Game Twenty Four - Brighton Away

28th October 2008

Another week, another game, another chance to be disappointed by Leicester in a random place. And yet having broken up with my girlfriend not two hours before kick off, I found myself now looking out over the pitch at the Withdean Stadium (or as much as I could see from the vantage point that we had.) It was with a heavy heart that I had made the trip from Brighton town centre to the stadium….so much promise of what might have been had withered out and I was now stood in the freezing cold thinking about priorities. At the moment, my main priority is football. I have to be at these games even though it costs a fortune and decides the course of my life. Every decision I seem to be making at the moment is mainly worked into whether it would result in me missing a game. Should I go to this gig? No, it’s on a Tuesday and a game may be moved or we could have an FA Cup replay game. It’s crazy - everything seems to come back to how it affects my 100% attendance record this season. Nothing else matters at the moment but being there for kick off. If you’d told me two years ago that I would go to Brighton on a Tuesday night to see us in league one, I’d have called you an idiot and asked you why on earth I would do something like that…. Now, why on earth wouldn’t I be there? I’m ploughing money into the football machine but in reality, you have to pay for the things you love. Like all those there on Tuesday night, we are paying the price financially and in terms of large amounts of time wasted. And in the case of several, we will be paying with colds and the flu for a few days.

But enough of that. Whats happened has happened and I won't dwell on things in the blog and resort to the game as if it was just another standard trip with other incidents cleared from my mind. I met up with Helen and her parents by the sea front and we took the 20 minute walk up to Brighton train station to get our (free) train up to the ground. A few brighton chavs seemed amazed to see that they had Leicester fans on their train and despite wearing a bright yellow Leicester shirt and wearing a Leicester baseball cap, they still came over and had to ask if I supported Leicester. The clues were there kids!

When we got off the train, we then found that we had to partake in about a half a mile walk down the darkest of alley ways to get to the ground. And when I say dark, I mean it!! Pitch black and we couldn't see more than 2ft in front of our faces and so had to resort to the flash on our cameras to light the floor and identify the holes in the path. 3 steps, flash, 3 steps, flash. Cue pictures of gravel!

After about 5 minutes of stumbling it started to get silly and we were trying to get photos of each other in between nearly drowning in puddles and stumbling into a random barrier that seemed to serve no purpose whatsoever!!

We finally made it in one piece and the Withdean shone out in the distance like a light at the end of the tunnel. This was probably the best view I had of the pitch all game!!

When we finally reached it, the queue for the pub was longer than the queue for tickets which spoke volumes for the type of ground that it is. I would use the term "Stadium" but that's pushing it a bit far!! We had a quick chat with Jobber outside the pub and then with the FT lot before making our way in and had the fun task of trying to get the flag up in decent place. No matter where it went though, no one would really see it!!

All the Foxes Talk lot then tried to congregate together at the back of the stand with good success for the first few minutes of the game but we were then forced to move as people continued to arrive. Soon me, Katy and Lil Dave were forced to shift our position to the right side and nearer the front (not that it made any difference to our view!)

How Brighton can charge £20 for a mid-week match when this is the view is beyond me!

Apparentley some things happened in the first half, most importantly being two goals for Matty Fryatt to give us a 2-0 lead going into the break. It's unfair for me to say exactly what they were like as we hadn't a clue what with them being at the other end of the ground. In fact we were convinced that the second was scored by Steve Howard which speaks volumes for what our view was like. Speaking of Howard, he also had another goal disallowed to add to his collection for the season. It seems to be becomming the theme at the moment as whenever the ball hits the net from him, its accompanied by the referee's whistle. Livid!

In fact the only thing we had a decent view of was the policeman's 800m walking race. Not sure who won in the end but the lead was changing hands all through that turn so I'm sure it was a photo finish!

The real entertainment of the night though was at half time when we all gathered together behind the stands. Guest appearances from Fi (a.k.a Another of Walshie's Women) and "Moby" (a.k.a Isle of Wight Fox) were combined with the usual suspects and typical banter. The theme of the night seemed to be one word sentences with "Keen!" "Livid!" and "Response!" seeming to take centre stage and answering any question going.

A test was also drawn up to show the two sides of Lil Dave. Note the stolen Cote D'Ivoire scarf!!!

Face One: The reaction to Steve Howard

Face Two: The reaction to Matty Fryatt

After the fun of those 15 minutes helped me forget everything else, it was soon time to head back to our seats and watch another victory away from home.... erm.... yeah about that..... A clear penalty wasn't given in our favour and that proved to be the turning point as loan signing Johnson lashed in two long range efforts to bring Brighton back on level terms. This caused some major pummelage from Katy as she was not "keen" on the new look scoreline. Livid!

At 2-2, this was only going to end in one way and it didn't involve us going home with any points. Step forward Mr Jack Hobbs. Even from where we were, we could tell that he'd made a massive cock up as he slid in to block a cross under no pressure. The ball spun up and evaded Martin and over the line. From 2-0 up to 3-2 down. This wasn't the stuff promotion is made of - it's that of relegation and if anyone should know, it's Leicester fans.

The real killer though was as the players walked off dejected, and didn't even really acknowledge the travelling fans. 170 miles from leicester to brighton and they couldn't even raise their hands to respect that. Cheers lads!!

The scoreline really rapped up a pretty crummy day. Despite the mutual split with my now ex-girlfriend, I still wasn't in the right frame of mind to be at the game and standing in the cold and rain didn't really appeal at all but it turned out to be just what I needed. The companionship of football fans together is better than anything else I've been involved with. We share the roller coaster of emotions and they never fail to put a smile back on your face when you're feeling down. Cheers to you all guys - you make the away days what they are! Even last season when the results wern't going to plan, they were still all great days out. Here's to many more classics!

Game Twenty Three - Manchester City v Stoke

26th October 2008

After all the poorer grounds we have to visit and kick and rush football on show, sometimes you just need a change and treat yourself once in a while so on a chilly sunday morning, I headed up north to see what the City of Manchester stadium had to offer as the new look Man City (complete with Brazilian flair) took on the Stoke City side that refused to role over at the end of last season and take the three points we needed to stay up. No prizes for guessing where my alligences lay in this one! The journey was meant to be really simple. Train from Leicester to Sheffield, and then another train to Manchester arriving at 12:30 leaving us 2 and half hours to look around the city and stadium. Sounds easy.... was anything but!


Arrived in Sheffield bang on time only to find out that every train to Manchester was cancelled due to a landslide on the rails. After running round the station like a man possessed, I was informed by the information desk to get a train to Leeds and change there for Manchester.... without thinking I ran and jumped onto the train only to soon realise it was the same train that I'd caught to Huddersfield only a few weeks before meaning it was slower than walking!! It was completely rammed and at least 20 Man City fans were on it, all on phones trying to find out how we were going to get to the stadium.

I got chatting to a couple of fans who were from Loughborough and after many phone calls to people around the country, we made the decision to get off at Huddersfield and get the train to Manchester from there.... except for some reason, this train didn't stop there and went around instead of through! Nightmare!!

We slowly trundled along with the clock ticking and poor Helen waiting patiently in Manchester for us. The next plan was to get off in Leeds and try and find the quickest train to Picadilly station.... simple. Erm.... no! The only train to Manchester was to the Victoria station as according to the guard on the platform, no trains were going to Picadilly today... utter bollocks as Helen had got there easily enough!! So after running round Leeds like idiots, me and these two City fans and their kids all jumped on the train to Victoria and rang Helen to get her to meet us there. This train wasn't due in till 20 minutes before kick off so it came to the realisation that kick off was a no go for us. This day was turning into a disaster!!

The journey itself was absolute quality as we exchanged stories and jokes all the way there. I haven't laughed as hard and much as I did on that trip. It had gone so badly wrong that all we could do was joke about it and try and work out how the hell to get home. Small matters.

When we finally got into Victoria station (10 minutes early thank God), we rang Helen as we rushed through the station to get us a taxi so we could just dive straight in and away we went to the stadium.

And have you ever seen a more beautiful sight after all that? It was such a relief to be at the ground, and with 10 minutes to spare as well! We quickly said our goodbyes to the people I'd travelled up with and me and Helen headed off to find our turnstile and make our way up to our seats in the Gods.

There was a point when I never expected to make it here but the City of Manchester stadium was finally in front of us.

And what a view it was. Completely worth the hastle of getting there and I had a genuine excitement as the teams gathered in the tunnel and the stadium started to fill up as fans made their way up from the concourse. What a stadium it is - probably the best that I've been too in all the 50 plus that Ive visited.

The teams lined up complete with Robinho (who was the main reason for being there if we're honest), and other quality players like Shaun Wright-Phillips and Stephen Ireland complete with bald head.

The game itself was absolute quality and the best game I've had the pleasure of being at this season so far. Man City are starting to play football in the way it should be played, one touch pass and move with attacking being the main aim. Silky skills, cheeky flicks and tricks, and defence splitting passes were all on display. Robinho showed all his class to run from the half way line and crash a shot at the near post that Sorenssen did well to tip over. It wasn't long though before City were one up. Chipped ball into the box was headed down to Ched Evans who shaped to shoot before playing a stunning ball through to Robinho who had the simple task of passing it past the keeper.

Man City continued to press and Elano swung in a free kick that just dropped wide of the post. Stoke wern't completely out of it though and Hart showed why he looks set to be a future England keeper as he snuffed out every opportunity that came the Potters way.

As the half time whistle rang, City went in still one nil up and we took the opportunity to finally relax for 15 minutes after rushing around all day and then the intesity of the match. So we got another picture for the collection of the away day travellers - although I look half asleep after all that travelling... at least the Cote d'Ivoire scarf reigns supreme though!

The second half started with a bang as Daniel Sturridge picked up the ball on the right and ran straight at the heart of the defence before playing a superb through ball to Robinho who lashed it across the keeper and into the net to double the lead before running to the fans who idolise him. He is an absolute hero to these people and it's easy to see why as as soon as he gets the ball at his feet, magic seems to happen. The crowd love him and he loves them. People doubted he would succeed in this team but he's thriving and showing the world what he can do.

Stoke continued to look for a way back into the game but their one real weapon this season wasn't functioning as Rory Delaps long throws were dealt with with real ease by the defence as Hart, Dunne and Richards let nothing past them.

The show belonged to one man though and after a couple of great saves denied him, Robinho made sure that the match ball was his as a great flowing move was finished with a cool finish at the back post by the Brazilian boy wonder. I found myself really getting involved at this point and cheering like it was my own team that had just scored. I've really warmed to this team and they are a joy to watch, so I'm sure I will find myself watching them again before the season is out.

At 3-0 up, Man City went from strength to strength and could have had further goals if it wasn't from poor finishing from SWP and Ireland. The sun set over the stadium though and a great day out (unless you're a stoke fan).

At the final whistle we made the 25 minute walk back to Picadilly (in what we hoped was the right direction as none of the police or stewards seemed fully certain which way it was). The walk in typical manchester weather as well I might add - pissed it down all the way back.

At the station, the trains were still off to Sheffield so had to get a replacement bus service all the way back... which Im convinced took the wrong turning somewhere as it took over two hours to do the 50 miles or so. Absolute crazy and meant I missed my last train to Leicester so could only make it as far as Nottingham and had to have the old man come and bail me out by picking me up from there.

What a day it was. Absolutely exhausted by the end of it but fully worth doing. Man City play with such style and grace that they're a joy to see in action and for one day only, "There's only two City's!" Sadly it's the crash back to reality next as we go from luxury to the dive that is Brighton away. Joy!

Game Twenty Two - Northampton Home

25th October 2008

After the disappointment of Tuesday night's poor result, we were all eager to get back to action and claim the scalp of Northampton in what is probably going to be classed as our derby match for the season. Gone are the days where Sky TV would come calling to capture the atmosphere and emotion on display as we take on Derby at Pride Park in the premiership and now all we have to satisfy our passion for "bragging rights" was taking on a team thats hardly local to us. Still at this level, each game is similar to the next and this did not have the feeling of a derby day in any shape or form no matter how much the media tried to talk it up... although it has to be said that the 3000 Northampton fans who made the trip seemed eager to make the most of it and credit to them for doing so!

On the way to the ground, we found ourselves behind a car with scarfs hanging from the windows (the picture doesn't do it justice) but I've never seen that for a home game in all my time supporting city. Does this show that the atmosphere around the city is full of optimism like that we haven't seem since the trips to Wembley? Probably not! More likely that they have travelled from Northampton and wanted to make their alliegances known like any many people do on their way to away games.


After very little advertising by the club, it was discovered that this was to be the annual rememberance day fixture that the club puts on to remember those that lost their lives for their country not only in the World Wars but also in any combat. Its a great cause and raises a good deal of money whilst also allowing us to pay our respect and show thanks. What we couldn't understand though was why do it all now? We have a match next week, and one actually on November 11th..... the only thought was that this would have an anticipated higher attendance and so raise more funds...?

One of the main perks of this rememberance day match is that the match ball is delivered to the stadium by helicopter. You could just imagine the groundsman jaw drop when the idea was first introduced and he realised a helicopter would be landing on his beautiful pitch. The pitch was cleared and down it came over the family stand...
The referee came out to meet them and claim the ball before off it set.... ....circling around the stadium before disappearing off into the distance. Credit to the pilot for flying so well in the windy conditions and was a nice gesture even if some people didn't appreciate it. In fact it was the Matty Fryatt of matchball deliveries, loved by many, hated by Lil' Dave.
It was noted just before kick off that the last time we had a dispaly like this before kick off, we went on to lose 1-0... against a team that played in claret, similar to the colour of Northampton's kit. Lightning couldn't strike twice could it?

The first half was very poor. I don't recall a single shot on target from us and a shot from Andy King which was closer to the corner flag than the net is the only thing that springs to mind! Northampton looked very ordinary but we never looked like breaking through their defence and finding the key to unlock the three points and so it was some relief when the half time whistle came to the sound of boos from sections of the home crowd. I'm not going to go into this debate on booing as it has done a hundred times before. Some say it's acceptable as they've forked out vast sums of money to be entertained and aren't getting what they expected, others say how is booing going to help encourage the team and inspire them on to the three points. Personally I didn't boo as whenever we've played badly, I'm usually to frustrated to do anything other than grunt in the direction of the pitch like a deranged lunatic.

The half time helped put things in perspective though as we had the parade around the pitch of the war veterans. It was noted with some sadness though how the amount of people in the parade has declined since it first started last time we were in the premiership four or five years ago. It was a time for reflection of people no longer with us and show our appreciation to those still around. They always get a brilliant reception from home and away fans and I hope they enjoy their day out and I just hope that the club looks after them better than they do the fans at times. It does show though, that sometimes football isn't the be all and end all. It does dominate our lives but whilst we may feel like crap after a bad result, life goes on and nothing really changes. Relegation to league one seemed like the end of the world but then you think of those people who went off to war and you realise that yes, failure on the pitch hurts, but it doesn't even register on the scale of what some people have had to go through. Everyone in the parade, and everyone who has gone to fight for their country has my respect, and lets hope our appreciation never falters.

After that moment of reflection, we were back to the action and it's safe to say that for the first ten minutes we got absolutely battered. Shots reigned in on our goal and three times the ball flashed across the goal with only a touch needed to knock it in. At one point a goal mouth scramble had me waiting for the inevitable roar from the away fans .... but it never came as Kisnorbo threw himself in the way to block.

After this, we settled down more and came back into the game. Dyer missed a great chance when one on one with the keeper..... King bundled the ball in only for it to be ruled out for offside...... Howard had a shot blocked...... Corners found defenders heads instead of those of our strikers..... Kisnorbo found himself with the ball but facing the wrong way..... it was all very frustrating!

And then their was Mr Fryatt. What can you say about his performance that hasn't been said already by all those in the stadium? He tried to take on the Northampton defence single handedly without success, would shoot from impossible angles and worst of all had the single worst attempt at a one on one with the keeper I have ever seen. He had practically the entire Northampton half to himself and kind of stumbled his way forward with the ball looking less convincing than if it was Filbert Fox baring down on goal with his comedy sized foam feet. These are the type of chances that strikers thrive on, no defender around, plenty of time to pick your spot and place it past the keeper. Easy. Or not as the case may be. The only way I can describe his effort was like a Gareth Southgate penalty but with less power. The keeper didn't have to so much dive as he did bend down and pick up the shot. The kop almost stood as one to berate the awfulness of it. Simply terrible and I was forced to text LD3 with the two words that signalled the end of our Howard v Fryatt debate.... "you win".

After that miss, there wasn't much else happening. We continued to press and occasionally were nearly caught on the counter attack but it soon petered out into a nil nil draw and the boo's commenced at the final whistle louder than at half time.

There's not much that you can really say after that week. Two home games against teams we should beat if we're serious about promotion and we've come away with only two points. 8 games unbeaten but it is a slight concern that we've now taken three points from three games and not scored from open play since Dyer's scuffed effort against Huddersfield all that time ago. Are the wheels starting to come off the promotion bus or is it simply the inevitable puncture that you'll get on a marathon road trip like this? It makes the next few games vitally important to make sure we keep pace with those teams around us.....

The next two entries to this blog will be very different.... one will be a break from the league one tour as me and Helen head up north to see the brazilian flair invading Manchester as we check out the City of Manchester stadium and see what Man City v Stoke has to offer. The next game will be at the ground that is well known to be the worst in the country as we have Brighton away on a cold and miserable night game in October. Cheers then to whoever put that one into the fixture list!! The Brighton update will have to wait until the weekend though, as I'm taking a well earned break while down there to spend some time with my other half (although after dragging her to the Withdean Stadium as part of our holiday, I may be single again before too long!)

Until tomorrow.....

Game Twenty One - Walsall Home

21st October 2008

Although this season seems to have been going for a mammoth amount of time already, this was the first mid-week league game to be played at the Walkers of the League One campaign. The sun was already setting as I left work at 6pm ready to make the short walk to my second home.

Bumped into Jimmy in the city centre and after a quick stop at the bookies (waste of time that was!! Bloody Juventus) and was soon at the Walkers with a good hour or so to kill before my twenty first game of the season got under way. For the first time this season, the scarfs being worn around the stadium were to keep out the cold rather than for decoration... and typically for the first game in a while, my Ivory Coast one was sitting on the chair at home and not snuggly around my neck. School boy error and one I would come to regret by half time.

With very little activity going on outside the ground, I decided to make my way in earlier than neccessary but to get out of the cold wind that was starting to blow. I know it's getting on for winter and all that but this was the first game in a long time that the cold has been felt by all. Todays random picture.... the view as you walk through the turnstile. Now, it's not as easy as you'd think to take a picture of this while you're juggling you're season ticket, programme and backpack. Seeing it on screen though, it does make you wonder how some of our fans manage to squeeze their way through.

A quick burger inside the ground (suprisingly nice but how much can you enjoy it with the hole burned in your pocket where £3 used to sit) and sneaky scorecast (Tunchev first goal and a 4-2 win at 500/1 .... optimistic to say the least) and I took my seat for the nights fun and games.

My usual philosophy regarding the Walkers Stadium is that it's all about the game whereas away games are for the atmosphere and general match day experience which is why I opt to have a season ticket next to my old man in a part of the ground where the atmosphere suffers yet the view is spot on. It gives me a chance to spend some genuine time with him and actually has helped to bring us close in that he is almost more of a friend at the football than a father figure during those 90 minutes. Without trying to sound soppy, it's a great bond to have and one that I wouldn't change. Tonight, though, he was away on holiday with my mum and so while the cat's away, the stadium is open to all possibilities. Would I move over to the Kop.... position myself on the half way line .... or move to L1 and see what all the fuss is about? Much thought went into this (I say much, I gave it 5 seconds) and finally took a seat.... TWO seats away from my normal one. Rebelious or what? Frankly, I just couldn't be arsed to shift myself after a long day at work so just decided to move slightly along where I could spread out and just relax in the freezing cold.

And seeing as I focussed on the match, I suppose I should comment on it in someway.... so where to start? We started brightly with Fryatt looking sharp and eager to impress, chasing every ball, pushing Walsall back.... and then as seemed to be the way last season, we conceeded when on top. A really sloppy goal with comical defender allowed Nicholls to sneak in a prod the ball home. They then went with their original game plan.... hastle and push everything. We had no time on the ball what-so-ever whether it be the strikers or defence. Credit to Walsall, they gave us nothing and restricted us to set piece efforts.

And it was from one set piece that brought about the equalising goal before half time. A Max Gradel corner (who had a very poor game it has to be said) was headed home by Andy King. What King was doing in the box winning headers is beyond me but I'm glad he did! One all and the game was open once more with City pressing forward to try and gain the lead before the break. The pic below by the way is the corner leading to the goal.... I was slightly trigger happy and snapped slightly early.

The other main feature of the first half was the presence of Clayton Ince in the Walsall goal. For some bizarre reason he's one of those players that I really like and think he's quite under-rated. He's also the only goal-keeper I've ever seen who doesn't bother with a run up for goal kicks and just swings a leg and launches them up field. I'd dread to see how far he can whack it if he opted for the traditional method.

The second half started badly as a deep cross saw 45 minute England international Michael Ricketts appear from nowhere to head it into the back of the net. Back onto the closing down and playing against 10 men behind the ball again.

We tried to walk our way through the defence at times and it just wasn't working, Gradel in particular was guilty more than once of giving the ball away when trying to be too fancy. Pass and move, pass and move - that was what was needed not the fancy stuff. In fact at times he reminded me of a Christmas Tree... nice to look at and all that but at the end of the day, is it really needed?

As the game went on, we started to push more and eventually the break through came from another set piece as a corner to the near post was headed in by Tunchev to put us level. This lifted everyone and from then on we went for it, looking for that illusive third goal that wouldnt arrive but that would have been harsh on a very organised Walsall side. They had come to the Walkers looking to not get beaten and that's what they'd done. We'd been tested by Millwall's bully boy tactics and failed and now we'd been tested by Walsall's closing down tactics and failed once more. We don't seem to have that X-factor needed to unlock defences at times and in fact our last three goals have come from set pieces now. At the end of the day, a goal is a goal but free flowing football is always nice to see.

So the first mid-week league home game is done and dusted and my feet have finally regained some sense of feeling after a night in the cold. Winter's coming folks and with it the game's are coming thick and fast. This is coming up to the vital point of the season as squads are starting to gel fully and understand how team mates work. There will be no room for weak players and no room for the weak of heart.... if we're serious about promotion, we need to make the Walkers Stadium a fortress (Yeah Right!).

And with that, i'm signing off with only a runny nose and slight cough to show from the nights activities. Cheers City! Next stage of the season, three games in four days - see you there!

Game Twenty - Oldham away

18th October 2008

You know sometimes when your personal life doesn't appear to be going the way you want, distractions are needed and what better distraction than an away day with the one consistant thing in my life. Leicester City. Whilst the players may not be consistant, and the manager changing more times than I change my underwear in the last couple of years (ok, maybe a slight exageration), it is still the club that gives me hope, picks me up when I'm down, and sometimes helps to put major issues into perspective. If I take the time to look back at what it has done for me then sometimes I feel that it has really shaped my life and made me into the person that I am. The people that I have met, the time and expense spent on them, and the way the club has always been there for me on the other side. Friends and aspects of my life have come and gone but rain or shine, there has always been a match to look forward to... a light on the horizon and the aticipation of how we'll be feeling after 90 minutes of action. One team, one dream.


Anyway so now that the philosophical mumbo jumbo is out of the way, we can get back to the day itself. Due to the sheer lazyness and the expense involved in the train, it was yet another journey on the mighty Fox Travel. Of course the advantage of that being that I could sleep and act anti-social for the whole journey. The stuff dreams are made of! As with the usual FT journeys, I was asleep before we even hit the motorway and didn't wake until the services - it worries me how well I can sleep so well in such a cramped environment. Nothing of interest at all happened throughout the services or the rest of the journey.... in fact the only memorable thing was waking up and getting confused that we appeared to be up some moors and then seeing a sign saying we had reached the summit of the highest motorway in Britain. Now if that's not something to write home about then nothing is!

We arrived at Boundary Park in good time and me and Jimmy left the coaches and headed down the road to the pub to meet up with some of the other Foxes Talk regulars who were stopping for a drink. It turned out to be the busiest pub in the world and spent the whole time in there holding me breath so people could squeeze past.

After that we made the short walk back to the ground, stopping at the Ree Ming chinese chip shop and had Lisa explain to me that the best chips had to have fluffy middles. If you ever bump into her, make sure you ask her for the international symbol for "fluffy middles". It will change your life forever.

The ground itself is your standard league one ground to be honest with the outdoors concourse and one larger stand compared to the two smaller looking ones. The stand to our right is mid-way through revelopment so was just a building site in front of the car park. Im sure there will be one or two smashed windows before the season's out.

The game itself turned out to be quite eventful. I squeezed into the back row alongside Jimmy for it and watched as Fryatt missed a glorious chance, Dyer missed an open goal and Big Steve headed against the woodwork. Oldham offered little going forward and another three points on the road looked a possibility as the referee called time on the first half.

Half time was all about Lil' Dave and his thermals. Two scarfs (including my Ivory Coast one - theif!!) and Tommeh's old school hat. With this look he could almost be the new Bernie or at least some kind of future mascot!

As appears to be the theme with our season, we started the second half well and some good work down the left saw the ball pulled back to Dyer who fluffed his shot when we were ready to celebrate. The boy was for once living up to his name!

Soon after though a free kick was awarded on the right.....

...... the ball was swung in and Kisnorbo rose..... and missed...... and there was Big Steve following up to smash it home with his head. 1-0. Commence carnage! I soon had an Lil Dave jump on my back and when he'd let go, I turned to see everyone seem to be lying on the floor behind me and JME standing there, looking confused having been a good two rows and seven seats away before the goal went in. Interesting to say the least!

After the goal, we proceeded to sit on the back foot and allow Oldham back into the game. It seemed only a matter of time before they scored and when it came it was a peach. Whittaker collected it on the edge of the earlier and curled a beauty past Martin into the top corner. From our position you knew it was in from the second it left his boot.

From then on there wern't many clear cut chances althouth Oldham looked more likely to take the three points and so when the final whistle came we were happy to take a point back to the East Midlands.

I knew that car park would be a bugger to get out of but the amount of Oldham fans who left early to make sure they could get away was pretty shocking. The queue had already built up before we'd even left the stand.

Boundary Park - Traditional old ground. Good set of fans and a nice place to watch football. Love it! I certainly wouldn't begrudge seeing them getting promoted at the end of the season (so long as its with us and not in our place).

The journey home.... very much like the journey there and gave me time to listen to music and watch the world go by deep in thought and admiring the views (in a manly way of course).

And so that was the latest trip in the league one adventure and the start of the busiest period of football we'll have this season. Every tuesday and saturday for about four weeks in three different competitions..... combine that with random trips to Manchester City and Arsenal and you'll see me asleep at work before you know it. Two home games in a row to follow now and lets just hope we can bring some of our away form to the Walkers and see the week out with 6 points. COYB!

Game Nineteen - Huddersfield away

4th October 2008

After the stupidly late arrival home from the last away trip, how best to start the haul to Huddersfield then hearing my alarm go off at 7am? Wonderful! Having only made it to bed 3 and a half hours before, it is fair to say I was not overly optimistic of the way this day would go. Tired, grumpy and with a sore head combined with the tight schedule of where I had to be at one time meant I was just waiting for something to go wrong. Which train would I miss? How many would we lose by? Which one of the people I was meeting would be late (most of them actually to be fair!)

So off I set for the 8:15 train from Syston to Leicester in order to get me onto the 8:49 to sheffield. And how to describe that journey? Cup of tea, croissant, newspaper, I-Pod and sleep... I bet the babysquad would love to snap me up for the Leicester Firm! I'm so hardcore that I worry myself sometimes!

Arrived in Sheffield and had to hang around for Carla (the first late person of the day) so that gave me a chance to see the station and it is quite an impressive welcome to the city. Water features and sculptures really do look impressive and the photo doesn't do it justice. Compare that to Leicester though where you have to run the gauntlet of "piss-alley" and Nottingham where you have 76 individual people trying to sell you the Big Issue before you've even found the road outside the station and it just helps create a great first impression.

When Carla finally arrived, we headed off to Starbucks for a drink and general catch up, comparing football teams, love lifes and the usual chatty things that old friends do. A pleasure as always and always helps set the tone for a great day! While at starbucks though, the texts started to fly in as plans got confusing.... people heading to different pubs in Huddersfield, people not sure where they were going and others who shall not be named (let's just call then Pelen and Polleen) had had issues with tickets and so wouldn't be meeting us at Huddersfield station. You leave people to sort themselves out and look what happens!! One thing that did go to plan though, was meeting Tash, Foz and Ben at Sheffield station for the trip into deeper Yorkshire.

What a train that rackety old thing was as we bounced back and forth on the line. I didn't realise you could even get dodgy machines like that nowadays! It was a fun journey though with many memorable stops such as Penistone (childish but it has to be done) and just general picking on Tash for kicks. Has to be done!

Got into Huddersfield at about ten to two and headed for the stadium (the wrong way). Ended up following one guy who we overheard asking a policeman for directions..... "Follow this road, turn left and follow the road down the hill." Easy.... well it was for most people except this lad who took a right turn instead of left. Seriously?!?!

Finally got to the stadium and met up with the old man to pick up the Foxestalk flag and then had to wait for Lil Dave at the turnstile to give him his ticket. Was expecting him to along in five minutes but ended up waiting for half an hour (cheers Ched!) and so concluding the third late person of the day. Did get to wait with Bert and Chloe though and got a Dexter hug so "yes then." Old school away days!

Helen and Colleen finally made it too and went in ahead of us and with about 20 mins to kick off, they finally showed and we could get in and see what this stadium was all about. The one review i'd heard from Chloe was that it was "Well fit" so clearly I was expecting big things!

Not bad eh? The above three pictures were taken from my original position at the back of the stand but this view was not to last as the FT lot were quickly brought into a game of musical chairs which the stewards won. I really can't see any issue with having 5 people in 2 seats! Or the 10 or so crammed into 6 seats on the row behind. Pah! My attempts to con them into pretending I'd lost my ticket with my seat number on didn't fool them for long so I was soon ousted to my proper seat next to Helen and her mum..... in fact..... this saw us about 10 minutes into the game and I hadn't even realised we were fully underway! That's entertainment folks!

The rest of the first half passed without major incident - few chances for us and Fryatt missed a great chance but that was about your lot.
At half time, I headed back into the concourse and found the sheffield lot and had a rather amusing discussion on the use of "m'duck" in leicester. I think you had to be there really!

The second half though .... woah! It got off to a flying start when Nicky Adams set up Matty Fryatt to pass the ball past the advancing keeper to give us the lead. Give that boy a biscuit - we're top of the league!

Fryatt's goal really raised the tempo and Dyer was unleashed down the left (Go On Lloyd!) and saw his cross handled to give Fryatt the chance to double the lead.... I'll let the picture do the talking.
So 2-0 to the good and cruising. I could sense my cousins other half cursing us as he watched on from the huddersfield end. As a Leeds fan, this was the one time he'd ever be seen supporting the yorkshire rivals! Suddenly though, for the first time on an away trip... things started going against us and while we were busy goading the home support, they pulled one back through a deflected effort.... but that was only a minor blip wasn't it? 2-1 up still and the three points were secure.... erm..... no! A high looping ball, and awful positioning from David Martin left the Huddersfield striker with an easy chance to head home for the equaliser. Damn! This really shut the travelling support up and left us anxiously watching the clock counting down the seconds. From comfortable to hanging on in the space of ten minutes. Injury time was signalled and we all started to think we might escape with a point when up stepped the man of the moment. That man again, Lloyd Dyer to completely mis-hit a shot that looped high up and over the keeper into the net. There was that stunned silence before the place errupted and hugs, high fives and general jumping on people ensued. How had we pulled this one off? 3-2 up with seconds to go and boy didn't Lloyd like it? I don't normally use other photos but found this one on a football website and watch that whippet run. No ones even close to catching him as he taunts the home fans. Legend!
I was even tempted to risk the jinx of taking a pic of the score board as the ref looked to end the match. Beautiful!
Also couldn't resist the picture below taken for Andy - the Leeds fan in the home end.
After leaving the stadium, I said my goodbyes and made my way to meet my old man, uncle and Andy. Leicester, Man Utd and Leeds fans respectively before heading off to Richard's for a bite to eat and a chance to see the family. Happy days.

So that was the 5th away win on the bounce and leaves us top of the pack with a week off for the international break. What a way to win it too....and left us with all the old cliches - a real game of two halfs that left the home fans as sick as parrots. Credit to Huddersfield though - they put up a real fight when they went two down and turned it into a truly great game and helped round off a memorable away day. Next up will be probably our toughest game of the season so far - away to promotion rivals Oldham.... and I simply can't wait. Go on Lloyd!