Smoke-bombs down in the 'Army Town'

Aldershot is one of the more intimidating away days I have been on. As my mate ‘Chucky’ (who had last accompanied me for the Gillingham game) neared the town, signs began to inform us that this was an ‘army town.’ In other words, we were encouraged to steer well clear. Indeed when we rolled into the forbidden territory, all corners of the Recreation Ground were being patrolled by scores of policemen in aluminous jackets. Unfortunately, Chucky was hungry and so we had to embark on a mission to find a sandwich round the picturesque streets of Aldershot. This took a while as most of the sandwiches were filled with meat that reminded me of my summer in Vietnam. With only portable toilets surrounding the Recreation Ground, they were an unadvisable purchase. Having eventually stumbled upon a very English looking home made pie shop, we met my brother, Eddie, for a quick pint in ‘the Crimea’ before an unusually long and scenic walk to the away end. The Recreation Ground has a certain charm to it. It is an old-school stadium with no posh toilets, no electronic turnstiles and fans standing in the terraces.

Amid a din of noise from both sets of supporters (the Aldershot fans helped by the aid of a drum), the game got underway. Our first goal came early and took everyone by surprise. A Damian Batt cross was met by an Aldershot defender and looped into the goal. From our angle though, it looked as if the defender had diverted the ball into the safety of the side netting. However, the Oxford players had started celebrating. We obviously then went berserk. The remainder of the half was not ‘like watching Brazil’ as the (highly animated) man stood next to me wanted us all to believe. Still, we went in at the break 1-0 up.

The second half made for a more entertaining encounter. With fifteen minutes left on the clock, a seemingly harmless cross was not dealt with by the Oxford defence and was scrambled in via the chest of midfielder Luke Guttridge. It was Aldershot’s turn to delight in our misery. The standard cry of ‘you’re not singing anymore’ went up. There was more drama to come, however. Similarly to our winner at Torquay, a well-worked move found its way to Steve MacLean on the edge of the box who cleverly passed the ball across the box for Tom Craddock to stroke home. The celebration was anything but tame. I managed to lose my shoe, Eddie slightly more worryingly his phone. As we searched the Aldershot terraces for our misplaced items, the same gentleman who thought Oxford United on a par with Brazil set off a smoke-bomb. I don’t think I have been quite so happy jumping around in one shoe, whilst coughing through an unhealthy amount of smoke. Thankfully, the referee soon brought the proceedings to a close leaving us free to find the shoe and phone.

Just another afternoon on the road with Oxford United.

Man of the match: Simon Clist