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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Jan 8, 2016 5:45:08 GMT
Thought it would be good idea to start a thread, and continue, of any funny or memorable anecdotes of away venues we are about to visit?
Or even for some of you to admit you're a virgin at this venue?!
First one went ok, lets to see how this goes..
I've never been!
I first remember seeing Barnet in fa cup match at Eastville, where we comfortably won...mid 80s.
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Rex
Predictions League
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Post by Rex on Jan 8, 2016 6:54:24 GMT
I went to Underhill a few times. Not a particularly memorable place, although there was a cracking atmosphere when we beat them in the FA Cup about 7 or 8 years ago- possibly when we had our run to the quarter finals?
I did go to their new place last season, and my abiding memories of a disappointing 2-0 defeat, were following a sat nav on the way home, and- on the advice of two fellow forumers- chose to ignore all the 'Road ahead closed' signs, believing that when we finally got to the road that was closed, there would be some diversion in place- there wasn't. Also, one of said forumers advised me that our fellow former and passenger was a 'Four pasty man'. I wasn't quite sure whether to believe this, but before the game, the chap ordered four burgers from the snack hut at the ground. 'You're never gonna eat all them' I said.
'Wanna bet?' was the reply- and he did!
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Post by lostinspace on Jan 8, 2016 8:51:04 GMT
Underhill was the only time ever, in the cup game mentioned above, people think the mem is not up to it, well that place was way beyond it, worse than Twerton......at least we won!!!
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bs14gas
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Post by bs14gas on Jan 8, 2016 9:06:56 GMT
Once to Underhill. Drove there, no pubs in the area. forgetable experience.
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harrybuckle
Always look on the bright side
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Post by harrybuckle on Jan 8, 2016 9:11:29 GMT
went to Underhill first time Rovers played there in Oct 1993 A Certain Taylor scored for Rovers in a 2-1 away win. Browning and John Taylor...poor stadium very non league ..hope another Taylor scores at the new stadium tomorrow
I went to Rovers first away game at Barnet the Hive last season. Super stadium too. A debut for Puddy and Trotman but we struggled to contain a very physical side with Akinde lucky to stay on after elbowing Lockyer. Parkes replaced Trotman at half time and Puddy looked a bit shaky.
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Igitur
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Post by Igitur on Jan 8, 2016 9:34:17 GMT
At Underhill the initially temporary 'new' stand behind the goal (not the later small one the other end) was not too bad though a bit exposed, but my pie was cold in the middle!
The terrace along the pitch was poor, but probably better than ours for away fans as you could get up to the half way line and close to the pitch; the only separation was a metal grid which produced some good banter which improved the experience.
Another club having to leave its roots and quirks such as a sloping pitch.
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Igitur
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Post by Igitur on Jan 8, 2016 9:50:38 GMT
Once to Underhill. Drove there, no pubs in the area. forgetable experience. There was one practically outside the ground. I used the one less than 5 minutes away on the High St, right turn under the Underground track, next to the cinema where I saw Easy Rider at a midnight showing. Further down there are more pubs. As a student we did the old eight pub pub crawl, where if you had a wee you had to go back to the previous one. One pub was a living room and you got passed your beer though a hatch from the kitchen.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 11:35:14 GMT
I've been to Underhill a few times but not the new one yet.
I remember a Barnet player (Ian Hendon I think) preparing to take a throw-in in front of the Rovers fan only to have the ball nicked from out of his hands.
I also remember Aaron Lescott getting a very harsh red card and Jason Puncheon scoring what might have been the resultant free kick.
And as stated above, plenties of pubs in Barnet. I'm not sure if the same is true of Edgware?
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Post by a more piratey game on Jan 8, 2016 12:02:50 GMT
Underpar at Underhill
I’d just spotted that it cost £5 to park, so was just pulling out of the car park on Barnet High Street when I saw the charge didn’t apply on Bank Holidays. My shorts-wearing mate only spotted it at the fourth car park he got to, but he still got there and had time for some beers before we took our seats at about 3.03.
We’d missed an Aarold header, apparently, and the chance to sit for extra minutes in pretty parky weather, but not too much else. I could see from there that the pitch sloped both from end to end and from side to side, so that the Bees right back was quite a bit higher above sea level than the Rovers right back.
They had Dean Brill in goal, and their top goalscorer Izal McLeod who has done a tour of the lower divisions and is keeping them afloat at the moment I think. They also had Danny Senda, but I didn’t recognise him easily from where I was, and a bloke named Hector, which isn't very footballery.
We had a new goalie, the amusingly-named Poke, whose banana yellow boots clashed horribly with his baby-sick fluorescent green strip, and who is about a foot shorter than Bevan (who isn’t, I suppose), but who seemed to cope very well with various bits and pieces in the air.
Aarold was upfront, with Zebra and Muzzy on the sides, and loads of players winning the ball in mid-field. We got loads of decisions from the ref, as Barnet didn’t seem to be able to get on the pace of the ball. They were truly dreadful.
Not many chances flowed, though, and the best was probably when Bolger, looking like the giant albino Silas out of the Da Vinci Code, came running in unmarked to head a corner but contrived somehow to completely miss the ball. It must have been the leg iron, I guess.
There was one main tactic though – push it down the wings and pump it across to Aarold in the middle, or Aarold, Bolger or the new loanee Downes if it was a corner. Someone said we were playing 4-5-1, to try not to lose, and they probably have a more nuanced view of football than I have.
In the last five minutes of the half we had 3 decent chances – a header, a shot by Aarold, and a rocket of a shot by somebody (I’ve rarely seen a ball struck so hard) which was excellently tipped over the bar by Brill. Finally, after 40 minutes, we had some football to get excited about.
It was still 0-0 at half-time though. There was a group from Shadwell, East London, near me, who couldn’t have been more than 5-6 years old. They were ‘neutrals’, they told me, but had come to see Scott McGleish as he had coached their club team last year when he was at Orient.
They obviously thought very highly of the bloke, and I was glad when he came on for the start of the second period, although confused that he had replaced Aarold who was, not unusually, one of our best players, as well as the centrepiece of our one attacking tactic.
The second half was a continuation of the first, until a long bouncy ball came between the defence and Poke, and McLeod popped it in. Alan Hansen would have been at his most damning – 'terrible defending', indeed.
It didn’t get much better from there. The ref booked us twice for taking free-kicks when everyone in the stadium, and probably most of the Borough of Barnet, was ready except for him. Lunacy.
Zebra had a great run through, beating everyone for pace for the umpteenth time, but his shot lacked a clinician’s finish (McGleish, I think, would have buried it). But I think he’s a winger rather than a striker.
Barnet took a couple of long shots, each time seeming to be playing crossbar challenge, but using the top of the stand instead of the bar as the target to beat.
We seemed to lose our confidence, and they gained some for the first time, and they scrambled a second while our defence stopped for a break when they got a corner. Then we truly fell apart – just hoofing hopelessly, while they interrupted by passing it a little bit.
Anyanswers came on, but didn’t have any answers at all. Carayol had had a good first half, but faded badly in the second. McGleish barely saw the ball, and when he did it was some distance above his head. Bolger likes defending, but nothing that involves his feet and a football, I think.
Stanley was quite effective for the first half-an-hour or so, then disappeared before he went off. Poke looked OK, and Downes was interesting apart from his defending.
Richards looked cultured when he touched the ball, but it wasn’t anywhere near often enough (I think he’s a Peter Beardsley-like attacking midfielder rather than a striker, but many would disagree). Dorman faded in and out, and Zebra looked good on the wing but lacked a final ball.
Overall, I thought Barnet were terrible, but they beat us 2-0, and there were few Rovers chances or players who had a good game. The bit that sticks it all together, the spirit and understanding and management, just isn’t there it seems.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 13:46:56 GMT
I went last season my only visit to Barnet. Rovers were terrible that night,as we left the ground the Barnet fans were singing 'non league and you know you are' to us. I actually left the stadium thinking that Rovers could go down again!,the next game was Altrincham and it was more of the same. I didn't like Barnets stadium,no atmosphere like most modern grounds and tucked away from pubs,cafes,shops etc..a bit like UWE would have been,ok if you just want to go straight in watch the game and go home I suppose.
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bs14gas
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Post by bs14gas on Jan 8, 2016 16:02:23 GMT
Once to Underhill. Drove there, no pubs in the area. forgetable experience. There was one practically outside the ground. I used the one less than 5 minutes away on the High St, right turn under the Underground track, next to the cinema where I saw Easy Rider at a midnight showing. Further down there are more pubs. As a student we did the old eight pub pub crawl, where if you had a wee you had to go back to the previous one. One pub was a living room and you got passed your beer though a hatch from the kitchen. I stand corrected! Obviously never looked hard enough!
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Jan 8, 2016 16:26:54 GMT
I've been to Underhill a few times but not the new one yet. I remember a Barnet player (Ian Hendon I think) preparing to take a throw-in in front of the Rovers fan only to have the ball nicked from out of his hands. I also remember Aaron Lescott getting a very harsh red card and Jason Puncheon scoring what might have been the resultant free kick. And as stated above, plenties of pubs in Barnet. I'm not sure if the same is true of Edgware? I was at the Lescott sending off game - it was during our miraculous 2007 run to the playoff. It was incredibly harsh - Lescott had a few of those in his time with us. Maybe the way he went into challenges gave the impression they were a lot worse than they actually were. Don't think the free kick was from the same incident though - I remember that as being at the other end of the pitch. Could well be wrong though. I seem to remember thinking that Phillips didn't really get off the ground for the free kick but I think in reality it was just very well taken. My main memory of that day was how hot it was jammed into that ancient (Twerton Pop side style) stand and there being so many Gashead there. Everyone was really dissapointed at the end and the general vibe was that we probably needed to win that game - glad most of us were wrong!
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Post by badboyboogie on Jan 8, 2016 17:43:27 GMT
Went to Underhill in '93, John Taylor got a last minute winner. I think Barnet were bottom of the table without a win at the time. I can remember a young Marcus Stewart playing in that game and getting some stick off some Rovers fans as he couldn't seem to put a foot right. Little did they know how he was going to turn out.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 17:46:35 GMT
Falling asleep during the game but being woken by the aroma of horrendous smelling burgers.
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boagas1883
Of course I'll introduce you to Warren
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Post by boagas1883 on Jan 8, 2016 17:58:37 GMT
I remember the game in 1993.I was a year into a ten year stint teaching at an east Bristol comp,and I knew there were a few Gasheads in my Yr 10 Humanities class. I think we went 1-0 up,they equalised,and when we scored the winner I jumped up on the segregated fence jeering at the Barnet fans.When I got down,I felt a tap on my shoulder,I turned round, and a young lad said "alright sir ?".
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Teigngas
Steve White
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Post by Teigngas on Jan 9, 2016 8:43:19 GMT
I remember the game in 1993.I was a year into a ten year stint teaching at an east Bristol comp,and I knew there were a few Gasheads in my Yr 10 Humanities class. I think we went 1-0 up,they equalised,and when we scored the winner I jumped up on the segregated fence jeering at the Barnet fans. When I got down,I felt a tap on my shoulder,I turned round, and a young lad said "alright sir ?". Brilliant.
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Post by DudeLebowski on Jan 9, 2016 8:57:31 GMT
Went last season, it was awful. The surrounding areas of the ground is more or less one big huge training complex and the actual 'stadium' feels very much the same. Anyway we were terrible first half and shipped two. Came back into it second half with tons of chances but couldn't convert anything. One of those you just forget ever happened.
Here's to a more positive showing and outcome today with a packed away end & top atmosphere within it!
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Jan 9, 2016 10:27:06 GMT
Went last season, it was awful. The surrounding areas of the ground is more or less one big huge training complex and the actual 'stadium' feels very much the same. Anyway we were terrible first half and shipped two. Came back into it second half with tons of chances but couldn't convert anything. One of those you just forget ever happened. Here's to a more positive showing and outcome today with a packed away end & top atmosphere within it! Not from where I was standing! We were bloody awful for 90 minutes and were lucky to lose by only 2. Other games - our first ever away game in Division 4 - Barnet were totally overwhelmed and we had hundreds queuing well after kick-off. 0-0 I think. Missed the 1993 game as I got married the day before. The wedding reception was at the Marriott in Waltham Abbey - where Bristol Rovers were booked in to stay over-night. I wasn't allowed to stay and socialize. I am still married. Loads of other games and Underhill - a crap ground with a great atmosphere a la Twerton. Off to the meccano set Hive later on. COYBs and UTG!
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Post by badbloodash on Jan 9, 2016 11:15:36 GMT
went to Underhill first time Rovers played there in Oct 1993 A Certain Taylor scored for Rovers in a 2-1 away win. Browning and John Taylor...poor stadium very non league ..hope another Taylor scores at the new stadium tomorrow I went to Rovers first away game at Barnet the Hive last season. Super stadium too. A debut for Puddy and Trotman but we struggled to contain a very physical side with Akinde lucky to stay on after elbowing Lockyer. Parkes replaced Trotman at half time and Puddy looked a bit shaky. Rovers played in fa cup early eighties remember Spurs never had a game bit naughty before with some knife welding yids about think we were lucky to get a draw
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Post by DudeLebowski on Jan 9, 2016 12:15:17 GMT
Went last season, it was awful. The surrounding areas of the ground is more or less one big huge training complex and the actual 'stadium' feels very much the same. Anyway we were terrible first half and shipped two. Came back into it second half with tons of chances but couldn't convert anything. One of those you just forget ever happened. Here's to a more positive showing and outcome today with a packed away end & top atmosphere within it! Not from where I was standing! We were bloody awful for 90 minutes and were lucky to lose by only 2. Other games - our first ever away game in Division 4 - Barnet were totally overwhelmed and we had hundreds queuing well after kick-off. 0-0 I think. Missed the 1993 game as I got married the day before. The wedding reception was at the Marriott in Waltham Abbey - where Bristol Rovers were booked in to stay over-night. I wasn't allowed to stay and socialize. I am still married. Loads of other games and Underhill - a crap ground with a great atmosphere a la Twerton. Off to the meccano set Hive later on. COYBs and UTG! We got down the left 5/6 times second half & destroyed them with crosses into the box. Easily 4 chances on a plate went begging. But yeh overall we were pretty crap & it got even worse a few days later at Alty!
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