It was cold, dark, and had just stopped raining, the wet pathway glistened in the moonlight. As I approached Tesco Pete’s mansion it was in complete darkness. Following a message announcing my arrival, the disco lights started. Firstly upstairs, then one by one each light around the house came on for moment then went off. Soon, out of the darkness, a shadowy figure appeared, ‘I’ve missed my toast again,’ he moaned. Deep down, you could tell he was delighted to be up and was looking forward to our 264-mile journey south west, the next eighteen hours together already seemed promising!
You can never set off too early, the plan is always to make sure we’re at the ground an hour before kick-off. Add to that an hour stuck in traffic and another hour for a decent breakfast stop. As luck would have it, we also gained another hour as Tesco Pete finally got around to adjusting the clock in the car from British Summer Time. Instead of breakfast in the Midlands we were living it up in Taunton, complete with Christmas decorations and carols playing in the background. It seems everyone is doing things too early…
Arriving at the ground shortly after midday we were greeted by a friendly face guarding the official carpark. A man with a deep Somerset accent but keen to tell us of his Yorkshire family roots. After ‘accidentally’ wandering through an open doorway, we were given a potted history of Yeovil Town and a quick tour of the empty ground by a loyal club volunteer. The programme shop was equally interesting, memorabilia across the decades run by another volunteer who knew the Shay and local hostelries well. With 25 years of running coaches to away games, he’s seen Yeovil’s highs and lows over the years.
The travelling Shaymen were given the first few blocks of seating alongside the penalty area. Admission was a bargain £17 for adults, reduced to match the price for standing on their open terrace behind the goal. The home fans had the rest of the seating alongside both sides of the pitch and a well-proportioned covered terrace at the other end. Segregation was in place but relaxed with home and away fans sharing the same food kiosk beneath the seats.
The first half was competitive with both sides looking to attack at every opportunity. Yeovil had several corners at our end of the pitch, whist Town went close to taking the lead with a one-on-one at the other end. The keeper made a decent save with a follow up soon after zooming just wide. In truth, Yeovil is a dubious place to watch football, you always think you’re doing well but somehow always seem to come away with little to show for it.
With the Shaymen attacking our end of the field the 69 travelling fans upped the volume in the second half. It was cold and darkness had fallen but the hard-working Shaymen kept us entertained. Midway though the half, Town took the lead, a shot into the roof of the net from outside the box. Whirlwind Jim was down those steps celebrating in an instant, it was the first time we’d seen the team score at Yeovil in decades, a great strike. From that point onwards, Yeovil went for it. They dominated possession and spent much of the game firing everything into our box, but the Town stood firm, giving it everything.
At the final whistle, the team celebrated with the travelling fans. Each member of the squad high-fived every fan with a few words of engagement exchanged either way. It was another decent, well earned three points on the road; 18 hours well spent.
Next up and we’re off to Forest Green Rovers, how exciting is that?
Miles on the road: 2770. Goals on the road: 8. Points on the road: 15.
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