Another day, another adventure; these away days are becoming more and more predictable. Traditionally we set off with the mindset that a point away from home would be good. Now, we’re starting to believe that we’ll beat any team away from home. Shortly after 2.00pm -Tesco Pete was late – we were off on our 114-mile journey south. It was of course raining, cold and miserable.
We’d missed the lunch time opening for most of the chippy’s due to our late kick-off, and we were too soon for the evening slots. With detailed research we’d located one that was open in the nearby town of Fazeley. It was difficult to know what happened in the chippy whilst I waited in the car, but when the Greetland Shayman returned with Tesco Pete and the chips something was clearly wrong…
It seemed as if the deadly duo had gone into the chippy and performed a raid, perhaps using words like ‘Give us all your chips, and now put some more on and give us those too’. Sometimes people say I unfairly exaggerate everything the usual suspects get up to, but this time, take it from me, the chips weighed about as much as a breeze block. Tesco Pete only got three quarters of the way through before abandoning them, there were that many.
It’s always interesting to see the policies that football clubs have in terms of buying tickets in advance rather than on the day. Usually there’s a saving to be made buying in advance. When we visit Oldham later in the season, it’s £5.00 cheaper to buy ahead of the game. Tamworth was at the other end of the spectrum offering tickets that were a whole five pence cheaper online. Obviously as Yorkshiremen we gave it due consideration, but anything can happen on the roads, so we decided to pay on the gate.
‘You can’t have a seat,’ said the turnstile operator, ‘it’s standing in the rain only for away fans’ he continued. After pointing out that we could have booked seats online in advance and that every club the league allows seating for away fans, another turnstile operator set off for clarification from their illustrious leaders. He soon returned with confirmation that we were indeed unable to sit down and watch the game. Whilst confirmation was being sought, our original turnstile operator prepared my seating ticket and took my money, obviously expecting common sense to break out. There was then discussion about whether I could now have the ticket I had just purchased for £22.00…
How I wish the turnstile operators had stuck to their guns and said no, everyone else in the queue now paid £18.00 and sat in the main stand seats if they wished anyway. Despite the really fine rain that gets you wet falling, the hardy 211 travelling Shaymen stood behind the goal under some partial cover making lots of noise. The Tamworth fans were mainly gathered down the opposite side of the pitch under some small, covered terracing. The far goal was an open end, only the mad and fanatical fans would stand there to cheer on the home team in the rain.
The first half started with Tamworth looking bright, zipping the ball around well on their plastic pitch. They spent almost all of the first 10 minutes in our half. Town then zoomed down the other end with one touch passing, scoring with a great finish. The rest of the half was all Tamworth, constantly attacking with Town’s defence working overtime.
The second half was better for the Shaymen, Tamworth still looked menacing, but we had much more of the ball than in the first half and created a few chances. Town made it two with about 10 minutes remaining before the home team nicked one back in injury time. It was one of those games where you wonder how we actually won the match. Tamworth has the lions share of the play, but we took a couple of chances and defended well.
Next up and we’re off for a midweek trip to the seaside to visit Southend. We’ve not won there for a while…. C’mon Shaymen
Miles on the road: 4990. Goals on the road: 23. Points on the road: 29.
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