Date: Tuesday, October 14th, 2003

Result: Wycombe 1 Cambridge United 0

Method of Travel: Car

Departure Time: 4pm

Arrival at Ground: An evening match in this part of the country is always subject to the vagaries of traffic jams, and so it proved with hold ups in Baldock and on the M25 and M40.

Nevertheless, I was at the ground shortly after 5.45pm, shivering in the first really icy blast of winter.

Mileage: 140.1 miles

Total Distance for Season: 2140.1 miles

Admission Prices: £12, £8 and £4 - although there was a £1 discount for tickets purchased in advance from Wycombe.

Programme: Not so much a programme as a 'match information sheet' given out free of charge on the night.  Four pages, one of which was the front cover and another a full-page advert for the competition sponsors, the only article to read was a general welcome to the match that filled the centre column of page two.  This page was headed 'For Blue Eyes Only', which was a little bizarre as Frank Sinatra was not at the match, and I understand does not have a subscription to Wycombe's programme.

United Travelling Contingent: 174

Conduct of Police/Stewards: Didn't have too much to do other than to ensure U's fans behind the goal didn't get too involved when the subs warmed up at half time.

Conduct of United Fans: There are some matches where the volume and passion of support generated makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.  Lincoln away last season is one that immediately springs to mind, and this game was in the same category.

The echoing nature of the virtually empty stadium helped, but they started loud and, other than a couple of muted spells midway through each half, got louder and louder as they attempted to suck an equaliser into the net.

Conduct of Home Fans: The few in attendance were very subdued including, fortunately, the two drummers.

State of Ground: Since our last visit, Adams Park had been renamed 'The Causeway Stadium' - presumably due to a sponsorship deal, rather than because a promontory of hexagonal, basalt pillars had been transported from the coast of County Antrim to Buckinghamshire.

Seated stand of varying sizes were along three sides, with the stand to the left of the away end the most impressive as its two tiers were separated by executive boxes.  This stand was set against the russet browns of a tree-lined hill, which left eerie shadows as the sun went down.

The only terraced area was the home end opposite the stand allocated to U's fans.

Cartoon by Phil Jackson

Food/Drink: The queues were long, but food and drink was of good quality.

State of Toilets: The toilet block for the away end was in one corner, close to the refreshment hatch.  And like the refreshments, the queues for the toilets were long, and I dread to think how long you'd have to wait if the away end was packed.

The ground was plunged into darkness shortly after the final whistle, and as the toilets were windowless, the last-minute visit before I headed for home was interesting to say the least!

Officials Performance: Mr Penn did not have the best of games.  He started okay but drifted out of things as he kept up with play less and less, giving some debatable decisions in Wycombe's favour and not giving a couple of clear-cut penalties in ours.  His assistants were poor too - you could always tell when someone had beaten the offside trap - the flag went up!