Setting off from Stalybridge just after 8am, the snow was just beginning to fall give the pale light a lovely blue hue and upon arrival at Manchester the snow was well and truly coming down.
Speeding on towards London, the snow was soon left behind and it was looking to be a pleasant sunny afternoon in the capital. Having successfully survived the crush of the tune from Euston to Vauxhall it was back overland to catch the train to Brentford, a short walk for the ground. Midway along the journey I decided to check the postponements list on my mobile and low and behold Brentford v Doncaster had just been called off. Thankfully after my cancelled train problem in the previous round, I had decided to start making sure there was a plan B for such occasions and had already designated Fulham as my fallback. Luck was on my side as Putney was the next stop, just a mile or two on the opposite side of the river from Craven Cottage.
As I was expecting to be in Brentford, I had not really done any advance on research on Craven Cottage but knew it had a reputation for fantastic surroundings in one of the loveliest districts of London and after seeing the parade of coaches bringing in the Swindon fans (I counted at least 20 and they brought 6000 altogether), I found myself in Bishop's Park approaching the ground.
On reaching the ground and seeing the magnificent Grade II list Johnny Haynes stand frontage, my mind was instantly made up that this was where I would be watching the match from. Outside the ground the club had a few stalls selling the usual pre-match fayre and as the nearest alternative was probably a good walk away, I decided to throw myself upon their mercy and was rewarded with a fantastic lamb, mint and rosemary effort which was right up there with the best I've tasted this season. Having finished this, the away team arrived on cue, to be greeted by their travelling army of supporters.
With there still being 90 minutes to kick-off I decided to get a drink in the ground rather than hunt out a pub. In terms of facilities, I don't normally expect much of clubs at this level but on this occasion I was very pleasantly surprised with the look and care that had gone into the area and the Grolsch on tap was pretty decent. Just when I thought things couldn't get any better a chap came round with a tray of complementary pies - Fulham you have made a new friend.
I decided to go and check out my seat for the afternoon and was delighted to see the stand has retained many of its original features including the excellent wooden seating dating back to 1905 (The oldest stand in league football) and no major visibility problems from the stanctions supporting the roof.
By kick-off the ground was fairly full, with the Swindon fans filling the end behind the goal to the left in good voice. It didn't take long for long as after 16 minutes a great pass from Kelly at rightback played in the in-form Bobby Zamora was brilliantly muscled away from his marker to flick the ball over the advancing David Lucas to make it 1-0 to Fulham.
Fulham then went on to dominate possession for the remainder of the half but Swindon held their shape well, restricting the home side to only a handful of chances including a header narrowly over from Zamora. As the teams went in for half-time, Swindon were still in with a shout but had failed to test Schwarzer in the Fulham goal.
As the second-half got underway, it soon became clear that the pace of the game was going to be a leisurely one as Fulham were happy to keep possession and Swindon were unable to make many inroads. The visitors had what I think is their only shot on target with a free-kick straight at Schwarzer. At the other end, Andy Johnson managed to get himself through on goal only to be pulled down by David Lucas. Thankfully the referee, decided not ruin the day with a red card and Lucas redeemed himself by saving Johnson's weak penalty.
The game finished up 1-0 and although not a classic in terms of goalmouth action, both teams had looked to play the match in an enjoyable, passing manner on the ground which made for a very watchable afternoons football, topped off by a pleasant walk along the Thames back to Putney Bridge.
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