A record-breaking 7 games for me in August. I've already blogged about the opening weekend, but here are some more bad photos and comments where I try to be amusing.
The newly rebranded JD Cymru Premier league kicked off on a wet Friday night with Barry away at neighbours Penybont. It was a ground I hadn't been to before and fortunately there was space in one of the stands so I could stay out of the Biblical rain.
It was relatively restrained rain at kick off.
Barry won 2-1, after going behind to a penalty. The winning goal was an absolute belter from Jonathan Hood, who later got sent off for messing around on the substitutes bench. Afterwards the players came over to salute the fans who had been raising the roof all night.
And then had a post-match huddle in front of us.
A week later and it was another Friday night game for Barry, this time at Jenner Park, against Aberystwyth Town.
My Mum was down for the bank holiday weekend so I took her along. She really enjoyed it.
Barry won 3-1, although they didn't look as comfortable as the scoreline suggests, particularly after the sun went down.
On the bank holiday Monday, Barry were at home again, this time playing Bala Town.
It was a much tougher game, ending 2-2. The weather was glorious, with barely a cloud in the sky. The clouds we did have were rather lovely.
Next up was a midweek game in the South Wales Alliance, Premier Division where my most local team, Grange Albion, were playing Cardiff Draconians. The Dracs are the Manchester City of the division apparently, and even pay some of their players. They have the fancy warm-up routines you would expect.
It was a game played with unofficial linesmen and plenty of banter between the ref, the players, the crowd and the managers. This is a level where referees can answer back.
The Dracs were 4-0 up before Albion got on the scoresheet to make it 4-1 at half time. Given their ground is right next to the bus depot (do you remember when I went to the bus depot?), it's a shame Cardiff Bus just repeatedly drove their buses past the back of the Albion goal instead of parking one in front of it.
The game finished 4-2 to the Dracs with missed chances aplenty in the second half.
And so to my final game in August, and my fourth in eight days, when I went with my friend Sara and her extended family to watch Cardiff play Fulham, in the other stadium on Sloper Road in Grangetown.
Cardiff's warm up was a bit different to the Dracs'. But I'm not sure what ring a ring a rosie will achieve.
The game was still 0-0 on 42 minutes and then was 1-1 at half time, which was also the full time score. It wasn't the most memorable game, although I did see a player, Harry Arter, sent off after getting booked for diving. It was his second yellow card and he had a long trudge off the field with a chorus of 'Cheerio! Cheerio! Cheerio!' for the duration of the trudge. I think that's the first time I've ever seen a player dismissed for diving. There's always something new to see at a football match.
Showing posts with label Cardiff Bus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cardiff Bus. Show all posts
Saturday, August 31, 2019
August 2019 football round up
Labels:
2019-20 season,
Bala Town,
Barry Town United,
bus,
Cardiff Bus,
Cardiff City,
football,
Grange Albion,
Mum,
non-league football,
Penybont FC,
red card,
Sara C,
Welsh Premier League
Sunday, January 15, 2017
It wasn't all bad... 11 new experiences of 2016
2016 was a bit of a rubbish year in lots of ways, but rather than mull over the increasingly terrible collective decisions the world seems to be making, or the long list of famous people who passed away last year, I have decided to focus on the good stuff. And for me there was a lot of good stuff. This post is about all the things I did for the very first time last year. A lot of this happened on our big holiday in pre-Trump North America, so I'm going to start there...
1) Went to Canada
There are loads of things I did for the first time in on our road trip to the USA and Canada, in terms of visiting places I'd not been to before (like Niagara Falls, or the Baseball Hall of Fame), but I'm going to lump all of those things in under this heading.
2) Ate fried pickles
Just one of the new culinary experiences of our road trip. We also ate at a Vegan Diner and on another occasion had poutine. But fried pickles were the new food of the year.
3) Went to a Baseball match on a giveaway night
'Star Wars night' made seeing the Boston Red Sox even more special. We also saw a baseball game in Toronto, with the Rodgers Stadium dome closed - the first time I'd ever seen baseball "indoors".
4) Saw a moose
OK, it was in a zoo, but it counts.
5) Checked into a hotel then checked straight back out again
The lowlight of our road trip was a disastrous hotel booking in Albany, New York. But it was a totally new experience for me.
So, enough about our road trip, here are some other things.
6) Saw Shrewsbury Town finally beat Cardiff City in Cardiff.
It had been a long time coming, but I was finally present (in one of Cardiff's record lowest crowds at their new stadium) to see Shrewsbury beat them.
7) Got on a plane unaccompanied
I went to a conference in Glasgow and flew there from Bristol. It was the first time I had ever travelled by plane on my own, having always had Cathy, or family, or colleagues with me on previous flights.
8) Saw Celtic play
A childhood ambition ticked off
9) Went to Spain
Again, this was for a work conference. I took plenty of photos of Valencia by night. I loved it.
10) Rode through a bus wash
Seriously, this was one of the best things I did last year.
11) Going to a cartoon festival
I love cartoons and one of our favourite cartoonists was at the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, we decided we had to go. We met her again a few weeks later, in her studio in Massachusetts.
1) Went to Canada
There are loads of things I did for the first time in on our road trip to the USA and Canada, in terms of visiting places I'd not been to before (like Niagara Falls, or the Baseball Hall of Fame), but I'm going to lump all of those things in under this heading.
2) Ate fried pickles
Just one of the new culinary experiences of our road trip. We also ate at a Vegan Diner and on another occasion had poutine. But fried pickles were the new food of the year.
3) Went to a Baseball match on a giveaway night
'Star Wars night' made seeing the Boston Red Sox even more special. We also saw a baseball game in Toronto, with the Rodgers Stadium dome closed - the first time I'd ever seen baseball "indoors".
4) Saw a moose
OK, it was in a zoo, but it counts.
5) Checked into a hotel then checked straight back out again
The lowlight of our road trip was a disastrous hotel booking in Albany, New York. But it was a totally new experience for me.
So, enough about our road trip, here are some other things.
6) Saw Shrewsbury Town finally beat Cardiff City in Cardiff.
It had been a long time coming, but I was finally present (in one of Cardiff's record lowest crowds at their new stadium) to see Shrewsbury beat them.
7) Got on a plane unaccompanied
I went to a conference in Glasgow and flew there from Bristol. It was the first time I had ever travelled by plane on my own, having always had Cathy, or family, or colleagues with me on previous flights.
8) Saw Celtic play
A childhood ambition ticked off
9) Went to Spain
Again, this was for a work conference. I took plenty of photos of Valencia by night. I loved it.
10) Rode through a bus wash
Seriously, this was one of the best things I did last year.
11) Going to a cartoon festival
I love cartoons and one of our favourite cartoonists was at the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, we decided we had to go. We met her again a few weeks later, in her studio in Massachusetts.
Labels:
2016,
baseball,
Canada,
Cardiff Bus,
Cardiff City,
Celtic,
food,
football,
moose,
pickles,
Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival,
Shrewsbury Town,
Star Wars,
travel,
USA & Canada 2016,
Valencia
Tuesday, November 01, 2016
Cardiff bus depot tour and a trip through the bus wash
Cardiff Bus held an excellent community open day on Sunday. Alongside face-painting and candy floss there was a small historical exhibit, vintage buses to admire and a double-decker ride through the actual depot finishing with a trip through the bus wash!
I got to try my hand at being a driver
One of the vintage buses
We also got to see inside the control room
And inside the depot
Where we saw what we were told was the busiest vehicle in the fleet: the breakdown van
I filmed the tour through the depot from the top deck. If you've got a spare six minutes, have a watch. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed filming it.
I got to try my hand at being a driver
One of the vintage buses
We also got to see inside the control room
And inside the depot
Where we saw what we were told was the busiest vehicle in the fleet: the breakdown van
I filmed the tour through the depot from the top deck. If you've got a spare six minutes, have a watch. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed filming it.
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