A
disgustingly early start on a Saturday usually means one thing, an away day!
It was a misty morning as I pulled into the car park at The Abbey, ahead of a long bus journey to Wigan. I always take a moment to look over the glorious Abbey pitch and reflect on all of the great, and not so great memories, that I have of here.
I then headed round to the front of the ground, met a couple of mates and at 08:30 we were off! I immediately got my pre made coffee on the go!
Once we were roughly over half way there we stopped at the ever tedious Norton Canes services. Here we were joined by supporters of Manchesters United and City, Brighton, Oxford and Barnet (including Barnet’s team). It was packed and has few options for refreshments. A coffee and hash brown from a well known American chain followed:
Back on the road we hit the traffic. We moved at a snails place into Wigan, past two fire safety firms opposite a discount fireworks shop….
We arrived to the ground at approximately 14:00, meaning there wasn’t time for pub.
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| Not the most photogenic of stadiums |
We decided to head straight inside the DW Stadium. The welcome was friendly and there were no queues to get in. Climbing a few flights of stairs presented us with a very grey concourse:
No queues for the bars, which double up as food outlets. Beer options weren’t great, so I braved a Carling and meat pie for £8. I seemed to cause chaos amongst the catering staff when I asked where the forks were. In the end, after having two people stand blinking at me, a fork was obtained.
I had expected the North West to have good pies. The pie on my previous trip up to this area, Bolton, was a poor effort. This pie was an improvement. The filling was piping hot and tasty but the crust was dry and bland. 4/10. Pies in packaging don’t seem to be winners.
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| A Beer Moose in its natural away day habitat. |
We the made our way into the stand. It was unreserved seating, yay!
The view was great and there was adequate leg room!
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| Wigan’s mascot is a pie, but not one in a packet. |
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| A screen showing the match live throughout the game, with highlights also shown. |
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| The teams emerge |
I’m not going to write an in depth match report, if you want that then I recommend you check out Under The Abbey Stand.
The U’s were unchanged from their last league outing and it was a shame to not see Adam May on the bench. We start the brightest before having to ride our luck as Wigan hit the post and had an effort cleared off line. That brought an end to the first half. A poor spell in the second half gave Wigan a 2-0 lead. Wigan’s first was a goal of real quality. Their second however, was a lesson in how not to defend from us..
We pulled one back through Fejiri from the spot but ultimately could not find an equaliser. It was however a positive reaction to going behind. The U’s fought hard to try and force an equaliser and point that we deserved.
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| The U’s post scoring |
473 U’s fans made the trip to the North West and were loud as ever. The home atmosphere was a near MK Dons level of silence. Until Wigan went 2-0 up and suddenly they started singing. Wigan are also a club which use goal music. Frankly, I find this tragic and have no idea why a club like Wigan need it. After all, they did eventually demonstrate how loud they can be.
Walking out the ground we spoke to some Wigan fans who were very complimentary of the U’s. A pleasant bunch indeed.
It was then time to make the long trek home. We stopped Keele services which also had Manchester United, Brighton and Plymouth fans. Keele was nicer than where we stopped in the morning.
We arrived back to Cambridge at around 22:00.
Cambridge game: 499. 23/92.
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