Well after the Derby debacle it was back to London to play the bottom side. Coventry had narrowly avoided relegation last season and their 'reward' was the forced sale of 11 players. As you would expect they are struggling big time this season. West Ham were welcoming back 4 players including Kevin Nolan, their mid field goal scoring captain and had a couple more having their 1st starts after injuries. So the signs were good.
Left the car in Nantwich and caught the early (and cheap) train down to London. Had some time to kill before our early 12pm check in (which cost £10). Wasn't sure how to kill a couple of hours near Euston so we hopped on another magical mystery bus (I.e. the 1st red double decker to come along) which turned out to be Marble Arch. Rode it to the end and back again. Still time left, so quick walk in the sun at a nearby park and off to check in@ London City Rd Travel Lodge near Old Street tube. Boom Shaka Laka and we were out the door and on our way to the match.
It was another full house at home thanks to kids for a quid. I had been planning to superstitiously follow the same pre match routine as the home victory against Barnsley but when the line at Duncan's pie & mash was out the door and down the road 50m we threw superstition under the bus & headed to the chippy near the tube.
Quickly grabbed a match badge from Al and into the ground. Good seats about 8 rows back behind the goal. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your preference) everybody again stood up which is not so good for height challenged Ben or Carole. Normally Ben stands on his seat for some of it and I hold him up for brief periods but Ben pushed his luck and moved into the aisle then slowly down to the front where he stood & watched with the disabled supporters & the stewards. On a different day with more experienced stewards he'd have been sent packing sharpish but kiddie charm works sometimes.
To the game itself and we were much better. Unfortunately their keeper had a blinder and kept us out for the 1st half which was a shame since it would have been good to score right in front of us. The 2nd half brought more of the same and just when we were thinking Coventry would steal a point, Capt Kev popped up and headed in to 35,000 sighs of relief. Coventry chucked everyone forward near the end and we rode our luck to close out a much needed 3 points. Even better were the other results with leaders Southampton losing 3 nil at home and Middlesborough (who had slipped ahead of us into 2nd on the table) also losing 3-0 at home. So back to 2nd and equal top for the rip roaring hammers who hopefully have left the poor spell behind them and can now push on to guarantee one of the 2 automatic promotions back into the Premier League.
The next morning we had a few hours before our return journey on the train so we headed off to Lilly Whites sports superstore where we got Ben some new football boots (pretty swish, just ask him!) and also a quick look round Hamley's famous toy store.
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