John O'Gaunt Inn, Hungerford

For a change the heavens had opened and we set off for Hungerford, fully expecting a call to say the match was off. The call never came. The game went ahead and the result dented Hungerford's play off ambitions, some what.

Forget the football, what about the pub. The John O'Gaunt Inn is in a beautiful setting in Hungerford. Seated next to a babbling stream, not a live stream, this ancient boozer staffed with Aussie's and Kiwi's is a place that you could easily lose yourself in.

A snug bar includes six hand pumps for beer. A changing selection of at least six real ales is regularly available, which includes a beer brewed at its sister pub in Wickham. The ales are supplemented by four real ciders. Additionally, some eighty bottled beers from around the world are offered, fifty of which are Belgian. Loddon Hullabaloo and Two Cocks 1643 Cavalier are their stables.

With such an amazing choice and kick off looming we only managed to sample Dirty Stop Out by Tiny Rebel, the 1643 Cavalier, the ever reliable Whitstable Bay Blonde Premium Lager by Shepherd Neame and a Schneider Weisse Original, an amber Bavarian wheat beer.

With such an outstanding pub, we were hoping that Hungerford's play off hopes would be dashed, so we could return next season, this time with a coach to aid the amount that could be quaffed. To be fair Dunstable Town tried their best to help us out, with an amazing 3-2 victory, with Steve Wales' 30 yard winner in the mud and rain being the pick of the bunch. Fingers crossed Hungerford will fail in their promotion bid or at least hope for a swift return, if they do make it, as a return to the John O'Gaunt is very much in order.

Laceys Ale & Cider House, Bideford

With Bideford in the bottom three and looking doomed, this looked like our last trip to Devon for a while. The club had laid on a coach and we therefore kicked off the day in Tony's Cafe. Slap up breakfasts before a good five hour coach journey are essential to soak up the pre-match beverages.

After a brief coffee and piss stop, we arrived in Bideford in good time and headed up the hill to Laceys, a short 5 minute work from the ground. Lacey's is a lively town centre bar, originally set up by Country Life Brewery as their brewery tap, but run independently since November 2012. The two regular real ales are still sourced from Country Life. Large double doors open onto the street in the summer.

We sampled the Old Appledore and the Reef Break, both Country Life Brewery fare and were most enjoyable. The famous jukebox got a good hammering, with its usual eclectic mix of music from Andy Williams to the Clash. This confused the locals no end and to be fair, were probably pleased once we left for the match.

The match itself was a "thrilling" 0-0. Dunstable made hard work of finishing off an already, if not mathematically, relegated team, the highlight being a looping punt from Steve Wales from the halt way line.

Post match hunger was building and fish and chimps were required. Fortunately, a decent chippy was just round the corner. It may not be a Scottie Tour, but planning is no less important. The happy drivers would not let anyone on the coach with our smelly fast food, so we tucked into them on the street outside the ground and prepared ourselves for the long journey home.

Jolly Cricketers, Seer Green

 

Following recent postponements due to heavy rain, we left for Beaconsfield in the knowledge that the game would probably be called off. The decision to drive was made after a number of unsuccessful attempts at train journeys to matches and decided that our pit stop venue would be the Jolly Cricketers in Seer Green. Having already been to a couple a locals two seasons ago when we played Slough and Beaconsfield in the space of four days, we opted for a pub on the way.

The Cricketers is an award winning free house, set in the heart of Seer Green Village near Beaconsfield. A fine locals pub and was very busy on our visit on a Saturday afternoon. Cricket memorabilia adorns the walls and ceiling and the house beer Tavernier’s, brewed by Marlow's Rebellion Brewery, reflects this pub’s strong cricket history link with very friendly, busy staff. Excellent, if expensive food and snacks are available.

   

As well as the usual local Rebellion beers on offer they also had the excellent Czech Urquell Pilsner and a bitter brewed by The Little Beer Corporation with hops from down under called Little Haka.

Once we had received confirmation from Pipeman of the starting XI and that the game was on, we set off for Beaconsfield. On arrival at the ground we spotted the catering van that Kettering fans had been moaning about the week before. They had given it their usual "big club" bullshit that they should have laid on more food as Kettering were in town!

As we have travelled around the grounds this season, we have noticed that Kettering's fans have delusions of grandeur and believe that they are some sort of special case, that little clubs should bow down and thank them for helping them out. They don't seem to be endearing themselves to many clubs.

In the lashing rain and losing 1-0 with minutes to go, we wished the game had been rained off. This maybe our last visit to Beaconsfield for a while, as Slough are destined to move to a new stadium for next season. A potential Tour venue, a new ground and new pubs. This game was quickly forgotten, as we planned next season’s assault on Slough.