This was the 2nd of 3 trips to London and as it was a Friday night game we decided to make a weekend of it and take in a couple of games the next day as well. We left Retford at about 1.45 pm all set for a weekend of jolly japes and excitement! I must first thank Fleech and Baz for all the planning with the hotel booking and route planning on this trip. My contribution was to ermmm... Well i found the two Saturday games for us, and I did bring the trusty bottle of Sambuca. A worthwhile contribution i am sure you will agree.
Just like last time the M25 was determined to hold us up. As normal we chatted and debated about the normal stuff, like pondering if Fleech should get some John Lennon style shades for the season etc etc.
We thought that as soon as we got off the M25 we would be ok and in the bar at the ground well over an hour before kick off..Oh how wrong we were. We managed to get lost and after doing a few laps of Staines (yes the place we were at the previous week) we decided to head for Sainsbury's; to empty out bulging bladders, re-group and find out how to get to the ground.
Now here is where i claim the credit.
We were on the outskirts of Walton but didn't have a clue where the ground was. All we knew was that it was near a leisure centre. Upon entering Walton we saw a sign for the centre the only problem was that we were as good as past it when i saw it. We doubled back and indeed it was the correct way!!!
Adam Barlow supplier of Sambucca and 1st class dircetions(Lincoln United,Burton Albion and now Walton) take a bow!!!
We arrived in good time thanks to me and got a prime parking place near to the exit. It was £7 quid to get in and £1.50 for a well presented but thin programme but as in the case of Staines the other week, any programme is better than no programme. Club badges we £3.50 and the people serving in the shop seemed over the moon that they managed to sell a couple! The Retford Imps; spreading happiness where ever they go!
After a long journey is goes without saying that the first place i wanted to head was the club bar! Being the gentleman that i am, i got the first round in (Carling £2.80 a pint) and it went down very well. The bar is what you expect at this level with some good pictures of former players and teams etc on the walls. On such player is former Blackburn and West ham player and now sky sports pundit Tony Gale who is now director of football at Walton. He was chatting to Chris Sutton (who thanked us for making the trip) about when the playoffs started. 1987 was my guess.
Also in the clubhouse was the food hut. While i was guzzling more beer the other three were eyeing up the food counter which nobody had yet been up to. It was like when you were about 14 with your mates looking over at a group of girls you wanted to ask out but were all waiting for each other to make the first move. Just as they were breaking out into a cold sweat Baz swept in first and ordered the first burger of the tour this opened the flood gates and led the women serving to ask why they had been so shy in coming forward. If i only got this reaction when i was 14 at the discos.
We haven't had a decent full back since Ben Dixon left the club what do you think?
After Tony Gale had asked Baz if he enjoyed his burger we headed out to watch the 1st half. City knocked the ball around quite nicely and were 2-0 with two goals for new signing Mustapha Carayol. I know its still very early but he does seem to have a bit about him and could be a very important player for us this season.
Just before halftime Walton got on the score sheet with a great free kick from about 25 yards out. Well we were never going to keep a clean sheet were we?
After another trip to the clubhouse for more ale we swapped ends for the second half. City added a third from trialist Joe Anson and that was that.The game petered out and city gained their 2nd win of the pre season campaign. Overall i enjoyed Walton. The ground is nice with plenty of covering and seating, cracking little club house and shop and friendly people. I would guess there were about 20 Lincoln fans there.
Admission £7
Programme £1.50 3/10 very nice to look at but £1.50 for 6 pages one of which was an advert was poor value for money. At least they did one though so hats off there.
Clubhouse 7/10
Ground 7/10
Burger 8/10 £3.00
After the match we headed for Feltham where our hotel was, We picked up a kebab for supper but i was disappoined with mine. The meat was a tad too well done for me but on the other hand Baz likes his meat well done so he loved it. Horses for course you could say.
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