Dear Diary...

This is my diary. How things are. Or something. Please note that the diary is archived month by month, so feel free to click the links for the archives (which now will go back five years maximum):

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2020


Sunday 11th January - Ally Pally Action

I was going to peruse a couple of car boot sales today as I had some time at home, but then thought about the potential of going to the Masters snooker at Alexandra Palace, which starts today. The tickets had been a little too expensive per session which is why I did not apply for the early session prices at this time last year - the tickets generally go on sale a year up front. I did note however that See Tickets were starting to handle resales - fan to fan ones apparently, where World Snooker had realised that the way that the Crucible handle these was a better way to go. The method used here wasn't as good as such but did offer some price options at least in terms of what you would pay.

And.. lo and behold! I checked for the 1pm afternoon session, and a ticket was available in Row R in the yellow stand, and checking the seat map, I'd be looking down to the table side on between the baulk colours and blue spot, not bad at all. And the price? £30. That was actually less than the £39 face value of the ticket, and even taking into account the 12.5% resale fee See charged, that was still £33.75 in all and less. So it was purchased, and a few minutes later an email came with a PDF to save to the phone to have it scanned (or print it out and take it). So I was off to the snooker.

I had worked out a train route, as normally I could go from East Croydon straight to Finsbury Park on Thameslink and change there for Great Northern to Alexandra Palace. Due to various works, that could not happen. However, my Plan B route still meant I would pay £4.40 each way on Oyster, which was to go to Farringdon, head across to the tube platforms and to Moorgate, and pick up Great Northern from there. At both Farringdon and Moorgate you can switch platforms without going through any barriers (the National Rail corridor between tube and train at Moorgate is a little hidden but I spotted it) and so it is classed as going the same way. Nice.

I walked up the hill from the station and with the wind howling a little, yes the view was nice but it was a bit nippy. All tickets and bags etc were being checked, and the doors opened a little late so the queue had built up. I did get in fine,and noted a couple of changes compared to previous years: apart from the Phoenix pub and one coffee place, all the other food and drink stalls were down the other end of the venue, and there were considerable queues. In addition, the entrance to the arena was now at this back end instead of the front, which took some getting used to. Nonetheless, some good tunes playing and the atmos was good, and eventually we were all called in to get to our seats.

My seat did have a good view as described on the seating plan, and Rob Walker got the crowd warmed up nicely before it went to the lovely Hazel Irvine fronting the coverage for BBC Two, with Steve Davis and Ken Doherty. Out came the two players for today: defending champion Shaun Murphy and the impressive young Chinese player Wu Yize, who had won his first ranking event a few months back. Shaun came out to the Trammmps' classic Disco Inferno (make that tune of the day) whilst Wu's big hair had Rob mentioning the biggest barnet (actual Barnet is not far from the venue!) and that went donw well with the masses. Game on, and some exciting snooker ahead.

And so it proved. Wu Yize did some good breaks in the first frame and although it took a couple of attempts, got over the line easily to win the opener. In the second frame, he soon was in the flow and managed a total clearance break (ie: all 15 reds, colours, and all the colours to clear) and that 137 was the first century of the tournament of course. The crowd were impressed, and when clearing up in the next frame he did a few naughty snooker Judd Trump type shots to go 3-0 up. Shaun Murphy did manage to pull one back before the mid-session interval and he definitely needed to!

I had just enough time at the interval to head to the loo (there were queues) and the bar queue was massive, so if I had stayed to get a drink I would have missed the first frame after the restart. I guess I could have gone into the Phoenix pub and got a takeout beer there which I might have to remember to do at some point. Anyway, glad I did not miss the fifth frame as after a miss from Murphy, Wu Yize did a nice clearance break from the final red onwards and snatched that frame on the back to go 4-1 up. It was for me a crucial one to win and with the next two frames being shared, it was 5-2 to Wu and could he handle that pressure to get over the line?

You bet he could! He was classy in the final frame and put together a quality break at the end after Murphy had missed, and I did think that let Wu in. He soon realised he would not need a tricky black off the cushion if he potted good value colours prior to the final balls, and that meant that the pink was enough for him to seal a well deserved 6-2 win and one which meant he would play the winner of Xiao Guodong and Mark Selby later, which I ended up watching on BBC Four tonight when I got home from Ally Pally. It was a grand day out and always good to see some live snooker!

Saturday 10th January - Ten Up

It was an early rise for me and it was good to be able to get myself ready for the day and out, heading off to Euston to get the train up to Manchester. It was the third round of the FA Cup today, which is always a magical weekend and one that will bring some shocks, but hopefully not for me as a Manchester City fan. We were playing Exeter City from League One, and they had sold out all 8,000 or so of their ticket allocation, and with the reduced ticket prices, it was a sell out around the ground. I think for a family with kids who want to go, this sort of game makes it affordable for everyone and that at least has to be a good thing.

The train before mine from Euston was delayed and that was the one that stopped at Macclesfield, so I did note plenty of Crystal Palace fans were waiting for that as their game was up there with a 12.15 kick off. My train was generally on time, and once at Manchester Piccadilly, it was straight on the tram to The Love In My Heart's place. She was out with a friend today but I kept Brian the cat company for a bit, and made sure he had some Dreamies too which he miaowed at me with happiness knowing I was treating him. It was good to have a coffee and be nice and cosy, and so could put on BBC One for Match of the Day.

And well, what a match too. Macclesfield beat Crystal Palace 2-1, and in terms of league position difference, some 117 places in all, so statistically, the biggest FA Cup shock. In fact, Macclesfield actually played really well. Their captain Paul Dawson led by example and his first challenge resulted in him having to go off for a head bandage - almost Pablo Zabaleta-like. It was no surprise he scored the opener with a great header from a free kick, and when the second goal went in from Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, Palace had already brought on some of their bigger players in an attempt to salvage. And despite a consolation free kick from Yeremy Pino, Macclesfield held firm, with Dawson fittingly having the last kick of the match. They deserved their win hugely, and with recent events meaning the loss of one of their players, a fitting tribute to him.

With that enjoyed, I headed over to the Etihad and was in good time for kick off. Manchester City were not going to make the same mistake Nottingham Forest had made last night against Wrexham (or Palace earlier) and named a strong starting line up including Erling Haaland, Rodri, Rayan Cherki, new signing Antoine Semenyo, Tijjani Reijnders, Nathan Ake, Abdukodir Khusanov and Rico Lewis. Respect given to Exeter City and showed what we'd do - get the game done, get the bigger names off once done, and not have to bring them on in a panic. That's the better way to do it in my view.

After a close call with Exeter City going close and a good save from James Trafford in goal too, Manchester City pressed forward, and after a couple of headers won by Ake and Haaland, the ball got to Max Alleyne in the area who managed to shoot off the post and just over the line - the goal line tech (which was allowed, whereas VAR is not until round five) beeped on the ref's watch and it was 1-0. Manchester City looked like they meant business and after Semenyo had his shot blocked, Rodri showed how it was done with both pace and accuracy shooting into the bottom corner, reminiscent of his equaliser against Aston Villa in the 3-2 title win game a few years back. I think he was pleased with that one!

Manchester City did score two more before half time, both of which were unfortunately for Exeter City, own goals. The first came from a Rayan Cherki corner where an attempted clearance came back off the defender's head, off the back of the leg of another defender and crept in to the corner. The second own goal was due to an attempt to intercept the cross from Reijnders, and unfortunately that just intercepted straight into the bottom corner. That maybe was harsh on Exeter City, but with the score 4-0 at half time, the changes would be made for Manchester City, primarily to keep players fit for the League Cup semi-final, so off went Haaland, Rodri and Ake and on came Divine Mukasa, Stephen Mfuni and Nico O'Reilly, meaning the latter would get a half after coming on against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Manchester City did not waste time at all and a gorgeous cross from the left from Semenyo was met by Rico Lewis, and a cross that Haaland would have relished to get on the end of, to make it 5-0. A great through ball found Semenyo, and he cut inside and slotted the ball past the keeper perfectly for the sixth. Not long after two more changes were made with Semenyo and Alleyne off for Jeremy Doku and Bernardo Silva, giving the former a good run out and an opportunity for more goals. Indeed, Doku was tormenting the Exeter City defence and he had three players round him, so released the ball to Reijnders who curled home a beauty for 7-0. The Manchester City fans started chanting "we want ten!" as they believed we could potentially do it.

Those chants grew louder as a good cross from Rico Lewis on the right was met perfectly by Nico O'Reilly with a superb precision header into the bottom corner. 8-0. Ten minutes plus stoppages left. And that then became 9-0 after Mukasa played a ball in from the left and Cherki dummied it, taking defenders out of the way so Ryan McAidoo could blast the ball home and score his first City goal, notably running to his parents who were sat by the corner flag to embrace and celebrate with them, which was lovely. He had played well all game down the right and was always willing to run at defenders, and take them on. Whilst it didn't always work he kept going and kept positive, and we appreciated that a lot, so super pleased he got one.

The fun and games was not quite over yet, as Exeter City had brought a number of subs on. After a good interception in midfield, the ball reached George Birch. He kept going, saw an opportunity and hit a screamer from 25 yards out right into the top corner. To be fair, it was a superb goal, and whilst the away supporters had something great to remember, many Manchester City fans applauded the finish - a quality strike like that deserves merit and it was notable that Cherki went up to him, applauded him and gave him a thumbs up in apprecation.

Manchester City then went up the other end and after a scramble to try and get the ball away, the ball ricocheted off Jeremy Doku to Rico Lewis and he smashed it into the roof of the net for.. 10-1. Yes, if the old vidiprinter was active now, you'd see that done like 10 (TEN) on there. It was the first time Manchester City had scored ten in a game at the Etihad (I was there for the 9-0 League Cup semi final win over Burton Albion, our previous best at the ground) and I was at Maine Road back in 1987 when City beat Huddersfield Town 10-1 in a Second Division (second tier as it was then) match with three players getting hat tricks. Impressive stuff, and certainly one to enjoy. The classic anthem of The Boys In Blue played at the end and had to be tune of the day.

I headed back into the city centre and ended up meeting up with The Love In My Heart and her friend for a drink in Terrace, which was lovely. I'd met her friend many times before and she is really nice, so it was good to be able to have a good natter and general catch up, and we got a cosy warm spot upstairs which was nice, as you could hear each other chatter and be able to enjoy the company. We walked back later so they could get the tram and me then off to Piccadilly for the train home, but it had been a very good and memorable day of football and nice to end it with some quality time too. Winning.

Sunday 4th January – Late Finish

It was an early rise for myself and The Love In My Heart as Little Miss E and Little Miss O had got themselves up and they were all full of the joys of Spring, despite it being very cold outside of course. In fact, they had both had a good sleep, and that was good to see. Once up, we got some books and toys all sorted and they were all enjoying having a good play in the morning. In fact, they had had some cereal when I got up and got showered, and later on also had some pancakes and fruit with some bacon as well. They seemed to all be happy and enjoying themselves which was nice to see.

In fact later on we were able to put on some episodes of Shaun the Sheep, which Little Miss E has got into recently, and later on then amused them both with Monsters University on Blu-Ray, as they both like the Mike Wazowski character. And being a big Pixar fan anyway, I do not mind that one bit of course – always good to encourage them. It was all good and they both had enjoyed their stay at their Nana’s, and when their mum came to collect them, they both gave me a hug when they left to say thank you, which was good. I think that it’s always a positive to be nice and the happiness I get back is just so lovely.

It was a nice quiet afternoon before I would be heading to the Etihad Stadium for the late kick off between Manchester City and Chelsea, so The Love and I settled in to watch The Traitors from last night, as she was settling the little ones to sleep and I was chatting online. No spoilers here of course, but it was interesting to see how the dynamic would soon be changing with one of the outcomes from the evening, as well as having another little twist along the way. Definitely for me there is plenty more to come and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. One of the songs used during this episode is tune of the day – a version of Natural Blues by Moby.

Over at the Etihad it was pretty cold and there had been no snow as yet, but there was some predicted for the game, and it did indeed come down during the first half. City pressed forward eventually after a slow start, and there were a few good chances, with Phil Foden shooting just wide and after a good ball from Rodri, Erling Haaland smacked the post. Eventually, just before half time,the ball went forward towards Haaland, the two defenders around him attempted to intercept, but the ball went left to Tijjani Reijnders, who took on the right back and smashed the ball into the top corner for 1-0, so that was a positive move all round.

Unfortunately, City could not get a second goal and as the second half went on, Chelsea did come back into the game and did have two close chances which brought some good saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma. As time wore on and City made some changes, it was clear that the chances we had to make it 2-0 needed to be taken, and some defending stopped the shots or blocked the crosses. Sadly when it got to stoppage time, the ball went down the right side an an accurate cross found Enzo Fernandez, who at the second time of asking put the ball home for 1-1. A check for VAR happened but sub Liam Delap was onside during the build up so the goal stood. A somewhat frustrating result all round but I suspected this would be the case due to us not killing the game off.

Saturday 3rd January – Little Misses and Catisseries

It was a leisurely lie in this morning after having had a quiet night in last night. The Love In My Heart had arranged to have both Little Miss E and Little Miss O stay overnight tonight, and I still had plans to have an online meet up with friends and indeed to do a quiz as part of that. We got ourselves some breakfast and then made sure both the spare bed and the cot was all ready, and set off in The Love’s car. The traffic was really busy around the AO Arena as it was the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks thing on, so lots of cars heading to the car park – and we did see plenty of parents walking with their children towards the arena.

We got to the parents of Little Miss E and Little Miss O to collect them and they were both happy to see us. We had everything we needed and so once we had the pram to hand just in case, we loaded up the car and decided it would be a good idea to head for a coffee and possibly some light lunch on the way back. We did want to avoid the AO Arena again and so instead diverted towards Regent Road and the shopping park there, which meant that we had a cunning plan.

The Love wanted to show the little ones where she takes Brian the cat to the vet, but also as they do have some animals in there they could see them too. There were two rabbits with plenty of space being adorable along with some hamsters rolling around in the wheels at lightning pace. We did also get Brian some cat treats and spotted this reduced item at the counter, which was a Catisserie Palace cat house. It had two scratching boards, one on the floor and one on top, with the four walls and decorative sign all in pink and that of course appealed to Little Miss E especially as she loves pink.

Once we got that we headed over to Costa Coffee in the same shopping park. We got a cold drink for the girls, and I had an oat latte, and we then got some cheese and ham toasties to share, which everyone enjoyed and it was all good. It was nice to be able to rest and relax in there together before we then headed back to The Love’s place. We did assemble the catisserie palace and that looked good. Brian the cat tried it out and he went inside to enjoy the comfort of the scratching board and had a good little scratch too, but was also good it had a front and back door to head in and oiut of so he could walk through and play as needed.

In the late afternoon The Love made us all pizza for tea, and that was very nice with a good ham and mushroom one for me to share with them all, and after that and making sure that the girls were all settled in with The Love, I did my online chat with my friends and that was all very nice. I also did the quiz too and was able to have good fun with everyone on that one, and had some classic tunes from the 80s where you had to determine the country the artist was from and also if there was an 8-bit version of the tune too. This included the likes of Take on Me by A-ha, so that is tune of the day. All was a lovely evening and Little Miss E and Little Miss O headed off to sleep.

Thursday 1st January – New Year Roast

The Love In My Heart and I saw the New Year in with a glass of prosecco, and we heard all the fireworks from central Manchester as well as the ones on the television from central London, where as usual the extended display did seem to go on for a long time, with it seemed a break into Auld Lang Syne after that. It was our cue to switch back to the rest of Jools Holland’s Hootenanny on BBC Two, where there were a varied range of bands and artists, as per ever. I was good to hear The Kooks doing Naive for example, and still a bit of an under-rated classic for me at least.

What did for us both feel emotional, considering how much that she had been through, was Jessie J talking frankly with Jools about what had happened with her, and how much it had given her a perspective into life, and her performance of My Way with Jools’ orchestra had a lot of emotion attached, and you could feel that. It was really moving and so tune of the day for me that. We also had Heather Small, formerly of M People, singing the likes of Search for the Hero, and Lulu re-doing her cover of David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold The World. It of course ended with Jools and everyone, including Olivia Dean, Ronnie Wood, Imelda May et al all joining in for Enjoy Yourself as the traditional closer for the programme.

It was good to have had a lengthy lie in overnight and even Brian the cat sensed that more sleep was needed, as he had his breakfast and then rejoined his Mummy all snuggly on the bed, bless him. It was nice just to take things easy in the morning and see James Martin make some nice things on his New Year show including a sticky toffee roulade which was an alternative to the pudding. For me that was interesting to see and although a shorter programme, definitely some nice ideas I could try and maybe we need to go to Tavistock in Devon to find the pubs where the owner and chef was based who was on there.

We got ourselves ready and headed off in The Love’s car, stopping off for some petrol and then heading over to my Mum’s, as she was making us a nice roast lunch. My brother would be there with his girlfriend too, so it’d be a good afternoon and good to see them – he had not been too fully well over the festive period so would be good to see. We got there, but only after someone decided to pull a right turn almost in front of The Love on one of the roads and she had to brake well in order to avoid them – muppet drivers I see left right and centre still happens I see.

In any case it was lovely to see my brother and girlfriend as well as Mum, and we had a very nice and relaxing roast for lunch. Mum had done some roast beef along with both roast and mash potatoes, carrots, Yorkshire pudding and gravy, with some of the others having cabbage as well. It was all lovely and more than enough without being too much to be honest. It was nice too that my brother was trying to get better but what he has means how well he could be comes and goes in phases but does have an appointment to hopefully get things sorted. We did have a lovely afternoon and that whizzed by to be honest, and was a nice relaxed way to start the year before The Love heads back to work (again) tomorrow.