The early arrival afforded us the chance to wander round the shops and the stalls in the market place. At one record stall we hit seventies rock gold with John picking up a copy of In Hearing Of Atomic Rooster (by Atomic Rooster) while I got Bandolier by Welsh rockers Budgie.
By this time it was 11am and time for the lunchtime session to commence so we headed off to the King William – or the King Billy as it is usually known in these parts – where we were the only people in the pub.(left) The King Billy
It had a fairly respectable choice of beers – Cotleigh Barn Owl, Davenport Busy Fool, St Austell Tribute, Wychwood Hobgoblin and Cam Fell Flame.
The King Billy is a rock/heavy metal pub and we found it had one of these new fangled jukeboxes with thousands of songs and so we continued the 70s rock theme with tracks from Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa, Hawkwind, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple and the like – sometimes it’s good to live in the past. After a while we were joined by John Grey and Richie plus a couple of their mates.
After our choices had all been played, we headed off to the nearby Malt Shovel Tavern – a haven of real ale opposite the Carlsberg brewery. We’ve been coming here for many years and it always has a great choice of beers.
The King Billy is a rock/heavy metal pub and we found it had one of these new fangled jukeboxes with thousands of songs and so we continued the 70s rock theme with tracks from Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa, Hawkwind, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple and the like – sometimes it’s good to live in the past. After a while we were joined by John Grey and Richie plus a couple of their mates.
After our choices had all been played, we headed off to the nearby Malt Shovel Tavern – a haven of real ale opposite the Carlsberg brewery. We’ve been coming here for many years and it always has a great choice of beers.
It has a regular set of beers from local breweries – Wot's Occurring, Harpers, Gobble and Tailshaker from Great Oakley and Natterjack from nearby Frog Island.
There was also an impressive list of guests as well: Mallinson Maestro, Oldershaw Caskade, Phipps Red Star and Ratcliffe Stout, Elland Fade To Black and a 7.3% barley wine called Nips from Grainstore.
There was also an impressive list of guests as well: Mallinson Maestro, Oldershaw Caskade, Phipps Red Star and Ratcliffe Stout, Elland Fade To Black and a 7.3% barley wine called Nips from Grainstore.
All beers were in excellent condition and served by very friendly bar staff – the only sour note was the presence of some old rugger-bugger duffer who loudly insisted, for our benefit I suspect, that rugby fans are so much more civilised than football fans.
Hmmm..I know football fans are not exactly shy, retiring types but presumably he has never spent time in and around Waterloo on the day of a rugby international. Thankfully the old git shuffled off before he really got on our nerves.
Hmmm..I know football fans are not exactly shy, retiring types but presumably he has never spent time in and around Waterloo on the day of a rugby international. Thankfully the old git shuffled off before he really got on our nerves.
We continued to enjoy the beer and chew the fat with a few Cobblers fans - we were also joined by Mad Steve who we’d not seen for a while.
Unfortunately he has recently lost his job (as he suspected he would when we last met him at Dagenham) and so wasn’t able to go to as may games as he used to. However he hadn’t lost his almost blind sense of optimism which defies all known logic - he's fully confident Darlo will avoid the drop! I think it's all the cider he drinks...
After a few more beers and more waffle, we dragged ourselves away - Steve and his Cobbler-supporting mate joined John and I in a taxi and it wasn’t long before we were at Sixfields and sat behind the goal with Martin, Chris, Ron, Steve and Dawn.
And it wasn’t long before we’d heartily regretted that move as the first half was, from a Darlo perspective, the latest in a series of atrocious performances.
Up front the Quakers were toothless – I don’t think their keeper had anything of note to do – whilst our defence were constantly keeping their forward line at bay and generally making heavy weather of it all.
After 20 mins Northampton took the lead – not a great shock to any of the 156 Darlo fans on parade – the only surprise was that we were only 2-0 down at the break, the second goal coming from a poorly punched Redmond clearance which fell to Osman who slotted home easily.
I sometimes wonder why Redmond doesn’t wear boxing gloves as he – like many of the younger breed of keepers – much prefers to punch rather than catch a ball. I find it strange that this aspect of goalkeeping seems to be dying out, especially as keepers tend to be afforded quite a lot of protection in the modern game.
One pleasant surprise from the first half was the appearance of Brummy Tony who I’d not seen for a couple of seasons. He was never very lucky for us - a claim he'll no doubt deny - but as far as this season goes, I don’t think it really matters any more. It was good to see him again.
As at Crewe back in January, Darlo were much improved in the second half though that was probably as much to do with the Cobblers easing off a little.
After 20 mins Northampton took the lead – not a great shock to any of the 156 Darlo fans on parade – the only surprise was that we were only 2-0 down at the break, the second goal coming from a poorly punched Redmond clearance which fell to Osman who slotted home easily.
I sometimes wonder why Redmond doesn’t wear boxing gloves as he – like many of the younger breed of keepers – much prefers to punch rather than catch a ball. I find it strange that this aspect of goalkeeping seems to be dying out, especially as keepers tend to be afforded quite a lot of protection in the modern game.
One pleasant surprise from the first half was the appearance of Brummy Tony who I’d not seen for a couple of seasons. He was never very lucky for us - a claim he'll no doubt deny - but as far as this season goes, I don’t think it really matters any more. It was good to see him again.
As at Crewe back in January, Darlo were much improved in the second half though that was probably as much to do with the Cobblers easing off a little.
Main and Gray had been replaced at the break by Dempsey and new boy Chris Moore as well – Diop occasionally held the ball up but was more of a not-so-innocent bystander and he was eventually replaced by Paddy Deane.
Purcell then hit the post and Darlo had a very good shout for a penalty turned down but it was all too little, too late (and too predictable).
At the final whistle, we walked out with Mad Steve who was telling all and sundry how poor Northampton were – we left him at a bus stop to continue this steam of consciousness with the local fans and joined Brummy Tony on the way to the railway station.
We travelled back to Euston with John Gray and Richie and were back in time to meet up with Bev and the London Millers for their annual raffle draw in the Doric Arch.
Purcell then hit the post and Darlo had a very good shout for a penalty turned down but it was all too little, too late (and too predictable).
At the final whistle, we walked out with Mad Steve who was telling all and sundry how poor Northampton were – we left him at a bus stop to continue this steam of consciousness with the local fans and joined Brummy Tony on the way to the railway station.
We travelled back to Euston with John Gray and Richie and were back in time to meet up with Bev and the London Millers for their annual raffle draw in the Doric Arch.(left) Turned out shite again!
The Millers were in a good mood following their 1-0 victory over Dagenham & Redbridge.
Although various DAFTS had bought tickets - the least we can do after they donated six points to our cause this season - only one of them earned a prize as Tony won a Chuckle Brothers DVD (which will at least please his grandson Cai).
For the curious amongst you, the title of this piece refers to Budgie's best known album which features probably their best known number, Breadfan. Have a listen to it - cracking!
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