After what has seemed like an absolute eternity, the season has finally come to the end - certainly as far as I'm concerned as I'll not be there for the last rites against Dagenham & Redbridge.
And it's kind of appropriate that our final away league game will be at Moss Rose - hardly one of the most salubrious grounds in the league, more reminiscent of what we'll have a lot of next season - but they've still got a standing terrace so that will do me fine (so long as it doesn't rain of course).
I've aways enjoyed our trips to Macclesfield which is why, after a hearty breakfast at the nearby Double Six, I'm on the 7:55am train out of Euston leaving Martin to take the train an hour later.
The Virgin service these days is much improved and to date, all our journeys have been in stark contrast to previous seasons when delays, bus replacements and extended run times were the norm. Such a shame their carriages are so small and cramped.
After a quick wander round the shops in the centre of Macc I waited patiently outside the Waters Green Tavern just before 11am.
Landlady Tracey must have been keeping an eye out as she opened the door and told me that even though they now open at midday, I could come in.
(left) Steve tucks in at the Waters Green Tavern
Since our last visit to Macclesfield back in Sep 2008, landlord Brian and Tracey have now bought the pub and started work on various improvements. The toilets have had a welcome makeover and the roof is in the process of being renovated.
One thing that remains the same is the choice of beers which is up to its usual standard, mainly golden ales as preferred by the management, with Roosters Yankee, Bradfield Blonde, Dark Star American Pale Ale and Bradfield Stout on tap.
I settle down to my pint and it isn't long before I see some murky figures through the window - no doubt confused by the pub looking closed. On closer inspection I see that it's Trevor, John Gray and Rich Parker and some other Darlo lads so I ask Brian to let them in.
I hear from Martin who has just arrived in Macc but he has a bad attack of gout - too much good living probably - and so he is going straight to the ground via taxi as he reckons he'll just be bad company if he comes to the pub.
Subsequently the remainder of the DAFTS hardcore arrived - including Steve and Brummy Tony and then Lance and the Waters family who are staying over in Manchester for the weekend.
It had been rumoured that Lance would actually go to this final away fixture but in the end both Ray and he decided they'd stay in the pub instead.
The beer was going down very well today - the pick of the bunch was the Dark Star which has always been superb wherever I've had it. The others liked it too.
Steve, BT and myself left the pub quite late and caught a taxi from the nearby station to the ground but we were still there in plenty of time for the kick off.
The stewards are a friendly lot here and were quite happy for me to use my camera to capture some shots of this last away league match.
Inside the ground we took up position just behind the goal and it wasn't long before the away terrace was jumping with delight. Captain Ian Miller headed in a cross from Mark Convery after less than ten minutes. Was this a case of PTE (Peaking Too Early)?
(right) BT, Tony and Trev celebrate the opening goal
Any signs that Macclesfield were going to make a commited attempt to get back on terms were not forthcoming - in fact it all looked quite comfortable for us and it was the home fans who were starting to moan at their team.
Meanwhile on the away terrace there was a bit of a party atmosphere - a relatively decent turnout though to be fair I'd expected it to be a bit fuller for this last away game.
At one stage in the first half, a group of knuckle-dragging types arrived and were generally acting like wannabe football hooligans but they didn't seem to know what they were doing. After a bit of posturing and gurning at the stewards they did the decent thing and fucked off.
For the remainder of the first half Darlo continued to dominate although Macc had the odd chance - Liversedge dealt with all that he needed to which was very surprising given his recent lack of form. I begin to wonder whether we should also be questioning the quality of the goalkeeping coach this season.
In the second half Darlo were kicking towards the away end and continued to dominate. The defence coped well whilst youngsters McReady and Michael Smith impressed with hard-working displays.
It looked as if Darlo would double their lead after sub Mulligan was judged to have been fouled and Darlo were awarded a penalty. Convery took it but it was a tame effort and the keeper saved easily.
My Northallerton neighbour, Geoff, went apoplectic with the effort - probably getting too overexcited as he did so - but Con was soon to make amends when he crossed a great little ball for Smith to head home past Macc keeper Brain.
(left) Michael Smith scores the second goal for Darlo
It was a thoroughly deserved victory as Macc were hardly at the races and there were good performances throughout - just the sort of positive performance to finish the season on after so much of it has been totally forgettable.
After applauding the players off, we wandered off down to the Railway View to have a few beers. I can't remember what we had - the pump clip was rather spartan in the information stakes - but it was very bland so we supped up and wandered back to the station.
Tony, Lesley and BT decided to catch their trains whilst I wandered over to the Old Millstone to meet Martin. This pub used to do a few different beers but all it had to offer was Ruddles Bitter. It wasn't a particularly nice pint so I left half of it and we popped over to the station to await our train.
Not quite a perfect journey back - the locomotive was not running at full power so we were about 20 mins late back into Euston. I rushed off to St Pancras - leaving Martin to limp slowly back to his car - where I met Liz, Jenny and Chris at the Betjeman Arms.
They're certain of a play-off spot but are not yet certain of the opposition. For me though, the season is now over and I can enjoy a few free weekends and maybe do some of those jobs that I've been putting off all season. Don't hold your breath though...
And it's kind of appropriate that our final away league game will be at Moss Rose - hardly one of the most salubrious grounds in the league, more reminiscent of what we'll have a lot of next season - but they've still got a standing terrace so that will do me fine (so long as it doesn't rain of course).
I've aways enjoyed our trips to Macclesfield which is why, after a hearty breakfast at the nearby Double Six, I'm on the 7:55am train out of Euston leaving Martin to take the train an hour later.
The Virgin service these days is much improved and to date, all our journeys have been in stark contrast to previous seasons when delays, bus replacements and extended run times were the norm. Such a shame their carriages are so small and cramped.
After a quick wander round the shops in the centre of Macc I waited patiently outside the Waters Green Tavern just before 11am.Landlady Tracey must have been keeping an eye out as she opened the door and told me that even though they now open at midday, I could come in.
(left) Steve tucks in at the Waters Green Tavern
Since our last visit to Macclesfield back in Sep 2008, landlord Brian and Tracey have now bought the pub and started work on various improvements. The toilets have had a welcome makeover and the roof is in the process of being renovated.
One thing that remains the same is the choice of beers which is up to its usual standard, mainly golden ales as preferred by the management, with Roosters Yankee, Bradfield Blonde, Dark Star American Pale Ale and Bradfield Stout on tap.
I settle down to my pint and it isn't long before I see some murky figures through the window - no doubt confused by the pub looking closed. On closer inspection I see that it's Trevor, John Gray and Rich Parker and some other Darlo lads so I ask Brian to let them in.
I hear from Martin who has just arrived in Macc but he has a bad attack of gout - too much good living probably - and so he is going straight to the ground via taxi as he reckons he'll just be bad company if he comes to the pub.
Subsequently the remainder of the DAFTS hardcore arrived - including Steve and Brummy Tony and then Lance and the Waters family who are staying over in Manchester for the weekend.
It had been rumoured that Lance would actually go to this final away fixture but in the end both Ray and he decided they'd stay in the pub instead.
The beer was going down very well today - the pick of the bunch was the Dark Star which has always been superb wherever I've had it. The others liked it too.
Steve, BT and myself left the pub quite late and caught a taxi from the nearby station to the ground but we were still there in plenty of time for the kick off.
The stewards are a friendly lot here and were quite happy for me to use my camera to capture some shots of this last away league match.
Inside the ground we took up position just behind the goal and it wasn't long before the away terrace was jumping with delight. Captain Ian Miller headed in a cross from Mark Convery after less than ten minutes. Was this a case of PTE (Peaking Too Early)?(right) BT, Tony and Trev celebrate the opening goal
Any signs that Macclesfield were going to make a commited attempt to get back on terms were not forthcoming - in fact it all looked quite comfortable for us and it was the home fans who were starting to moan at their team.
Meanwhile on the away terrace there was a bit of a party atmosphere - a relatively decent turnout though to be fair I'd expected it to be a bit fuller for this last away game.
At one stage in the first half, a group of knuckle-dragging types arrived and were generally acting like wannabe football hooligans but they didn't seem to know what they were doing. After a bit of posturing and gurning at the stewards they did the decent thing and fucked off.
For the remainder of the first half Darlo continued to dominate although Macc had the odd chance - Liversedge dealt with all that he needed to which was very surprising given his recent lack of form. I begin to wonder whether we should also be questioning the quality of the goalkeeping coach this season.
In the second half Darlo were kicking towards the away end and continued to dominate. The defence coped well whilst youngsters McReady and Michael Smith impressed with hard-working displays.
It looked as if Darlo would double their lead after sub Mulligan was judged to have been fouled and Darlo were awarded a penalty. Convery took it but it was a tame effort and the keeper saved easily.
My Northallerton neighbour, Geoff, went apoplectic with the effort - probably getting too overexcited as he did so - but Con was soon to make amends when he crossed a great little ball for Smith to head home past Macc keeper Brain.(left) Michael Smith scores the second goal for Darlo
It was a thoroughly deserved victory as Macc were hardly at the races and there were good performances throughout - just the sort of positive performance to finish the season on after so much of it has been totally forgettable.
After applauding the players off, we wandered off down to the Railway View to have a few beers. I can't remember what we had - the pump clip was rather spartan in the information stakes - but it was very bland so we supped up and wandered back to the station.
Tony, Lesley and BT decided to catch their trains whilst I wandered over to the Old Millstone to meet Martin. This pub used to do a few different beers but all it had to offer was Ruddles Bitter. It wasn't a particularly nice pint so I left half of it and we popped over to the station to await our train.
Not quite a perfect journey back - the locomotive was not running at full power so we were about 20 mins late back into Euston. I rushed off to St Pancras - leaving Martin to limp slowly back to his car - where I met Liz, Jenny and Chris at the Betjeman Arms.
They're certain of a play-off spot but are not yet certain of the opposition. For me though, the season is now over and I can enjoy a few free weekends and maybe do some of those jobs that I've been putting off all season. Don't hold your breath though...
(above) Happy Campers
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