After a tough week working in Aberdeen it was nice to get a bit of relaxation in at the weekend. Thanks to the nice chaps (Martyn and Jeremy) at KPMG I had an invite to their corporate hospitality box. To some such an invite wouldn’t seem much, unless they were fans of either team, but to me football is football and if there is a meal included and some good beer then it’s a case of where and when!
The Galpharm is a cracking small stadium, but not the easiest to park at as I know from a previously embarrassing experience. So ‘let the train take the strain’ I thought and that way I can sample a beer or two on the way back, so a double whammy.
The train journey was fairly uneventful; no weirdos nearby and so I managed to read The Times, my paper of choice in peace and tranquility. The local advice was to try the Head of Steam a real ale pub which is housed in former station buildings including the ticket office. As can be seen it has a very grand facade and it has typical real ale pub decor inside. There was a good choice of beer on offer; I had a pint of Roosters White Rose which was pale and very bitter (like most Roosters brews) and was disappointed to see some blokes, old enough to know better, drinking Guinness and blackcurrent. Why oh why?
A short drive then followed to the stadium in Martyn’s lovely Jaguar, one of the new ones (XF?).
The meal in the box was great, good quality, hearty and nothing too fancy. It seems to wrong to have real poncey food at football, I am much more a pie and Bovril kind of fan.
The food ham terrene, lamb shank with crushed potatoes and a bean stew, two chocolate swiss roll with espresso mousse
The beer Tetleys smooth
The sweep £10 in; time of first goal (my guess 22m), final score (my guess 2-1), match attendance (my guess 12,200)
There was a lot of good natured banter in the box. I made the mistake of mentioning the little to do between Stranraer and Berwick over the cross of St George and this became a running theme of the leg pulling. I’ve got a big chin so I can take it (got a big nose too come to think of it!)
By this time I was ready for the match, hoping it was going to be a good one. I came to the same fixture a couple of seasons back which was end to end stuff finishing 3 – 3 and the final goal being barged in by an ex-England international who was what can only be described as a ‘big unit’. Answer at the end of the blog.
The first thing that struck me was the Tranmere goalkeeper Owain Williams who was wearing the most shocking fluorescent orange kit. In fact it looked like a steward had wandered onto the pitch. In the end he was to have a good game pulling off a couple of great saves possibly thanks to the dazzle factor.
The game started slowly with the Tranmere centre halves in complete control early on. Gradually Huddersfield’s passing game started to gain the ascendency. Tranmere missed a good chance on 22 minutes which was a personal disappointment for me; but at the other end a free kick is only partially cleared by 38 year old Ian Goodison, who was having a good game until then, only for Gary Roberts who came on as an early sub to bury it in the 24th minute with a cracking left foot volley. I was still the closest so £30 come to Daddy! Tranmere still tried hard to follow up and missed with a couple of free headers. On the touchline Lee Clark was getting animated, I wonder if he got that from Kevin Keegan?
The second half was a much better quality than the first half with decent passing moves from both sides. Mustafa Tiryaki comes on as substitute, sure enough, cue the takeaway gags from the boys, all good natured.
Scott Arfield come on as substitute and scores within 5 minutes. Novak passes to Roberts, who the tees up Arfield at the edge of the box, cracking shot and points secured. From there the match petered out.
Some people look down their noses at this level of football, but it is possible to see some good passing football, the skill level may not be as high as the Premiership but both goals in this game were of the highest quality.
Match details courtesy of the Huddersfield Town web site...
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Huddersfield | Tranmere | |||
Goals : | 2 | 0 | ||
Possession : | 55% | 45% | ||
Shots On Target : | 4 | 0 | ||
Shots Off Target : | 12 | 10 | ||
Corners : | 5 | 3 | ||
Fouls : | 10 | 9 | ||
Most Fouls : | Robinson (3) | Showunmi (2) | ||
Yellow Cards : | 2 | 1 | ||
Red Cards : | 0 | 0 | ||
Scorers : |
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Naturally there was a bit of time until my train home, so time to try the King’s Head (formerly the Station Tavern) which is situated at the other side of the station entrance. Like the Head of Steam a typical modern version of a real ale pub converted from station buildings with a good choice of beer. I fancied a pint of Tiimothy Taylors Golden Best, but they had run out, so I resorted to an old favourite Timothy Taylors Landlord. Nice pint and good conversation with some of the old boys in the bar, just the thing to set me up for the return journey.
Back at Hull and got ‘mugged’ at Paragon Station. After the beer I decided that I really ought to pay a call before the force of nature overtook me. You now have to pass through a turnstile and pay 30p to have a pee, lord only knows what you do if you don’t have the change.
As the night was still young I decided to stop off at Walters Bar down Scale Lane for some more real ale. Walters has a fresh and modern decor but has 10 real ales, 6 real ciders and a number of lagers including light and dark wheat beers. I sampled the Marston Moor Merriemaker which was light and bitter and thought it was time to go. One look through the window, however said time to stay, it was hammering down. So I stayed to try Junction Brewhouse Trainspotter which was dark and smoky (almost barbecue) tasting and only £1.50 a pint, and the Great Newsome Holderness Dark which was a porter.
Answer – Michael Ricketts – remember him? Had a good spell at Bolton and was one of Sven’s one cap wonders.
Links
The Head of Steam http://www.theheadofsteam.co.uk/huddersfield/
The King’s Head http://www.the-kings-head-huddersfield.co.uk/
Walters bar http://www.waltersbar.co.uk/
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