Sophie had suggested we go and watch Sileby play tonight at the O.N. Chenecks ground, on the Billing Road, in Northampton. I don't think Keith was too keen, but he agreed, so we decided to have beef and salad rolls before the game rather than eat dinner at home.
When Sophie came home, she made the baps for us, and we left at 6:30pm, as parking is notoriously bad at the ground. It's the main home of Old Northamptonians Rugby Club, and the Boys' School is opposite, so we weren't surprised when we arrived to see only a few spaces. I just felt lucky to get one! The car park was chaos!
We sat and ate our rolls in the car and then went in search of the bar. Keith paid £21 for us to see the match, and we asked a grumpy man selling soft drinks and sweets where the bar was. It was up a set of iron steps, with views over the pitches, and was busy with what looked like a committee meeting in progress, and a gathering of pupils from the school across the road stuffing themselves with pizza while their parents looked on.
There was an unappetising aroma of sweaty jockstrap lingering in the clubroom and lots of beefy men wearing club ties. It was all very cliquey! Keith ordered a pint of lager, while Sophie and I had halves of Guinness, and we sat at one of the tables. I contented myself with people-watching while Keith and Sophie watched football on a large screen in front of us.
At 7:45pm, the match between ON Chenecks and Sileby kicked off, and we went down to the pitch. Both Keith and Sophie disappeared to the loo, while I attracted the attention of an old man who asked if I'd ever played football... er, no! He then proceeded to try to tell me his life story, but thankfully, I was rescued by my family, who bore me off to the stand! Phew!
Keith said he felt seriously cold, so Sophie and I sat on either side of him to try to warm him up. There was a nasty, bitterly cold wind blowing, and I looked at the players wearing tee-shirts and shorts and shuddered!
Unfortunately, the game wasn't very good, and Keith said that one of the best players was missing this evening. In front of us, one of the Sileby coaches constantly screamed at the players, shouting, "Compact it!" and "Bodies around!" throughout the first half! He also kept referring to one of the players as "Shag", which was a bit disconcerting! When he screamed, "Quality, Shag!" I wondered what on earth he was referring to!
A few of Keith's cronies were present, and they all agreed that the performance was dire. We decided to leave at half-time as Keith was clearly freezing, and the match was so bad, it wasn't worth staying! We thankfully returned to the car, cranked the heating up high and drove home!
We were lucky to catch a great show on BBC2 with Katya Adler in Europe. It was a real treat to see her in Berlin and visiting the Russian Memorial in Treptower Park!
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