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:D good one Rob! So, we wait and see how our fortunes improve over the next few months on the road then do we, and if so you are hence forward BANNED!!!

Good to see you though, and nice to find Tribute on sale in the club house as well!
 
Maybe it's not me or Richie C ...

:D good one Rob! So, we wait and see how our fortunes improve over the next few months on the road then do we, and if so you are hence forward BANNED!!!

Good to see you though, and nice to find Tribute on sale in the club house as well!

Actually, Kay, I'm wondering if it's not me and that it might be you ...

... we won at Cheltenham, but I never saw you there. We should have won at Walsall, I never saw you there. But then ... Wycombe, Brentford, Yeovil, Tranmere, Charlton and now Exeter, I saw you there. I will be going to the Franchise and Norwich. No offence, but if you go to all the others in between and skip these two, who knows what might happen? ;)

Talking of beer, I've not wished to mix pleasure with pleasure in this last little tale, so watch out for 'Tales Of The Ales' (thread) coming soon ...
 
Actually, Kay, I'm wondering if it's not me and that it might be you ...

... we won at Cheltenham, but I never saw you there. We should have won at Walsall, I never saw you there. But then ... Wycombe, Brentford, Yeovil, Tranmere, Charlton and now Exeter, I saw you there. I will be going to the Franchise and Norwich. No offence, but if you go to all the others in between and skip these two, who knows what might happen? ;)

Talking of beer, I've not wished to mix pleasure with pleasure in this last little tale, so watch out for 'Tales Of The Ales' (thread) coming soon ...

Erm STOCKPORT Rob! Plus the home matches :p
 
Erm STOCKPORT Rob! Plus the home matches :p

Yes, I know you were at Stockport, Kay. My 'hypothesis' is that we have somehow displeased the gods of football collectively, so if we both turn up at games, it jinxes our team. So, if I see you at MKD or Norwich, then I fear the worst ...:)
 
'Tragical Misery Tour' - (1) MK Dons, 20.02.10

I don't know about you but since I've reached my middling years, I do like to start the day with a warm luxurious soak in the bath. I suspected that when I was denied this - by the vagaries of the Burford Travelodge's hot water system - then such an omen undoubtedly signified yet another bad day on the road again following the mighty Shrimpers. Me and Mrs S had headed east on the Friday, white van packed with various coats ready for whatever weather the infamous 'Stadium MK' might throw at us. In the end, it was sunny and quite pleasant till the freeze set in in the second half. Similarly, the game was effectively over when, on forty-eight minutes, Mark Carrington put the Franchise two-nil up. Despite several chances in the first half and a couple of good saves from Willy Gueret it didn't actually feel like we were ever really in this one. But strangely, if Scott Vernon had slotted home a sitter before Townsend scored their third, then it may have made for an interesting finale. Our fans had surpassed themselves in their vocal support when the team were out for the count earlier in that second-half and Matt Paterson's salute as he scored his first goal for the club gave us some consolation at the death. This was the day which confirmed my readings on ShrimperZone that Francis Laurent is currently more of a liability than a lethal weapon as he continually turned into trouble, his dispossessions leading to even greater pressure on our defence as a result of his lackadaisical play. Carrington's first goal, shortly after the quarter-hour mark and after a period of play where we'd had chances, exposed a lack of concentration in our midfield as he was left all by himself running into the area to slot the ball home uncontested. It was a very disappointing day, the only bright sparks provided by a fantastic free-kick from Franno (which hit the post when it was still only 1-0), Damien Scannell's lively presence and the aforementioned support and consolation goal. The day got worse for me - I collapsed into the Peterborough Travelodge with a temperature and exhaustion, too knackered even to have that overdue bath. During the night, I was awoken by the sound of various encounters going on outside involving some drunks from the nearby club - just another Saturday night and just the start of my 'Tragical Misery Tour.' Next stop Norfolk ... and as you know, it didn't get any better! :nope:
 
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'Tragical Misery Tour' - (2) Norwich, 23.02.10

I don't know about you but since I've reached my middling years, I do like to start the day with a warm luxurious soak in the bath. I suspected that when I was denied this - by the vagaries of the Burford Travelodge's hot water system - then such an omen undoubtedly signified yet another bad day on the road again following the mighty Shrimpers. Me and Mrs S had headed east on the Friday, white van packed with various coats ready for whatever weather the infamous 'Stadium MK' might throw at us. In the end, it was sunny and quite pleasant till the freeze set in in the second half. Similarly, the game was effectively over when, on forty-eight minutes, Mark Carrington put the Franchise two-nil up. Despite several chances in the first half and a couple of good saves from Willy Gueret it didn't actually feel like we were ever really in this one. But strangely, if Scott Vernon had slotted home a sitter before Townsend scored their third, then it may have made for an interesting finale. Our fans had surpassed themselves in their vocal support when the team were out for the count earlier in that second-half and Matt Paterson's salute as he scored his first goal for the club gave us some consolation at the death. This was the day which confirmed my readings on ShrimperZone that Francis Laurent is currently more of a liability than a lethal weapon as he continually turned into trouble, his dispossessions leading to even greater pressure on our defence as a result of his lackadaisical play. Carrington's first goal, shortly after the quarter-hour mark and after a period of play where we'd had chances, exposed a lack of concentration in our midfield as he was left all by himself running into the area to slot the ball home uncontested. It was a very disappointing day, the only bright sparks provided by a fantastic free-kick from Franno (which hit the post when it was still only 1-0), Damien Scannell's lively presence and the aforementioned support and consolation goal. The day got worse for me - I collapsed into the Peterborough Travelodge with a temperature and exhaustion, too knackered even to have that overdue bath. During the night, I was awoken by the sound of various encounters going on outside involving some drunks from the nearby club - just another Saturday night and just the start of my 'Tragical Misery Tour.' Next stop Norfolk ... and as you know, it didn't get any better! :nope:

I woke up feeling much better after the previous day's travails, though my pillow was wet with the sweat of my Saturday night fever. Mrs S was the first to look out the window, telling me anxiously about the snow that had settled outside overnight. We had to get to the north Norfolk coast and those roads up there are not hospitable at the best of times. However, there's something about the snowbound flatlands of this eastern segment of our island that made the journey quite dramatic, where you can see for miles and where at times only trees - seasonably starkly bereft of leaves - inhabit the landscape.

My best mate lives in Sheringham and we stayed with him and his family before heading down to Norwich on the Tuesday. I never harboured any illusions about this game. The Canaries have been playing some great football over the last few months and it was hard to see our embattled lads getting anything out of this game. For a heady hour after Scott Vernon atoned for Saturday's dreadful miss, it was possible to dream.

It started ominously. Paul McNamee looked dangerous on either wing and the Canaries were flying, setting a heady fast tempo to the game. Strangely though, the injury to M'Voto eventually precipitated a steadier Blues display, Scott Malone managing McNamee better than the skipper had done before Adam moved into the middle. We had rode our luck though, especially when Holt had turned Adam in the six-yard box but somehow contrived to put the ball beyond the far post. Having survived the first half-hour, we grew in confidence and everyone put in a really hard-working shift as we slowly managed to eke out some openings. In injury-time of the first half Scannell carved out some space and his cross deflected into the path of Vernon and he put it away convincingly. It was the first time I'd seen us open the scoring in a game all season. But you know the rest ...

An ending like the one we experienced leaves you sick to the pit of your stomach. I noticed Scannell was dead on his feet in front of us in the last few minutes. It's a real shame Tilly didn't see that as Scannell's fatigue contributed to our loss of possession at the end and we still had one substitution left to us. Our team battled so hard and one moment near the end nearly won it for us. Johnny Herd won us a free-kick that Franno nearly scored from, but somehow there was an incredible amount of injury-time played and though I'm not one to generally bemoan our luck, this was a game where our dogged display really did merit some reward. But this stuff happens when you're down and after this it surely couldn't get any worse ... could it?
 
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'Tragical Misery Tour' - (3) Charlton, 26.02.10

I woke up feeling much better after the previous day's travails, though my pillow was wet with the sweat of my Saturday night fever. Mrs S was the first to look out the window, telling me anxiously about the snow that had settled outside overnight. We had to get to the north Norfolk coast and those roads up there are not hospitable at the best of times. However, there's something about the snowbound flatlands of this eastern segment of our island that made the journey quite dramatic, where you can see for miles and where at times only trees - seasonably starkly bereft of leaves - inhabit the landscape.

My best mate lives in Sheringham and we stayed with him and his family before heading down to Norwich on the Tuesday. I never harboured any illusions about this game. The Canaries have been playing some great football over the last few months and it was hard to see our embattled lads getting anything out of this game. For a heady hour after Scott Vernon atoned for Saturday's dreadful miss, it was possible to dream.

It started ominously. Paul McNamee looked dangerous on either wing and the Canaries were flying, setting a heady fast tempo to the game. Strangely though, the injury to M'Voto eventually precipitated a steadier Blues display, Scott Malone managing McNamee better than the skipper had done before Adam moved into the middle. We had rode our luck though, especially when Holt had turned Adam in the six-yard box but somehow contrived to put the ball beyond the far post. Having survived the first half-hour, we grew in confidence and everyone put in a really hard-working shift as we slowly managed to eke out some openings. In injury-time of the first half Scannell carved out some space and his cross deflected into the path of Vernon and he put it away convincingly. It was the first time I'd seen us open the scoring in a game all season. But you know the rest ...

An ending like the one we experienced leaves you sick to the pit of your stomach. I noticed Scannell was dead on his feet in front of us in the last few minutes. It's a real shame Tilly didn't see that as Scannell's fatigue contributed to our loss of possession at the end and we still had one substitution left to us. Our team battled so hard and one moment near the end nearly won it for us. Johnny Herd won us a free-kick that Franno nearly scored from, but somehow there was an incredible amount of injury-time played and though I'm not one to generally bemoan our luck, this was a game where our dogged display really did merit some reward. But this stuff happens when you're down and after this it surely couldn't get any worse ... could it?

This game was always going to be about one person - and I deliberately do not use the word 'man' here due to my contempt for this person's unmanly behaviour. I saw my cousin, DC Spooner, after the Dons game and suggested to him that there should be "a lively atmosphere" at the Hall for this one. His countenance stiffened and he told me that he'd be "having a word with Bailey before the game" warning him not to celebrate towards our fans should he score. Bailey's contribution to the game did eventually result in Charlton's victory, but not for any contribution in a 'proper' footballing sense.

This was my first Friday night game at the Hall since we trounced QPR three years ago. There is something special about the atmosphere here that other grounds simply do not have. It is just so good to be so close to the action, though I must admit that I did not see the incident which led to The Ginger Judas staying on the floor as though he'd been run over. Fellow Zoners who I saw after the game said JFC had pushed Judas in the chest - nothing more, nothing less - after Bailey had barged into Jeff, who was trying to retrieve the ball for a free-kick. I had seen Judas writhe around in agony earlier this season after being pushed, so it was no surprise that he should stoop to this level at a ground where he would be booed all night. It is perverse that he should brand Sir Steve as "a total disgrace" when everything that I see about Judas on the pitch offends my standards of decency to new levels. :cricko:

I am still dismayed by the events of Friday night to the extent that I do not wish to think about them anymore. I am so sorry for our lads to have had to go through yet another crushing late defeat and just hope they can take heart from their spirit in this adversity. And if anyone knows who set off the fire alarm in the foyer of Southend Travelodge in the early hours of Saturday morning en route to Mayhem, then please send them my regards ... not. It was just the kind of 'high' that I needed to finish off my 'Tragical Misery Tour' before the long drive back to Penzance. Thank you and goodnight.
 
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Haven't we got enough woe/misery threads going on elsewhere without spreading your great cheer here? :'(

edited for accuracy!;)
Have you got something against reality checks BTW?
You've just seen us lose our last 3 games to end up just outside the bottom four and we'll lose again on Saturday.:darkcloud:
 
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