Liverpool (30-01-2016)

Liverpool 0 - 0 West Ham (FA Cup 4th Round), Saturday 30 January 2016

Bus Sheffield £1-80
Lunch & tea £6-35
Bus to Anfield £4
Programme £3-50
Pie and tea £5-60
Match ticket £27
Tea and snack £5
Lunch on Sunday £5
Taxi (£10/2) £5
Train £23 each
Dinner c£11 each
Hotel c£50 each
Total £147-25

What is it about West Ham? In the space of about 6 weeks I've now seen them play 3 times (admittedly one was a Ladies game). Liverpool are probably sick of the sight of them too, having lost at Upton Park a couple of times recently and at Anfield back in August.

After Liverpool's replay win over Exeter, this seemed like it could be a decent match. So we headed across on the Saturday, treating ourselves to a hotel in the city centre. These 5:30 kick offs are not great fun in winter, particularly when you're travelling some distance, so I was glad we'd taken the easier option. To be fair this was one of the more reasonably priced games at £27 apiece.

Despite arriving in the city nice and early it turned into a bit of a rush to the ground, where we arrived just after 5. There was no time to have food so we headed straight up to our Kop seats. These were closer to the middle than previously and gave a good view of the action as well as letting us soak up the atmosphere.

I decided not to bother taking notes, instead just to enjoy the match. For these blog reports I often write a match summary but I have found they can become quite repetitive.

This was overall a reasonable cup tie. Liverpool could have won it a few times over, if not for some excellent goalkeeping by Darren Randolph. Benteke, as usual, looked low on confidence and out of place, miscuing a couple of clear cut chances, and generally looking pretty useless.

Liverpool's line up, it has to be said, was a mixture of youth and experience. Brad Smith at left back did incredibly well, while Kevin Stewart and Teixeira put in a good shift in midfield. So West Ham will have been a bit disappointed they couldn't really capitalise on this. The away side did have the odd chance and a half hearted penalty appeal, but nothing more threatening than that. On 90 minutes we came away from Anfield pretty deflated. Again the Red Men had put in a decent performance, but like the Palace game in November, they had nothing to show for it. The pendulum in this tie had perhaps swung towards the Hammers, who would have the advantage of a home match at Upton Park under the lights. Liverpool's fixture list is piling up now.

Port Vale (23-01-2016)

Port Vale 1 - 1 Bradford City (League One), Saturday 23 January 2016

Train (Stockport-Stoke) £13-20
Match ticket £22
Pie and tea £4
Programme £3
Tea £1-95
Pasty £2-69

Like Burnley, Stoke seems to have occupied much of my attention in recent years. Market Drayton, Stoke City, Hanley, Eccleshall and now Port Vale. Vale Park would be the last ground I needed to see in the city. The ground is quite a distance from the station, and it took me about 50 minutes to get there. I was also going particularly slow as I was feeling the effects of recent travelling.

I arrived at the ground very late - 2:58 - and just had time to have my e-ticket scanned and grab refreshments as the game kicked off. I was in the Bycar Road stand behind the goal, which has two sets of seat rows separated by a long concrete walkway. At either end was an obligatory cage feature, and at the back of the stand were mini exits which (rather like Bramall Lane) were used as smoking dens. To my left was the main stand, which was split into seating on the left and all across the top, and some terracing along the bottom. Overall the ground was a beauty, an odd mixture of old and new, and was probably my 2nd favourite of the season (after Leek).

I was glad I'd made it inside in time - Vale scored within a minute or so, when 20 went clean through and finished neatly. The away team Bradford could only manage a succession of tame efforts from 17 and 4, and in a half of few chances, Vale dominated.

Before the second half began I noticed a curious phrase across the away end seats reading Tvale Allclu. Maybe it was Welsh? Or maybe it was the name of the club which was partially covered by the away fans?!

The second period began with a bang, when the Bantams' 4 saw red for a scything challenge. Vale should have capitalised at this point, and shots from 6 and 42 were deflected wide as they began to dominate possession. Then against the run of play Bradford equalised when 19 ran clear to much jubilation at the Hamil Road End. Vale were starting to look a little frustrated, and 3s long range effort flew over the bar soon after. One of Bradford's few chances came when 16s effort from the edge of the box was tipped over by the alert home keeper. Still Vale tried, but to no avail! 5s left footer went wide and 18 came close when his strike went about a foot past the post.

On the final whistle boos rang out across the ground. They had struggled to break down a resilient Bradford side, and were still locked in a mid-table stalemate with them. I was glad to get moving and warm up a bit as there was something of a chill in the breeze. This leaves with me with 3 league grounds left in the North West (Crewe, Preston, Morecambe) and 1 non league (Litherland). I was back in the house at 8, in plenty of time for Casualty and to see some ridiculous MoTD scores (Norwich 4 - 5 Liverpool!)

Wigan Athletic (16-01-2016)

Wigan Athletic 3 – 1 Chesterfield (League One), Saturday 16th January 2016

Train (Manchester-Wigan) £4-40
Entry £20
Tea at ground £2
Piccadilly toilets 30p
Total £26-70

'In the bleak mid-winter...' So after 2 relatively trouble free weekends of football, the snow has arrived. Sheffield escaped unscathed on Saturday morning but the North West was expected to be hit through the day - and I was off to Wigan!

I was on Twitter watch as games began to fall left, right and centre, and nonleague fixtures were littered with the dreaded P. Thankfully Wigan remained on, largely (I suspect) due to their undersoil heating. The journey across was fine, but I then had to walk to Victoria to catch a slow Northern train up. There were no direct trains from Piccadilly today.

As the train pulled into Wigan, the snow began to fall, and I wondered whether I'd made the right call here.  There was no problem and I arrived in the ground at about 2:40, after finding one of the cash turnstiles. This has been a real positive over recent weeks as it gives me the flexibility to change destination of required.

Wigan's DW has been described as a bit soulless and it wasn't exactly full today. Nonetheless I rather liked the 4 almost identical stands, and the fact that the floodlights were embedded on the roof. Directly opposite was a reasonable cluster of Chesterfield fans, who had decided to brave the cold for today's game.

Wigan are on the fringes of the League One playoffs, and initially they looked the better side. They were easily shifting the ball in midfield, away from the attention of the Spirerites. They took the lead when an absolute rocket of a shot flew into the top corner. The scorer? The aptly named Max Power.
After that Chesterfield had a half-decent spell, particularly through the front trio of Ebanks-Blake, O’Shea and Lee Novak (who once played for Gateshead). O’Shea had a couple of decent efforts saved by Jääskeläinen, and Novak was causing Wigan all sorts of problems on their right flank. Unluckily for Chesterfield they then fell further behind when Reece James curled a superb left footer in the top corner on 40 minutes. It only got worse for the away side, when Jacobs ran clear and dinked over the keeper to make it 3. For all Chesterfield's industry they were now well out of the game.

The second half was fairly evenly matched. First Jacobs registered an early shot on target, and then Power narrowly missed after a setup from Vuckic. Chesterfield's Simons then came close after a well worked one-two around the box. Wigan's Davies was at the focal point of most of their attacks, and their passing began to slacken off a bit. The away side, showing great spirit, grabbed a late consolation through Ollie Banks, while Talbot could only snatch at another late chance.

The BBC report after the game said Chesterfield were well beaten - in fact the game had been in the balance until those 2 goals just before half time. I headed back to Wigan North Western with snow falling and underfoot, and just managed to make the 17:08. I was in the house by 19:50, ready for a hot shower, a cup of tea, and some dinner.

Macclesfield (09-01-2016)

Macclesfield 0 - 1 Halifax (Conference National), Saturday 9 January 2016

Train £6-80
Entry £15
Programme £3
Teas x2 £3-40
Total £28-20

The jewel in the crown? Moss Rose certainly sounds like it so I was looking forward to today. I often say this but Macclesfield has genuinely been on my list for a while. It is one of the few grounds I've not done where I could get back from after an evening match. So for today to be a Saturday was a bonus as it meant a shorter trip in the January gloom.

Macclesfield is another nice Cheshire town, so before heading to the ground, I wandered to the market place in the centre. I found an impressive building with almost classical pillars imposing itself on the town.

The ground was a short 20-minute walk south of the town, and before sorting a ticket I did my usual circamambulation around the perimeter. One corner backs onto the railway line, so the ground is just visible from the West Coast Mainline. Bizarrely Macclesfield don't have cash turnstiles so I had to buy a ticket at the office before walking through the turnstile about 3 yards away!

The ground is a decent Conference stadium. Both ends have terraced sections, with the away section exposed to the elements (much like Accrington). The stand opposite me was completely seated, whilst the stand on my side was a hybrid of terrace and seating. The floodlights were on already at it was only just coming up to 3pm!

'Macc' as they are affectionately known, were doing reasonably well this year, pushing for a playoff place. Halifax were less successful, having spent much of the season at the wrong end of the table. It was an evenly matched and tight contest, and the first half was littered with chances.

Halifax's 18 ran through but couldn't convert, while M23 had a long shot saved. M11 fired over, while h4 did the same at the other end with his left ft. I was particularly impressed with m23, who played passes with plenty of vision and forethought. On 30 minutes, m5 headed wide and then m11s effort was well saved by the away keeper. Halifax had a purple patch just before the break, rattling the post with 35's effort (via the keepers fingertips). H11 blazed over from close range, and h2 fired massively wide.

The second half was a fierce territorial battle in the middle, with less chances registered than before. A couple of half chances resulted in m6 scoring a drop goal (high and over!) and a mixup in the Halifax defence nearly resulting in a goal. Then came the breakthrough. A slick move from the Yorkshire side - instigated by h4 - resulted in a lovely team goal by 18. The combination between 4, 19. 35 and 9 was outstanding. The remaining effort - much to the home fans frustration - came when h15s shot was well saved.

There were boos around the ground at the final whistle as Macclesfield could perhaps have done better given their league position. It had been a tight match though and Halifax had only just managed to find the winner. As I headed away from the floodlit Moss Rose, I saw no less than 5 police cars flying past. I'm not sure whether something had happened back at the ground but on a day like this I only really cared about getting on the train. Thanks to the late FA Cup KO between Man Utd and Sheffield Utd, the train from Stockport was relatively quiet for once.

Scunthorpe (02-01-2016)

Scunthorpe 1 - 1 Wigan Athletic (League One), Saturday 2 January 2016

Entry £18
Petrol £10 (estimate)
Parking £3
Tea £1-20
Total £32-20

So Christmas has passed like a flash and we are now a day or so from starting work again. I hadn't banked on a game today given possible weather disruption, and not knowing where I'd be. After a quiet New Year's Day, I picked this one as a decent 'local' bet. The appeal was that I could apparently drive to Glanford Park in 40 mins, and park right outside the ground.

So I jumped in the car just before 2, heading across the M18 and into North Lincs. The roads were mainly quiet for a change. After parting with £3 for parking at the ground, I did my customary walk around for photos before heading into the terraced end for cash. Cash turnstiles at League grounds make my life much easier, particularly when I'm not 100% on which ground I'll be at this time of year.

Glanford Park is not the most glamorous ground, but does have historic significance, being the first UK ground built after the end of World War Two (in 1988 I believe). Essentially it has four stands of the same height, which enclose the ground completely. The three other sides were all seated, so it was nice to be able to experience the full throttle of the terraces.

So to the game. Scunny were floating around mid table in League One, while Wigan were comfortably in the playoff positions, looking to consolidate today. The home side started strongly, with 10 firing wide with his left foot and then heading over from 9's cross. Wigan's two bright spark were 31 and 7, who caused plenty of trouble down the flanks and in the middle. The Lincolnshire side deservedly took the lead when 7 slotted in after a cross from the left wing. Wigan's first real effort came when 6 blasted over from range. Bizarrely they then equalised when 17 ran clear after what looked suspiciously like hand ball.

The half time entertainment was hilarious - the 'challenge' was for 3 home fans to spin around a stick for a couple of minutes before trying to slot in a penalty! Needless to say some looked a shade of green after this.

The Latics seemed buoyed by their goal before the break. 9 curled over and 7 blasted wide after excellent work by 31. Scunthorpe's passing was suddenly looking wayward and it seemed they'd lost focus. The only real threat was 15 who looked like he might have some pace about him. Wigan kept forging chances, and the impressive 31 hit wide after a mazy run, while Scunthorpe scrambled another effort off the line. The home side responded for the last few minutes, s29 just failing to connect with a cross and s15 firing straight at the away keeper. The final chance fell to s9 who could only head over. Either team could have won this game in the end, but it ended in near-stalemate. I headed back to the car and after waiting for 10 minutes of so for traffic to clear, edged my way out of the ground and back to Sheffield. I was in just after 6pm, ideal on a January evening.