Cod Almighty | Diary

I'm on the road again

22 September 2014

Miss Guest Diary writes: Since retiring, I find I have very little tolerance for some things – and one of those is long car journeys. So I won't embark on a trip unless Google Maps tells me it will take less than two and a half hours. This can be a mixed blessing: this season I missed the glorious win at Gateshead but was spared the Lenny meltdown and subsequent loss at Aldershot.

But I love away trips, especially the atmosphere, which is always so much better than the grumbling gloom that prevails in the Pontoon these days. Away teams are not expected to win, so the pressure is off both the players and fans, and the whole mood seems more casual and carefree. Fortunately, Kidderminster comes in at 2 hours 19 minutes on Google, so we set off on Saturday morning with a light heart and very few expectations.

The journey was good, the pre-match drinks pleasant and there was the unexpected bonus of getting in for the pensioners' rate of £8. Then the game started. If I need reminding at any time of just how dull it was, I can look at the photo in yesterday's Non-League Paper: I am visible in the background, arms folded, with a stance that clearly says: I drove 120 miles for this? And then Oates scored his superb goal, turning the trip into one of my very favourite sort of away day. You know, the one where you spend the whole journey home chuckling about snatching three points from what was promising to be one of the dullest 0-0 draws in recent memory.

I rarely bother to read reports of games, whether I've been to them or not, because at our level they aren't written by a neutral. The report is either in the local paper which can't afford to upset the club, on the club's website or on a fans' website, so they always suffer from varying amounts of one-eyedness. This makes me particularly grateful for Cod Almighty's own match reporter: if you can wade through the whimsy and pop culture references, you will get an unbiased view. If Town are crap Mr Butcher will say so; equally he will give credit to good opposition. If you want a stark contrast for Saturday's game, just read this report of Kidderminster "taking Grimsby to the cleaners". If Town were at the cleaners, then it was definitely the Harriers who lost their ticket.

And then there's Paul Hurst's description of the game as "as close to a perfect stereotypical away performance as you're going to find". For a manager maybe, but for the travelling fan who has paid to get in, I'd say the Gateshead game fits that bill a lot more closely. If only it had been less than a two and a half hour drive…