Reply With Quote
Another good trip. The length the fans had to go for this trip were great. One group of 50 had to fly to Gran Canaria the night before, then get up at 5am, fly the 3 hours to Madrid, then take a coach to Ponferrada that took about 6 hours. Watch the game and then after straight back on the coach for a 6 hour trip back to Madrid in the early hours. Once at Madrid Airport,and a few hours wait, a 3 hour flight back to Tenerife.
Our personal trip was not quite so hectic. Ponferrada is located in a mining area of (North-West Spain). There have been strikes lately by miners and incidents. On the motorway near the town you can see the marks of where the miners blocked the roads by burning tyres last week. It is a strange town, someone joked that it should be twinned with Chernobyl, the new town part is souless with blocks of apartments everywhere. The hotel was one of the wierdest(a carbunkle I think Charles would have called it), a high rise building in the middle of no-where.
When we arrived in the town we headed straight for the Hotel Celisus, where the players were staying and where 200 or so fans had congregated. After a few pre-match drinks we headed into the stadium, a tight British style ground, with a roof all the way around (handy as it poured down for most of the game!)
There are no excuses at this point of the season but the conditions suited the home side in the rain and wind. Despite the awful weather Ponferradina still watered the pitch before and at half-time!!
As for the game itself; I thought the first half was pretty even. The penalty was very harsh but at that point I thought at least there was time to nick a goal back. The second half was a bit of a let-off for the blanquiazules we have to admit. Especially with clear-cut chances. Tenerife did have 2 or 3 chances and Aridane went back to his old form in a way (crap), he missed a crucial header with 10 minutes remaining. I suppose that is why he is playing in 2nd B and will probably never get any higher, he had to make contact with that ball!!!
After the game we headed back to the hotel to dry off. Not exactly pleased but realising that the tie was in the balance.
The next day we headed back to Madrid in a luxury bus. It had the works; personal DVD players, wi-fi, free drinks & food, papers, we would definetely travel like that again for an away game.
After hanging about Madrid for the day we arrived back on the Island late Monday night already looking forward to next Sunday massive game.
- - - - - - - - - - merged double post - - - - - - - - - -
Another good trip. The length the fans had to go for this trip were great. One group of 50 had to fly to Gran Canaria the night before, then get up at 5am, fly the 3 hours to Madrid, then take a coach to Ponferrada that took about 6 hours. Watch the game and then after straight back on the coach for a 6 hour trip back to Madrid in the early hours. Once at Madrid Airport,and a few hours wait, a 3 hour flight back to Tenerife.
Our personal trip was not quite so hectic. Ponferrada is located in a mining area of (North-West Spain). There have been strikes lately by miners and incidents. On the motorway near the town you can see the marks of where the miners blocked the roads by burning tyres last week. It is a strange town, someone joked that it should be twinned with Chernobyl, the new town part is souless with blocks of apartments everywhere. The hotel was one of the wierdest(a carbunkle I think Charles would have called it), a high rise building in the middle of no-where.
When we arrived in the town we headed straight for the Hotel Celisus, where the players were staying and where 200 or so fans had congregated. After a few pre-match drinks we headed into the stadium, a tight British style ground, with a roof all the way around (handy as it poured down for most of the game!)
There are no excuses at this point of the season but the conditions suited the home side in the rain and wind. Despite the awful weather Ponferradina still watered the pitch before and at half-time!!
As for the game itself; I thought the first half was pretty even. The penalty was very harsh but at that point I thought at least there was time to nick a goal back. The second half was a bit of a let-off for the blanquiazules we have to admit. Especially with clear-cut chances. Tenerife did have 2 or 3 chances and Aridane went back to his old form in a way (crap), he missed a crucial header with 10 minutes remaining. I suppose that is why he is playing in 2nd B and will probably never get any higher, he had to make contact with that ball!!!
After the game we headed back to the hotel to dry off. Not exactly pleased but realising that the tie was in the balance.
The next day we headed back to Madrid in a luxury bus. It had the works; personal DVD players, wi-fi, free drinks & food, papers, we would definetely travel like that again for an away game.
After hanging about Madrid for the day we arrived back on the Island late Monday night already looking forward to next Sunday massive game.
Bookmarks