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Went to see the Hatters at Nuneaton. I'd decided this away trip was viable as the fare was only £18 and it was only 36 minutes from Milton Keynes, plus the clincher : I hadn't done the ground before. And I had a stroke of luck on MK station; I'd moved forward just a couple of places from the back of the mile-long ticket queue when a bloke, seeing my Luton shirt, approached me and asked if I was going to Nuneaton. His party of 14 had had to buy 16 Groupsave tickets as they come in fours, so he offered to sell me one of the spares for a tenner.
It's a half hour walk from Nuneaton station to the ground. On reaching the nearest pub, the Crow's Nest, I entered to find the place heaving with Luton fans, including a large group congregated at one side loudly singing terrace chants. They included a couple of old ones devoted to 70s/80s legend Brian Stein. I later read in the programme that he was a guest of honour at the match; that made me wonder if he'd been in the pub, which would have explained the songs. If so, I do regret staying in the quiet part of the pub and missing meeting one of my childhood heroes.
No regrets about the match, though. The travelling Hatters support comprised the majority of the crowd, filling up one end, an entire long side, and a couple of blocks of the small stand. Plenty of singing and vocal support from our lot, while the home fans were quiet as mice most of the time, something that was mentioned in a couple of chants from our end.
Fourth placed Nuneaton were expected to make a match of it; sure enough the game was hard fought and goalless for the first 34 minutes. Then Paul Benson put Luton in front with a precision low shot from close range. That started our lot singing "The Town are going up" and and a couple more promotion songs with gusto.
Through the second half Hardcore Sue texted me with news from Gosport Borough's FA Trophy semi-final second leg with Havant & Waterlooville. 19 minutes into the half Andre netted from a goalmouth scramble. From then on the ground rang to our ever louder promotion chants, and Luke Guttridge wrapped it up with a well drilled 25 yarder a little later.
As the game entered its last 10 minutes I made for the corner of the ground by the exits, to make sure I made an early enough getaway to catch the train. Benno struck again to net a loose ball by the goal line, and one Hatter standing right by the rail announced "No more now! I've bet on 4-0 and stand to win 340 quid." Alas for the punter, with five minutes left Jake Howells met a cross with a bullet header that the keeper never even saw. While everyone around him celebrated, the unfortunate fellow turned his back on the pitch and exclaimed "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Before full time, though, he was declaring it to be the most pleasurable way he'd ever lost £340. And Gosport won their semi-final and are going to Wembley.
Getting my day's exercise in with a power walk back to the station, I made it there comfortably on time. The consensus among most of the dozen of us in the waiting room was that the title's in the bag. Fingers crossed, chaps... The train was jam packed with Hatters fans, a large number standing along the aisle and in the door areas boisterously singing for most of the journey (and someone a little further up from where a London Hatter and I were sitting made an evil odour soon after we left Rugby, prompting one fan near me to actually put his jumper over his nose).
Arrived at MK with 40 minutes till the bus home. Took refuge in the Spoons with a Baltika. Then bus, and straight to the Axe for a bite to eat.
Just seen our Olympic heroines Lizzy Yarnold and Jenny Jones both looking stunning on the Jonathan Ross show *<3*
It's a half hour walk from Nuneaton station to the ground. On reaching the nearest pub, the Crow's Nest, I entered to find the place heaving with Luton fans, including a large group congregated at one side loudly singing terrace chants. They included a couple of old ones devoted to 70s/80s legend Brian Stein. I later read in the programme that he was a guest of honour at the match; that made me wonder if he'd been in the pub, which would have explained the songs. If so, I do regret staying in the quiet part of the pub and missing meeting one of my childhood heroes.
No regrets about the match, though. The travelling Hatters support comprised the majority of the crowd, filling up one end, an entire long side, and a couple of blocks of the small stand. Plenty of singing and vocal support from our lot, while the home fans were quiet as mice most of the time, something that was mentioned in a couple of chants from our end.
Fourth placed Nuneaton were expected to make a match of it; sure enough the game was hard fought and goalless for the first 34 minutes. Then Paul Benson put Luton in front with a precision low shot from close range. That started our lot singing "The Town are going up" and and a couple more promotion songs with gusto.
Through the second half Hardcore Sue texted me with news from Gosport Borough's FA Trophy semi-final second leg with Havant & Waterlooville. 19 minutes into the half Andre netted from a goalmouth scramble. From then on the ground rang to our ever louder promotion chants, and Luke Guttridge wrapped it up with a well drilled 25 yarder a little later.
As the game entered its last 10 minutes I made for the corner of the ground by the exits, to make sure I made an early enough getaway to catch the train. Benno struck again to net a loose ball by the goal line, and one Hatter standing right by the rail announced "No more now! I've bet on 4-0 and stand to win 340 quid." Alas for the punter, with five minutes left Jake Howells met a cross with a bullet header that the keeper never even saw. While everyone around him celebrated, the unfortunate fellow turned his back on the pitch and exclaimed "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Before full time, though, he was declaring it to be the most pleasurable way he'd ever lost £340. And Gosport won their semi-final and are going to Wembley.
Getting my day's exercise in with a power walk back to the station, I made it there comfortably on time. The consensus among most of the dozen of us in the waiting room was that the title's in the bag. Fingers crossed, chaps... The train was jam packed with Hatters fans, a large number standing along the aisle and in the door areas boisterously singing for most of the journey (and someone a little further up from where a London Hatter and I were sitting made an evil odour soon after we left Rugby, prompting one fan near me to actually put his jumper over his nose).
Arrived at MK with 40 minutes till the bus home. Took refuge in the Spoons with a Baltika. Then bus, and straight to the Axe for a bite to eat.
Just seen our Olympic heroines Lizzy Yarnold and Jenny Jones both looking stunning on the Jonathan Ross show *<3*
