Date: Saturday, April 3rd, 2004

Result: Mansfield 1 Cambridge United 1

Method of Travel: Car

Departure Time: 10.15am

Arrival at Ground: The start of the Easter school holidays is the traditional time for the caravan infestation to afflict the highways and byways - and generally get in the way.  But although there were fewer of these mobile chicanes about that I had feared, the A1 still had a trick to play to ensure the trip was not straightforward.

Horrendous traffic as a result of the road works at Wansford delayed us for almost an hour; but we weren't the only ones affect apparently.  The operators of the overhead warning signs on the A1(M) must have also been stuck in traffic and unable to get to their posts.  Why else would the signs be giving no information whatsoever about the severe congestion ahead?

Cartoon by Phil Jackson

Despite the A1's best efforts, we arrived just after 12.45pm after deciding not to stop on the way.

Things didn't get much more straightforward once we arrived.  A steward, who communicated with a bizarre combination of grunts and hand signals, manned the car park at the ground, so it took a while to work out that he really did want us to park across the front of a row of cars, boxing them all in.

And the confusion didn't end there either.  My press ticket suggested entry via a specific turnstile and, although that turnstile was open and stewarded, the number on the ticket was, apparently, a decoy as the entrance was on the opposite side of the pitch to the press box and, according to the steward, 'they moan' if you walk round the pitch.  I was directed to another gate - still on the opposite side of the ground... and instructed to walk round the pitch!  No one moaned!

Mileage: 221.6 miles

Total Distance for Season: 7,395.2 miles

Admission Prices: £15 and £8 - seats only.

Programme: 52 pages for £2, 'The Stag' had a very high advertising content.  Although there were a number of articles to read, their photo-less style didn't really encourage you taking the trouble.  There were photos; the double-page collage of match action pictures weren't bad and was amusingly captioned, but I don't know what they'd done with the team photo of the U's they'd been sent!

United Travelling Contingent: 505

Conduct of Police/Stewards: Apart from those I'd met before the match who either didn't know what they were doing, or were just plain unhelpful, those inside the ground seemed okay.  They were a little cautious of some of our more lively supporters and U's fans had the rare experience of being held back after the game.

Conduct of United Fans: Great support throughout, from the time the team were welcomed onto the pitch with a mass of yellow tickertape and red, white and blue balloons.  How appropriate that the last-gasp equaliser should be scored right in front of them.

Conduct of Home Fans: The phrase 'sing when you're winning' might have been invented for them.

State of Ground: Field Mill has undergone massive changes since our last visit, with three sides of the ground completely rebuilt.  Single-tiered stands were at either end of the ground, while a double-tiered stand ran the length of one side.  The away stand was predominantly yellow with blue seats picking out MTFC, while the other two new stands had the colour scheme reversed.

The stand along the opposite side of the pitch was in complete contrast.  Allocated to the press, it was low, wooden and dilapidated with sections boarded up for safety reasons and the remnants of crumbling terracing on either side.  Not that I'm complaining about it though.  The press seats may have been fairly low down, but they were on half way and almost within touching distance of the dugouts.

View from Away End: The view was quite good, but the steps were steep and there wasn't much legroom.

Food/Drink: Hot dogs earned a rare 9/10 while sausage rolls, at £1.40, were superb.  As for the tea... yuk!

State of Toilets: The facilities completely failed to live up to the image created by the rebuilt stand they served.

Officials Performance: Mr Mason made allowances for the conditions, which was good, but missed a blatant penalty, which was bad.

Additional Comments: Ah, another tannoy operator who doesn't realise that his microphone projects his voice through the speakers in the ground... so he DOESN'T NEED TO SHOUT ALL THE TIME.  His efforts to get the fans going by shouting 'Come on you Stags' at the start of each half went down like a damp squib, but he did have us all standing to attention and saluting smartly in the press area, just after the turnstiles were opened, by playing 'Land of Hope and Glory', 'The Soldiers Song' and 'God Save the Queen'.