I'm sorry for the delay in this thread - the coach has only just got back from Hartlepool ! Whilst I 'slightly' jest, I am not kidding that the driver seemed to get lost AGAIN ! We had an awful journey on the way up - started by queuing on the 'arm' leading up the the Dartford Crossing - then the M25 and M1 had heavy traffic - so that we took 3 hours to travel 100 miles. We eventually arrived at the home of the MK Dons - where the Gills were looking for the last few points to ensure L1 football for next season - which as any adult fan of Charlton, you will be able to get for as little as £150. The MK Dons teenagers can watch football next season for £30 !! I wonder what Scally has in mind for our 'pleasure' in 2014/15 ? I do wish our regular driver hurries back. I'm getting fed up of getting lost. After the driver got lost on the M6 on our last journey, to Bradford, the same driver would have been tearing his hair out as to exactly where we were supposed to be going today... " but I thought Wimbledon was in south west London" would be what he'd probably say. I could imagine him throwing Mrs.Satnav off the bus as he disappears in ever decreasing circles. If I had my way the driver of that Bradford trip would be punished for getting lost by being made to just continually negotiate the 5 'satellite' roundabout near to Swindon's ground. So today we didn't go to where they play tennis, but were we to endure more footballing rubbish for the Wombles to clear up - I could predict that we probably weren't going to see an El Classico or quality of the like served up by Lionel Messi ( but I'd be happy to miss out on all that 'falling down' by too many foreign players) - instead we ventured 45 miles North of London, to Milton Keynes. Last time I went in my camel car - and it was a nightmare trying to get out of the place. I have to admit that the home of MK Dons is a lovely, shiny ground and is probably better than some in the Premier League. I am genuinely jealous of the stadium - a damned sight better than their old Plough(ed) Lane. The old ground certainly resembled something of a ploughed field. The new home of Wimbledon has been used since 2007 following that name change( in 2004) & move business. I sincerely hope that our chairman, Mr.Scally does not put Gillingham in the same situation as he looks to relocate us into a new stadium ! A message to you, Mr.Scally - Gillingham is in Medway ( or at least in Kent ! ) ( same message for our driver ) Those of you who haven't been to the new ground WILL be impressed with the place and facilities. There is no surprise that it has been chosen to stage matches of the 2018 Rugby World Cup - I'm pretty sure that Gillingham's players could adapt to 'Up & under' tactics of the odd shaped ball game. I have to admit that there is very little trivia that I can find about Mk Dons ( I can hear you all sighing with relief ). I am scraping the bottom of the barrel to tell you that Milton Keynes (as you already know ) is a fairly new town - built to accomodate the ever increasing population of London. The planners set out the roads in a grid formation - with roundabouts at the intersections (like in the USA). This system is supposedly more efficient traffic management - perhaps there should be roundabouts on the M1 where it meets the junction for the M6 ! So with a lack of trivia concerning the team and its' association with Milton Keynes, I will have to resort to drastic measures and tell you something about the game. It has described by others as a smash & grab raid - I cannot disagree. We were set up to defend a 0-0 and got a lucky break just after half time. I will admit that I wasn't looking forward to the 'entertainment' - even if I did tell a friend sitting next to me that I'd be happy with 0-0. I even repeated this after we took the lead ! Throughout most of the game we defended - but it has to be said that - the defending - especially from Barrett, Legge & Harriman was good. We kept up our concentration levels and never gave MK Dons any real chance on goal. In fact there was very little goalmouth action in the game. The only goal of the match was a move of reasonable quality. Weston got the ball and pushed his way forward past two defenders before sending a cross/shot across the penalty area. Cody, backing up at the far post managed to keep the ball 'alive' by back heeling it to ***an who shot first time into the opposite corner of the goal - much to the delight of the 341 Gills fans. We then had to endure a lot of tension whilst we resolutely stood firm to come away with all three points. A much better display of commitment to close down the opposition than we saw against Crewe. So we left to go back to Medway feeling loads better than any Man Utd fan that night - however I was none impressed with the sense of direction of the driver - The journey back on the M1 & m25 was no less busy than on the way 'up'. We did a detour to try to avoid some of the congestion - and at one point on the A2 we were heading the right way out of London - only for the driver to somehow think it would be quicker to drive back to the capital and go through some of the boroughs before being 'coached' by Peter Lloyd as to the location of Kent ! Peter Lloyd normally asks the passengers their preferred drop off points on the way home - I told him 'Anywhere you like.' As I got off the coach I did tell him that I was off to look for some monkeys to hang because I was sure he had taken me to Hartlepool as he threatened to do during the Bradford trip ! Our next road trip should be taking us to Peterborough. But I don't care where we end up as long as the Gills continue to be as professional as against MK Dons.
