Fulham v Arsenal

It was time to head along to my first football match and the choice of venue was Craven Cottage, the home of the mighty Fulham Football Club ('FFC'). My friend Chris is a member of FFC and had managed to get hold of some tickets to a mid week Premiership game vs Arsenal over the internet. A group of four of us went, Chris and his brother Dave, Andrew Bull and myself. Andrew and Dave are both Arsenal fans and Chris and I were proudly displaying our FFC membership pins (mine was borrowed but I may have to get hold of my own).

The game was absolutely fantastic. No other live sport that I have been to is quite the same. With 10 minutes to go to kick-off the ground was practically empty but within 20 seconds of kick-off there was a sell out crowd of 24,500 (Craven Cottage isn't very big) and the chanting started and did not let up for the entire game. We didn't know any of the chants, but managed to pick a few up. Some of the classics were:

- Same old Arsenal, always cheating
- We are Fulham, super Fulham, we are Fulham FFC. We are Fulham, super Fulham, we are Fulham, f%&k Chelsea
- If you hate Chelsea, stand up.

It appears every club has its arch rival and for Fulham it was neighbouring Chelsea. Mind you, I have discovered that everyone hates Chelsea.



After 6 minutes, and against the run of play, underdogs Fulham went up 1- nil from corner kick. 15 minutes later they slotted another from a break away much to the delight and surprise of the home crowd. They separate the fans so the other end of the stadium was a bit subdued by this stage. Arsenal pulled one back after 35 minutes from an amazing free kick and it was 2 - 1 to Fulham at half time.



The second half included two disallowed goals for off side, a penalty shot off the cross bar from Fulham, an Arsenal player sent off, a few more yellow cards and almost a fight. There must have been about a dozen yellow cards in the game.

Super Fulham hung on for a great win and we left vowing to get along to more games.

All Blacks vs Wales

Well, I've had to travel to the other side of the world to get to my first All Blacks game for as long as I can remember but it was well worth it. A group of 7 of us made the trek to Cardiff on Saturday morning, and after about 3 hours of driving we made it and finished up on the top floor of a parking building about a 5 minute walk from Millennium Stadium.

We were treated to a few cans of genuine imported Speights before the game as we made the most of the patches of good weather and lack of other people around in a relaxing build up to the test match.





The rental car provided great seating, both in and out of the car but things got a bit confusing as we tried to navigate the last few metres to the Stadium......



Once we were inside the Stadium, it didn't really matter what the weather was doing outside. With the roof closed it was quite comfortable and perfect conditions for some good rugby.



It was fair to say that the crowd was furious when the All Blacks failed to perform the haka for reasons still unknown to us, but after they started running in the tries this was all but forgotten and the crowd soon good into the game with a lot of noise, some brilliant singing and flag waving.



At the end of the game, the authorities clearly thought that the rugby hadn't cut up the field enough to justify paying the groundstaff so took drastic action to rectify the situation. This was all a bit confusing but apparently the turf is regularly replaced, and they were having the Wales Rally GB (formally the Lombard RAC - thanks Burt) there in the next few days anyway.



After visiting a couple of pubs after the game it was back to the car for the trip back. Hamish performed brilliantly as tour leader and driver and we were home safe and sound back in London by about 1am in time for some Ashes viewing and falling asleep on the couch - a fitting end to a great day.

Jersey

It was finally time for my first trip off the mainland and the choice of destination was Jersey. Jersey is one of the Channel Islands just off the coast of France. We (Hamish, Gabs and I) left work early on Friday to depart from Gatwick for the short 1 hr haul to Jersey. Things didn't start off too well with Hamish battling with his troubled digestive system but swiftly improved on arrival when we were upgraded to a brand new Ford Focus rental car and arrived at hour hotel after a 10 minute drive accross half the length of the island!

Saturday was spent surveying the Island, including the light house, a few beaches and a vineyard before the girls hit the tax free shops (with minimal success) and the guys hit the hotel facilities (with even less success).



Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny, much to our relief. After a quick breakfast at the hotel (not too many prunes on the cereal this morning) it was off to find the start line. After not to much drama, most of it revolving around compulsory toilet stops for runners and supporter, we were off on the 21km (or 13.1miles as it is over here) journey around the one corner of the island we hadn't seen the day before.

Click here for a photo.

Following successful completion (Julia 3rd female, Hamish 86th overall and me 3rd) it was back to the hotel for a well earned shower and to Pizza Express for an eagerly anticipated lunch. Julia left early to fly back to Manchester, we went to the prizegiving to claim our winnings, wnt to the new James Bond movie and ended up in a mad dash to catch our flight back. Overall, super first weekend on semi - foriegn soil.