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To the Smoke for London Seaward v Stevenage Ladies. When I'd checked the train times online it was clear that there was something amiss with the trains today, so I opted for the undisrupted National Express coaches. Reached Walthamstow in plenty of time and went for the works at Five Guys complete with a peanut butter milkshake.
A quick Kopparberg in the bar then headed into the ground. Last week's storms had blown the tarpaulin 'The Wadham Lodge Stadium' sign back, leaving the old sign 'Welcome to WFAFC Stadium' with the old Waltham Forest club badge showing. In the ground Bruce, a fan of the team in their Orient days who'd posted online that he'd be coming to his first game of the season today, introduced himself. Groundhopper Dave was in his usual seat. I got to say hello to Dan and James as they went down the tunnel a few minutes before kick-off, and waved and shouted hello to the girls at the front of the line as they waited in the tunnel to emerge.
I went to get a seat near Dave and Bruce. Dave's mate was surprised to see me again; I said "They're my team". He asked "Stevenage?" I replied "Seaward. I started following them as Orient Women 3 years ago." Dave said "We've had today's referee before. He sent Chris [our former manager] off against Wimbledon once".
Alas, the seats in the front row are pretty rackety. The base of one gave way with me sitting in it; I moved to the adjacent one and the back cracked. I headed for the more robust seats further back.
The game was a relegation six-pointer. Happily, Seaward mostly had the better of the play and Rea put us in front just after the half hour. One of the Stevenage coaches loudly claimed there had been a handball. He continued to vocally dispute decisions for the rest of the half. Jamie-Lee Bamford in our goal pulled off several stupendous saves in both halves. The second half was marked by a number of Stevenage players repeatedly arguing with match officials; in the end one of them got a red card. Both teams pressed forward in the closing stages but it ended 1-0. I went to stand by the tunnel to clap the girls off. Egle came over and said hello; she'd been standing at pitchside watching today but said she was hoping to be back playing next week. Dave told me how she'd had her nose broken at QPR last week. I said I looked forward to seeing her back out on the field; she replied that she couldn't wait either. I waited for the coaches to come back across the pitch and waved goodbye to them. As I left the ground a Stevenage coach was still grumbling about the goal being handball and saying "If that one point sends us down". Dave's mate shouted "Safe journey back to Pompey" to me.
Walking back to Walthamstow tube I checked my watch and realised that by waiting for everyone I'd left myself cutting it fine for the coach home. Thank goodness, I did make it to Victoria Coach Station just on time to board the coach, but, alas, didn't have time to get a coffee first. There were some people waiting by our coach who, apparently, had booked on an earlier one that didn't turn up. With that and the shenanigans on the trains, it should have come as no surprise that our coach ended up full. Just my luck, a guy came to sit next to me who, perhaps thanks in part to his bulky bag on the floor, took up 60% of our shared bench. I spent the whole two-hour ride to Portsmouth uneasily shifting in a vain bid to get my legs in a comfortable position. Some music on my iPod at least made the journey bearable.
Please let the trains be better next week.
A quick Kopparberg in the bar then headed into the ground. Last week's storms had blown the tarpaulin 'The Wadham Lodge Stadium' sign back, leaving the old sign 'Welcome to WFAFC Stadium' with the old Waltham Forest club badge showing. In the ground Bruce, a fan of the team in their Orient days who'd posted online that he'd be coming to his first game of the season today, introduced himself. Groundhopper Dave was in his usual seat. I got to say hello to Dan and James as they went down the tunnel a few minutes before kick-off, and waved and shouted hello to the girls at the front of the line as they waited in the tunnel to emerge.
I went to get a seat near Dave and Bruce. Dave's mate was surprised to see me again; I said "They're my team". He asked "Stevenage?" I replied "Seaward. I started following them as Orient Women 3 years ago." Dave said "We've had today's referee before. He sent Chris [our former manager] off against Wimbledon once".
Alas, the seats in the front row are pretty rackety. The base of one gave way with me sitting in it; I moved to the adjacent one and the back cracked. I headed for the more robust seats further back.
The game was a relegation six-pointer. Happily, Seaward mostly had the better of the play and Rea put us in front just after the half hour. One of the Stevenage coaches loudly claimed there had been a handball. He continued to vocally dispute decisions for the rest of the half. Jamie-Lee Bamford in our goal pulled off several stupendous saves in both halves. The second half was marked by a number of Stevenage players repeatedly arguing with match officials; in the end one of them got a red card. Both teams pressed forward in the closing stages but it ended 1-0. I went to stand by the tunnel to clap the girls off. Egle came over and said hello; she'd been standing at pitchside watching today but said she was hoping to be back playing next week. Dave told me how she'd had her nose broken at QPR last week. I said I looked forward to seeing her back out on the field; she replied that she couldn't wait either. I waited for the coaches to come back across the pitch and waved goodbye to them. As I left the ground a Stevenage coach was still grumbling about the goal being handball and saying "If that one point sends us down". Dave's mate shouted "Safe journey back to Pompey" to me.
Walking back to Walthamstow tube I checked my watch and realised that by waiting for everyone I'd left myself cutting it fine for the coach home. Thank goodness, I did make it to Victoria Coach Station just on time to board the coach, but, alas, didn't have time to get a coffee first. There were some people waiting by our coach who, apparently, had booked on an earlier one that didn't turn up. With that and the shenanigans on the trains, it should have come as no surprise that our coach ended up full. Just my luck, a guy came to sit next to me who, perhaps thanks in part to his bulky bag on the floor, took up 60% of our shared bench. I spent the whole two-hour ride to Portsmouth uneasily shifting in a vain bid to get my legs in a comfortable position. Some music on my iPod at least made the journey bearable.
Please let the trains be better next week.
