Silkstone United 0-3 AFC Dronfield

I've time to kill at Worksop railway station. It would be rude not to partake in an alcoholic beverage at The Mallard, a micropub that is located in the front car park. I enjoy a real ale from Marble Brewery, who are based in Manchester. I jump on my connecting train to Nottingham. A bald-headed guy emerges into the carriage from the automatic doors in Hucknall. It's Tony Mac, who I'm out with this evening in Nottingham city centre.

We enjoy a few real ales in some of our favourite haunts: Cock and Hoop,  Keans Head and Barrel Drop before the main event at Rock City. The band begins to tune up as we wander into the main room. It's the 40th anniversary of the formation of Leeds-based indie band, The Wedding Present. There have been mixed reviews of previous gigs on the WhatsApp group I'm on, with a few of the Carlton Town lads. Lead singer, Dave Gedge, has been known to be a tad moody and grumpy. It's a fantastic 100 minutes set, with all their songs being played in chronological order, but in reverse. I notice Drurs and Jude to my left. They are with 'Skid Widdow' a Gedling Miners Welfare season ticket holder. We retire for a nightcap back at The Barrel Drop on Hurts Yard.

We have a quiet one on Sunday. Ms Moon and I have breakfast up at The Old Flower Shop, on Mapperley Top. It has a lovely ambience and nice feel about the place. The food is always presented thoughtfully and the service is top drawer.

It's Tuesday evening and I'm walking down Burton Road with a tray of fish and chips, courtesy of Oceans. I was going to try Apollo Fish Bar for a change but the owners are away on holiday at the moment. Stoke Lane is tonight's destination. Carlton Town are playing catch up in the League after their FA Cup and FA Trophy runs have come to an end.

I'm met with a few sarcastic comments in the clubhouse as I haven't been down for a while. If I'm honest I'm not that fussed with the move from East League to Midlands League. It's better for the players, management and fans from a travel perspective, but in my opinion, as a spectator, the teams at Step 4 are much stronger in Yorkshire, Lancashire and the North East. Not to mention the superior grounds that are steeped in history and proper grass.

Lou Lardi asks Peter Shearstone, his carer, Dylan, NFFC legend Ian Storey Moore and myself to pose for a photo. Carlton have some of the coolest fans on the Non League circuit who are often ahead of the curve when it comes to innovation. Dan Thorpe has come up with the idea of a vinyl night event down at the club on Friday 31st October that's called: 'The Shed End Presents.' Folk are being encouraged to bring some of their own record collection down and maybe tell a short story about it before playing a few tracks. A local band called Pretty Windows will be playing a session too. 

Tonight's visitors are Shepshed Dynamo, a club I have very fond memories of. When I lived in Keyworth, the Big Man and I had a mate called Iain Screaton who was captain. We followed them home and away for a while. The game bursts into life on 44 minutes when Shepshed take the lead. The Millers reply immediately with an alert Lamin Manneh nipping around the keeper, steadying himself before stroking the ball into an empty net.

The second half truly is a magnificent game of football. The Millers boss the first 20 minutes and take the lead through Hylton. Back come Dynamo who camp themselves in the Carlton half. It's only down to a virtuoso performance from 'Felix the Cat' in the nets that sees the Millers over the line. He has the game of his life. Well played son. There's a spring in my step on the long walk home. It's amazing what 90 minutes of sport and a night out can do to improve your mental health and well being.

I meet my lads (Jack and Joe) for tea on Thursday evening at a Wetherspoons called the Trent Bridge Inn in West Bridgford. It's mostly football chat as they still both play for their village team. I enjoy some sticky Korean chicken.  I wave the lads off and head upstairs in the pub to a room I was last in on 8th February 1985, where I celebrated with friends and family my 21st birthday.

Tonight is the first meeting of the Notts Cricket Lovers Society and it promises to be an emotional one. In April 2015, 26 year old Notts and England cricketer James Taylor had the world at his feet. He was warming up in the field prior to the opening session of a friendly versus Cambridge University. His world fell apart in the blink of an eye and he was never to play professional cricket again. He was carried from the field and was diagnosed with a serious heart condition. The room full of cricket enthusiasts falls in silence as Taylor describes his journey from that day forward. What an incredibly brave bloke he is. He gets a rousing round of applause.

Ms Moon and I have a few after work drinky poos in the Woodthorpe Top. I'm no fan of 'Spoons head honcho, Tim Martin, but I do enjoy ordering drinks on their app, particularly when the bar is knee deep with customers. Both our orders arrive in under three minutes.

I'm out of the house by 10 o'clock on Saturday morning. I walk down to the bottom of Carlton Hill and take a right turn towards Netherfield. I admire the war memorials on the high street as I head to my meeting point of Lidl, across the road from Victoria Retail Park.

Blog 'Jolly Boy' Matt Limon swings into the car park. He has Greatest Hits radio on as we head up towards Junction 27 of the M1 through the back roads of Papplewick and Linby. Limon and I were both brought up in Keyworth where our paths never crossed as I'm 8 years older. Bizarrely we actually connected in the Partizan Tavern, in Sneinton, through our mutual love for ales.

If Matt was to appear on Mastermind his specialist subject would be Beef Dripping Fish and Chip Shops in the U.K. George-a-Green Fisheries, just outside Wakefield, is where luncheon will be taken. There's a queue snaking out of the chip shop door. Limon shows true chip shop queue craft. He shouts out to the chief fryer that he wants a two foot fish special. I wolf down my smaller portion, enjoying every mouthful. I would rate it as the best I've ever had.

We wash it down with a couple of drinks at pubs called Anvil Arms and Darton Tap, in a village on the outskirts of Barnsley. I make a pig's ear out of navigating to the ground. We end up at a disused park that was formally the home of Silkstone Miners Welfare. The ground is tucked away behind a petrol station at the bottom of Barnsley Road. It's shared with the cricket club.

We perch ourselves on the summit of a steep grass bank. A change of colours to all the trees behind the far goal gives it a picturesque setting. AFC Dronfield are the visitors. It's my second viewing of them in the last 8 days. They're going to think I'm stalking them.

Dronfield continue their recent good form. They score two superbly taken goals either side of half time. A melee on the far side ruins the game. I didn't think they did handbags up here and neither does an overzealous referee. The two number 4 jackets are sent to the dressing room, as is a player who has just been subbed. A Red card is shown to him as he's sat on a stool. We're on the M1 by 4 pm. You can't beat a 2 pm kick off.

Attendance: 25 (Head count)

Player of the Match: Felix the Cat

Best Song Heard On The Radio This Week: 'I Don't Blame You' Tom A. Smith

Real Ale of the Week: Snake Eyes, Black Iris, King Billy, Sneinton