Well this was the game that reminded me why this is so much fun. Good football, familiar faces and being made to feel a part of a community
After a week of everyone being ill (in fairness my youngest and wife were still really ill over Friday night so not much sleep was had) we headed out on the now familiar path to Cambridgeshire. JJ refused to sleep his meds off before we left (he will always sleep for between 1 and half and 3 hours after the masses of anti epilepsy drugs he takes) we made it to South Mimms before he woke.
South Mimms services provided more surprises, it was a busy, heady mix of sports teams en route to games and England fans heading to London for the rugby and football alongside the usual craziness of M25 services. Having adequately fed and watered JJ we headed to the toilets to discover another service station that without signposting had a changing places (and yes I know I could just research there location before I left, but where would the fun in that be?) It was also possibly the cleanest changing places I have ever seen. Awesome.
We made great time and arrived at the Lane 30 mins before kick off, as I wandered up to the turnstile and I asked for the obligatory adult plus child in a wheelchair ticket. The guy on the turnstile took one look at me and not only remembered us but remembered over charging us two weeks ago, we picked up a program (the first time this campaign) to add to JJ's collection and headed into the ground.
We were early enough to be able to sample the refreshments hut. Wow there was a good selection to choose from, I plumped for an old favourite, a cheeseburger really reasonably priced at £3.50. The young lady running the show asked if I wanted onions, I never understand why anybody would refuse those. I didn't wait long and whilst it wasn't gourmet it was hot, tasty and with a good layering of onions. Fully fuelled it was time to head for the stands and a read of the program.
With the sun out but at sensible September temperature the football served up was a treat. Soham keeping the ball on the deck worked hard probing at the organised defensive ranks of the Whitton side. Whitton to their credit kept them honest with several spells of good football themselves. Eventually with half time approaching Soham grabbed the lead after a good header found the net from a corner.
Half time and it was back to the clubhouse for a beverage. Something I'd failed to mention previously is, I've not discovered step free access to the clubhouse there are several entrances but all involve a decent size step in. Thankfully JJ's anti tippers can be flicked on and off easily enough to allow for us to bump most steps.
The second half bought more of the same, some very entertaining football from both sides. With the game on a knife edge we thought Soham had edged further ahead midway through the half with another goal from a set piece but for some reason this was disallowed. Eventually Soham did find the second, the crowd applauded the effort, as the celebration died away, JJ sprung into action for the first time this season (he has this desire to wait for everyone else to stop celebrating before making himself the centre of attention) there was applause of maximum effort, this has to be seen to be believed, their is furious clapping without his hands making a sound and lots of vocalisation.
Whitton attempted to throw the kitchen sink at Soham and whilst the keeper made some decent saves it never felt like they would get back into the game. We did see some handbags between the respective coaching teams and between the two wingers on the far side, Whitton were reduced to 10 man just before the end and in injury time Soham scored on the break to cap a really fabulous game.
I was almost disappointed to hear the final whistle we had seen familiar faces from two weeks previous, JJ had said hello to everyone sat with 10 feet of us (another of his favourite games) and been made to feel so very welcome for the second game running. We headed for the exit but not without first discovering the draw for the next round is on Monday. We are looking forward to finding out where we head to for the next match
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