Sent to Coventry for a win!

Sara took Tom on his paper round this morning so that he would be able to leave with me in good time to spend the day with me in Coventry where we were going to watch Saints play Coventry City in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup at the Ricoh Arena.  We set off at 9.30 a.m. arriving in Coventry at 12 noon.  After being told that it would cost us £10 to park the car in the official car park we drove round the street near the ground to find a spot in Beacon Road where we could park for free.  There is a one-mile exclusion zone around the Ricoh where only permit holders can park but we discovered the odd length of road, here and there, just outside the zone which didn't have double yellow lines.  We asked a couple of locals who confirmed that we should be okay.   Leaving the car there we walked the mile or so back to the Arena and had lunch at the Pizza Hut close by.  We had an excellent lunch of pasta (not pizza) and salad and were served by a very pleasant girl.  In fact the whole dining experience there, overlooking the Ricoh, was very good.  The service was excellent and the food hot and tasty.  We were amazed at the number of Saints fans around compared to those of Coventry City.  We certainly seemed to be the dominant side.  After visiting the club store to buy the customary soft toy for Mary (she now has a substantial number of teddies and other soft toys from different football clubs) we watched a great protest going on outside the shop and around the Jimmy Hill statue.  The fans are most unhappy about the owners of the club and the way City is being managed.  We left the protesters and entered the stadium.  We took our seats just as the whistle blew for the kick-off.  Southampton were truly awful in the first half and went in at half time 1-0 down.  The second half, however, saw a much better performance and the game ended in a 1-2 win for the visitors.  Much relief.  The team consisted of a number of reserve players and their inexperienced showed.  Still we came away with our club's name going in the hat for the 4th Round Draw.  Salisbury were beaten at Sheffield United and Swindon knocked out Wigan.   Our car was perfectly safe when we returned (having saved ourselves £10 which went towards our lunch) and we left Coventry at about 5.45 p.m. having first of all tried to stop off and look at the Cathedral - the one way system and parking restrictions defeated us.  We arrived back in Winterslow at 8 p.m.  A really enjoyable day out despite the poor football in the first half.  Up early tomorrow to lead my first full church service.