Ha'way the lads etc...

Playlist
Fripp & Eno – (No Pussyfooting)
Various – Blue Note Albums on Shuffleplay
Various – “Modern” Jazz on Shuffleplay
The Crimson Jazz Trio – The King Crimson Songbook
Cream – Wheels of fire
King Crimson – Happy With What You Have to be Happy With
Various – Trojan UK Hits Box Set
John Cale – The Island Years
Europa String Choir – The Starving Moon
Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited
Devics – The Stars at Saint Andrea

Up early, as ever at the weekend, but today was different as, even though I ought to have been going to Palmerston to see the six-pointer top of the table clash between Queen of the South and league leaders Livingston, we were off to Sunderland to see The Arsenal...

I’ve liked Arsenal since the run up to the FA Cup Final in 1971 when all my class mates at Primary School were supporting Liverpool..

I’ve never seen them play “in the flesh” though, so, when chum Chris-with-a-ch acquired three tickets for the game at the so-called Stadium of Light, the exec producer and I put our names down, the added interest for the EP being that ex-Hearts goalie, Craig Gordon, now plays for Sunderland...

We had a big breakfast before walking down through the wind and drizzle to catch a bus to Haymarket where we met Chris in Starbucks – he was resplendent in his latest Arsenal replica kit and red Adidas trainers – Anne and I were dressed normally, having taken account of the weather (not that we have Arsenal tops anyway)...

To the Mercat Bar, where the Arsenal Scotland Official Supporters’ Club was meeting in the basement pre-bus for a pint at 9 in the morning...

Around 40 fans were making the trip and, at 9:30 with some pints hardly touched, we took our seats on the alcohol free bus...

The journey down was accompanied by a couple of DVDs and a 30 minute stop at services in Berwick – probably rather unsociably, I was partaking of the Jazz Jukebox...

We reached Washington around 1pm and everyone apart from the Cloudland Blue Duo and a couple of others, rushed off to a nearby pub for a quick pint while we waited for the police escort for away supporters’ buses to arrive...

At 1:45 or so, we finally got underway and were lead straight to the Away entrance at the impressive ground...

A compact pitch in a 45,000 seater arena...

Pre match, in England, alcohol is served and the majority of the Arsenal support appeared to be enjoying this whilst singing anti-Tottenham Hotspur songs at the tops of their voices...

Your correspondent enjoyed a, very tasty indeed, meat and potato pie – better than any other fayre I’ve ever tried at any other ground I’ve been to (which are mostly small Scottish 1st and 2nd Division venues)...

The game itself was enjoyable and exciting, with Arsenal being frustrated at every turn by the well organised, 10-man Sunderland defence...

0-0 at half time but, after the break, Arsenal had a goal disallowed, the ball having been judged to have gone out of play for a goal kick when Walcott had cut back from a seemingly impossible position for Van Persie to net...

Subsequent TV replays concluded that a fraction of the ball wasn’t over the line so the goal ought to have stood – but linesmen don’t have computer graphic generators in their heads...

Sunderland seemed spurred on by this, and by a couple of good saves by Craig Gordon, and their sub, Leadbitter, scored a screamer of a goal with around 4 minutes to go – he was rather emotional in his celebration as, as a boy he used to go to Roker Park with his dad to support Sunderland (The Black Cats) and his dad died in the summer...

However, Arsenal weren’t going to take it lying down and a sense of urgency which had been sadly lacking during their pussyfooting around the box for most of the game now became apparent, especially when 4 minutes of added time were confirmed by the 4th official...

Sure enough, in 93 minutes Fabregas headed in from a corner, with Gordon stranded in no-man’s land and hindered by two of his own players...

The Arsenal support went wild with delight - and relief that the team had pulled themselves out of a hole...

In the “foyer” a TV was showing the day's results – I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Queens had beaten Livingston 6-1...

Hearts had gone down at home to Kilmarnock 2-1 – so it was win, lose and draw for the three musketeers...

Back to the bus and, on the journey home, another couple of DVDs including Nick Hornby’s football story, "Fever Pitch", centering on Arsenal’s league win in 1989...

In Edinburgh, we had a few drinks at the Mercat, where I had hot wax poured over me by a rather stupid woman trying to light a tea light from the one on our table...

A very drunk woman was annoying everyone too by wandering around bumping into people and dancing suggestively with her reflection in one of the mirrors – she was eventually ejected...

We chummed Chris to the station then caught a 26 bus home, arriving around 15 hours after we’d left...



A very noisy noise was coming from our neighbours’ house so I called them at their Restaurant and, joy of joys, their son came home and switched off their central heating at the mains, thus finally stopping the on again off again noise which has been plaguing me for months...

A great end to a good day...

Of course I’d rather have seen this...



Highlight of the Day : Despite everything, the great day out to Sunderland and the ending (for now) of "the noise from next door", it has to be Queens 6 Livi 1...