Dean Foulkes writes exclusively for www.mansfieldtown.net from Kenilworth Road, Luton
Bottom line is some decisions are tougher than others.
Do you take holiday from work to travel to watch a football match live in the flesh and scream on your team on a midweek January night at a place in the world like Luton?
Do you save your holidays from work and watch the very same football match in the comfort of your own home on Satellite Television instead?
Maybe you head off down the Sandy Pate Bar at Field Mill and watch the very same football match amongst pals, filling our club's bar coffers instead?
Regardless of personal decisions, huge respect and massive hats off to the magnificent 111 Stags fans who travelled to watch the game unfold live at Kenilworth Road. You could feel the raw passion from the away end as the devotees tried everything in their power to suck the ball into the back of the Luton net.
A smooth and comfortable two and a half hour journey saw us live and unleashed in Luton around 6pm.
Optimism was high amongst Stags fans with many feeling as confident as I could ever remember when playing at Luton. The general view was that we would take a point before a ball was kicked yet that sneaky little man in your head kept nagging on what a massive psychological boost it would be to win the game outright and really set us up for our upcoming playoff charge!
Surrounding the Stadium was a massive EA Sports FIFA 2012 pod which had thrown open its doors to local punters. This Pod was filled with crystal clear large screen televisions and injected a "big game/event" type atmosphere into the night's proceedings. I have seen a similar pod outside massive clubs like Manchester City but never at a Blue Square venue. That's another reason to get back to the promised land of the Football League as soon as humanly possible, Mansfield Town FC need to be back in the annual FIFA videogame!
Having arrived in plenty of time I took the opportunity to stroll the narrow alleys around the Kenilworth Road entrance before arriving at the Club Shop. Upon passing the huge blue metal railings around the ground my mind wandered back to retro television footage of many moons ago when Luton were a major footballing name. The Wembley Cup Finals, Mick Harford and unfortunately the Millwall/Luton troubles that hit the news during that era.
To be truthful memories flooded back of us celebrating our Wembley passage late last season on the road outside that away end. I could still visualise the tears of joy and remember thinking that was the best day we could ever have at Luton and how much I never wanted to come back!
I was reliably informed the coffee on offer was both brown and wet. The Bovril wasn't the worst I've ever swallowed to be fair. Apparently the hot chocolate was great as it did not contain the usual huge dollop of gungy chocolate at the bottom of the cup. The hot dog was so small I could have eaten at least three. The toilet stank of freshly made urine which slopped underfoot.
Priced at three English pounds for 68 pages, the colourful Talk Of The Town production absolutely dripped polish. Small sized with a superb glossy cover, this colourful edition was jam packed with a wide variety of articles. Interesting to read though that travel prices from Town on Tour to Barrow are listed at £30 adults and £28 concessions!
The least intimidating I have ever seen/felt them. They didn`t even offer much response to Stags fans chants of "Where were you at Wembley?" Perhaps the two home games in three nights had diluted their usual fury! The place almost seemed pleasant to visit although the locals spat out their grumbles at the end after their sides failure to beat the Mighty Stags!
Playing in light blue once again the Stags definitely stood up to be counted. Apart from the hosts hitting the bar and claiming for the odd penalty decision we worked hard to deny Luton space and looked comfortable in possession. Encouragingly we grew stronger throughout the night and could easily have nicked the full points.
Debate after the goalless draw centred on how close we were to a winner late on. Most agreed all we are missing is that tiny little bit of extra spark, that X Factor fizz that could have won the game. The bit that would have made that Pilko human dive around and really make him work for his corn. Ultimately we escaped Kenilworth Road with a clean sheet, a point and no red cards, which hasn`t happened too often in the past! The closure of a section of the M1 delayed us slightly during the route home, meaning we were able to wave to the milkman on Quarry Lane just before the stroke of midnight!
Then it hit us and hit us hard, only around 48 hours before we have to go to Ebbsfleet!
Trips to both Luton and Ebbsfleet within three January days - and some say there is no glamour in the Blue Square!
Come On You Stags!
|
CATEGORY |
THE RATING |
|
Journey |
8 |
|
Stadium |
6 |
|
Programme |
9 |
|
Match |
7 |
|
Overall night out |
7 |
|
Round Trip Distance In Miles Travelled From Field Mill Season 2011-2012 |
3389
|
|
Stags Goals Witnessed |
17 |
|
Points won |
20 |
