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Dagenham vs Darlington Weekend report |
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Written by Administrator
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Saturday, 26 April 2008 |
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| Darlington
2
Ravenhill 20
Arber 52 og
| Football League 2 The Darlington Arena
Saturday 26th April 2008 | 3 Sloma 63 Rainford 66 pen Benson 74
| PRE MATCH
A very early pre match indeed, beginning at 6.30. Organised with military precision the two cabs arrived at Stansted nearly at the same time. With Dogva having taken advantage of the Internet check-in system, we were able to race through security. That was however after Browns had been forced to reveal a very "holey" pair of socks to the poor bloke given the task of checking him!!! We got through so quickly in fact that we had time for a quick beer in the Wetherspoons. We then made our way to gate 85 and saw a host of A list celebs on the way!!!! Firstly the Geordie legend Micky Quinn passed us and gave us the thumbs up, and then wine tasting expert Jilly Gordon walked past, and she seemed less pleased to see us!!! The Sleazyjet flight to the Toon left dead on time and so we arrived nice and early in Newcastle. With some members of the touring party on a tight budget we opted to get the Metro into the City Centre. This was a good idea until we got off the train and got lost, Harrison needlessly leading us across the Tyne Bridge when our hotel was on the other side of the water!!! Having finally found the hotel we were out of there and looking for some refreshment. A very hearty fry up was consumed with the next round of beers before we had to move bar as the first one did not have SKY Sports in it (shocking!!!). The next place was ok apart from the stale stench of beer and puke in the pool lounge, but beggars can't be choosers!!! Here we stayed until our minibus picked us up 15 minutes into the Chelsea v Man Yoo showdown. Now, not sure whether the driver was in a rush or not, but he made Winkle seem like a good driver!!! He did allow time for some sightseeing though, flying past the Angle of the North at a mere 95mph rather than 105mph (what is the point of the Angel of the North anyone??). Anyway, we arrived in one piece at the IKEA stadium at about 1.45. However, unlike most of these plastic out of town soulless bowls, Darlo have at least put in a couple of bars outside the entrances, and one allows away fans, so we were able to have a couple of beers and laugh at Fergie looking like he was about to explode as Man Yoo lost at Chelsea. And then a short stroll round to the entrance, where one of the ticket office girls seemed keen to give her phone number out to all and sundry!!!
ATTENDEES
The Big Four of Stew, Middle, Dogva and Deaders were joined by 5th placed Browns and mid table Bobby. Guest appearances from Harrison, Shaun (not the normal one and Bert). And Shaun (the normal one) and his Uni mate Nesti also made the trip, joining us in the ground.
CROWD
Well, whatever it was (3,700 I think) it looked a little lost inside such a stadium. Darlo fans may have made some noise but they were so far away we couldn't hear them. One side of the ground was totally unused!! Yet another good turnout from the Daggers fans on another monster journey. No official figure but I would guess between 170-200. A fair effort after so many long and unfruitful journeys through the season.
GAME
Well standing eating the half time pies (and they deserve a section of their own in honesty as they were that good) at 1-0 down nobody could see how we would get a result. Ten minutes later at 2-0 down most people had given up. Then our manager takes off Southam and brings on Sloma. Does he know what he is doing :) Well obviously yes. What happened in the next 15 minutes would not be done justice by a couple of lines here, so please see elsewhere for a report on it. Lets just say, I have never seen anything like it. Total chaos. From looking like we would need to win our last game to stay up, we were suddenly in a position where the last game wouldn't matter as we would be safe. The final whistle was greeted with relief but then we had a long wait for the Mansfield score to come through. Our nerves were not helped by the Darlo groundstaff turning off the big screen showing the final scores!!! Eventually the news came through and it was more celebrations. I think most people were more relieved than anything, it was a very strange sort of moment!!!
POST MATCH - SATURDAY
Having finally left the ground our man in the bus was on hand to race back to Newcastle. Most people were a little subdued, still trying to take it all in. Back at the hotel (well Travelodge!!) it was a quick change around and then out again. Basically after that, everything becomes a blur. You might be better off looking at the photos for a more accurate story, but basically with safety secured everyone was on a mission!!! Things got really messy in Tiger Tiger where several rounds of ridiculous drinks were consumed. Newcastle seemed like a friendly place with everyone having a good time, and not at all bothered by us reminding them that we were staying up. People became split up as the evening wore on, but somehow everyone arrived back at the Lodge in one piece, and once Shaun (not the normal one) had stopped throwing himself on top of everyone, we were able to go to bed!!!
POST MATCH - SUNDAY
Well, getting everyone out of the rooms was the first issue, but we avoided any late check out fines. Shaun (the normal one) and Nesti left us to head back to Sheffield while the rest of us went in search of some hangover food, which arrived in the shape of the Slug and Lettuce menu. From there we persuaded a cabbie to take 9 of us in his 6 seater back to the airport, thus avoiding Harrison getting us lost on the Metro again!!! More celebratory beers were had in the departures lounge before Middle looked like he would not be allowed to fly home. Someone strangely had pretended to be him when boarding the plane meaning when he came to board he was apparently already on there!!! After some frantic action on the walkie talkies he was eventually allowed on. On arrival at Stansted it was clear Deaders had not completed his one task of the weekend, to book the cabs back to Upminster!! Thus we waited longer for the cabs to arrive than we had done on the rest of the journey. Eventually they arrived and most opted to go straight home. Some though were still seen drinking Kronenburg and dancing to Fog on the Tyne in the Yeoman at 10pm in the evening!!!! An excellent weekend!!
| Darlington vs Dagenham: Match Report | Weekend Report | Player Ratings | Photos | Match Photos Site: Player Ratings | UD Attendance |
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