Away
Daze!
A look back in time when Mixu
provided Joy to the Hibees!
Simon MarriottThe
time is 4:30pm the office is warm, the work boring, the thoughts
elsewhere. It's Wednesday, the cabbage are plotting their way back
to the top of the league and I'm planning an early escape; destination
Bobby Billyson's Kilmarnock. Bloody miles away and I'm still sitting
down!
The phone calls have been made and the
first obstacle cleared. The man with the transport has managed to cleverly
outsmart the devious spiteful Jambo that allocates the days jobs and is
already heading home. The two travelling companions have been contacted
and a rendezvous of 5:30 has been set. It's now up to me to get there on
time.
Having blackmailed my Jambo supervisor
all day with coffee and free use of my stapler (Hey! The Jambo's are that
skint they will take anything that's free!) I have managed to buy myself
an early(ish) finish. 4:50 and I'm sneaking out the back door before
making a mad dash to get the bus home. Just as I get to the stop the bus
pulls off, a maroon bus with a maroon tank topped driver, what else can I
expect?
5:00 and I'm still in Princess Street!!
Hailing a black cab I fly home, well as quick as a cab can through
Edinburgh's traffic, more of a flap than a fly but it's 5:15 and I've
finally made it home.
Off goes the tin flute, cannae go to a
game in a flute, wouldn't feel right and anyway I'd feel a right twat.
Then comes the 5 minute agony of trying to see what the weather is doin'
in Ayrshire…deciding on a t-shirt, jumper and cagoule to cover all the
bases I sprint for the car. 15 minutes down the road and it's 5:50, the
glares are cast at the watches, and at me, but were finally on our way!!!
Mixu does the business and sets Hibs on a course to top the SPL (sns)
Skilful use of the back roads and a flip
of a coin puts Edinburgh behind us and the M8 can grind to a permanent
standstill for all we care because it's a mad dash down the A72 for us,
time, well it's 6:30 and the confidence is high that the kick off will be
seen. The CD's are playin', the traffic is light and the jokes are flyin'.
So is the car as we eat up the miles and look forward to watchin' the
mighty Green Machine.
7 o'clock and the kick off confidence
drains away quicker than a £8 million pound SMG cheque when we hit a
tailback that snakes round the corner into eternity. Well not quite but
the 15 minute delay sure felt like one and the joke about us watching most
away days on the radio in the car now seems slightly less funny! Finally
the roadworks are well behind us and it's 7:30, kick off time in 15
minutes and some git has been building towns right in the way of our road
to Killie !
7:45 and the radio is now central,
Kilmarnock appears just as the ref starts the game. Consolation is taken
from the reports of away fans still flooding in 10 mins after kick off but
that is rapidly replaced with the "we're here but where the f**k is
the ground feeling". 7:55 and desperation is about to turn us into
crazed animals, or Fulton for short, when the floodlights are spotted.
Much gesticulating, pointing, shouting and swearing later and we've
secured a parking spot. Bit dodgy but hey Hibs are playin' and were here
to see them!!
8 o'clock and we've been running for about a minute but already were
strung out. One gymtastic mate is almost at the turnstiles, while looking
back our slightly more padded driver seems like he's only just beyond his
front bumper !!!
It's 8:10 and were all seated, well only
just cause Rugby Park must have been designed for primary school kids the
seats are that small, cramped or what! Just enough time to roar a
"Come on the Cabbage" much to the bemusement of a near by ball
boy, check out the poor subdued home support before giving shAndy McLaren
a good ribbing when at exactly 8:17 big Mixu rises to send a delightful,
game winning header into the net……Away Daze, Brilliant !!!
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