Huddersfield, Iain Dowie and my new best friend!

For me following the Daggers away this season has been all about work but it has been an incredible experience. So while the travelling fans are stood/sat in the stands singing and shouting for me it has been all about the press box, my laptop and the after-match interviews.

My latest assignment was a trip to Huddersfield's Galpharm Stadium on Easter Monday, and I have to say it was one of the best trips of the season. Of course it is a 'local' game for me, just 70 miles down the A1/M1/M62, so my trusty companion Emerson and me set off just after lunch on a warm, sunny Bank Holiday. With our recent run of seven defeats from our last eight games I was not expecting much but the Daggers have a habit of producing something special when its least expected so we both predicted a 1-1 draw.

Thanks to the extra traffic and the horrendous roadworks on the A1 we arrived at the ground just before kick off but what a fine ground it is. I had been here once before, for a pre-season friendly against Arsenal three years ago, but that was as a fan. This was something else.

Our view from the press box

We were greeted in reception and handed our press pass, complimentary match programme and teamsheet. We were then led into the press room and given a cup of tea before being shown to our seats by a friendly old steward. The view, Main Stand behind the dug-outs, was incredible and we had our own little desk and power-point, far more civilised then the trips to Hartlepool, Carlisle and Tranmere to name but a few!
The first half was an exciting affair which could have ended 4-3. We scored a superb equaliser from Romain Vincelot but almost immediately threw away all that hard work by conceding a soft goal to go in 2-1 down.

The real brains behind the operation!

Half time meant a trip back down to the press room for another cup of tea where we discovered that Bristol Rovers were 1-0 up and Walsall 0-0. If things stayed like this we would be in the bottom four by 5pm...

The second half saw an incredible performance from our boys, one of the best of the season. We created several good chances to equalise and how we didn't convert at least one of them I still don't know, John Akinde's effort from about six inches being the biggest culprit!

The lads show appreciation for the travelling support at the final whistle

The final whistle brought disappointment, although it was eased by late goals conceded by both Walsall and Rovers to mean we were in the bottom four but only one point from safety. However we couldn't help but feel a massive sense of pride in the performance, second only to Carlisle away in Emerson's opinion, and we were really looking forward to hearing what John Still thought of it all.

We made our way down to pitch-side where Stilly approached us deep in conversation with Iain Dowie. Not sure what he was doing there but as he was all suited and booted I assumed he was doing some media work. Despite us dropping back into the relegation zone John was very upbeat and proud of the boys display but he was convinced we should have had two penalties. Apparently Dowie had seen replays on Sky and told him they both stone-wallers! After the interview John said hello to Emerson, as he always does, and had a little laugh and a joke with him. Emerson, as he does, just took it in his stride. Yeah its only the manager of Daggers, the man who has got us where we are and Emerson just treats him like they are long lost buddies!


What was he doing here??

Me and Emerson then wandered onto the pitch where the players were still warming down. Danny Green was doing an interview with Stu for Radio Essex so we gate-crashed and he said he had definitely been caught and it was definitely a penalty, although the ref had thought he'd dived! I then told him we were back in the drop zone and would probably need 4 points from our last two games but he seemed convinced one win will do it. 'Carlisle next week then?' I asked but he said we were playing better away from home and I had to agree.

Then came the moment that made my day. Arbs walked past, nodded and said 'Alright Rick?' Yes our captain had acknowledged my presence...Wow! I guess I should not have been totally surprised as I had spoken to him after several of our away matches recently and we have had the odd conversation with him on Twitter but for him to acknowledge me was a great moment! He came over and asked me what the other results were so I said Walsall had drawn and Rovers lost having earlier been 1-0 up. 'What about Plymouth and Swindon?' he asked. Shit, I had completely forgotten about them so I was a bit stuck. 'Er...Swindon lost I think, not sure about Plymouth...' Yeah my big moment and I blew it! Arbs was unconcerned and seemed convinced we will survive anyway. Well if its good enough for him then its good enough for me!

We hung about for a bit longer and overheard an interesting conversation between Marvin Morgan, Bas Savage and Jon Nurse, who were all in the dug-out, talking about our attacking play but if you think I am going to leak the details of it then you are very much mistaken! See some journos do have integrity...

With that we went back to the press room for a final cuppa and to finish my notes before we made our way back to the car for the journey home.

The one thing I have noticed from watching matches in the press box is how differently you see the game. As a fan you are singing, shouting, talking to your mates etc and so get a very different view of the action. Up in the press box you are watching the game from a totally different perspective. So when fans complain that Akinde is 'shit' or Femi 'not good enough' I have to disagree. From what I have seen both have done really well.

Akinde is a powerful player who must be terrible to play against. He is strong and direct, holds the ball up well and if he can add goals he will be the perfect centre forward for us. Yes after his misses here you have to wonder if he will ever score but I seem to recall Benno struggled in his first season and look where he ended up? However unless we stay up we have no chance of keeping big John so we should perhaps reserve judgement until after the Peterborough match.

As for Femi, well I have been very impressed with him. I admit that he has performed far better away from home on the bigger pitches, but the boy has got talent. His is cool in possession, has a good touch and gets forward to great effect. Yes he can be found wanting positionally at times but then he is only young and has been thrown straight into League One. Plus this is a boy who gets the tube to home games so you've got to give him respect for that!

So in summary Huddersfield away will go down on my list as one of the greats. Yes we lost and survival is out of our hands but what a performance, what a game, what a ground and to cap it all our great captain is now my best mate! Bring on Carlisle and Peterborough!