By Carl Blakemore
Destination: Rushden
Distance: Approx 100 miles
Departure time: 10.30am
Journey time: 2 hours
Method of transport: Minibus
Cost: £8
Ground Admission: Under12's: £3
Under 16's: £6
Adults: :£10
Programme:£2
Food/Drink:Chips £1.20
Beer: £2 per pint
After the exciting trip to Exeter last Saturday, we were hoping that the
much shorter visit to Rushden this week, would be equally as good. The match
was vital, and had even been compared by some people to THAT match at Exeter in May 2000,three points for Town would set us well on the way of making the play-offs for the first time in the clubs history, yet defeat would see us
slip out of the top seven and make the remaining five games very, very
crucial. The local press had been drumming up support all week and Town’s
second largest away following of the season was expected.
The Away Supporters Minibus departed Gay Meadow at 10.30am, over-booked,
meaning that two people were unfortunate enough to have to sit on the floor.
We made our way to Telford where we picked up Schizo then carried on with
our journey down the M6 before joining the A14 to Kettering. The journey was
eventful as it always is on the minibus and we enjoyed our usual sing song
before stopping off at McDonalds in Kettering at around 12ish. As we made
our way across the car park we spotted Nigel Jemson’s car with Mark Atkins
and Ian Woan inside, then around the corner we saw Gregor Rioch and Josh
Walker. The laugh of the day though was when we saw a familiar car going
through the Drive-Thru at Maccie D’s and yes you’ve guessed it, it was no
other than Matt Redmile! To be fair to him it was actually for his
incredibly sexy girl friend and not himself!
Upon leaving the service stop we headed straight to Rushden and arrived at
around 12.45. We parked at the impressive Nene Park and had a brief look
around before walking 1/4 of a mile to the pub for a pint. We knew a large
following was expected and that the away end only held 1200, so we decided
to get into the ground at 2. This proved to be very sensible. We walked
through the turnstiles and it was more like entering a Premiership ground
than a Third Division one. Beneath the away stand was a large area selling
your usual snacks, however, unlike most grounds in our division, you could
actually have a beer before making your way to the seats above and also
place a bet too.
We made our way up the stairs to our seats and the away end was already half
full even though it was still only 2.10! Each player made his way onto the
pitch for the warm up, to a heroes welcome, and by the time the whole team
was out the away end was full. The songs were echoing around our section but
the highlight of the pre match warm up was when the players made their way
over to the corner flag to do their running exercises. They were all greeted
with a standing ovation from every single Town fan, and a huge roar of ‘COME
ON!’ It sent a shiver down the spine and was hoped it would gee the players
up. By 2.45 the turnstiles were shut leaving 100 Town fans locked out and
alot of fans in the ground having to stand in the gangways, or share a seat
with somebody else! The stewards were trying to control the situation, but
failed miserably. Why wasn’t the game all ticket? That was the question on
everyone’s lips.
As both teams emerged from the tunnel the volume rose, especially from the
away end, it was roof lifting! Cries of ‘SALOP, SALOP’ were ringing around
as the game kicked off. The opening stages were very tight with both sides
having half chances but the best one fell to the Rushden striker Lowe, who
some how fired wide from close range. However on 32 minutes he made no
mistake, heading home after Dunbavin flapped at a cross, leaving an empty
net for the lanky striker to find with ease. Moments later it was 2-0. A
shot from 25 yards which took a deflection off the unlucky Heathcote’s left
foot, before settling in the bottom corner. Just as things couldn’t get any
worse it was 3-0. The Rushden winger, Mustafa , I think his name was, had
acres of space to run into before slotting the ball home past the advancing
Dunbavin. In 13 minutes Town could have possibly blown their chances of the
play-offs, and the giant scoreboard in the far right hand corner, read a
very sorry sight.
The second half saw Town dominate and have enough chances, just like they
did at Hull in January, to still take something out of the game. However it
was not to be, mainly because of the Rushden Keeper, who was later named man of the match. The full time whistle blew and Town’s poor away form had
continued. Over 1200 fans departed through the exit gates, extremely
disappointed people and then just when they wanted to get home, they had to
queue for a good 15 minutes to get out of the car park.
As our minibus pulled out of Rushden, we stopped at a Chippie and of course,
an Off-Licence. Then it was a straight through, and an incredibly quiet,
journey back to Shropshire. We arrived back at Gay Meadow just short of
7.30pm and not in the moods we had hoped to return in. All eyes are now
firmly focussed on next weeks home game with struggling Torquay where three
points are a must. Hopefully our brilliant home form can continue and we can
record our fifth successive home victory.