Away Day - Kendal Town

23/03/2019 – Kendal Away

A loaded coach travelled up the M6 packed with loud, loyal Trafford fans in hope of another win on the road. Our opponents Kendal were sat 19th in the Evo-Stik Northern West Division having only won 5 in 30. Trafford were clear favourites for this encounter, due to their superb current form including a very well fought semi-final win against Buxton. The long(ish) drive came to an end when we got off in Kendal Town centre in search of a local take-away or more popularly, a boozer for the older lads. It was exactly what we imagined, just a nice area in general. Someone pointed out that the cars drove on the right hand side of the road which sent us all into shock until we realised the road through the town centre was actually a two-lane, one-way road. Idiots haha.

The rumour was that Trafford ‘legend’ Joao Mendes was in net for Kendal which would have made it a day to treasure as you don’t get to see a player of his ability between the sticks much anymore. We were all devastated in the ground to hear that he no longer plays for our opponents. We were then joined by the home supporters who set themselves up on the nearby road with a banner that read ‘GUDGEON OUT’. That’s non-league football for you. We set up in what looked like the main stand in the sun. Flags out, singing voices on, the mighty whites arose from the tunnel triggering our classic rendition of ‘Trafford FC, Trafford FC, Trafford FC, Trafford FC’.
Trafford looked on top, Kendal looked very poor. Within a few minutes Liam Ellis got played in behind and slotted it into the back on the net. Simple as. It was going to be a good day for sure. A few more of our lot joined us a bit late after they missed 2 trains which increased the noise a bit more. The protesters outside the ground began to disappear in disappointment as Kendal had hardly got out of their own half. Kamar Moncrieffe was tearing the poor Kendal full back a new one with his quick trickery. Danny Wilkins looked on fine form yet again and Trafford looked very solid at the back. I can’t really remember how it happened but we got a penalty and Liam Ellis stepped up confidently. Of course he put it away to make it 2-0 and ran straight to our clump of bodies in the away end. I think he actually got half of Andy Lee’s pint over his head somehow, only he could tell you that. That was Liam’s 4th goal in 2 games which evidently proves Tom Baker’s ‘confidence player’ claim. The great support continued for the rest of the half and Trafford looked very comfortable. Rooney wasn’t doing much for Kendal up top as he struggled against the solid centre-half partnership of Keil O’Brien and Curtis Jones.
The half-time whistle was blown and we positioned ourselves in the stand nearest to the dugouts, very similar to our encounter away at Colne earlier in the season which was definitely one of the best atmospheres of the season so far. We then discovered it was a directors section so we moved to the grass bank on the opposite side of the ground. It was absolutely nothing on our own grass bank back at the Shawe View but it did us well for the second half. If I’m completely honest I cannot remember a second of that second half but I’m hearing that it wasn’t the most entertaining half of football which was unusual for Trafford. We spent about 10 minutes giving it ‘DAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRBBBBOOOOOOOOOOO’ to the man himself who looked very relaxed on the hill. Chuckwoo came on for a few minutes for his competitive debut and somehow earned himself a song. That just sums us lot up… I also can’t remember how that went but it definitely wasn’t my ‘Chucka chuckwoooooo’ to ‘beggin’ by Madcon. Class if you ask me.

The game ended 2-0 to Trafford in what was a very comfortable but well-fought victory for Tom Bakers army. The players paid their appreciations to us lot as we sang ‘Allez Allez Allez’ and ‘Tom Bakers Trafford army’ as they walked down the tunnel. A very solid away performance again from Trafford and a very memorable first half performance for Liam Ellis. If you are reading this Liam, please continue to celebrate with us we promise you won’t get covered in beer again… We went back into the clubhouse and we were quite hungry. They ran out of burgers. Don’t believe it. If it wasn’t for the man himself Keil O’Brien we may have starved to death. Not the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life but yeah cheers Keil. We loaded onto the coach and Chuckwoo did his initiation song, aswell as some supporters but that’s the last we’ll hear of that hopefully… Another mint day out thanks to Trafford. We’ve had some tough times this season but now that we’re getting into the business end, grinding out wins, support will continue to be strong and we will fight ‘til the end. You never know, a late play-off push maybe? With only a few more away games to go and the very important cup final to be played, even better support is due. C’mon the whites!

Another great write up by one of the young ones (no, not Neil), who support and follow Trafford both home and away; despite the meagre earnings that their paper round brings in.👌🏻👍🏻