A sunny day in Cinderford

As this season drifts sleepily towards its conclusion (only another month to go!) here’s a little scene from Saturday’s trip to Cinderford.  James B putting in another good shift on the left flank, watched by a crowd that Donald Trump would probably describe as “yuge”.  In the distance, Wales. Not every day you can see two countries whilst taking in a game. Or go back 40 years, which is my impression of a brief tour of Cinderford town centre.

But it was a nice day and good views of the action could be had from the steep grass banks on two sides. I particularly enjoyed the performance art of one young supporter, who spent most of the second half trying to decide what to do with the little flag he had brought with him. When I say little, it was like a tea towel on a stick. First he tried to spread it out on the bank, but there was a bit of a breeze and it wouldn’t lie flat.  Then after about 15 minutes of that he began experimenting with resting the stick on top of a wall, only to find it wouldn’t balance.  By this point I was gripped.  Something happened on the pitch so I was momentarily distracted.  On looking back he had gone with plan C, back to the grass bank but this time sitting on one side of the flag to try to pin it down. Even that failed to work completely.  What now?  Just when all seemed lost, Brighton banged one into the net and the boy had a brainwave.  Wave the flag!      

As I say, only a month to go…