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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Sunday 21st September - Sandbar the Second
It was nice for The Love In My Heart to have a full night's sleep but that was interrupted, not by Little Miss O, but Brian the cat wanting fuss and attention. I think he may have got a little jealous. That said, when Little Miss O did wake, with The Love next to her, and I came in to say hello, she gave me a little happy grin and looked adorable whilst doing so. It does mean a lot for both of The Love's grandchildren to get on with me, and her happy face was a perfect pick me up to start the day, and after not fancying some Coco Pops for her breakfast, Little Miss O went for a croissant which she enjoyed munching on - a welcome surprise but we know now she likes them and we'll need to make sure we got more in future!
In any case, we did play with the catch ball set where there's two round catch pads with velcro on and a ball which sticks to it. She loves to bounce the ball and I can then catch it with the pad and hand it back to her, as she then pulls the ball off. We have a giggle with that and later on as the weather had improved, The Love took Little Miss O out for a little walk around and she could see Brian the cat sat in the window, and she waved to him from the outside, which was just so lovely to see. Awww.
She had been so well behaved all weekend and when her Mum came to collect her, Little Miss O was pleased but also sad she was leaving, and gave me a hug to say goodbye which was lovely. Brian the cat decided to surface for some peace and quiet, and we took some time to rest up before we would head out for the afternoon - and we had a good idea - get some Sunday lunch out and go for a drink too. Once we got past some of the traffic due to some roadworks, it was then off to The Ashlea in Cheadle, as we hadn't been there for some time.
That proved worthwhile as we fancied a Sunday Roast, and it was also a really nice one too and the staff are always lovely in there. The Love had the roast pork and in the meantime I noted something off the menu for me to have instead, which was a really nice king prawn and sea bass risotto, which went down a treat I have to say. It was lovely, and we both relaxed with a lovely atmosphere and really good staff too, so thoroughly enjoyable to take some time out and we thought we had enough time to head for a drink somewhere later on. And after an abortive attempt to head to Wallop in West Didsbury, we came up with a brainwave...
And so off to the new Sandbar, in Withington! The original one on Grosvenor Street near the city centre and close to where I used to work was often a favourite of mine back in the day and I stll do occasionally visit there too when back in Manchester. As such it did make sense to try the new one out in an expanded venture, with a good selection of beer to be had and a good atmosphere also. In fact the Reverb stout that I had was really good and thoroughly enjoyed that one a lot, and so the only thing that dragged me away was that time was ticking for me to get the train home later, boo. It was lovely though and we do need to go back there I reckon. Tune of the day is the Everythng But The Girl version of Back to the Old House by The Smiths, which I had in my head as I entered - especially as this Sandbar used to be an old house and then a bank...
Saturday 20th September - Cuteness Abound
The Love In My Heart and I did have a little lie in this morning, and Brian the cat was being especially cute with his little self and showing off his preening as well as wanting to play out and have some exercise too. He settled in as did we and after some breakfast, we did head out and over to see Little Miss E and Little Miss O at their parents' place. In fact, The Love was having Little Miss O overnight, so we had got all the toys and stuff ready for play, and also this would hopefully give her parents a rest and have some quality time with Little Miss E too - so everyone hopefully wins.
After a coffee and a chatter, we headed off in the car with Little Miss O having a nice little snooze in the car seat. She was all cutesy with a check top and jeans on, and we decided to brave the rain and head for coffee in Café Cotton, the Halle Orchestra café in Ancoats. It's always nice in there and in addition there is good coffee, cakes and food and a relaxed atmosphere in there. In fact due to the weather it was relatively quiet, so we managed to get a good table and have the high chair out, and Little Miss O had a little cake as well as a fresh orange juice (which she thoroughly enjoyed) whilst I had a filled croissant with salmon which was gorgeous.
In fact, Little Miss O loved the seats where she could see the glass ceiling above and the rain pitter pattering down, which kept her occupied as she looked. We spent some time looking up with her and she was so calm and peaceful, it was a delight to see. We didn't want to head back out afterwards but we got back to The Love's place without a hitch, and soon it was time for Teletubbies (the theme tune is tune of the day as I know she loves bouncing along to it), and she loves that at present - although the new version isn't as good as the old one in my view - even if it does have the voice of Jane Horrocks as one of the other characters in there.
Anyway, we all had tea and Little Miss O enjoyed her little fish pie a lot, just the right size and she sat at the table with us as we had spaghetti bolognaise which was lovely. We all then were on the sofa together ready for the evening's entertainment, mainly Strictly Come Dancing and the launch show. We thought she would like the dancing, and she did, and as the couples were announced we did notice she was getting a little tired, so we got all the cushions up and around so she could snuggle in and let her drift off to sleep as she needed, which was an added bonus as she doesn't always head off straight away.
As it transpired, there were a few pairings which we thought made a lot of sense - so Stefan Dennis being paired with Dianne Buswell (Aussies together, don't it make you feel good?) along with Dani Dyer and Nikita Kuzmin - and they could well win it we think. Also Harry Aikins-Aryeetey (Nitro off of Gladiators) with Karen Hauer might bring the fire there, that could be exciting to see. It also made sense for us to have Alex Kingston have Johannes Radebe, not least because he worked so well with Annabel Croft previously (similar age and poshness for both of the women) so that was good. I suspect when they get started dancing next week it'll prove to be interesting!
Thursday 18th September - The Legend Returns
I had a half day at work and was based in the new office today, which was pretty reasonable all round. It was still a discount week for coffee at Yolk which is just down the road, which meant a nice latte for a mere one pound - total bargain. That meant I could perk up with a coffee and take that into the office to have and be ready to work with the day. It went reasonably well and it was good to be able to go to some meetings and be able to contribute well - and in addition be listened to, which is always nice. I think as well because I knew I was having to try and get as much in as I could in the half day, it does focus the mind somewhat.
It was then time to head off to Euston, and being close to Victoria does mean a few stops on the Victoria Line to get there. At lunch time this was pretty reasonable all round, so was good to see what it would end up like - and did manage to get to Euston in more than enough time for my 1413 train to Manchester Piccadilly. I was heading up early to see The Love In My Heart for the weekend, but also this did mean that I could go to the Etihad tonight to see Manchester City against Napoli. There was a special reason for that which I will divulge a little later.
The train was a little delayed into Manchester - so much so that Delay Repay would kick in, so a quarter of the fare back. I'd rather it be on time but I got on the tram and off to The Love's place with no issues. It was good to see her of course and she had had the car in for the MOT, so all good there and everything was fine with that. It did mean a bus and tram back home after dropping the car off and the same back when collecting it from the car place, but that was all sorted. I was worried there may be more costs involved but all good, and that does also mean some nice quality time at weekend as we may be having Little Miss O to stay over.
After some food it was off to the Etihad for me. And of course that did mean as well as the former Man U players Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund, the big news naturally was Kevin de Bruyne, who left City and headed to Italy this Summer. I have to say that I know a lot of City fans wanted to wish him well and maybe didn't get chance to because the Bournemouth last league game was a midweek in May after the FA Cup Final, so may be a good time to do so now. I did worry that he may end up scoring against us, but ideally that would be at say City being 3-0 up and it being a consolation goal, that would have been decent.
The Champions League anthem was rightly booed because UEFA (and I'm sure Crystal Palace fans will do the same with the Europa Conference League one next week) and then the game got underway. Naturally there had been chants of "Ohhh, Kevin de Bruyne" before the game to the tune of White Stripes' iconic Seven Nation Army (make that one tune of the day) and little did we know we'd be singing that soonish later on, but not for th reason we would think. City got forward several times in the first half, and as Phil Foden found Erling Haaland and the Norwegian went through on goal, he was denied a goalscoring opportunity by the Napoli defender and captain Giovanni di Lorenzo - and after a VAR check, he went off.
That did then mean that Napoli manager Antonio Conte changed things around a bit, and that meant Kevin de Bruyne went off and was sacrificed, sadly. He got a great reception from the City fans but we did feel a bit gutted for him having such a short time back here. City pressed forward but the Napoli defence held firm until half time and it was a case of being patient and waiting for the first goal. We just hoped it'd be sooner instead of later but the fears were allayed as Phil Foden found Erling Haaland early in the second half, and well, you know the rest of course!
City at least felt more confident after that opener and it was no surprise to anyone when Jeremy Doku ran in from the left, breezed past the Napoli defender and slotted it into the bottom corner, griddy style, for 2-0. That was how it stayed and overall a comfortable victory - granted it was made easier by Napoli going down to ten men but you do have to beat what is in front of you. Next up in this competition for City is Monaco away, who got panned 4-1 by Club Brugge earlier in the evening, so that might prove to hopefully be a good omen and get some more points on the board...
Monday 15th September - Café Culture
During last week, The Love In My Heart had received a flyer through the door from the nearby Co-Op Live arena, which is close to the Etihad Stadium too. Effectively there is an outside café and bar which will be opening as a café during the day, called Canalside. The plan is that you can go there for coffee and pastries during the day, and there may be plans to open up the evening bar for people heading to gigs or indeed to midweek matches involving Manchester City, which might not be a bad shout to be fair. In any case there was an opening day offer of 50% off everything and so we thought "well we could have breakfast there" and so got up a little earlier so we could check it out.
We managed to head up to the Co-Op Live, and you have to go over the bridge from the Etihad Campus tram stop to get there - you cannot access the place directly from the canal, which to me seems a little daft. The Love made the excellent point that plenty of people walk by the canal during weekends, and if the café opened duirng the day then it would surely increase custom if people just fancied heading in and having something - well you would think so anyway. And inside the place looked nice with some nice window tables and seats so you could sit down and overlook the canal too - so definitely location wise it all was good anyway.
We went in and got a nice table and I ordered. As it transpired, the manager told us that the menus and touch screens had all changed for the opening, so they didn't have everything in, but as the food wasn't on the screen anyway, we got a croissant and a nice granola yoghurt for free, meaning the oat latte and the capuccino for The Love were all we paid for - and that was 50% off that meant a grand total of £3.50 for breakfast. Absolute bargain all round, and the coffee was very nice with the staff generally being lovely, so that was a good positive to take all round really. We do hope it does well and the manager was keen to note how we said about weekend opening - she said that ideally it would see how it did in the weeks to come and gauge interest locally - the right move in my view.
The Love went off to work and I worked from The Love's place, with Brian the cat very much wanting fusses and attention, as he does. In fact mid morning he looked at me with his cute face and I ended up playing ball with him, which he loves as he paws the ball away and bounces it, and that makes him happy. We did that for a while and when I went out to get some bits from Asda at lunch time, I got him some more Dreamies which naturally made him appreciate me a little bit more too, with another cute face later of "please give me my tea early" which I did.
I headed off to the tram later to take the train home, with there being delays due to the wind blowing some tree branches on to the overhead wires. It did take longer than planned but at least I could get a train anyway and so made it home not too long after scheduled, with some good tuines from the iPod keeping me company, especially 5000 Miles by She Makes War (now Penfriend) as tune of the day - which just seems apt for those long journeys really.
Sunday 14th September - Manchester Is Blue
I woke up this morning with good and bad news. I had at least won £5 and a lucky dip for the Lotto, as the prize had rolled down due to no one winning it. Three numbers as a result was £85, so would have been good had I had an extra number to get that, but never mind. However, it was also soon noted in the news about the sad passing of the boxer Ricky Hatton - who was a total diehard Manchester City fan and who loved the team - often seen at away games with fellow fans and getting a mass Mancunian exodus to Las Vegas for some of his title fights. He also used to get Blue Moon (the Supra version at that too - so tune of the day) played as he walked in to the ring too.
Somehow today I knew that Manchester City had to win the derby for Ricky. No doubt it would be in some of the players' minds, especially the local lads who have grown up knowing of his love for the club, and it was announced that we'd have a moment's applause for him before the start of the game. I headed over to the Etihad Stadium a little earlier, as I wanted to have a pint before the match, and this also meant I could see the remainder of the Burnley v Liverpool game on the screens on the concourse, with Burnley conceding a very late penalty with a handball which could have been avoided to be honest.
Anyway, I made my way to my seat in Block 302 and soaked the atmosphere in as Natalie Pike chatted to former player and legend Uwe Rösler - who as ever was in fine form. He knew how to celebate a goal for sure! It then went to fellow match day announcer Danny Jackson, who was clearly still in shock and attempting to keep it together as he read out his tribute to Ricky Hatton. It was emotional for sure, and it was good to see both sets of fans applauding him. As much as Hatton was a City fan, anyone who was from Manchester who wanted to cheer him on was welcomed, and it was class from the United fans there to applaud also. With that all done, time for the nerves to jangle and the game to start.
City almost took the lead in the first minute as a move down the left saw Erling Haaland flash a shot just wide of the post, and there were some chances at both ends, with new goalkleeper Gigi Donnarumma making his presence felt at the back with some good clearances and a couple of good early stops. I knew the first goal was going to be crucial, and Jeremy Doku went down the right side, and although his first cross attempt was cut out, as the ball came back to him, he had the nous to get his foot on it and the cross found Phil Foden coming in with a bullet header into the far corner. Absolute delirium ensued and it was so good to see Foden back doing what he does best - scoring against United in the derby!
It got to half time and 1-0, despite some late United chances. The second half saw a few minutes of United playing decent but I felt we would be able to break them down as we needed to. On the left side Foden found Doku, who threaded a through ball to Haaland. Needless to say he muscled past the training cone himself Luke Shaw, and dinked it over Bayandir in the United goal for 2-0. The announcer did his "Erling" and we all chanted "Haaland" back, which The Love did tell me later was very loud indeed as she could hear the noise travelling from the ground to her place. Oh yes indeed.
Haaland had an almost open net after a defensive mix up but hit the post, but soon made up for that. A United move broke down and Bernardo Silva lifted it over Harry Maguire towards Haaland, and as the striking viking had run from within his own half, he could not be offside at all. Needless to say on he ran, slotted it past Bayandir into the bottom corner, and that was 3-0. It was a great goal and one we loved, with the City fans doing the Poznan afterwards. In fact it was a case of almost scoring another with Tijjani Reijnders shooting just wide after being put through by Haaland. But nonetheless, 3-0, get in. Take it Gary Neville, take it Wayne Rooney, take it Rio Ferdinand, take it, take it, take it!!
Saturday 13th September - The Grand Finale
It was an early start for me today as I was up to Manchester for the weekend, and a welcome reunion with The Love In My Heart as well as a chance to have a good afternoon and evening out together, with the Manchester derby on the Sunday. That of course was something I was looking forward to even though it is incredibly nerve-wracking most of the time. So it was off to London Euston and on the 0813 train to Manchester Piccadilly, which thankfully went well and only had a few minutes' delay close to Milton Keynes before getitng up North without any issues. I headed on the tram and was soon giving Brian the cat some strokes and a happy miaow from him before sorting out the case of clothes and so on.
We settled in with a coffee and a chat, and I had made sure I had got some oat milk on the way in, so that was all sert and good to go. It was good to be changed a little bit and ready, as we were off to the cinema. Not just any cinema either, but I had booked the Everyman Cinema in Manchester city centre for a nicer experience. Basically, as The Love In My Heart is a big fan of all things Downton Abbey, the final film of the series, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale was out yesterday. Naturally I knew this was going to be popular so I booked when I could a couple of weeks ago and we had prime seats in the middle row and the middle sofa for two as well - not daft me you know!
We took the tram to St Peter's Square and walked down to the cinema, admiring the tribute in the gallery to the late Anthony H Wilson, founder of course of Factory Records and a huge local television presenter to boot. Once in the cinema, I had a coffee and The Love a drink beforehand, resting in the nice spaces in the bar area, and then headed in to Screen 1, with the option to either order drinks from a QR code or have the staff take your order too. I did the honours with a glass of wine for The Love and some Purity Ubu ale in a bottle for me, and they do give you a nice glass to pour it into. As you have little tables to put drinks on, it feels posh and as there was no one sat next to The Love on one side as it was a sofa for one, that was nice so we had more of our own little space.
And as for the film, well that for me was quite enjoyable to be fair. Needless to say if you are a fan of Downton Abbey you will love it, especially around some of the plot lines and the fact that all your favourites make an appearance at some point. There were some really nice heartfelt moments, not least one exchange between two of the characters, which was so lovely. Ultimately, it's a good way to send off the whole thing and good that they paid a worthy tribute to the late great Dame Maggie Smith, who really was absolutely superb in this over the years. The Love was super happy and that for me made me smile - it was all worth it. Needless to say the theme tune is tune of the day of course.
We then had booked a table inside Founders Hall in Albert Square, which meant some nice JW Lees ale for me and a good food selection all round. I went for the fish and chips which was lovely, and The Love went for the roast sandwich, which had plenty of roast turkey, a side little jug of gravy (perfect for dipping the chips in too) and that went down well. I had one of the Boilerhouse craft beers that they do which was a hint of mango in the pale, but not overpowering which was good. One of the staff who served us was really kind and lovely, and so when I paid I made sure I added a tip on, and her colleague went and told her we had tipped (as she had finished her duty for the day) and made a little heart sign with her hands to say thank you. For me, good service deserves reward - I loathe the standard "12.5% charge" that some places add on regardless - it should be up to you to decide, and for me, if someone is good, it means more to add the tip on. Pubs in London take note.
After a walk over to Sostrene Grenes and also Zara (where The Love got herself a lovely top for the Autumn too which looked gorgeous on her when she tried it later) we then went over to Beermoth for a final drink. I had the really nice Manchester Stout from the Runway Brewery and The Love went for the Augustiner Helles which is ace, and although it is in bottles, it still is mighty fine. It was good to relax there and let the rain stop for a bit before walking back to St Peter's Square for the tram back to The Love's place, where The Hit List had to be watched with shouting out the answers at the telly and despairing how badly the winning team did in the final round...
Sunday 7th September - Pinball Power
So for today I decided that I was going to do something a little different - and indeed try out a place I'd been meaning to go to for some time. And it was not a fancy restaurant or anything like that, or any place that might have been recommended by a food Youtube channel such as Gary Eats (other channels are available of course.) No, it was something a bit more closer to home, literally, and also a place that had some of my favourite things - pinball machines! I had loved pinball since I was little, and the fact you couid try and get a score, hit the ramps and targets and so on, was always something to enjoy for me.
So a while back Pinball Republic, which was an already established place and had a room in an industrial unit not far from Purley Way Retail Park, needed to relocate as the building it used to be in. They had managed to get a lease on a downstairs unit in the Centrale shopping centre, and that meant that as well as maintain the monthly memberships of the existing club (as well as periodically having a tournament on a Thursday evening too) then they had a place to call home. And the pricing is sensible too - £15 for a morning or afternoon session, or £25 if you want the whole day. That's pretty fair.
I decided to do the morning session with a view it may be quieter, and so it proved. In fact I paid the £15 and the variety and range of machines were impressive to say the least. Some were ultra modern such as the new Metallica and Foo Fighters machines from Stern, whereas others were older classics with more mechanical parts and somewhat simpler to pick up and play, including an old Tommy machine based on the film (and naturally Pinball Wizard by The Who is tune of the day for that reason.) In fact, a lot of the older ones I had great fun playing for the first time, including Future Spa (which has an unusually wide playfield) and an unusual one from 1995, Strikes n Spares, where you aim the ball at pins on a playfield to get bowling scores - it actually played really well.
Some of my all time favourites were there too, including the iconic 1992 Addams Family pinball machine (apparently sold more than any other at the time), with Thing lending his helping hand towards multiball, and sadly for me, Star Trek the Next Generation was under repairs or else I would have been hammering that one -my all time favourite. I did however play the World Cup 94 machine for the first time in years, which I really enjoyed (definitely in my top 10 that one) as well as Earthshaker which vibrates massively when you get balls in for the multiball. I also really liked playing again the original of High Speed (the sequel Getaway was always in Afflecks Manchester.)
The time spent went by quickly, and if I had any loose change, they had an on site vending machine where crisps and snacks were £1.20 and cold cans £1, although you may want them to settle before drinking them and away from the machines too in case it spills and the circuits get shortened. There were many other great machines too including Demolition Man, Avatar, The Beatles (and it even played some of their classics too), and countless more. I could have very easily stayed all day and I reckon I played around half the machines (around 70 in all) and played one or two games on each one of them to get the most out of it, but there really was something for everyone and I can highly recommend it.
Saturday 6th September - Completion
Today was to be a day of walking for me and the final leg of the Vanguard Way, a walk I started in June 2024 with a view of going North to South and managing to do the whole 66 miles of the walk done. I had managed to head through the parts which were very muddy and rainy in places earlier on, but also with some lovely warm weather to do some sections too - and ideally Spring or Autumn is sensible, when it is not too hot and there has been some dry weather. After some rain recently, today was to be a warm day and a perfect time to head out and do the final section. And with the Southern Daysave ticket in hand, time to do this.
First off was heading off on the train from East Croydon to Eastbourne, thankfully a relaxing journey and everyone seemed to pile off at Lewes (always the way whenever I've done this route) and once at Eastbourne, it was an easy switch over to head across the road from the station to bus stop G1, where the 12X bus would take me close to the start point at the Seven Sisters Visitors Centre. I then had to follow the road over Exceat Bridge and be back by the Cuckmere Inn, and the walk could start nicely. The first part of that was following a path that took you over some farmland and some nice views of the Cuckmere River estuary as I headed along, and before I knew it, the signs were up to show a right turn going uphill, and with good reason.
So arriving at Cuckmere Haven, the Seven Sisters cliffs looked impressive and imposing as the backdrop. The Cable Hut was still close by and intact, but where you could head around the hut to go uphill, the cliff erosion has meant that this isn't possible any more, so you go to the right of that and up, with the two coastguard cottages on your left - you'd have passed them directly from the older route. The walk uphill up Seaford Head did show some gorgeous views back to the Seven Sisters, and after heading along the head to Hope Gap and then up again from there, it just looked more spectacular. Plenty of walkers were going the other way from Seaford for a coastal walk, and my they were not to be disappointed!
I got to the top of Seaford Head after a gradual climb and there is a golf course up here too - with one of the greens close to the head path and I can imagine there being fun and games with the wind and the ball if that happens. Once past one of the greens the path descends downwards with the chalk cliffs to the left, and mostly fenced off sensibly to stop you going too close to the edge, for obvious reasons. More descending showed more of the chalk too and at the bottom looking back up, I definitely would say that the other way up seems more steep and definitely would be one to take time over or being super fit, without hesitation.
It was a nice stroll along the seafront now with Seaford itself having its beach huts, the martello tower that is now the local museum and also some mods with the scooters turning up and looking the part as they had a day by the sea. There were beach huts to rent out too which were not expensive at all, and the overall vibe was very chilled out indeed. It was nice to walk along the seafront as I headed to Bishopstone, I spotted the nice mural in tribute to the local windsurfer, Andy Funnell, which really did look in place and was rather lovely. Tune of the day is Surfin USA by The Beach Boys, which I had in my head and thinking of those catching the waves of the English Channel.
It was past the sailing club and then on to Tide Mills and following the path there, and making sure that I spotted the old abandoned mill and brick buildings before then passing Mill Creek on the left and the railway on the right, crossing over the bridge and this meaning the very last section. Sure enough, taking the side road and around and locating the entrance to Newhaven Harbour station, as abandoned and as unloved as it is, meant I had completed the Vanguard Way. There are some discussions to extend it to Newhaven Town so there are better transport links (two trains an hour as opposed to one) but this currently is the end, so felt pleased to have made it with some spectacular scenery.
As I had the all day train ticket, I got the train from Newhaven Harbour back to Lewes, and from there then took the train back to Eastbourne, stopping off there for a pub lunch, and then on the fast train to Hastings, where arcades and the iconic crazy golf course was mine to be played. In fact I did very well on it overall, with a total score of 39, beating my Southport effort the other week, and this time also getting a hole in one which I was very pleased with to say the least! It was good to walk along the seafront too and stop at the pier for a little while to take in the view, all lovely.
By the time I'd walked down the seafront I was pretty much at St Leonard's, so I walked up past Warrior Square and along the main row of shops which now had a little makers market on, and that was finishing for the day as it was getting on a bit. I soon had arrived at the station and the train home was direct, so happy times all round as I headed on and was able to sit close to the front to Eastbourne, which meant reversing out and being at the back for when it got to East Croydon. It had been a grand day all round and so pleased to have completed the Vanguard Way walk - and possibly the North Downs Way may be next as that looks pretty good to do..
Friday 5th September - Opener
It was the end of the week and after a busy week of work, it was good to be able to head out and see the first game of the Women's Super League season as Manchester City headed to Chelsea. I had been to Stamford Bridge before to see the women, earlier this year, and it was a Champions League quarter final second leg where Chelsea had turned it round to win 3-2 on aggregate after City had played well in the first leg. I think for me it would be interesting to see how the new signings would do for both us and indeed Chelsea, and naturally how the start of the season panning out, especially as London City Lionesses had broken the transfer record earlier today.
I left my place and headed over to the tram to take that to Wimbledon, then I'd change there for the District Line to Fulham Broadway. I've done this before and it does mean that the tube is less busy in that direction both before and after the game, so makes life a little easier. Sure enough I got there, remembering to be at the front of the train, so I could head up the stairs and out easily. In fact within a couple of minutes I was sat in a pub not far away and ordering some food for tea - made more sense than pay daft money in the ground, and especially as I'm not having pies for the foreseeable future.
Once food was consumed, it was over to the Shed End Lower where the away fans would be - my ticket was scanned in, and despite having a seat reserved, the staff were just like "sit where you want" which did seem a little odd. In any case the City fans were next to the corner flag on the left side as you look at it on the telly, and they were singing and making themselves heard. Chelsea were without Mayra Ramirez, Lauren James and Lucy Bronze, big misses for any team especially, and with the transfer of Jess Park to Manchester United with Grace Clinton coming in the other way, that will be interesting over the course of the season to see who fares better.
City played well in parts and were testing out Chelsea and England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton with some rasping shots, with Khadija Shaw coming close as well as Vivianne Miedeama as well flashing a shot just wide. I did feel like we needed to score first but unfortunately were hit on the break as Chelsea headed forward down the right with the impressive Ellie Carpenter showing all her skills. The cross was perfect for Aggie Beever-Jones to run on to and it was 1-0 to Chelsea. Naturally that made the majority of fans happy, and Alex Greenwood then hit a free kick for City which rattled the bar. That was the closest that we would get this half.
Half time meant a coffee and out came the teams for the second half with Madness' iconic One Step Beyond playing, so tune of the day there. It proved to be one step beyond for City to get an equaliser, despite some rasping shots from the likes of Yui Hasegawa. She also had a neat little back flick improvised shot just squirm past the post too, as well as some headers just over and Khadija Shaw striking just over the bar. In fact it wad Chelsea who went forward on the break, down the right side again and this time it was a straight forward tap in for the Japanese striker Maika Hamano to make it 2-0.
City did press on well but unfortunately the only thing we did have to show for it was a free kick which was deflected into her own net by Niamh Charles, and try as City might do, an equaliser just was not happening, sadly. It had been a good game and some promise had been shown by City but it proved that Chelsea are still very much the team to beat if you want to win the WSL. I managed to get on the first tube I could out of Fulham Broadway and took the tube and tram home, and even though we lost, it had been a good evening of some good football nonetheless.