Saturday was the first time I'd visited the Withdean Stadium, I'd heard all of the scare stories of course but it was a lengthy trip I couldn't resist given that the weather was set fair for an away end with no roof. The main scare story being that the trip there on the 30th December 2006 ended in people sitting trouserless on the bus on the way home due to the driving rain that came down throughout the game, and that wasn't a prospect I fancied with my legs. Setting off at just before 6am wasn't the most pleasant experience of course, particularly given the fact that a good few beverages had been consumed late into the evening before at an amateur boxing night at the Crown and Mitre. There are worse ways to travel though, one of those being driving yourself as at least on the coach you can have a good kip, not really something you can do while driving, unless you are an Eastern European lorry driver. It's already difficult to remember a time before the M6 Toll Road, and to be honest they are something I'd like to see more of in this country. Having driven in France and Spain they take the irregular travellers off the road as they are happy to pay a toll every so often, and that of course leaves the normal road quieter for the everyday drivers. The usual problem in this country though no doubt being the lack of space for building more motorways. Anyway, back to the football and off the soapbox, after the usual slowdown on the M25 and a traffic jam on the outskirts of Brighton itself, the two-thirds full coach eventually pulled into the car park at the Withdean at just after 1pm. So just 7 hours and 15 minutes, after doing that I really do take my hat off to those of you reading this who go to a lot more of the long distance away games than I do. At least it was a glorious day though with the sun out and hardly a breath of wind, and with a pub about 50 yards from where the coach was you can't really ask for much more. Particularly given the surprisingly cheap prices for a boozer on the South coast, infact in some pubs in Carlisle you would struggle to get two pints of bitter, a pint of Guinness and a pint of coke for £9.55. Walking back round past the coach to the away end, the stadium reminded me a lot of the old Shay, situated in a natural bowl and having a tarmac walkway down to it. Sitting down in one of the long but narrow seats I can see now why it must be such a gruesome place to go on a wet day. Paying £23 to have one end of the pitch being 150 yards away is ridiculous enough, never mind if you were getting soaked to the skin as well. The half-time hot dog wasn't much cop either, the bread was drier than the surroundings of a Saharan swimming pool and the onions were, at best, "caramelised" to within an inch of their life as well. As far as reading matter for the interval was concerned, I was a little bit disappointed with Brighton's matchday programme as well, less pages than ours and without as much information in it. As for the game itself, well from what we could see, Ian Harte scored a great free-kick away in the distance, Brighton equalised late on after a heavy spell of pressure and then we nicked it right at the end. Gary Madine rising high to win a header after Petr Brezovan had come racing off his line like a madman, Madine's effort on goal, rare in the game from a United perspective, seeming to bounce up into the net in slow motion. That goal was the second good one of the game for one of my travelling companions for two reasons, firstly it signalled three points for the Blues and the first Carlisle away win on a Saturday for 14 months, the last one also coming at Brighton. Then secondly, after backing Ian Harte at 12/1 for first goalscorer and United for the win at 3/1, it meant more than a free day out for him but some profit into the bargain as well. So after seeing Ian Harte give his boots away to a young lad in the away end, let's hope he doesn't borrow Ryan Bowman's ones for the next game, it was back onto the coach for the long drive home. Getting back to Brunton Park at just after midnight meaning that it was 14 hours out of 18 on a coach during the day, a recipe for deep vein thrombosis if ever there was one. And that's where I have to say credit to the fans who do that every other week all around the country, I certainly don't think I could it all season. It wasn't just the day of the game that I felt tired, although that is more likely to be my age, but I spent a good lump of the day after having a nap as well. So hats off once more to those every away match travellers, you deserve a lot of respect. As for the Withdean, well the weather and three points, although that is nearly a given for us at Brighton recently, no doubt made a massive difference to my enjoyment of the day. It wasn't as bad as I expected though, and as a regular watcher of youth, reserve and non-league football I'm used to poor facilities. And let's not forget that Brighton don't want to be there either, but next season I probably won't be and then the season after they won't be too. |