As Captain Adam calls for unity, memories of the last trip to the border country

Last updated : 04 September 2008 By Shrimpers24
(Day Tripper Article by Exiled Essex Boy April 21 2008)

Apologies, this should have been posted by Sunday lunchtime but the Resolves have taken 24 hours to kick in, it was a long day, and 5am is not the time a grown man should be getting up on a Saturday. More so as by 9.15, a more decent weekend time to climb out of bed, I was in Leeds! Surreal.

There then followed a two and a half journey that Michael Palin could do a special on if they ever resurrect Great Railway Journeys, I've done a few all over the UK and this was one of the best, come on down the glorious Leeds-Settle-Carlisle rail line. Made even better by being able to listen for free to the official guide passing on facts by the bucket load to the 50 strong group of tourists that got on at Settle. They had the whole carriage booked except for a few seats at the back that myself and an Aussie couple had grabbed.

Did you know that the 72 mile route from Settle to Carlisle takes you on a journey through the magnificent Yorkshire Dales, over the 24 arches of the Ribblehead Viaduct before plunging in to the longest tunnel on the line at Blea Moor. Emerging onto the side of Dentdale, the line leaves the Dales at Garsdale and makes it way through the gentle, lush rolling hills of the Eden Valley, with rural villages and market towns before arriving at the great border city of Carlisle? Thought not.

My master plan was three pints in three pubs in town before hitting the Rugby Club, and as the train got in at the correct time of 12.13, there was nothing to stop me carrying it out. I had been warned about the legendary street of Botchergate, first right out of the station, and it lived up to all my expectations. There must have been 10 pubs in close proximity, and various states of quality, within a 100 meter walk. Extraordinary!

Having tried to sort out the rough from the rougher I started in the Woodrow Wilson. Now I appreciate a decent Weatherspoons and this was one of the better ones in size and quality. As a company they are responding to the frankly boring complaints of lack of bar staff, they have as many staff as most pubs it's just that they are very popular, you have to wait longer. Though what the Irish population who likes a bet and a cheap Guinness would do in most towns if they closed is a question for another article! This one certainly had more than enough people trying to refill your pint, my only complaint was the glasses borrowed from the Lloyds No. 1 sister bar next door. Being told to chill out evertime I took a gulp does not look so good when it's not Fosters in your glass but Cockerhoop, which I choose over the dubious sounding Sneck Lifter! (Both from the Jennings brewery). My weakness for golden real ale meant I was already falling behind the plan as I stayed for a second pint in the form of Tarnmonath from a Cumbrian micro-brewery in Garsdale. Well done Weatherspoons for supporting a local business and it was superb, £1.69 each the pair!

Missing the less than obvious charms of the Border Rambler I decided to give the Cumberland Inn a go even though a local retired plod was against it. I presumed this was because he felt team colours would be shown which was not the case here so on the back of a positive review in the excellent Yeovil website Ciderspace I gave it a go. I immediately sussed what he warning against. I felt like an extra in the Night of the Living Dead! I have never seen a scarier bunch of regulars in my life. Luckily they had the Arsenal game on so I could focus on that as I drunk a £2.40 pint of Deuchers as quickly as possible. It's an excellent beer from Scotland, must have a good marketing guy as it's quite a regular in London pubs nowadays, and, well, I didn't have to look at them!

On to the 'away' pub of the Griffin, which only had about four away fans in it, and a pint of Titanic, which went down as well as it's namesake. It was then I noticed it was 14.00, I'd done four pints in three pubs and I still hadn't been to the highlight of my crawl, the Rugby Club! Now in the name of research you understand, I don't like to let down my readers, I left immediately to find the club and a final beer.

The sun was out but that freezing cold wind that I was walking into down the Warwick Road made it feel like minus ten! There was sympathy for the under 16's trying their best to get a game of rugby going beyond two passes but like the majority I pushed my way into a warm but very packed bar, there was quite a big round ball game starting in under an hour at the Brunton Park ground which you could see from the club. A good guest beer in the form of Yates Fever Pitch set me up nicely for the events to come. The play-offs were 90 minutes and a point away.

And it all started very well, we were frankly all over them. The form we had been displaying over the majority of the last 12 matches was on display from the kick off. The home crowd was silenced. It was looking good. It was even better after, first, a Mulgrew free kick missed everybody, including the overall excellent Carlisle keeper Westwood and settled into the left hand corner of the net. Second, top scorer and loan Carlisle forward threat, Danny Graham, was correctly adjudged off side by a good two yards. Well spotted lino.

Once again though we never really looked like scoring a second and we went into half time with a deserved but only a one goal lead, they had to be better in the second half, and they were. However, for now it was time for a coffee as I joined the cafe queue behind a number of charming young men in Hawaiian shirts and one with a rubber ring around his waist. Nice. I did spot bottles of Fosters at a 'special offer' of £1.50, what the hell, we are 45 minutes from the play-offs, but it only filled half the glass, so I got another. I'm just a half full type of guy.

As expected the home team, making a couple of substitutions, looked far more up for it when the match resumed. Our defensive frailties, still there guys, came to the forefront again, when a dubious free-kick given out by the right wing corner flag, you did get some luck angry Carlisle fans, somehow was pushed over the line by a flapping Flavs, who had his eye on the Carlisle forwards running into the box.

Carlisle, sensing they were getting out of jail, stepped up the aggression a touch, with the ref letting a lot go at first with a liberal use of the advantage rule for both sides, but then showed a yellow card for use of the arm on Bailey's head. Red could have been shown here so the Ginger Gem, who deserves all the plaudits showed on him this season but does get involved when he shouldn't, (he's a young man, he'll learn), decided to dish out his own justice and took out the Carlisle player involved in the first incident. Mr. Taylor had to show another yellow after his previous decision but here's where I start to differ from the more excitable home fans. With 20 minutes to go the Carlisle boy Raven should have worked out that another bad tackle on anybody might be harshly dealt with but went ahead with one anyway. Brainless.

Diplomatically Tilly believes a yellow would have been good enough but from seeing replays it was a high tackle, he showed his studs, never got near the ball and could have done Bailey serious damage. (See the still photo from a Carlisle website, http://www.mark-fuller.co.uk/carlisle_united_vSouthend2008.html, you will see Raven's left foot going in high.) Good decision.

The home side showed plenty of the right stuff with only ten men, Bridge-Wilkinson was outstanding during this period, giving Simon Francis a real roasting at times. Plenty of boos for Bailey of course, Macca must have felt lonely, but the sending off certainly calmed everybody on the pitch and the match returned to focusing on the skills that both sides posses in abundance. In the stands, where a somewhat livelier Shrimper had decided to leave after questioning the local supports sexual preferences for most of the game, the feeling was a point would do and did we fancy Nottingham or Yorkshire for the best chance of a trip to North West London on a sunny May bank holiday weekend.

Then came a bizarre last five minutes where Lee Barnard could have had a hat-trick as the man down started to take it's toll on Carlisle. A shot was charged down but another soon after hit the left hand post and rolled across the line just missing the other post. I thought it was in, along with half of the away stand. He was not to be denied when great work by Gower took him past a couple of Carlisle defenders followed by a left foot cross finding the unmarked Barnard who powered a terrific header home from four yards despite a good effort to keep it out by Westwood. There was still time for Clarkey and Adam to go walkabout, (as they do at least once a game, it's a fine tradition), and allow Graham a free header close to goal but, unlike Barnard, he put it wide.

Three points were ours, and over the full 90 minutes, for all the whinging from the home support, (we all do it), we were the stronger side. (Look at the match statistics; goal attempts, Carlisle 9-Blues 13; on target, Carlisle 5-Blues 10; not bad for an away side!) No doubt the sending off was a major factor but the force is with us while Carlisle's luck has run out after one win in six. It happens but it's all happening for us on the pitch at just the right time.

The 17.20 turned up and got to Newcastle on time so eleven minutes to the 19.07 London train. A reasonable looking pub on the platform attracted a few Blue shirts and who was I to hold up a party, sadly it had to be a pint of Strongbow but smiling faces were everywhere, who cared. Not speaking Geordie I had no idea what the young chap behind the bar was saying to me, I just nodded and said, "no worries" several times, I think I got away with it.

The taste was for cider now but a group of Shrimpers had bought all the cans on the train so it had to be a couple of cans of Stella, some Bruce Springsteen, and catching up on missed sleep somewhere before Milton Keynes.

I was back in White City Towers before eleven 18 hours after I got up. I'd been to Carlisle and back in a day and it had been one of the best trips I've ever done, bring on the boys from Birkenhead.

Flahaven - 6; Didn't actually have a lot to do but has perfected the art of punching the ball away under pressure very well. Was he at fault for the equaliser? Tough call.

Francis - 6; One of the main reasons for our recent good run has been the defensive form of both our full backs. Was caught out here a few times but on the whole solid and shows real class when going forward.

Clarke - 7; Strong in the air was helped, along with Captain Adam, by the Carlisle tactics of a lone forward for most of the match. Good game.

Barrett - 7; Same as above. Plenty of fight, and no little skill, from the inspirational skipper.

Mulgrew - 7; Has improved defensively match after match. Not as spectacular as Francis going down the wing but good enough. Two goals from Mulgrew free-kicks in two matches, Stevie who?

McCormack - 7; Starred in defence more for me, cutting out the forward supply for Carlisle time after time, one such play in the second half when Graham could have been clean through made you just stand up and applaud.

Bailey - 7; The pantomime villan of the Blues midfield for a change was quietly going about his business for most of the game until 'the' incident, which livened up the home crowd at any rate.

Black - 5; Tommy 'thank my lucky stars the team is unbeaten' Black's usual mix of good wing play, wrong offensive choices, giving the ball away in alarming positions, fading out of the match for long periods.

GOWER - 8; Another man of the match performance from the former Barnet man. Have we given him a raise or something? Held the ball up well, always up for a shot at goal, (bringing a terrific save out of the Carlisle keeper in the first half), and going past defenders with ease. Particularly enjoyed the space after Raven was sent off.

Walker - 7; He can be annoying, there was a touch of the dodgy ball control we saw too much of last week. However gets a 7 for working his socks off, always trying to help his team mates with a run into space or looking for a pass to move the team forward. Did well when asked to go wide but must start to look like he's going to score, that is his day job.

Barnard - 8; What can we say about this guy? Pisses off every defender he comes up against while still finding time to get into the six yard box to finish off another great Southend passing move. Worth his weight in gold, the shot that hit the post at the end showed sheer goal scoring instinct which he owns in abundance.

Subs: Revell (for Black 80 mts.) - 6; Brought on to hold the ball up and help kill off the game which he did well.