Southend away: Good Friday 11 April 09

Won 2 - 0

V & I went by train. A got a lift with friend B.

Bah! The car drivers got there way before us. We'd set off early to have a chance to see the mile-long pier before the match. Just as well, as it meant we got there just in time for kick off. There'd been a fatality on the line at Wolverton, so in the end there was a replacement bus service to Watford, where we could only get the 'London Overground' to Euston (18 stops!). Then to add further difficulties engineering works on the underground meant we ended up walking - running part of the way - from Bank to Fenchurch Street (didn't know that station existed outside Monopoly), arriving just in time to catch the 11.40 to Southend. Would have got a taxi at Southend if there'd been any outside the station, but there weren't so walked the mile to the ground. I was determined to go down to the beach, so we delayed our return journey a little (it was 1 pm kick off so the natch was over by 3) to have an ice cream, skim some stones on the sea and gamble some 2p pieces in the amusement arcade. V would probably want me to confess to my faults that meant we missed an earlier train home from Euston... vis, forgetting where I'd put the tickets then when we'd gone through the barrier getting on the train on platform 11, when he'd already told me we wanted the one on platform 10. So we saw the one on platform 10 leave without us..

Great day out, though. Two excellent goals from Mark Wright. Well made goals too: not the scramble over the line types. Wright gets a lot of stick from some of our fans. Don't really know why, but 'what do I know' (actually I really don't know much when it comes to football....) Couple of brilliant saves from Gueret, and Southend helpfully missed some easy chances. They should have won, but we'll take the 3 points. (Especially since Peterborough could only draw with bottom-club Cheltenham and Millwall lost to Yeovil!. Maybe automatic promotion isn't out of the question after all.