The last away game before Christmas is traditionally an exciting day out. The usual suspects normally come prepared with a quiz, some festive treats, and are generally much more jovial. The weather was miserable, leaden skies and chucking it down, and the traffic was much heavier than we’re used to. Those wonderful television types had decided that our game would kick off at 5.00pm, and consequently we set off later than usual. The start of our 197-mile journey south was stop-start, we’d been travelling for almost an hour, and we were still on the M62.
Suddenly, our dreary trip sprang to life. It wasn’t Chadders’ jokes or the annual festive quiz or the Warley Shaymen’s festive mince pies, they’d been forgotten, it was the maelstrom of cars unexpectedly heading directly towards us. There was sheer panic on the back seat, and fingers were embedded deep into the back of the car seats in front. There were shouts of “Look out” and “Brace” and even Tesco Pete glanced up from his mobile phone for an instant. Whilst driving at nearly 40 miles an hour around the roundabout, I think I must have missed a red traffic light…
You’d have thought it was the end of the world with all the noise and commotion; I of course kept calm and dodged a few cars that were unexpectedly cutting across our path. Instead of making the issue worse, I kept to the inside of the roundabout and went round again. Now, obviously, I don’t usually embellish anything that happens on our away trips, if anyone does anything daft, I don’t mention it, what happens on the trips stays on the trips. In all the panic and excitement, nobody will ever remember that on the second lap of the roundabout, the traffic light was green.
With warning lights of an hours delay on the M1 near Leicester, it seemed an ideal opportunity to cut across Nottinghamshire to join the A1. It wasn’t necessarily quicker, but it did help break up the continuous stories emanating from the back seat about our roundabout experience a couple of hours earlier. With each retelling it sounded more dramatic than it actually was. Obviously, an hour later when we reached the A1, that was closed too. A trip to one of our most accessible London grounds was turning into a proper grand day out.
Darkness had fallen by the time we pulled up at Meadow Park, over five hours after we set off. We’d not had a breakfast stop, or a lunch stop, or any of the normal festive mince pies that reliable passengers bring at this time of the year. With our £20 advanced admission paid, we headed directly to the food hut ordering everything they had.
The first half was dominated by Boreham Wood. They looked sharp, passed the ball well and pressed Town at every opportunity. There were over ten minutes on the clock before the Shaymen had their first expedition into Boreham Wood’s half. Wood took the lead midway though the half much to the annoyance of the 49 travelling Shaymen. We’d all spotted a few things that the officials had missed in the lead up to the goal, but our well-reasoned and polite advice to the linesman fell on deaf ears. In all honestly being a goal down at half-time was a relief, the home side were that dominant, and without several fine saves, it could have been much worse.
After explaining to the lady serving chips at half-time, the stewards, and the other 45 travelling Shaymen that the traffic light was green on the second lap, it was obvious that the usual suspects were less than discreet about our journey South. I’m sure, that without segregation, they would have told the home fans about it too. For my part, I never mentioned Tesco Pete tripping on the steps as he made his way up the stand with a burger in his hand, nor did I tell anyone about the guys on the back seat chuckling about news of electrical problems on the trains and the potential impact on other travelling Shaymen. You can’t trust anyone these days.
The second half was better for the Shaymen, it was much more of a balanced contest. The home side still had control of the game and doubled their lead midway through the half. Town created a few opportunities but never really tested Wood’s keeper until we pulled a goal back deep into injury time. It was as comprehensive a 2-1 defeat as you can get.
Next up and we’ve got a string of home games before a trip to Tamworth after Christmas. I’ll be sure to watch out for red traffic lights, if someone else reminds the usual suspects to bring mince pies.
C’mon Shaymen
Miles on the road: 4200. Goals on the road: 14 Points on our travels 13
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