No. 59. Meadow Lane, Notts County

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Notts County 2-2 Bury

Fancy Dress!

Ground 59: Meadow Lane, Notts County

06/05/06

The last game of the league season was upon us and as is tradition we had to go dressed in fancy dress. We had to decide what we were going as; Stu thought going dressed in something similar would be the order so we decided on the 3 Amigos. We got ourselves a Sombrero, a stick on moustache and a poncho (an old rug with a hole in the top!) and were ready to travel to Nottingham. Stu and I drove down to Gigg Lane at about 10.20 and met up with Mark and his 3 passengers. We set off just after 10.30 and joined the M66. The weather was sunny and warm and the roads were pretty light. The journey was uneventful as we entered the outskirts of Nottingham. Mark was following us down and jumped several red lights in Nottingham city centre to keep up with us! We arrived outside the ground about 12.15 and Stu parked within 10 yards of the away turnstiles (wish we could do that at every away game!) Mark wasn’t happy because he originally was going to park there but we nipped in front of him! Mark parked about 100 yards round the corner in a designated car park. We met up with him and he decided he was going to dress up ready when going to the pub, the weather at this point was quite warm so Stu and I decided we would change later! We walked to Hooters, a bar only yards from the away end and met up with a large number of Bury fans already in there. Several were in Fancy dress, special mention to Big H who travelled down on the train dressed as Ali G! Good on you Mark! We had a few drinks and went through the Bury FC song book for a couple of hours before making our way to the car to get changed. We got changed and entered the ground.

The atmosphere was electric as a bumper last day crowd of nearly 10,000 packed into Meadow Lane, including an excellent Bury following of nearly 1300. The game started quite evenly, but it was Bury who drew first blood through a Mattis header from a corner kick. The game was quite scrappy from then on and Bury led 1-0 at half time. The second half was slightly more on the side of Bury and after a couple of good chances were created, Bury doubled their lead, Tom Youngs coolly slotting home, much to delight of the travelling fans. With 8 minutes to go, it looked like Bury were going to end the season with a win but Notts County pulled a goal back. This gave the home side a sudden boost and after a shot cannoned off the Bury keeper’s chest, the Notts County player dived over his outstretched arms. The referee gave a penalty. Once the commotion had died down the Notts County skipper tucked it away. After 5 minutes were added on for stoppages and a few frantic clearances the final whistle went.

Oxford’s game had ended earlier so we knew both sides had stayed up. Cue mad celebrations as both sets of fans sang their hearts out and exchanged shirts! Well done lads and we look forward to next season, however, 2 of the Walshaw Whites have a trip to Australia to fulfil and therefore will be missing the first half of next season. Lets hope Bury are ready to push on for a playoff place around Christmas time for when they come back!

Glenn