Euro 2012 in Ukraine

Seven Euro 2012 games in Ukraine following England plus three other group B matches.

It began with a flight from London to Kiev after which I hired a car and drove to Poltava (about 300km)

The weather was hot and sunny whilst the roads continued to be partly under improvement.

In Poltava I watched some of the opening games including the second half of the Poland v Greece match.
Neither of those two looked like tournament winners.

June 9th Denmark 1 Holland 0 in Kharkiv

The classic situation where one team misses loads of chances and the other side has hardly any but scores from one of them, and then through the goalie’s legs.

In the end it became amusing, as long as you were not Dutch, to see superstars like van Persie and Robben consistently fail to convert.

Holland were clearly the better side but you have to score to win.

There were the usual banks of Dutch fans in their orange plus considerably less Danes.
At times the chants for Russia arose, soon followed by a response from the Ukrainians.

Unlike at most games it was relatively easy to park fairly close to the stadium which enabled a quick getaway for the drive back to Poltava.

Where I watched the last twenty minutes or so of the first German game.

From Poltava I headed towards Dnipropetrovosk and then in the direction of Donetsk, stopping in Krasnoarmiisk, an industrial town about 60km from the city.

I could obtain a hotel bed for a reasonable price (c.£35) for one night but had to pay double that on ‘match night’.
Getting food and refreshment was certainly good value, typically around £5 for a meal plus a couple of large beers.

June 11th England 1 France 1 in Donetsk

I set off (too) early for the city, got parked about fifteen minute walk from the impressive Donbass arena.

From there you can stroll into the centre and checkout the range of England flags around the favoured bar.

But it was very hot (32 degrees)
Thankfully you can get some respite in the main hotels, with the Shakhtar,close to the stadium, being the logical choice before the match.

In the game itself , as has become a trend, we were outpassed by the opposition but we did score the opening goal as Lescott rose to head in Gerrard’s free kick.

France clearly had some dangerous players with Ribery’s trickery and evident threats from Benzema and Nasri.
It was the latter who drove in the equaliser past a possibly unsighted Joe Hart.

Towards the end the match became a languid stalemate with neither team seemingly having the energy to create a winner.

I watched from the side as you were able to walk around to get a better view.
Inside the stadium was as impressive as the exterior with its three levels and a Shakhtar themed colour scheme.

The ground was not full and there was a clear Russian presence.

Away quickly I found the exit route back to the west and saw the latter stages of the second game whilst enjoying some soup and beer,
Plus a free glass of champagne from a friendly local.

Then I had the long drive from near Donetsk to Lviv.

This was done in two stages firstly a tricky negotiation of the centre of Dnipropetrovosk and eventually a stopover in Uman.

Where it was also very hot so much so that I couldn’t stay awake for most of the second (Russia) match - signs these very late kickoffs were beginning to take their toll.

June 13th Denmark 2 Portugal 3 in Lviv

I’d driven the second stage of the 1200km from Donetsk to near Lviv where there was a very affordable (£20) motel outside of town.

Lviv proved one of the more difficult cities to negotiate with its cobbled streets and numerous diversions plus a police cordon that restricted parking anywhere near to the stadium.
I seemed to end up in another oblast.

But once again the ground was an impressive two tier construction and a capacity of 33,000.

Denmark had a decent number of red-shirted fans and Portugal a much smaller group.
There were noticeably no chants for Russia, unlike at the other two games.

I was pleased that Portugal won otherwise there was a danger my final match in this group (NL v Portugal) could become a dead game.

Reminiscent of van Persie another top goalscorer couldn’t do the necessary at the Euros.
This time it was Ronaldo of Portugal.

He missed two gilt edged chances.
Chances he would surely have scored from in the Bernabeu.

So he was overshadowed by Nicklas Bendtner who scored two to get the Danes back onto level terms after Pepe and Postiga had moved Portugal 2-0 ahead.

The late winner came from sub. Varela who rifled in, right footed, at the second attempt.

Lviv seemed a lot more officious than the grounds further to the East with more stewards constantly moving on fans plus the severe parking restrictions.

This time I indulged in some popcorn and a coke at the inevitably inflated prices.
Walking around you were struck by the number of food outlets (and service people) but each and every one sold exactly the same thing - even down to the same flavour of crisps.

I walked back to the main road, jumped in a shared taxi and eventually was out of the city and back to my motel by 10pm having stopped for a beer and some potato chipsticks along the way.

At least in Lviv the temperature was more manageable.

As it was in Zhytomyr where I stopped for an overnight stay.
The city is more westernised than many with a range of street cafes and restaurants.

I watched Itay play Croatia whilst enjoying some caviar, steak and ice cream (not all together) washed down with some moderate wine and a mojito (a popular cocktail in Ukraine)

In the end the late nights and tiredness got to me again & I watched very little of the Irish game.

The next morning breakfast was soup and pancakes or eggs - followed by black tea or coffee.

By Friday midday I was outside of Kiev, the road from Zhytomyr being much better than many.
Along the way I met some Swedish fans who had driven from Malmo having been on the road for over 30 hours.
And there were Swedish fans in my hotel plus many more in the fan park in the centre of Kiev.

June 15th England 3 Sweden 2 in Kiev

I watched the first half of the earlier Ukraine game in a Japanese restaurant near to the ground and hoped to see the rest in stadium but for some reason it wasn’t displayed on the large screens.

Inside the rebuilt Olympic stadium the Swedish support far outnumbered the English.

Again I chose not to sit in my own, cheap, seat and viewed from the side.

It was a small triumph for England who had led through an impressive Carroll header but got overtaken by a slightly fortunate goal and another resulting from poor marking.

But we came back well with sub. Walcott’s effort beating a perplexed goalie and he showed typical pace to cross for Welbeck to finish cleverly.

So a show character by England after a serious setback and elimination for the Swedes.

I walked back to metro and was back at the hotel by 1am.

From Kiev I drove the 500km or so to near Kharkiv.

June 17th Holland 1 Portugal 2 in Kharkiv

A day when I didn’t need to drive came as some relief.

Being based about 30km from the city I could get the bus then the metro to the centre.
Where the fan park, overlooked by Lenin, was mostly filled with Dutch fans.

So what do you when the kick-off is at 9.45pm ?

I opted for a look at the famous XT3 tractor factory (mostly shielded by trees) and some of the ubiquitous apartment blocks in Saltovka.
Refreshment was water and a pastry.

The local metro is as efficient as most in this part of the world and you never seem to wait more than 3 minutes.
Near the ground I drank some refreshing lemonade and watched the scenery.

At the stadium, fuller than for the first game, the Dutch were out in force vastly outnumbering the Portuguese.

In a way the game was set up for the Iberians as Holland attacked leaving Ronaldo and co. to pick them off on the break.

For a while it seemed promising as Van der Vaart scored a fine opening goal.

But it couldn’t last that Cristiano would keep missing chances and he converted after being put through.
His second later on came from a typical breakaway - taken with complete control.

Holland, despite having 5/6 attackers failed to create much although van Persie did have a golden opportunity to atone for his misses.
He put the ball wide and the Dutch departed having lost all three matches.

I took a taxi back, it probably being too late to expect the buses to run (and nobody could either understand or convey this information)

Finishing with a large vodka, for less than a pound, and some highlights of the Germany game prior to another late bedtime.

On to Donetsk via some more interesting surroundings, including hills and valleys.

I secured a motel about 7 or 8 km outside of the city for the fairly reasonable price of 550uah per night (£45)
It had the added convenience of being on a bus route.

In the city the day before the big game I partook of some excellent blond Belgian beer whilst having a chat to some other English fans in the Golden Lion ‘pub’.

Back at the hotel for meal, and an argument about the bill - the prices being based on a certain weight when in practice you received 2 or 3 times that.
Another midnight finish.

June 19th England 1 Ukraine 0 in Donetsk

So we went through as group winners after a Rooney header meant both co-hosts leave before the knockout stages.
And France lost to Sweden meaning most of us would celebrate returning to Kiev even though there was an option to got to beach in Mariupol on the Azov Sea coast should we have been second in the group.

The game’s controversial moment, surely the final nail in the coffin of these fifth/sixth officials, for once favoured England as it seemed like a goalbound deflected effort had gone over the line for the Ukraine equaliser.

Early on the hosts, with plenty of home support produced some dangerous shots but we weathered the storm.
Helped by some great play by captain Gerrard England continued to caused them problems.

Even with local hero Shevchenko coming on for his last appearance they couldn’t produce a reply.
Ukraine came away with some good memories but we progressed, as group winners, to meet the tricky Italians in the capital.

After the match, there being no sign of any buses, I took a taxi back to my hotel where the locals had the music and dancing going, the sounds being mostly local with some unmistakable Rammstein (!) mixed in.
I enjoyed the vodka and retired by 1am contemplating the England victory.

So no more visits to Donetsk for a while.
Its not so much the city itself, though it has limited attractions, but the location so far in the east that makes it awkward.

So it was on towards Kiev, around Dnipro, with a stop at Poltava to access the internet and book a hotel for four nights in the capital.
After about 500km I spend the night at a motel close to main highway and enjoyed a good evening meal in the adjacent restaurant and one of the best breakfasts on the trip (eggs on toast)

On the Thursday morning I returned the rental car having driven over 4,400 km on the Ukrainian roads.

June 24th England 0 Italy 0 (Italy won 3-2 on penalties) in Kiev

Most predicted a close game and though the result was close Italy certainly won ‘on points’.
They created more chances and generally looked the better quality side.

Having said that we defended very well and as was likely one goal would win we could have gone through with Welbeck’s opportunity or maybe Johnson’s early chance.
But overall Italy definitely deserved to prevail.

In the shootout for a while we could dream as Montolivo pushed his penalty wide and Rooney and Gerrard converted.
But Pirlo’s chip seemed to change the dynamic as first Young hit the bar and then Cole’s indecisive effort was well saved by Buffon.

Thus we maintained our poor record against top teams in competitive matches and a losing run in penalty shootouts.

I’d spent the past few days in the sunshine in Kiev, had some drinks, visited a museum, the fan zone and a more sobering metro ride to Babi Yar the sight of a massacre in WW2.

I left Kiev on Monday morning having booked the train to Lviv.
Arriving in the evening I stayed in the slightly surreal station hotel, reached after a circuitous route through the station.
The room was as big as a communist apartment and the restaurant resembled a dining area , complete with staircase, from another era.
Fortunately the pork (and vodka) were more modern.

Then I took the bus to the border followed by some strategic queue jumping (people with me needed to catch a flight) and another bus to Pryzemsyl for the train to Krakow.
Where I stopped overnight near to the station.

Summary

The trip involved plenty of car travel, mostly negotiated without too many issues.
Inevitably the roads were, lets say, variable in quality and it was hard to average much more than 90km/hour.

I got lost a couple of times, mainly in Dnipro, and was stopped just once by the police when I crossed a continuous white line having got in the wrong lane - the official was relaxed and let me off without penalty.

Having the car would have saved money on hotel bills and it gave me the opportunity to visit locations outside of the main cities.

The weather was hot - for me often too hot.

As to the games I saw in the tournament - they mostly produced exciting matches in impressive stadiums.
Some superstars failed to deliver (van Persie) others (Ronaldo) eventually did.

The negative could be expressed as the creeping ‘Americanisation’ of these events.
Which have become football festivals with an ‘opening ceremony’ at every game, the ‘wave’, the countdown, the fancy dress and the tiresome restrictions.

And finally to England.

It was an arguably an ‘on par’ performance to top the group and be knocked out in the quarter finals.

It gave us hope for the future based on a batch of speedy young players that would have gained considerable experience from being at this tournament..
But it probably signals the end for many of the older generation (Terry, Lampard, and maybe Gerrard and Cole)

more pictures at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1330421212

Sweden & Norway May 2012

Six games in Sweden and Norway including the England international in Oslo and the derby between Norrkoping and Atvidabergs.

23rd May Norrkoping 2 Atvidabergs 2 15,715

I’d travelled via Ryanair to Gothenburg then drove from there to near Norrkoping.

In pleasant weather this early evening game in the Allsvenskan (top level) was played before a sellout crowd.
It’s the Ostgota derby and the visitors brought plenty of fans who were packed into a section of the open terrace behind the goal.
The home fans produced a flag display before the start.

The ground was a venue in the 1958 World Cup though it has obviously been updated since then.

In the match the home side again conceded goals, as they have done regularly for most of the season so far.
Top scorer Prodell slide in the opener for the visitors but flamboyant man-of -the-match Astrit Ajdarevic then shot in a fine equaliser after showing good control.

Late on substitute Nyman connected with a cross for what seemed like the winner but another sub Mattias Mete then shot in from a narrow angle after the home goalie had failed to clear for 2-2.

I travelled back to my hotel for a late weissbeer and some TV.

24th May Halmstads 2 Brommapojkarna 0 2,303 Superettan

From Norrkoping to near Halmstad where I stayed in a very quiet hotel near the forest about 20km outside of the city.
Halmstad itself has an attractive centre with an impressive old city gate and a good selection of bars and restaurants.
Again their ground was used in 1958 and it retains and old stand with terrace in front.

The ends were unused apart from a ‘corporate’ style tent area.

The home side edged the game scoring with a dubious penalty (the handball looked outside the area)
And finishing off with another late in the second half.

In temperatures of around 19 degrees and in mostly bright conditions there could be worse places than here.

I drove back to Nissastroms and strolled around the forest with a beer followed by some relaxed crazy golf.

26th May 4pm Grorud 3 Elverum 3 Norwegian 3rd level c.100

Into Norway and Oslo by Friday afternoon.

I stayed in a hotel attached to a large hospital at the end of one of the tram lines.

Hence it was easy enough to go into the centre of the city and stroll around in the sunshine.
Apart from the excessive costs Oslo was a very pleasant location to visit for an England international.

Grorud too is easily accessible via the metro.
A number of other English fans also made the trip.

The ground itself is basic with a few rows of terrace/seating and limited player facilities (the away side changed in their bus)
But in bright sunshine on an artificial pitch the teams served up six goals including a couple of penalties and an excellent effort from one of the home strikers.

8.45pm Norway 0 England 1 Oslo 21,496

Back in nice time to stroll to the Ullevaal and see the first game of the new Roy Hodgson era.

It was a win thanks to a Ashley Young goal early in the first half, after he’d been given too much space by the home defenders.

England won but it was against a limited Norwegian side.

But one encouraging factor for the future was that Hodgson was clearly prepared to vary the tactics, for instance with Young often playing ahead of Carroll.
Having a fleet footed striker playing off either a target man or Rooney looked promising.

England will come up against much better defending (and attacking) at the Euros and indeed against Belgium in the last home friendly before Ukraine.

As usual with these friendlies the game petered out in the second half not helped by the various substitutions.
In keeping with the relaxed environment we were not kept in at the end and I was back at the hotel by 11pm for some beer and conversation.

27th May Ljungskile 3 Assyriska 1 Superettan 728

Back into Sweden and a two night stop in Uddevalla.

Some twenty minutes away is Ljungskile a small village next to the fjord where the locals, on this Sunday afternoon, were painting their boats.
And perhaps basking in the glory of a Eurovision Song contest victory - again we beat Norway but nobody else.

This encounter felt fairly low key in a smallish ground a few kilometres away from the centre.

There were 20 or so away fans in part of the seats/terrace opposite the ‘main stand’.

Ex-Sittingbourne striker Kenny Pavey was the star man scoring a hat-trick for the home side.
Assyriska had the consolation of a nice combination goal finished by their captain Batan.

But Ljungskile generally had the match under control after two early goals.

I enjoyed a burger and a coke in very mild weather.

Back in Uddevalla, with the sun shimmering on the water, I walked past the riverfront area to a sports bar for a couple of glasses of red wine whilst watching an Argentinian league game.

28th May Sarpsborg ‘08 1 Baerum 0 Norwegian 1st division 2,527

Sarpsborg is just over the border & about 140km from Uddevalla.

The E6 was busy with Norwegians returning home and particularly slow in the diversion(s)
But I arrived in good time for this 6pm Monday night kick-off.

It was a decent turnout from the locals, many of whom had blue scarves or shirts.
Some two fans were in the small semi-temporary away section.

Sarpsborg ‘08 would go second after this win.

From the outset it looked like the home side would stroll to victory by about 5 or 6 goals as they cut through the Baerum defence with ease.
But they continued to spurn chances or had their efforts saved by the visiting goalie.

It took until the 80th minute before they broke through and even then it took two attempts by sub. Giaever to force the ball home.

Food this time was a waffle, snickers bar and a coke.
It seemed another friendly club where even the nine year olds can converse in english.
Back down the E6 I passed plenty of traffic going the other way and was back at the hotel before 10pm.

more pictures at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1293428554

Scottish & Portuguese Cup finals May 2012

Visiting two Cup finals firstly in Glasgow and then in Lisbon.

Hearts 5 Hibernian 1 Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park 51,041

On this form Hibs could be waiting quite a while longer before they win another Scottish Cup.

It didn’t help that they conceded a penalty early in the second half and also went down to ten men.
Just before the break they had, briefly, come into the game with the score at 2-1.

But the last half an hour or so was a stroll for Hearts with Ian Black running midfield.

By then many of the Hibs fans had started to leave and by the end their sections were mostly empty.

I’d taken the morning train from London getting into Glasgow at 1pm, in good time to get to Mount Florida.
There was certainly plenty of atmosphere as you would expect for this Edinburgh derby - the first time they had met at this stage since 1896.

Though I couldn’t help reflecting that Hampden had held nearly three times the present capacity and I’d personally been in a crowd of 134,000 for an Scotland v England game.
But at least the surrounding roads were nowhere near as packed as they were back in those days.

So Hibs long wait for a Scottish Cup win (the last being in 1902) continues.

I took the train back to Glasgow Central and got the 5.30pm to Prestwick where I watched the Champions League final in the company of a Dublin based Celtic fan.

Most locals were supporting Bayern.


Academica 1 Sporting Lisbon 0. Portuguese Cup Final at the National stadium in Lisbon.

And taking of Celtic you could imagine yourself back in 1967 with all the green and white shirts in the same stadium where the ‘Lisbon Lions’ won the European Cup.

This time, unlike at Hampden, a team who had waited a very long time for a repeat Cup victory did manage to win.

Academica, with many fans wearing student gowns and boaters, had only one previous win and that was back in 1939.

The national stadium is three-sided in a wooded setting with large open seating and the only cover being for the VIPs and media.
So it didn’t help that we had a sharp shower just before the start - the day had been cool and showery.

Fortunately my flight from Prestwick to Faro was slightly early and the drive from the Algarve quick and trouble-free.
Although anyone going to this final should allow plenty of time as the traffic near the stadium was horrendous and the parking chaotic.
But in the end I was inside the ground an hour before the 5pm kick-off.

The fans were split about 70:30 with, as you would expect, many more supporting Sporting.

The winner came early, after three minutes, as Academica caught Sporting a bit cold.
A cross from the left was headed in by Marinho.

The team in black then defended well, frustrating most of the Sporting attacks.

Into the second period the game opened up with striker Edinho having two great chances - both spurned.
Later Ricky van Wolfswinkel had his opportunities, a one-on-one and a header.
Again he also failed to convert.

With time running down Academica resorted to typical time wasting tactics and so we had six minutes of added time.

Each time Sporting did get close the opposing goalie blocked the shots.
They did have an earlier decent claim for a penalty but it was not to be.

So it ended with the ‘Academics’ triumphant and as the morning paper said it was not a quiet night in Coimbra.

I walked up and the down the hills, making a brisk getaway and was back in Faro by 10pm.

more pictures from Hampden at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1279556410
and from Lisbon at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1279607852

Denmark May 2012

Three Superliga games in Denmark including seeing a couple of the less prominent teams in Copenhagen.

Horsens 2 Midtjylland 1 12th May 4,869

4th and 3rd in the Superliga played at the Horsens Arena on a cool day with a bitter wind.

The stadium’s characteristic features are its unusual curved roofs at the ends and some impressive floodlight pylons.

The visitors brought 400 or so fans but they would go home disappointed despite Midtjylland passing it around quite well.
In the end their defence proved unable to stop some clinical home finishing.

Midtjyland did go ahead early on when Igboun sped down the right and his cross was put in by Hassan.
But the Horsens equaliser came from substitute Lodberg and on 36 minutes man of the match Faberberg drove home the winner after the visitors failed to clear their lines.

Back in the centre of town I enjoyed a couple of Paulaner beers followed by a good value Chinese buffet.

Lyngby 3 Aab Aalborg 2 13th May 1,344

I took the train from Horsens on Sunday to Copenhagen (less than 2.5 hours) and had enough time to check-in to my hotel before getting the S-Tog to Lyngby, a northern suburb of the capital.

The Lyngby stadium has some attractive hedges around the small curved terracing.
Even though it has a track it has a definite old style charm.

Obviously not the best supported team in Copenhagen Lyngby only had a few ultras and they were outnumbered by the away fans’ version.

It was a watchable game with left winger Bech prominent at times for home side.
Lyngby belied their low position (2nd bottom) by going ahead twice with a nice finish from Christianse and a penalty.
AaB equalised each time , the second after the home goalie should have cut out a cross.

But Mortensen headed the winner in the last few minutes to get the win.

Viewing was a lot more pleasant in the sunshine at this one after the chill of Horsens.

I took the S-Tog back to central station to watch the epic last twenty minutes of Manchester City v QPR.

A meal in an Australian restaurant (near to one of L Ron Hubbard’s offices) included some surf and chips, Little Creatures beer and a dessert.
It was well presented, quality food if somewhat minimalist.
(I decided against the more exotic options of kangaroo and crocodile)

Nordsjaelland 0 OB Odense 0 14th May 8,677

Played in Farum another, more distant, suburb of Copenhagen at the end of one of the S-Tog lines.

Farum seemed pleasant enough with its bicycle shops and tulips on the grass verges.
The smallish stadium, low level seating all around plus some terrace for the ultras at either end, is a fifteen minute walk from the station.

Though they don’t have the tradition or the fan base of the bigger clubs in the capital area FC N could win the Danish Superliga.

This draw won’t help but as it stands they are still only one point behind FC Copenhagen with two games remaining.

OB had much less possession and were second best in most areas but they defended well.
Each time the home side got close goalkeeper Stefan Wessels saved or one of his defenders got in a block.
American man of the match Michael Parkhurst had one of the best chances in the last few minutes but his shot clipped the bar.

Young Ghanaian Enock Adu generally had the better of the midfield duels with Djemba-Djemba and Traore as FC N built their attacks.

But finally, despite the best efforts of Mikkel Beckmann and co. they had to settle for a draw.

It got cooler later as I joined the numerous cyclists on the train back to the centre.

more pictures at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1271095969

Corsica April 2012

A long weekend visit to Corsica seeing three games including Ajaccio v Nancy and Bastia v Chateauroux.

21st April Aregno Calvi 2 Lens B 2 CFA group A c.200 (mostly kids)

This match was played in Ile Rousse rather than Calvi, not that I knew that beforehand.

I drove past the ground on my way to picturesque Calvi where I stopped to have a look around and locate what I thought would be the venue.

So thinking had plenty of time I strolled over to the ground in Calvi by about 2.15pm & began to wonder why there was nobody around.

Maybe the kickoff time had changed ?
None of the locals I spoke to could help.

Then eventually I noticed on one of the electronic street ads that the game was 24km back up the road.
So I missed the first fifteen minutes or so.

But at least there had been no goals.

The pitch was 3G and the ground had a ‘clubhouse’, refreshment area plus a few rows of open sets down one side.
You could see the ocean under a cloudless sky.

Lens B passed the ball better but were pegged back by Calvi for whom no.7 (Lesueur) looked useful.
Bela scored both the Lens goals after some good combination play.

Back at my base in Corte I enjoyed some ‘nouvelle cuisine’ whilst watching El Clasico.

22nd April Ajaccio 0 Nancy 0 Ligue 1 6,140

Back to normal (?) in France with a goalless draw.

But the second half particularly had its moments especially when the game got stretched.
As is often the case the teams failed to deliver the telling final ball or convert what chances there were.
The home side, needing a win, came closest at the end of the first period when they hit the bar.

Nancy looked like they would have taken the draw before the game started.

The stadium, out of town and fairly close to Napoleon Bonaparte airport is small and three sided.
But you do have nice views of the sea and the mountains.

The local ultras did their best.

Ajaccio fielded some very small players especially no.12 (Sammaritano) who must be one of the shortest players participating in a major league.


23rd April Bastia 2 Chateauroux 1 Ligue 2 14,121

This win effectively confirmed promotion back to Ligue 1 for Bastia.

And it triggered lots of celebrations amongst the local fans.

The home side attacked hard from the start with the flank players especially dangerous.
Wahbi Khazri and Toifilou Maoulida would get the goals, the second via a long ball that eluded the visiting defenders.

But Chateauroux did present a threat and they got a goal back when central defender Fournier glanced in a free kick.
Midfield schemer Mikael Orinel showed some good touches for the visitors who could have spoiled the party.
Bastia thus maintained an undefeated home record stretching back nearly two years.

So in the end we had fans on the pitch, red flares and lots of waving of the blue and white flags.
One of the best Ligue 2 atmospheres I can remember.


Corsica is a very pleasant, compact island with some stunning scenery and excellent restaurants and hotels.

In the summer I’m sure the roads can get very busy with the tourist influx but during April getting around is manageable.
Although you certainly need to leave plenty of time to get to the two main stadiums (and get parked)
It took me well over an hour to drive the 12km or so from my hotel (the excellent Chez Walter) to the Bastia ground.
But it was definitely worth the wait.

more pictures at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1243820612