|
What's it like making the trip to an away game? We asked Steph Houghton to tell us all...
Well what an early morning trip to Charlton!!! First of all few of the girls (me, Jade and Alex) stayed at The Waltons household (very good hospitality we must say) to be woken up early by a bright light at half 6 in the morning, which was of course an accident by Mr Walton!! So the 3 visitors went to bed whilst Soph had to actually start to get ready. First meet point was at Elland Road. Trip to the local shop near the ground was needed to get food and of course the daily papers. Some good sights, people who looked as though they slept in their car last night mentioning no names OLI (Liv Thackery)! Well we started to get on the motorway and went to our next pick up point which was really an unnecessary pick up point the assistant Leanne, the gaffer and our new (annoyingly loud) mascot Louis. You’re more likely to hear him before you see him. Oh, forgot to mention that he had his new brand spanking new Umbro tracksuit bought only yesterday by his Dad. An inside source told us that he wanted to feel part of the team more and wanted to dress like us?! Haha. While Louis kept quiet watching his DVD, the bus starting to fill as we reach our next pick up point, Loughborough. We arrive right on time only to find the stand-in Skipper, Kate and Wardy are LATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It must be Kate's Sahara Nuts van that slows her down considering she lives 5 mins away. “Fines” were shouted by the back of the bus. A £5 one each was given out to the pair, which they protested and haven’t paid yet, while Sue and Lucy (the experienced ones who should know better!) decide to stroll up 10 mins late with an even heftier fine to pay - though we will let Lucy off because she told some stories about Sue's blonde moments. These included the time when Sue tried to find the toilets in the cinema by walking down the steps from her seat and up to the screen in a packed theatre and feeling her way to the wall. The packed audience started to laugh before she realised that the toilet was in the opposite direction. She contemplated pretending she was looking for her seat before resigning herself to the fact that she IS the dizziest person in our team! A team that does include stiff competition such as Liv Thackray, 'Carla Mascara' and Jess Clarke – now that is some mean feat! On the road again, feels as though we have been awake the whole day…we eventually reach the ground which is very nice but a long, long, long way from home! Not good. In the ground and our skipper Jess is not in the best of moods. Only cheered up by the fact we scraped a pick 'n' mix up together for her. On to the warm-up, me and Jess - AKA The Gazelles - start to warm up early…… you can think why we got that name. The Louis joined in and tried to race us, falling over in his new tracksuit and trainers. Bless him. The warm up starts - everyone seems confident. Then the game begins. Soph Walton tries a long ranger which manages to hit the corner flag… and duly received some abuse for doing so from Jess and Leanne on the sidelines. Why is she number 18, Jess? Some funny incidents occur as we manage to score 5 goals in the game, when Jade tried to copy Soph by aiming for the corner flag, as well as Sue on a central free kick. But it was 3 points in the bag with some good performances on display. The girls chill out in the bar area, grabbing a bite to eat, which includes the ever so exciting sandwiches containing cheese, tuna, egg or ham!! I challenged Soph Walton to a game of pool, which was rudely interrupted by Jess desperate to take a shot, however this was probably the worst shot I have ever seen played in pool!! No offence Jess, but you’re never playing on my team again!! We finally set off on our day trip to get back home! It has to be said it was quite a quiet one with a lot of tired heads resting and chilling out, including Chris (Weburn) and Louis, which made a nice change. We love Chris’ banter really. The girls have diagnosed him with permanent verbal diahorrea! Jokes aside I think the girls deserved their rest after a great team performance. Well done girls!! Well guys getting a bit tired now so might have to join the others for a kip! Best Wishes Steph
(with a little help from her friends) |
