings
Ground – 4 (decent little clubhouse but the pitch was very
poor)
Fans – 9 (people I spoke to were ace)
Beer – 5 No cider on tap!!!
Game – 5 very scrappy
Referee – 1 (would have been 8 or 9 but for THAT decision!)
MOTM – Shelton Payne (captain and 2 goals)
Andy Glinka
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