Wales 0 Czech Republic 0
Euro 2008 Qualifier
The train was due to leave just before 6:40 am. Joel and I were looking forward to a good day. The impact of the ungodly hour was cushioned by the feeling that we may win, although last week's performance was not a good omen. We had to win, It was Giggsy's last game. We also retained slim hopes of qualification. As we waited the crowds appeared; first, Dylan, a face from Llandudno, joined Joel and I; then came Arwel and his band followed by Ged, Martin and the Conwy lot.
The train duly arrived, all 2 carriages of it. We weren't too downhearted though as we had space. Whilst we travelled eastwards the early hopefulness started to subside, to be replaced by tiredness. We weren't worrying about the train situation, although it was filling up; we knew that they'd add more carriages in Chester.
Our optimism was ill-founded. An announcement was heard. We had to leave the train at Chester because of an engineering fault. A couple of minutes later this became an electrical fault although the net result was the same, we had to leave.
All was not lost, surely there would be adequate transport provided. Arriva's planning department had obviously failed to take the extra people going to Cardiff today into account. Consequently we were presented with a train that looked a little small. As we headed south personal space became a pipe dream. At Hereford a party of young ladies got on. Much hilarity ensued when a group behind them needed the toilet.
The nature of our travel put me in mind of the old football specials, except our passengers were a little more sedate; no emergency cords were pulled so we could 'ave it with a rival firm. It's nice to know that in this market-driven age, where the customer is king, customers can be treated with such contempt.
In Cardiff we found a new system for filtering the passengers, they'd got something right today! The sunshine of Cardiff beckoned us forward so we went to the Yard, a pub with a courtyard. We decided that the courtyard was in need of decoration; the flag adorned a railing. A waitress from the Basque country came over for a little chat and we drank our beers in the pleasant June sun, all was well. 
Then the manager of a nearby restaurant asked us to take the flag down, bah humbug. We decided we weren't welcome and went to the Cottage. After another thirst quencher and a chat with Ged, we continued on our tour, to the City Arms.
This is the usual haunt of the away regulars and true to form we saw a few; Rhys, Ian and Dilwyn were here plus several more I recognised but never met. I also met someone called Mike, better known as Cymru am Byth on t'internet. He is a Rhyl fan and issuer of unpleasant wishes. We shook hands and I felt dirty.
As the Jet Set and various others chatted amicably the sound of drumming erupted; some Czechs were responsible. They looked very drunk but also very natty in their military-inspired head wear. We had already bumped into a few Czechs and they generally seemed to be a very good- natured bunch. In my experience it seems that Eastern European fans dress in a wide variety of styles. Today was no exception; we'd seen punks, 80s throwbacks, people wearing sandals and socks as well as the more British looking ones. It always feels refreshing, in relation to the conformity you generally tend to get with British fans that is.
Speaking of conformity, why are these bloody horns still being sold? There must be a by-law on match days that encourages their use. You cannot walk down the street with your ears unmolested. One person outside a pub seemed to take great delight in deafening everyone passing by with his fog horn. Some people didn't even need the air canister either, realising that they could achieve the same effect by simply blow down the trumpet part of the air horn. We met more friendly Czechs outside the Weatherspoons on Westgate St. Arwel complemented us on the size of our flag. 
As expected the ground wasn't even half full, at least we'd be able to choose our seat. As we waited the Czechs warmed up in front of us, Cech must have been hot in his scrum cap. As the start approached the Czech fans unfurled a banner to thank Giggsy, a nice touch. 
Wales seemed to have put last week behind them as we attacked well. Just as importantly we also looked secure in defence. Hennessey, the young North Walian goalie, looked very good. Unfortunately our good attacking only had a limited effectiveness; players did get behind the Czech defenders but they were isolated. On the other hand the Czech attacks foundered upon the rocks in our defence.
Today Wales had a preoccupation with short corners. I never managed to work out the reason for this as they didn't appear to be particularly effective. For some reason the Czechs didn't look to be at their effective best today. I feared a little for the second half; away teams tended to score at this end so the Czechs would probably improve.
Half time give us a chance to move away from one bloke that kept haranguing Koumas; Jason was too lazy, too crap, too scouse, probably. It also gave Joel the chance to move away from someone an overpowering BO smell. We found plenty of empty seats at the back of the stand. 
The second half saw a very good performance by the Welsh team. The attacks were good; a mazy dribble by Giggsy. Koumas hit the crossbar with a free kick. We looked like we could get the victory that we desperately needed. James Collins was immense at the back, he blocked everything thrown at him. The short corner situation didn't resolve itself for much of the second half; a traditional corner was attempted and the noise of ironic cheers filled the air. Fortunately the Czechs were still off the boil so they didn't produce much that was threatening. To put this performance in a nutshell, it was good but the result could have been better.
We decided to go to the station straight after the game in order to get back for some drinks and fabulous Chinese food in Llandudno. Anyone would think it was a good plan. However it still wasn't good enough to get the train that we needed. Arriva had decided to organise a new queuing system on the outside too. We would be allowed to get on to the platforms when our trains were here, not a bad idea when there is this amount of people.
Unfortunately the good citizens of Newport were obviously more important; they were let on to the platforms first. "Don't worry" we were told, "Your trains will still be here". 20 minutes after our train had left we were finally allowed on to the platforms and our train had gone, surprise, surprise. "Not my fault" was the response. Now we had to wait another 20 minutes for the next one, not really a problem.
Unfortunately it became a problem when there was a rush of people from the stairs behind us. There was a crush as the doors opened but at least everybody got on. It was a little cramped to say the least. Then, whadda you know, as soon as we stopped in Newport and Cwmbran the train lost a lot of its passengers. At least their pushing got them home 15 minutes earlier.
The rest of the journey was a delight; plenty of legroom; a chat with a couple of Wrexham fans; a successful search for refreshment in Crewe; a cosmopolitan and very friendly alcohol-fuelled train between Crewe and Junction and finally drinks at last orders in Llandudno. Perfick!!
Giggs Czechs out
