geordie_hibs
06-01-2014, 07:21 AM
http://payaso-de-******.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/happy-easter.html
One of the biggest moans of all manner of football fans, aside from ticket prices, moronic club owners treating supporters and traditions with equal dismissive impunity and the depressing heavy handed policing that means away games feel like a stretch on a depression era chain gang in the southern states, seems to be the persistence of television’s seemingly ineffable right to change kick off times at the last minute. This is why I was particularly grateful to the Scottish Premiership for the immoveable set of fixtures they published for 29th December. With full programmes of games scheduled for Boxing Day and New Year’s Day there was consequently no wiggle room for this batch of encounters; they would definitely happen on the last Sunday of the year. One fixture naturally stood out above all others; Hibernian versus Kilmarnock at Easter Road. As a result, my Hibs and NUFC supporting mate Declan and I both vowed to be at this game. For me, it simply meant waiting until www.thetrainline.com (http://www.thetrainline.com/) told me cheap tickets were available for that day, as well as buying on-line, print-at-home match tickets; for Declan, it meant negotiating with Ryan Air to get the cheapest Dublin to Edinburgh day return, which he managed with some aplomb.
Despite the fact I’d the use of a free Newcastle United ticket for their game against Arsenal, nothing could keep me from Grounsell Park on the Saturday for Heaton Stannington’s 2-1 win over Willington, where our winning goal was scored by former Hibs junior Jonathan Wright. I had hoped to be able to pen an article for the Stan programme about Hibernian fans’ recollections of Jon Jon’s time with the club, but I didn’t get very far; remember johnjon - watched him a few times play for the 19`s. think he stepped up from wallsend bc?? remember him being a wee bit off the cuff as a player, always trying things, very fast and powerful, i got the impression he was trying too hard to impress and it never quite worked out for him being the only response I got when I posted a thread on www.hibs.net (http://www.hibs.net/) messageboard. Never mind…
Sky TV’s insistence on moving the Newcastle game to the Sunday was immaterial to me; I palmed the ticket off on my old Percy Main mate Norman and took the train to Waverley at 11.04, meaning I wasn’t around for the atrichous Danny Dyer tribute flashmob my Jambo following friend Jamie witnessed in The Bodega after Tim Krul’s slow reactions had handed the Gunners an undeserved win. Around the time of this visit by the weak, silent type, I was leaping up and down in the West Stand of Easter Road after Paul Hanlon had headed the Cabbage into the lead. Hang on; I’m getting ahead of myself here…
The storms of Friday 27th had abated by noon on Saturday, meaning Declan’s flight was scheduled to be on time, so his attendance seemed certain. Unfortunately this was thrown in doubt, as he had to face his own particular Room 101 horror when mice were detected in his attic. Yes; mice. Enough to put him on the verge of a complete emotional collapse. The fact they live in Dalkey probably means these little blighters couldn’t be hoodwinked into traps by processed Cheddar; it would have to be finest Camembert at the very least to bring about their greedy self-destruction. In all seriousness, what it actually took to get him on board was a stern, emotionless reading of the Riot Act by me, which was enough to persuade Declan he needed to make that flight and see his first game at Easter Road.
I think this was my seventh trip and, without doubt, the biggest win and best performance I’ve seen from Hibs. Perhaps the latter opinion was aided by a superb pre match session with Mass Hibsteria joint editor Graham Ewing and Cameron who is known on Twitter as @hibernitoon – probably because both he and Graham are Newcastle fans as well. We met in a bar on West Register Street, and so became The Guildford Four. It has to be said that, for real ale aficionados, The Guildford is one of the best bars in Edinburgh, though I have to say I was in far better form this visit than when I’d last been there after the Cup Final in May. Being honest though, despite the allure of a fine pint of Arran Blonde, it is a bit of a genteel experience.
Consequently, we drained our glasses and hopped a taxi down to The Iona Bar on Easter Road; a fine spot, but one I’d not been in since a dismal 1-1 draw with Raith Rovers on 1st February 1997. This was the more authentic pre match Hibee experience, topped off with a couple of vodka and cokes before we’d even got to the game. Leaving Graham to finish his drink, Cameron escorted us to the ground and we parted; him to the East Stand and we tourists to the West. Typically, on entering the ground the first thing we saw was Arsenal’s goal on a huge telly right by the turnstile. However, we weren’t Newcastle fans at that moments; we were followers of Hibernian FC, so we grabbed a particularly vile steak pie (so vile Declan had another at half time while I opted for coffee) and took our seats.
While Declan had freely admitted the sacking of Pat Fenlon had dismayed him, and we both had expressed doubts about the arrival of Terry Butcher as manager of James Connolly’s team, we were pleasantly surprised; actually we were delighted, by the ease with which Hibs swept Kilmarnock aside. Visitors Killie had only Kris Boyd to speak of as any kind of threat and he barely touched the ball in the second half. In the first period, Hibs stormed at the visitors from the off and were justly rewarded with Paul Hanlon’s header after 12 minutes, though Samson in the Killie goal had to be more than alert to keep the scores down.
It was both a surprise and a worry that Hanlon’s goal was not added to, but a quiet opening to the second period was supplanted by a Hibee second coming, which saw late goals by Paul Cairney and an absolutely delightful curling effort in the last minute by Lewis Stevenson that secured an impressive victory. Declan and I were beside ourselves with joy, but resolved to spend our next visit in the more voluble East Stand than the somewhat reserved West. Sadly, the curse of early leavers appears to afflict Easter Road as badly as it does St. James’ Park; not the tourists though. We stayed until the last player had left the pitch, applauding and cheering. Then went to the pub.
Back in The Iona I had several more V&Cs (Declan was on the Bailey’s by now), before another taxi back to The Guildford for a final couple and then on the train for a snooze. I’ve taken trains to and from Scotland on match days from Newcastle for years; always noting the huge numbers of Old Firm devotees alighting at the Central. Today, there seemed to be one other bloke who’d been to Easter Road on my train. Perhaps that’s why there was a crowd of 9,600 for this one, but over 20,000 for the home game following; a 2-1 victory over Hearts. Goodness, I would have liked to have been at that one; I would also have liked to have been at Dundee United on the Sunday after. For the first 85 minutes anyway…
As it is, I’m not sure when I’ll next be at Easter Road but, as ever; I loved my time there, supporting Scotland’s greatest football team amongst Scotland’s greatest fans.
One of the biggest moans of all manner of football fans, aside from ticket prices, moronic club owners treating supporters and traditions with equal dismissive impunity and the depressing heavy handed policing that means away games feel like a stretch on a depression era chain gang in the southern states, seems to be the persistence of television’s seemingly ineffable right to change kick off times at the last minute. This is why I was particularly grateful to the Scottish Premiership for the immoveable set of fixtures they published for 29th December. With full programmes of games scheduled for Boxing Day and New Year’s Day there was consequently no wiggle room for this batch of encounters; they would definitely happen on the last Sunday of the year. One fixture naturally stood out above all others; Hibernian versus Kilmarnock at Easter Road. As a result, my Hibs and NUFC supporting mate Declan and I both vowed to be at this game. For me, it simply meant waiting until www.thetrainline.com (http://www.thetrainline.com/) told me cheap tickets were available for that day, as well as buying on-line, print-at-home match tickets; for Declan, it meant negotiating with Ryan Air to get the cheapest Dublin to Edinburgh day return, which he managed with some aplomb.
Despite the fact I’d the use of a free Newcastle United ticket for their game against Arsenal, nothing could keep me from Grounsell Park on the Saturday for Heaton Stannington’s 2-1 win over Willington, where our winning goal was scored by former Hibs junior Jonathan Wright. I had hoped to be able to pen an article for the Stan programme about Hibernian fans’ recollections of Jon Jon’s time with the club, but I didn’t get very far; remember johnjon - watched him a few times play for the 19`s. think he stepped up from wallsend bc?? remember him being a wee bit off the cuff as a player, always trying things, very fast and powerful, i got the impression he was trying too hard to impress and it never quite worked out for him being the only response I got when I posted a thread on www.hibs.net (http://www.hibs.net/) messageboard. Never mind…
Sky TV’s insistence on moving the Newcastle game to the Sunday was immaterial to me; I palmed the ticket off on my old Percy Main mate Norman and took the train to Waverley at 11.04, meaning I wasn’t around for the atrichous Danny Dyer tribute flashmob my Jambo following friend Jamie witnessed in The Bodega after Tim Krul’s slow reactions had handed the Gunners an undeserved win. Around the time of this visit by the weak, silent type, I was leaping up and down in the West Stand of Easter Road after Paul Hanlon had headed the Cabbage into the lead. Hang on; I’m getting ahead of myself here…
The storms of Friday 27th had abated by noon on Saturday, meaning Declan’s flight was scheduled to be on time, so his attendance seemed certain. Unfortunately this was thrown in doubt, as he had to face his own particular Room 101 horror when mice were detected in his attic. Yes; mice. Enough to put him on the verge of a complete emotional collapse. The fact they live in Dalkey probably means these little blighters couldn’t be hoodwinked into traps by processed Cheddar; it would have to be finest Camembert at the very least to bring about their greedy self-destruction. In all seriousness, what it actually took to get him on board was a stern, emotionless reading of the Riot Act by me, which was enough to persuade Declan he needed to make that flight and see his first game at Easter Road.
I think this was my seventh trip and, without doubt, the biggest win and best performance I’ve seen from Hibs. Perhaps the latter opinion was aided by a superb pre match session with Mass Hibsteria joint editor Graham Ewing and Cameron who is known on Twitter as @hibernitoon – probably because both he and Graham are Newcastle fans as well. We met in a bar on West Register Street, and so became The Guildford Four. It has to be said that, for real ale aficionados, The Guildford is one of the best bars in Edinburgh, though I have to say I was in far better form this visit than when I’d last been there after the Cup Final in May. Being honest though, despite the allure of a fine pint of Arran Blonde, it is a bit of a genteel experience.
Consequently, we drained our glasses and hopped a taxi down to The Iona Bar on Easter Road; a fine spot, but one I’d not been in since a dismal 1-1 draw with Raith Rovers on 1st February 1997. This was the more authentic pre match Hibee experience, topped off with a couple of vodka and cokes before we’d even got to the game. Leaving Graham to finish his drink, Cameron escorted us to the ground and we parted; him to the East Stand and we tourists to the West. Typically, on entering the ground the first thing we saw was Arsenal’s goal on a huge telly right by the turnstile. However, we weren’t Newcastle fans at that moments; we were followers of Hibernian FC, so we grabbed a particularly vile steak pie (so vile Declan had another at half time while I opted for coffee) and took our seats.
While Declan had freely admitted the sacking of Pat Fenlon had dismayed him, and we both had expressed doubts about the arrival of Terry Butcher as manager of James Connolly’s team, we were pleasantly surprised; actually we were delighted, by the ease with which Hibs swept Kilmarnock aside. Visitors Killie had only Kris Boyd to speak of as any kind of threat and he barely touched the ball in the second half. In the first period, Hibs stormed at the visitors from the off and were justly rewarded with Paul Hanlon’s header after 12 minutes, though Samson in the Killie goal had to be more than alert to keep the scores down.
It was both a surprise and a worry that Hanlon’s goal was not added to, but a quiet opening to the second period was supplanted by a Hibee second coming, which saw late goals by Paul Cairney and an absolutely delightful curling effort in the last minute by Lewis Stevenson that secured an impressive victory. Declan and I were beside ourselves with joy, but resolved to spend our next visit in the more voluble East Stand than the somewhat reserved West. Sadly, the curse of early leavers appears to afflict Easter Road as badly as it does St. James’ Park; not the tourists though. We stayed until the last player had left the pitch, applauding and cheering. Then went to the pub.
Back in The Iona I had several more V&Cs (Declan was on the Bailey’s by now), before another taxi back to The Guildford for a final couple and then on the train for a snooze. I’ve taken trains to and from Scotland on match days from Newcastle for years; always noting the huge numbers of Old Firm devotees alighting at the Central. Today, there seemed to be one other bloke who’d been to Easter Road on my train. Perhaps that’s why there was a crowd of 9,600 for this one, but over 20,000 for the home game following; a 2-1 victory over Hearts. Goodness, I would have liked to have been at that one; I would also have liked to have been at Dundee United on the Sunday after. For the first 85 minutes anyway…
As it is, I’m not sure when I’ll next be at Easter Road but, as ever; I loved my time there, supporting Scotland’s greatest football team amongst Scotland’s greatest fans.