Down the Mariners!

I was woken by Mum’s cockerel alarm clock at 7 a.m. this morning but went back to sleep until just after 8 a.m. and then dozed, not getting up until 9 a.m. Mum cooked bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, washed down with a mug of tea. After breakfast I drove to Blundell Park and picked up my ticket for this afternoon’s match against Aldershot Town. I also bought Tom a new Mariner’s shirt and then went into McDonald’s to use their wi-fi to post yesterday’s blog and check on my emails. Returning to Mums, we then went out again to Ron Ramsden’s where I got some cash from the Post Office and we bought lottery tickets as well as a few little presents for the children. We returned back to Mum’s via Marklew’s Fish and Chip Shop where we bought lunch – two haddock, large chips with scraps and mushy peas – yum! A conversation was in progress between Glen (the owner) and a customer on the topic of some dreadful disease which is prevalent in Grimsby – which I believe from the description was motor neuron disease. After our lunch Mum dropped me off in Brereton Avenue and I walked the rest of the way to the football ground – she driving on to Scartho to play bowls with her friend Joyce (she won 31-1 apparently). The match this afternoon was truly dreadful. The Mariners lost 1-2 and showed very poor form. Their goalkeeper was Tommy Forecast on loan from Southampton who seemed incapable of keeping the ball out of the net and the rest of the team constantly tried to avoid passing it back to him. Southampton themselves were winning their match at Stockport until 20 seconds before the final whistle when they let in an equaliser! The loss of 2 points could be critical. The end of the match at Blundell Park was also disgraceful. A full scale fight broke out between the players with, seemingly, every player getting involved except Tommy – he didn’t seem to want to get involved with anything today! Two Mariners’ players, including Barry Conlon, their top striker, were red-carded and will face a three-match ban. On top of the mounting injury list, things look really black for Grimsby Town. A new song has found its way onto the Blundell Park terraces – Que sera sera, what ever will be will be, next year we’ll play Salisbury, que sera sera! Quite appropriate for me! This evening I took Mum for a drive around the area – up to Immingham past Titans factory which seems to have stopped production again – no white smoke belching out of the tall chimney – and past Steve Chalke’s Oasis Academy at Immingham. We drove through the Brocklesby Estate of the Earl Of Yarborough and on to Waltham and eventually onto Cleethorpes seafront. Mum cooked steak for dinner and we watched “Meet the Fokkers” and “Match of the Day”. When Mum went to bed I wrote up this blog as a word document for posting tomorrow whilst also watching “Hornblower”. Neither of us won the lottery this evening, by the way!