An excellent day out. Weather better than expected with only a little drizzle in the middle. Nice easy drive across the Pennines to Barnsley and parked above the markets. Amazing huge old fashioned market. Lunch in the White Bear (2 meals for £9) and then the short walk to Oakwell in the near darkness of mid afternoon. We felt like we were in a Lowry. Sat in the old stand (west) and loved it. Like stepping back 100 years. Old wooden seats and lots of iron work holding the roof up. And gaps in the opposite corners giving a view to the hills beyond. And great music as we waited for the teams to come out (some sort of modern classical sound). The game was exciting without very much quality although Coventry (clearly fitter and stronger) looked good in the last 15 minutes, bossing the game and securing a deserved win. The crowd around us were great. Mostly old boys and obviously knew each other. Not one swear word for the entire match. As Chazza said, It was like being in Enid Blyton''s ''Five Go to a Footy Match Up North''. Brilliant !!! One bloke groaned aloud every time Barnsley passed the ball back and shouted go forward, go chuffing forward, or occasionally this way which was strange with him sat on the side of the pitch. Another suggested the left winger had the control of a rhino. At half time I went for a wander. At the end of the west stand lower tier is a large open flat area when fans were mixing and chatting. I could not understand a word. And so many of them had huge (monster sized) thermos flasks of tea and coffee. One (very large) woman had a flask the size of a torpedo. And the family at the front of our area had an entire picnic laid out on the wall in front of them. Lovely (strange) northern (Yorkshire) people. Long drive back but great broad smiles all the way and listening to Arsenal beating Spurs in the cup. Casserole waiting for us back at Yew Tree Barns. happy happy happy.

Another great away day, nothing like an away FA Cup win!