Mauled

Saturday 21 November - Yorkshire Main (home) Lost 1-2
Wednesday 25 November - Hull City 3 Everton 2

It's been a busy week. Despite no programme production I don't seem to have had any more time to get owt done (especially any of those daft little jobs the wife's been banging on about for the past few months!). The pile of unread newspapers continues to build and I've still not had chance to watch a copy of "The Damned United" lent to me some three weeks back. I think I need to go part-time!
I did get one "task" out of the way this week. On Monday I went Christmas Shopping. Well no, that's not quite true, I accompanied Alison on a Christmas shopping trip. It wasn't half as bad as I'd imagined, especially given the horror stories I'd heard from friends who've already "done their bit" as it were. And lunch at Frankie & Benny's always makes a trip to Hull worthwhile!
Oh, and I’ve also found time to "Back the Bid". Yes, on the day that Adam ("Lord") Pearson and co. presented their Hull 2018 case to the Football Association in London, I pledged my support "online" and I've since sent out the text. The World Cup. In 'Ull. A "reet grand" idea if you ask me!
I can see it now. Sitting there in nine years time among a capacity 45,000 crowd in the newly revamped KC Stadium watching, say, an Algeria side skippered by the then veteran Kamel Ghilas, taking on a USA side for whom the 27-yr-old Jozy Altidore is leading the line in his third World Cup.

And as the crowd disperses, I imagine I'll stay behind and watch the stadium staff get to work unfurling the huge sponsors banners that are needed to cover the large tracts of seats that won't be required two days later when the venue is again in use - for Hull FC's home game in front of the Sky cameras and just over ten thousand fans. Of course, in the intervening years the Dullers will have made numerous requests to return to their "spiritual home" at the Boulevard; unfortunately these will have stalled due to (a) the lack of the old Threepenny Stand to piss up against and (b) the inability to move on the travellers who decided to make a home at the one-time proposed NHS-funded training and lifestyle centre!

Should Hull be successful in its bid, I can inform those in charge now that I will be available to act as "Guide" for any proposed tours of the area’s real ale hostelries that might be deemed integral in helping our visitors "get a feel for the place". In fact I’ll do it for free - well perhaps a little “subsistence” money wouldn’t go amiss.

Anyway, if you’ve not yet supported the Hull bid please do so

Talking of ale, Denis Cox at Hutton Cranswick informs me there’s a nice pint to be had at Bentley Colliery. I already await the trip there on January 23 with great anticipation. And as I passed the White Horse in our village square at lunchtime I'm fairly certain that was the legendary former Robin Paul Fletcher busy working on the place? But I digress...again!
The ale certainly wasn’t a factor in my trip to the KC Stadium on Wednesday – an extortionately priced pint of Marston Smooth in a plastic glass on a cold, autumnal evening doesn’t do it for me. Mind you, the coffee at nearly two quid a cup isn’t exactly an alluring alternative. Thank God the fare on offer on the pitch was enough to (almost) merit the £25 ticket.
Having spent the most of this season (and last) finding consolation for poor results from the KC in good ones at Low Farm I’m starting to experience a bit of a turnaround. No longer is the standing joke after a midweek match that “at least we don’t have to come again Sat’day”; City are starting to win a few.
Indeed, following the thrillers against Stoke and Everton, it’s a real disappointment that unless the FA Cup intervenes, my Tiger trekking for the season is all but over.
After the Bullard show against the Stokies the win over Everton was perhaps even more impressive in that it showed City are by no means a "one-man band" (and Marney scored for chrissake!)

Wednesday’s game was also in direct contrast in terms of the finale. While injury-time versus the Potters was the cue for Big Jan to prompt unprecedented scenes of delirium, the overriding feeling against the Toffees was that of near nervous exhaustion as Duke flapped at crosses and then Leighton Baines lined up a last-gasp free-kick 20 yards out. Thankfully he struck it into the wall and a few agonising moments later impressive referee Martin Atkinson blew for time and another very valuable three points.

On the way home, with my compatriot Biff not quite willing to acknowledge publicly that he couldn’t have thought of many better ways to spend his wedding anniversary (sorry Steph!), one caller to BBC Radio Humberside said how much it all reminded him of City in the Eighties – “plenty of goals scored and conceded, Horton in the dugout…and the threat of financial ruin never far away!”

City in the Eighties featured a couple of times in Wednesday’s match programme, especially the excellent article by the Yorkshire Post’s Phil Booth on the current lack of midweek “treats” (i.e. matches under the “blazing floodlights”).Therein he recounted “probably City’s most infamous night match in the club’s history” - the trip to Turf Moor on May 15 1984. That night the Tigers travelled in the knowledge that a three-goal win would secure promotion to the old Second Division but anything less would hand that prize to Sheffield United. Along with some 4,000 others, I made that trip along the M62 for my 16th away game of the season (17 if you include the ill-fated same journey in January, which had been curtailed when we met other supporters' coaches - and City's team bus - coming back following the game’s postponement due to bad weather).

Burnley were simply not prepared for the size of the Tigers' following that May evening and along with countless others, I was still queuing outside the turnstiles when Brian "Bunter" Marwood (above) put us one up. And only just inside when his second made it 2-0 soon after. But that’s where the fairytale ended and the memory of that pocket of Sheffield fans dancing about behind the left hand goal after the final whistle has left a scar ever since. Points the same, goal difference the same but the Blades went up by virtue of having scored more goals.

Of the five matches mentioned by Booth in the piece, I’m privileged to be able to say “I was there” for four of them – Burnley in ‘84; Duane Darby’s six against Whitby in the FA Cup replay at Boothferry Park in 1996; Nick Barmby’s sumptuous show at Hillsborough in 2004; and the Play-Off semi-final second leg with Watford at the KC a couple of years back.
 

All would make it on to my personal list of favourite floodlit games, along with the 4-1 win over Walsall in September 1979 (my first night match), a similar result at Preston in April 1985, and two Friday night wins in South Wales - 1-0 in the FA Cup at Swansea in February 1987 and 2-0 at Cardiff in November 1994, a game accompanied by Deano's legendary "Coke can" incident prior to scoring City's second from the penalty spot!

Memorable for vastly differing reasons is the 1-1 draw at Exeter on a Tuesday evening in 1993. The game itself was largely forgettable but it was accompanied by one of the best pre-match "sessions" I ever undertook, beginning in Torquay on preceding Sunday afternoon!

City’s current upturn and especially Wednesday’s win helped ease my disappointment at our first defeat in nine Central Midlands League games, which occurred at the hands of Yorkshire Main last Saturday.
The Doncaster side repeated their recent League Cup success at Low Farm courtesy of another solid performance aided by one of our poorest – if not the poorest – of the season to date. We actually started brightly enough, only to concede two sloppy goals inside five minutes around the half-hour mark. And in fairness, despite seeing their number reduced following a sending-off – striker White seeing red for wearing gloves, sorry, after an altercation with young Owen - Main rarely looked like relinquishing the points. Farny struck the post in one of our few real chances before Pursey capped a fine move with our solitary reply in injury-time.


The defeat was only our second of the season, our first at home and it now means we head off for two consecutive away games in need of a win or two if we’re to force our way into the leading pack.

Saturday also witnessed another first for the Farm in the availability and consumption of hot meat pies at the ground. Six days on I’m still confused as to the origins of just how such tasty morsels appeared; though it probably has something to do with the newly-formed TAPAS (Tetley And Pies Appreciation Society) group pictured above. I shall endeavour to find out more but suffice to say, a very welcome addition to the match day routine they may prove to be. (And, no I couldn't possibly manage two Clarkey!!)

This week we head off to South Normanton for the first of the aforementioned back-to-back away games. It should see a welcome return for skipper (and tea boy) Andy Graham as well as a brief return to three o'clock kick-offs thanks to The Shiners' impressive Lees Lane home having lights.

Whether it will also witness a return to winning ways remains to be seen...

That Retro Thang

Saturday 14 November - Thorne Colliery (away) Drew 2-2

The lads have started to bring some music to accompany our games in the Central Midlands League, courtesy of a portable cd player in the changing rooms and on the bus to away games. Mind you, I'm not sure "music" describes some of the sounds to have emanated from said "boombox" (or rather "whimperbox" as our manager described it) prior to the recent games against Kiveton and Thorne Colliery.
Having said that, I'm not exactly blessed with a great knowledge of what's "cutting edge" these days. Whereas one time I'd have been at jostling for position at the front of the queue to get my sounds heard (as was the case back in '95 when Pete Tong's Essential Selection provided the soundtrack to any game involving Easington's new Second XI) the age-gap between me and the current First Team dictates that my choices probably wouldn't go down too well; especially given a current listening list in the car that includes The Style Council, New Order, Sharleen Spiteri and Editors...oh, and Andy Williams.
However, one man currently "kicking up a storm" (as I would no doubt have said during my days as local music correspondent for Hull, Hell & Happiness) is Mayer Hawthorne. For the uninitiated among you, the aforementioned Mr Hawthorne is currently one of the hottest properties in the world of soul/jazz, courtesy of his album "A Strange Arrangement" on Stone's Throw Records. "Cool" with the most capital of C's. So, how does somebody with my admittedly loose handle on the current music scene pull such a street-cred rabbit out of the hat - why, through that most street-cred of publications of course, The Daily Telegraph!

Yes, I was introduced to Mr Hawthorne through the estimable newspaper's Saturday Review supplement, courtesy of the following intro: "Wogan's a fan, and so's Snoop Dogg. Mayer Hawthorne mixes Motown soul with punchy beats - all in a suit and tie." That sort of description immediately appealed to the part of my make-up that used to force me into Hull's legendary Syd Scarbs store every time Kent Records released a new compilation; and when I finally got to hear the man, Wow! Take a look at the pic and I agree you wouldn't associate him with the aforementioned paper's description of a voice that on tracks like "The Ills of the World" "recalls Superfly-era Curtis Mayfield". But it's spot-on.

Setting Hawthorne's music apart from countless other retro soul artists is the influence he brings to bear of ten years as a hip-hop producer and DJ. But he does so while still retaining an authentic feel of soul music's glory years. Check out more - buy the album. I did.

So what's a potential musical genius from Detroit, USA got in common with a trip to Thorne Colliery FC in the Central Midlands League on a very autumnal November afternoon in 2009? In one word, "retro", although in fairness, while the sounds of Hawthorne do inspire thoughts of yesteryear, they're possibly harking back to a more gentle time than that which springs to mind when arriving at the Moorends Welfare Ground.

Similar to the visit to Church Warsop and to a lesser extent Parkhouse, earlier in the season, this away game immediately revives memories (for those of us old enough of course) of Scargill, Thatcher and the Miners' Strike of two decades ago. In deed, Saturday yet again got some of us debating the rights and wrongs of it and the "first hand contact" any of us had with those involved on either side. In my case this extended to little more than the "Dig Deep" buckets placed strategically around "Wezzie"-occupied tables in the Sandy Beaches Club at Kilnsea on a Saturday night, the regular "Socialist Workers" protests down Whitefriargate and City fans singing "We All Agree...Dockers Are Harder Than Miners" when playing any team whose supporters were remotely involved with the dispute!

Then of course there were the benefit gigs at the Adelphi and, nationally, the "Red Wedge" movement involving Billy Bragg and others. But the song that will always remind me of those days - and probably provides a more apt soundtrack to an away game at Thorne Colliery or any other ground in the heart of the ex-mining community - is the classic "Keep On Keeping On" by Eighties Socialist stompers Redskins.

But again I digress.

Like many teams in the CML Thorne Colliery FC is proud of its mining heritage. And a trip to any ex-mining club brings to view the drastic changes experienced since those days of 1984. At Church Warsop it was the boarded-up Miners Welfare Club; at Moorends it's the now barren waste land surrounding the ground that once, I presume, was a hive of industry.

Moorends is a very evocative setting. It has been home to a football club since 1929 and the grand old stand which forms one side of this still tidy venue probably dates from that same era. Some of the people who inhabit it revive memories of a much more recent time for watching football. Or rather, the stories I'd heard beforehand about them do...

Thanks to much pre-match hype, I approached last Saturday’s game at Moorends in pretty much the same way as my first ever visit to Millwall’s original home back in January 1984 i.e. although not particularly looking forward to it, I knew it was one I simply had to make.

Obviously not everyone felt the same. As I boarded the “Ezzie Fun Bus” there was a distinct absence of hitherto away day regulars – Jeff, Judy, Burt? Did they know something I didn’t?

Perhaps so. A South Normanton club official had used the term “animals” to describe some of Thorne's support, whereas Hutton Cranswick had been more discreet: “It’s a unique experience”.

As I joined driver Pete in the stand ten minutes before kick-off I must admit to wondering what all the fuss had been about. Aside from the travelling Mountain clan, Chav’s dad and Karl’s ‘Cleeve Community’, there was hardly a soul to be seen.

It wasn’t much busier by the time Gav’s neat finish brought me to my feet on 9 minutes, although in celebrating the goal I did happen to notice the beginnings of a “gathering” over my right shoulder.

Two minutes later I became the target of this gathering’s first collective “contribution” to the atmosphere; my crime involving having what's known in Easington as a “Doug Moment” (i.e. standing in anticipation of a goal only to see Farny’s shot drift just the wrong side of the post). My “Ye…aw!” prompted much merriment on the part of the hooded clan in the corner (and Pete the Driver!). “Siddown” and “Get to Specsavers” were among the only repeatable instructions aimed my way.
That was about as lively as it got before the break, even after Colliery’s 41st minute equaliser.
During the interval I spoke to programme editor Paul Hodgkins, one of several very amicable people involved with 'The Colliery'. I asked him about his side’s supposedly “unique” support. He replied, “This is poor today. There’s usually more on ‘em ‘ere than this”.
With the Magners and Carling working its magic, ‘The Colliery Boys’ in the stand stepped it up in the second half. Plenty of expletives, coupled with exhortations to “Snap ‘im in ayf!” helped raise the temperature a touch.
It went up another notch when ex-Goole man Fell’s second strike made it 2-1 on 65mins. But the home crowd's ardour was soon quelled as great work from Karl F, Mozza’s return shot and Farny’s finish brought me to my feet again two minutes later. “Is that all you bring away?” sang the home choir. Aye, it is this time. Hopefully when I return to Moorends more will choose to accompany me.
The game somewhat petered out to a draw after this, save for a few rash challenges, one on Jamie Cousins (aka "Simon Cowell") that almost snapped the youngster in two. Afterwards we retired to the Moorends Comrades Club where the food was a hearty mix of stew, chip shop chips and "proper buttered bread"! Unfortunately there wasn't a cask ale to be had...but you can't have everything.
A final touch of irony was reserved for when we left the club to board the bus. One of the most vocal members of the home crowd made sure he wasn't going to let us pass without adding a final observation: "Have a safe trip back, thar's played great today!"

The wind was blowing and the rain was lashing down as we headed back up a dark M18. It was a trip made for some of Morrissey's finest lyrics; instead we had Black Eyed Peas telling us "It's gonna be a good night". Perhaps it was.

Yorkshire Main tomorrow. Another side for the former coalfields. Ah sod it, I'm going for a bit more Mayer Hawthorne. Get on down.

A Home Run

Saturday 17 October - Yorkshire Main, League Cup Round 2 (home) Lost 1-5
Saturday 24 October - Thoresby Colliery Welfare (home) Drew 0-0
Saturday 31 October - FC Brimington (home) Won 3-1
Saturday 7 November - Kiveton Park (home) Drew 1-1

As described in my previous post, the fact that Hull City had a game on Remembrance Sunday allowed me to do something I've been meaning to for a few years now, namely observe the commemorations at the city's own Cenotaph in Paragon Square as opposed to the traditional gathering around the war memorial in Easington. And although the first part of the service - including the two minutes' silence - was observed from under the shelter of the new Station complex overhang, Emma and I did brave the elements to stand and observe the march past of veterans. It was a very moving experience and one I hope both Emma and Katie will want to be part of for years to come. Lest we forget.

On a far less important note, Sunday was also the first day in a month when I’ve not had to begin worrying about producing a match programme for the following Saturday. That’s because the 1-1 draw with Kiveton Park the previous afternoon brought to an end a run of four successive home matches.

Having increased the size of our match day magazine this season to 28 pages, filling four back-to-back issues has proved hard work – even for somebody who spiels at much tosh as I do. By the last one I really was struggling for inspiration and was thankful for our opponents sending me enough info on their club to fill double the space usually allocated.
On the field we haven’t really made the most of our sustained home advantage; a damaging cup defeat being accompanied by just the one win and two frustrating draws. Still, the league results stretched our unbeaten run in that competition to eight matches and we are gaining a reputation as a hard team to beat. Wins in our two games in hand on most teams would elevate us into the promotion places…now there’s a thought!
Last Saturday’s pre-match minute's silence, which was only slightly marred by spectator “Awd Wezzie” Brian who was too busy telling everybody about his recent holiday that he missed the whistle to start it, helped us play our own small part in the commemorations mentioned at the start of this piece.

It was also a moment probably close to the heart of one of our linesmen, Harry Hardy (pictured above, right), who at “allegedly” 83yrs old could easily have been remembering fellow servicemen!
Our next opponents at Low Farm are Yorkshire Main who, coincidentally were the first of our four recent weekly visitors.
That day saw a strange game in the League Cup. We started like a train and seemed to cause them all sorts of bother, eventually taking the lead midway through the first half (below) only to immediately concede an equaliser.
By the break we were 2-1 down and early in the second half it was three, courtesy of a penalty for handball for which Hutchy was dismissed. We battled to the end and for a time actually overcame our numerical deficiency to boss things. But Main hit us twice near the end to complete a comprehensive win.

Central Midlands League registrar (& Bonanza supremo) Rob Hornby was a visitor to Low Farm for the Main game and wrote a nice little piece about us on the Tony Kempster site. It’s one of several pieces submitted by Groundhoppers to various web sites over the past few years, telling of their trips down to the East End of Holderness and, I’m pleased to say, all have had nothing but compliments for the way we do things at our club.

The dedication of these people is quite staggering. In the past fortnight we’ve had a guy from Blackpool and another from London. The former had to get a taxi from Hull (24 miles) as the buses didn’t tie-in with the change to 2.00pm kick-offs; while the London Hopper stated his departure time as 5.45am on his trek north. (I actually think if I’d been making such a journey I’d have gone the extra mileage to see Bridlington entertain Scarborough in front of the NCEL’s biggest ever crowd – 1,082). But each to their own and we’re grateful for their interest.
Following the Main game we played out a goalless affair with Thoresby Colliery on the first wet afternoon of the season. It was a game we should have won but unfortunately we just couldn't find the finishing touch against another side well organised and keen to get the ball down and play.
Adding to the frustration of the result, we saw young “Van Pursey” sent off after the final whistle. As the case is currently the subject of an appeal I best not say too much but it was a decision that left most people within the club not only very surprised but also angry.

Light relief on the day was provided from the sidelines. Crowd banter is something that has been associated with Low Farm for years. Certainly when I first started watching and then playing for the club, the home "crowd" could be relied upon to provide their own moments of merriment.  During this game it was the opposition keeper who got more than he bargained for when attempting to be funny at the expense of the "Farm Faithful". As if we’ve never been called “Sheep Shaggers” before! He was soon told in no uncertain terms that, “It’s not only sheep son, it’s anything on four legs. But bah, it’s ‘elluva job tryin’ to kiss ‘em when you’re shaggin’ ‘em!”

Against Thoresby “The Shed” (aka Bonus Electrical Shelter) came into its own for the very first time thanks to the inclement conditions that forced most spectators under its protective roof. Their humour that day was mainly at the expense of the lino (or referee’s assistant) who, in fairness, took it all in good heart.
There was also a smile on Pursey's face when he bounced back to hit a stunner as we returned to winning ways against FC Brimington the following Saturday. Gav also finally broke his duck for the season with an exquisite second and after the Derbyshire side had reduced arrears, victory was sealed by one of the best own goals I'm ever likely to see – a bullet-like diving header that gave the Brimington keeper no chance.

And so to last weekend’s visit of bottom club Kiveton Park (in which Owen Mountain - above - appears to be proving the theory that kissing is indeed difficult when taking from behind!). In the event the Sheffield side reinforced our view that although the CML Premier Division might lack the “stand out” clubs of the likes of Chalk Lane, Reckitts and Sculcoates of recent HPL years (although Parkhouse in particular look a class act) the league also has no “whipping boys”. On the evidence of their performance at Low Farm I would certainly back Kiveton to give any of the teams currently occupying the lower positions in the HPL Premier Division a game.
 We “got out of gaol” courtesy of Farny’s 86th minute strike (above) that nestled nicely in the corner moments after Club Sec Judy, watching from her position behind the counter of the Tea Hut, had said: “Oh Farny, you’ve gone too far!” That's what’s known as a “Doug Clubley Moment” in Easington! Having referred to banter from the sidelines, some of the Farm Faithful’s finest moments are captured for posterity on a video of an “Old Farm” derby between United and neighbours Holmpton back in January 1991. That game was one of the last to be played by the then record goal scorer Melvin Douglas. He died from a heart attack a couple of months later, aged only 30. Also playing for the Eastenders that day was Mike “Raggy” Hudson. Six years later he too would see his life cut tragically short, at the age of just 25.

I mention both men because recently we finally managed to unveil some memorial benches named in honour of these two and local football & cricket supporter Colin Cooper. The fact that it has taken so long doesn’t reflect very well on the Club although, in truth, the work recently undertaken at the ground at least now ensures that the benches can be given a fitting home.
Returning to the present players and, after a month at home, we embark on our first away trip in five weeks on Saturday when we visit Thorne Colliery. An interesating one this. I've heard several reports of our opponents and in particular the type of support they attract to their Moorends Welfare ground. But, like much of what's been said beforehand during this wonderful Central Midlands experience we're currently undertaking, I set off down the M18 in expectation of another extremely enjoyable day out. And three points would be nice...

NOTE: Thanks to Burt Graham, Rob Hornby and Colin Brammer for most of the photos used above

Stoking the passion!

Sunday 8 November - Hull City 2 Stoke City 1
Remembrance Sunday / Up 'N' Under...

It’s not often that I’m “Mr. Popular” in our house, especially with Emma who usually accuses me of taking her younger sister’s side in arguments (she’s got a point, but that’s only because at six Emma’s huffs and sulks are shorter and less disruptive than three-year-old Katie’s, which usually involve the sort of wailing reserved for Palestinian funerals!).
Anyway, the reason for my recent elevation is that last Sunday I took Daughter No.1 to see her first ever Hull City match. And what’s more, she loved it. So much so that not only has she demanded we return “soon” but her ongoing list to Father Christmas now includes a fluffy Roary Tiger, pink hat and scarf set and some Hull City girl’s jim-jams. “I wouldn’t worry, she’ll forget about them in the morning” advised the missus. But she hasn’t, and it’s now nearly a week!
While I’d like to think that the reason for her delight (and my subsequent popularity) was a stunning Jimmy Bullard-inspired City fight back that yielded a much-needed three points in the quest for Premier League survival, courtesy of a last gasp winner by "Vinegar of Hessleroad"; it’s probably more to do with the fact that her trip to the KC Stadium gained her kudos among her classmates…and a “Wow!” from her teacher.
It's all a far cry I might add from when I bounced into school following my first visit to watch The Tigers. All I got following a 2-1 home defeat by Fulham at Boothferry Park in September 1975 was: “Never mind, you probably won’t have to go again for a while”; which I didn’t, as it happened.
Part of the reason why I had to wait so long was that Dad, a “love Geoff Boycott and eat your greens” kind of man, never has been the biggest football fan. And so it was mates’ dads who I relied on for my first glimpses of the lush green Boothferry Park turf.
The results weren’t great during those formative years. Charlton (0-2, Nov ‘77 despite Billy Bremner's best efforts) and Barnsley (0-2, Nov ‘79 after which four of us had to endure the train journey back from Boothferry Halt to Paragon Station with a coach rammed full of South Yorkshire folk) both followed Fulham out of Hull with the points. In fact the only highlight of my early visits was a Keith Edwards-inspired 4-1 win over Walsall; my first ever night match and scene of one of the greatest goals I’ve ever witnessed live. Think Roberto Baggio for Italy against Uruguay in the 1990 World Cup and you’re on the right lines. I wonder if, in later years, Emma will remember much about her first trip to City. Somehow I doubt it. To be fair much of mine is a blur and I was nine at the time. The details of the various scorers had to be looked up in books some years later, even Vince Grimes who put City one up, although I can still see the goal itself: a free-kick tapped to him about 25 yards out and arrowing into the top corner directly below where I was sitting in the front row of the South Stand behind Bunkers Hill.

I seem to recall Fulham counted George Best, Bobby Moore and Rod Marsh among their number at the time although none played. The only player I recall for them that day was bearded goal scorer Viv Busby. Apart from this my memories are confined to the abuse my mate's dad got when pre-empting another Fulham goal (he was a Londoner, they were his team hence the trip) only to be thwarted by a great save from Jeff Wealands which prompted what seemed the whole of the aforementioned Bunkers Hill "choir" to turn round and gesticulate at said mate's dad and those of us unfortunate enough to be in his company!

 I also wonder if time will distort Emma's memories similar to how they've already rearranged her recollection of the numerous rugby trips across the city to Craven Park (although she does remember the important bits - "we beat the black and whites didn't we dad?"). While I will remember the Stoke game as Phil Brown's "Last Chance Saloon", Jimmy Bullard's home debut and Olofinjana's first - and probably best - goal for his new club, my daughter will, I'd guess, retain memories of those cerise pyjamas, Roary Tiger and her dad making an arse of himself by gesticulating wildly at the Stokies following both City goals (like Tig-Chat match reporter Steve Weatherill I don't like Stoke!). Or perhaps it'll be The Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling", one of her favourite songs ("this was on X-Factor dad") and the sound that accompanied our happy exit from the KC.
 Prior to the game I bought the latest (80th!) edition of “City Independent” and a decent read it is too; took me back to my own “It’s not the Programme mate” days recounted in my last blog. And for good measure I also bought an official programme, which to be fair has been consistently good for a number of years now.
Sunday’s trip to ‘The Circle’ formed part of a fulfilling day, which had begun in solemn style with a drenching at Hull’s Remembrance Day service on Ferensway and ended with yet another superb carvery at The Haven Arms in Hedon (complete with two very nice pints of proper ale - Copper Dragon Golden Pippin from Skipton and Willy’s Last Resort, a Cleethorpes brew).
The trip to Hull also allowed me to catch up on a bit of "quality" time with members of my family, something that has been restricted recently by a glut of home matches at Low Farm and subsequent time spent locked away in the study producing match programmes (see next Blog). Thankfully I did manage to "put my stint in" on Halloween and Bonfire Night.In addition I somehow wangled a "night out" of my own although it was a Monday and as it involved watching one of the worst City performances I can recall (the 2-0 defeat at Fulham via ESPN at The Holderness Inn in Patrington) it shouldn't really register. Not even a very nice pint or three of Black Sheep - and a not so nice Golden Pippin ("a word landlord please") - could salvage the evening.

The second occasion was far more enjoyable – another visit to the new Hull Truck Theatre to enjoy John Godber’s 25th Anniversary production of “Up ‘N’ Under” complete with Abi Titmuss! A cracking evening was enjoyed by my better half and I, which also included taking in a pre-show meal in the Theatre’s smart café-bar. As with “Confessions of a City Fan” this latest Hull Truck experience was worth every penny…even if the aforementioned Abi remains far too over-dressed throughout.

But, hey I've just seen City beat Stoke - you can't have everything!