Typical!
I've driven over 4000 miles this season to get there and back for Villa home games, more if you include the wasted journey to Villa Park for the unpunctual postponement against Burnley just before Christmas. But was I there last weekend for the 4-0 drubbing of Southampton? No. I was one of the 12,228 folk at Home Park, sitting in with the Shrimps faithful for Plymouth Argyle 2 Morecambe 0.
That's not to say I didn't thoroughly enjoy myself at the Theatre of Greens, arriving a few hours before kick off a warm welcome awaited me at Green Taverners, a wonderful supporters bar located in between the Home Park away end and the new grandstand which has stand up comedy before every match. I highly recommended to any visiting fans.
Argyle completely dominated the first half and went into the break two nil to the good. I decided to search out some friendly looking fans during the break to chat all things Morecambe. The first person I chatted with, I quickly realised was a little worse for wear and after he slurred out that Cole Stockton is overrated and for me not to be fooled by the strikers 18 league goals I quickly moved on. The next chap I spoke to was a lot more engaging and we had a good ten minute back and forth, But when I asked what time in the morning he'd left the North West coastal town he let out that he was in fact a Lincoln City fan who lived in Newton Ferrers, a village just down the road, He had barely travelled further than my twenty minute walk.
The second half passed by without any more goals. Although the XG suggest a close game (0.86 v (0.56) in my opinion Morecambe rolled over and had their tummies tickled, I didn't think Plymouth had to come out of second gear and coasted to three valuable points in their playoff push.
Following the game I met with some fellow match goers, some wonderfully niche football chat followed and a couple of pints became a big night out. I'm not sure how exactly but I spent the twilight hours with Argyle centre back Dan Scarr. We chatted about how he finds living away from Birmingham and his time at Walsall, it felt like we were new best friends, he even asked for my number to arrange a game of Snooker. I've been waiting for that text all week. It's only writing this now that it's dawned on me that I was even more inebriated than the Cole Stockton hater I'd encountered earlier that day.
It's an empty weekend match attending wise for me coming up which isn't going to help me with blog content for next week but hey-ho.
And Dan, if you happen to read this somehow, Call me x
Brilliant again craig keep it going mate 👍👍