Stevenage v Bristol Rovers. Lamex Stadium. Tuesday, April 19th 2016

It had been a while since I'd been to a game with my Dad, so I was well chuffed when we hatched a plan to travel to Stevenage for Rovers penultimate away game of the season. They were in the middle of an incredible run of form which had included 6 straight wins in March and ensured that an automatic promotion place, having looked a pipe dream until just a few weeks previously, was now very much possible.

The plan involved me leaving work at 3 and driving to a lay by on the A46 where I'd park up, get in Dad's car and enjoy the M4 and M25 all the way to Stevenage. By 3.30 the first part of the plan had been executed flawlessly. It was a beautiful sunny spring afternoon and we were headed east. Pleasantly surprised by the lack of traffic, we even had time to stop at Leigh Delamare services for a coffee. Fuelled by Americanos and a Bruce Springsteen CD the journey went by in a flash. Even the M25 at rush hour didn't cause us problems.

Pulling in to Stevenage a couple of hours before kick off we headed to a pub called 'Our Mutual Friend' which Rovers fans had identified as a friendly watering hole in the days leading up to the game.

'The Mutual' was a nice pub, it's sunny garden was full of both home and away fans mixing happily. A good selection of ales was on hand and I opted for a pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord whilst my Dad had a half. Sat down and supping on our ales, it wasn't long before my Dad had pulled a Dickens book off the shelf and was reading passages aloud to me. Not typical laddish away day behaviour, but well within the context, it turned out the pub was named after a Dickens novel and that he was known to have drank in the area back in the day when visiting a near by Lord. 

Football Factory like shenanigans in 'The Mutual'

After an educational time at 'The Mutual' we made the short walk to the ground. Rovers had been given the South stand, a single tiered all seater behnid the goal. It was quite a modern stand, close to the action and gave good views with no supporting pillars and quite a steep incline. An impressive 1300 gas heads had made the long journey on a Tuesday night and the stand was pretty much full to capacity. The Lamex is a nice neat stadium. It felt quite modern but also had a good mix of different stands with both seating and terraces. Right up to kick off the sun was still shining brightly which I think always helps a ground look at its best. The main stand to our left was a smart all seater in the club colours of red and white. Opposite was the East Terrace where the rowdier Stevenage fans could be found including an enthusiastic drummer. Whilst there are plenty of behind the goal terraces in the football league, I can't think of many that run the whole length of the pitch with no seating incorporated or behind. This one was a nice one, complete with a gable giving the ground a bit of character.

The main stand

After the long journey our hunger had caught up with us and I joined the long que for the snack bar and bought a chicken and mushroom pie. Taking our seats right behind the goal I took a greedy bite and burnt my tongue straight away. Too eager.

The majority of the Rovers fans were in good spirits, though nervous as they knew that 3 points was essential to keep the automatic promotion place in our own hands.

View of the Rovers end from the front of the snack bar que

Darrel Clarkes team selection was a big topic of conversation, he'd reverted to a more defensively minded 3-5-2 and bought Jake Gosling in from the cold and in to the starting line up. Gosling had been farmed out on loan to Newport in the new year, had played for them a bit, mainly from the bench, come back, scored a fantastic individual goal against Forest Green in a Gloucester cup came and now found himself back in the starting line up.

Watching football with my Dad is fun. In his mid 60's, he's sharp as a tack, has good eye sight and has a strong sense of fair play and doesn't mind speaking up for the oppo even in a partisan crowd. He's also got a slightly annoying habit of making very loud sound effects, especially when a strong tackle goes in 'OOOPH' or a pass is a bit short 'UGGH'. It's difficult to put in to words but you get the picture. He's also on the road to being deaf as a post. When I was younger he was often embarrassing me and my brother at football. When I was about 12, he took us to watch Southampton v QPR at the Dell in the mid 90's. From memory Southampton were desperate for the points to avoid relegation (throughout the 90's they always seemed to be producing great escape after great escape). At a particular tense part of the game, Ray Wilkins, who was then QPR player manager and knocking on 40, subbed himself on. My Dad, delighted that someone almost as old as him was still playing top flight football, stood up and whilst beaming, clapped loudly and kept on repeating "WELL DONE RAY!". My brother and me turned crimson.

There wasn't as much embarrassment here. At one point though, frustrated by a lack of decisions going their way, pretty much the whole Rovers end were enjoying a verse of "The Referee's a wanker". It was at this point that my Dad turned to me and said loudly, "I THINK THE REFS HAVING A BLOODY GOOD GAME - DON'T YOU?". I wasn't sure if he was just being deaf or if it was the sense of fair play again. Either way he keeps me on my toes.

Match action including the Gable on the East Terrace

There were some indicators that Rovers were a couple of places from the top of the league and Stevenage were near the bottom. In truth though the end result, a nil nil draw was pretty much a fair one. Rovers huffed and puffed, but didn't create enough chances, Matty Taylor's golden touch wasn't quite there, Gosling had a long range effort clip the bar and the best chance of the night unfortunately fell to Rovers right back Leadbitter who fired wide from close range. Stevenage defended resolutely but rarely looked dangerous when ever they got in the final third.

We vanished off in to the night with the rest of the away fans with Rovers having lost ground on their promotion rivals. A couple of weeks later however, on the final day of the season, the point gathered here at the Lamex would prove to be a very valuable one indeed.