Match: v Kidderminster Harriers - Blue Square Premier

Date: Thursday, December 6th, 2007

Result: Kidderminster 1 Cambridge United 0

THE JOURNEY

Departure Time: 2.35pm

Arrival at Ground: The journey was an absolute shocker. Torrential rain of Biblical proportions was aided and abetted by an accident that brought traffic on the M6 to walking pace for the best - or worst - part of an hour, despite the detritus having long since been cleared. Then the motorways played the rush hour traffic card, ensuring a miserable and fretful crawl virtually all the way into Kidderminster. It was with considerable relief when I paid the £3 fee to park in a puddle-filled car park behind the ground at about 6.10pm.

AT THE GROUND

The Ground: Black ironwork fences and red brick walls mark the boundary of Aggborough but there was no time to take too much notice of the surroundings, other than to appreciate the fact that the toilets were very close to the entrance to the social club, before getting into the ground.

The redbrick theme continues inside, particularly in the main stand that runs the length of one side of the pitch. Filled with a dozen or so rows of red and white seats, the main difference between this stand and the one facing it is the windows of executive areas at the back, windows that were steamed up so goodness only knows what was going on in there. Perhaps best not to enquire too closely.

The stands along either side almost mirror one another and the same can be said of the low, covered terracing that is behind either goal. Functional in design, it helps complete a very smart stadium that would not look out of place a couple of divisions higher.

Despite the presence of the cameras, the 'regular' press were looked after very well with tea and coffee handed out at the start of each half and a warm welcome from everyone we encountered. I mention this particularly because the Kidderminster staff must have been working under some duress - although, if they were, it didn't show. Not only did they have the travelling circus that accompanies televised games to cope with, they also had to deal with a match that, when we arrived, had very little chance of going ahead.

That torrential rain had left the pitch looking more suited to Jacques Cousteau than to footballers, but the ground staff managed to drain away the worst of the surface water by knocking metal poles into the pitch. Even so, it was touch and go in one goalmouth where it was so wet I half expected Bill Oddie to turn up looking for waterfowl.

Although there were no ducks in the goalmouth, there was one large bird at the ground - Kidderminster's mascot, which must have been a harrier ? although neither I or, I suspect, the aforementioned Mr Oddie have ever seen one borrow an umbrella from a United fan so it didn't get wet when watching a pitch inspection. The match finally went ahead after an over-sized squeegee was procured from the club's sponsors.

Given all the hard work that had gone into getting the match played, it was something of a surprise to see a kids' game taking place on the pitch at half time. Even more surprising was the fact that they weren't chased off by ground staff with pitchforks.

United Fans: Many had been delayed by the horrendous traffic and there were still some coming in towards the end of the first half. Each wave of arrivals raised the volume of support another level and the second half was notable for probably the loudest vocal support at an away game so far this season.

View from Away End: With no pillars in the way, the view was very good.

Home Fans: Kidderminster fans seemed to be a little thin on the ground, and this was reflected in the volume emanating from the home terrace. As the home defence entrenched themselves on the edge of their own penalty area in the second half, one fan in the main stand did try to compensate for the lack of home support with constant screams of 'Get Out'. We did wonder whether he was a midwife by day and that his shouts were a carryover from his job. There was also speculation about a previous employment as a Trade Union leader at nearby Longbridge. Perhaps fortunately no one had the time - or maybe the nerve - to ask.

Police/Stewards: The stewards were friendly and low profile.

Programme: £2.50 for 68 pages, the outer four of which were laminated. Nicely designed, colourful, with plenty of good articles and a striking cover which featured a photo in greyscale and red, Kidderminster's programme lived up to its reputation as being one of the best in whichever division the club happens to be.

Food/Drink: Burgers (£2.50) and cheeseburgers (£3) both received ten out of ten from our resident tasters after which, unfortunately neither seemed to have room for a famous Aggborough pie.

State of Toilets: With all the necessary accessories you'd expect, but not always find in a football ground, the facilities were very good and remained fairly clean even at the end of the match.

AFTERWARDS

The Journey Home: So, after a horrible journey to the game you might expect the journey back to be straightforward enough. You'd be wrong! It didn't start too auspiciously, with a driver deciding that red meant 'go' at a set of traffic lights near the M5 and then the slip road onto the motorway was closed, meaning a diversion.

With more rain lashing down on the way back and various motorway lanes closed off for no apparent reason, this was one trip I was not sad to see the back of.

Mileage: 257.7 miles

Total Distance for Season: 3,666.7 miles

Mark Johnson, with additional reporting by David Gray and Gordon McMillan

[Match report] [Fixture list]

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