So imagine the moment when watching the highlights from the previous days play on Saturday morning, smugly believing I had plenty of time to get to Euston from West London, I looked up at the clock and it was 10am, an hour has flown by and I had an hour to get the train to Crewe!
Luckily the tube was behaving but even so it was with only 8 minutes to spare I got on the 11.03 Virgin Cross Country, well we hoped it would.
The train was packed, full of thirteen pounders no doubt and a scattering of Blue shirts. It was an easy 2 and a half hour trip through Freddie country as we stopped at both Coventry and Wolverhampton with Crewe reached on time at 13.31.
The best pub in Crewe, damn probably in Cheshire, the wonderful Borough Arms, was a mere 20 minute walk away. Sadly, some might say stupidly, I'd decided to keep off the booze for a month so, with a sulk matching Walkers' stuck out on the left wing, slipped into the Royal Hotel, hopefully avoiding any readers of the Pub Crawl, and settled for the bottom of the Blue Square option of a pint of orange and lemonade, (only one sixty though, a mistake I found out later), and the end of Sunderland v Middlesborough. Chopra scoring twice, justifying that 5million fee at last, maybe.
The forecast of sunny intervals through the clouds was wrong. There were no clouds. The sun becoming a trap if you decided to sit in the first four or five rows of the away stand as it beamed down into your face for the whole match.
With the no drinking I'd decided to miss all away games in September, a few cheap fares back on the market later, and here I was. One of my better decisions.
It was one of those matches you just had to be there. (But can try and imagine by catching up with the TLG report at www.thelittlegazette.com/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=408307.)
It was pretty good last April but this had everything including another late winner from the boys al la Huddersfield and Carlisle from the unbeaten run last season but still time for Crewe to hit a post near the end. Frightening.
Joyce - 7; I was as nervous as he probably was but an early save after a Crewe shot hit the post did wonders for his confidence, as well as mine, along with good handling and sound distribution, making this a debut he can look back on with satisfaction. No blame attached for the goals.
Francis - 7; Still a 5 for defending but 2 marks for 2 crosses that led to goals and some good forward play. Would be nice to have someone in reserve.
Clarke - 6; Did not have an easy afternoon with the two big lads up front for Alex forcing him into more errors than usual
Barrett - 6; Also had a tough one, however, won more than his fair share of high balls through sheer bloody mindedness and his fist clenching run in front of the away support after the winning goal is an image that will stay with me for the season.
Harding - 7; Seems wrong to give him the same mark as his fellow full back, needs to create more goals, but one run into the heart of the Crewe defense showed that Tilly's knack of finding strong left backs is continuing, though this one is even a class above Hammell and Mulgrew.
Betsy - 7; Similar game as against Hereford, plenty of strength and skill in the first 45 but not so involved in the second. An enigma of a player at the moment.
Sawyer - 8; My man of the match when he was taken off by Tilly after another all action hard working display. Dougie might have shaded that in the end yet Ian is such an exciting prospect that for any England fans I hope that when he eventually goes back to Chelsea they don't get rid of him, unless it's to us of course, and buy a thirty million foreigner as this young man could go onto far greater things.
Christophe - 7; Another who had a similar game as Hereford, the half time tea for some will have to be looked at! Plenty of that power mixed with finesse in the opening period, slipping away with every passing minute in the second, though he never hid from the action with a tired looking tackle earning a booking. This a young midfield of course however the experience of Macca will be a very welcome return.
Walker - 6; Drifted into the middle as much as he could but when he did his shooting boots were again missing. Didn't loose interest in the second half as last week yet when substituted for HRK the relief could be felt all round the away stand.
Freedman - 9; Maybe didn't do as much as some during the whole 90 but what he does do he does very very well. Continually chatting to those around him, this guy will be a serious coach if he wants it, not everything comes off yet he always makes himself available to give it another go, the Crewe defense opening like the Red Sea everytime he put his head down and ran at them. The simple fact is without his finishing we would not have ended up with three points.
Barnard - 6; The sheer cult of Freedman seems to have affected Lee. Was out of the game for long periods and when he was did not seem to be able to create an opening. Substituted with 20 minutes left must be preserved with if fit as you know this could be a very special partnership with Dougie.
Subs; Revell (71 mts. for Barnard) - 6; Brought on to give some aerial support to Freedman, did most of his good work on the ground. Could not take a reasonable chance. Robson-Kanu (72 for Walker) - 7; Looked at home wide on the left as soon as he came on. Should start v the Borient. Grant (80 for Sawyer) - 7; Didn't do that much when replacing Sawyer but deserves his 7 for simply being in the right place at the right time!
I'll give another 7 to the ref, another short assed fussy sod, but they all seem the same, maybe there's a factory out there that produces them all.
The crowd support was great, not quite as many as last time but that was understandable, though everyone who was here were behind the club 100% and it showed. The Ryder Cup returned when U-S-A was shouted everytime Joycey touched the ball, sometimes when he didn't, great stuff, must have helped settle any nerves he may have had knowing the fans were with him as he went on to make a fine debut.
Some of the songs started to show the alcohol content of the singers however it just added to the carnival feel in the September sunshine. There didn't even seem to be a huge downer when we threw away a two goal lead to go 2-3 down. With these defences there was always confidence there were more goals to come and with Sawyer and Freedman giving the Crewe back four nightmares every time they ran at them, along with Francis and especially Harding, whose class and confidence seemed out of place in a League One match at times, there was an overall belief that those goals would come from us.
The equaliser by Dougie nearly broke the back of the net and the winner, oh the winner, after another mazy run by Dougie had the whole of the away end willing him to get his hat-trick, how he deserved it, but his shot was well saved by Collis, (who had a good game, two saves of high quality earlier on), where it luckily for us ballooned up and Snoop Dog Grant was on hand, or head, to place it in the back of the net.
Cue joyous celebrations on and off the pitch as thirty or so Shrimpers rushed to the left wing corner flag where his team-mates had already pounced on young Anthony whose grin reached one end of the ground to the other. Captain Adam clenched his fist as he ran past the applauding faithful who just couldn't believe what they were seeing, then again this was Southend on tour. One guy, a sweaty mass of flesh, rushed towards me, hugs or high five, he couldn't make up his mind, oh dear, hugs it was, at least he was the one who'd kept his shirt on!
At last the whistle blew for the final time allowing T&B, the team, and even Uncle Ron, to run towards the away stand and take the deserved cheers.
The first words I heard outside the ground were, "that was the best game pub football I've seen", which summed up the craziness we'd all just witnessed. 15 goals attempts on both sides!
In fact it reminded me strongly of the Chesterfield 4-3 away win two and a half years ago, nearly even had a Southend hat-trick, (Freddie, who else, that day), and we all know how that season ended? No harm in dreaming!
Time to kill before the 18.16 was spent in the same pub, the same drink, but this time watching Arsenal go into half time at Bolton 2-1 up as well as seeing that both the Farmers and Borient had lost at home, this was turning out to be a good day.
Let the train take the strain, as long as your legs remain crossed
Only one toilet working in the whole of the standard class made the journey home interesting as many cans of Strongbow and Fosters performed their duty on the lads, keeping them all talkative and gambling in the early part of the journey, but asleep by the time we reached Milton Keynes.
A final text to the German requesting the after sun be found as I sat in my t-shirt shorts and sandals, on the journey home from Crewe, on September 20, was a surreal end to a surreal day.