No More Boozers Anymore

About 5 years ago, when Covid was a bigger killer than Israel, I went to the Bridge Meadow on a very wet Wednesday night for a midweek game v Barry Town. There was little more than a hundred in the ground, it was cold, miserable and the wind was coming in sideways from the B and M end. The game finished 1-1, we scored first, Alaric celebrated in front of the away fans then our keeper threw the ball into his own net and everyone went home unsatisfied. As I walked home, rain soaking through me, little did i think that someday in the not-too-distant future European football would be an everyday occurrence. Well nearly. 

Haverfordwest station is, let's be honest, an uninspiring place, grey grim and grotty. Apparently, according to a plaque on the wall it won an award in 1981, maybe station most unlikely to win an award but it's where we start our travel. To Llanelli, as the Meadow isn't fit to be used according to UEFA.  UEFA who brought in VAR and banned Crystal Palace, forgive me if I don't think they are entirely scrupulous. However, it's a new ground to visit and everyone was going to be there. 

Afternoon booked off work, 6 o’clock kick off?  Really? I went to see United V Spurs on a Wednesday night years ago, couldn't book the day off, so I told the boss I had a dentist appointment, went to Old Trafford and spent the whole match with my head down in case he was watching the game. Not this time, I was legally absent and good to go. 

A few cans on the train, a good chat with fellow fans, concerns about Zac, Jenks, Tabone, the Johns and Jacob Owen all leaving to ply their trade elsewhere, , but overall, we were all excited about the day ahead and soon we were in Llanelli. None of our group were too sure where Parc-y Scarlets was, so we walked into town looking for signs. Luckily, we have some young people who know how to use technology to pick our route, and we were off. As a lot of towns have experienced over time, Llanelli has suffered with huge shopping centres being built well away from the original centre , leaving the original town to suffer. Our goal was by Trostre retail park, a good distance away, a very good distance away. I don't think it's even in Llanelli, I think it's in Nottingham. 

I was very impressed at the sight of the ground, yes, these newer built grounds look similar, and none have the character and oddities of older grounds, but it still looked grand, standing alone and proud in the sunshine. 

Pub.

Rugby fans have a reputation of good drinkers so I was looking forward to a few bars before the game; however, the only one we found was a Marston's about 5 minutes away from the ground. My son had a pint in ready when I got there, but after our trek, that went down very quickly. Back to the bar where there was one member of staff on duty with several ahead of me, and meals as well as drinks were being ordered here. I waited and waited. The barman was as slow and methodical as an asthmatic slug and more people, including some Maltese, were joining the queue. We may be from different countries but the universal look of raising your eyes to the heavens is well known. How do rugby fans cope? Is this a new UEFA directive on stopping trouble at matches? Do Marston's make any money? Is there a Bargain Booze anywhere?  

Back to the ground, a lot of fans were gathering outside. Wolvesey, our old manager and Jazz Richards, our old captain were in attendance. Into the ground and a fiver pint, and a 7 quid burger later, and we were match fit. Walking up the steps at any ground is always a thrill, and this was no exception. A lovely ground, and the splendid Haverfordwest male voice choir sang us in. We always bring lots of flags, we have a good selection, however, we were told we couldn’t drape them over the fences and had to put them over some white canvassing they had over the seats, which was a ballache. The club had rented the ground for the night so this shouldn’t have been an issue, but no worries, stick them up and let's go. 

Yma o Hyd and Hi Ho Haverfordwest got everyone in the mood, and the boys came out of the tunnel accompanied by the National Anthem of Wales by the inspirational Male Voice Choir. A great positive start by the lads was rewarded by a clinical finish by Greg Walters, who has been outstanding since signing last summer and the faithful dreamt of a great European night. It got better when an individual masterclass of a finish by Ben Ahmun put us ahead in the tie. We were playing some great football, and we deserved to be even further ahead when the Gods of football abandoned us and a wicked deflection put the visitors on the score sheet with their first attack.   

On 22^nd November 1963, John F Kennedy was assassinated allegedly by Lee Harvey Oswald, who in turn was shot by Jack Ruby 2 days later. However, I believe Oswald survived and was atop the Parc Y Scarlets that night and shot the Maltese centre forward with Alaric Jones close by. The player miraculously survived the shot; however, Alaric was sent off for breathing in the 6-yard area, and they equalised from yet another penalty. The forward didn't exactly survive unscathed, though, as his legs collapsed under him quite a bit throughout the match, and he spent more time on the ground than a carpet fitter.  

As the second half began, we all knew it was an incredible ask with 10 men and needing another goal. The lads didn't give up, but their 3^rd was inevitable. Tony and Abu saw red for blinking too much, and we ended the game proud but disappointed. For a club the size of ours to have played our second European campaign in 3 years is a wonderful achievement and something to be cherished. A lot has been made of the players we have lost, but the players on the pitch that night gave it all and naivety, inexperience, you name it, probably all came into play. The visitors were very professional in their time wasting and theatrics, good luck to them if that's how they want to progress, but I hope they lose every game from now on and are defunct by Christmas.

Bitter?

Me? 

Never! 

We made our way back to the train station, defeated but pleased with the valiant efforts the team had shown , but it was a quieter train home but happy that the season is nearly upon us again. 

Rumour has it Lee Harvey Oswald is still wandering around Trostre.