Bugger
I picked Matt up at 05:00 and we were at Poole train station at 05:15 for a 05:28 train to miss the masses
I thought that I just COULDN'T take beers on a train for that time of morning - it would just be too common
I therefore compromised by putting spiced rum in a coke bottle
Yeah, I really dodged a "sad" bullet there....
As it happened I needn't have worried as the station was full of lager carrying supporters and at Bournemouth Phil turned up with 5 beers (timed for 1 per half hour) - Marco followed Matt's good example and came empty handed
Just to clarify, I say Phil brought beer but it was Carling - so technically I don't think that counts
Gary joined us somewhere in the forest (how many stops does this bloody train make) and we trundled off to the smoke
On arrival, it was soon apparent that entrusting our Waterloo to pub travel plans to the Chuckle Brothers (Phil and Marco) had been a mistake as we veered across London
This was made worse in the pub which we EVENTUALLY found by Robbie (who we met there with Mark) asking why we didn't just follow the instructions he'd sent to Phil earlier that week......
Hmmmmmm
Valuable drinking time lost I feel
Still, we were only a short bus ride away and we were soon at the ground
We managed to find a Fosters queue that was relatively short (fancy only serving Fosters - yuk) and all was well with the world
We got to our seats 10 minutes before game time and the atmosphere was already fantastic
I felt sorry for my friend Josh, who had cruelly contracted chicken pox since the Bolton game and was unable to make this day - all real fans like him should be here but at least he'd seen the Monday game
I felt sorry for my friend Josh, who had cruelly contracted chicken pox since the Bolton game and was unable to make this day - all real fans like him should be here but at least he'd seen the Monday game
Chant after chant rang round the Valley and when the players came out and a sea of inflatables were hoisted into the air - it was a noise and a sight to behold - very Tranmere-esque - we were just praying that the result wouldn't be the same
Surely with us up, the pressure was off and we would be able to play as we know we can
My only concern was the inclusion of Arter. This was bound to be an emotional return for him and we were all well aware that one more booking would mean he'd miss our first 3 Premier League games and we've seen this season just how important he is to us
The game started quite a few minutes after the Watford game and we were quickly in our stride.
Yann (yet another returning player) had a couple of shots saved either side of a Pugh effort that went narrowly wide and Charlton were finding it very hard to get the ball and when they did manage to get it, our ferocity of defence meant they couldn't keep it
I really expected a very tough game today with Charlton in good form but in the opening minutes it was obvious which team wanted this more
Sure it wasn't in our own hands to win the league, but it wasn't going to be for the lack of trying if we didn't
The away crowd was immense and with just 9 minutes gone, an almost perfect day got a whole lot better
The ball was worked out to the left and then back into the middle towards Yann
He turned and saw Ritchie steaming in and laid the ball off for him. There was a defender there and he knew what was coming so he tore after the ball, but was just not quick enough
Twenty yards out Ritchie met the ball with a curling left foot shot into the bottom left hand corner.
Charlton could have had 2 keepers in goal and it would still have gone in - as clean a strike as you are ever likely to witness
I've never seen so many awkward man hugs in the stands in my life. Jumping, cheering, crying, laughing. Old and young, not exactly knowing what they wanted to do to celebrate, but determined to do SOMETHING to make sure that this feeling would never be lost
Rather like watching a defender score and seeing a half arsed celebration, we were all thinking how we could improve our individual performances if we were lucky enough to see another goal - when we scored AGAIN two minutes later
Dithering at the back, Arter robbed the hapless defender before slamming it past the keeper into the left corner
We hadn't had time to recover from the last celebrations (I must look at my fitness regime) and yet we were at it again
I like to think I added a certain je ne sais quoi to my jumping and hugging by slamming my shins into the surrounding seats and almost taking the four of us over the row in front
You just can't teach that : 0-2
Seven minutes later it was almost 3 as Wilson waltzed through the defence, leaving at least 2 on their arses as he jinked through before having his close range shot brilliantly blocked by a flying defender
Thank f*** for that - another celebration at that stage and I'd have been leaving in an ambulance...
News then filtered through that Watford had scored
No-one cared - it's what we all expected. Nothing was going to spoil this day - a day in which history would be made and WE were there to witness it
The remainder of the half had Charlton really, really trying to get a foot-hold in the game, much to their credit, but they just lacked the quality for the final ball or shot
We looked dangerous every time we had the ball and Arter was controlling the midfield - yeah ok, maybe he should be playing :-)
On 42 minutes we went to the bar (mass brawl for rubbish beer in a plastic cup) where the queues suggested that many had long decided that this game was done and dusted
Half Time 0-2
Singing the minus 17 song in the toilets I still find a little disconcerting (I worry about people's ability to multi task) but seeing a man in a horse's outfit realise it had no fly did make me appreciate how glad I was we hadn't gone down the fancy dress route
The fact I was heading straight to family meal after the game had rather kyboshed that idea as my wife was less than keen on Batman sitting at the end of the table .....:-)
The second half started very much on the same lines as the end of the first, with Charlton a much more competitive outfit but you felt that we had another gear to move up into when threatened
Both Cook and Elphick marshalled the defence really well and Francis was showing the home crowd what they'd missed out on with plenty of marauding attacks and full bodied challenges at the back
On 60 minutes Gosling came on for Arter and that one last worry I had was gone. Next season is going to be tough (as well as brilliant) and we'd just ensured that we were going to face that challenge with our best player snarling in the middle
A header just wide from Pugh (just before blocks from Yann and Surman) was to be his last action of note before he was replaced by Smith
What a season he has had
I'll be the first to hold my hand up and say I didn't think he'd cut it in this league but to steal a quote from 'Arry, he's been absolutely outstandin' and fully deserved the cheers as he left the pitch
That swap put Ritchie on the left and it was show-boating time.
A long ball picked him out on the wing and as the defender came out to close him down he took the ball on the volley and just chipped the ball over the defender's head and ran onto the ball
If Ronaldo had done that there would be 1000 vines I could show you, but for now, you'll just have to take my word for it
The cross/shot came to nothing but that was only a slight reprise for the Charlton defence as on 85 minutes he cut in from the right (yes he was meant to be on the left but when's he's playing like this, who's arguing :-) ) and crashed a shot against the defender
The ball fell back to him and, off balance, as he was falling over he smashed the ball again and swept it into the bottom right corner
Five minutes to go, winning 0-3, getting promoted to the Premier league, it doesn't get any better than this, does it?
Yes, yes it does................
Like a Mexican wave of noise a crescendo of roaring started on the left and went through the crowd like wildfire
Why are we all screaming, I asked - I don't know, shouted all around me
We all dived to our phones - nothing had changed.
Refresh
Nothing
Refresh
Still nothing
Refresh
WEDNESDAY HAD EQUALISED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've never felt anything like it - We could see the bench jumping up and down and then Ritchie was jumping up and down while the ball was in play
Watford, after mocking our conceding of a last minute penalty against the Owls, had done exactly the same!!!
By all accounts their own fans had a hand in it by one fan running on the pitch, which delayed a Wednesday Free kick and disrupted their defensive plans
More jumping, shouting, hugging and tears - this truly was the greatest day
We lost Phil at this stage as his ill-advised standing on the chair went horribly wrong and we are all grateful to those in front for having such strong shoulders
Full Time - 0-3 : Bournemouth promoted as Champions
Summary - The game was never in doubt. The league always was. I am a VERY biased blogger - I make no bones about that. My blogs hardly ever mention the opposition because quite frankly, I don't care.
I make an exception today because I thought the Charlton players and fans alike were the classiest I have ever witnessed, allowing our celebrations in their own back yard. More than that, staying around and applauding our celebrations
I will forever hold a special respect for them for that and hope that next season, they, and Sheffield Wednesday go up :-)
Star Player - AFCB Crowd - we were magnificent and have the best year EVER to look forward to, following the best side we have ever had
Surely with us up, the pressure was off and we would be able to play as we know we can
My only concern was the inclusion of Arter. This was bound to be an emotional return for him and we were all well aware that one more booking would mean he'd miss our first 3 Premier League games and we've seen this season just how important he is to us
The game started quite a few minutes after the Watford game and we were quickly in our stride.
Yann (yet another returning player) had a couple of shots saved either side of a Pugh effort that went narrowly wide and Charlton were finding it very hard to get the ball and when they did manage to get it, our ferocity of defence meant they couldn't keep it
I really expected a very tough game today with Charlton in good form but in the opening minutes it was obvious which team wanted this more
Sure it wasn't in our own hands to win the league, but it wasn't going to be for the lack of trying if we didn't
The away crowd was immense and with just 9 minutes gone, an almost perfect day got a whole lot better
The ball was worked out to the left and then back into the middle towards Yann
He turned and saw Ritchie steaming in and laid the ball off for him. There was a defender there and he knew what was coming so he tore after the ball, but was just not quick enough
Twenty yards out Ritchie met the ball with a curling left foot shot into the bottom left hand corner.
Charlton could have had 2 keepers in goal and it would still have gone in - as clean a strike as you are ever likely to witness
I've never seen so many awkward man hugs in the stands in my life. Jumping, cheering, crying, laughing. Old and young, not exactly knowing what they wanted to do to celebrate, but determined to do SOMETHING to make sure that this feeling would never be lost
Rather like watching a defender score and seeing a half arsed celebration, we were all thinking how we could improve our individual performances if we were lucky enough to see another goal - when we scored AGAIN two minutes later
Dithering at the back, Arter robbed the hapless defender before slamming it past the keeper into the left corner
We hadn't had time to recover from the last celebrations (I must look at my fitness regime) and yet we were at it again
I like to think I added a certain je ne sais quoi to my jumping and hugging by slamming my shins into the surrounding seats and almost taking the four of us over the row in front
You just can't teach that : 0-2
Seven minutes later it was almost 3 as Wilson waltzed through the defence, leaving at least 2 on their arses as he jinked through before having his close range shot brilliantly blocked by a flying defender
Thank f*** for that - another celebration at that stage and I'd have been leaving in an ambulance...
News then filtered through that Watford had scored
No-one cared - it's what we all expected. Nothing was going to spoil this day - a day in which history would be made and WE were there to witness it
The remainder of the half had Charlton really, really trying to get a foot-hold in the game, much to their credit, but they just lacked the quality for the final ball or shot
We looked dangerous every time we had the ball and Arter was controlling the midfield - yeah ok, maybe he should be playing :-)
On 42 minutes we went to the bar (mass brawl for rubbish beer in a plastic cup) where the queues suggested that many had long decided that this game was done and dusted
Half Time 0-2
Singing the minus 17 song in the toilets I still find a little disconcerting (I worry about people's ability to multi task) but seeing a man in a horse's outfit realise it had no fly did make me appreciate how glad I was we hadn't gone down the fancy dress route
The fact I was heading straight to family meal after the game had rather kyboshed that idea as my wife was less than keen on Batman sitting at the end of the table .....:-)
The second half started very much on the same lines as the end of the first, with Charlton a much more competitive outfit but you felt that we had another gear to move up into when threatened
Both Cook and Elphick marshalled the defence really well and Francis was showing the home crowd what they'd missed out on with plenty of marauding attacks and full bodied challenges at the back
On 60 minutes Gosling came on for Arter and that one last worry I had was gone. Next season is going to be tough (as well as brilliant) and we'd just ensured that we were going to face that challenge with our best player snarling in the middle
A header just wide from Pugh (just before blocks from Yann and Surman) was to be his last action of note before he was replaced by Smith
What a season he has had
I'll be the first to hold my hand up and say I didn't think he'd cut it in this league but to steal a quote from 'Arry, he's been absolutely outstandin' and fully deserved the cheers as he left the pitch
That swap put Ritchie on the left and it was show-boating time.
A long ball picked him out on the wing and as the defender came out to close him down he took the ball on the volley and just chipped the ball over the defender's head and ran onto the ball
If Ronaldo had done that there would be 1000 vines I could show you, but for now, you'll just have to take my word for it
The cross/shot came to nothing but that was only a slight reprise for the Charlton defence as on 85 minutes he cut in from the right (yes he was meant to be on the left but when's he's playing like this, who's arguing :-) ) and crashed a shot against the defender
The ball fell back to him and, off balance, as he was falling over he smashed the ball again and swept it into the bottom right corner
Five minutes to go, winning 0-3, getting promoted to the Premier league, it doesn't get any better than this, does it?
Yes, yes it does................
Like a Mexican wave of noise a crescendo of roaring started on the left and went through the crowd like wildfire
Why are we all screaming, I asked - I don't know, shouted all around me
We all dived to our phones - nothing had changed.
Refresh
Nothing
Refresh
Still nothing
Refresh
WEDNESDAY HAD EQUALISED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've never felt anything like it - We could see the bench jumping up and down and then Ritchie was jumping up and down while the ball was in play
Watford, after mocking our conceding of a last minute penalty against the Owls, had done exactly the same!!!
By all accounts their own fans had a hand in it by one fan running on the pitch, which delayed a Wednesday Free kick and disrupted their defensive plans
More jumping, shouting, hugging and tears - this truly was the greatest day
We lost Phil at this stage as his ill-advised standing on the chair went horribly wrong and we are all grateful to those in front for having such strong shoulders
Full Time - 0-3 : Bournemouth promoted as Champions
Summary - The game was never in doubt. The league always was. I am a VERY biased blogger - I make no bones about that. My blogs hardly ever mention the opposition because quite frankly, I don't care.
I make an exception today because I thought the Charlton players and fans alike were the classiest I have ever witnessed, allowing our celebrations in their own back yard. More than that, staying around and applauding our celebrations
I will forever hold a special respect for them for that and hope that next season, they, and Sheffield Wednesday go up :-)
Star Player - AFCB Crowd - we were magnificent and have the best year EVER to look forward to, following the best side we have ever had
