Cracking day out. The Southend Shrimpers v the Morecombe Shrimps, with mascots Sammy the Shrimp and Elvis the Eel watching on. In the ticket office I was offered the choice of view or atmosphere? I chose atmosphere and was given a west stand ticket - and boy did I get atmosphere. A few hundred Southend fans sang their hearts out for almost the whole match - complete with drums and flags. There were also an admirable 64 Morecombe fans who made the long trip down - also with a drum and flags - one with the words sardines on tour. Pre match I had a pint in the east stand bar and met Big Russell the Southampton fan and his mate the Spurs fan. Nice lads - eccentric but friendly. Roots Hall is an old style ground with pillars holding up the rooves (and hindering the view a bit) but it''s also an all seater stadium and has an unusual double decker stand behind the south side goal. At half time in the pouring rain and in true Essex girl stereotype style we had a display of dancing (avec pom poms) from the scantily clad ''Bluebells''. The poor lasses must have been bloody cold and wet by the end. Good game of football with loads of goal mouth action but only the one goal. Really enjoyed the trip.