Trains, Pubs and Football...

And Now We Wait...

2012-01-17T18:53:00.002Z

We now await the most important decision in Darlington's 129-year history as tomorrow the deliberations will finally end and administrator Harvey Madden will put us out of our misery, one way or another.

If it proves to be the end I'm sure we will all be feeling pretty numb and the consequences of our demise will not sink in for quite a while.

I remain optimistic, based on no real reason whatsover, probably because I find it hard to accept that my matchday routine might disappear forever. I'm too old to change my habits.

Let's hope I don't have to...

Darlo's Last Stand?

2012-01-09T09:34:00.002Z

The sense of expectancy as I woke was similar to that before our trip to Wembley for the FA Trophy final just a few months ago - an overwhelming sense of nervousness and unease - but for totally different reasons this time. Not a good feeling either.

I was out of the house by 5:30am and had a nice stress-free journey to King's X - Da Vinci's was just opening as I got there. I had a ravenous appetite though and the breakfast hit the spot.

I walked up to Euston with my train being called just as I walked onto the concourse. I was originally travelling on my own and had plumped for first class as it wasn't much dearer than standard.

Arrival at Barrow

But with the advent of administration and the prospect of this being our last ever game, I was joined by Iain Swalwell and Paul Brown, who had also left home at a ridiculously early hour, and they paid the £15 upgrade so they could join me. I'm worth it!

A nice quiet journey and we arrived at Lancaster to find John Bell on the platform - by rights he should have been at Barrow already but his connections let him down.

Our connection to Barrow was on time and it was a very pleasant journey with some beautiful scenery as well as opportunities for me to do a bit of bird-watching as we travelled between Arnside and Grange-over-Sands. A shame the weather wasn't a bit brighter.

Brian up for the ball

We arrived on time at Barrow and it was only a couple of hundred yards walk to the pub, the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel. This place is owned by Lancaster Brewery and as such four of their beers were on sale: Blonde, Amber, Red and Black.

There were also some guest ales - Beartown Santa's Claws, Oxfordshire Ales Triple B, Wincle Wassale and Woodlands Oak Beauty.

The hotel bar was a bit quiet when we got in but it slowly started to fill with Darlo fans, including Rich, John and Andy who'd been on the same train as us.

However we were surprised when they didn't follow us but I'd forgotten that they had to go to Wetherspoons for their breakfast first. They also had retired Northern Echo columnist and Northern League chairman, Mike Amos, in tow.

I tried a good few of the beers on offer and they were OK without being brilliant - usually served with heads that were a bit too frothy and large for my liking so I decided to have a few bottles as well seeing as they had a decent foreign selection - I opted for Duvel and Brooklyn Brown Ale.

Trev joined us - as did old chum Neil Raper whose son Lewis famously gave Gazza a hard time when he (Lewis) ran the line - at the grand age of 11 - at the fundraising game several years ago. It was good to hear from Neil that Lewis is making his way up the refereeing ladder.

MB-W goes down at the edge of the box

Just as we were about to depart for the Holker Street, Brian turns up - thankfully he was driving and is only allowed a quick half pint before we hustle back out of the door and onto the game.

We stopped for a few photos at the statue of Emlyn Hughes opposite the hotel - he is a celebrated son of Barrow even though his home town club weren't interested in him, Hughes having to join Blackpool instead as he started his career.

It took about ten minutes to walk to the ground and there was a huge queue at the away turnstiles when we arrived. I left the others to join the queue while I circumnavigated the ground in order to collect my press pass.

Once inside there was already a healthy number of Darlo fans on the uncovered away terrace plus quite a few TV cameras ready to catch all the emotion that the occasion promised.

I set about getting a few fans' pictures - a lot of friendly faces, especially given the sad circumstances and it was especially good to see that Steve Harland had managed to swap his shift and get here. Steve is doing a grand job hiring bands for gigs in Stockton these days and keeping the old punks of Teesside entertained.

As I was snapping the news came over the tannoy that the game was going to be delayed by 15 mins due to the queues at the away end.

Dancing with poles?

As the teams took the pitch there was a great roar from the away end but also a lot of applause from the home fans who were generous with their support for Darlo and their fans throughout.

The masses of Darlo fans were obviously hoping for a fairy-tale ending - if that what it turns out to be - for this last game. Sadly it was not to be but it wasn't the result that mattered.

The Darlo team for this historic occasion was Russell, Arnison, Hatch, Taylor, Brown; McReady, Chandler, Bridge-Wilkinson, Rundle; Hopson; Bowman with subs being Nixon (gk), P Gray, Harrison, Ramshaw and J Gray.

For a decent proportion of the first half Darlington gave as good as they got and pressed forward, attacking the Barrow goal in front of the Darlo fans and went close on a couple of occasions.

Unfortunately Darlo never really got into the flowing style that has become a trademark of their play under caretaker Craig Liddle and Barrow always looked that little bit sharper - no doubt the lack of training together in recent weeks can't have helped.

Spike Lee was injured and joined Liddle on the away bench - Liam Hatch was therefore drafted in with Kris Taylor to make up the centre-back pairing which meant Ryan Bowman was leading the Darlo line.

Unfortunately he got very little joy out of former Darlo loanee Danny Hone who was first to virtually all of the high balls during the game and was probably the pick of the Barrow defence.

Adam Rundle - note the sponsor
logo has been taped over

Adam Rundle, John McReady and Dale Hopson were all very busy and created some decent movement but failed to really attack the goal.

Barrow took the lead quite early on as Adam Boyes shot speculatively at goal - normally Sam Russell would have easily dealt with this sort of shot. Perhaps his mind wasn't totally there as the ball proceeded to slip through his hands and into the net.

The home team then doubled their lead after Cook headed home from a cross. Aaron Brown looked to have been fouled in the build-up but referee Amy Fearn didn't agree.

There was then a loud shout for a Darlo penalty as Mark Bridge-Wilkinson was fouled on the edge of the box. The ref wasn't fooled and just gave a free-kick. Paul Arnison came over to the linesman stood in front of me and tried to persuade him it was inside the box. Do they ever change their minds?

At the break I had a wander round and had a chat with a few old faces - former neighbour Geoff Thompson was wearing a replica shirt that was a bit tighter than it used to be. I also saw the various members of the Darlington FC Rescue Group and had a chat with Doug Embleton who was busy taking his own shots of the occasion.

The game was also notable for the fact that it was the first time a female official has taken charge of a game at Holker Street and it wasn't exactly an impressive debut. She seemed inconsistent, especially with regards to free-kicks, and made some odd decisions but to be fair, I've seen worse at this level.

She is quite a wee thing though and sometimes she seemed to take far too long sorting out the players when there was a freekick as the players towered over her and tended to ignore her. Maybe an assertiveness course would be useful.

But I'm not trying to suggest she was in any culpable for the result as Darlington were not at their best and in the second half, chances were few and far between as the Quakers were on the back foot for the most part.

For the second half I'd positioned myself close to the Darlo dugout - Craig Liddle was constantly animated as he tried to get us back into the game but looked an increasingly frustrated figure as we failed to a significant impact.

Hatch was throwing himself into his defensive duties and in the end he paid the price as he had to go off with an injury, being replaced by one of the youth team, Scott Harrison, who made a good impression.

McReady was replaced by James Gray in an effort to put some more energy into our attack and then Rundle was replaced by another youth team player, Rob Ramshaw who made a ten-minute senior debut.

Darlo legend Craig Liddle

Unfortunately Martin and I had booked our rail tickets before the significance of this game was known and we had to depart Barrow station at 5:21pm.

This meant missing the three minutes of added time and the subsequent emotional scenes as the players and fans applauded each other. Perhaps this was just as well as it probably would have been too emotional for us.

Our train was on time and we headed back to Preston accompanied by Trev, Pete, Karl and Mike and a few younger Darlo fans who lived in the north-west. The journey was spent musing over some of the grounds we might end up visiting if we find ourselves lower down the pyramid in some form or another.

We left Trev, Karl and Mike at Preston - our connection at Preston there was also on-time - a cup of tea, a read of the programme (spotting the typo on the front page - the game was in 2011 apparently!) and then a snooze before we pulled in Euston on time twenty minutes earlier than planned.

Martin, Pete and I headed to the Euston Tap for some consolatory beers - it was pretty hectic for a Saturday night and the staff were only just coping.

As ever though, some excellent beers on offer - I tried the Red Willow Ageless, Thornbridge Sequoia (which Martin got a taste for too) and the Northcote Brewery/Euston Tap Collaboration One for the Road.

The latter is the last brew to be made at Northcote as they have now decided to pack in brewing - which is a shame because One For The Road is very drinkable given it has about ten different hops in it (including some wild hops from Hackney).

And then time was called and it was time for bed. The Euston Tap will be open for my business next week but will Darlo?

Here We Go Again....Again

2012-01-03T22:52:00.000Z

It doesn't seem that long ago since Darlo last went into administration - and what do you know, it wasn't - less than two years ago. That's three times in nine years.

It is hard to believe that we've come to this so soon after the highs of the Wembley victory just seven months ago. In fact if is wasn't for the fact that this is Darlington, it would be unthinkable.

There was a feeling in pre-season that the club weren't doing enough to push the club and build on the momentum of the FA Trophy win.

However on the playing side it looked as if Mark Cooper was bringing in some decent players for the new campaign and most bookmakers felt the same, making us one of the main contenders for a play-off spot at the least.

So it was with a fairly unusual sense of optimism that we started the season but after a narrow opening victory over newly-promoted Braintree, in which we were never totally convincing, we started to drop too many points against teams that we felt we should be beating.

Raj Singh - happer times after FA Trophy win at Gateshead

Defeats at the hands of supposedly weaker sides such as Tamworth, Bath City and Braintree led to manager Mark Cooper publicly criticising his players. This tactic may work in the short term but it became a constant barrage with few players avoiding the wrath of his tongue.

At first most fans probably agreed with him as the players were severely underachieving but in the end it was self-defeating and he seemed to have lost the confidence of the squad.

The spineless performance and subsequent defeat at Braintree at the end of October was the final straw for the chairman and despite earlier support for his manager, Cooper was sacked.

Things came further to a head after we failed to beat Hinckley United at home in the FA Cup before things hit rock bottom after losing 3-0 in the replay. Was Cooper really the the problem or was it the players?

On the team coach home after that defeat an unnamed player shouted out "Mr Chairman, please pay me off". That was it - the blue touch paper was lit and Raj went on the rampage, insisting that players renegotiate their contracts or the club dies.

In the chaos that ensured, some players refused and left the club whilst others, to their credit, did accept cuts.

The saddest thing is that our form under the reins of caretaker Craig Liddle began to look very encouraging - the players looked fitter, we started to play decent football, some players made the step up from the youth and morale amongst players seemed to be on the up despite not being paid in recent weeks.

Singh now claimed that he was losing £80,000 a month which is hard for most of us to understand. What exactly has changed in Raj's budget since the start of the season?

We know Raj is not with us for the love of the club - he's a Boro fan - but more the development potential of the land around the stadium.

Perhaps this was simply a way of him getting out for good, especially after the local council refused to lift planning covenants (quite rightly) on the land which he doesn't even own (and given the stance of the ground owners in respect to selling the the land to Singh, he wasn't likely to).

As suspected for some weeks, the administrator finally stepped in yesterday and announced that "Without any financial support from outside the club or anyone willing to acquire the club, I will, unfortunately, have little alternative but to cease to trade in a very short time".

Too little time I fear for the Darlington FC Rescue Group led by Mark Meynell to get realistically involved - they needed Singh to keep the club going until the summer - but that option would appear to have gone.

What happens next is anyone's guess...

There Goes The Neighbourhood...

2012-01-03T00:00:00.000Z

The start to the new year saw the departure of one of the oldest businesses in my part of the East End as Duncan’s Pie and Mash shop on Green Street closed for good.

Joan Holt seving the masses

Although I was a relatively late convert to the pleasure of green liquor and pies done London-stylee, I have now tried a wide variety of this fare in different parts of London and can say, hand on heart with no hint of local bias, that Duncan’s was the best I’d come across.

And that was no mean feat given that there was some stiff competition in the area from Robin’s in nearby East Ham and also from Nathan’s just the other side of the Boleyn Ground.

The only thing I've never got to grips with is jellied eels. I tried them back in the late 1980s and they were horrible - never again!

The local pie and mash shops are full to the gunnels on match-days as exiled Hammers fans poured into the area but trade at other times is patchy as the older residents of the borough die off or move out of the area.

Unfortunately the pleasures of pie and mash have failed to catch the imagination of the more recent influx of residents. Presumably no one has yet produced halal pie and mash?

Just recently Jamie Oliver’s Great Britain TV series visited Robin’s shop - Oliver tried to persuade viewers that pies originated in Egypt but I suspect that they were a pale imitation of what we know and love today.

Nevertheless it was still nice to see the footage of the shop. In an interview, the owners hinted they would be closing and sure enough the shop was long gone by the time the programme was transmitted – a shame after almost ninety years in business.

David Holt - keep the spuds boiling

I’d popped into Duncan’s last week for a couple of takeaway pies and proprietor Joan said she was pleased I'd dropped in – would I let the Pie and Mash club know that they were closing up in case anyone wanted to make a final visit?

Joan had been very impressed with the appetites of some members of the club when making their last visit back in 2010.

Joan added that they’d been going for forty years and that now was probably the time to call it a day.

And so the big day came and it was time for one last visit for a 2 and 2 – double pie and double mash. I made my way there before noon to beat the rush and managed to bag a seat. Whilst there I took a few final shots of the place, including some behind the scenes.

I had a quick chat with John – busy backstage in charge of the pies and mash – who although looking forward to taking thngs a bit easier said that he would miss his customers, especially on match days.

And then a farewell to Joan, busy serving at the front, before I left taking with me a few final pies for the freezer.

The queue was almost out of the door by then and I heard that later on that the queue stretched almost to the tube station and many fans failed to get in for a last taste.

A Dying Breed

2012-01-01T20:00:00.000Z

I'm sure most readers will be aware of the sad death of our friend and fellow fan, Lance Ireland, in the early hours of New Year's Eve.

Lance had been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year but was determined not to make a fuss and get on with life as best he could in whatever time he had remaining.

As much as he was often the centre of attention when out on the road with DAFTS, it wasn't a role he courted and overt attention unsettled him - ever the soldier it was a case of no fuss, no pack drill.

We all have our own memories of Lance - unsettling fellow travellers with his repetoire of songs, the variety of headwear, his views on football today (how long do you have?), turning up far too early at an away meet, his Morris dancing at the Spring Thing festival, the Darlo shrine in the Sportsman, being sent to his own table in the pub when he simply got too daft and many more.

Lance was one of the first to donate to any cause - the youth development and the prediction league both benefitted on a regular basis. At the start of each season, he always give me £10 to give to Liz for the London Millers annual raffle (and even when he won he'd decline the prize).

Lance Ireland, Sheik of Harborne

It was heartening to see that he was finally able to meet his Hollywood sweetheart Rhonda Fleming at her home in LA a week or so after Darlo's victory at Wembley. The welcome he was given spoke volumes for the friendship he developed with her over previous years.

It is fair to say that he will be missed by all that knew him - they don't make them like that anymore.

Thanks for the memories Lance - I'm sure St Peter knows all the words to Me and My Pussycat by now...

Medway Meandering

2011-11-21T17:38:00.000Z

As has been too often the case in recent months, the local tube line is out of action and I must catch the 115 bus down to Canning Town tube. It doesn't add too much to my journey time - maybe an additional 15 minutes at the most - but it is still a pain. I don't like buses.

Still, I get to Kings Cross in time for a leisurely breakfast at Da Vincis - the main man is in today and so the chips are perfect.

Due to that element of OCD in me that makes me get to places far too early, I'm way ahead of schedule so have a good look round Foyles in the mall at St Pancras. Even after that I'm still not expecting to see Trevor for half an hour so get a cuppa at the Sourced Market - full of healthy organic (and expensive) goodies but worth a peruse - only for Trevor to turn up, himself ahead of schedule.

The Man Of Kent

For the trip down to Kent, we're going to be taking the high-speed line from St Pancras - about 15 mins to Ebbsfleet and less than thirty to our initial destination, Rochester.

The conductor on our very empty train is a very chatty chap - took one look at us and figured we're out for a beery day. When we tell him that seeing Darlo is part of the day, he's impressed at our devotion to the cause.

I receive a call from John W - he is already in Rochester and having a look at the castle - but ten minutes later he is there to meet us at the station.

We're there at 10:30am - normally a bit too early even for us but Rochester has the early opening Britannia Cafe Bar – very reminiscent of a Wetherspoons - there is breakfast on offer but the early birds in there are all on beer.

Three handpumps on offer featuring Gadds No 7, Abigale Ridgeway Pale Ale, and Goachers Light. We get stuck in but it isn't long before I'm interrupted by calls from Martin Deans - he's at St Pancras and wants to know how and where he gets his rail ticket. I've spoilt him, you know.

The beers in the BCB are fine but as it approaches noon, we wander along to the Man of Kent – a pub I visited a couple of years ago when Liz and I came to take a look at what were then prospective cats.

By the time we've got our first beers, Steve Duffy has joined us. Also lounging is the bar is pub dog Dude, looking a bit older and quieter than on my last visit. He seems content to raise his head and check us out rather than come over to inspect us as he used to.

As ever there is an excellent array of Kent's finest at the bar: Wrigglers Best Bitter. Whitstable Pearl of Kent, Abigale Ridgeway Pale Ale, Wantsum Black Prince, Kentish Ale Dominator, Gads Dogbolter, Goachers Mild and Gold Star, Tonbridge Rustic and Old Dairy Sun Tap.

Synchronised waving

Even when the bar is quiet with just a few customers, the pub is somewhere you immediately feel at home and it would be very easy to spend the rest of the day there.

After trying a decent number of beers though we resist and head back to the station.

Just a short hop to Ebbsfleet station and, thanks to Martin, we take the short cut through car park C to Ebbsfleet's Stonebridge Road ground.

I pass Howard - busy chatting to the driver of Darlo's team coach and trying to get some gossip - I leave him to it and head off to sign in.

A very friendly welcome from all the stewards for what is an unsegregated crowd. The stadium is neat and tidy - two stands and a covered terrace plus an open end. The sort of ground that would suit Darlo.

The squad were still warming up as I wandered out onto the pitch, being careful to avoid being hit by some of the wayward shooting on display. Hopefully they’ll be better during the game.

The Darlo side had a new face as Dale Hopson, another product of the youth team set-up, made his senior debut. However his performance belied his lack of experience as Darlo played the best football that I’ve seen this season.

After all the recent news about Darlington’s off-the-field woes, the home side were probably surprised by the way that Darlington attacked them straight from the kick-off. There was no shortage of creative effort as Darlo ran rings around the Ebbsfleet defence with Hopson playing neat passing football with Rundle, McReady and Hatch and looking every bit an established player.

The major surprise of the first half was that Darlington had only achieved a single goal lead as various players went close to opening the scoring with keeper Edwards pulling off some decent saves and Darlo going close on numerous occasions.

Liam Hatch opens the scoring

The goal finally came after former Gravesend and Northfleet (as Ebbsfleet were then) player Liam Hatch stabbed home from close range after the home keeper failed to deal with a cross from Mark Bridge-Wilkinson.

Darlington continued to dominate after the break but failed to capitalise on their creativity. Ebbsfleet slowly started to come into the game and it looked like we would be made to pay when the home side equalised.

The ball was played into the Darlo penalty area – Sam Russell came out to clear but was beaten to the ball as Willock headed into the net. Rather a soft goal.

Far too often in the past Darlo would have crumbled and conceded the initiative at this point but not today as we went straight back on the attack. And it took just a few minutes to restore the lead as Hatch scored his second goal of the game.

Hopson was again involved, laying off the ball to MB-W – his cross found Hatch in plenty of space and time to welly the ball past the keeper. The away fans go wild.

It was then that our composure deserted us as Ebbsfleet pressed harder and we started to panic and lose our shape. Thanks to some last gasp blocks and one superb tackle from captain Ian Miller, we held out.

It was from one Ebbsfleet corner that Darlo secured the points – the ball falling to sub James Gray who fed it forward. The home defence failed to intercept the pass and Hopson ran free and left one-on-one with the keeper. Hopson shimmied to send the keeper the wrong way and slotted the ball home like a seasoned pro.

Cue more Darlo mayhem on the terraces and celebration as the final whistle blew a few seconds later.

This was a great victory – not just the performance but the superb attitude shown by the players and the way we went about playing the game. Clearly Craig Liddle has got the lads fired up and this was a real morale boost for fans and players.

Dale Hopson scores his debut goal

Highlights of the game can be seen here.

After the game we hurried back to Ebbsfleet station, just missing a train back to London but we didn't have to wait long for another. The fifteen minute journey is very impressive and so we're in the Euston Tap by 6pm.

An old chum of mine from Newcastle CAMRA, John Holland, popped in for a quick half so it was good to catch up with all the pub news from there - not that I'll get a chance to try any for a while given the Gateshead game is on Boxing Day.

Some cracking beers in here tonight - Fyne West Highlander Black IPA, Redemption Fellowship Porter (to keep John W happy) and a trio from the wonderful Magic Rock brewery - Curious NZ on cask with High Wire and Cannoball IPA on nu-keg. Superb!

But eventually the hunger pangs began to win the battle over my thirst and I headed home for a curry. A most excellent day out from start to finish. More please!

The Nature of Addiction

2011-11-14T15:06:00.005Z

For once on a weekend, football wasn't at the centre of my universe - thanks of course to the three-nil humiliation at Hinckley which was the start of yet another low point in Darlo's history.

In truth, I wouldn't have attended a game even if Darlo had been in the first round of the FA Cup as I was already committed to attending a few gigs of one of my favourite musicians.

Devin Townsend is the fella - one-time vocalist for guitar noodler Steve Vai before creating his own extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad - and in recent years he has formed his band the Devin Townsend Project which is a bit more mellow.

Townsend was playing four straight nights in London - each gig devoted to one of his quadrilogy of DTP albums - and I was aiming to go to three of them, joined by my niece Allie who has seemingly got similar tastes to me. Gotta love those genes!

The venue for the first two gigs was the University of London Union which is close to Euston and therefore pre-gig beers were taken at the Euston Tap a few hundred yards away. Perfect for getting that pre-gig atmosphere.

The first night was devoted to Ki which is the first of the quadrilogy - quite an even paced album with a mixture of slow and fast numbers. The venue was packed with fans from all over the world - many making the journey from North America and Scandinavia - devotion to the cause.

For the next day - when Addicted was the album to be performed - Allie and I were joined by Liz. I'd bought VIP tickets which meant we would do a meet'n'greet with the band before the gig.

Once again a few pre-gig beers in the Tap before we headed off and joined the queue of other VIPers. As we were let in we were all given a goody bag (t-shirt, poster, exclusive tracks on RAM key, programme, laminate etc) before the band were brought in to meet us all.

Devin got the most attention but the rest of the band are a friendly and, I'm pleased to say, hairy bunch of individuals who were genuinely pleased to meet their fans and have a good time. The other fans were good too - no one pushing in to get to see the band first.

Being a VIP meant we were let into the venue first and so most of us headed down to the front - even if there was another three hours before the band were onstage.

Brian Waddell and Hairy Fan (who may have had a beer or two)

Support for tonight was a band called Amplifier who I'd not previously encountered. I'd heard one track a day or so beforehand which sounded promising.

However they totally exceeded my expectations with their 40 minute set - a stunning wall of sounds - part progressive, part space-rock. I shall be checking out their back catalogue immediately. Check this track out - brilliant.

After what seemed an age setting up the gear for DTP and a few gremlins in the first couple of numbers, Devin hit the strage and proceeded to play Addicted in track order. The sound was excellent, helped by the vocals of Anneke van Giersbergen - what a pair of lungs. Nice legs too! And stood directly in front of me too.

There are a couple of good clips here and here. Or this one which is taken by somebody directly behind me - quality isn't brilliant, especially my singing.

Overall the best gig I've attended for a long, long time for sound and atmosphere. A great day from start to finish. And there will be a DVD of it too - can't wait!

Hairy Fan, Devin Townsend and niece Allie

First Victory for caretaker Liddle

2011-11-07T13:50:00.002Z

A fairly pleasant start to the day in Da Vincis - the chips not quite up to their usual standard but the rest of the breakfast was fine. Martin joined me and brought me up to date on our midweek cup defeat at Hinckley which led to Raj Singh sacking Mark Cooper.

And to top nit all there was talk of the chairman wanting to renegotiate contracts with the players as he clearly feels - and it would be difficult to argue against the premise - that the club isn't getting value for money.

The journey was spent discussing the merits of those candidates who'd been linked with the vacant job - Colin Cooper and Ronnie Moore being two of the early favourites, the latter not finding much favour with me.

As we approached Newark I was sad to see that the Electric Lightning which had stood in the rail-side scrapyard had gone. This was an iconic aircraft and I'd seen it there ever since I first travelled to London and it was odd to see it had gone.

Tony met us as the station and we dropped by the covered market for some vittles before getting to the Quaker.

On offer today we had Covenant and Sedona from Summer Wine, Maxim Anderson Best Scotch, Otter Witch, Tall Ships & Rievers IPA from Hadrian & Border, Arkells Kingsdown and Springhead Bare Bones.

It was the Summer Wine beers which stood out for me here - they're a cracking new brewery with some really exciting beers.

In our next port of call, Number Twenty-2, there was a decent choice - Salopian Icon Bitter, Saltaire Triple Chocolate Stout, County Town Gundog Bitter, Thwaites Wainwright, Brakspeak Bitter, Arkells Moonlight and an old favourite, Ringwoods Old Thumper.

Sam Russell makes a good early save

The Gundog Bitter is a beer from Northallerton's new brewery and was quite a nice drop - not quite up to the standard of Summer Wine but time will tell on how they develop.

We were delayed on our way to the Arena after our taxi driver was late - it seems to be a new lot running the cabs these days and they're not quite as on the ball.

Due to our late arrival there wasn't much time to catch up on the gossip as I needed to get straight out onto the pitch. There was just time for Martin to let me know that Len Blockley's family were in attendance today as they interred his ashes behind one of the goals.

Craig Liddle took charge of the team for the day - having made clear he doesn't want the job on a permanent basis (who can blame him) - and he can probably be pleased with the showing from the lads.

The first half was quite positive although both sides could probably have stepped up a few gears and made more of the game.

Darlington scored the only goal of the game midway through the first half after Telford had a couple of good early chances - Sam Russell pulling off a very good save and a Telford forward shooting wide.

The goal came after Ryan Bowman was tripped in the area - Mark Bridge-Wlkinson converting the penalty to get his third goal of the season.

The second half was not very exciting though Darlo came close on a couple of occasions through MB-W and Walshaw (on for the injured Campbell). As the game came to a close, Telford threw caution to the wind and pushed forward in an effort to regain parity but the defence held firm.

It wasn't the most convincing of victories but is just what the club needs at this moment -with no game for a fortnight perhaps this will give Raj time to appoint a new manager before we head down to Ebbsfleet.

Ryan Bowman cut down int the box - penalty to Darlo

On the way back to London, we were supposed to change trains at Doncaster but we were told the train we wanted was only going to Newark and were advised to catch another train which was just about to leave.

We caught it with seconds to spare - thankfully West Ham fans who'd been playing Donny that day had been sent home via Sheffield as the police weren't keen on them hanging around.

Our train ran onto Newark where we were delayed for ten minutes to change the locomotives and suddenly we were heading back north again with no word of explanation. I was half expecting to return to Donny but it was only when I spied Lincoln Cathedral out of the window that I realised we were heading to Kings Cross via Sleaford and the darkest parts of Cambridgeshire to Peterborough.

Not a very quick journey - we had been due in at 9:30pm but it was 11pm by the time we rolled into London and my plans to have a drink with Wycombe buddy Paul ruined.

Very annoying but it would have been much, much worse if we'd have lost...

Braintree - End of the Line

2011-10-26T15:33:00.016+01:00

For once I was not the first out of the house - Liz was up bright and early to attend the Festival Of Romance in sunny Kings Langley - perhaps that is where I should have gone.

At the start of the season, our game at Braintree promised to be quite straightforward to get to - just wander into town and get a train from Liverpool Street. But no, engineering works on the entire line meant a trip to Newbury Park tube to pick up a replacement bus service.

As I had some time on my hands I went via Stratford and popped into Westfield Stratford City, the humungous shopping centre that has been erected alongside the Olympic site. The largest in Europe I'm told. And they have a Lakeland. First impression? F Huge.

The bus from Newbury Park took us along the A12 to Ingatstone, a small Essex commuter town, arriving in time for me to miss a connecting train by two minutes!

The next train was not for almost another hour but the station is a quaint little place with a drinks stall and waiting room full of train magazines. With a nice cup of tea it was quite a restful place to watch the world go by for a while.

Not many people joined the train to Braintree which runs down a small single-track line through pretty Essex countryside - and Braintree was end of the line.

The only decent pub open on arrival was a nearby Wetherspoons - in this case a converted cinema called the Picture Palace (a lot of thought went into that). There was a bit of a queue at the bar - mainly for people ordering food or coffee which had the bloke in front of me fuming.

It was the end of their International Beer Festival and they still had a few decent beers on - I had Woodfordes Ketts Rebellion, Tring Pudding Porter and Gywnt y Ddraig Black Dragon (for the second time in a few weeks).

I had expected John, Rich and Andy from Darlo to be here but it looks like they were still on the bus to Ingatestone.

The next port of call was the William IV - about a mile walk to the edge of the town but after emailing the pub, it promised to be Greene King-free so was worth the effort.

As I got there, John Wilson was dropped off and Martin arrived in his car. We tried to find the best way in without running the gauntlet of the large dog in the garden but that proved to be the only way in. Once inside the garden though the dog turned out to be a big softie.

As promised, a decent selection of beers on offer - Wibblers Hop Harvest, Mighty Oak Seventh Heaven, Marston Moor Matchlock Mild and Bishop Nick Ridley's Rite.

(right) Whispering Ray tries to put a happy face on things

The latter is from the Ridley family who once ran the Ridley brewery which used to brew some excellent beers but disappeared off the scene a few years ago. Good to see them back.

John and I got a taxi to the Cressing Road ground - a compact little stadium amongst a housing estate (reminding me of Dagenham & Redbridge). No segregation today which was nice to see.

I headed to the turnstile to sign in - unfotunately despite having contacted the club about a press pass (and getting an acknowledgement) I was not on their list. If I wanted to go in I had to pay £15. I paid.

It seems that all the Darlo press mob - Ray, Craig and Les - had the same problem despite all contacting the Essex club beforehand. It did seem very odd, not to say underhand, and certainly against the accepted norms.

John and I found somewhere to stand, close to the main stand, and got chatting to an exile Darlo fan. Mike is originally from Catterick but was living not far from John in Beckenham, south London.

Another new face in the starting eleven for Darlington today - Nialle Rodney on loan from Bradford - a striker who would hopefully add to the five goals Braintree conceded in their last game.

It was the home side that started off most confidently and Darlo found it hard to keep moves going - they were constantly chasing the ball and there was minimal service to new-boy Rodney.

He did have one good chance in the first half when the Braintree keeper palmed the ball towards him. At first he looked as if he blazed the ball over but after looking at my shots it looks like a defender handled the ball.

I was manging to have a good shout at proceedings - not something I normally do when 'on duty' especially if I'm close to the officials but after paying to come in, I wanted to get value for money.

(left) Spike Kee's header creeps into the goal

It looked like being nil-nil as half-time approached but the home team took the lead as Stevens stabbed the ball home from a yard out after a free-kick bypassed the Quakers' defence.

Rodney was replaced by Liam Hatch for the second half - to his relief I suspect - but Darlington's task was made worse after just a few minutes after Davis headed home to double the lead. Poor defending.

On the away bench, Cooper and Dryden looked completely lost - Terry Cooper was also on the bench but did not appear to offer any advice to his son. I don't think there was any to give.

And after an hour it was 3-0 to Braintree after Soderberg parried a shot but the ball fell to a Braintree foot and was easily slotted home.

John McReady as was another debutant, James Gray, were brought on and things started to look a bit better for a while as they brought a bit of vigour to the Darlo attack.

It paid off after 80 mins as Spike Lee headed off after the ball bobbed around the Braintree box - something for the travelling fans to cheer at long last but it was too little, too late.

As the final whistle went and the Darlo fans left, most were of the opinion that Cooper's time was up and it was very hard to come up with an argument against this.

Mike drove us back into town and we popped into the Waggon and Horses for a drink. Despite being a Greene King pub they had a wide range of beers and we tried the Cambridge Bitter whilst waiting for Bev to join us.

Mike was then kind enough to give us a lift back to London, dropping us at Stratford so we could try a beer at the latest craft bar, Tap East, in Westfield.

This is run by the same mob who run the Rake at London Bridge and it has a nice mixture of UK cask beers and foreign keg beer. I had a pint of Magic Rock Rapture - a lovely beer from one of the top breweries in the UK today.

It won't be long before the Tap East starts brewing themselves with John's old mate Eddie doing the honours. I suspect we'll be back again in the not-too-distant future...

(above) "What time is it", asks Cooper. "Time to go" replies Dryden.

Spanish Gold and Darlo Delight

2011-10-26T15:29:00.001+01:00

For the home game with Kidderminster I was already in the north - visiting my Mum in Northallerton - and so I was able to get through to Darlo nice and early and have a damn fine breakfast followed by a quick peruse around time and a visit to Taylors.

Of course this also meant I was first into the Quakerhouse which had one of the best selections for quite a few weeks -Osset Silver Link, Jarrow Westoe IPA, William Bros 7 Giraffes, Wylam Hablon Nouveau, Mithril Scrum Down, Tirril Pilsner, Oakham Mompessons Gold, Acorn Old Moor Porter and Ilkley Smoked Witch.

The 7 Giraffes was the pick of the bunch but the Oakham wasn't far behind.

Despite this excellence, we wandered up to Number Twenty-2 and it had to be said they had a pretty cracking range on too -Everards Pitch Black Stout, Exe Valley Viceroy IPA, Black Sheep Emmerdale, Hawkshead Windemere Pale, FFF Alton's Pride and Daleside Old Legover.

No question here as to the best beer - the Windemere Pale blew all the others away and it has also come in for a lot of praise amongst the beer bloggerati. A brewery with a bright future.

But all good things must come to an end and so we made our way to the Arena where the prospect of a tight contest awaited us. Kiddy had excellent away record but after Darlo's 4-3 win at Stockport a few days earlier, it was time to put a spoiler on the visitors' record.

It was not going to be easy as Spike Lee had suffered an injury in training so Jonathan Sanchez-Munoz retained his place as Cooper kept the same side from Stockport.

James Walshaw takes a tumble

Lee's continued absence also meant a home debut for Exodus Geohagon - Big Ex as he is destined to be known as at 6ft 5in he is a rather hefty bugger.

Big Ex also has a mean throw on him and this is something Darlo looked to use whenever possible. A nice thing to have but I hope we don't use it all the time.

Out on the right wing Adam Rundle impressed and produced some good crosses which put the Kiddy keeper under quite a bit of pressure before hitting a corker of a long-distance shot which was pushed wide.

For their part Kiddy didn't create many chances but thankfully spurned a good one before the half-time whistle. And the after the restart Ole Soderberg was beaten but the bar saved him.

The Quakers should have had a penalty early in the second half after James Walshaw was taken out though it has to be said that Walshaw doesn't help matters as he can be a bit theatrical.

Darlo continued to attack but the Kiddy defence were defending well with some real last gasp blocks and it looked like the game would be goalless.

And then with ten minutes remaining Darlo got a throw which allowed Big Ex to hoist a ball deep into the Kiddy box - this was cleared but only as far as Jamie Chandler - he popped the ball back in where Big Ex flicked it to Sanchez-Munoz who finished neatly from close-range for his first goal for the club.

Kidderminster rallied and had a couple of good chances - one after Sanchez-Munoz was turned inside out by the Kiddy forward line but for once Sodeberg looked in control and came out to gather the ball.

The lead could have been doubled at the end as Darlo attacked on the counter - Bowman outran the Kiddy defence but hit the post with only the keeper to beat.

Overall a very decent performance, especially after Tuesday's win, and it goes someway to ridding the memory of that woeful performance just one week ago at Bath.

Sanchez-Munoz scores his debut goal to win the game for the Quakers

Darlo's form down the plughole!

2011-10-10T12:56:00.017+01:00

Another one of those annoying days where the District line wasn't running on my end of the line so it was a no 5 down to Canning Town instead where I could join the Jubilee line and along to Paddington.

For breakfast we were re-visiting Raffles on Craven Road - in the past it has been just about OK and if there were other decent ones in the area then we'd go elsewhere.

However I had the Chef's Special - basically the normal breakfast, no chips but with orange juice and marmalade (though I didn't actually get the latter) - and it was very good. Even the standard catering-type sausage had some taste.

The journey to Bath passed by quickly - John read his paper and I rested my eyes for a while - and we were greeted at the station by Trev who was billetted just down the road in nearby Keynsham with his better half.

We hadn't wandered far into town before Brian called to see where we were. He soon caught up and the four of us wandered up along the river and then popped into a free art exhibition for a small dollop of culture.

The West Gate was our first pub for the day and it had a rather disappointing selection of beers, certainly compared to last season - GK IPA, Wadworth 6X, Morland Old Speckled Hen and Ringwoods Exmoor Gold - we all opted for pints of the Exmoor Gold. We'd not been there long when Steve joined us.

There were some decent ciders though - Gwynt y Draig Black Dragon and Mr Whiteheads Equinox - the Black Dragon was a quaffable 4.5% so not too dangerous as a second lunchtime pint.

From here we took a pair of taxis to the Royal Oak - only to get there and find the pub closed. I knocked on the door and the manager came out to say his staff hadn't turned up and he wouldn't be opening for an hour at least! Not keen on the thought of having to serve a few people on his own obviously.

(left) Liam Hatch tries to decapitate the opposition

This was a bit of a blow but Steve remembered there was another decent pub nearby - the White Horse - and so it proved but it was up a very steep hill, way above the ground. Both Brian and I were puffing like good 'uns by the time we got to the top.

A decent selection of beers - Otter Bitter and Head, Yeovil Ales Star Gazer and Devilfish That Gold Devil. We got stuck into our beers and then set about warning others that the Royal Oak was shut.

I got chatting to Jase the landlord - a nice young lad who has turned the pub around from serving one middling ale to having a good regualr selection, occasional beer festivals and a nice tasty menu (doing the cooking himself) which lead to it becoming Bath Pub of the Year 2011.

John B joined us after a while - he'd decided to walk from the station - and then a rare appearance from Frank (joejacques in Darlo Uncovered MB-speak) who is exiled in peaceful Milfordhaven which makes Bath a local-ish fixture for him.

Some may remember Frank as he dressed up as a Quaker for the FA Trophy final - or even many moons ago when he turned up at an away game at Huddersfield after shaving half his beard off! It was good to see him again.

I left the gang a little early so I could collect my press pass - it seemed quite busy today in the home end and it turned out they were doing a special offer for students.

No major changes in the squad - a nice day for football, dry and quite warm and a nice friendly ambience at this cosy little ground. Time to get our season back on track.

A slow start to the game - not a lot happening at all - the only excitement was for me when the senior steward came striding towards me. Apparently I wasn't wearing a bib and the ref was complaining.

Normally a club will issue a bib before we come on but we didn't get any on our visit here last season - thankfully I carry a spare hi-vis bib so not a problem for me. Amusing though that the ref might confuse me with a footballer - quite heartening I suppose!

Chances were limited for both teams in the first half - we had the odd skirmish but their keeper only had to deal with a couple of crosses although he was probably thankful that Arnison's long-range shot went narrowly wide.

Unfortunately for Arnison that was about it - he was injured shortly afterwards and was stretchered off to be replaced by Chris Atkinson.

(right) Mark Copper wonders where it all went wrong

Ole Sodeberg didn't really have to touch the ball in the first half - he carefully watched a couple of shots go the right side of the woodwork - but the makeshift defence managed to keep things at bay.

Overall though Bath City looked the livelier outfit as Darlo failed to hit any sort of rhythm - it was a painful sight and the management team looked extremely frustrated at their lack of progress.

At half-time I joined the others for a quick natter before joining the queue for some chips, only getting served seconds before the game resumed ("queue full of students, you're just a queue full of students").

Adam Rundle and the Bath City subs warmed up around me and you could see their eyes light up as they saw (and smelt) my potato lovelies. And very good they were too.

Early in the second half substitutes John Campbell and Ryan Bowman were sent on for Walshaw and Purcell - Bowman worked hard and made some progress but Campbell looked lost (though to be fair the service to him was minimal).

With about twenty minutes to go the deadlock was broken as the Quakers failed to clear a corner and the ball was tapped into an open goal. Bath joy, Darlo despair.

And then a few minutes later, Bath forward Phillips was given far too much time and space and slotted the ball past Sodeburg. Darlo despair doubled.

The away side looked stunned and completely lost as they tried to get back into the game - Campbell had an effort cleared off the line and Hatch headed over but that was as good as it got. Not very good in fact.

Mark Cooper disappeared into the dugout as he seems to do at times like these whilst Dryden tried to chivy the players. I suspect that like the rest of us, Cooper is at a loss for the continued poor performances.

Darlo fans vented their fury on the players after the final whistle - Brough came in for some stick which was a tad unfair as he wasn't the worst of the bunch - and at least he came over to the fans unlike some others who just went straight to the dressing room.

Thankfully we had a taxi booked to pick us up and so it wasn't long before we were at the station. Trev and Steve left to get their trains whilst Brian, the two Johns and myself headed off to the Raven.

The place was quite busy when we got there - we had a pint of Vale VPA but it wasn't brilliant - not a bad pint but not something we were enjoying and most of us failed to finish them before we headed off to the Volunteer and Rifleman (or the Volly for short).

A pub we'd never tried and I wished we hadn't - a bit of a rugger-buggers pub. As I walked in, a guy in a Wales RFC shirt said "shouldn't you be in New Zealand, ha ha?". A reference, dear reader, to my alleged likeness to France rugby player Sebastien Chabal.

I can't remember the beer we had but it was rather uninspiring too. In fact I think the best drinks were the That Gold Devil and the Black Dragon cider.

A strange day overall in which the highlight was probably the breakfast and it isn't often I say that...

You Knows It...

2011-10-04T12:58:00.027+01:00

The recent set of results for Darlo - 4 defeats and 2 draws - had seen the messageboards approach meltdown with the knee-jerk suggestions of the great Darlo-supporting public (whatever that is) and debating whether we would be better off with or without Mark Cooper.

My view is that whilst Cooper is not perfect, the team have certainly not lived up to the pre-season hype following the FA Trophy win and have certainly under-performed far too often.

There was a key change in personnel with several players departing - some such as Tommy Wright and Chris Senior were expected and probably did not have a major impact whilst others - Paul Terry and Gary Smith as well as Arman Verma - have probably affected the squad more significantly on and off the pitch.

Today we add into this mix the reappearance of that perennial jinx, Howard, so that you would fear the worst for Darlo in their home game against Newport.

On the journey north, Martin outlined the utter despondency of the midweek defeat at home to Southport. A horror story - I'm glad I wasn't there.

At Doncaster a plane spotter joined our table - he was an exiled Geordie so it wasn't long before we got talking about football before talking about planes and how the US had ripped off our best designs - we were quite cheery when we arrived at Bank Top.

Howard went off to Taylors whilst I headed straight for the Quaker where I found some peple sitting at "our" table. I then noticed that half the handpumps were off. Just what was going on?

It turns out that some repairs were being made to the handpumps which meant a reduced choice: Tirril Moroccan Sunset, Jarrow McConnel's Irish Stout, Mithril Ale's Odd Shaped Balls, Lymestone Stonecutter and Banks & Taylor's Edwin Taylors Extra Stout.

(left) Gary Smith and Sam Russell have a mutual moan

Unusually I only tried a couple of halves - the Moroccan Sunset and the Stonecutter before I decided to stick to the latter as it was a tasty session beer.

I'd been joined by Trevor, Brian and John W - no Tony as he was saving himself for a 6km run the next day - and after a while our table was vacated, we moved in and the match-day status quo was restored. These things are important.

And then onto Number Twenty-2 - Mordue Radgie Gadgie, Jarrow McConnells Irish Stout and Saltaire South Island Pale on tap in addition to the home beers.

Tony finally joined us at the pub for a couple of halves before he drove us down to the Arena. A low crowd was being mooted and it certainly wasn't very busy when we got there.

I had a quick peruse of the club shop but nothing really jumped out at me so I headed to reception and signed in.

As I went for my pre-match wee up on level 1, I bumped into DAFTS Steve Rees - he's not been well recently but he is out of hospital now and getting to games by use of a wheelchair although he is starting to get around on crutches. Good to see him back - no reason why he shouldn't suffer like everyone else!

The main item of team news was the dropping of keeper Sam Russell - replaced by Newcastle's number 5 keeper, Ole Sodeberg. A tad harsh on Russell as he hadn't done a lot wrong so far and he's certainly saved us in some games. e.g. Grimsby.

The first half was a tightly contested affair - Darlington had probably the majority of possession and did seem to be making a concious effort.

Newport however applied some pressure so that there were some hasty clearances by the home defence - clearly they hadn't had much time to work with the new keeper and weren't prepared to leave things to him unless absolutely necessary.

(right) Michael Brough shoots

For their part, the home crowd was being supportive and were only too willing to applaud hard work and good play although there was still the odd moan and groan when passes went astray.

But there was a big smile on the faces of the home fans after thirty minutes when MB-W scored from the penalty spot.

Tadhg Purcell was deemed to have been bundled over - and from what I saw through my lens it could have been one of a couple of defenders who were responsible - the ref was adamant and who am I to argue?

And then after fifteen minutes of the second half, Purcell was once again involved - this time to poke home the ball after Hatch had headed down a cross. It was cleared by the Newport defence but only after it had crossed the line and there were a few heart-stopping seconds before we were sure we'd scored.

At half-time I noticed Gary Smith in block 11 - apparently he has been to a few games this season - and he came down to the pitch to have a few words with an obviously unhappy Sam Russell.

In the second half, Darlo created a few more chances - MB-W going close with a long range shot which almost made it 3-0.

Debutant Sodeberg didn't have a lot more to do except collect a couple of crosses - unfortunately he fumbled the ball on each occasion. Peter Beardsley was in the stand, presumably making notes - I suspect like me, he wasn't greatly impressed.

All in all it wasn't a brilliant performance but we did what we had to and got all three points. Jamie Chandler worked his socks off and was rightly awarded declared man of the match. I thought the defence played well and protected their new keeper. Up front Purcell looked busier - hopefully his first goal will spur him on.

On the way back to the station we stopped off to get some fish and chips - very nice they were too - before catching the train back to King's Cross.

We had planned to celebrate the win with a few beers in the Euston Tap but Martin was developing a healthy sniffle all the way back and he decided to just go home instead.

(above) Mark Bridge-Wilkinson scores from the penalty spot to give the Qaukers the lead

State of the (Cask Ale) Nation

2011-09-30T10:30:00.005+01:00

By way of something different, I thought I would point you all to an interesting publication – the latest version of the annual Cask Report.

It is an interesting read, mainly aimed at publicans in order for them to understand the trends in current drinking with respect to cask beers.

All beer sales are down but less so in the cask beer market which seems to be at an all-time high, certainly from my experiences visiting pubs in recent years (and that is before we consider the craft beer/nu-keg movement).

Therefore this report looks to helping publicans by outlining what they can do to use cask beer to improve their business. It isn't simply a case of adding a few handpumps to the bar.

There are an unprecedented number of new breweries across the country but it has to be said though that not all of them are producing top quality beers.

This was certainly our experience at the latest Darlo beer festival - lots of new breweries but hardly any beers that you would want to have again. It isn't much fun having a local brewery if their output is no better than the likes of Greene King.

One of the most interesting things it highlights is the way in which it regards younger drinkers as being less loyal – what is calls repertoire drinking – which worries me slightly. Will they stop drinking cask as soon as the next big thing comes along?

It also suggests the those new to cask beers often look to try it as it has a retro feel about it – how’s that for making you feel old? I’ve never thought as myself as retro before though I'd accept being described as stuck in a time warp.

Not so sure I agree with one of the statements regarding cider suggesting - “it also substitutes for ale because as well as being cold and refreshing, pouring a bottle into a pint glass over ice is a slow, relaxed, seated occasion – the same as ale”. Hmmmmm.

You can download the report here.

Darlo Got The Blues

2011-09-26T15:31:00.015+01:00

As someone who can be a bit superstitious, especially when Darlo are not doing too well, I decided to try somewhere else for breakfast today - the Station Sandwich Bar & Cafe on Pentonville Road. A very good breakfast but would it bring us luck?

I caught a slow train to Cambridge and had virtually a whole carriage to myself - makes a very nice change and it is certainly the most peaceful journey I've had for a long time.

Chaos on arrival at Cambridge though where there was an almighty scrum to get out as it seemed the whole of the city were inside intent on buying tickets, presumably to somewhere else.

Whilst waiting for Tony's train to arrive I checked out the site of what will eventually be the Cambridge Tap - sister of the Euston Tap - just a few yards from the station exit. Something to look forward to next season perhaps?

(left) Steve, John and Tony waiting for the Cambridge Blue to open

A call from John W to say the Cambridge Blue didn't open until noon - despite what is says in the latest GBG - meant a change of plan.

Tony and I wandered off to a local butcher for some pies before meeting Steve, John and various other Darlo fans outside the Live and Let Live.

Due to open at 11:30am, it was opened with apparent reluctance four minutes late - inside there were only half of the hand pumps on and then one beer went off as the first pint was being pulled.

The remainder of the beers on offer were not the most appealing so we decided to give it all a miss. A shame as we have been coming here for years but it didn't impress last season and I think we'll give it a miss in future.

We then walked to the Cambridge Blue - with a quick visit into Bacchanalia for me so I can lust over various bottles of foreign beeriness - and had just a short wait before landlord Jethro let us in a few minutes early.

A mouth-watering choice on offer - Woodfordes Wherry, Elland Moonbeam Rider, Oakham Musashi and Inferno, Humpty Dumpty Swingbridge Stout and Swallowtail, Cottage Trident and Bank Top Barley to Beer.

The best of the bunch for me was the Musashi and the Moonbeam Rider which turned out to be a rye lager - very interesting but a tad fruity for Tony's palate.

It was my first visit here - other than an abortive one last season - the front of the pub is very traditional whilst the new extension - leading to a large garden at the rear - was quite obviously recent but still matched the rest of the pub.

There were quite a few DAFTS here today - Colin, Neil and family, Ely Steve and Huntingdon Mark who were meeting Paul and Mags and then the Darlo beerhounds - Rich, John and Andy.

We decided against the long walk to the ground and took a cab - annoyingly it was a little tardy and then took us on what seemed to be a roundabout route.

(right) Walshaw celebrates but he was offside

Despite our worries we were there about fifteen minutes before kick-off - plenty of time for me to collect my pass.

No time to have a chat with anyone before kick-off though - only just long enough to get my gear out and take a few practice shots. A nice sunny and no sign of rain - just right.

Darlo were defending the goal at the away end and were soon under pressure - Ian Miller was out injured and was replaced by Sunchez-Munoz who looked a bit lost.

Cambridge applied early pressure and caused Sam Russell a few scares and it wasn't long before yet another cross was not picked up by our defence and left Michael Gash to head home smartly from about ten yards. Very sloppy.

Darlington came into the game a bit more - Chandler shot from the edge of the box and Walshaw hit the side netting but we conceded too much possession to the home side and can only have been grateful to go into the break just one goal down.

At the whistle, Mark Cooper was straight onto the pitch with the ball to give the referee the benefit of his opinion. Unsurprisingly the referee took exception and at the restart, Cooper was exiled to the unused half of the away end. Solitary confinement.

Darlington were not a lot better in the second half - Bowman replaced the ineffectual Purcell and put himself about to some effect but Rory McAuley in the centre of the home defence gave nothing away.

The only time he was beaten was when Greg Taylor hit the bar and then Walshaw prodded the ball into the net from close range but was offside.

Cambridge then extended their lead after an hour and that was about it. Campbell and Arnison were brought on but it made no difference - the game was up. Goodnight Vienna!

After the final whistle we walked back across the fields - careful to avoid the cowpats - and made our way back into town.

(left) Cooper making his feelings known

Sad to see that the Greyhound pub - which we used for a pre-match boozer for many years - is now boarded up and closed.

Tony and I made a quick detour to pick up some bottles from Bacchanalia - some Belgian and US saison beers for me - before joining the others in the Devonshire Arm s.

A few Milton beers - Sparta, Minotaur, Pegasus and Nero of what I can remember plus a few guests, White Horse Village Idiot and a couple from Wentworth, WPA and Lemon. The Sparta though is one of my favourites and it didn't disappoint whilst John W found the vanilla taste of the Nero a bit too much.

Neil and Mari joined us with son Martin who tried to climb around the pub when their backs were turned - a right little devil - where does he get it from?

After a couple of pints it was time to wander back to London - thankfully an express service which took just forty-five minutes. Cambridge as ever was a great place for good pubs but the poor performance really put a downer on the day.

Luton Hoo-doo Continues

2011-09-12T11:10:00.020+01:00

No early morning rush for me today as I accompanied Liz into town - her plans to meet fellow London Millers was nearly derailed by a signal problem at King's Cross but as things turned out she got there with time to spare and after a quick chat with Jenny and Chris, I left them to their train.

I popped up the Euston Road to meet John Wilson and then we both headed to a newly discovered breakfast venue, hidden away behind St Pancras church on a little pedestrian street, the Sorrento Snack Bar.

John and I had tried to eat here once before but it doesn't open early but no such problems today and when we arrived there were a few tables spare.

The place seems to be run by three elderly ladies - presumably of Italian descent - who run it in a very precise but friendly way. Every customer is "My darling" to the one in charge. I have a side order of black pudding so I can make a full appraisal of their wares.

The breakfast turns out to be one of the better ones we've had for a while - very well cooked chips and bacon, moist black pud, strong tea and excellent toast - the only minus points would be awarded for the less than inspiring catering sausage. Recommended nonetheless for both the food and the friendly reception.

We wander along to St Pancras - having a quick look at the beers in the Sourced market - before meeting Steve Duffy and catching the train to Luton.

(left) Ian Miller makes a timely tackle on Luton new boy Fleetwood

We had timed our train so we wouldn't be too early since the Bricklayers Arms didn't open until noon.

However we had a smug text from John Bell - who'd caught an earlier train - that the pub was already open as it was showing the rugby world cup game. Damn - rugger bugger types in the pub!

Thankfully by the time we got there the game was over and things were not too bad. A decent selection at the bar - JHB and Inferno from Oakham, Azzaskunk and Lemon & Ginger from Nethergate, St Peter's Organic Best and regular beer Bateman's XB.

I restricted myself to both Oakham beers - not very adventurous but you simply can't go wrong with these two - and the sips of the Nethergate beers I had convinced me I made the right choice. In fact they were going down rather too well.

We left in time for a leisurely walk to the ground - I picked up my pass from the ticket office and went off to collect my bib. Like last season I positioned myself at the front of the unused away section which offers a decent view.

Making his debut today was recent signing, Sanchez-Munoz, who was playing at left-back. He certainly looked a big lad and some of his early touches were impressive.

However Darlo were on the back foot for most of the first half - not helped by a seemingly voice-activated ref who gave a foul virtually every time a Luton player flung themselves to the ground. Very frustrating.

Not content with this the referee must have got a new notebook as he was certainly keen to take down a few names - Darlo players only though. Do I sound bitter?

Luton had their new £75,000 striker on display - Stuart Fleetwood - and he was out to show exactly why they'd paid all that money. He was a threat and gave the central defenders a hard time.

As it was, Luton eventually scored after Fleetwood set up Danny Crow to slip the ball past Russell.

The Luton defence had an easier time of it with Walshaw and Hatch struggling to make inroads. Walshaw was subbed after just half an hour when he got a kick to the leg and he hobbled off to be replaced by Bowman.

(right) Darlo debut boy Sanchez-Munoz takes a freekick

Just before the break, Darlo's task was made doubly difficult when Lee received a second booking for what seemed a very innocuous challenge and off he went for an early bath.

With only ten men in the second half, it was very hard for Darlo to get any prolonged passages of possession as Luton tried for a killer second goal. it eventually came from debut boy Fleetwood when he headed home past Russell.

There was no way back now and it was all Darlo could do to stop Luton from scoring a third goal.

The final whistle blew and we were spared further embarrassment - the Darlo fans trooped out disconsolately and headed back to the station.

Back in London, we all headed for some more beers at the Euston Tap. It was a nice warm evening so there was plenty of room inside and Bev was not far behind in joining us there.

After carrying my bag round all day I was a bit sweaty so on the train back from Luton I'd changed into my Killing Joke t-shirt. The shirt has caught the attention of a few fellow fans in the past and today was no exception as it caught that of a less-than-sober Donny Fan who'd been on the lash in the capital with his mates rather than go to see his team in Cardiff.

It seems that he was indeed a KJ fan and proceeded to ask me to take the back of his shirt up ("not in a gay way, ya knows" he added) so that he could show me all his KJ tattoos. Errr, very nice!

And as we got chatting he suddenly decides to quiz us on Number One hits beginning with the letter V! Where's Gavin when you need him? Quite a surreal ending to the day...

Silence At The Lamb

2011-08-22T14:08:00.021+01:00

Another bright and early start as I meet John W at Euston at 6:30am - unfortunately the anticipated breakfast stop at the nearby Double Six is off the menu - the place is shut, not sure if that is permanent and so we wander back to Da Vinci's instead.

Maybe it is a bit too early for earnest conversation - either way we have a nice, quiet trip to New Street where we are joined first by Tony and then by Steve and his Villa-Hearts supporting mate, Neil.

We head to the Wellington - we're a bit early but the door is open so we wander in and find we're not the first customers. However the staff are still sorting out the tills so we still have to wait until 10am for the first pint.

The TV screen with the full menu is not working but there is choice aplenty - Salamander Peruvian Torch, Crouch Vale Yakima Gold, Derby Penny's Porter, Oakham Citra, Purity Mad Goose, Otley Thai-Bo, Titanic Last Porter Call, Blue Monkey Big Blue, Sadlers Green Man and Wye Valley HPA.

(left) Graeme ' Spike' Lee is first to the ball

As we were getting stuck into our first pint, Lance joined us - he was originally going to join us at Tamworth but had decided to meet us here instead - a wise move as it turned out.

Needless to say he was soon telling us all about his recent trip to Los Angeles to see his Hollywood sweetheart, Rhonda Fleming. The trip of a lifetime apparently and it seems she didn't get bored of hearing about his other great love, Darlo!

As we were tucking into our third pint, the bar staff asked us to leave the premises - a problem in the cellar rather than a dislike of football fans it seems and the fire brigade were on their way! We finished our beers outside and then it was time for us to head on to Tamworth, leaving Steve and Neil to head off to Villa Park.

At Tamworth station the taxi drivers seemed loath to take us to the Robert Peel and encouraged us to walk instead. I didn't mind but Tony and John were desperate for the gents and it wasn't a pleasant walk for them.

We found Colin and Trevor outside the Robert Peel - not sure why as the place was open - Tony and John rushed in ahead of us.

A relatively decent selection of beers - the pick of these were Oakham Inferno and Dark Star Sunburst.

Last year we had a mass game of pool - mainly as a quick and easy way to raise funds for the Youth Development - but this year we didn't have Brian to organise it for us.

Instead we were were content to play some golden oldies from the 70s on the pub jukebox - the likes of Jethro Tull, Budgie, (early) Yes, King Crimson, ELP, etc - with a little bit of punk to show we're not totally out of touch. The barman must have liked it too as he cranked up the volume.

We all leave in good time for the walk to the ground - I sign in and get pitchside and find irregular DAFTS Pete Stockill has joined the gang, complete with a new flag. Very posh!

Also in attendance today and in the seated away section, is Wrexham manager Dean Saunders, who has come to check out Tamworth, their opponents next Tuesday.

(right) James Walshaw up for the ball

Confidence was high amongst the 193 away fans after the midweek draw at Fleetwood - supposedly one of the favourites this season -but the first half was very uninspiring.

The home team worked hard, keeping lots of possession and giving the Darlo defence a torrid time with Russell pulling off one excellent save but not having to do much else.

Darlo had one good chance themselves but the home keeper was alert enough to push the ball away. And er, that was about it in the first forty-five.

Very disappointing and as a result Bowman made away for MB-W before the break in an attempt to get things moving.

Darlington came out early for the second half and looked to have more about them in the early stages of the half but it wasn't long before Tamworth started to dominate possession once more and created some half-decent chances.

It looked like being a goalless draw until Ben Purkiss lost control of the ball in his own box - in trying to regain possession he knocked over a Tamworth forward. The ref blew - penalty!

A tad harsh perhaps but after the penalty was converted it was difficult to argue that Tamworth didn't deserve to be ahead.Darlington had nothing to offer in the last few minutes of the game and as the ref blows, the Darlo fans voice their displeasure at this lack lustre performance.

We trudged back to the station and wait for our train back to New Street. Originally John and I intended to have a few more beers in Brum before catching the train back to Euston but quite frankly we couldn't be arsed. Bugger!

The Season Starts Now

2011-08-15T10:27:00.022+01:00

Sky Sports have been excitedly telling us that the season starts today - obviously they mean no disrespect to the League teams (yeah right) but they are right - today sees the start of the Blue Square Premier season.

If you really want to be pedantic (sit down Brian!) you could say that Forest Green and Stockport jumped the gun last night as their game was live on Premier Sports - free to air - but for once we'll drop the pedantry.

Martin and I had an early breakfast at Da Vinci's as the only cheap rail tickets were on the 7:30am departure - couldn't see any other football fans at that time but there were plenty of people off to Edinburgh for the fringe.

After all the recent wet weather it was nice to find that it was a very nice day in the north-east. Martin and I had a wander round the shops - popped into Millets for a new stool and got a Hawkwind DVD for a fiver from one of the stalls - talk about excitement!

It was certainly good to be back in the Quaker again after all these months though - just the same of course but it was nice to be sat on my stool at our table. We're back to normal.

A bit of a mixed selection on offer today - Hambleton Steeple Stuff, Idle Idle Dog, Sulwath Criffel and Galloway Gold, Hadrian & Border Premium Lager, Hambleton/Black Dog Rhatas, Jarrow McConnell's Irish Stout and Wall's Beater's Choice.

(left) Sam Russell collects - but is he excited about something?

We were given a taster of the Idle Dog and advised it was an acquired taste - we had a sip and quickly agreed.

The Premium Lager and Galloway Gold were both tasty - the Steeple Stuff was well liked too but my favourite was the Beater's Choice - and no bias just because it is a relatively new brewery in Northallerton.

A good turnout from DAFTS today - John W, Brian, Trev, John B, Colin and of course Tony who was handing out the season tickets he'd kindly collected for us.

Worryingly, I discovered my ticket was for block 9. OK, I don't use it very often but I like my seat up at the back of block 11 - the others didn't seem too bothered that I'd been moved though. Gits!

After trying most of the beers, we moved up to Number Twenty-2 which had Burton Bridge Top Dog Stout, Dancing Ducks Pale, Thornbridge Sequoia, Brass Monkey Son of Silverback and Jennings Cumberland Ale as guests.

The Sequoia is a lovely beer I've had a couple of times before so I stuck to that until our taxi arrived.

(left) Greg Taylor continues to impress despite dodgy coloured boots

For the second season in succession Darlo kicked off the season against the champions from the BS South though Braintree are much more of a non-league outfit that Newport County in that they are semi-pro.

One of the Braintree board was next to me pitchside taking photos in his blazer and club tie because if he doesn’t take shots for the club, no one else will.

And no overnight stays for their players and staff either – they’re used to early morning starts on a Saturday, he told me. Tell me about it!

Throughout the first half Darlo found it quite hard going – they had plenty of possession but failed to make the most of it, rarely putting their keeper under significant pressure.

In fact it was Sam Russell that was called into acrobatic action on a couple of occasions, once tipping over from a smart shot. He was not happy with his defence.

The 40-odd Braintree fans looked rather adrift in the away end but they had more to cheer than the home fans.

Thankfully there was some improvement from the Quakers in the second half – Greg Taylor continued his good pre-season form with plenty of attacking movement. He is currently standing in for Aaron Brown at left-back but he will be of more use to us if he plays in a more forward position.

In one rare flurry of activity Liam Hatch – once again sponsored by the Capital Quakers - hit the post and MB-W fired the rebound over the bar. MB-W and Chandler were both subbed – by their standards they'd been fairly quiet - McReady and Bowman coming on in their stead.

Bowman almost scored as he blocked a clearance from the keeper but the ball crept a couple of feet wide of the post. New striker James Walshaw was making little progress and was eventually replaced by John Campbell.

(left) Hatch is congratulated by a brace of Taylors

As time started to run out and a draw looked ever more likely, another new boy Kris Taylor found space at the edge of the penalty box and crossed towards the six yard box where Liam Hatch scored with a stooping – not quite diving – header.

A little cruel on Braintree but even then it wasn't all over as they almost equalised in stoppage time but all three points went to the Quakers thanks to a last gasp goal-line block from Graeme Lee.

So plenty for Mark Cooper to work on if we’re to be serious contenders this season and the next game at Fleetwood will be a much sterner test for the squad.

A slightly later train back to London for Martin, Howard and I but it ran non-stop from York and so we were in the Euston Tap - at Martin's insistence - before 9pm for a final couple of pints...

Wembley At Last!

2011-05-10T13:38:00.020+01:00

And so the big day finally arrived and I was feeling very nervous. Like many other fans no doubt, I barely slept and it was all I could do not to wander into central London at my normal early time.

But I soon got bored of waiting at home and wandered into central London far too early and ended up wasting some time at a camera shop in Euston before heading off to meet John and Bev.

We’d decided to try somewhere new for breakfast, the Shepherdess Cafe, on City Road as we've walked past it many times and it has always looked quite tempting. Unfortunately it was rather disappointing – especially the strange spicy foreign-type sausage - and I’d made the situation worse by ordering some black pudding – a huge side order that turned out to be – when I didn’t really have my usual appetite.

After doing our best with the mountain of food, we caught a bus to Euston where we got chatting to a local woman. Turns out her boyfriend is from Darlo but it seems he wasn’t aware of his hometown club playing at Wembley – much like the rest of the town I suppose. Nevertheless Bev and her compared notes on the pros and cons of Darlo men. John squirmed in his seat.

As we got off the bus we bumped into Trevor and then, as we were waiting for the Bree Louise to open up, we were joined by Howard, Susie, John Bell and his mate Rod.

(left) Hairy photographer looking smug from his vantage point

The Bree Louise should really be a better pub than it is, especially with about 10 beers available.

Unfortunately some of these beers are straight from the cask and they always taste a bit tired and flat. Today was no different and so I ordered from the handpumps - a nice pint of Redemption Hopspur.

We were only there for half an hour though, merely putting in some time until the nearby Euston Tap opened up.

When we got there we found Neil, Martin, Chris S and his Mum waiting patiently outside. I was worried that it wasn’t opening but finally manager Tony opened the doors and let us in.

Unlike most lunchtimes, I was taking it easy today as I wanted to get into Wembley early and savour the atmosphere – Martin and Geoff felt the same so they joined me as I left before 1pm and headed for the tube.

A Wembley-bound Metropolitan train was pulling up as we got there, full of Darlo and Mansfield fans, and so it wasn’t long before we got to Wembley Park.

After taking a couple of shots of Martin and Geoff on Olympic Way I went to find the photographers entrance – thankfully it was at the front of the stadium and after a quick security check I was in.

Fellow Darlo photographers Chris Booth (Echo) and Rob Smith (freelance) were also there, queuing for their passes, and once we'd got those we were taken to the media room down in the bowels of the stadium.

Great facilities on offer for the TOGS – desks with internet access and plenty of sandwiches and soft drinks with someone to serve you – I could get used to this sort of treatment. I was told that the media room was half-full which isn't to bad I suppose.

The media room was close to the end that Darlo had been given and so once we were ready to go pitchside, we didn't have far to go. We would be allowed to go behind the goals - behind the advertising hoardings, not on the grass itself - but not down the side of the ptich so I went off to bag my place. As I did so I saw that one place had already been bagged by Al Jezerra TV - they must be desperate for football!

I then took the opportunity to go for a walk around the whole of the pitch and get a real feel for the place - not the sort of thing you get the chance to do very often.

It has to be said that Wembley is a very impressive stadium – it has had its fair share of criticism but I was very impressed – it gave the impression you can get a great view of the action from anywhere. I would be spoilt in this respect of course – it was hard to believe that just a couple of weeks I’d been at Hayes & Yeading.

There were many, many new faces amongst the Darlo contingent but every so often I’d find somebody I knew – certainly some faces I hadn’t seen at Darlo for many years. The weather was looking good and so I made sure I got plenty of crowd shots. People were only too keen to have them taken.

The players then came out to warm up and the atmosphere went up a notch. Then there was a lull whilst they went back and then the stadium exploded as the teams came out and we had the national anthem. The butterflies in my stomach looped the loop. Can't we just get on with it!!

I think it is fair to say that writing this now, the majority of the game itself is forgotten - it wasn't a bad game as such, just very tight. Darlo were the team who created most chances during the course of the game but Mansfield also had their moments.

After remaining goalless at the end of normal time, we entered extra-time and the tension went up several notches - this isn't the sort of thing we normally handle well and I was dreading the thought of penalty kicks.

(right) Paul Arnison and hero Chris Senior celebrate

However we kept at Mansfield and went close with Tommy Wright missing a couple of good chances. As we entered the last minute pressure in the Mansfield box saw the ball bounce off the top of the bar and super-sub Chris Senior headed it home.

It was hard not to jump up and celebrate like my fellow fans but I kept shooting the celebrations on the pitch. Get in!!!

As the players settled down for the restart, I still expected the worst to happen - this is Darlo, yeah? I almost wet myself as Mansfield got a quick freekick outside our box but that was wasted and then referee Stuart Atwell - who did an excellent job - blew the final whistle.

Cue the biggest celebrations we've ever had - I think today saw the release of many years of mutual pent-up frustration - an exorcism of sorts if you will.

The team were presented with the Trophy and then had a lot of fun on the pitch - and we had a lot of fun with them - it was great to see such a smile on chairman Raj Singh's face, he throughly deserved this for sticking by the club.

Finally the players left the pitch and happy fans started to make their way out - the Mansfield end was now completely empty - and so I head back to the media room. Inside Echo togger Chris Booth is already hard at work on his laptop, sending shots to the Echo.

I have a couple of cold drinks (water only unfortunately - no bubbly down here) and chill out for a few minutes before I pack up my gear and make my way out.

(left) DAFTS celebrate in typical fashion

Once I get outside there are not many fans around - it it surprising how quickly how people have left.

As I walk down Olympic Way I bump into into Gordon, Darlo's other tunnel steward, and some of his mates. They look as if they've had a drink or two.

And then I meet my former Northallerton neighbour Geoff Thompson - we've both been following Darlo since about 1973 and it feels like a long trek we've taken to get to this win today.

On the tube though I'm on my own save for some Wembley stewards going home - they're not keen no one to share the celebrations with - and that feels very odd.

I head back to the Euston Tap and find a healthy quota of DAFTS celebrating - I change into a less sweaty t-shirt and then make a start of some bottled beers - damn the expense, it isn't every day we win at Wembley - this victory will have to last a long, long time and it needs celebrating properly.

Brian is doing just that and has broken into his stash of Cuban cigars and is doing his very best impression of Churchill - which isn't very good unless Winny had seriously good to seed!

There are a few Mansfield fans in the bar who are being friendly and congratulating us - good beer means good people more often that not.

And then everyone makes their way to their respective homes, to sleep, perchance to relive this happy day...

Toer de Geuze 2011

2011-05-03T13:37:00.000+01:00

Whilst otherwise sensible folk were flocking into London for some wedding, London Miller Chris Turner and I were speeding out of the capital on the Eurostar. Destination Brussels.

Such an early start meant we arrived at Brussels Midi at 11:33am local time - too early to check in to our hotel so we wandered off to the Fleur en Papier Dore - a small bar which had a couple of excellent new beers for me - a tasty IPA, Hopus, and De La Senne's Zinnebir.

From here we wandered to one of the newest bars in town - Moeder Lambic Fontainas - which had a large choice of beers on tap including an excellent range of saison beers which I've really got a taste for. One of the best was the IV Saison from Jandrain-Jandrenouille - really excellent and apparently quite trendy!

Others that I tried included a trio of fine beers from one of my favourite Belgian brewers, De Ranke, with their XX, Hop Harvest and Saison de Dottinges. An excellent start to our trip.

The third member of our party - Roger - met us here as he was on a later train out of St Pancras. After a couple more beers we wandered off to the hotel to check in and turn our bikes round (as Liz's dad would day).

In the evening we headed for the original Moeder Lambic bar though this took about 20 mins longer than it should thanks to Chris and his less-than-ideal map reading skills. A decent bar but service was a tad slow and I much prefer the vibrancy of it's younger sibling.

The following day we set out with the best of intentions to try some more of the city's pubs but for some reason we ended up spending the whole session - from noon to after midnight - yes, almost thirteen hours - sat in the quirky surroundings of the Poechenellekelder.

This bar is slap bang opposite the famous Manneken Pis which always attracts the tourists - we ignored it though and headed straight for the bar. The interior is like a small museum with odd, scary puppets hanging from the ceiling and giving the place a highly surreal air.

The beer choice was excellent and the time flew past as we tried beers old and new - we had the odd food break to keep our strength up with Roger having several servings of tette presse (brawn).

Before we knew it, it was approaching midnight. In all we spent over 200 euros and had about 14 beers each - steady going really and we didn't feel that bad considering. See the whole bill here.

We had an early start on the Sunday when we went travelled to Halle station for the main event of the weekend - the bi-annual Toer de Geuze - which is when all the major lambic producers open their doors to the public.

(left) The best of Boon

There is a very good report on the day on this posting from Des De Moor who was on our bus so I won't try and explain the intricacies of the day to you as he does it so much better.

Joining us on the bus were Jackie and Simon from London who we know well from many beer festivals. We also got talking to an American couple - brother and sister - and a friendly Belgian guy who sat with us so he could translate what our bus guide was saying.

At the first brewery - de Cam - there was a mad scrum for the bar and the way in which tokens were bought and beers were served was rather chaotic. After finally getting a couple of beers we wandered outside where we got chatting to some more Americans, one of who was Pete Slosberg.

Pete was one of the first to brew decent beer in the US and it sparked a small revival in brewing which led for a while to new US brews being sold in Oddbins back in the 1980s. I used to drink a lot of his stuff and it was great to finally meet him (even though he sold up many years again, preferring now to just travel and drink).

The bus then took us at a healthy pace around the breweries of de Troch, Boon, 3 Fonteinen and Oud Beersel.

The beers of Boon are amongst my absolute favourites and they didn't disappoint, especially the kriek which was beautiful.

(right) Simon, Jackie, Roger, Chris and our friendly Belgian chum

In all, it was a really interesting trip but the crowds were huge as it was a very sunny day on a bank holiday weekend which meant that a lot of locals were out in force.

The queues at most of the breweries meant that there was often less time that I would have liked for drinking. I'm not known for my patience.

We were dropped off back at Halle station and as we had an hour or two to spare before we caught the Eurostar home we went to the Moeder Lambic Fontainas for a few more beers.

On reflection I don't think I would do the toer again as the queuing makes it too frustrating for an impatient git like me but I will certainly head back to Brussels now that I'm beginning to get my bearings.

Hayes and Yeading Do The Double

2011-04-19T09:00:00.006+01:00

We haven't had much chance to visit Maries for breakfast this season so as we had a leisurely start to the day John W and I decide to begin the day here. The place is very quiet and so we're served nice and quickly - as ever the breakfast is A1.

As we're ahead of schedule so we pop into the Ian Allan bookshop. I potter round the Military section and end up buying an interesting looking book on trench warfare in WW1. Is it only me that finds this sort of thing fascinating?

From here we head over to Paddington where Trevor is waiting for us and we catch a local commuter train and just fifteen minutes later we're in sunny Hayes.

The choice of pubs in this neck of the woods is probably the worst we've had all season and as a result we've highlighted the local Wetherspoons as the only decent place to go.

The Botwell Inn isn't that bad when we get there - it has a decent choice of beers on offer, some of which are leftovers from their recent national festival.

However the one thing that bugs me about Wetherspoons is that if there is a handpump with a pumpclip it doesn't necessarily mean the beer is on as we soon find out. They refuse to turn the pumpclip round as most other pubs do and so your expectations are raised.

The first beer we have is Daleside White Bier which is in the style of a Belgian white and it is quite good - certainy refreshing. It is quite cheap as well of course, certainly by London standards and whilst price is rarely the criteria I use for selecting beers, it is good when you get a decent beer for a modest cost.

Other offerings included Windsor & Eton Windsor Knot and Black IPA , Zeunerts Ale, Greene King Abbot and Courage Directors.

(left) Sam Russell fails to keep Hayes & Yeading from scoring a second goal

Geoff Luke then joined us - and then Howard - whilst John had to go and collect Beverley from the station. For someone who works for London Transport she doesn't have the greatest sense of direction!

From the pub it takes about fifteen minutes to walk to the ground - probably the neatest we've visited this season but nice and homely nonetheless. I sign in at the main gate and am left to my own devices on the pitch - no long list of do's and don't here.

The weather is lovely and it all has the hallmarks of an early season friendly but for Hayes & Yeading this is a must-win fixture.

And judging from their first-half performance, Darlington were looking to do everything in their power to help them.

Hayes were out for a result from the kick-off and were in the lead after 20 mins after Adam Quinn was out-paced on the wing and from the resulting cross the ball was bundled into the Quakers' net.

(right) A smug Geoff with his winnings

No lessons were learnt from this and Hayes could see that Darlo were not up for it - Russell made two decent saves before the lead was doubled after about 30 minutes.

By now the Quakers looked well out of it and qjuite likely to concede further - thankfully we got to half-time without Hayes increasing their lead.

The break saw some joy however as our chum Geoff Luke won the half-time draw and he came back to us flashing a fisful of twenties! Sadly it was to be the highlight of the afternoon.

As the second half kicked off, there was certainly more endeavour from Darlo and some positive work up-front but the game was more or less killed off when Hayes counter-attacked at speed and made it 3-0.

Michael Smith worked himself into a good position but failed to slot in from a slight angle just a few yards from the line with no one to beat. It more or less summed up our day.

His blushes were short-lived though as Darlo surprised us all and scored two goals in quick succession.

The first was an own-goal after a Hayes defender knocked into his own net after the keeper had initially stopped a goal-bound effort from MB-W.

The second was a debut goal from Greg Taylor who was first to react and poked the ball home from a few yards after Miller's header came back off the bar.

(left) Greg Taylor scores his debut goal for Darlo - not enough

Darlo then huffed and puffed but failed to create an equaliser and so Hayes and Yeading earned a vaulable three points in their battle for survival.

Meanwhile we trudged back to the station and headed back to Paddington and from there to the Euston Tap where Geoff was keen to spend his winnings on us. Who we were to refuse?

There were a couple of cracking beers on tonight from the very well regarded Summer Wine Brewery - Odyssey Pale Ale and Nerotype Black IPA - and these helped put the poor performance to bed.

Thank goodness for the healing properties of beer - where would I be without it?

The Ugly Face Of Football

2011-04-08T12:25:00.013+01:00

John W and I meet up at King's Cross, waiting the arrival of the 6:30am departure from Darlo and on it, hopefully, was Tony.

Well it looked like Tony but it was strangely quiet version as we headed down to the tube. It seems he'd been out on the town last night and wasn't quite with the rest of us yet.

As we jumped on a packed Victoria line train I suddenly realised all was not well - there was an incident elsewhere on the line so we opted for the Piccadilly. From here we had a convoluted trip that saw us exit Westminster tube.

From here it was a five minute walk past Scotland Yard and the Channel 4 offices to our first calling point of the day, the Regency Cafe.

We first came here at the start of the season - an excellent breakfasterie and it didn't let us down today. All aspects of the meal were first class, including an old-fashioned pint of orange juice to perk us up.

From Victoria we had a 50-min trip to Crawley and we timed our arrival more or less perfectly for the opening of the Swan.

This is a decent pub with some nice beers - Dark Star Hophead and M&M Porter, Northern Two-Tone Special, Gadds IPA and a couple more - but the majority were 5% or more.

We settled in the small quiet bar and it was a pretty slow going - Tony had a pint of lemonade whilst I had a half of coke to accompany my pint of Hophead.

(left) Liam Hatch wins the ball

We then got on with the serious business of working out who would be needing a ticket for Wembley so that we could try and get them all together.

John B arrived followed by Iain and Paul - a relatively easy trip for them - and we settled to watch West Ham take a two-nil lead over Manchester United. "3-2 to United" I suggested as the final score - I was nearly right.

John B had estimated via Google that it was a thirteen minute walk to the ground but we set off in good time anyway. Just as well as it took almost double that and I walked into reception with less than ten minutes to spare before kick-off.

The Broadway Stadium is a neat little ground with one main stand and two standing terraces behind the goal with the home fans given the chance to change ends. The Darlo contingent were given one corner of the ground so I positioned myself close by.

On the pitch, Paul Terry was making his full start since coming back from injury and he had his work cut out for most of the day, especially as Gary Smith went on to have a very quiet game and MB-W was also far from his best.

Despite Steve Evan's earlier comments to the contrary, we know that Darlo are not a long-ball team and it was Miller and Burn who spent most of the first-half heading away long-balls pumped to the Crawley striker McAllister.

For the most part the Crawley threat was nullified although there were a couple of times when Sam Russell had to tip shots round the post.

At the other end Liam Hatch was getting little out of the game - he worked hard but the Crawley centre-backs held firm. And should Hatch actually win a ball, he usually found that referee Whitton pulled him up for a foul.

Whitton though seemed to let similar things go unpunished when made by Crawley players and some of his decisions beggared belief.

John Campbell almost got on the end of a cross from MB-W but he was eventually subbed after half an hour for Nathan Modest.

On the sidelines Crawley manager Steve Evans and his assistant were pacing the technical area, berating the officials for any decision that didn't go for them. Mark Cooper meanwhile kept his own counsel and didn't react.

Darlo continued to work hard in defence to keep Crawley at bay and it was goalless when the ref blew for half-time.

The second-half proved to be just like the first - Crawley high balls, Darlo defending, the ref making poor decisions the home bench screaming blue murder.

However on the hour Crawley took the lead - and ironically it came about via a stroke of bad luck as Miller made a good tackle only for the ball to fall to Smith who fired in off the post.

Darlo upped their game in a bid to get an equaliser but Hatch continued to be thwarted by poor decisions from the referee. He did go close on one occasion but the home keeper pushed the ball to Burn who put the ball over the bar.

Crawley brought on sub Richard Brodie to try and put more pressure on Darlo - a nasty piece of work, always sniping at other players and falling over in bids to win fouls - sort of a cross between Plug of the Bash Street Kids and Paul Dickov - and let's not forget it was Brodie's theatrical antics that saw Brown sent off at the home fixture in November.

(right) Brown takes a throw-in as the Crawley bench kick a spare ball onto the pitch

As the final seconds ticked away, Aaron Brown took a throw-in on the half-way line as Darlo looked to make one final attack. As he did I noticed a loose ball was kicked by one of the Crawley bench onto the pitch - presumably to get the ref to interrupt play and get the extra ball off.

The ref blew for full-time at that point anyway so it made no difference but that simple snide act from the Crawley team personified exactly why they'll not be missed next season. Good riddance.

We made our way back to the station where the service back to Victoria was running a few minutes late. When we got on-board we were then delayed by someone walking on the track just ahead of the train.

It probably took about twenty minutes for the guy to be finally persuaded to return to the platform before we got underway. And then the driver announced the train would terminate at the next station!

After detraining at Three Bridges, we caught a train to London Bridge. Unfortunately it was a stopper so John B jumped out at Gatwick to get a quicker train so he'd not miss his Euston connection.

We sat and enjoyed the slower journey but still managed to get to the Euston Tap just after 7pm. Tine for Tony to have a quick pint of Ossett Corker and see what all the fuss is about.

John B and I stayed for a few more beers then finally called it a day - a frustrating and disappointing day but at least we can console ourselves with the fact that we don't have an odious git for a manager...

Jokers Wild

2011-04-03T09:13:00.008+01:00

Waterloo station is not a particularly exciting place, especially at 5pm on a Friday night as everyone heads towards the station for their commute home.

I was here to find a decent pub before going to see Killing Joke at the Royal Festival Hall. One contender was the famous Hole In The Wall pub next to the station but on our last visit a few years ago it wasn't up to much.

Instead I headed down the impressive Roupell Street - like stepping into the past as you walk past the wonderfully preserved Victorian workers' cottages - to the Kings Arms.

This pub is a real gem - two bars with four ales on each including Dark Star Hophead and Patridge,Brakspear's Oxford Gold, Jenning's Cumberland Ale and Ringwood Boondoggle - and it wasn't too busy so I got a seat at the bar.

I tried the Dark Star Partridge and was so impressed I stuck to it - darker than the Hophead but just as drinkable.

One of the barmen noticed my camera bag - he told me that he was a freelance reportage photographer and so we got talking about camera gear and how best to capture the moment.

The pub steadily got fuller as the working day came to a close and after several more pints I was joined by Andy and Clarkey who were also going to the gig.

I'd been advised the band would hit the stage at 8:30pm and so we left in good time even though it was only a few minutes away.

The Royal Festival Hall is often thought of as a venue just for classical music but it has been putting on rock bands for quite a while.

(left) Jaz Coleman in full flow

We had great seats in the middle of the front section and as the lights dimmed at 8:30pm exactly, the band hit the stage and KJ fans left their seats and hit the front.

Although tempted to join them I stayed where I was as I had a perfect spot for taking photos.

Unlike most venues you're not frisked on entry and they seem to have no issue with you taking photos. I felt sorry for the those freelance photographers down at the front who were now swamped by hordes of fans.

The sound was superb - not surprising as the hall was totally refurbished a few years ago - and the band rumbled through their back catalogue.

As this stretches back to 1979, there were always some favourites that would be missed out but the likes of Change, Eighties and Wardance showed that this bunch of fifty-somethings can still cut it.

There was a huge backdrop on which film and animation projections were being played - these were all produced by Darlington lad Mike Coles, supremo of Malacious Damage records and designer of the early KJ album sleeves. They were very impressive and complemented the songs brilliantly.

The band is back to the original members - front man Jaz Coleman strutting the stage in his trademark boiler suit, Geordie chopping away on guitar and the pumping rhythm being provided by Youth and Paul Ferguson. On stage they're joined by youngster Reza on keyboards.

A great night and probably the finest gig I'd ever seen them play - good to see them maturing nicely like the rest of us...

Heed Over Heels

2011-03-22T15:15:00.005Z

Given I'd been up north for the Primal Scream gig, I decided to spend a few days with the family in Northallerton and so it was only a short trip up the line for our big day out in Gateshead.

Nevertheless I was still in Newcastle nice and early and had time on my hands so I popped into the Grainger Market - this is where I used to come as a student for my 28p a pound ox liver!

The only breakfast place that I knew was Sarah's Tuck In which got a rave review here. The food was OK but not quite the standard I've come to expect on a match-day morning.

After a quick look round the shops I met Martin and Claude at Central station which was awash with Darlo fans wandering off to find pubs.

Following my footsteps from earlier in the week, we headed off over the Tyne Bridge and back to the Central where a few Darlo fans were already supping.

(left) Sam holds on tight...

As we got stuck into the beers - including York Guzzler to keep Martin happy - the place got busier and busier, mainly with Darlo fans - all of which took the barstaff by surprise.

John Bell arrived and then our new Gateshead chum, Steve, and his girlfriend, Gina, joined us.

Brian was a late arrival having got a bit lost and ended up at the Borough Arms instead - only one decent beer apparently but they did provide free chips!

We joined Steve and Gina for the walk to the International Stadium - going by some of the back streets overlooking the Tyne - and by the time we reached the ground, there was a huge queue for the home end.

I made my way into the ground and spent far too long trying to get a photographers bib before I eventually make my way pitchside.

The Darlo end was looking pretty full even with fifteen minutes to go before kick-off. I took a few shots of the fans from the front of the stand. I was later told that there was a chant of "Hagrid, Hagrid, give us a wave" - presumably from the younger element - but I never heard it.

By the times the teams came out there was a great atmosphere in the ground and there was singing from both sides of the ground. Both of the curved ends were to have been empty but one was eventually opened for Gateshead fans as the main stand got very busy.

As the game kicked off, Gateshead were obviously out to try and apply pressure - they managed to win the lion's share of possesion but to little end result.

Only one shot looked to threaten the Quaker's goal in the first half but that trickled away for a throw and left Sam Russell little to do other than collect the odd cross.

As in the first game Nathan Fisher and Darlo boo boy Adam Rundle were the main threat but even they found it hard going and other than a few pretty touches, made little headway against the Darlo defence.

(right) Darlo players celebrate

Up front Liam Hatch was running his socks off but was making little impact although one of his headers hit the bar - the ball dropped to Dan Burn who was probably taken by surprise as he could only tap the rebound a few inches the wrong side of the post.

At the break it was nil-nil and I took the opportunity to visit the gents - however there looked to be only one for the whole of the away end and by the time I'd queued and done the deed, the players were coming out for the second half.

There was much more determination from the Quakers this half - Bridge-Wilkinson seemed to step up a gear and was starting to put some decent moves together but we still never produced a real threat in front of the Gateshead goal.

Likewise Gateshead found it hard to penetrate the defence with just one good chance falling to Jon Shaw but before he could steady himself to shot from about eight yards, the ball was whisked away after a fantastic tackle by Ian Miller.

The minutes ticked down slowly and though we looked as safe and secure as you can with a one-nil lead, it was still nerve racking stuff.

It got worse as we entered the period of added time - nerves were jangling and the players were making sure the ball stayed in the Gateshead half.

Finally the referee blew the final whistle and the Darlo players could finally celebrate - the Darlo fans rushed onto the pitch to hail their heroes.

Annoyingly one of the little darlings nabbed my Darlo hat as I was taking photos too - little bastard!

The players went off to the dressing room for ten minutes before they came out again for a more orderly celebration - Mark Cooper was exhausted and told me he'd never been so nervous.

(right) Whispering Ray interviews a happy chairman

As I was leaving the ground I passed the press box so stopped off to listen to Ray interviewing Raj for Radio Tees.

The chairman said he was was absolutely delighted, especially with the turn-out of fans - apparently there were almost 2,500 fans from Darlo.

Ray then interviewed manager Cooper who looked more relieved than happy and was already in that "we need to concentrate on our game on Tues night, Ray" mode that managers use to keep everybody grounded.

As I made my way through the main stand there were a lot of disappointed home officials and fans and I suddenly thought how I would have felt it it was us who'd been denied a trip to the final.

The short walk to the Metro was very quiet - a lot of police still around but most fans had dispersed and so I travelled back into Newcastle on my own.

I had an hour before my train home so headed off to the Newcastle Arms where I got a text from John W who hadn't yet heard the score. I called to let him know he was off to Wembley and was then joined by Brian, John Gray and Rich.

After the game I got a text from Steve, our Gateshead chum, who wished us luck and reckoned that Gateshead had been "outfought, outthought, outplayed and even outsang". Very gracious - I hope I could have been the same had it been Darlo on the losing side.

It wasn't until I was back on the train to Northallerton that I heard we would be playing Mansfield at Wembley. Not the result from Kenilworth Road that most would have expected but it'll do me.

Oh, What Happened To You?

2011-03-20T15:10:00.021Z

And so the weekend begins and it's only Wednesday - how good is that?

It starts with the 7:30am train to Newcastle from King's Cross - not a busy service - and I'm left to read until I reach Darlo when Tony jumps on-board.

By the time we reach Newcastle Central, Steve is waiting for us having flown up from Cardiff. It is too early to book into our hotel so I store my bags in Left Luggage.

(left) The Central

We make our way to the Tyne Bridge and walk over to Gateshead - certainly fog on the Tyne today, in fact it is foggy everywhere and it all looks a bit gloomy.

Over on the Gateshead side we pop along to the Sage - not a lot to see inside on the whole other than the cafe where Steve manages to grab some breakfast.

Once the clock hits 11:30am though we wander back towards the bridge and head to the Central. This is a pub I popped into about a year ago and at that time it was covered in scaffolding whilst undergoing a major renovation.

That is now finished and it looks lovely, both inside and out. It still has a good range of beers: Consett Red Dust, Titanic Iceberg, York First Light, Itchen Valley's Fagin's, Northumberland Farne Island, High House Farm Nel's Best, Big Lamp Prince Bishop Ale plus one from Ireland, Colleg Brewey's Headless Dog, which is really nice.

We have a few beers here before we walk back to Newcastle - this time via the Swing Bridge - and head to the Crown Posada (which was closed on our last visit).

By now the beer was working it's way into our system and the level of conversation was at the "Miranda - funny or a waste of oxygen" level. Steve and I can't stand her, Tony just likes the first series (one series too much I fear).

The beer was good - Durham Apollo and Big Lamp Sunny Daze were lovely drops - and there were some vintage tunes being played on the old Dansette - including one of those old Top of the Pops albums. We could have stayed there all afternoon but opted instead to check into our hotel, have a quick wash and then try some other pubs.

Steve wanted to wander to the Bigg Market to see if much had changed since his days on the Evening Chronicle back in the late 80s. It had.

We were going to drop into the Bacchus but that was closed for renovation so we headed for a quick one at the Newcastle Arms.

From here we take a short walk to the Bodega which was strating to fill up with what looked like Primal Screa fans. Some decent beers again - Big Lamp's Prince Bisop Ale and the more-ish Avalanche from the excellent Fyne Ale's.

After a few pints we decided it would be prudent to get some food into us and so we headed to Chinatown where we had a great chinese buffet at the appropriately naed No 1 Chinese Buffet.

And then into the gig - a photo pass for me so I managed to shoot the first three numbers from the small pit in front of the stage. Just me and one other guy down there - quite different from the London gigs I've covered where there are usually a dozen or more and you have to jostle for a good position.

After the alloted three songs, I was thrown out into the merry throng who were re-visiting their youth as they danced badly to Screamadelica - Primal Scream's seminal album from their hedonistic youth.

(right) Andrew Innes and Bobby Gillepsie

These days the band are a lot more restrained - an expresso before going on-stage and no sherbets until after the gig. How very rock'n'roll!!

After the gig we meet up with Martin - we popped upstairs to the aftershow party but the music was just too loud that you couldn't hear yourself talk.

We wandered downstairs to their cosy little dressing room instead. Mani joined us after a while - "what happened to that dodgy old chairman, man?" he asked when we were outed as Darlo fans.

I sometimes think George would have made a great frontman for a band though he would probably be more like Screaming Lord Sutch than Mick Jagger.

After a while the band's rider is taken away by the cleaning ladies - the alcohol barely touched - and it is time for the band to return to their hotel bar while we three opt to finally call it a night...

Darlo Sneak A-Head

2011-03-14T13:06:00.035Z

A very quiet journey north on the train today - a handful of Southend fans who got off at Peterborough and that was about it. You'd have thought we were the only ones playing in the north-east.

As usual I popped into the covered market for some pies - hopefully I'll not leave them in the pub/taxi as I did last week. No doubt someone got a pleasant surprise when they found my bag of goodies.

Brian was the first in the pub today as Tony wasn't able to join us until noon - John Bell wasn't far behind.

At the bar today: York Centurions Ghost, Saltaire Cascade Pale Ale, Quercus QPA, Consett Red Dust, Crouch Vale Santian, Purple Moose Dark Side of the Moose, Rudgate Sea Fight and a couple from Yard of Ale, Chinook and Hop'd Scotch.

Of these the Crouch Vale Santian was by far the pick of the bunch - with Santian hops from Oregon it was described as zesty and spicy - not sure so about the spice but it was certainly full of bite - just a shame I didn't start with it.

As we prepared to wander along to Number Twenty-2, a couple of Gateshead fans overheard us and asked if they could follow us there since they weren't quite sure where it was. Of course, we are the Friendly Club after all.

N22 was much busier than it has been for quite a while with a few more Darlo fans than usual - normally it tends to be just our little DAFTS contingent and a handful of others such as Durham Tony. DT was there today and had brought a few glory-hunting friends!

On the bar today we had Beatown Bearskinful, Daleside Best, Titanic Steerage Best, Hexhamshire Whapweasel, Taylors Ram Tam and Allendale Golden Plover. The latter was a lovely pale beer but once I'd seen Ram Tam was available I got stuck into that.

I had ordered three taxis today and we left promptly at 2:20pm when the first arrived.

It was just like the old days - a queue of cars as you came to the roundabout on the A66 so the taxi driver dropped us off outside the ground on Neasham Road. Looks like being a good crowd - Raj will be pleased.

(left) Former Quaker Adam Rundle gets ready to punish Darlo

I had to go to the ticket office for my press ticket - thankfully inside as the queues outside were quie long - and as I arrived pitchside with 25 mins to kick-off, there was already a healthy crowd in and the atmosphere was building up nicely.

The Quakers started well and after about 10 mins thought they had taken the lead through Verma but it was disallowed for offside.

Gateshead raised their game and started to get far too much possession on their left-wing - Arnison not having a good game - and Darlo narrowly survived one scare before Nathan Fisher found space in the box to fire past Russell.

From then on, Darlo were on the back foot as Gateshead applied more pressure - Russell tipped over a Rundle header and it was the former Darlo player who scored from the resulting corner after he prodded home a goal-line clearance by Chandler.

At this point you could feel the waves of negativity pouring down from the stands - it was just so typical of Darlo to do this whenever we had a good crowd in the Arena. Half-time couldn't come soon enough.

Gateshead nearly made it three-nil just seconds after the restart but thankfully their shooting was off on this occasion.

Darlo then started to up their game and finally pulled back a goal through Mark Bridge-Wilkinson. Hatch pushed the ball forward but was fouled as he did so.

(right) Smudger (G) hitches a ride after Hatchy scores the equaliser

Thankfully referee Boyeson - who hitherto was never one of my favourite refs - played advantage which allowed MB-W to slot the ball home from a tight angle (though strictly speaking I think it glanced the post and went in off a Gateshead defender). But quite frankly I didn't care - come on!!!

It was now Darlo's turn to look dangerous and we started to put the Gateshead defence under pressure with Gary Smith being denied by Farman and then Verma going close.

Darlo won a free-kick when sub Nathan Modest was fouled out on the right wing - from the resulting Brown cross Liam Hatch headed home and the Darlo fans went wild.

I think at this stage I would have taken the draw but thankfully Darlo had other ideas. Hatch picked up a mis-cleared ball on the edge of the box, raced towards goal and slipped the ball past Farman to make it 3-2. Brilliant!

Hatch continued to work his socks off and chased a ball to the by-line but ended up narrowly missing me by inches as he fell badly.

He looked to have twisted his back as he fell so I moved my gear and made room for him to get treatment. He came straight back on but was subbed a few minutes later.

(left) Hatch puts Darlo into the lead

At the final whistle, most fans probably couldn't believe what they'd seen - this wasn't the Darlo we're used to and the team went off to a well deserved ovation.

As everyone says, it is only half-time in this tie and we only have a slender one-nil lead to take to the second leg but it could have been much, much worse.

An excellent crowd too by recent standards - it was announced as 4,243 with just over a thousand in the Gateshead end - and it made for a great atmosphere which shows that the Arena isn't always crap.

As I left the ground, some of my old Northallerton chums gave me a load of abuse for damaging Hatch but I soon put them straight. As if I'd damage the Capital Quakers' sponsored player!

There was a small police presence along Neasham Road and at the station keeping an eye on thinsg but there seemed to be no trouble as the Gateshead fans headed off home.

Thankfully I hadn't left anything behind today so we had a celebratory cup of tie and a pie once we'd got settled on the way home.

Back in London, there was time for a quick couple of pints in the Euston Tap - Martin choose our first beer, Dark Star Partridge Best, which he liked but I was not keen on. They had quiet a few Dark Star beers including the limited edition Hophead Citra which I'd had that earlier week at the Wenlock.

Instead I opted for a pint of locally brewed Camden Bitter which is served in keg form (or draft as they insist on calling it) but the beer is not pasteurised like normal old-school keg. It was quite tasty but too cold and a bit too gassy - which isn't surprising I suppose. I would much prefer it on cask but it seems that is a bit too old fashioned for them...

Investing In Youth

2011-03-14T08:27:00.007Z

As some of you may know, fellow fans Tony Waters and Geoff Thompson have been busy raising money for the youth team at Darlington.

Since dropping out of the League, Craig Liddle has seen the youth set-up at Darlo miss out on grants and obviously this makes his job much harder.

Tony and Geoff set themselves a target of raising £1000 via various raffles and other fund-raising events whilst Tony resurrected the popular sponsor-a-goal scheme.

The response from various DAFTS personnel has been exceptional and so it was good to see this recognised in a recent programme article from the Salisbury City programme a few weeks ago when Tony and Geoff presented Lidds with a cheque.

For those unable to make the game, here is that article.

It would seem to be money well spent as the youth team is having a very successful season and the likes of Dan Burn are now bursting onto the scene so if you haven't yet contributed, dig deep.

Well Done to Tony and Geoff for their work in helping to do this and of course to all who contributed. Keep up the good work!

Cambridge Blue

2011-03-11T10:29:00.001Z

An incident free trip to Darlington and an early arrival too - I popped into the covered market for some food then got to the Quaker just as Tony was walking in - ever the gent he got the first beers in whilst I got chatting to a ticker chum from Newcastle who was avoiding the football fans in his home town. Sadly, we have no such problems in Darlo.

I managed to get through all the new beers on offer today: Beartown Bearskinful and Bearly Spring, Loddon Harebrained, Wold Top Spring Thing, 1648 Ruby Mild, O'Hanlons Port Stout, Potbelly Pigs Do Fly, and Cleveland Brewery Ironmaster.

The Bearly Spring was a real surprise, pleasantly so - quite light but very fruity - whilst the Port Stout was simply gorgeous - consistently one of the top stouts around.

Brian, Trevor and then John B joined us - all the talk today was of the forthcoming semi-finals against Gateshead and the chairman's recent call for 2,000 adult season ticket holders to book up in March. Highly optimistic to say the least but good results in the next few games might go some way to tempting a few of the stay aways.

Up at Number Twenty-2 there were some good beers, including Elgoods Pagaent and Wensleydale Black Dub as the stout on offer. I stuck to the Pagaent.

(left) MB-W warming up

Down at the ground, I went up to the first floor for my pre-match ablutions - it doesn't do to have a full bladder during the game because if you sneak off, everyone knows where you're going - and I bumped into my old mate Geoff Thompson who was running a Darlo Tykes day out.

It wasn't long though before he took some money off me for raffle tickets - but all in a good cause as all profits are going towards youth team development.

We had faced our opponents Cambridge just a few weeks ago when we made hard work of victory. Today was much the same.

For the first half, the Quakers applied a lot of pressure but with little end product - the Cambridge defence were solid and former Quaker keeper Brown managed to hold on to anything that slipped past them.

Sam Russell didn't have a lot to do but towards the end of the first half, he came to the edge of his box to clear only for the ball to fall at the feet of a Cambridge striker - thankfully he missed an open goal. Phew!

Brown continued to be the busier of the keeper and he was to make a good save to prevent sub Chris Senior from scoring from a header. However he could only push it into the path of Liam Hatch who headed the ball home. A well deserved goal and a sigh of relief ran round the stadium.

With twenty minutes to go, Cambridge finally had to go for goal but had left it too late as Darlo comfortably held out for the win.

On the train home I was delighted when Martin suggested we drop into the Euston Tap after the game - looks like he has been listening to me after all - and so we went straight there after arriving back at King's Cross.

(right) Verma and Senior celebrate Darlo's goal

The place was quite busy but we were able to find elbow room at the bar. Martin has now taken to choosing his own beers now - the training is obviously working but have we created a monster?

It appears not - he makes a good decision by opting for a pint of the Marble Pint. Also on offer was Marble's W90, Thornbridge Raven and Rooster's Yankee so it was difficult to go far wrong.

We were served by one of the contestants from BBC's MasterChef, a guy called Tim, so we get chatting to him. The series is on-going although recording has finished - he is down to the last nine but refused to divulge how well he has done.

We tell him that neither of us watch it - in fact I've not seen it since Lloyd Grossman presented it - as I dislike the two presenters and the way in which it has turned into a highly competitive and nasty programme. It's just cooking for fuck's sake! Nevertheless we wish him luck.

Macc Life

2011-02-28T13:57:00.027Z

Originally Darlo were to be in Cleethorpes today playing Grimsby and since a few of us were not keen on going there, we thought it would be the perfect time to make a nostalgic trip to Macclesfield and the Waters Green Tavern in particular.

As luck would have it, the league game was postponed as Darlo were to play Salisbury City in the quarter final of the FA Trophy.

However as train tickets were almost £80 by the time the draw was made, I decided to stick to the original plan.

(left) The Treacle Tap

There was some confusion about opening time and I was under the impression the WGT wouldn't open until noon so after a mooch around the town I headed for a new pub, the Treacle Tap.

By this time I'd bumped into Paul, my Wycombe chum who was up for their game at Moss Rose. He was accompanied by his mates Dave and Barry who tend to join him when there's good drinking to be had.

As we approached I could see that Lance had beaten us to it and was at the bar ordering as we entered. The Treacle Tap appears to have been a shop or restaurant that has been turned into a pub - all stripped wood and dining tables - but it offers a choice of three ales from small, local breweries. Like a mini-Number Twenty-2.

We had the option of Summer Wine Boreas, Beartown Bareass and Bollington Long Hop - the latter being replaced more or less immediately by Offbeat Brewery Oddball Red. The Boreass was a lovely 5% pale ale - maybe a bit strong for the first of the day but an excellent drop.

I was the first to head off to the Waters Green Tavern which had actually opened at 11am and landlord Brian and barmaid Ann were patiently waiting, wondering where we were. Ooops!

Colin arrived at noon, having just missed me at the Treacle Tap, and then a gaggle of my Macclesfield chums turned up to see me.

Landlord Brian is a man who loves pale ales and the beers on tap today were a testament to this: Kelham Island Pale Rider, Ossett Silver King, Pheonix Low VAT Bitter, Acorn Barnsley Bitter, George Wright Blonde and Derwent Blonde , plus a cider from Gwynt y Ddraig, Haymaker. All in top nick.

I had a taste of most of them except for the Pale Rider plus a pint of the cider. No holding back today.

After catching up with the news from the Macclesfield mob, Colin and I then left Lance to his own devices in the WGT and took the train to Manchester and a short walk to the city's latest ale house, the Port Street Beer House.

(left) Is it a shop? Is it a pub? No, it's the Port Street Beer House

It has the most unpreposing exterior which meant we almost walked past it. In fact when we were sat with our first pint we spotted Brian wandering past on the other side of the road. It was very tempting to let him wander off but we're not like that.

This is a venue very much in the same mould as the Treacle Tap and the Euston Tap, a place where beery old farts and the new generation of young craft beer drinkers can enjoy a beer. I just wish they'd use Draught instead of Draft.

As well as a wide range of bottled beers there was Summer Wine Teleporter, Meantime London Pale Ale, Dark Star Over The Moon and Thornbridge Hopton on tap.

After a couple of beers we wandered off to the next pub - passing other good pubs such as the Crown & Kettle and Bar Fringe that Colin, Martin and I had visited after our televised victory at Rochdale back at the end of the 2009/10 season.

And it was up the Rochdale Road that we went to the famous Marble Arch, brewery tap for the well-regarded Marble brewery. The place was absolutely packed when we got there so it was standing room only at the bar for us.

It is a lovely pub with beatiful tiled walls and has plenty of bar staff to keep the hordes happy. Good helpings of snacks too.

I've had quite a few of their beers over the last year or two - many of them in bottles - and they rarely disappoint. We opted for pints of 3.9 which unfortunately went off just as we were getting a taste for it. We then moved onto pints of Pint (it can get confusing).

(left) Much more traditional - the Marble Arch

From here we moved to our last pub which is also on the Rochdale Road - this is the Angel but it was called the Beer House when I was last in there following a defeat at Bury back in the nineties.

By this time we more or less had enough and so we wandered back to Piccadilly station. Both Colin and Brian could catch earlier trains but I had to wait a while.

Whilst waiting I spied BBC Look North's Clem so had a word with him though he was initially confused by why a Darlo fan wasn't at the game. It seems he been to Bury for the Beeb's Football League show but was heading off back to London for the League Cup final.

I was in a chatty mood so decided I'd make his day and accompany him back to London. It wasn't my train but I resurrected the charm that had seen worked so well for us last week and managed to blag my way on board.

I'm not sure whether Clem was pleased when I came and sat beside him but he was good company and we managed to natter about all things football - he was quite interested in DAFTS and our attitude to football and beer. Who wouldn't be?

By this time I'd found out that we'd won our game against Salisbury and were in the semis of the FA Trophy. Great stuff.

Arriving an hour earlier than originally scheduled, I left Clem at Euston to head to his hotel whilst I went to join Liz, Jenny and Chris who'd had a good victory at Burton (and Coopers Tavern of course) in the Euston Tap and more beer.

Running Up That Hill

2011-02-22T12:24:00.028Z

Today was almost a perfect Saturday - a day when everything almost goes to plan. Needless to say they're rare events.

It started at Paddington - John and Howard were already in Raffles having their breakfast when I arrived. We tend to end up here once or twice a season - a quite reasonable breakfast let down by the poorest of catering sausages.

We caught a train to Swindon, arriving there just a few minutes before Steve jumped off his train from Cardiff. We then boarded the one-carriage service to Cheltenham which took through the tight, scenic valleys of the Cotswolds to Stroud.

And then more transport - this time a taxi to Nailsworth, arriving on the dot of 11am at the Village Inn - opening time.

This place came highly recommended by Liz and the other London Millers who were here in the FA Cup a few seasons ago. Not that we would have gone elsewhere anyway as our copious research showed that there were precious few other options.

(right) DAFTS at opening time in Nailsworth

But this wasn't a case of Hobson's Choice as the pub encompasses not one, but two breweries - the Nailsworth Brewery and the more recent Hetty Pegler brewery.

The pub has only been in it's present form since 2006 and it has quite an active role in the village with book clubs, music nights, football teams and the like. Interestingly they also let people come in to brew their own beers and what they don't take away with them is then sold in the pub.

The ladies behind the bar seemed surprised at having customers so early and perhaps that is why that not all the pumps were in operation. But they soon put this right to give us a good choice.

The beers included Viking Bitter Alestock and Old Rocky from Nailsworth Brewery, Wheel Tapper from Cottage, Hereford Brewery's Muttley's Revenge and Arbor Oyster Stout.

The pub even operates a loyalty card scheme - buy nine pints and get one free - which meant we had almost four free pints by the time we left.

After trying most of what was on offer, I stuck to the Old Rocky which was a nice strength pale ale, very more-ish, whilst the Oyster stout was tasty but just a bit lacking in body for my liking.

We were joined by John Bell and then Martin who'd brought along one of his former work colleagues. And of course Rich, John and Andy also found their way here after stopping for a few beers in Stroud.

During the course of the session John W presented me with a little notebook - obviously doing his best to turn me into a fully fledged ticker so I will now do my best to use it. To be fair he also got himself one!

The London Millers had also warned us that the journey to the ground was up a very steep hill and not one for the faint-hearted (or one with a heavy bag of camera gear). I took the precaution of booking a taxi but I wasn't short of volunteers to share it but not all of them could fit in. Howard opted to walk - he may be the oldest but he's still a fit 'un.

I suppose the ground has to be at the top of the hill in order to find enough flat land to form a pitch - and it's quite a plesant little ground with cover on three sides, including the away end.

It was interesting to see that amongst the subs, Paul Terry was warming up with the others before the game so he can't be too far away from full fitness.

The other noticeable thing was that there was a female linesman, Sarah Garratt, on duty today. Liz and I generally refer to female officials as Linesbirds where youthful bum-fluff officials are dubbed Linesboys. It amuses us.

(left) Don't worry, she knows the offside rule...but as for the other lino

The game started with Forest Green having the better of the play - they were attacking the end with the Darlo fans and the main problem for Darlo was Reece Styche - he was all over the place although he fell over too easily for my liking.

Sam Russell made a couple of good saves in the first half including a spectacular tip over the bar.

Greg Taylor was kept busy in midfield but was on the end of a hard challenge and was replaced by Jamie Chandler who apparently wasn't 100% fit. You'd never have guessed as he had a great game.

Darlo started to take hold of the ball for long periods but failed to come up with anything useful and it was nil-nil at the break.

The Quakers looked a bit livelier after the restart and after being awarded a free-kick close to the by-line, Michael Smith headed home the cross from MB-W.

Darlo brought on Chris Senior for Modest and then Curtis Main for Smith (M) in the hope of extending the lead and went close on a couple of occasions.

Forest Green upped the pressure in the dying minutes and with seconds to go, a soft-free kick was awarded on the touchline in the Darlo half. The Forest Green players, including the keeper, massed into the Darlo box.

The ball was crossed into the box and it was difficult to see what happened but journeyman striker Steve Guinan - who scored once for Darlington against Barnet in 1995 whilst on-loan - was credited with poking it home despite the vociferous complaints from Darlington players who were adamant it hadn't crossed the line.

(right) Ian Miller gets to the ball first

And it was those few seconds that stopped this being a perfect day. We trudged out of the ground bemoaning the free-kick and the linesman. But we had to hurry as we had a taxi waiting and before long we were back at Stroud station.

In fact we'd made such good time we had a chance to catch an earlier train to London - so long as found an accomodating train guard as our £8 single were timed for a set train an hour later.

Following advice given to me by a train conductor I knew, I went and found the guard as soon as the train pulled in and used what little charm I possess to ask if we could come on-board? After a quick chat the guard said we were fine - the train was not heavily loaded so I suppose it would have been churlish to refuse. Lesson: Ask Politely.

And so we arrived at Paddington an hour early - Howard caught the tube home whilst John and I took the tube and popped along to the Euston Tap.

Some very decent beers on offer: Dark Star Sussex Stout and Golden Gate, Bristol Brewing Sunrise and Acer, Thornbridge Hopton and Wild Swan plus one from Brewdog. And most of them are still less than £3 a pint too.

Liz joined us after she'd got back from Sheffield - a day round the pubs for her and her cronies as their game was called off due to rain - and then my Wycombe photographer chum, Paul, popped in for a couple of pints. Hopefully I'll see him again next weekend as I make a nostalgic trip to the Waters Green Tavern in Macclesfield...

Taking A Punt

2011-02-18T13:57:00.000Z

One of the trips that we'd really been looking forward to in the run up to Christmas was that to Cambridge - it has been quite a while since we'd last played there and we've always enjoyed the pubs. But as with most other fixtures that day, it fell victim to the wintry weather.

I decided the rearranged game was worth taking an afternoon off for - Liz agreed - and so we both met Howard at Bromley-by-Bow and drove to the game. And a nice quick trip it was too until we got lost on the Cambridge ring road which has a dearth of useful signs.

It was about 2:30pm when we pulled up at the football ground where, unlike Luton, there is plenty of street parking. I nipped into reception for my press pass and then we got a taxi into town.

We were dropped off on Mill Road where we'd intended to pop into Bacchanalia - an excellent off-licence we'd visited before. But it was shut - the owner away on a tasting apparently. Curses!

Howard and Liz then walked into town whilst I wandered off to the Cambridge Blue which is one of the town's most well-known pubs.

But I was to be thwarted once more - the lights were on but it was closed for refurbishment!

(left) Devonshire Arms - at last an open pub!

There were two pubs left on my list - and I knew one of those didn't open until 5:30pm - so it was off to the Devonshire Arms. Thankfully it was open.

This boozer looks small from the outside but is quite large inside and it is soon clear that this is part of the Individual Pubs chain which includes the Pembury Tavern in Hackney and Coalheavers Arms in Peterborough.

At the bar there are a number of beers from the nearby Milton Brewery - Mammon, Sparta, Pegasus, Tiki and Minotaur - as well as two from Slaters, Top Totty and Haka, plus a mild from Banks & Taylor, the Black Dragon Mild.

The place is fairly quiet and I have a few pints in peaceful solitude until I'm joined by John Wilson. We get chatting to the barman who tells us a little bit about the place - apparently the pub in it's current guise has only been open a year and was a bit of a dump beforehand (as confirmed later by Ely Steve).

I get some pork scratchings - supplied by the butcher over the road, very nice- and the barman then suggests we try another snack. This turns out to be Snyder's Japapeno Pretzel Pieces which were new to me but they were simply lovely and extremely more-ish. Keep an eye out for them in your local Budgens.

Liz then pops in having bought a few things in Lakeland - she is very domesticated - and subsequently Ely Steve and Howard join us.

As we later prepare to pop along to the Live & Let Live just a few streets away, we hear from Iain Swalwell that it is not opening until 6pm. Well, we'll stay here - certainly not a hardship - and we wait for Iain and Paul to join us.

Aware that I've been drinking for a few hours I decide to set off in good time as Liz, Howard and I walk to the ground. This means I have time for a nice bacon roll (albeit £3) and a wander round before the game kicks off.

In goal for Cambridge was Simon Brown who we'd had on loan a couple of seasons ago but it was his counterpart who made the first impression on the game. Dan Burn had been harshly judged to have fouled a Cambridge forward after just seven minutes but Russell easily saved the penalty.

This seemed to encourage Darlo and we took the game to Cambridge with plenty of posession and forward play but little to show for it in front of goal. Chances were limited for Cambridge and it was nil-nil at the break.

(right) Goal-scorer Smith on defensive duty

It didn't take long though for that to change after Gary Smith headed the Quakers into the lead. A smart run through midfield by Verma who passed the ball wide to Brown who crossed an inch-perfect cross for Smith.

Darlington continued to make the running and had the bulk of the possession - at the back the defence kept the opposition at bay with another assured performance from Dan Burn.

Liam Hatch then broke through the Cambridge defence and almost extended the lead but keeper Brown managed to get a finger-tip to his lob and put the ball over the bar.

Cambridge had one good chance close to the end of the game but Darlo held out to claim a well deserved three points.

As we left the ground though all the talk was of the news that had come through from Darlington in the second half - speculation surrounding the holding company who own the ground and the story that the Echo were supposedly running tomorrow to say that they're going into receivership. Here we go again.

Of course this had all the usual doom and gloom merchants moaning and I made the decision to do my best to avoid the messageboard tomorrow.

John and Simon (Spyman) both joined us for the drive back to London, Howard seemingly confident of the route back but we soon got lost, due once again to the lack of useful road signs.

We did get back to London in good time though with Howard dropping Liz and I off at Bow Road and the others at London Bridge. Thanks Howard- we could get use to this chaffeur service...

The Joy Of Six

2011-02-16T10:01:00.018Z

The day started even earlier than usual as the lure of £8 singles meant we had opted for a 7:15am departure from King's Cross - however this was off-set slightly by engineering on the East Coast line which would about add an hour to the journey time.

It did mean I could have a wander round town - including a visit to Taylors - before getting to the Quaker for opening time where I found Tony waiting for me. Thankfully he'd remembered to bring my watch and lens cap which I'd left at the Britannia when we were last up for a game.

On offer at the bar today were a trio from Brentwood Brewery in the shape of IPA, Spooky Moon and Hope & Glory. In addition there was Mithril Ale's Love Bug, Hill Island Febrewery Gold, Allendale Beacon Fire, Wensleydale Dub Stout, Franklins Bitter and Tom Woods Bomber County.

The Love Bug was excellent - probably the best from Mithril that I've had to date - and the IPA and Febrewery Gold were pretty solid too.

Also up for the game were the two Johns and man-about-Norway Neil Johnson. Bev was also in town but had declined to join us in gavour of some shopping.

(left) Nathan Modest on the wing

As usual we headed up to Number Twenty-2 before heading off up to the ground.

I had a quick wander round the club shop but as always seems to be the case, there wasn't much stock on display to try and tempt me to part with my hard-earnt cash.

Once pitchside I have a chat with Martin and his fellow tunnel steward, Gordon, who asks for my score prediction. I'm usually loathe to commit myself but I suggest we should win 3-0. Gordon agrees but Martin is pessimistic and opts for a two-all draw.

To be fair to him games against the so-called weaker sides at home have been hard-going affairs and the home defeat to Hayes was certainly a low point so perhaps we should temper our optimism.

However today sees us goes some way to think a little differently as we finally put a poor team to the sword.

Mark Bridge-Wilkinson opens the scoring 20 mins after taking a free kick that avoided everything in it's path and bounced into the net. Within the next fifteen minutes MB-W had managed to claim his debut hat-trick after scoring from two penalties.

Nothing decidedly dodgy about either of them except for the lunacy of the Eastbourne defending as both came from needless tackles on players moving away from goal - first MB-W and then Verma. Sam Russell commented to me that he couldn't believe how stupid they were.

At this point I got a text from John W - 'WRONG END' it read. As if I didn't know! However I like my usual spot and prefer stick to it for the whole game so that I can get shots of Darlo defending as well as attacking.

(right) Dan Burn in control

Liam Hatch then scored a fourth from a header before John Campbell got his debut goal for the Quakers with a shot that eluded keeper Forecast and saw the home side go five-nil up at the break.

As often happens, Darlo took the foot off the gas for the second half despite little obvious improvement from Eastbourne.

When the crowd attendance was announced with a special mention of the 13 away fans, the home crowd warmly applauded their opposite numbers without any hint of sarcasm. A long way to come to see your side play so poorly.

Despite missing five goals at the other end, I was in a prime position for the sixth and best goal of the day from Aman Verma - a cracking shot from just outside the box after some neat passing with MB-W.

It would have been nice to keep a clean sheet but Eastbourne contrived to score a few minutes from the end so that their baker's dozen had something to cheer before their long trip home.

(left) Verma shots and scores

After the game at Luton, this was the perfect tonic for those that hadn't travelled to Telford. There were many candidates for man of the match but it was given to MB-W. Hard to argue with that.

Our train back wasn't until 7:45pm, so we got a bus back into town and returned to the Quaker to revel in the warm glow of victory. Martin joined us there, nipping out to order some food for the return journey as we took advantage of the Pizza Express Valentine's offer, three courses for £15 - and very nice it was too.

Our train departed on time but unfortunately the day finally took a turn for the worse at Doncaster as a tree had falled on the line between there and Retford. This meant trains were running on just one stretch of track and we would be delayed until further notice.

We had a tedious wait at Donny station before we slowly passed through the affected area - we managed to speed along for an hour once we'd cleared it only to then hit the planned engineering south of Peterborough.

The net result was that we arrived at 12:35am - over an hour late which did at least mean we could claim the cost of our journey back from East Coast. But given it had only cost £8, I'd much rather have arrived on time...

I rushed down to the Northern Line only to find the last tubes had already been and gone and so it was back upstairs to the bus stops. Within a few minutes I was on a bus to Bow Church and from there a min-cab got me home at 1:45am, tired but happy.

Luton By Night

2011-02-03T10:27:00.014Z

After the postponement last Saturday, the thought of seeing a game was quite exciting even if it did mean an evening trip to Luton.

I was offered a lift by Howard - he being retired now and having time on his hands - and so I left work early so he could pick me up at Bromley-by-Bow tube.

I always find travelling by car much more frustrating than the train as it just seems so slow and seems to eat into drinking time but I was grateful for the lift. But just getting to the M1 turn-off on the M25 was bad enough.

And then trying to find somewhere to park was frustrating as it seems that every street around the ground requires a residents permit.

(left) Liam Hatch battles

After driving around for what seemed like ages but was probably only ten minutes we found ourselves in the vicinity of the railway station and decided to use their car park. It cost £4 but it had the distinct advantage of being just a few hundred yards from the Bricklayers Arms.

We've been coming here as long as we've been visiting Kenilworth Road as it is still the best pub in town with only the nearby English Rose offering any real competition.

John Wilson was at the bar awaiting our arrival as we walked through the door - we DAFTS are obviously finely-tuned to each other - and we had a decent choice of beers: Crystal Rock Harvest Pale and Black Gold, Oakham Tera plus one from Hadrian and Border.

The pub is a meeting point for many Luton fans but it didn't get too busy tonight - certainly not as busy the last time I was here - but we didn't see any other Darlo fans that we knew.

We set off for the ground in good time as I needed to pick up my photographers pass. Due to the limited room round the edge of the pitch I was given the choice of sitting in front of the main stand and the mass ranks of Hatters fans or stand in part of the away end that wasn't being used by the Darlo faithful.

I opted for the away end as I didn't want to have the Luton fans behind me - plus this meant I would be closer to the toilets with fewer people queuing.

In the first-half Luton were kicking towards the away fans and it didn't take that long before they started to put our defence under serious pressure. They had a succession of corners and they went close with a lot of headers but luckily for Darlo their finishing was woeful.

One header came whizzing past me - I calmly watched it sail past and then got thumped on the back of the head as it came back off the first row of seats. Sad to say this only brought a small cheer.

Darlo didn't offer much at the other end and it was hard going for the 77 paying Darlo fans - like me, I'm sure they were all pleased to see us get to half-time without conceding. Hopefully Mark Cooper would get them sorted during the break.

(right) Debutant John Campbell with Luton keeper Tyler

And so it seemed as the second half started brightly for the Quakers with more joined-up play and some penetration into the Luton box with Hatch battling hard.

Debutant striker John Campbell made a positive debut, always looking to make space for himself and get on the ball but he was just off the pace.

Luton started to gain the upper-hand again and with twenty minutes to go, they took the lead when Gnakpa shot past Sam Russell from just inside the box after getting away from Quinn far too easily.

This spurred Luton on and they wasted a couple of good chances before Owusu found plenty of space to fire past Russell. The same striker scored his second a few minutes later with a header.

The misery was complete when Luton scored a fourth in added time and the game just couldn't finish soon enough.

This was a poor performance all round with the debut of Campbell the one and only encouragement that we could take from the game.

We trudged back to the railway station where John managed to catch a fast train to Luton with seconds to spare whilst Howard was kind enough to drive me back home.

Now This Is Getting Silly...

2011-02-03T08:16:00.025Z

Today was going to be one of those rare days - a home game for Howard. And he was as keen as ever, beating both Martin and I to Da Vinci's for our pre-train brekky.

I'd actually arrived a little earlier as I had a myriad of pre-paid train tickets to collect from Euston and King's Cross, having recently volunteered to extend my travel agent duties for Tony and our Argyle chum, Geoff, so they can take advantage of cheap ticket deals on the East Coast.

On the journey up, I'd received a couple of worrying texts from Chris and John W indicating it was rather frosty in the north-east.

And they were right - it was significantly chillier in Darlington than the balmy south-east and as Howard and I walked into town, we tested out a patch of grass and it was rock hard.

(left) Early in the session - Brian is wide awake

We met John in the Quaker, closely followed by Tony, and were settling into our beers when we got a call from Martin. He was walking to the ground and someone walking the other way said the game was likely to be off. He'd let us know for definite as soon as he knew.

By now John Bell had also arrived - as had an old chum, Steve from Ely and his Darlo-based brother-in-law and rockabilly-in-arms, Keith.

The beers of offer today to keep us entertained were as follows: High House Farm Top Tup and Auld Hemp, Banks & Taylor SOD & Fruit Bat, Blue Monkey 99 Red Balloons, Captain Cook Sunset and Discovery, Caledonian Double Dark and Wylam Hedonist.

I got stuck in with halves of most of these - the Auld Hemp and Fruit Bat being especially good.

And then came the confirmation call from Martin - the ref had called the game off due to the pitch being frozen. Cue a flurry of conspiracy theories about our lack of strikers.

As usual in this sort of situation we made the best of it and continued drinking. Other Darlo fans wandered in plus a trio of Kettering fans who were also determined to make the best of a bad job.

It wasn't long before we (or mainly me) had tried all that was on offer and so I suggested we wander over to the Snooker Club. The idea was well received and so we moved on.

(right) A Pot Black moment for Martin and Howard

The Snooker Club is situated just off Northgate and was the usual low-lit barn with lots of young kids mis-spending their youth. Peter the manager has been working hard to get some decent beers on and has won a few pub of the season awards from the local CAMRA.

There were about five beers on offer, amongst them High House Farm Auld Hemp (again), Yorkshire Dale's Nappa Scar and Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted. Of these the first two were not good, on their way to vinegar but the Bitter and Twisted was excellent.

Howard, Martin and Brian had taken a detour via Taylor's after leaving the Quaker and so joined us a little late - Martin and Howard were not keen on drinking too much so when we moved on again, they opted to stay and play a few frames.

From here, we moved to the Britannia which tends to be a place I only get to when games have been postponed. Which is a shame as it is an excellent little pub with decent beer and a hard-core of friendly folk to talk to.

I was surprised to Brewdog Trashy Blonde available - one of the new breed of upstart brewers who brew some good beers but are prone to going a bit OTT on their publicity. But still a very nice pint.

By now Brian had succumbed and had slipped off to the Land of Nod - it had to happen eventually I suppose - whilst the rest of us supped our beers and watched the scores come in on Soccer Saturday.

Steve, one of the regulars from the Quaker was here and he introduced me to Pete, a Brit regular who has recently started brewing.

The brewery is called the Just A Minute brewery but he is just small-scale at the moment, doing occasional brews which have mainly been seen in the Brit. Hopefully I'll get to try his wares when they're next in town.

Time was moving on and once the final scores were in, I wandered off to Number Twenty-2, leaving a lens cap and my watch in my rush to move along. Howard and Martin joined me for a few more beers before we then went off to catch our train home.

Keep 'Em Peeled

2011-01-24T08:51:00.025Z

My day didn't quite start as I'd hoped - I popped along to the Double Six at Eustion at 7am only to find the place shut - very unusual as it normally opens very early, catering as it does for cab drivers and railway staff - so I had to pop back to Da Vinci's at King's Cross.

And then back to Euston for my train to Brum - I arrived there by 9:30am which allowed time for a quick wander around HMV (wot - no metal section in a Birmingham branch?) before heading to the nearby Wellington.

This place is a bit of a tickers pub - 16 beers on tap, the choice of which are displayed on a TV screen and which you order by number, not name.

(left) DAFTS On Parade

It also opens at 10am which is very useful and allows those local tickers to have a few quick halves before wandering off to the darker corners of the Midlands in search of new beers.

I suspect the place opened even earlier today as it was already quite full when I arrived - a group of drinkers eagerly awaiting a bus to take them to the Winter Ales Festival in Manchester.

Of the beers on offer I managed to try a respectable number - Wye Valley HPA, Blue Monkey Guerrilla, Oakham Citra, Beowulf Hurricane, Church End End Reg and Saltaire White Christmas. Needless to say they were all in excellent nick.

Steve joined me here after taking the bus from Cardiff - he'd texted me to let me know there was a pitch inspection at noon but if the weather outside was any indication, I expected the game to go ahead.

From New Street it is only a 20-minute train ride to Tamworth and on arrival we opted to take a taxi rather than walk the ten minutes or so to the designated pub.

Big mistake. I asked to be taken to the Robert Peel and after a few minutes of driving round the driver said "You do mean the Robert Peel hospital, don't you?". No, the pub, we replied.

After another minute or so he asked if we meant the Robert Peel hotel? Turns out he had never heard of the pub and so he dropped us in the town centre, charging the minimum fare and getting no tip.

Lesson - don't be so lazy!

Thankfully the pub was well worth it when we arrived with a good selection of beers: Oakham Bishop's Farewell, Church End Vicars's Ruin, Marston's Pedigree, Waen Blackberry Stout and Blue Monkey 99 Red Balloons.

Colin was already there - as were Rich Jones and John Gray - and is wasn't long before Tony, Ray, Lance, Brummy T, Trev and Brian all rolled up too.

(right) Gary Shaw joins the DAFTS Brains Trust

Brian saw that they had a pool table and decided we would all contribute £1 and play Killer.

Needless to say most of us were rubbish but it didn't matter as the winner and runner-up donated their winnings to the Youth Development kitty.

We left for the ground with Lance in tow - he'd been insisting he wouldn't go but he just couldn't resist. This would be his first game in about three seasons.

On arrival at the Lamb it was interesting to see that the stands weren't very high at all - the club had previously stated some areas of the pitch didn't get sun but on walking out, the pitch was certainly soft and not nearly as bad as our recent home game against Wimbledon.

There were a few Darlo fans at one end of the main stand but the majority were in the covered terrace behind the goal which Darlo attacked in the first half, playing up a noticeable slope.

Well to be more precise they were kicking that way rather than actually attacking as we had precious few chances at that end. Nathan Modest was beaten to the ball by the keeper and Bridge-Wilkinson went close with a lob that came back off the crossbar.

But for most of the first half, Tamworth were the busier side and kept the pressure on us though Russell had little to actually save but there were plenty of crosses aimed at their very large centre forward that he claimed.

Tamworth were given a great chance to take the lead when a penalty was awarded - I didn't see the incident but there didn't seem to be a lot of protests from our boys.

Russell to the rescue though as he made a great save, palming the ball away after diving to his left, to keep it level at the break.

We had a quick chat with former Villa player, Gary Shaw, who was covering the game for the local press. We all agreed it wasn't a brilliant game.

(left) Players stare at hairy football magnet

In the second half Tommy Wright replaced the on-loan Modest and Darlo started to apply themselves more and eventually took the lead when a Bridge-Wilkinson free-kick was headed home by Liam Hatch.

Second later though Tamworth's large centre-back was deemed to have been elbowed by Wright - the second time in a few minutes this defender had gone down like a sack of spuds -and Tommy was off to get first use of the soap. I didn't have a great view but it looked relatively innocuous judging the reactions of everyone close by.

For a while Darlo kept Tamworth at arm's length but in the last ten minutes Tamworth were applying constant pressure in and around the penalty box and there was a lot of last gasp defending. Gary Smith was replaced by Taylor in an effort to bolster the defence.

Typically we conceded an equaliser in added time - though to be fair Tamworth deserved a point for their efforts but it was a bit of a sickener nonetheless.

Most of our gang had gone back to the local Wetherspoons as soon as the equaliser went in - a few even went before that as they were feeling the cold - so once I was packed up I made my way back the station and onto New Street for a few more bevvies in the warmth of the Wellington and then a sleepy trip back home.

All Points East

2011-01-16T14:33:00.023Z

Once again we have a cup game at home, in this case the FA Trophy game against Bath City, which meant there was not a lot of time to get reasonably-priced train tickets up to Darlo and so I decided to get my kicks drinking beer instead.

And not for the first time (nor the last I suspect), London Miller Chris Turner was more than happy to come out and play - but where to go?

We decided to make it a mixture of old and new and started out along the Central Line at Wanstead. As Chris and I arrived we passed one of the pubs on our list, the Cuckfield, but the beer choice looked unexciting and so we cut it out of our plans.

(left) Robin's Pie and Mash

Just a few yards further on was our first stop, Robin's Pie and Mash shop, a recent addition to the Robin's pie empire.

The pies were quite thin with soft pastry but a very tasty filling. They provide the corporate pie and mash at West Ham United so certainly the real deal - no prawns here (though they will do you poached salmon and mash at this branch).

From here it was a short walk to the Nightingale - a lovely pub tucked away from the bustle of the High Street, sat next to a small green which gives it a bit of a Essex village vibe. Great to see the pub opening before noon as well - very civilised.

A decent collection of beers on offer: Fullers ESB, Morland's Old Speckled Hen, Courage Best, Ringwood Boondoggle and Rudgate Ruby Mild. We looked to be the first drinkers in today and the beers we had - the Boondoggle and the mild - were both in excellent condition - too often you get a lukewarm "first of the day" pint. Pricey though at £3.45 a pint!

The pub has several rooms, all with a busy clutter of pictures and memorabilia, giving a real homely feel. There were boards everywhere advertising the food on offer which was very varied but which had an emphasis on fish dishes.

The Essex feel to the place was completed by a set of stereotypical Essex types, including one guy who resembled Smithy (from Gavin and Stacy) in both mannerisms and dress, completed when he orderd rogan josh and chips for a belated breakfast. Classy, Gavlar!

(right) The Nightingale, Wanstead

After a couple of pints we caught the W12 minibus - one of these buses that you can hail as it goes along it's route - and which took us along the edge of Epping Forest, past the towering frontage of Snaresbrook Crown Court, through Whipps Cross hospital to Walthamstow.

Here we popped into the Nags Head in the village part of Walthamstow which is markedly different from the surrounding areas of north-east London. Our Green Army chum, Geoff, was patiently waiting for us.

Chris and I had been here once before - it's a community pub with comfy chairs, books, magazine and various special-interest groups - it could be a bit precious but isn't, helped by a good selection of beers including Nethergate Best Bitter, Crouch Vale Brewers Gold, Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde Mild, Tim Taylor's Landlord and Fullers Pride.

Apart from the pubs, another reason we choose to come to this neck of the woods was to visit the East London Sausage Shop. The sausages are truly excellent and despite good intentions it has taken us over a year to come back and get some more.

From here we walk past the Village - we popped in here on our last visit and the the beer here was terrible so instead we head for the Castle which has had recent good reports and is another new pub for us.

(left) Geoff and Chris leave the East London Sausage Company

What was once an old east-end boozer had really had a major makeover and was now one of the (far too?) many pub eateries full of young couples who all seem to be glued to their netbooks and iPhones rather than actually talking to each other.

Nevertheless they had three handpumps with Black Sheep Ale, Youngs London Gold plus one other. The London Gold is what was Kew Gold which I used to like in bottles but this was fairly bland although in good condition.

The final stop of the day was the King William IV - otherwise known as the tap for Brodie's Beers who are probably the most prodigious brewers in London with a seemingly endless array of beers produced by siblings James and Lizzie, the White Stripes of brewing.

Not surprisingly there was a huge range of beers from the brewery - which sits behind the pub - on offer at the bar including Green Bullet, Brewer's Gold, El Dorado, Polska, Olde Ardour, Romanov Empress Stout (12.1%!), IPA, Kiwi, Citra, Amarilla, Californian and Seven Hop IPA (7.7%) plus a guest from North London, Camden Brewery's Pale Ale.

Some of the beers are excellent and the majority of the others are good to very good - you rarely get a duff beer from them. And all at the excellent price of £1.99, regardless of strength.

The big screen was tuned to Sky Sports so we were able to follow the fortunes of our respective teams - good news for me as Darlo beat Bath City 4-1 but not so great for Chris and Geoff as their teams lost.

The pub started to fill up once the final results came in - the match between West Ham and Arsenal was live on TV and this neck of the woods could be said to straddle both sets of supporters.

Not surprisingly it was the Arsenal fans who had most to cheer whilst the Hammers fans in the pub started up chants against the board - they want Grant out but at least they know he was probably a poor appointment in the first place.

But quite frankly I didn't care as our Wembley dream is still alive...

Come On Without, Come On Within

2011-01-11T18:43:00.005Z

After a few days of relative decent weather we set off for today's game assuming all would be fine in Darlo but a text from Tony after we'd left Peterborough got us worried. "Pitch failed early inspection. Second inspection 12:30".

We suspected that it must be waterlogging as the forecast had suggested there was going to be a lot of rain about - what a pain.

All was bright and sunny as we arrived at Bank Top - the odd AFC Wimbledon shirt on the train - and it was down to the Quaker where a good few AFCW fans were ensconced around the bar. Tony and Lesley were already in there though and had grabbed a table.

The selection of beers on offer included Nightmare Stout and First Footer from Hambleton, Mithril Ales Legs Eleven, Ossett Resolution, York Centurion's Ghost and Mature Toad and Golden Angel from the Toad Brewery plus the Allendale Swift which had been on earlier that week when we'd been in.

Neil, Brian and John then joined us as did more away fans so it was getting quite cosy in the small bar area. Finally we got confirmation that the game would be going ahead which brought cheers from most of those in the pub. Would it be a good thing?

After trying most of the beers on offer we decamped up to Number Twenty-2 whilst the away fans all headed off to the Britannia.

Whilst up in N22, Bev joined us and like us, she got stuck into the Nightmare Stout from Hambleton - one of our all time favourite stouts.

Our little mob were going to be in a executive box today as John was the latest winner of the season ticket draw, following in Tony's lucky footsteps. It will be interesting to see if I get drawn out - knowing my luck it will be for a midweek game!

Presumably the burst pipes in the away end had been sorted as the AFCW fans were up there - probably about 300 which isn't bad going. Quite noisy too but then southerners do have big gobs.

(left) 'Wot me?' says Quinn as Hatch lies in a daze

As I went pitchside to get ready, it was clear that the pitch was not suffering from an excess of water but was in fact frozen. As I put up my trusty Millett's stool behind the goal line, the ground held solid even when I sat on it.

Today saw the debut of new signing Adam Quinn who would be playing alongside Ian Miller. He certainly had the look of an archetypal centre-back as he warmed up.

Up front Curtis Main was given the nod over Tommy Wright to partner Liam Hatch up front and he was to have quite a few chances again today - all unfortunately squandered or well saved by England C keeper Seb Brown.

Darlo had the majority of the play for the first half and seemed to be coping with the icy conditions just that little better that AFCW - the area in front of the dugouts looking to be the worst part with players slipping there but the rest of the pitch wasn't too bad.

At the back, Quinn had settled in well and was winning most headers, not just against Wimbledon forwards but also against Miller and Hatch, the latter coming off quite badly as he needed treatment for a clash of heads. Quinn seemed oblivious.

Sam Russell had a fairly quite start to the game - probably getting extremely cold feet like me - but just before the break he was called into action and made two excellent saves.

The second half was much the same - quite a cagey approach from Wimbledon - whilst Gary Smith and Mark B-W went close for Darlo.

Main also had a few more chances - one was a header but that ended up in my direction rather than worrying their keeper.

(right) Curtis Main heads the ball towards a hairy snapper

It was quite noticeable that in the last twenty minutes of the game, the pitch started to deteriorate quite badly and players began to slip all over the pitch.

Tommy Wright replaced Main with a quarter of an hour to go but fared no better whilst at the death Hatch was inches away from getting on the end of a Verma cross. Just one of those days.

All in all, it was probably two points dropped given the way we dominated the game and overall we should be pleased to have taken four points off the top team - could so easily have been six though which would have been a real boost.

It was also good to see that both managers be prepared to play the game even though the pitch was not ideal. Given the current backlog though, I'm sure neither wanted to put this game off.

Today we found ourselves on a later train back to London which allowed us another visit to the Quaker. John, Bev and I walked there, trying to warm up our frozen feet, but were beaten to the bar by Martin who'd been given a lift.

The place was quite busy - a few AFCW fans had also returned - but the place soon became very crowded when a large horde of Notts County fans popped in, fresh from their FA Cup win over Sunderland. Seems a bit of an odd place to drop into on your way back to Nottingham but they were happy to be there.

Barrow Boys Battered

2011-01-04T14:28:00.017Z

And so finally it looked like we might actually see a game of football. No pitch inspections had been announced so confidence was high that the game with Barrow would get the go-ahead and we set off from King's Cross with almost a spring in our step.

Except that Martin was suffering one of his periodic bouts of what he reckons is gout - his foot was painful and he nearly didn't turn up. Nurofen for breakfast then!

Originally the game was to have been televised by Premier Sports but they'd been put off by the recent bad weather and had decided not to show it after all. However the kick off would still be 4pm.

Of course the upside of this meant that we'd have an extra hour or so in the pub. Tony met Martin and I at the station - we left Martin to hobble to the ground and we headed for the Quaker. John W wasn't far behind us.

Confusingly there wee two beers from the Potton Brewery - Shambles Bitter and the Village Bike - both 4.3%, identical colour and almost identical taste - OK but not brilliant.

Other beers included a brace from Allendale Brewery - Tar Bar'l and Swift (the former was a nice stout but the latter was not nearly as nice as the pint we'd had in N22 a month or two ago), North Yorkshire Xmas Herbert and Crystal Tips, Thornbridge Lord Marples, Tom Wood's Old Timber and Black Country Fireside Bitter.

There were no real hoppy beers on today so we wandered up to Number Twenty-2 where Tony could get a pint of White Boar.

There was not a great deal that caught our attention in terms of new brews so John and I tried the Anchor Steam Liberty. This is a beautiful beer in bottles - one of the first really hoppy beers from the US that I ever tried but it was pretty indifferent here - worryingly it had a slight wheat-beer taste so i hope Ralph hadn't got his pipes mixed up!

(left) Aaron Brown shoots - and scores!

We caught a taxi down to the ground and I picked up my press ticket from the ticket office. The club shop was full of Barrow fans who were having to get their tickets there rather than at the away turnstiles.

Once pitchside the reason for this was clear as the club had put the away fans at one end of the South stand, more or less just below the control box. Presumably the number of travelling fans didn't seem that great considering and perhaps didn't warrant opening the away end?

I latter found out that the away end was actually out of action due to burst pipes - no toilet facilities etc - and that is why they were having to share with us.

However they were first to have cause to cheer as Barrow twice went close in the first ten minutes - Russell tipping one shot over and another narrowly missing.

Thereafter it was all Darlo with the young striking duo of Smith (M) and Main working hard and being ably supported by the likes of Smith (G), Bridge-Wilkinson, Verma and Arnison.

On one attack, the Barrow keeper came right out to the edge of his box to prevent the ball getting to Michael Smith but he failed and Smith was able to turn and lob the ball in from a tight angle. Just what we needed to settle the nerves.

Not long after this, Barrow had Sheridan sent off for what looked a meaty two-footed tackle on Gary Smith. Some thought it was a harsh decision but it did look dangerous from my perspective.

(right) Curtis goes for goal

Darlo had been well on top before this but with the extra man we had total control of the ball and kept attacking the Barrow goal until finally Bridge-Wilkinson doubled our lead with a cracking shot from just outside the box.

Two-nil then at the break and you'd expect the second half to follow the same pattern. But of course not - Barrow went narrowly wide of Russell's post soon after the restart.

Darlo didn't learn and stood off Louis Almond, allowing him room to shot from about 20 yards - a sweet shot that flew past Russell. Cue anxiety.

Thankfully the two-goal advantage was restored within minutes as Aaron Brown was teed up by Gary Smith and his shot from the edge of the box took a deflection which left the Barrow keeper helpless.

From then on Barrow had little to offer and Darlo dominated but failed to add to the scoreline with both Smith (M) and Main going close on a few occasions. Main put in a lot of hard work and with maybe a bit more composure would have scored.

Barrow were far from the best team seen at the Arena this season and perhaps we should have made it tell more but I was happy to simply get three points again. There was some good periods of play where we knocked the ball round well and we now need to start doing this on a consistent basis.

And it was a great shame that Premier Sports decided to give this a miss as it was a good game to watch and might have shown some stay-aways what they're missing.

When Winter (Comes Howling In)

2010-12-31T11:48:00.001Z

Even though I'd been told that the game at Gateshead was extremely unlikely to go ahead, the decision to hold an inspection at 9:30am on match day instead of calling it off earlier meant that Martin and I felt we had to set off - just in case - and so we left London on the 7am train.

The first text indicating the game was off came as we passed through Northallerton and it was more or less confirmed as we arrived in Darlo. There we were joined by Tony and Brian and a swift decision, already formed in our heads, was made to carry on and have a day out in Geordieland.

Thankfully Central Station still has a left luggage service and once I'd dropped off my camera bag, we went for a wander around town.

We dropped into the Newcastle United club shop, filled with a wide array of NUFC tat - I'd hoped they'd have a plain black and white scarf but it seems that everything has to have the club logo on it these days.

(left) DAFTS lads at the entrance to Chinatown

Next stop was the Back Page - a shop which has loads of football books, videos and memorabilia with a healthy bias towards the north-east clubs.

Unfortunately the only Darlo representation in the shop was two copies of George's opus, Cracked It!

Our first port of call was just over the road from here - the Newcastle Arms - and this normally opens at 11am but wasn't opening until noon today. Even worse, my backup pub, the Bodega, was closed for the day. Damn you, festive season!

We were a bit peckish after all the walking so we decided to fill in time and find somewhere to eat - the Stateside Diner on Pink Lane was one of the few places open and it did a mean bacon and egg sarnie too.

We got into the Newcastle Arms just after opening time and they had their usual choice of interesting beers - their own Winter IPA brewed by local brewer Big Lamp plus Falstaff Brewery's Yeti, Thornbridge Hopton, Marston Moor Porter, Deuchars IPA and Durham Apollo. All went down well with the Yeti finding special favour with Martin who stuck to it.

After a few bevvies we decided to pop down to the Crown Posada - a must for those who've never been supping around Newcastle - but when we got there we found it was shut!

After a bit of wandering round we popped into the Duke of Wellington on High Bridge - a few handpumps here with Hadrian-Border Tyneside Blonde and Taylor's Landlord the ones I remember.

When I was a student in Newcastle in the early 80s, this pub was one of a small number owned by CAMRA.

These days it is now a normal pub although there was a live TV feed from Greece of the Spurs -v- Newcastle game. Not surprisingly the place was full of their fans getting irate every time a decision went against their boys.

(right) Bacchus Boys

This soon got extremely tedious so after we'd finished our beers we popped a bit further along the road to the Bacchus. This has been the local CAMRA pub of the year for 2009 and 2010.

It struck me as being a larger version of Darlo's Number Twenty-2 - similar vibe and clientele and some good beers too including Jarrow Rivet Catcher and Yorkshire Dales Bacchus Ice Crystal plus some London Stout and Wheat from the Meantime Brewery.

By the time we'd had a few more beers and discussed to death the regime at DFC, it was time for Martin and I to wend our way back to Central station and the train back to London - asleep for most of it you'll not be surprised to hear.

I'd like to think I'll be back up for the game when it is finally rescheduled but it will all depend when that that is - hopefully when the weather is a bit more clement.

I've named this piece after this excellent song by Lindisfarne about the true meaning of Christmas, more or less a solo by Alan Hull, long gone but still missed.

Arsène Around?

2010-12-20T14:29:00.020Z

One of the most encouraging things to happen at Darlington this season has been the form of the Youth team, managed by Craig Liddle and Neil Maddison.

There had been worries about whether they could afford to continue once we'd dropped out of the Football League with the subsequent drop in funding that this brought.

To this end Tony Waters and Geoff Thompson have been busy encouraging ordinary fans to raise money - hopefully £1000 - to help them out.

(left) I bet Arsène didn't see this tackle

So far the response has been excellent and Tony was able to present Lidds with £500 towards the cost of travel and accomodation for FA Youth Cup 3rd round fixture against Arsenal.

This fixture caught the attention of a lot of fans as this would be the first time these clubs had met - certainly to my knowledge - and this would be a true test of the youngsters' abilities.

The original fixture fell victim to the first bout of wintry weather but it finally took place at Underhill a week or so later.

Before the game I had a quick pint of Taylors Landlord in the Olde Mitre with Geoff Luke - the beer seems to be a bit better in here these days - but there was not time for much more as the kick-off was at 7pm - presumably these youngsters need to be wrapped up in bed at a reasonable hour.

The main stand was open for fans for the princely sum of £3 but I was to be pitchside tonight to capture the action.

As the teams came out and shook hands before kick-off, it was clear to see that the Arsenal team were an impressive bunch, some much bigger than our boys.

(right) Lidds keep a keen eye on his charges

The game started and both teams found their feet and knocked the ball around well with Darlo looking far from poor relations.

However Arsenal opened the scoring after 10 mins with a tap-in on the line after some slick passing.

They continued to make chances but Darlo went on to equalise after about 20 mins through a tap-in from Rob Ramshaw.

Parity was short-lived though and Arsenal took the lead after a couple of minutes and dominated the remainder of the half with the Darlo boys always a pace or two behind and more lightweight in the tackle.

The main tormentor was Chuks Aneke who won several headers in front of the Darlo goal, scoring once and going close on other occasions.

Benik Afobe scored his second to make it 4-1 at the break - he is currently on-loan at Huddersfield but had been brought back for this game so clearly Arsenal were taking this game seriously.

The second half saw the Quakers under a lot of pressure again and it was amazing that they only conceded two more goals - Aneke getting his hat-trick in the process.

Sloppy finishing by Arsenal was to blame but great credit must be given to keeper Nick Thompson for pulling off several great saves.

There was even a shout of "Sign him up Arsène!" from the Arsenal contingent.

(left) Chuks Eneke makes it 3-1 as he scores from a corner

As the end of the game approached, the temperature dropped sharply and my feet were like blocks of ice. Three pairs of socks for me next time.

During the onslaught the Darlo lads rarely resorted to hoofing the ball upfield and generally tried to play the ball forward. The Arsenal defence though were too quick and too strong and most forays were snuffed out.

A harsh lesson for the Darlo team and a disappointing result for the handful of Darlo fans in the corwd. It is clear though that Arsenal have many talented youngsters who will do well at the higher levels of the game and the experience of playing them will not be lost on the Darlo players.

As I headed back home on the tube with fellow fan Steve Wilkinson, news came though from the Arena that the FA Trophy tie with Tamworth was level at 1-1. Thankfully by the time I got home Darlo had won 3-2 - their reward a home tie with Bath City in the next round.

For more details on the game, see the Arsenal report here.

Hergé We Go, Hergé We Go, Hergé We Go

2010-12-14T14:07:00.010Z

This weekend saw a few DAFTS opt for the bright lights of Brussels rather than the FA Trophy tie with Tamworth as a way to celebrate Lesley's 50th birthday.

Originally Tony and Lesley had arranged to go to Bruges with Neil and Mari before changing it to Brussels which is when yours truly opted to join them.

(left) last chance for a decent breakfast for a few days

After a hearty breakfast at Da Vinci's, we gathered at St Pancras International for the 11:04am service to Brussels Midi which turned out to be a very smooth journey getting us there just after 2pm.

As we exited the international part of the station, there was a driver on the concourse waiting for a passenger. "Bianca Jagger" read his sign. "Wishful thinking!" we told him.

We caught a local train to take us the couple of stops to Brussels North and our hotel which was located in the modern business district - very much like a small version of Canary Wharf but with much less atmosphere.

After a quick beer and a bite to eat in the hotel bar, we wandered off into town - taking taxis as the hotel is about a mile from the main centre - ending up near the Belgian stock exchange (or Bourse).

As Friday night is usually a curry night in DAFTS circles, we'd eyed up a couple of possible restaurants - one was an Indian with the highly odd name of the Shamrock and the Fanny Thai which does thai food (what else?) - on Rue Jules van Praet which seems to be a mini-Chinatown.

We went into a nearby bar - Les Roi Des Belges - which turned out to be full of young, trendy folk and not the sort of place DAFTS are normally seen in but we were thirsty and once we'd got a table we were well settled.

Tony and Neil tried various beers from the beer menu whilst I was a little too adventurous in trying (and sticking to) 75cl bottles of the N'Ice Chouffe.

This is a 10% winter beer which despite the strength was quite easy drinking - too easy as I ended up having another two bottles.

By the time we ate at a nearby thai restaurant I was a little befuddled but at least I still remember that the food was very good (even if I disagreed with the waiter over what a spring roll is - don't ask).

Not surprisingly I was a bit fuzzy-headed the next morning but that was soon cleared as Tony and I set off early for a walk back towards Brussels Midi. Our destination was the Cantillon Brewery which was top of my "must do" list (just above "get nice chocolates for Liz").

We arrived just after 10am and after being given a talk on the brewery and the process of spontaneous fermentation - which uses natural yeasts found in the building itself - we were free to wander around the brewery.

The beers that Cantillon produce can probably be described as an acquired taste - lambic beers are sour, even after fruit has been added - but I developed a taste for them several years ago and this brewery is one of just a few which still follows the traditional process.

(right) Tony tries the Cantillon kriek

At the end of the tour we ended up at the bar where we bought a few samples - the basic Geueze and then two beers which had added fruit - the Kriek and the Rosé de Gambrinus. Tony found the latter to be most to his taste and took a bottle back for Xmas day.

The afternoon was spent trawling around a few shops - Neil and Mari had gone off to do some serious shopping but Tony, Lesley and I couldn't muster the enthusiasm and we wandered around the city centre and visited a few bars.

We later met up with Neil and Mari in a small brewpub just off La Grande Place - Les Brasseurs de Grand Place - where we tried their artisinal beers. Given the prime location, it was not surprising to see them charge 4.5 euros for these beers which weren't exceptional by any means.

From here we went in search of a nice juicy steak - we'd seen a restaurant called Steak Frit earlier in the day and although it was initially busy when we went, Tony worked his charm and we finally got a table.

The place was packed and the service from our waitress was rather haphazard but even so we were quite surprised to later see her chucking in her apron and storming out after a heated discussion with the maitre d'.

The steak though was beautiful, charred on the outside and bloody in the middle - served with excellent frites and what could only be described as a token effort of a salad. Clearly the Belgians have no time for such things.

And that was my lot - just the most fleeting of visits but I'd probably come back at a quieter time of year and try out some of the bars I didn't get a chance to visit.

Darlington & Stockton Times

2010-12-07T08:41:00.005Z

Despite the Kidderminster game being called off well in advance - not a huge surprise to anyone living in the north-east as the Arctic conditions , both John W and I were in the north and decided to have our pre-match session. It was either that or shopping.

I was a bit worried about getting through there from Northallerton - many trains had been cancelled - but Trans-Pennine trains were running a severely reduced service which only went to Bank Top.

The town centre was extremely quiet when I arrived with not may shoppers braving the conditions and I popped into Alfie's above the covered market for a very good value breakfast - the best I've had in Darlo.

The Quaker was open on time and so I started making my way through the card - quite a few Christmas beers but thankfully some were not the Xmas pudding-style that some brewers seem to thing we want.

(left) Brian Bond - no socks? In this weather?

John and then Tony arrived and it was quite noticeable that there were quite a few unfamiliar faces in the pub today - we wondered whether they were refugees from the Tap & Spile which appears to have closed it's doors, at least for now?

Tony was not in good drinking form though he joined us for a short while at Number Twenty-2 before decided to call it a day. John and I persevered and had a few more before we both headed back south, he to London and me to Northallerton.

Later that evening I went to the Georgian Theatre at Stockton with my sister and niece to see Punishment of Luxury.

The event was being put on by the Rock Garden Revisited team - including our very own Steve Harland - who are dedicated to celebrating the history of that iconic music venue as well as bringing some of the bands back to the area for gigs.

Thankfully the roads were clear and it was a nice easy run for us up the A19. It was probably over thirty years since my last visit to Stockton - delivering an injured heron to a bird sanctuary - and it was quite dead.

It was nice and lively (and warm) when we got to the theatre - Steve on the door to welcome us as we arrived - and we headed for the bar. No real ale but they had some bottles of Keltek King which made up for it.

Two local bands were on the support roster - openers British Lichen Society had similarities to Joy Division whilst Russell & The Wolves had overtones of garage rock and rockabilly - they reminded me of the Batfish Boys, a grebo-band from Leicester that I used to see back in the mid-eighties.

They were quite a number of old punks in the crowd - they don't age well though some of them admired my niece's pink hair - very punk.

As usual, Punilux came on to Puppet Life - their 'hit' single - which got the crowd jumping around and then they went through their usual set taken from the Laughing Academy album and early singles.

(right) Jimi and Neville rock out to Brainbomb

The highlights for me were Obssession, Fracture - a number that has been developing over the past year or so - and closing the gig, Brainbomb. Fantastic.

If you want to see some of the live action, you'll find it on Youtube - you may even see me "dancing" (shuffling side to side arrythmically is probably a closer description) but don't check it out too closely.

Many thanks to Steve H and his compadres for putting this gig on and good luck with their future shows, bringing back those bands that time almost forgot...

Pilgrims Progress

2010-11-23T10:25:00.006Z

No football for me today because quite frankly the idea of visiting Wrexham just doesn’t excite me one iota. I’ve been there once a few seasons ago – a defeat - and that will do me just fine. As most readers know there is more to a Saturday then the ninety-odd minutes on the pitch and I’m afraid Wrexham just doesn’t cut it when it comes to pubs.

So an alternate plan was hatched a few months ago when I suggested to some of the boozier London Millers that we should have a day out drinking in Sheffield. The Millers would be playing in Crewe but they were happy to miss that and have a whole day boozing instead.

Why Sheffield? Well it has probably the best concentration of good pubs in the whole of the country and is a mecca for tickers and ‘normal’ drinkers alike.

In fact it is known as the Holy City to many devotees. Most of the pubs we were going to be visiting were covered in the recent documentary file, Tickers.

(left) Chris and John on the tram - no beer drunk at this stage hence glum faces

Trev, Brian and I tried a few of these pubs a couple of seasons ago before Darlo played the Millers at the Don Valley stadium and were impressed so it was time that I had another visit, especially since the chance of an FA Cup replay at the DVS had been denied us earlier in the week (when York knocked Rotherham out).

Unfortunately two of the London Millers had to pull out leaving just Chris Turner and me. However it was a case of DAFTS to the rescue when John W was given the nod by Bev to join us – likewise Tony by Lesley – and then local boy Brian made it a quintet.

Chris, John and I met in the Station Sandwich Bar near King’s Cross – a new cafe for us which was recommended by Tony – and very good it was too. I’ll be back for more.

We took the East Coast line to Doncaster and changed for the local service to Sheffield, complete with masses of shoppers on their way to Meadowhall. On the way we also passed Millmoor, former home of Rotherham, and I was duty bound to flick Vs at former chairman Booth’s scrap yard in solidarity with the Millers.

From Sheffield station it was a short tram ride to the first pub, the Hillsborough Hotel. Tony had arrived earlier and gone breakfasting with Brian but this place did not open until noon so they’d gone on elsewhere.

The Hillsborough is a nice, clean pub with a great selection of beers, mainly from its own Crown Brewery, so we gave most of them a try.

All were very good especially the Hillsborough Pale Ale and the Benny Goodman. They also had Cascade IPA from the fairly new Hardknott brewery which was excellent and in brilliant condition, almost sparkling.

As it name suggests this place is a hotel and it strikes me as a great place to stay. Andy, who was supposed to be with us, stayed there recently and highly recommends it (especially the chips - so sophisticated is our Andy!).

From here we moved on to the Gardeners Rest which was a ten minute walk away via the glamorous Neepsend Road where Brian and Tony were waiting for us.

A lot of the house beers on offer were from the Sheffield Brewery such as Crucible Best, Five Rise, Sheffield Porter and an IPA. We tried a few of these but I have to say that I wasn’t overly impressed with any of them, seeming to have a home-brew type taste.

Good snacks available though – bombay mix for most of us whilst Tony reverted to his childhood days and had a Tunnocks snowball instead. The pub seems to be quite the community pub with one wall taken up with entries to their annual photographic competition.

Unfortunately Brian had been hogging the conversation whilst we were here – nothing new so far - so much so that he still had a pint when the rest of us were ready to move on. With all the respect due to the elderly we left him behind and headed to the Harlequin walking past the Riverside which is supposed to be a good pub but we had to move on.

The Harlequin is a real tickers pub though it seemed fairly quiet when we got there – we only stayed for a pint (or a couple of halves) before moving on to the Wellington (Bottom Wellie in local parlance) as this is nice and close to the Shalesmoor tram stop.

Tony had been getting tweets from Craig Stoddart for the past hour or more so we were well aware of the Darlo line-up at Wrexham – this saw Main replacing Jefferson Louis and Senior dropped to the bench with starts for new boys Gillespie and Varna.

It didn’t fill me with confidence and we were soon behind. However spirits were raised in the second half when we heard that Hatch had equalised.

Brian had beaten us to the Wellie having bypassed the Harlequin – I was pleased to see they had a Steel City Brewing beer on as I certainly like the attitude of the two brewers behind it – they like hops and like to use them in their beers and whilst they give a nod to the US hoppy beers, they’re less extreme which makes them more drinkable. Their beer today was the Červený Bez which was a variant of one I had at the Nottingham beer festival a few weeks ago.

It was whilst drinking this that the news came through that Darlo were up to their old tricks and had conceded a goal in added time and had lost the game. Doubly glad I didn’t go now.

We then caught the tram down to the station so we could try out the Sheffield Tap. This is a the big brother of the recently opened Euston Tap and which is situated next to the station. Just had a couple of halves here – both in excellent condition. I also bumped into one of my Macclesfield CAMRA chums, Rob, who was making a passing visit to the Tap himself.

But it was soon time to get the train back to Donny – standing room all the way as it was packed with returning shoppers – and then get the train to KX.

I slept most of the way and was nice and refreshed (well nearly) by the time we got back to London. However neither John or Chris fancied a trip to the Euston Tap, probably a wise decision, and I traipsed off home via the curry house.

A great day out with a lot of excellent pubs and beers - there were plenty more pubs in Sheffield that we could have tried but just didn't have the time. You really need a weekend to do them all justice so maybe that is a plan to develop for next year...

Creepy Crawley (and Evil Evans)

2010-11-15T15:27:00.024Z

Today was one of those rare days when we were joined by Howard - only his second home game of the season and worryingly he has yet to see a Darlo win.

After a nice breakfast at Da Vinci, we had a decent journey north - Howard and I chatting as Martin trawls through his pile of papers to work out his pool selections (but as ever, no winners today. As ever.).

After leaving Martin at Bank Top, we wander to the Quaker to find Waters pere et fils are already in attendance. And both are well dressed by normal match-day standards as Tony has a box for today's game against table-topping Crawley.

Both of us paid £20 at the start of the season to enter the season ticket holders draw to win a box for a game and during last week’s game against Tamworth, Tony was announced as the latest winner. A pretty good idea by the club and fingers crossed I'll also be a winner before the end of the season.

(left) You've got to hand it to Tony and Howard...

On the bar today in the Quaker we have Hambleton Stud, RCH Steam Carnival, Saltaire Cheeky Kriek, Banks & Taylor Dragon Slayer, Hadrian & Border Newcastle Pioneer, Jarrow Caulker, North Yorkshire Crystal Tips, Mordue Newcastle Porter and Titanic Lifeboat.

I manage to try all of them - halves of course - except for the Stud and Dragon Slayer and for me the Newcastle Porter and Cheeky Kriek were excellent. The latter especially had a nice sour edge as well as some sweetness and was not as sugary as I'd suspected it would be.

John W, John B, Brian and Trevor joined us to make up the numbers before Howard, having had his regulation couple of pints, departed to pop into Taylors for pies.

We popped up to N22 for a few beers and then taxi-ed a little earlier than usual down to the ground so everyone could spend a bit of quality time in the box before kick-off. Not for me though as it was pitchside duties as usual.

Today's opponents Crawley Town have hogged most of the non-league headlines this season as their Project Promotion has seen them spending big bucks in order to sign some of the big name players at this level.

As if that wasn't enough reason to dislike them instantly, they're also managed by that nasty piece of work, Steve Evans, who narrowly avoided a jail sentence after helping Boston United cheat the taxman out of £250,000.

(left) Brian, Trevor and John riding the heskeylater to Heaven

Cheats do prosper though and this was enough to see Boston promoted much to the disgust of promotion rivals Dagenham & Redbridge - not to mention most right-minded followers of the game.

The fact that he was never banned from football management is worrying but not surprising as the football authorities never seem to grasp the nettle when firm action is needed and examples need to be set.

From the kick-off it was difficult to see which team were the big-spenders as Darlo more than matched Crawley and went at them with a positive attitude.

This approach was rewarded after 21 mins when Bridge-Wilkinson hit a half-volley in the box and the ball beat keeper Kuipers. This soon got Steve Evans off his backside and shouting at his players (not that he ever seems to need an excuse).

Crawley then had a goal disallowed as striker Brodie was off-side but it wasn't long after that until they equalised - Hatch had an odd-lapse allowing Brodie to shot. Russell saved but could only parry it to Neilson who couldn't miss with a simple tap-in.

As half-time approached Brodie and Darlo defender Brown chased a loose ball when they both collided and Brodie went sprawling. It wasn't a surprise to see the red card as the referee had been making dodgy decisions all day.

(left) The ref refuses to listen to Hone's protests following the sending off

From my view it looked as if Brodie was looking to be clipped as far too many strikers do - I also thought he had a bloody cheek to hound Brown as he traipsed off. Truly playing in the spirit of his manager.

The decision certainly got the home crowd riled and when the ref wasn't on the end of their venom, Evans was. A true pantomime villain but sadly not funny.

Not surprisingly the second half was more about preserving the lead - Gray and Main replaced Senior and Louis with a view to holding the ball up front but it never worked. Main rarely won a header or kept possession and balls hoofed up front by Russell were soon returned. This meant the defence were under pressure for virtually the entire half but they held firm and Crawley rarely went close to scoring a winner.

There were loud calls for a pull on Josh Gray but it was the wrong side of the penalty box for me to get a clear view. Predictably the referee was unmoved.

There was a huge cheer when the final whistle blew and quite rightly – the team did very well to play the entire half with ten men against supposedly the best side in the division. Evans was clearly not happy and went off to a chorus of abuse but I’m sure that the norm for him.

(left) Dryden suspects two fingers are enough for Evans

Under the circumstances it was a very pleasing result and it was a happy bunch of Capital Quakers that made their way south. On the way I received a text from Steve to say he was unexpectedly in north London with time on his hands.

And so it was on our return, I made my way to the Euston Tap where Steve was waiting to buy me a drink. Liz and Jenny then joined us after getting back from their home game.

My chum Paul, photographer at Wycombe, popped in a little later as we’ve been meaning to meet up this season but this was the first chance we’ve had. It was good to see him and find out what’s happening there these days.

The Tap was a little busier than last weekend so obviously word is getting round...

Life's A Gas

2010-11-10T10:26:00.027Z

Whilst it is great to have a home tie for the second round of the FA Cup, the ticket prices for those travelling up by train are quite steep - £65 return in our case - and normally I don't think I would have bothered.

However as we'd been drawn against League One opponents in the form of Bristol Rovers this meant we'd have a chance to meet up with our old chum Stedders - who was responsible for the short-lived Football and Real Ale guides - and so I decided to travel north.

Stedders himself had gone up early to Darlo on Friday to settle in and judging from his tweets that night, he was having a good old time familiarising himself with Darlo's beer haunts (all in the aid of research of course).

(left) Stedders and the gang outside N22

As I arrived at the Quaker just after opening time on Saturday, he was already there - well, outside having a fag actually. Nice to see he is still ignoring what his doctor says.

The selection on offer at the bar was leaning heavily to the dark persuasion with five porter-stouts on offer. In all there was Hawkshead Brodie's Prime, Hammerpot White Wing, Wychwood Bountiful, Salopian Darwin's Origin, Jarrow Irish Stout, North Yorkshire Yorkshire Porter, Saltaire Cascadian Black and Marston Moor Wildboar Stout.

A newly clean-shaven Tony wasn't far behind me sporting a new set of specs which make him look like a cross between Wilfred Bramble and an elderly Kray Brother (though I didn't mention that at the time). Next up was John W - who'd kindly got some pies for Martin and I - and then Brian also rolled up to complete today's DAFTS contingent.

Later on in Number Twenty-2 we met some of Stedder's fellow Gasheads - not quite as many as when they last played us but then most had come north just a week or so earlier for their recent game at Hartlepool.

A decent array of guest beers here too today: Brentwood Devil's Dyke, Everards Tiger, Great Heck Bitter, Mithrill Fire Cracker, Titanic Anchor Bitter, Timothy Taylor Best and Wensleydale Black Dub Stout.

Down at the ground I made my way to reception with Echo photographer, Chris Booth. A new ticketing system was in place today which meant we both had to go back to the ticket office for our press tickets.

When we got there we found that what we thought there had been issues with the ticketing system and that there'd been delays for many people and some, so we were told, had left in disgust.

When we finally got in the crowd looked very sparse and so it was to prove - just over 1600 with maybe 150 from Bristol - but by the end of the game the home fans were rocking.

Like the previous week against AFC Wimbledon, Darlo took a relatively early lead - Chris Moore crossed to Bridge-Wilkinson whose effort was cleared but only to Michael Brough who hit it home from the edge of the box.

(right) Darlo's Michael Brough opened the scoring

It was to be an extremely short-lived lead though as the ref gave a foul against Liam Hatch for his tackle on former Miller Will Hoskins. I didn't think it was an offence but if it was it was clearly in the box.

The ref however had other ideas - as he continued to do for the rest of the game - and awarded a free-kick just outside the box. Hoskins took it and whipped the ball around the wall giving Russell no chance.

Hoksins had been Rover's main threat but he retired injured after half-an-hour after being hurt in a seemingly innocuous tackle with Brough.

Just before the break, assistant Richard Dryden was sent to the stand after angrily booting the ball after the ref and the linesman gave a throw-in to Rovers despite their man touching being the last to touch the ball.

Such poor decision making extended into the second half and helped galvanise the home fans in their vocal support of the team.

Chances were few and far between as both sides matched each other but Gary Smith was to give Darlo the advantage once more with a simple tap-in after a defender's attempted clearance came back off the Rovers post only to find Smith handily placed.

Russell had only one real save of note to make later in the half but for the majority of the time the Darlo defence kept Rovers at arms length and went on to reach the second round.

(left) Ian Miller with his proto-tache for Movember

As we had bought our tickets late, we opted for a cheaper but later return train which gave us the chance for post-match celebratory beers.

John and I walked back into town - we took a different route to normal walking west of the railway close to South Park. The firework display was being prepared and so it was fairly busy with people trying to find somewhere to park.

By the time John and I go to the Quaker, we found Tony, Brian and Martin were already having a beer so it seems that my suggested shorter route didn't really work. We won't make that mistake again.

After a few beers we wandered to the station - I popped into the Wing On chinese takeaway on Victoria to collect a pre-ordered takeaway as I wanted something nice and warm for the journey home.

The journey back was uneventful and conspicuously absent of any other football fans - we had been hoping to avoid any Palace fans on their way home as they're a boor-ish bunch based on past experience.

We didn't get back into London until after 10pm but I made time for a last pint at the newly opened Euston Tap. This is a new bar inside one of the gatehouses outside Euston station.

It is run by the same mob as the Sheffield Tap and by an odd coincidence, the manager Yan is a former barman at Stedder's former pub, the Admiral Rodney in Colne. Martin Deans and I spent a wonderful night here once before our first game at Accrington Stanley - I overdid the Titanic Stout that night and was not my usual match-day self next day.

The Euston Tap is exceedingly small and has all the draught beers poured from a set of beer fonts at the rear of the bar - no handpumps here as no doubt that would put off the young trendies - plus a couple of large bottle cabinets with a host of German and American beer.

London Miller Chris Turner was waiting for me as he'd eschewed Rotherham's cup game for a day out drinking in sunny Wainfleet.

There is an upstairs area which is reached by a twisted staircase - the one and only toilet is upstairs too so not wheelchair friendly but I guess that the building is listed and cannot be altered.

The beer was in good nick and not overly expensive so I dare say this may become a regular post-match venue. Give it a go if you're in the area.

Stedders now has an online version of the Football and Real Guides and is looking to produce a book version in the near future. We'll let you know if he does...

Underground, Overground

2010-11-01T10:18:00.035Z

After missing the FA Cup victory at Mossley I was ready for a good day out and it all started as I met Tony off his train at Kings Cross.

Our journey to south-west London allowed us to make one of our infrequent but very welcome visits to Maries which is just a short walk from Waterloo station.

John Wilson was already well through his breakfast when we arrived - no need to spend time perusing the menu here as I always head straight for the Number 7 (with a side order of chips). Tony is happy to follow my example.

We're then joined by Trev who has come down for a couple of nights with his wife but she has declined to join us in favour of a bit of culture and a visit to St Pauls. She doesn't know what she's missing.

From Waterloo we take the overground to Norbiton and from there it is only a ten-minute walk to the Willoughby Arms, the pub of choice for today, so that we arrive at 11am.

The pub actually opened at 10:30am which is extremely laudable and we're welcomed by one of the AFC Wimbledon fans already ensconced at the bar.

Cue the usual confused looks when he finds out that only one of us has actually made the journey all the way from Darlo.

Today the pub has a Halloween beer festival on - all the beers are sat out on stillage in the back yard and you order your beer from a till by the back door instead of at the bar which confuses us to begin with.

They have a good selection on offer - those that I get to try include Hophead and American IPA from Dark Star, Hepworth Iron Horse, Twickenham Strange Brew (which was but not in a totally nice way!), Isle of Purbeck IPA and Orchard Pig Medium Cider.

Mr Wilson tried out some of the stouts and porters on offer - Two Bridges Ink Pen Mild and Hammerpot Bottle Wreck Porter were both nice, less so was the Ha'Penny Spring-Heeled Jack London Porter. Unfortunately due to getting up too late and then train problems, Bev never got to try them.

(left) The Willoughby Arms

Various other DAFTS arrived as the session progresses - Steve is not far behind us but John B, Rod and then Brian are all delayed by problems on the line. Looks like we got here just in time. And then Iain arrived with a number of his chums, all of whom had come to see us before (and who still come again - they must enjoy the beer).

Landlord Rick offered to order taxis for us so that we can maximise our drinking but we decide that we need the exercise and head off.

Various DAFTS have already been to Kingsmeadow (or the Cherry Red Records Fans' Stadium as it is now known) as Darlo played in a pre-season tournament there back in July 2001 when Tommy Taylor was in charge.

I seem to remember Gregor Rioch, son of Bruce, was trying out for us that weekend but thankfully we never took him on. Very agricultural as I seem to recall.

Back then we were one of four teams playing which also included hosts Kingstonian (when it was their own place) along with Aldershot and Brentford. I think we came second overall.

The ground doesn't appear to have changed much physically in the intervening years though it is obviously a lot busier these days as AFC Wimbledon are pulling in decent crowds.

I make my way into the ground, collecting my press pass and hi-vis tabard, and head off to join the Darlo faithful who have been given one corner of the ground. It looks to be a good turnout.

No real surprises in the team sheet today with Liam Hatch back in the squad at the heart of the defence.

Darlo started the game slowly as Wimbledon looked the liveliest and we seemed happy to soak up the pressure leaving little for Sam Russell to do.

From more or less our first attack, Chris Senior prodded the ball past the Dons keeper after good interplay from Tommy Wright and Gary Smith. The home crowd were stunned whilst the Darlo fans went wild.

Darlo continued to attack whenever they could whilst keeping Wimbledon pretty much at arms length, restricting them to some speculative shots which flew high and wide.

Michael Brough was making his league debut for us after what sounded like a good game up at Mossley last weekend and he looked pretty solid in midfield - didn't do anything fancy but broke up play well.

Darlo went in at the break to loud cheers from the Darlo fans and I took the chance to have a chat with a few folk. There was also a rogue Womble wandering round too.

In the second half Darlo continued to hold their own whilst having a few opportunities of their own. Mark Cooper brought on Jefferson Louis for Wright after quarter of an hour just as Darlo were awarded a penalty.

(right) Mark Bridge-Wilkinson makes it two-nil

Darlo had taken a corner from which we had scored but the referee had already blown up for a foul on Danny Hone which took everyone by surprise. Louis grabbed the ball and decided he was going to take kick.

Unfortunately the confidence in his own ability was misplaced but fortunately Bridge-Wilkinson was the first to follow up as the keeper parried the spot-kick and slotted it home. Two-nil and the Darlo fans were delirious.

Danny Powell was then brought on for Chris Senior which struck me as a bit odd as Senior was having a decent game. However Powell's pace saw pass his marker and go one-on-one with the keeper on a couple of occasions but each time he failed to capitalise.

Wimbledon came into the game more as the half progressed - when the defence passed the ball out to the forward line, Louis was poor at retaining possession or offered little when competing for headers . On the touchline, manager Cooper was constantly directing him but to little effect.

Sam Russell managed to keep out a few efforts on goal and we appeared to escape what looked to be a valid shout for a penalty.

The referee didn't help calm the nerves as five minutes of added time were announced. More than enough time for us to concede two goals!

(left) Danny Hone's header hits the woodwork

Thankfully we held firm and Darlo recorded a well-deserved win with a great all-round team performance.

The 346 away fans (plus me) thoroughly enjoyed their day out and it was a merry throng that took the train back to Vauxhall (or Waterloo in Brian's case as he'd fallen asleep on the train).

From Vauxhall we all changed to the Victoria line and headed off to King's Cross. As we were on the escalators coming out from the tube, a message came over the PA asking everyone to exit the station.

John, Bev and I waited outside for Tony whilst Steve decided to head off to Paddington in case the tube situation didn't improve.

No sign of Tony so we headed off to the nearby Kings Charles pub as he knew we were heading there but it was shut - very annoying - so we decided to convene in the Betjeman Arms at St Pancras for a few beers before everyone had to go and catch their trains leaving Bev, John and me to wander home on the tube.

Wright At The Death

2010-10-18T13:00:00.038+01:00

When normally arriving before opening time in Nottingham, I have a wander round the town for a while but today I made my way straight up to the castle - a bit of a steep climb with all my camera gear - and into the queue for the Nottingham beer festival.

Whilst queuing, Colin came scurrying past - he was a volunteer working at the festival and was off to do a few hours behind the bar before our game at Mansfield.

(left) Colin at bar C in one of his many bandannas

The festival is in a big marquee in the castle grounds and Colin was working on bar C so I went over to give him some business.

This was my first visit to this particular festival and it had a very extensive range of beers.

There quite a few tickets in attendance too which is a testament to the number of small breweries that were here - as well as the fact that there were still a lot of beers available - not bad for a Saturday.

The first beer of the day was the Prikarpatskiy Silny Kofe from Steel City Brewing in Sheffield – I’ve been meaning to try one of their beers for ages as the two brewers seem to have the right idea about brewing (despite coming from South Yorkshire) plus they brewed a beer in memory of one of my favourite musicians, Type O Negative’s Pete Steele. This was a oatmeal stout with a hint of coffee – not the type of beer I normally have as an opener but it was worked well and was very tasty.

Other beers tried included the Mallard Feather Light (a real lager – OK but a bit lacking in flavour), Kinver Light Railway. Great Oakley Tailshaker, Howard Town Snake Ale and the Kelburn Pivo Estivo. All in excellent condition too.

After a couple of hours I left Colin and headed off for the station and caught the train to Mansfield.

From there it was a one minute walk to the Railway Inn which was heaving, mainly with home fans but quite a few Darlo fans too. I'd texted Tony and he'd been kind enough to get me a pint of Batemans GHA in advance as the queue at the bar was quite deep (not surprising as it is the only really decent pub in Mansfield!).

Tony and Ray had both got into Mansfield just after opening before being joined by Lance, Brummy T, Brian and Trevor.

I only stayed for the one pint before heading down to Field Mill with Trevor and I was in the ground and pitchside about 20 mins before kick-off.

As I wandered to my favoured position close to the away dug-out - this is in front of the Bishop Street stand which has been closed for quite a few seasons which allows me to stand up to photograph - I saw Steve Foster who noticed me and came over for a quick chat (I used to sponsor his shirt during his time at Darlo so its the polite thing to do).

As seems to be the case at our matches these days there was a new face in the squad - Mark Bridge-Wilkinson who is on loan from Carlisle. Chris Moore was also back in the squad after being on loan at Spennymoor.

There was a major surprise with the team formation though which saw Ian Miller playing at right-back whilst Liam Hatch took his place in the centre of defence. Eh? Wot?

I don't know whether this was a last minute decision but it certainly seemed to confuse Darlo who were one-nil down within ten minutes.

(right) Darlo old boy Foster vies for the ball with the Darlo defence

Despite three of our tallest players being in the box, Paul Connor rose unchallenged to head home past Russell who had no real chance of saving it.

Mansfield then bossed the tempo of the game for the majority of the half, bypassing the Quakers midfield with ease with the result that Hatch was probably the busiest player on the pitch making good tackles and getting to a lot of high balls.

At the other end former Stag Jefferson Louis made very little progress against Foster and co. in the Mansfield defence and Tommy Wright was so anonymous I hadn't realised he was even on the pitch for the first thirty minutes.

On the bench, manager Mark Cooper spent a lot of time in the dug-out but was clearly visible as they have see-through dugouts at Field Mill - very cunning!

Meanwhile his number 2 Richard Dryden was doing most of the shouting, not just at our lads but also the poor old linesman who got the sharp end of his tongue for most of the half (despite not making any bad decisions).

Towards the end of the half Russell made a great save with an outstretched foot and it was this combined with some wayward shooting which somehow saw Darlo go in only one-nil down at the break.

At half-time, all the talk on the away terrace was of Cooper losing the plot and that he had to go - the typical Darlo soap opera. And after that performance it was difficult to argue against such logic but surely there was some method being this apparent madness?

So it was a huge surprise to all when we saw a totally different performance in the second half.

Josh Gray replaced Austin and we suddenly had Mansfield on the back foot, presumably they were lulled into a false sense of security by our shocking first-half display.

(left) Chris Moore skips past the Mansfield defence

Miller saw an effort blocked, Hone saw an effort cleared off the line before he could get to it and Tommy Wright slashed an absolute sitter into the stand.

Moore then skipped past a defender to go though one-on-one with the keeper but his effort went wide.

Darlo maintained the pressure for about twenty minutes before Mansfield woke up and started playing. They could have sealed the win with another header but Austin was on the back post to clear it.

Chris Senior was then drafted in to replace the ineffective Louis, and then Powell came on for the tiring Moore, and Darlo started to look dangerous again.

As the minutes ticked away the baby-faced ref awarded seven minutes of additional time - it sounds a long time but was not surprising after injuries to their keeper (twice) as well as to Hatch plus various subs - and Darlo pressed again.

As time was running out the ball was hoofed from defence by Brown - Bridge-Wilkinson headed it to Senior just outside the box who then took the ball past one defender and on to the byline before sending the ball across the six yard line where there were about three Darlo players waiting. This time Tommy Wright made no mistake.

The away fans went wild with several jumping onto the pitch to celebrate with Senior who for the second time in recent weeks has laid on a late goal for Darlo.

The game kicked off only for the referee to blow for time after just thirty seconds and fighting broke out close to the away end. However by the time I met Colin and we wandered to the station it all appeared to have petered out.

Brummy Tony joined Colin and I as we caught the train back into Nottingham and to the VAT & Fiddle where we met Argyle-fan Geoff (who was staying with Colin) who along with other members of the Green Army were having a consolation drink after being beaten 2-0 by Notts County.

(above) Tommy Wright scores the late, late, late equaliser

I had a couple of hours before my train back to London so was able to chew the fat for a while whilst supping the Castle Rock Screech Owl and reflect on the game. I'd certainly have settled for a point beforehand and hopefully we'll see Darlo improving their first half performances sooner rather than later...

Great Weekend, Crap Result

2010-10-11T14:14:00.037+01:00

When the fixtures came out the one immediate disappointment was the midweek timing of our game at York. However we're not the sort to miss out on a good time so a few of us decided we'd have a weekend there and simply time our visit for a home match.

Spouses were invited too of course and so it was that Liz and I headed up from Kings Cross on Friday morning and arrived in York to find the place abuzz as our visit coincided with race week.

(left) Bishops Hotel (or The Posh Boils as John Cleese would call it)

We were staying at the Bishops Hotel which is run by former Darlo legend Marco Gabbiadini along with his wife Deborah.

There was no sign of Marco though as we checked in but his football memorabilia was dotted all around the hotel, including the award given to him by Darlo fans for the Greatest Player Seen At Feethams.

Once we'd refreshed ourselves we headed into the centre of York for a little bit of light shopping and a wander round some of the pubs (the Pivni Bar and the Blue Bell) that I'd visited when I was up our game here a week or so ago.

As we wandered past York Minster we spied Coast presenter and (to ladies of a certain age) academic man-totty Prof Neil Oliver filming outside. Hopefully they've caught both of us loitering in the background.

The rest of the group met us later in the Ackhorne - off the beaten track so not full of race goers - first Steve and Cath, then Paul and Linda and finally Iain and Frances.

After a few beers we went for a very nice meal at Rustique - a French restaurant close to the Jorvik centre where the food was excellent.

The next morning Liz and I were the first ones to head off after breakfast as we went to our respective games - I got into Darlo just before opening time and John W joined me in the Quaker after leaving Bev to paint some fences.

We both had a few halves to start with so we could try out most of the following: Marston Moor Longtail, Brentwood Devils Dyke, Hill Island Golden Trident, Jarrow Rivet Catcher, Cairngorn Witches Cauldron, Naylors Autumn Ale, Big Lamp Summerhill Stout and a brace from the Black Hole Brewery, Cosmic and Super Nova.

Steve, Iain and Paul joined us a little later and we made our way up to N22 where we met Durham Tony. More good ales this weekend - Allendale Swift, Dark Star American Pale Ale and an oatmeal stout, Polar Eclipse, from Beartown Brewery which was very quaffable.

Our journey to the Arena was more protracted than it should have been as our taxi driver decided to take us via the Civic Theatre rather than through South Park - the road under the railway is too narrow for him - and got caught up in a bit of a jam as a result. No tip for him.

I had a quick chat with Martin out at the tunnel - he'd come up with his other half, the fabled Christine who none of us had ever met, as well as some friends who live near Hayes. In the away end there were less than 40 Hayes and Yeading fans.

(right) Jefferson Louis makes his debut

There was yet another new face in our team today - Jefferson Louis who we'd taken on from Gainsborough Trinity - who can certainly be called a journeyman as we were his 23rd club!

The first half was eminently forgettable and it is hard to remember a great deal of it - there was the odd flurry around the goalmouths but nothing very exciting - and if anything Hayes looked the more interesting.

The major incident happened early on and was an injury to Paul Terry - replaced by fit-again Gareth Waite - and subsequently it appears that we'll not see him again this season as he has torn his cruciate ligament.

From where I was sat it looked as if Mark Cooper was not in the dugout but I had a word with Martin who said he was in there but right at the back whilst Richard Dryden did the talking from the touchline. Meanwhile in the concourse all the talk was of Cooper resigning.

It was whilst responding to a text from Chris - listening via the internet whilst on honeymoon - early in the second half that Hayes scored. The reaction from the crowd was not good - more boos.

Tommy Wright was then brought on to try and generate a bit of oomph up front and for a while Darlo did apply some pressure. New boy Louie had a few shots and Wright had a header saved but it was all very ponderous and predictable.

It remained one-nil as the final whistle went and the team trudged off to a chorus of boos.

It was not a happy journey back to York but thankfully it was quick. We went back to the hotel for a quick shower before Steve, Cath and I wandered back into town, collecting Liz on the way who had just got back from the Don Valley stadium.

(left) The Ackhorne

The city was awash with race revellers in various states of undress and as we were walking across the river when I spotted a familiar face - Marco Gabiaddini!

He was suited and booted but looking ever so slightly confused - I introduced myself and he told me they'd been in a box at the races since noon and he was beginning to feel the effects. He'd not had any winners either though Debbie has wife had had some success.

After a few beers in the Ackhorne, we joined the others at the Limehouse restaurant which came well recommended. And most excellent it was too. After the lifless affair at the Arena I had pigeon breast on black pudding for my starter and a bloody t-bone steak for my main - beautiful.

As we left for home next morning, Marco was checking out the guests and he looked to be in slightly better shape than the previous evening - we had a bit of a chat about his time at Darlo and how he is now fitter than he ever was.

A shame we can't take him back in a time machine as he is just what we need so badly at Darlo...

Tyrannosaurus Wrex

2010-10-06T10:13:00.017+01:00

For this trip to Darlo, we have a change in personnel - Howard is making one of his infrequent appearances whilst John W is a late substitute for Martin who is away sunning himself in southern Italy. Part-timer!

A pleasant journey north except for the presence of some Blackheath rugby fans at nearby tables - four blokes, one of who has brought his wife with him.

The blokes were OK but unfortunately she turns out to be of the gobby loud variety who pronounces to all in earshot that she is a champagne snob and "proud of it" as her compatriots are supping bottles of cava - something they do on all their trips apparently.

Just as we approach Darlo, she says to a fellow passenger that rugby fans are much nicer than those nasty football types as the rugger lot will share a pint and a joke together after the game. I'm tempted to live up to her stereotype and punch her lights out but instead I just wish evils things to befall her.

Once in Darlo, John and Howard have errands elsewhere leaving me to head off alone to the Quaker but not for long. Before I can even order my pint, John B arrives having decided to make an early start from the north-west.

(left) John modelling the Darlo Devo Dome

I start off with a few halves so I can check out a few different beers with the choice today being: Hambleton Farriers Formula, Wyre Piddle Piss Thru' t Leaves, Derwent Harvesters Pale, Crouch Vale Amarillo, York Harvest Ale plus Ginger, Legion Ale and Farne Island from Hadrian and Border.

The best of the lot are the Farriers Formula, the Harvesters Pale and the Amarillo. I have a small taster of the Ginger - quite nice. The Harvest Ale though was a bit nothing-y for me whilst the Wyre Piddle beer was simply off - John B found this out on his first sip but it was quickly replaced.

Fresh from his trip to China, Tony was next in with his breakfast of chips - he's had his fill of Chinese food for a while so you can't blame the lad. Next in was Brian, John and then Howard.

Up at Number Twenty-2 there were a few new beers which I failed to note. The one we really enjoyed was the Espresso Stout from Dark Star - a rich beer which didn't have the coffee grounds taste we've sometimes noticed in the past.

Down at the Arena we pop into the club shop only to find a miserable selection of items on offer - it really is getting poorer each week in there - you can buy goods from the online shop but I would like to get an idea of sizes before I do so and there were no jackets to try on. Not much use really is it?

Out on the pitch I got chatting to Echo photographer Chris - a really nice lad despite being a Bradford fan - we don't often see him outside of the Premiership these days so we were honoured to have him with us.

On the field today we had a few familiar faces - Dean Saunders who now manages Wrexham and Frank Sinclair who was in the heart of their defence.

(right) New boy Powell makes space for himself at a corner

On the Darlo side, captain Ian Miller was back in the team after injury whilst there was a new face upfront, Danny Powell, who had just arrived on loan from Franchise FC.

And it was Powell and Sinclair who were at the heart of the first talking point of the game when both players clashed and Powell went over in the box.

Cue loud claims for a penalty but the foul clearly started outside of the box and the ref wasn't fooled by Powell's unnecessary theatrics in an attempt to get a spot kick. His efforts would have been better spent trying to stay on his feet and score.

Powell had a couple of other half-chances but they came to nothing and that was about it for the first half. Wrexham had a few chances of their own but nothing to trouble Russell.

Just before the break Miller picked up an injury which saw him replaced by Dan Clarke as the game resumed.

In midfield Darlo failed to stamp their authority on the game and chances were few and far between for either of the sides.

(left) Chris Senior showing off his thighs

As the game drew to a close Wrexham upped the pressure and started to throw a few balls into the box and headers went narrowly wide on a couple of occasions.

It wasn't a total surprise when they did score from another high ball into the box.

And so a very disappointing result as neither side deserved to win but we just didn't do enough in the middle of the park to create chances for our forwards. It was a bit of a glum journey back.

Once back in London, we met Howard's wife Susie at King's Cross before we started on our way to Chris Stockdale's wedding reception in Barnes. Unfortunately various traffic snarl-ups meant it took us almost two hours just to get to Hammersmith and still everything was gridlocked.

With not much time before the wedding reception finished we gave it up as a bad job and I headed home on the tube and picked up a consolation curry.

Finally congratulations to Chris and Suzy - may she forever let Chris go to games!

Northern Lights, Camera, Action

2010-09-28T05:55:00.024+01:00

I'd originally intended to stay at home and watch the York game on TV having finally decided to sign up with Premier Sports but Martin offered me a lift and it seemed too good an opportunity to miss as it's been quite a while since we last played at Bootham Crescent.

So I started and finished work early and headed off up the Piccadilly line to Uxbridge where Martin was waiting for me. He was certainly in a chatty mood - so much so that he missed the turning for the A1 so we went via the M11 instead.

It was a frustrating journey - there seemed to be an inordinate amount of lorries which seemed intent on blocking the outside lane. Plus it was pissing it down - I was beginning to think the sofa may have been the place to be after all.

(left) Brigantes - first pub of the day

We finally arrived in York about 4:30pm and after parking up close to the ground we headed into the centre of York to find the first pub on my list for the day.

The Brigantes Bar (and Brasserie) is a new venue for me - part of the Market Town Taverns chain which has an outlet in Northallerton - a good selection of local ales from the likes of Rooster, York Bewery and Leeds. Martin is pleased to see that his favourite - York Guzzler - is on so he opts for that. Just a quick pint though as there a few I want to wander round today.

Next stop is the Ackhorne - slightly off the beaten track and one I've been to several times in previous visits. There are a few Geordie lads who start chatting to us but again just a quick pint before we move on.

The Blue Bell on Fossgate is another new venue for me but is a long standing favourite for those that know their pubs in York. A small twin-roomed pub with with not a lot of room in either - we had a good pint of Ossett Silver in the front bar and soon got chatting to some locals.

As we moved on, Martin headed to the game whilst I went to find the Pivni (formerly Pivo) bar. This seemed to be another small-ish bar but it is actually spread over three floors in a modern-but-traditional way.

(right) The Blue Bell - small but perfectly formed

This is the sister pub to the Sheffield Tap - a bar that the London Millers rave about - and the forthcoming Euston Tap.

It has a wide choice of continental and US beers plus Thornbridge and Brewdog beers on tap. John Bell meet me here for a quick pint but I left him to have a last swift one as I needed to go to the ground and get my press ticket.

Given that the game was being televised, there was none of the razzmatazz one associates when Sky cover a game. A few miserable looking cameramen and the odd effects mic by the pitch were the only signs we were on the box.

There was certainly an excellent turn-out of Darlo fans - over 700 from a crowd of 3,100 - and they were in good voice.

The rain had stopped as we kicked off and I settled down on my stool in one corner in front of the away end.

There was not a lot to choose between the sides tonight - the Quakers were not brilliant at keeping possession, often losing the ball far too easily, but the defence was solid.

We didn't seem to get the rub of the green with the referee ignoring valid pleas from Hatch as he was repeatedly knocked off the ball but being only too pleased to give free-kicks when the hulking mass of Rankine fell over like a blouse as soon as he was touched.

Following his improved performance as a sub at the weekend Curtis Main was trying to make things happen up-front and shot narrowly wide but chances were limited for both sides though Russell was probably the busier of the keepers.

(left) Curtis Main battles to keep possession

At half-time, York and Darlo old boy Marco Gabbiadini made an appearance on the pitch. If we only had someone of his stature this season to put away the chances we created in previous games. Hopefully we'll have more news of Gabba in the next week or so.

In the second half, York started to gain the upper hand but the tide turned once the lack-lustre Hatch was replaced by Michael Smith and Darlo seemed to string a few moves together.

John McReady was later thrown on as a sub but as the game faded out into a draw, the only incident of note was the sending off of Paul Arnison after he was given a second yellow. I supposed we shouldn't be surprised as there have been lots of red cards in our games recently and eventually one was bound to be for one of our players.

According to John W who was watching the game in a pub in Camden, the TV pundits gave the man of the match award to Darlo old boy, David McGurk, which is probably a back-handed compliment to our forward line.

After the game, Chris joined Martin and I for the journey back to London as he needed to come and help with the preparations for his forthcoming wedding (on a match day too - tsk tsk).

The start of the journey was quite chatty but after a while I drifted off only to wake up to find Chris had also dropped off - not a surprise for anyone who knows him - and we were approaching west London.

It was 1:30am - far too late to get a tube home and I don't do night buses - so Martin dropped me off in my office where I started work a little bit earlier than usual.

(above) A good turn-out of Darlo fans

The Late, Late Show

2010-09-27T08:05:00.014+01:00

The season is well and truly underway now and as a consequence the days are drawing in and the temperature is dropping.

As Martin and I got off the train at Bank Top, I made a mental note to check the number of decent long-johns I have for the forthcoming winter months (especially as I'll be sitting on my camping stool, exposed to the elements, for most games).

But while there is a nip in the air, rather than wander to the underwear department in M&S I head off to get some pies for the return journey and then pop along to the Quaker. I am nothing if not predictable.

It's all very quiet in there - we seem to be getting fewer away fans in here these days - and as I walked in they'd just finished getting a full set of pumps ready.

For our delectation we had Cairngorm Gold, Jarrow Rivet Catcher and McConnells Irish Stout, Wold Top Big Sky, Loddon Russet, Taylors Landlord and Ram Tam, Brewsters Daffy Elixir and Isle of Skye Red Cullen.

I tried the Gold and Daffy Elixir - both excellent - but finished off with a pint of Ram Tam. Unusually smooth and without that touch of dark bitterness it normally has and which I really like.

(left) Ref Clark - you hum it son, I'll play it

It is also a bit of a quiet turn-out too - John W was back after his holiday and Colin had also turned up but others had found better things to do (especially Tony who is in China with his dad, Ray).

And then up in Number Twenty-2, we're joined by Bev who has decided against going to another pub to see her beloved Chelsea on the box.

On tap today were some interesting brews: Captain Cook Black Porter (as the stout), Glotts Hop from the Howard Town Brewery, Thwaites Lancaster Bomber and Mithril Ales' Flower Power.

The latter is brewed by local CAMRA member Pete Fenwick at Aldbrough St John - it's a very nice drop and was voted beer of the festival at last week's Rhythm & Brews festival (no favouritism there I'm sure!).

Once at the arena and inside the ground it is easy to see why there seem to be no away fans in the pub - there seem to be only about fifty Southport fans which doesn't seem a lot for what was a league club we often played in the 70s.

The game itself was a pretty dire one in the first half - there was a bit of wind which didn't help matters but Southport were managing to stifle any of our attempts to play the ball around.

The situation certainly wasn't helped by the petty whistle-blowing of ref Clark who looked like he'd gone missing from a chimps tea party (and had the decision making skills to match).

After the restart Curtis Main replaced a tired-looking Michael Smith - possibly this was the last chance for Main as he soon got heavily involved in the game and had two or three very good chances, one of which should really have been a goal.

(right) A shot from Liam Hatch strikes the hands of a Southport defender

In the latter stages Southport went down to ten men when one of their players was sent off - the decision did look extremely harsh from where I was but it was par for the course today.

There was certainly more bite in our play with the numerical advantage and it allowed Liam Hatch to find some space before shooting narrowly wide.

And shortly after another shot from Hatch hit the outstretched hand of a defender leading to the award of a penalty.

At the time I though this decision was a tad harsh too until I saw that the defender had his arms flapping in the way. As the pundits are only too happy to tell you, you just can't do that sort of thing in't modern game.

Chris Senior was the player assigned to penalty duty today and based on recent form you'd wouldn't bet against him scoring.

Unfortunately his shot was accurate but slowwww and the keeper gathered it in easily.

(left) The keeper safely gathers in

And so it all looked like being yet another draw and definitely two points dropped as we entered the four minutes of additional time awarded by the ref.

But then Senior - obviously keen to make up for his penalty miss - made his way into the box and teed up sub John McReady for a close range shot into the back of the net.

The place went wild and I kept my eye on Senior as he wheeled away in celebration towards block 11 and kicked off the corner flag - no doubt he was doubly relieved - but I think we were all happy to be the beneficiaries of a late goal for once.

According to Martin, the Southport players were less than happy at the final whistle and accused us of being "robbing bastards" - how classy - as they headed off to the dressing rooms. I know the ref didn't make things easy for them but it was a bit rich to have a go at us.

Bath Time

2010-09-23T10:03:00.021+01:00

One of the more pleasureable aspects of our relegation to the Conference has been the visits to new towns and cities and finding out a bit more about our green and pleasant land (and the pubs therein). This was certainly the case with our visit to Bath.

The city has often been compared to York and given the amount of tourists pouring out of Bath Spa station at 10:30am, I can see what they mean. Trevor was already there when I arrived and we then waited a further ten minutes until Steve’s train pulled in.

We ambled slowly through the town and as we approached the cathedral, it was clear from the number of people in period costume that there was a bit of a Jane Austen theme to the day. But why had no one told us? We could have had Brian dressed up as the Mr Darcy gone to seed – or me as Mr Darcy on a bad hair day?

In fact it was the Jane Austen festival and this was their opening promenade – last year the world record was broken for the “largest gathering of people in Regency costume” at this event – 409 in case you’re interested.

As the cathedral bell rang out eleven times, we went to the Garricks Head to find the door open but we were given the "sorry, we don’t actually open until noon". Down with this sort of thing!

A quick retracing of our steps took us to the West Gate – one of those pubs with sofas and lounge-type seating but they had an interesting selection of several local ales and ciders. I had the Beech Blonde from Arbor Ales and it was a pretty tasty drop.

(left) Steve and Trev enter the Raven

After a quick pint, we took the short walk to Queen Street and the Raven which is the current pub of the year. An excellent selection of beers: Blindmans Raven and Raven's Gold, Keystone Bottle-Strength Porter, Cottage Winston Churchill, Slaters Premium and Moles Rucking Mole. It was also good to see that they used lined glasses so that you get a full pint and not just a full glass.

The next pub on our list was the Royal Oak - this is on the main road to Twerton Park and has vied with the Raven for the pub of the year accolade for the past five years. Again an excellent choice: Renaissance, Plain Indulgence, Hip Hop Green Bullet and O'Kanes Wit from Art Brew, Glyph and Eye-Opener from Stonehenge Ales, Three Castle's Saxon Archer and Milk Stout from the Bristol Beer Factory plus a couple of ciders.

The pub was virtually empty when we arrived but slowly filled up with a few DAFTS and then a few Bath fans.

(right) The Royal Oak

Iain and Paul had made their separate ways via the train which meant that for once they could have a drink or two. And then Mark and Simon (comeondarlo and spyman) also joined us for a quickie before they decided to wander off to the ground and try out the Bath City clubhouse.

Twerton Park is just a 15 min walk from the Royal Oak and we arrived in plenty of time before kick off. Another tidy little ground where the Darlo contingent had been given the open end - once again I was pitchside just in front of our fans in the away stand.

There were no major changes to the side from last week’s win over Forest Green though I was a bit concerned in the first 20 mins or so at the amount of possession that Bath had.

(left) The Darlo contingent

They spent a lot of time in our half but thankfully to little significant affect. It also meant that Liam Hatch spent more time defending that he did attacking which is not what we really want to see.

Sam Russell was almost caught out when he collected the ball on the edge of the box and only just stopped from being in the same postion as Eastbourne’s keeper a fortnight ago. The Bath City subs near me screamed at the linesman but I reassured them that he did not stray out of the box. I was surprised that they seemed to believe me.

Darlo had a few opportunities at the other end though we sent too many high balls that little Chris Senior had little chance of collecting. However he later did very well to lob the ball over a defender and then head it past the keeper to put us into the lead which was how we went in at half-time.

At half-time, Leon Knight came out with our other subs for a kick around – he looked a little on the "cuddly" side to me but he gave me a smile and a thumbs up as I tapped my belly.

He looked happy to be out on the pitch but it was to goa bit of a shame that it all went wrong a few days later - perhaps it was a lucky escape given his propensity for tweeting every little detail (and posting topless photos of him and other members of the squad that the world could well do without!).

(right) Chris Senior on the ball - star man for the Quakers

In the second half Darlo had the majority of possession with plenty of good work from Arnison, Hone, Hatch and Senior and it was the latter who almost doubled our lead with a shot at goal which beat the keeper but came back off the post.

The lead was finally doubled a little later when Hatch found some space and hit a cracking shot from the edge of the box – it had goal written all over it as the ball left his boot.

It should be noted that for once we had a decent referee who wasn’t overly fussy and who only booked one player (Hone) - he was certainly the best that I’ve seen so far this season.

Curtis Main was warming up by me when he got the call to come on as a late sub – “yes!” he said - and he raced off to the bench and on to the pitch to replace Hatch.

Unfortunately he was soon in the bad books as he went on his first foray forward only to lose possession of the ball far too easily - he then ambled slowly back which earned him a mouthful from Mark Cooper who was later overheard on the radio to say that Main stood picking his nose rather than tracking back. Not the impact that Curtis nor his manager were looking for.

From then on, it should have been a simple matter of seeing out the game but as soon as the six minutes of added time were displayed, the team seemed to get the jitters. Bath pulled a goal back with two minutes to go – Darlo fans smiled, shook their heads and thought it was just a shame we hadn’t keep a clean sheet.

From the kick off Darlo quickly lost possession and the ball came out to the Bath left wing – it came in-field where Hector Mackie hit a leisurely lob over Russell to send the home crowd into a frenzy and the Darlo fans into a communal sense of stunned déjà vu.

(left) Old geezer has a sneaky fag whilst Dryden and Cooper try to work out what has gone wrong

Thankfully Paul had ordered a cab back to the centre of Bath so we didn’t have to trudge away with the jubilant Bath supporters – whilst Iain and Paul caught trains home Steve and I wandered off to try a couple of other pubs to the north of the town centre.

The Bell is a large-ish pub that seems to be very community orientated judging by the noticeboard advertising various local services such as how to use a staff (which must come in handy for fending off the hordes of Regency-dressed folk once a year) - there was also a very respectable range of beers.

From here we went onto the Star Inn just a short walk away – this is a multi-roomed gem of a pub with about five beers on offer, most from the Abbey Bellringer brewery. We both had the Otley 05 which was very disappointing (to use the old football cliché) and we left to catch our trains without finishing our pints.

Despite the disappointing result - and I feel I'm saying this a lot recently - we had a very good day out in Bath and if we're still in the Conference next season then I'll be looking forward to a return visit - there are certainly enough decent pubs to make a weekend of it next time...

Capital Brews

2010-09-21T13:42:00.012+01:00

As a city London was internationally famed for brewing but over the 25 years or so that I’ve been living down here, the great brewers have slowly disappeared, leaving just Fullers out of a long line of famous names still commercially brewing in the capital.

There then was was a period when brewpubs became the in-thing – the Firkin chain were the most successful for a while before owner David Bruce sold them and they were rebadged and gradually faded away.

There was even a French brewpub called Brasserie Les Sans Culottes in Covent Garden - with some continental-style beers and sparkling Normandy ciders - but as with many other such outlets it didn't stand the test of time.

In recent years however there has been a resurgence in the opening of new breweries and what has been heartening is that in the cut-throat industry they’re joining, they’ve come together in a spirit of enterprise and formed the London Brewers Alliance with the intention of self-help and putting London back on the brewing map.

As a keen drinker I’ve kept a close eye on these developments and so was happy to attend their first event – the London Brewers Alliance Showcase – which took place last week at Brew Wharf in London Bridge.

(left) Lizzie Brodie pours me a half of their porter

This event would essentially be a small festival where we could taste the wares and meet the brewers. The cost was £15 but for that you got seven halves of beer and one half of their collaboratively brewed London Porter. Not bad at London prices.

I was attending with London Miller Chris and his colleague/fellow drinker Roger – having first popped into the nearby Wheatsheaf for a couple of openers first – and the place was quite busy with a number of familiar faces from the London CAMRA scene.

In all there were almost a dozen breweries assembled – Camden Town, Brew Wharf, Kernel, Brodies, Zero Degrees, Fullers, Redemption, Meantime, Ha’Penny, Sambrooks and Windsor & Eton (the latter stretching the definition of London somewhat).

I managed to get round about half of the brewery stalls with Brodies and Kernel proving to have most of the better beers that I’d tried.

Brodies brew not far from Leyton Orient having taken over the old Sweet William brewery and pub and consist of a brother and sister team, James and Lizzie Brodie.

They had a marvellous 7% London porter on draught – which surpassed the collaborative porter that Chris kindly gave me a sip of – as well as a number of their bottled products, one of which was a very enjoyable dunkel. Given the number of beers they've produced, I don’t know where they find the time to brew such a diverse range.

Kernel Brewery is run by a fellow hairy chap called Evin who I’ve met a few times on my visits to the brewery and he produces a variety of wonderful beers, both dark and light. Recent highlights for me have been the Baltic Porter and the White Ale.

I recently suggested that he should call his new son Simcoe in reference to the hops he uses a lot but he and his partner have played safe and called the little chap Kai.

The draught IPA was on top form – very hoppy but not aggressively so - just a shame we don’t see it on cask more often.

Some Brew Wharf beers were also available and I was pleased to finally try their 6.8% black IPA, Military Intelligence.

This has received lots of praise amongst the beer cognoscenti in recent weeks and much deserved too – being dark, hoppy and drinkable is something that is difficult to pull off but this was excellent.

(right) My ticket to drink

With a early-ish trip to our game at Bath the next day I finally managed to drag myself away from the beer – I still had plenty of vouchers left as some of the brewers didn’t tick them off – but for once discretion was the better part of valour.

But it’s clear to see that London is entering a new bright age of brewing and catching up with other areas of the country - long may it continue.