Date: Saturday, August 30th, 2003

Result: Carlisle 0 Cambridge United 0

Method of Travel: Car

Departure Time: 7.45am - not unacceptably early . but pretty close!

Arrival at Ground: There were a couple of caravan and tractor-induced delays on the A1, but this was certainly the way to go given the picturesque quality of the A66 to come.

After brief stop at the unsubstantiated rumour-mill that is Ferrybridge Services - at least it is when the Away Travel Club coach is there - the journey continued under cloud formations taken straight from 'The Simpsons'.  Fortunately, the referee didn't prove to be a 'Homer'!

I finally parked at the ground at about 12.45pm.

Mileage: 514.8 miles

Total Distance for Season: 1,207.4 miles

Admission Prices: £14 and £5 - seats only.

Programme: At £2 for 48 pages, this was a decent, but unspectacular programme.  Given that Roddy Collins was sacked before the match, it was not surprising to find no column from the Manager.  However, as the decision to dismiss him was made at midday on the day before the match, they either have very late print deadlines or there never was a piece from the manager to start with.

United Travelling Contingent: 116

Conduct of Police/Stewards: Generally very helpful.

Conduct of United Fans: Had a vast area of stand in which to generate noise and, as a result, struggled to make themselves heard over the home supporters.

Conduct of Home Fans: With the manager sacked on the eve of the match, they could concentrate their efforts on getting behind their side and, as a result, were at times almost like an extra man . apart from one group who were more interested in staring at the travelling fans in what they imagined was an intimidating way.

Carlisle mascot Olga the Fox, spent the match sat at the back of the stand close to this group, and there was a surreal moment when Olga removed 'her' head to join in the signing and was revealed to be a callow youth whose real name was more likely to be Wayne!

Cartoon by Phil Jackson

State of Ground: Brunton Park is a mixture of old and new . with the emphasis on the old.  The one new stand, built in the hope of a major ground redevelopment, ran the length of pitch, but was offset so that one block was level with terracing behind the goal.  There appeared to be no immediate plans to open this section of uncovered terracing as the crush barriers had been removed.

Behind the opposite goal, terracing was covered with three triangles of roof in a style known, I think, as 'cow-shed' but actually made that end of the ground look more like a railway siding.

Facing the new stand, an uncovered terraced area was at the foot of a traditional main stand filled with hard, wooden, flip-up seats.

Officials Performance: Mr Leake could do little wrong for us. He was consistent, not giving Carlisle much all afternoon, which, as you can imagine, didn't exactly endear him to the home fans!

Additional Comments: If Olga the Fox proved to be a fake, the stuffed fox that was placed on the centre spot before the match was much more vulpine in nature and was the cause of great interest among the U's team when they arrived at the ground.  Presumably a reference to John Peel - that's the fabled Cumbrian huntsman, not the legendary DJ - a fan came onto the pitch to bear it away in triumph before the teams ran out.