Darlington & Stockton Times

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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...