Match: v Wycombe Wanderers - Coca-Cola League Two

Date: Saturday, August 7th, 2004

Result: Wycombe 2 Cambridge United 1

THE JOURNEY

Departure Time: 10:45am. Yes, I know it's still ridiculously early, but what with not being sure about the amount of holiday traffic on the roads and needing to be on air at 2pm, I don't have the luxury of being able to miss the first few minutes!

Arrival at Ground: Of course, once again much of the contingency time was not required, and we contrived a journey during which traffic jams built up immediately after the junction at which we left the motorways.

Even the road works at Baldock behaved themselves, so the only slight delay was on the M40 when caravaneers in the two inside lanes slowed to almost walking pace so that they could hold a conversation.

AT THE GROUND

The Ground: We arrived at about 12:15, which was just in time to listen to a Blues Band playing enthusiastically, and with no little ability, outside the Club Shop and watch combine harvesters busily producing clouds of dust in the fields behind the ground.

Built in a hollow, beneath a hill at the end of an industrial estate, the Causeway Stadium is a real heat and suntrap & and, as many were to find after the match, a vehicle trap too!

Getting in the ground in good time gave me an opportunity to try to find some shade from the blistering heat, although that proved a little tricky, given that the pitch side thermometer was reading 48 degrees C - that's' a little under 120 degrees to those of us of a Fahrenheit persuasion!

United Fans: Just over 600 U's fans made the trip, and they were in good form throughout. From the time physio Ant Coole was cheered as he put out the cones for the pre-match warm up, it was apparent that the travelling supporters had found their voices the quicker after the close season.

View from Away End: A pillar-less, unobstructed view.

Home Fans: Didn't so much cheer for their team as indulge in rhythmic clapping every now and again. The drummer who egged them on, and concluded his routine with a flourish, apparently didn't find his drum sticks until after Wycombe had scored.

Police/Stewards: Even-handed, they displayed a light touch when dealing with the more excitable members of the travelling support.

Programme: At £2.50 for 60 heavyweight pages, Wycombe's publication suggests that that this could be a testing season for programme binders. With loads to read, there was a good section on the U's - although the information looked to have been written at various time. Some of it was bang up to date, such as the pre-season results; some seemed to have compiled a while ago, given the talk of French trialists Stephane Lucas and Georges Mongin; and some had even been written in the future - apparently, the Abbey is now a 10,000 stadium and seated throughout. Not sure about the allotments behind the Newmarket Road end though!

Food/Drink: The position of the tea bars next to the toilets was handy as the burgers were not enjoyable. Of course, it being a blisteringly hot day, cold drinks were very reasonable & sorry, my mistake, they were hideously overpriced.

State of Toilets: Not tremendously capacious, but clean enough.

AFTERWARDS

The Journey Home: The Causeway Stadium is notorious for its post-match traffic jams, and although I was fortunate in that the worst of the queues had vanished by the time I'd finished reporting, United fans were not so lucky.

Mileage: 140 miles

Total Distance for Season: 140 miles

Mark Johnson, with additional reporting by Gordon McMillan and Alison Vickers