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Match Review
Match Number: 517
Date: Saturday 15th March 2008
Kick-Off: 3:00pm
Match: Swindon Town 2 Carlisle United
2
Competition: Coca-Cola Football League One
Stadium: County Ground
Attendance: 6,004 (573)
Stadium Stats
No. of visits to stadium: 1
Total no. of stadiums visited: 94
Programme and Ticket
Photos
Review
Travel to match
Method of Travel: Car
Travelling time: 3hrs 45mins
We were supposed to leave Carlisle at 7:15am but my mate Gary slept in so we ended up leaving just before 8am and made the short trip down the M6 to Penrith to meet with Raymond and Degsy who drove. Leaving Penrith at 8:25am we arrived at Swindon at 11:55am. We didn't stop on the way down and the roads were fairly quiet so it was a good journey down. We even survived the magic roundabout!
Pre-Match
After parking up at the club car park behind the town end we had a walk
around the ground and actually walked into it via the open gate into the
Stratton Bank. We then headed into town for food and drink at Wetherspoons
(The Groves Company Inn) before walking back to the County Ground
which was only a fifteen minute walk away. The town centre was ok, though
you wouldn't want to spend long there.
Stadium
X
Admission
It was £18.00 for a ticket in the Arkells Stand which offers old
style seat and a restricted view! Thankfully though we were able to move
further up the stand so our view of the goal at the Town End of the ground
wasn't blocked.
Programme
£3.00 for 76 pages- a top quality programme from Swindon and in
the top 5 that I've read this season.
Food and Drink
After eating earlier at Wetherspoons I didn't try anything at the ground.
The Game
The match finished all square which wasn't really a fair reflection of
the game as Swindon should have won easily. Our goalkeeper Westwood made
at least five top quality saves in the first half which kept the score
level and then in second half we came out a looked much better.
Home Fans
The Swindon fans in our stand didn't sing at all, although a few behind
the goal and in the stand opposite tried to make a little bit of noise.
Away Fans
573 made the long trip which was a reasonable following for such a distance,
and also the atmosphere was good at times it wasn't anything special.
Stewards / Police
There was very few police around and the stewards were fine and didn't
bother either set of fans.
The Ref
I thought the referee had a good game, although there was probably a penalty
decision for Swindon which most referee's would have awarded.
The Journey Home
Travelling time: 4hrs 55mins
Getting out of the car park was fairly easy although the traffic around the town was fairly heavy. Thanks to the satellite navigation which tried to take us home via the M4 and Bristol we headed south for thirty minutes before realising it's mistake! To break up the journey and to feed our stomach's we pulled in Frankley Services on the M5 at for a Burger King. The service here was slow and with no food ready to be served we only got away at 7:10pm, and further frustration was felt when we found out the M6 was closed between junction 32 and 33. This meant a de-tour via Preston and Garstang which again added at least forty minutes onto the journey. However not to mind as we were entertained on the radio with Mika, Boy George and Phil Collins!
Finally arriving at Penrith at 10:10pm and a toilet break there we were back home for 10:50pm.
Statistics
Travel: £15.00
Ticket: £18.00
Programme: £3.00
Total: £36.00
Mileage: 538 miles
Travelling time: 8hrs 40mins
Stadium character: 8/10
Facilities: 6/10
View of pitch: 7/10
Atmosphere home fans: 2/10
Atmosphere away fans: 5/10
Match Rating: 8/10
Wish to go back to stadium: 8/10
Photos
