Away Day Wiz Diaries #7 (Norwich and Barnsley)

Two away days on the spin – one wet, one dark, all Wiz, all season.

Alan Pickard

With the Carabao Cup draw handing us a local game at Barnsley, three days after the long old trek to Norwich, here is your first-ever double-away day Wiz report.

Norwich City: in recent years, we never seem to lose here — a happy hunting ground since our return from the six-year pain in League One, although they are very difficult to beat on their own turf.

Hopes are high as we set off at 8:05 from Sheffield to East Anglia. Have you ever travelled to Norwich? It's a fair old trek! Talk of a changed defence was the rumour circulating around the bus. And once we'd had an impromptu quiz from Rob, Nat decided he could potentially name every US president, in order. This is, however, disrupted as we hit a broken level crossing that we can’t get across — so off I pop to investigate how long we're going to be. I never did get to that level crossing as the driver phoned me (hands-free) to tell me he'd worked out how to get around it. That walk down the road did lead to me talking to a couple of Blades in the same boat (well… car), so if that was you, then hello!

Once you get to Norwich, it's a fantastic city for a beer. Due to the rain, we ended up in the first pub we landed in, where I won the game of Round the Board and had a terrific chilli and cheeseburger. The rain held off for 20 minutes, which allowed us to have a walk to The Murderers, which was a bit of a halfway house between there and the ground. It always amazes me when I get told by certain police forces that coaches can't drop off within 10 miles of the ground. Then places like Norwich accept you with open arms. Maybe, just maybe, football fans want a few quiet beers.

The walk to the ground was wet, and I mean bloody wet. Soaked-to-your-underpants wet. Wetter than a fish. Wet. However, there is nothing more waterproof than skin. And the away end seemed in great spirits even on the concourse pre-match, despite us all looking like we'd been in the communal bath together.

The game itself was a tight contest. I thought we generally edged it in the first half, they edged it in the second half, and overall a draw was a fair result. Future Sheffield United Captain, Leader, Legend Ollie Arblaster picked up his second of the season with a very neat finish from just outside the box (on his weaker foot too), in reply to Norwich going ahead not long before.

We aren't settled as a side yet, and although there are some really good signs, I think the first 10–12 games will need a dose of patience at varying points. The two fullbacks looked much better, and Cooper is a clear upgrade in the sticks, particularly from a distribution point of view. Fitness is still an ongoing issue, though, and towards the end, Norwich looked far superior in that department.

The alternative man of the match award goes to my coach driver, Scott, for getting me to Sleaford train station with three minutes to spare before I missed my last train to Skegness. Not sure the boss would have been happy if I'd missed the bank holiday weekend at the coast with her and the kids!

---

---

Barnsley

72 hours later, and it's Barnsley away in the cup. The thing with this place, traditionally, is away fans have been told to stay away—you aren't welcome in Barnsley for a beer beforehand. Now, as far as I've been able to see, they've not put that message out there this time, so we shall test the waters... and if all else fails, it'll be the short walk up to the Metrodome for a pint of overpriced cat's wee in a plastic cup.

Living in North Sheffield, it's easy enough to get to Barnsley. No coach tonight for me, so meet up in the Coach and Horses in Chap and jump on the 5:14 rattler. Luckily, it ain't as far as Hudds, so I'll not need to recite the 13 or so stops tonight—just Elsecar and Wombwell.

A 5-minute walk from the station, we successfully infiltrated The White Bear and were joined by a good few Wiz. I suspect they knew, but as they say, we kept our nut down. Bit of decent scran and a couple of pints, all good. As I've said previously, why can't we just have a beer and mingle without feeling like criminals? Barnsley town centre is actually a really nice place now too; what they've done on the site of the old markets is pretty impressive, it has to be said.

Into the game, then, and 5,000 Wizards pack out the away end and makeup 50% of the crowd, with the game itself dominated by our goalkeeper seemingly having 50% of the ball. We never got going properly until the introduction of Brooksy, Gus, and Burrows... the first half was very much tit for tat, and nobody really stood out.

In the second half, we just seemed to invite them into our box playing silly goalkick routines—no idea what that was about? And seemingly every opportunity we had, the ball went backward to Davo. A late flurry of attacking intent probably should have resulted in an equaliser, but for a bit of luck, a couple of good saves, and a couple of poor finishes. A frustrating trip, and out of the cup early doors again. Sigh.

See you at Hull, Wizards.