Southampton v Oldham Athletic - League One

Tuesday 20^th April 2010 19:45 K.O.

 

In order to minimise the time involved and the effects of travelling the long distance to the South coast, Latics had made plans for the players and management to fly from Manchester. Some fans had done the same, including Tom, who was to use the experience of his maiden flight as a test as to whether he should fly out to meet his relatives in Arizona, USA. Southampton seemed to be appropriate with its long history of epic voyages from the sailing of the Pilgrim Fathers on the Mayflower to the New World in 1620 and the less-successful sailing of the Titanic in 1912 to the first flight of The Spitfire in 1936 and on to the great cruise liners of today. 

However, the Icelandic volcanic dust plume above the clouds over the UK had resulted in the unprecedented ban on all flights and, therefore, the players and fans alike had to endure the long trek by road. As they arrived the cruise ship Celebrity Eclipse was leaving port to pick-up Brits stranded abroad.One of the many advantages of being retired enabled Margaret and I to make a two-day break out of this match. After a drive of less than three hours we got to Southampton mid-afternoon, checked-in at the Travelodge and headed off to meet Paul, who had arrived from South Wales by train. As there was no train back that night, Paul was staying in a hotel before returning home for work on Wednesday afternoon.

The glorious sunshine on the South coast had advanced the flowering spring bulbs and shrubs by several weeks, compared to the Midlands and North, with all daffodils having ceased to flower. We walked to the first venue on our pub crawl schedule only to find the Bevois Castle closed. So we arrived at the Guide Dog pub earlier than planned and received a very friendly welcome from the landlady. It had been awarded the accolade of the South Hants CAMRA Best Real Ale pub for the past three years. Paul joined us as did Eric and Janine from Oldham, who were also staying overnight.

As we sampled various real ales it was a happy contrast to the pub experience in Southend last season, of which we prefer not to mention. Eventually we moved on to the Old Farmhouse pub and I sampled one of its famed breakfast meals. At a nearby table was a ferocious- looking dog restrained by its keeper on a tight steel leash.

It appeared to be trained to look out for blue clothing, but I think it only attacked if it spotted the Pompey badge. We were thankful that the route to the toilet was in the opposite direction to the dog.I had read a review by a fan of another club stating that Southampton fans and stewards were very friendly, which always makes the day out more memorable. Unfortunately we saw no evidence of this. I introduced myself to a Saints fan in that pub by saying I was an Oldham fan, and I awarded him the accolade of ‘Daft Question Of  The Year’ when he said "Are you going to the match?" We arrived at the impressive St. Mary’s Stadium

Mark was then spotted. He should have been in Bangkok, but his flight cancellation had meant that his long road journey had secured him the bonus of another new ground on his quest to visit all 92 - every volcanic dust cloud has a silver lining! It also meant that I could hand over to him the responsibility for looking after the Flag.On entering the Stadium we were surprised to see a relatively sparse crowd for such a crucial match.

The uncertainty surrounding the expectations of Saints for take-off from League One and the fears of Latics for nose-diving into League Two guaranteed that the match would be a tense drama. This delay and uncertainty had caused a lot of tension amongst the Saints-supporting passengers along for the ride, who had had their hopes and expectations raised on the season’s journey by recent false dawns. At the opposite end of the League One runway. Latics had never got off the ground during a season in which disappointment had reached seismic proportions, with the majority of fans reading their in-built black box recording devices and pointing their nail-bitten blame fingers at manager Dave Penney.I

n Lambert and Barnard Southampton have a Titanic strike-force, which has scored more goals than Latics entire team. However, as they sailed up the League they did not reckon on the hidden depths of Latics iceberg of a defence. So it came to pass, in a not very memorable goalless match, that the dream of a place in the Play-offs and a return journey to the new world of the Championship next season ran aground.

As the magnitude of this disastrous situation was realised by Southampton players and fans, they resorted to desperate measures on and off the pitch in an endeavour to influence the match officials into securing favours only granted at Old Trafford. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the stands and not only women and children, but also male Saints fans were leaving the sinking ship before the final whistle. As those fans appeared to lose their voices, the vociferous Latics faithful led by Kev adapted their ‘Oh when The Blues Go Marching In’ anthem to incorporate Southampton’s famous ‘In That Number’, as we celebrated a well-earned point, which when the dust settles, may prove to be the difference between Latics survival and possible relegation in a season best forgotten.

After the match the five of us went towards the City centre, calling in first at the Chapel Arms, where the locals were drowning their sorrows. There was some Saints memorabilia displayed on the walls.