It was the Valentine''s Day match. The much anticipated trip to Newport and my 84th League ground to be visited. It was also the match after our 5-0 mauling at the hands of Crewe. What would happen in this match? How would our players respond? How would the supporters respond? I did some brick laying in the morning and just got finished in time for a quick salad lunch and then the drive up to Forest Pines to leave my van in order to catch the coach from the red roadside cafe. I got there and the coach was already waiting for me. Only 21 people were on the coach. I reckoned that would mean only about 250 loyal supporters would be at the match. I read the newspaper on the coach and three quarters finished the crossword. I had bought a tub of sour sweets which were nice to nibble at on the journey. At the services I decided on no food. I was not hungry. I sat with my good friend Andrew Nicholls as he ate his fish n chips! We got to Newport and parked up eventually. The coach driver was intent on doing a couple of circuits round the town first. I decided I would also have Fish n Chips and set about finding the best Fish n Chip shop in Newport as googled earlier. I had to cross a stunning footbridge to get to the fish shop. It was a place called Eshaals. I had Fish and Chips with baked beans. I can say that fish and chips in South Wales are OK if this place is a yardstick! Newport''s ground Rodney Parade is close to the town centre and a whole host of eateries. After my meal I went back to the ground and went in. The pitch as expected looked heavily sanded and would not be easy to play on! The Grimsby team were warming up as the crowd slowly drifted in. The first half was uneventful, scrappy but a definite improvement on the debacle at Crewe at the weekend. Chances were limited. Newport defending resolutely. The second half was much the same. A double substitution of bothe strikers making little difference. The linesman took a lot of stick since he flagged offside numerous times against Yusuff when he was clearly behind the defender. The Grimsby fans were annoyed and mockingly started to shout out offside every time we had the ball! The final whistle came and the team were cheered and so was Marcus Bignot. It was as if e had won promotion. Almost sickly to see Bignot thump his chest over his heart and point to the fans. It was of note that one older supporter leaving the stand was saying how terrible the performance had been and the worst he had seen in many a year. I think most of us were just glad to see an improvement on last Saturday. It was a long journey home but I was thinking a point closer to safety was OK away from home, even against the bottom club in the whole football league!