I was initially pleased with the league cup draw at Hull, but disappointed that
the game was out of reach due of the vagaries of railway timetables. A similar situation will stop me travelling to Prenton Park for the Tuesday night game in November.
However, earlier in the season I managed to get to Edgely Park to a game played under leaden skies that seemed to suck the life out of the few hundred supporters that made the long journey north. We raised barely a cheer as the Blues wrapped up a well deserved victory with a Lee Barnard brace.
Saurday's visit to Brunton Park meant a trip across country on the well
known Settle to Carlisle railway.
Catching the train at Shipley I looked in vain for some fellow Shrimpers, but apart from the locals, the train was packed with hikers and cyclists heading for Horton, (the starting point for the English 3 peaks walk), and a fee railway enthusiasts sampling the atmosphere of the journey.
Indeed, a little old lady in a high visibility jacket stenciled with Friend of the Settle to Carlisle Railway moved through the carriages with a guide book to complement the journey, available to buy for £3.00.
Unfortunately, the incessant drizzle meant that we were unable to appreciate, or even see for much the time, the beautiful English countryside that we were passing through.
As we approached Carlisle the rain stopped and the sun began pushing its way through the clouds to produce a pleasant late autumn afternoon. I alighten at Carlisle and made my way to The Griffin hoping to bump into Glasgow Shrimper.
With no sign of a fellow Blue, and two pints of Hoptober Fest later, I made my way to the ground. A quick check of the team showed we could only muster 15 players, two of whom were youth team players brought in to make up the numbers as Scannell, M'Voto, Friend and Sawyer were unavailable.
After a dreadful start, Pericard duly put the Cumbrians one nil up and we seemed to be in for a long afternoon.
However, the Blues started to get back into the match, and despite losing Freedman to a groin strain, and switching to an unfamiliar 4-5-1 formation, we equalised just before half time through Laurent after an error from Pidgeley.
As the second half unfolded, the Blues were the dominant side, despite Pericard still troubling Francis and Barrett at the back.
Indeed, better finishing should have seen us returning south with three points in the bag. Instead a long hopeful ball downfield, an error by Herd and unconvincing keeping by Mildenhall allowed substitute Joe Anyinsah to slip in with the winner.
As the skies darkened and the rain began to fall I made my way back the the station for the long journey home noting that The Fred Trueman would carry me back to Yorkshire.
Today I was hoping, quite selfishly, for an away tie at Bradford in the FA Cup. We drew Gillingham!
That means I'll be pouring over the train times for a possible trip to Yeovil. However that looks unlikely so unless I can take in a home game or we get a northern draw in a future FA cup tie, it looks like Huddersfield in January will be my next match.