Northampton Town v Grimsby Town. Saturday, 24th November 2018

2 Northampton v Grimsby 2

Having enjoyed our selves so much at Blundell Park last season, my Grimsby supporting pal, Pete, willing accomplice Tom and me, thought it would be a good idea to join the Mariners on an away day.

Thus we ended up booking a weekend in Northampton for this league two clash. Northampton was chosen due to being a weekend we could all make more than anything else. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting much from Sixfields, or as it is now called for sponsorship purposes, the PTS Academy Stadium. From the little I knew about it - that it's a modern all seater in a retail park, I assumed it was the kind of place that suited a bland corporate name such as the PTS Acadamey Stadium. I am pleased to say however it exceeded expectations. Partly this was because being in a packed away end with the passionate Grimsby fans would make for a decent atmosphere anywhere. But on arrival at Sixfields, it was clear that the place had more character than I'd given it credit for.

The history of Northampton Football club is not without scandal, financial hardship and political skulduggery. They have been at Sixfields, their current ground, since the mid 90's. Before this they played for a hundred years or so at the County Ground, a home they shared with Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. It's funny to think that as recently as 1994, within the premier league era, there was a football league club playing on a cricket pitch. In the latter part of the twentieth century, the owners of the ground made it clear that the cricket team were their favourites. The cricketers were charged a pepper corn rent whilst the football team were not allowed to put a stand on the side of the pitch nearest the wicket, but were still expected to let the football pitch be used as a car park during the cricket season. After the Bradford fire of 1985, the football team were ordered to dismantle their main stand, the only stand of any note at the ground.

By the early 90's the club was near bankrupt. Step forward multiple saviours. First came the groundbreaking intervention of a group of supporters who would go on to form the first ever supporters trust. They had two clear objectives - to raise money to save the club and also to seek genuine involvement and representation for supporters at board level and below. They remain active and have served as the template for the multiple supporters trusts that have emerged over the last 25 years. The local council then stepped in to the breach. Flush with cash from the sale of the local bus company, Northampton Borough Council paid for the building of Sixfields as a community sports complex. It was intended to be used for football, rugby league, gridiron and athletics with a track built alongside the main stadium.

This was not a happy ever after moment however. In recent years, the club has been rocked again to it's foundations by more scandal and financial turmoil. In 2014, the council again stepped forward, this time giving the then owners a loan in excess of £10 million to redevelop the stadium. The then leader of the council, became a tory MP shortly after and was later investigated for receiving a large donation for his election campaign from a firm paid to develop the ground. He has since stood down and the council has spent most of the last 4 years trying to find out where the hell the missling millions have gone. It is clear not much of it went on the ground. As far as I understand, all the stadium has got to show for the £10 million is one stand being ripped down and replaced with a half finished one. It has the same amount of seats as the old one though lacks a proper roof. Plus, the athletics track has been closed for 4 years as a result of being used as a dumping ground for the building work.

Enough history. Having watched Coventry at the ricoh the night before, we'd checked in to our hotel in the centre of Northampton late on Friday. In an act of prudence I'd booked a cheap room consisting of a double and a sofa bed meant for under 12's. I won the game of paper, scissors, stone and took the sofa bed leaving the lads to enjoy the double. 12 year olds must be pretty big these days because I had ample room and slept like a baby. It was also pretty cold as we couldn't work out how to shut the window so being tightly packed in worked out well.

Come Saturday, after a big breakfast we spent the rest of the morning half heartedly trying to find where the Grimsby fans would be congregating pre match. Generally though, we were just ambling about and seeing what Northampton had to offer. After admiring it's very fine town hall, we stumbled across the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery but it was closed for a refurb. We had a nice coffee within the cultural quarter and then it was midday and time to look for a pub whilst Pete went shopping. Despite being in the undisputed boot and shoe capital of Britain, Pete, ever the contrarian, went in search of a pair of fingerless gloves.

The Northampton Museum and Art Gallery. FYI closed for a refurb until 2019

Our first port of call was a lovely micro pub called the St Giles Ale House. After a quick couple of beer bats, or beer tapas as they called it here, we picked up Pete and slowly made our way to the ground, stopping occasionally for a beer and to put a bet on Grimsby to win. 

Sixfields is, I think it is fair to say, on the outskirts of Northampton rather than genuinely 'out of town' and the walk there wasn't too arduous or devoid of stuff to look at. Our half hour stroll took in a couple of nice pubs, the towns rugby union stadium, a reptile shop, a big Church's shoes factory and a strange giant chimney like structure which apparently is a lift tower. Eventually arriving at the ground we approached it through a retail park and then came over the brow of a hill to look down at the ground below us. It was a lovely sight. During Coventry's unhappy spell exiled here, many of their fans watched the games from this vantage point and probably had a half decent view, minus one of the goals as the incline is pretty steep.

Before descending down to the pitch. Our eyes were drawn to the athletics track that is directly behind the new unfinished stand. It had an eerie and long forgotten feel about it. I was amazed to find out that it had been closed for only 4 and a half years. There was something quite poignant about seeing it all overgrown and fenced off, resembling something from a nuclear wasteland. The juxtaposition of the football stadium right next to it blaring out pre match music and generally full of life was quite something.

 If Chrenobyl had an athletics track, it probably looks something like this now.

We made our way down the hill and around to the away end behind the far goal. We passed the main stand which had a fully glass fronted concourse at the top making it look a bit like a giant green house. It also reminded me of the leisure centre from The Brittas Empire. The Grimsby fans had travelled in their masses and by kick off the away stand was packed. As a Bristol Rovers fan I was looking forward to seeing ex players Andy Williams and John Joe O-Toole turning out for Northampton.

It seemed like a good number of the Grimsby fans had had a drink or two and they were all in high spirits. A few friendly stewards stood in front of us including one young female with a bee hive hair cut. She showed a good sense of humour when an "Amy Winehouse - She's back from the dead" shout went up.

Meanwhile the game had kicked off and it wasn't long before Grimsby conceded an unnecessary corner. The ball came in and after a short rally of head tennis, veteran striker Andy Williams was at the back post to smash the ball home - 1-0. Grimsby's heads didn't drop and they equalised through Charles Vernam when he took down a looping cross, stepped in side a defender and finished neatly with his left, low in to the net. Just before half time, Williams almost gave Northampton the lead with a header, but long serving Town keeper James Mckeowan made an incredible save, pushing the ball on to the inside of the post before it was hacked away leaving the scores level at the break.

After a half time mince pie, the second half set off at a frantic pace with both teams creating chances. The Cobblers took the lead through a sweet free kick from Van Veen. Grimsby came back stongly though and after a scramble in the box following a free kick, Harry Cardwell was able to bundle home to bring the game to 2-2. Grimsby were now looking likely to go and win it and the excitement in the away end was ratchetting up. It all got too much for one bloke in blue at the front. After hugging the stewards and jumping the hoardings once too often, he was wrestled out of the ground in a blur of limbs and hi-vis jackets.

 On the pitch, young Akheem Rose had come on as sub for Grimsby and had a good chance with a header 5 minutes from the end, he couldn't keep it down though and it sailed harmlessly over the bar. From the resultant goal kick, Grimsby's James Collins was sent off for a foul. This killed the last few minutes as Grimsby took their foot off the gas and looked to settle for a point. It remained 2-2 at the final whistle. A strong showing from Grimsby, especially compared to the desperate performance we witnessed last season when they were in the middle of a record run of games without a win. Manager Michael Jolly has clearly got them believing in them selves and playing some nice stuff.

We slowly made our way back to town before enjoying a lovely curry at Aladdins Balti. Next we settled in for the evening in the cosiness of The Malt Shovel Tavern. What a cracking pub! It turns out that Carlsberg have a giant brewing plant in Northampton which was right outside the Malt Shovel. I've never been much of a fan of Carlsberg but drinking it at source made for a pleasant drop.

Another fine weekend following the fortunes of Grimsby Town Football Club. I recommend a trip to Northampton, the stadium and the town were not as boring as I was led to believe.

QPR v Bristol Rovers, Tuesday 28th August, 2018

QPR 3 Bristol Rovers 1

After Chelsea and Fulham in 2016 and 2017 respectively, this was Rovers third annual outing to West London in the league cup. Tonights 'glamour tie' involved a trip to Championship QPR. Hopes were high amongst us travelling fans, although Rovers had had a poor start to the season, QPR's had been even worse and included a 7-1 mauling at West Brom and a recent 3-0 defeat at home to Bristol City.

My last visit to Loftus Road had been a bit of a disaster by all accounts. It was back in 2007 for a league game against Ipswich. At the time I was working in a hostel for rough sleepers. QPR were kind enough to donate half a dozen tickets to the hostel for the game. Myself and a colleague, tempted by the free ticket offered to come in on our day off to accompany the residents accross town. I ended up spending the afternoon with a new Irish resident called Jackie. By the time we got to the ground, she'd already had a few clandestine cans of Tennants and was in high spirits. As we took our seats just before kick off it was noticeable we were surrounded a lot of young children, presumably fellow recipients of QPR's community outreach drive. As the game got underway the youngsters enthusiastically joined in on the "RANGERS, RANGERS" chant. Unfortunately this was too much for Jackie to take. An Irish catholic, she retorted, very loudly, "FUCK RANGERS - CELTIC, CELTIC" etc. My desperate attempts to shush her and explain that QPR had nothing to do with Glasgow Rangers fell on deaf ears and she carried on with her choice observations. Needless to say we were attracting a lot of looks from the children, the accompanying adults and nearby stewards. It seemed Jackie was relishing the notoriety and she showed no sign of toning things down. We left before half time. Probably just before we were asked to. Me back home with my tail between my legs and Jackie to a nearby off license.

Tonight I was in esteemed company. In the car were Harley of Gas Cast fame and my pal Tom, retired blogger and now official photographer for Bristol Manor Farm. Briony and Paul were the other knowledgeable gas heads sitting in the back. We zipped up the M4 and arrived in Shepherds Bush in plenty of time, allowing an enjoyable pint or two in The Queen Adelaide before heading to the game.

Loftus Road is a lovely old ground. It doesn't appear to have changed at all since my last visit over a decade ago and probably hasn't changed much since long before that. Tightly surrounded by terraced streets, it's made up of stands all the same height with three being two tiered and one being a steep single tiered affair. The claustrophobic concourse under the stand made this feel like a classic old ground. I also like how blue it is. I heard one Rovers fan moaning that it felt like one giant corrugated iron shed. A bit rich considering the state of the Memorial stadium. A recent visiting Millwall fan memorably quipped - 'A tent, a cricket pavillion and a cow shed - and that's just one side of the ground'!

For the home side this was very much not a glamour tie and this was borne out by the attendance of 5,000 of which Rovers accounted for almost 2,000. One side of the ground was closed but being in the packed away end in the upper tier behind a goal meant the atmosphere was pretty good anyway.

I'm writing this some time after the game so my recollection of the match action is pretty limited. I do remember us going 1-0 down, then 2-0 down very quickly in the first half. QPR were kicking towards us so at least we had a good view of the goals. James Clarke, Rovers popular utility man was tasked with doing a job at right back and had a torrid time trying to deal with Rangers left winger. Clark cut a comical figure as with chest puffed out, he ran back towards goal whilst trying to look over his shoulder at the on rushing winger who would then go past him as if he wasn't there. Adam Smith in the Rovers goal looked dodgy as well and it was a mild relief that it was only 2-0 at half time.

Rangers went 3-0 up in the second half when giant striker, Matt Smith was left unmarked and picked his spot with a header. Ed Upson scored a late consolation for Rovers to make the score line look a little more respectable. Off we trotted back to Bristol. An enjoyable summers evening in West London at a classic old ground, but not a performance that will live long in the memory.

Clevedon Town v Brislington. Wednesday 8th August, 2018

Clevedon 4 Brislington 3

Not many teams at this level have 'out of town stadiums' but Clevedon's  impressive home is a mile or two away from the seaside town in a place called Kenn. Formally known as The Hand, it is now called The Everyone Active stadium. There is a gym and a full size floodlit astro on the complex but apart from that and the car park, the place appears fairly isolated, down the end of a long lane.

This was the second round of fixtures for both teams in the Toolstation Western Premier league. Brislington have been main stays of the Western League since the early 90's. Clevedon meanwhile were higher up in the pyramid in the Southern League until 2015 when they resigned from that level. That the club have recently played at a higher league is evident from the size of the Hand stadium. Built in 1992, the club clearly had ambitions to play in the upper echelons of the non league game. On one side of the pitch is the main stand pictured above. High walled and covered, it has several blocks of raised seats giving a good view of the pitch over the dug outs. Opposite is an impressive covered terrace that stretches the entire length of the pitch. Whilst both sides of the pitch wouldn't look out of place in the National League, the ends behind the goals are more modest uncovered terraces.

I was travelling alone tonight, my occasional ground hopping companion Bryan pulling out due to dog training commitments. As play got under way, it was clear this was going to be a fast paced game. The pitch looked in great condition, a lot greener than the surrounding countryside and the ball was behaving itself, allowing the players to pass with confidence.

I've seen Brislington a couple of times over the last year or so and was disappointed to see no Niekel Plummer up front. The big target man, part of the renowned Bristolian footballing and Goggle box Plummer family, has been good value when I've seen them play in recent seasons.

Both teams looked young and fit, just as well as the game really was being played at a thunderous pace compared to a pre season encounter.

Brislington had a tall pacey young number 9, Louis Britton, who was evidently a lot quicker than the home sides centre backs. He raced on to an early through ball and was denied by the out rushing keeper who saved at his feet. Clevedon's number 11, Jack Sell, looked lively from the off and he opened the scoring with a cool finish. Finding himself one on one with the keeper, he feigned to shoot with his right, allowing the keeper to wrong foot himself before sliding it in with his left. 1-0 to the home team.

Not long after, Brislington were level: The number 9 beat the off side trap, running on to a ball over the top, dinking it over the keeper and then tapping it in to an empty net for a very well taken goal. 1-1.

Another fine goal saw Clevedon retake the lead. Brislington half cleared a rapid counter attack but the Clevedon number 8, Nicholson, tackled his opposite number just outside the area and almost in the same movement smashed the ball in to the top corner.

Brislington came back again however and quickly equalised with another fine goal, a left foot strike from their number 10. 2-2 at half time.
One of the things I enjoy most about watching live football at any level is seeing how the players and management interact with the officials. Watching someone skilled in the 'dark arts' of getting inside the ref's head and trying to make sure the 50-50's go his way can be as entertaining as a 30 yard screamer. With this in mind I took up a position in the seats directly above the dug outs for the second half. 

I was pleased to recognise a familiar face on the Brislington bench, I'm not sure if he was injured or has retired from playing, but Jason Hughs who has been the marshal of the Brislington defence in recent seasons was tonight barking orders from the touch line. Constantly in the refs ear with 'advice' he gets the balance between politeness and pressure just right. The game maintained a nice flow with a fair bit of verbal from both bench's towards the ref, without anyone blowing a gasket or getting sent off; Usually a good sign that the refs done alright.

The goals continued to fly in in the second half. After a lovely passing move, the home side went 3-2 up with a shot from the edge of the area that went in off a post. A Clevedon fan told  me that on the previous saturday he'd worked out the average age of the starting 11 to be about 18 and a half. On this showing 'The Seasiders' have some fine young players on their hands. The pick of them for me was number 11 - Sell. He seemed to be limping for the whole of the second half but still managed to run at pace in to the box with the ball stuck to his feet and was unlucky not to add to his goal from the first half.

Brislington were not ready to roll over and die and made it 3-3 through Clarke Taylor. A deep cross came in from the left and Taylor managed to get a volley away before the keeper was able to set himself.

Clevedon continued to dominate though Brislington were also looking dangerous on the counter attack. The game was settled however with another screamer, Clevedon's Lucas Vowles scoring a fine free kick with a few minutes to go.

A cracking game of football with seven great goals. If Clevedon can tighten up the back they should be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Chipping Sodbury Town v Yate Town. Tuesday 24th July, 2018

Chipping Sodbury 1 Yate 3

The long hot summer of 2018. What a time to be alive! Day after day of glorious sunshine and a thrilling World Cup to boot. As much as I've enjoyed following the goings on in Russia on T.V., I was itching to get some fresh air and get back on the terraces.

Thus I found my self in South Gloucestershire on this Tuesday night, at The Ridings, home to Chipping Sodbury Town of the Western Premier League. Tonight they were hosting local rivals, Yate from the league above. Despite being a pre season friendly, I joined a big crowd who had turned up to see this local derby. The rivalry is referred to as 'El South Glossico' (by absolutely no one, much to my disappointment) and just two and a half miles separate the clubs.

The Ridings is nestled in the cradle of the Chipping Sodbury sporting scene, with the market town's rugby and cricket clubs both adjacent. It's a fairly open ground, with a club house on the near side of the pitch, with the dug outs and a couple of seated stands alongside. The first thing the struck me when I arrived apart from the bumper crowd, was the state of the pitch. It actually looked better than I expected considering the weather we've had, but despite a fair bit of green, it was undoubtedly rock hard and both teams were struggling to stop the ball bouncing up from under their feet.  

I was also a big fan of 'The Sods' kit, a black and white striped shirt with black shorts, both with big Kappa logos, very much ala Juventus. It was a last minute decision to come to the game so I hadn't done much in the way of research. I was aware that Yate had Ben Brooks in the side, a classy number 10. I've seen Brooks play a few times and remember him most from a game where he scored two goals for Larkhall in a game they lost 10-2! I also found out that The Sods are a club on the up, having been promoted twice in the last three years.

Looking out over the sun drenched pitch, I gradually settled in to the poetic rhythm of the game. By the time a Yate defender bellowed out "18 AND NO FUCKING DEEPER", I felt at one with my surroundings and was relishing the prospect of the 2018/19 season stretching out before me.

As the first half progressed, Yate were looking like a team from a division above. They kept on finding space down the left flank and it was no big surprise when they took the lead, courtesy of a thumping header from Langworthy.

Langworthy about to open the scoring

Yate hit the bar from a cross / shot, again from the left before the ref stopped play for a drinks break, taking in to account the 8pm heat. The ref had evidently had a relaxing close season and was clearly enjoying himself and not taking things too seriously. Any aggro that came his way seemed like water off a ducks back and he kept proceedings flowing along nicely.

Yate continued to dominate possession but the score remained 1-0 at the break. The Sods number 6 who I think was called "Demo", caught the eye with a few mazy runs and the hosts also had a couple of chances against the run of play, but Yates giant centre backs managed to intervene just in time.

By a strange quirk of nature I ended up getting a free cup of tea at half time.  Panic had broken out as I arrived in the bar as someone ordered a rum and coke, the barmaid realised that she and everyone else around her was too short to retrieve the rum from the top shelf. To my surprise I found myself ushered forward when the call went out for "someone tall". Behind the bar I used everyone of my 5 foot 9 inches to good effect and safely fetched the Captain Morgan's. I was rewarded accordingly with a lovely cup of tea.

Chipping Sodbury made several changes in the second half and started to come in to the game more and more. Eventually their endeavour was rewarded and they scored a deserved equaliser. A pacey right winger had been bought on at half time who was happy to run at the Yate defenders. After a few promising looking runs with little end product, he again got near the edge of the area, this time he skipped past a defender before getting a shot away. His effort lacked power but luckily for the Sods, their number 10, the appropriately named George Box, was lurking near the penalty spot and the shot ended up at his feet, he turned neatly and managed to poke it home past the keeper. 1-1.

The last twenty minutes saw both teams looking to win rather then settle for a friendly draw. A few tackles were flying and the ref was trying to keep a lid on things, putting one protesting player in his place with a measured "Shut up will you". Yate hit the bar again with a header from a Brooks corner. A couple of minutes were left on the clock when the visitors won a free kick 30 odd yards out. Big Nick Peare stepped up and wrong footed the keeper, beating him at his near post with a wonderful strike. 2-1 Yate.

In the final minute, another strong challenge went in on the edge of The Sods area. The foul was given, there were some halfhearted protests from the home team, though no one really argued with the ref when he explained "It was a bit fucking late!" Peare came forward again and beat the wall and the keeper again, finding the same bottom corner. 3-1 Yate at full time.

A very enjoyable way to start the new season. Lets hope it's a good one.

Plymouth Argyle v Bristol Rovers. Saturday 17th March 2018

Argyle 3 Rovers 2

One of the many joys of supporting a lower league team is there is usually no problem getting a ticket. It is only rarely, for big away games when the allocation is sold out to season ticket holders before going on general sale that problems can arise. Alas, since forgoing my season ticket some ten years ago I have been vulnerable to such occasions. This fate befell me for this game as in form Plymouth gave an allocation of 1500 to localish rivals and in formish Bristol Rovers. 

Unfortunately for me I'd been planning to go to this game since October and had booked a family weekend on the Devon coast to coincide with the fixture. Not to be deterred, I opted to sit on my hands and get tickets for the home end. 

Accompanying me on this trip to Argyle's Home Park would be my mate Rich who was also down in Devon with his family. As we left our caravan park on the coast, 'The Beast from the East' was returning and it had started to snow heavily. Rich eventually found BBC Radio Devon on the car dial who were kind enough to confirm the game was on. Reassured by this I turned my concerns as to whether Rich was a bad luck charm. We worked out that the last time he'd seen Rovers away was a 6-1 defeat at Walsall in 2011, or a 4 or 5 nil hammering at Leyton Orient in the same year. I reassured myself that he was also present at 'The Taming of the Shrew' at Wembley in 2007 and the FA Cup win at Bournemouth the same season.

On arriving at Plymouth's home, the first thing that we noticed was how much space their seemed to be. Despite the ground being in a built up residential area and having been around for well over a hundred years, they have a huge car park to rival most out of town stadiums and the whole place felt very spacious. Not being able to go in the away end at least gave us the opportunity to be able to choose which stand to sit in. It didn't take me long to opt for the old Grandstand. The remaining three sides of the ground were rebuilt in 2001 and make up what would be a very generic single tiered bowl were it not for the wonderful Grandstand. Built in 1952 it seems much older. As you come through the turnstiles you first see it's rear, a never ending canvass of green corrugated iron. We then walked the length of the stand to the stairway leading up to our seats. 

I've already mentioned the abundance of space and as we looked for our seats we couldn't help notice corners of the ground that time seemed to have forgotten. The toilets were something out of the dark ages. Even if it was acceptable to get a camera out in the gents, the amount of black paint and lack of windows would have scuppered any efforts to document the Dickensian squalor. 

To the right of the far stairwell were a set of what looked like old scout huts, which I guess must have been club offices in years gone by.

As we got to the back of the Grandstand we had a good view of the away end behind the goal. In between the two stands was a what looked like a two-up two-down house wedged in to the corner of the ground. A kind of low brow, working mans version of the famous Pavilion at Fulhams Craven Cottage.

Squint and you could be at Craven Cottage

Impressed by what I'd seen so far, our impression of the Grandstand from our seats was equally as good. First of all were the seats themselves, lovely wooden foldables, clearly as old as the stand it self. We were also looking down at the rest of the stadium as despite being 50 years older than the rest of the ground, the Grandstand sits tall and proud. Beneath the upper tier is a narrow shelf of seating and than a vast terrace in front. Unfortunately the terrace is no longer used. A few thick and sturdy pillars interrupted our view, holding up the spider web like beams in the roof. 

Peering at the rest of the ground it is remarkable how neat, modern and uniform it is. Thank heavens the Grand Stand remains because the rest of the ground seems pretty devoid of character. If it was all the same on four sides it would remind me of a small version of Southampton's St Mary's, a decent modern and well appointed championship level stadium, but nothing to write home about.

The atmosphere pre match was good. It's stretching it a bit to call this a derby, but bearing in mind Plymouth's geographical isolation and the fact that both teams were going in the game with hopes of getting in to the playoffs, a bit of spice in the air was understandable.

That Plymouth are now serious playoff contenders in the second half of March is an incredible turn around from how they started the season. As late as December they were rock bottom of the league having been promoted via the play offs last season. An impressive unbeaten run including 6 straight wins has seen them eyeing up back to back promotions. Rovers have also had a good start to 2018 and came in to the game 5 points off the play off places.

By the time kick off came around it was snowing quite heavily but still not settling. Plymouth looked the better team in the early exchanges and were passing the ball around nicely, a little too calmly at the back as Harrison, playing alone up front for Rovers almost caught them out as they looked in no rush to clear their lines. In Rovers first meaningful attack, they were awarded a free kick left of centre out side the Argyle box when Stuart Sinclair was bought down. Our view from side on was perfect as up stepped Chris Lines and curled it low around the wall and in to the bottom corner. 1-0 to the visitors against the run of the play.

Rovers then came close to adding a second when the Arglye keeper, Mathews dallied over clearing a pass back and was charged down by Harrison but the rickoshay fell kindly for the home team. Argyle looked to get back in to the game and were still playing like a team full of confidence. Their main man Graham Carey was looking to do damage down the right flank, though Rovers right footed utility man - James Clark was doing a good job at left back in trying to keep him quiet.

Argyles equaliser was the best goal of the game and came from a neat sequence of passes from a corner, resulting in a floated cross from the edge of the box which was helped on it's way with a looping header from Jamie Ness in to the top corner. 1-1 with ten minutes until half time. 

The game then exploded in to life as Plymouth quickly won back position and came storming forward, suddenly it was two on two with Rovers centre back Tom Lockyer back peddling as the player on the ball ran at him. Lockyer then showed a flash of brilliance, picking his moment perfectly and executing a tackle genuinely reminiscent of Bobby Moore's famous dispossession of Pele from 1970. Lockyer would go on to be involved in the controversial moments of the game but this tackle really was a beaut. With the ball back at his feet he passed it over to right back Jo Partington who played what looked like a very hopeful long ball for Ellis Harrison to run after. Harrison however somehow managed to get there at the same time as the centre back Songo'o and in a great demonstration of powerful forward play, out muscled the Argyle man. He had still plenty to do with two other defenders having got back between him and the goal but he calmly bought the ball back from the touch line and coolly found the net via a gap between the keeper and defenders. 2-1 to the visitors.  

Ellis Harrison on the ball

Chances continued to come in the final minutes of the half and Rovers manager Darrell Clarke was apoplectic when Harrison appeared to be hauled down when through on goal only for no foul to be given. For where we were sat we concluded it probably was a foul but Harrison's dramatic pirouette would have done enough to put off the ref. 1-2 at half time. We sped off to the concourse bar in search of a beer and some warmth. I doubt the concourse has changed much since it was built in the 50's. There are no T.V.'s and it is certainly cosy. Up until half time we'd felt warm enough but the cold beer tipped us over the edge and we started to freeze in the second half as the snow continued to come down. 

No room for a T.V. in the concourse

A couple of minutes after the restart and Plymouth had a penalty. Lockyer was adjudged to have pulled down Moses Mokasi from behind as he raced in to the area. Up stepped Lameiras, but his penalty brilliantly saved and beaten away by Slocombe diving to his left. Argyle's despair was very short lived however, within a minute they had a large slice of luck as a speculative cross / shot from Ness took a wicked deflection of Ollie Clarke as he looked to head clear, the ball hit the inside of a post before bouncing across the goal line and in to the net. 2-2.

Argyle continued to look shaky at the back, especially the keeper, he again dithered over a clearance and was charged down successfully by Harrison, this time the striker managed to retain the ball and Matthews pursued him out of his area before bringing him down and getting booked. He later redeemed himself somewhat with a smart close range save from Sercombe.

Tom Lockyer then had two chances to retain the lead for Rovers. First he rose well for a corner only to head a yard over the bar from close range. Then he had a shot from close range, again from a corner which he somehow managed to hit straight in to the bread basket of Matthews, when anywhere else would have surely resulted in a goal. In terms of sitting on my hands I'd managed well when the goals went in at both ends. The closest I came to showing my true colours was inadvertently yelping in frustration when Lockyer headed over. It would be lovely if the Rovers captain could add the odd goal to his game soon.

Lockyer continued to be at the heart of things as with 5 minutes to go he gave away another penalty. This time he was adjudged to have bundled over Argyle centre back Songo'o as they waited for a corner to come in to the box. Graham Carey took over penalty taking duties and sent Slocombe the wrong way. 3-2 to the home team.

Que some tension bubbling over in the away end and a few fans very slowly stepping over one of the three canvas barriers separating them from the home fans. It looked like they had no intention of going any further but apparently some chairs and punches were thrown and it was a bit more serious than it looked from our vantage point.

3-2 at the final whistle. Rovers unlucky not to get anything from the game but fair play to Plymouth for fighting back. A pulsating game full of incident that will live long in the memory. We made our way back to the caravan park just in time before the snow came down as stranded us there for the next two days. Luckily we managed to drive home on Monday - taking heed of the advice offered by BBC Radio Devon for driving in snow and ice - drive steadily in first gear and wiggle the wheel about from side to side. Wise words.