After breakfast I wander over to St Pancras and wait for my train to Kettering. Whilst there various members of the London Millers show up ready for their train to Sheffield and their home game against Cheltenham.
Chris T has turned up sweating like a pig - it turns out he has booked himself a weeks worth of 'Boris Bike' - the new cycling hire scheme that has been launched in the capital. For the princely sum of £5, he has the use of a bike for a week which seems quite good value. I think I'll stick to the tube for now...
Chris T has turned up sweating like a pig - it turns out he has booked himself a weeks worth of 'Boris Bike' - the new cycling hire scheme that has been launched in the capital. For the princely sum of £5, he has the use of a bike for a week which seems quite good value. I think I'll stick to the tube for now...
I arrive at Kettering station just a few seconds after Colin and Trevor - and with them are John, Rich and Andy who tend to be the first arrivals from Darlo.(left) First beer of the day in the Earl of Dalkeith
We wander off to the first pub of the day - the Cherry Tree - but as we approach it doesn't look good - the curtains in the bar are still drawn and there is no sign of life.
The opening times on the door suggest it should open at 11am but we're told they actually open at noon. Curses - foiled at the first hurdle.
We decide to head to the local Wetherspoons and we wander off aimlessly along the streets in search of it - fortunately for us, we bump into John Wilson who just happens to be spending the weekend in Kettering and was on his way to join us. He gets us moving in the right direction.
Wetherspoons get a lot of stick but some of their pubs are not bad and the Earl of Dalkeith seems perfectly OK - quite a few people having a late breakfast which looks very filling - and it has a decent selection of guest beers including Milestone IPA and Warwickshire Brewing Co's Darling Buds, both of which prove to be good openers.
John was not at his best though - he'd been on the Pedigree the night before and he was suffering for it. He stuck to coke.
As noon approached it was time to move on to the Alexandra Arms which had come very highly recommended. And quite right too as it turned out.
We received a very friendly welcome from the barmaid and the landlord as we bowled into the pub.And what a welcome sight before us at the bar - J Church Parsons Nose, Blackwater (Salopian Brewery) Mod, Harwich Town Redoubt Stout, Quercus Oak Wood, Wyre Piddle Hey Diddle Piddle, Gadds She Sells Sea Shells, Derventio Augustus, Beer Rocks Summer Loving, Dales Golden Daffodil, Buntingford Twitchell, Acorn Tower Power, Nobbys Best Bitter and Deuchars IPA.
Of these, I had the Golden Daffodil, Augustus and Redoubt Stout and they were all excellent.
(right) The Alexandra Arms
By this time of day we'd have run into Lance but I'd had a text to say the trains had been messing him around but it wasn't long before he finally joined the merry throng.
Today was going to be the day when he actually went to a game instead of just coming along for the pre-match social. His first game in three years.
Brummy Tony turned up a little later - complaining about the map I'd sent out showing how to get to the pub - however rather than print out the map, he'd written out the directions yet he still tries to blame me for him getting lost! You can take the boy out of Brum...
We leave the pub plenty of time for the walk to the ground - and just as well as it does seem further than it should be. We decided against a taxi as it is the Kettering carnival and the traffic is all snarled up.
On arrival at the ground I pick up my press pass and head off pitchside. For some reason, an over officious steward seems very keen to see proof of my licence - he's not willing to believe that the Kettering office have checked it out already. I show it to him and he wanders away looking rather disappointed.
The Darlo fans have all been put in the main stand rather than the end behind the goal. There is no sign of Lance so presumably this move has scuppered his plans to watch the football and have a fag.
(left) Crunch time for Arnison
Darlo manager Mark Cooper is given a very warm welcome as the teams come out on the pitch - hopefully we'll have cause to think well of him when he eventually moves on from Darlo.
The first-half is a tight affair - debutant Aaron Brown is given the task of marking Kettering's tricky striker Serge Makofo who looks to be their main threat. Makofo has a habit of going down rather easily though and the ref seems happy to accomodate him.
Former Darlo man Martin Smith came on for Kettering in the second half - I thought he'd retired through injury but apparently not - he was rather anonymous, much as he was in many of his appearances for us.
The game continued to limp to a stalemate though at the death, Ian Miller put in a great shot at goal which looked to be heading for the top corner before Nathan Abbey tipped it acrobatically over the bar.
Having remained dry during the game, it now started to rain heavily as John and I walked back to the Alexandra Arms for a few more beers.
John, Rich and Andy were already there when we arrived and we got talking to a few friendly locals about the best pubs in Darlo (they seemed keen to know).
(right) The Alexandra Arms
By this time of day we'd have run into Lance but I'd had a text to say the trains had been messing him around but it wasn't long before he finally joined the merry throng.
Today was going to be the day when he actually went to a game instead of just coming along for the pre-match social. His first game in three years.
Brummy Tony turned up a little later - complaining about the map I'd sent out showing how to get to the pub - however rather than print out the map, he'd written out the directions yet he still tries to blame me for him getting lost! You can take the boy out of Brum...
We leave the pub plenty of time for the walk to the ground - and just as well as it does seem further than it should be. We decided against a taxi as it is the Kettering carnival and the traffic is all snarled up.
On arrival at the ground I pick up my press pass and head off pitchside. For some reason, an over officious steward seems very keen to see proof of my licence - he's not willing to believe that the Kettering office have checked it out already. I show it to him and he wanders away looking rather disappointed.
The Darlo fans have all been put in the main stand rather than the end behind the goal. There is no sign of Lance so presumably this move has scuppered his plans to watch the football and have a fag.(left) Crunch time for Arnison
Darlo manager Mark Cooper is given a very warm welcome as the teams come out on the pitch - hopefully we'll have cause to think well of him when he eventually moves on from Darlo.
The first-half is a tight affair - debutant Aaron Brown is given the task of marking Kettering's tricky striker Serge Makofo who looks to be their main threat. Makofo has a habit of going down rather easily though and the ref seems happy to accomodate him.
Kettering made most of the running in the first half though keeper Sam Russell was never put under any great threat and had little of substance to save. Darlo were pretty unambitious and don't offer much at the other end and it was a far from exciting forty-five mins.
The second half started in much the same vein though Darlo eventually start to make headway up front - Hatch was the busiest of the forwards but ultimately was hustled off the ball without getting the same protection that the ref afforded the Kettering forward line.
Former Darlo man Martin Smith came on for Kettering in the second half - I thought he'd retired through injury but apparently not - he was rather anonymous, much as he was in many of his appearances for us.
The game continued to limp to a stalemate though at the death, Ian Miller put in a great shot at goal which looked to be heading for the top corner before Nathan Abbey tipped it acrobatically over the bar.Another clean sheet for the Quakers - certainly a vast improvement on last season - but a cutting edge needs to be developed soon so we can start turning draws into wins.
(right) Gaffer says 'No more beer - get yersel home!'
Having remained dry during the game, it now started to rain heavily as John and I walked back to the Alexandra Arms for a few more beers.
John, Rich and Andy were already there when we arrived and we got talking to a few friendly locals about the best pubs in Darlo (they seemed keen to know).
I get a text from Liz letting me know I've missed a ten-goal thriller. Since she never seems to text me when they've lost, I assume they've won. Rich confirms that they beat Chelters by six goals to four. But as we know, it's not quantity that counts, it's quality...though there was precious little of that on display today.
After further conversations with the locals - including did I know which Darlo pub was run by a transvestite - I only just tore myself away to get to the station in time for my train only to find it was delayed by 25 mins.
By the time we reached St Pancras though I was snoozing merrily and had to be woken by the cleaners. No more beer for me today - time to go home.
By the time we reached St Pancras though I was snoozing merrily and had to be woken by the cleaners. No more beer for me today - time to go home.
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