AWAY THE GAS
BY DARREN STOBBS
For all the long journeys made in League 2 and still to come, a short trip along the M4 was welcome
We left The Mem at 9:15am for the lunchtime kick-off, arriving at The County Ground at 10:15am.
Having had conflicting information given to us during the week, the coach driver was instructed to drop off all passengers at the ground. Then to return after the match had finished.
I also read in the week leading up to the match, ‘Bar 71’ was allowing away supporters in, as they had done in previous seasons. However, a strict one in one out policy was in place, with only 60 people allowed in at once.
We happened to be at the front of that queue, waiting for the slow process of someone leaving before we could get in! The doorman was a friendly guy, who had some interesting stories to tell of recent nights in Swindon Town Centre! One of being attacked with a dog bowl, which made me chuckle.
Once inside, the bar area was nowhere near full and many more didn’t need to be left outside waiting. On offer was one lager, one cider and one beer called ‘Hurricane’. However, no ‘shorts’ were on offer, for this match only. Soft drinks were available in cans. Hot food was also available.
With the bar accessed from outside the stadium, but under The Arkells Stand, we left at 12.00pm to gain entry into the side stand. Already very busy, I queued for the refreshments counter. One thing that caught my eye on the menu (along with many behind me) was the ‘foot long sausage roll’ for £5.
I haven’t come across this before in any other ground, so that was my choice. It was the last one on offer, but I was informed it was broken in the pack, which didn’t bother me!
This was to the disappointment of the guys behind, with one jokingly offering £10 for it!
As I took to my seat, not long to go before kick off, this huge sausage roll was making me decide to keep half of it for half time!
The match was soon underway and it turned out to be a scrappy first half in which we were giving the ball away too much. It was entertaining off the pitch with Ian Holloway and Paul Raynor exchanging words on a
number of occasions!
The one heavy rain shower that we had, was met by the Swindon Town fans singing ‘getting wet’ to the Gasheads behind the goal. For which the Gasheads on the side joined in with!
Despite not threatening the Swindon goal much, we managed to take the lead against the run of play when Kane Thompson-Sommers cut in from the right and curled in a brilliant shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.
Making my way down to the concourse at half time was met with total chaos. The door leading up to the stand was right where everyone was queuing for food and drink, plus people trying to gain access to the toilets. It became let’s say ‘a gridlock’ with nowhere to move and with people getting angry and frustrated with the situation. It made a mockery of the so called health and safety decision made at ‘Bar 71’ earlier on.
In the second half there was a lot more urgency from Swindon, and they looked dangerous on the attack. Ian Holloway was shown a red card on the touchline for comments made towards the referee. I must say that the referee was poor throughout for both sides. Some of the basic things like clear throw ins and corners not given to Rovers, after coming off a Swindon player was getting beyond a joke. This, amongst other things, it wasn’t surprising that someone on the touchline was going to boil over.
Just before Swindon equalised, Ellis Harrison missed a great chance to double our lead when he headed wide from six yards out. My comment was that it could be a defining moment in the game. Then in the next attack Swindon got an equaliser with a low effort into the bottom corner.
Brad Young pulled off three or four excellent saves to keep us in the match as Rovers hung on for a valuable rare draw this season. It was between himself and Joe Quigley for my man of the match. Quigley has brought great quality and experience up front. For me he is definitely up there for being one of the best signings Steve Evans has made so far at Rovers.
Attendance: 12,383 with 2,315 Rovers fans.
Having been told before the match, we waited outside the away end for our coaches to return, with the inevitable to happen. Knowing that the drivers had to get back to the stadium through traffic and wait for fans to clear the area, 45 minutes later we were back on our coach.
We were kept entertained whilst waiting, with the players boarding the team coach. Many fans having photos and getting autographs.
In past seasons the Supporters Club coaches have always parked outside the away end and we didn’t think it was acceptable for the decisions Swindon were making. There have never been any issues in the past.
Myself, Martin and Sally would like to thank our passengers for their patience and understanding. We will be following this up with making contact with Swindon Town. We left The County Ground at 3:20pm, arriving back at The Mem at 4:30pm, with the other coach slightly ahead of ourselves.
I would like to finish by saying that I did receive a couple of comments about arriving too early. This being 10:15am for a 12:30pm kick off. Saying that we could have left at the time we arrived.
Swindon had some strange rules in place for this fixture. Getting there later could have meant not being able to disembark off the coach at the ground itself.
Every supporter is entitled to their own opinion and many choose to drive, go by train or by coach.
We try to cater for the majority of our members and from this season onwards, we took the decision for aiming to arrive at grounds between 2 and 2 1/2 hours before kick off.
Of course, this could end up being slightly earlier than this or later, like in the case of Fleetwood Town away. Awful traffic conditions meant we arrived less than 30 minutes before kick off on that particular day.
The times of departures are clearly stated on our website, before tickets are purchased.
We have received many comments from our members, stating that arriving in plenty of time means a much more relaxing day prior to kick off. Also, without having to keep looking at the time on the journey to a match.
We welcome any constructive comments, concerns and suggestions and thank you for your continued support this season.
