An afternoon off work and a 209-mile journey south to look forward to. It was time for our annual midweek long-distance adventure. Every season we have one; it usually doesn’t end well. As much as we tried, we couldn’t persuade any other Town fans to join us. It was just me, Pete, and the Savile Park Shayman. You can only imagine how exciting our journey was.
With a 2pm departure, we were confident of a reputable teatime stop in Northamptonshire, but once again, the traffic had other plans. Instead, we headed directly to Ruislip in search of a chippy and a decent bucket of chips. The final eight miles of our journey were through some of the most rural areas inside the M25: fishing lakes, country lanes and posh pubs, but not a single chippy anywhere.
We located a parking spot at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac close to the ground. The locals were well dressed, educated, out walking their dogs or pruning the rhododendrons. The houses were ordinary, but undoubtedly mega-expensive just because of their location. As we walked the last few yards to the ground, suddenly there was chaos. Someone’s car alarm was screeching away in the distance, the neighbours were all out, and the police were up periscope. The normally serene evening quickly turned into an episode of ‘Who Done It?’ Obviously, you don’t need me to tell you whose car it was, or who was sat in the front passenger seat next to the car bonnet leaver.
Wealdstone has a knack of making you feel very welcome. The matchday operation appears to be run by an army of volunteers, each tracking your every move without you even knowing it. We were directed to the clubhouse, the relaxed outdoor seating, the merchandise shop and the food van. With a list of options like that, we headed straight to the food van. Spicy chips with salt and red pepper for under a fiver — you couldn’t go wrong.
With the usual segregation in place, we were directed to the bottom end of the ground, with access to either seating or standing from one corner flag to the other. As the game kicked off, the sun set, dusk fell, and the floodlights did their best to illuminate the action. Town were kicking uphill and had to withstand a strong start from the home side. It was difficult to make out the action in the distance through the twilight as the Shaymen settled into the game. It was goalless at half-time, without either goalkeeper having much to do.
The second half was much better, with Town kicking towards us. Right from the restart, it seemed a different game. We had the pleasure of Whirlwind Jim and his merry men, cheering and singing at every opportunity. Town scored with a well-taken goal; the ball was passed numerous times inside the Wealdstone box before eventually being hammered home. Lucky for us, Jim and his merry men set off in pursuit of the celebrating Town players by the top corner flag. They were already fired up before the goal; an overenthusiastic hug from those guys would have been far too much.
After that, Town never looked in danger, putting in a hard-working display. One curious thing: the game finished without a single corner for either team.
At full-time, the players took the deserved applause, whilst the manager individually thanked each of the 44 travelling Shaymen for attending. A real touch of class.
Driving back and arriving home shortly before 2am, we knew we would be tired at work the following morning. It was worth it, though. It’s always worth it. You never know when we’ll win away, but when we do, it’s always something special.
Next up, an early start for our longest trip of the season: Worthing away by the seaside. Surely they’ll have a chippy?
Miles on the road: 1,350 Goals on the road: 4 Points on our travels: 3
Read more posts by Rob Brown
