‘You’re too early,’ moaned Tesco Pete as we met by the gates to his mansion. An oversized inflatable Grinch, attached to an outhouse, illuminated his driveway against the dark skies. To be fair, it was thirty seconds before our agreed departure time, but it was a general complaint, some people don’t like getting up and at ‘em, especially during the dark winter months. The back seat was desolate too, no amount of encouragement could tempt the likes of the enigmatic Denzil to join us. He had the weekly omnibus of Coronation Street lined up for his Saturday… Our 230-mile journey south was shaping up nicely.
After a visit to our favourite Northamptonshire breakfast stop, topped up with a second thimble of baked beans – just for being loyal customers, we ran into standing traffic. Tesco Pete reminded me that we still had four hours to complete the remaining 60 miles to the ground, and that we would be standing outside for hours waiting for the ground to open. An hour later we passed the cause of the problem, a few cars scattered across a couple of lanes. Not long afterwards, another issue on the M25, with another hour lost. Luckily, we had planned for the unexpected.
The turnstiles were open as we arrived at the ground, admission was £21 in advance with soft segregation in place. Aldershot’s Recreation Ground is a traditional football stadium, other than a few coats of paint and numerous changes to the price of burgers, the ground hasn’t changed at all over the last half century. It’s full of charm, with blue and red paint everywhere, the people are welcoming; it feels like going to a football match should do.
The Shaymen went at the Shots from the moment the referee started the game. Attacking the famous East Bank populated with the noisy home fans, they forced several corners in the opening minutes. The domination continued relentlessly, Waters’ opening goal wasn’t unexpected, nor was Oluwabori’s soon after. The team were pressing at every opportunity, winning the ball back and attacking again. It was great to watch, and a well-deserved lead.
Within moments of the restart, the Shots pulled one back, the East Bank drummer got the home fans at it, the pressure was on. We could have sealed the game on the break with a shot that trickled just wide, but an equaliser followed for the home team, this, despite our respectful advice to the linesman… The biggest cheer of the game came with about 20 minutes remaining, having distributed Christmas Cards to almost everyone in a Town Shirt, the referee finally awarded us a free kick. It felt like everything was against us.
There was pandemonium in the away end when Town retook the lead, ‘It’s all your fault!’ was sung loudly to the home goalkeeper by the harmonious 79 Travelling Shaymen. In truth the keeper had his part to play, but credit must go to the hardworking Cooke who spotted the opportunity, it was reminiscent of our Wembley winner. Emmerson made it four with just a few minutes remaining, we were having a great time. Shot’s third with a minute of injury time to play gave us a few moments of anxiety, but the referee’s final whistle came soon afterwards. The team richly deserved the congratulations from the fans at full time, it was a job well done.
Driving back and we were buzzing with four goals away from home. It’s always the unexpected results and performances away from home that get you out of bed for the next trip. It’s always worth getting up early, you never know when great things are going to happen…
Next up, Barnet away, the first chance of a league double…
Miles on the road: 3800. Goals on the road: 15. Points on the road: 18.
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