Notts County 2-1 Burton Albion

I peg it to Derby train station from Pride Park after a 2-2 thriller. Cardiff City were going to win the game, but 'Magic Man Moylan' and skipper Rubin Colwill limped off injured. I'm fortuitous to catch the 5.18 from 'The Sheep Dip', over 'The Cattlegrid' and back to 'The Queen of the East Midlands.'  In Brew Cavern I quaff a mango, banana, coconut crumble cake (it's a craft ale) from the Scottish brewery, Vault City.

It's Sunday morning and I enjoy a lie in, as I don't work weekends any more, unless the Mick McMurdoch media empire is short-staffed. Ms Moon and I dine at an independent restaurant in the minster and market town of Southwell. This is a place that was rumoured to be where former Spurs, Arsenal, and England international, Sol Campbell, was house-hunting during his ill-fated spell at Notts County during the Munto Finance scam in 2009.

Sage serve up a mouth-watering Sunday roast. The beef is pink and the roast spuds are dripping in fat. I give them a five star review on google. Some posh, entitled customer gives them a scathing review after a vegetarian meal goes belly up (obvs not pork). We were at the same sitting and I don't recall any commotion. Some folk, eh?

It's Tuesday evening and I'm locking up the shop on Front Street, in Arnold. I've time on my hands as the Gedling Miners Welfare v Clifton All Whites Cup game doesn't kick off until 7.45 pm. I decide to have a stroll up to Mapperley Top, a vibrant, elevated high street awash with multi-cultural restaurants. 

I've had easier walks in the Lake District or on Steep Hill in Lincoln. I'm proud not to be short of breath, but admit that my calves are aching as I gingerly open the front door of the Bread and Bitter Castle Rock pub, a former bakery that's nestled away on Woodthorpe Drive. 

I enjoy half a pint of Laze, from Beak Brewery as I peruse the bar food menu. It's a bit too hot for sausage and mash, so I opt for another English classic: ham, egg and chips. It's a short walk away to Gedling's ground. I say hello to a few committee members. The team has a young feel to it, with a finger-in-the-air guess that 21 is the average age of the starting line up.

I'm very fond of the opposition (Clifton) as my son played Sunday and under 19 football there. I helped coach at All Whites. There were some great people at the club who gave up their time and volunteered like: Sean Cochrane-Smith, John McNicholas and James 'Tosh' Turner - they all helped develop my boy, Joe, from a child, to a boy and then a young man - I thank them all for that.

Clifton have an experienced spine that sees them home and dry, well before the final whistle is blown. There's plenty to be excited about with Gedling's display. They have some gifted youngsters who will benefit from game time this evening. 

I'm not a big TV fan. To be honest I don't get much of a look-in with Ms Moon's soap operas: Below Deck, Four in a Bed and Place in the Sun. An advert on Facebook has caught my eye (the good one). The Murder Detectives documentary has been 7 years in the making. It's a complex, high-risk investigation into the murder of journalist Lyra McKee.

The opening part of episode one begins in the Creggan area of Londonderry, in Northern Ireland. Reggie Yates, an egotistical, supposed documentary maker, better remembered as a lightweight Radio 1 DJ, is on the streets of Derry during a riot. The aftermath of this is that shots are fired and a young journalist is gunned down. The family of the deceased are angry and point the finger at Yates and his entourage for inciting the riot. The following two episodes should be an interesting watch.

 

On Friday morning I'm in YOLK, a coffee shop and that allows you to build up your own egg breakfast. It's located on Goosegate, in Hockley, a fashionable part of Nottingham city centre. It's a short walk to Nottingham railway station where Mac and I board an EMR train to Derby. I've bought a bargain £26 open return ticket to Royal Leamington Spa. It's where the World champion boxer Randolph Turpin was born. There's a statue of him in Warwick.

Tony Mac and I meet up with 'Chopper Harris' at a 'Spoons called Benjamin Satchwell (why not Randolph Turpin?) We move onto the Boiler Room, adjacent to the old Baths. We jump on a train to Warwick where we wander down a footpath to the 'pub of the day' - Cape of Good Hope, a canal side watering hole. We enjoy a pint in the warm sunshine as boats pull in for refreshment.

There's no time for a visit to nearby Kenilworth as there is too much on offer in Warwick. The craft ale selection at Thirsty Bear and Craftsman is off the charts. There's a comedy moment on the train back. Mac wakes me from my slumber and gets me off onto the platform. The station is New Street and not Derby, where we are due to change. You stupid boy, Mac.

I have my usual £5 bet on three away wins on Saturday morning. I fancy 'The Lincoln' at Bolton as the Trotters were awful when I watched them last season. I've a doctor's appointment early doors - don't worry I'm not going anywhere yet. Blur are on the NHS dukey as my name is called out. 

I finish up at Tesco for a few bits 'n bobs. I have to fetch my own basket from self service, which always gets my back up. For God's sake I've misplaced my debit card. I settle up the shopping bill on Apple Pay and turn the house upside down on my return. I can't find the chuffing thing. I report it as a lost card. Fancy losing your card on a Bank Holiday weekend.

Ms Moon drops me off at the bottom of Carlton Road. I walk up London Road in showery conditions. The Magpies fans, hanging outside Hooters chicken restaurant, are celebrating an Alexander Isak equaliser for Liverpool against Nottingham Forest at Anfield.

I'm sitting a few rows above the Burton Albion dugout. The Brewers have had an excellent start to the season as have The Pies. Notts are in the hunt for a striker to help support Moneyball Aussie signing, Luka Smyth, who has arrived from the Finnish League. Number one target was Michael Mellon, but he has signed for Stevenage. They have also been linked with young Charlton striker Daniel Kanu who bagged 17 goals for Walsall last season.

Notts are sluggish in the opening 45 minutes and play without an orthodox striker. In comparison Burton look slick, particularly down their left hand side. They score a beautifully crafted goal. The only bright spark for Notts is the debut of 18 year old Rory Finneran on loan from Newcastle. He's comfortable on the ball with a good range of passing. 

There's a touching moment on ten minutes when both sets of supporters stand to applaud Quevin Castro who died two weeks ago whilst playing football in Portugal. He represented both clubs and was only 25 years old.

I love the County manager Martin Paterson. His after-match interviews are a joy to behold. He has taken some stick from the noisy, travelling support, as he had a short spell in charge at Burton. Smyth is introduced to the game at the break. County are all over Burton like a rash. The boy from Palace, Mustapha is having a field day now the shackles are off. Tsaroulla floats a peach of a cross in, Smyth leaps like a salmon and guides a header home.

Burton are on the ropes. They have tactically fouled for most of the game and have been given the benefit of the doubt too many times by referee, Kirsty Dowle.  Curtis Tilt has been on borrowed time and has had more lives than a cat. He shoves Smyth to the ground and is shown a straight Red. Smyth buries his spot kick. The Kop End have a new idol.

It's too much for Burton manager Gary Bowyer; apparently a good man off the pitch. He enjoyed some good-natured banter with the crowd earlier in the game. But he's proper frothing at the mouth now and being a right mardy bum. He petulantly refuses a Paterson handshake at the final whistle. He ushers his players and coaching staff away from the referee before chasing the official down the tunnel.

Attendance: 11,701 (1,138 away fans)

Man of the Match: Luka Smyth

Best Song Heard on the Radio: Bjork, Hidden Place

Best Beer Supped: Azvez. Sleeping Beauty Problem. In Warwick.

Derby County 2-2 Cardiff City

I've enjoyed the summer break under the calm, crystal clear blue skies and sweltering conditions. I've spent most of my time either crouched under the air conditioning unit (set at 16 degrees) at MSR Newsagents, in Arnold, where the Monster energy drinks have been flying out of the door, or sat in the garden, downing craft ales, planning trips, reading books and planning the book I'll finally write.

I've made more memories with journeys to Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, London, Southport, New Brighton, Accrington, Blackburn, Burnley, Colne, Clitheroe, Darwen, the Peak District, Sheffield, London and Louth. The trip to East Lancashire with Tony Mac was a belter - I loved the mural of Vincent Kompany, and of course we swung by the Royal Dyche, a watering hole close to Burnley's Turf Moor ground.

Attention has turned to football, after another cricket season has been spent slouched in my seat behind the bowler's arm in the Lower Radcliffe Road End, at Trent Bridge, home to Super Notts.

I've already watched a couple of games up at Gedling Miners Welfare's Plains Road ground - they were given a reprieve and remain in the United Counties League after a miserable second half to the season. I travelled over to the old mining village of Cotgrave last Saturday to watch Gedling exit the FA Vase following a 4-1 defeat to a West Bridgford side who caught my eye with their pace and clinical finishing. I enjoyed a couple of pints of cider in the Welfare after the game with my good friend Jon Gilbert.

It's Sunday morning and Jenko is waiting for me outside my house in Carlton. We cross over the water towards the south of the county. We head through the villages of Edwalton and Tollerton - my two lads play Sunday morning football for the latter. Jenko turns off the A606 Melton Road into the upmarket village of Normanton-on-the-Wolds. It has a population of just over 250.

Seventeen lads, mainly from Keyworth, where we all grew up, are gathered in an upstairs room of the award-winning Plough Inn. In 1992, my mate Ackers and I set up the Keyworth Dream League (in new money a fantasy football league). We stopped doing it when we all got busy with work and bringing up our children. Like a phoenix from the flames it rose from the ashes, back in 2024.

I've worked on an A-Z list of over 600 players from England, Scotland, France, Germany, Spain and Italy, complete with a three year goalscoring record. The auction lasts for three hours. It's ferocious, aggressive and good fun. We share a few pints afterwards before I finish up basking in the afternoon sunshine outside the Brew Cavern in Sneinton Market.

Faggsy and I stroll down Burton Road on Tuesday evening as we head towards Stoke Lane. Carlton Town are playing Coleshill Town in the Northern Premier Midlands League. The Millers did a 'Devon Loch' at the fag end of last season, falling on the final straight with the winning post in sight. Not gaining promotion after accumulating 90 points was a bitter pill to swallow. I was gutted for the die hard fans.

It all began to unravel on a stormy, windswept night in late March, when a 12 goal swing was gifted to title rivals Anstey. They never recovered from that dreadful horror show; finally losing out in the play-offs on penalties to Racing Club Warwick. A lad, drafted in, who missed a penalty, had never even kicked a ball for the club all season. A penny for the thoughts of those players sat on the bench that evening.

Key personnel have left for pastures new. The one that hurts and saddens me the most is the departure of club legend Dan Brown, who has signed for Barwell. I'll miss his dad too; we all will! Player of the season Ewan Robson has penned a contract with Alfreton Town. Rumours are rife that crowd favourite Lamin Manneh will be plying his trade in the National League North. Add to that a 5-0 drubbing in the West Midlands last Tuesday and a 2-0 reverse to Nuneaton at home last Saturday. No wonder there's a nervousness about the place as I greet a few folk I've not seen for a while.

We stroll over to the far side of the ground to view the game from 'The Malc Brown Stand. Not much is happening in the first half. Coleshill are quite direct, whilst at least the Millers try and get it down and play.

Former Stag, Jason Law, settles the uneasy feeling of the crowd with a fine strike to put the Millers ahead on 48 minutes. A flurry of chances arrive but are spurned and wasted.  Coleshill, themselves, will wonder how they didn't equalise as the Carlton defence lives a charmed life. They are in debt to 'keeper Dan Jezeph in the nets who makes a series of saves and blocks. There's a crazy end to the game when the Coleshill stopper is caught high up the pitch. He commits a professional foul and is shown a straight Red. He loses his head. Another Red is brandished with further disciplinary action bound to be taken. 

The Daily Mail readers in the shop are apocalyptic with rage on Wednesday morning when I point out to each customer at the counter that the artist formerly known as Prince Harry is to return to the U.K. I love it when Harry tips up in St Ann's, (an inner city part of Nottingham, that has its social problems) to see how the projects he has funded are progressing; just like his mum, Princess Diana, used to, back in the 1980's, when she visited our city.

It's Friday morning and I'm on the train to Lincoln. I noticed the glass recycling bin hadn't been emptied by Gedling Borough Council AGAIN. I keep my voice down as I have a whinge and a moan to a dippy customer service representative. Can I wait until the next collection? No, I can't. She clearly hasn't seen how many bottles of Prosecco Ms Moon and her daughter Becky can pot on a sesh.

I wander down Dixon Street to the birthplace of my father, it always cheers me up. I sup a couple of pints before returning to Nottingham. I sink a pint of Quiet Heartbeat, a hazy pale cask ale, from the Pentrich stable, at the Cock and Hoop on High Pavement.

I'm worn out folks, as up to yesterday I'd worked 13 out of the last 14 days, including a 9 day stretch of 3 a.m. alarm calls - stop moaning Sticky. MSR legend 'Chippy Fryer' is on long-term sick following a complex ankle fusion operation - get well soon pal. I wake to the sound of glass being emptied by GBC,

I fancy some Football League action. Tickets for Lincoln will be tricky to come by this season. Derby v Cardiff catches my eye. Should be a good game, and Derby is a piece of cake to get to; well so I thought. Those buffoons at EMR announce a platform change for the 12.50 train to Derby. Minutes before the train arrives, it's cancelled. They have a list of excuses as long as my arm. Even their CEO has had enough and stood down. He arrived home to a burnt tea that night, as his train was delayed.

I'm now in the hands of the train gods - even worse than that I'm relying on bottom of the performance table perennial strugglers Cross Country Trains. It's a 20 minute stroll to Pride Park. I've paid £39 for my ticket in the West Stand Upper. I grab a Twix duo and a bottle of Coke Zero for £7.10 - half the price at MSR folks. 

The DJ is obviously playing what he wants to. Saturn 5 by Inspiral Carpets is the pick of the toons - it's quite random how he plays Squeeze and Scissor Sisters. I like Derby as a city and the folk are usually dead friendly, but I have the misfortune to be sitting next to a right miserable sod. He berates the referee, moans at the players and isn't too chuffed when I point out that the Rams should have been 3-0 up in the first six minutes.

The Bluebirds hit the bar after a shot is tipped onto the woodwork by their 'keeper. They take the lead shortly after with a close range finish from Ashford. Carlton Morris bundles his way through the visiting defence to restore parity. Ironically it's Morris who loses possession 70 yards up the pitch. Cardiff are like lightning on the break. Rubin Colwill sets up Salech for a simple finish. The travelling support are in fine voice and are winding up the Rams fans.

At the break I point out to misery guts sitting next to me that Rubin Colwill is running the show and Derby need to man mark him. The mardy sod turns his back on me and puts his headphones in. Ironically Special Brew by Bad Manners is blasting out of the PA system. I thought my man was going to bust a blood vessel when Salech scored Cardiff's second goal ..lol. The DJ plays an 80s classic, Dolce Vita by Ryan Paris. It's certainly an eclectic set.

Derby's best player, Bobby Clark, equalises early in the second half. It should set up a grandstand finish but Cardiff have to settle for a point following the substitutions of captain Colwill and 'Super Jack Moylan, their two most creative players; a key factor.

Attendance: 28,926

Man of the Match: Rubin Colwill

Best Beer: Year 6, Vault City, at Brew Cavern

Favourite Song on the Wireless: Hercules and Love Affair, My Journey

Credit Slacky and Steve Mac for the photos. Thanks Lads.