This weeks Fan Match Report comes from Ken Hullock, from our London Branch Supporters' Club. For more information on the London Branch, including Membership benefits and social activities, click HERE.
Saturday morning dawned bright and clear for a change so I immediately had a good feeling about the day. As we'd never won at Huddersfield (in the League) a good, solid draw was the prediction.
Kings Cross station was awash with the colours of rugby league fans on their way to Wembley. It is 30 years since my last Rugby League game and first visit to Wembley, a superb Challenge Cup Final where Leeds edged out St Helens with a brilliant 2nd half comeback.
My last visit to Wembley was on Wednesday where the London Branch flag flew proudly, albeit tucked away out the view of cameras because of the stewards' petty rules about where flags can be hung. The anticipation of seeing the Blues again though exceeded that of Wednesday night's fairly meaningless friendly. It was also over 30 years since I'd been to Huddersfield and, as the Galpharm was the only new ground I could get to this season, an extra incentive was added to the trip.
The train was packed. Although the travelling Blues had seats booked in different parts of the train, Al soon persuaded someone that they didn't want to listen to football chatter all the way to Leeds so we were able to sit together for the whole journey. After the usual exchange of pleasantries with the Bournemouth fans on the train ('Who are you playing today?' - 'How many will you take?', etc), we settled down to Simon Clarkson's texted quiz. Sample questions - who in the current squad has scored most goals for Carlisle and who has made most appearances as sub? I got them both wrong!
Our constant football banter, interspersed by the occasional 'interesting' railway statistic from Diesel Dicky Davidson, proved too much for the passengers in front of us and we were asked to give it a rest for an hour. Needless to say we didn't. It helped pass the time and, after a smooth change in Leeds we were soon sampling the range of ales in the Head of Steam by Huddersfield station.
The Galpharm must be one of the most impressive grounds in the division and it didn't disappoint; we had an excellent view from the back of the stand almost directly behind the goal, and the helpful stewards (not something you hear often) sorted out where we could display the flag.
It soon became apparent we were better than Huddersfield so it was no surprise when we scored after about half an hour. Because it was down the far end I didn't see who put it in the net after the ball had pinballed around in the penalty area. Nobody around seemed to know either. I found out by text from Howard listening on the radio back in Carlisle, so at least Derek had got it right, and then the chants of 'Danny Livesey' provided a bit of a clue. After 10 more minutes of Carlisle domination Joe Garner sneaked in at the near post and headed in one of our rare goals direct from a corner. Rubbish marking but 2-0 up at half-time exceeded expectations and it was no more than we deserved.
I was pleased Matty Glennon received generous applause from the Carlisle faithful as he took up his position and although he wasn't tested as much as he was in the first half, Keiren was barely troubled either until Booth had an opportunity in time added-on which he wasted. The referee's whistle then sent the 1000 or so Cumbrians away happy.
It had been an excellent performance and, although some thought that it was a poor Huddersfield team, they could only play as well as we allowed them to. The only disappointment was to hear that Leyton Orient had also secured all 3 points so we weren't top of the division. We'll leave that for another day.
No player had been lacking on the day but I'll single out a couple. Raven had once again put in an excellent performance in the centre of defence and, if we continue like this, Murph will struggle to come straight back into the side. My man of the match was Bridge-Wilkinson though, for the second week in a row. He looks like a really good acquisition, running the show in the middle of the pitch. Maybe we won't miss Murray as much as people thought.
Having got the beers in to celebrate on the return journey, we arrived in Leeds to find out that our train back to London had been cancelled. Can you believe that signal cabling gets stolen because of the value of copper and that it had been lifted somewhere between Leeds and Doncaster? The prospect of a night in Leeds at GNER's expense had its attractions, but the notion was soon dispelled when we were asked to move to the other side of the station to pick up the minibuses that had been hired to take us to Doncaster.
We arrived in Doncaster with enough time to locate the Railway for a swift pint before boarding the next London train to stand up all the way back. We weren't complaining though. It had been a great day out and left us looking forward with even more anticipation to the next 'awayday' to Bournemouth.
Ken Hullock
London Branch
Quiz answers: Lummy and Hackers
