The Longest Day

02.15am already ! My Alarm Can only mean one thing in 15 or so hours Nottingham Forest will be fighting for some kind of dignity against their old foes Derby County in the East Midlands Derby,but first I have to do a shift on the trains , one trip to Manchester Airport from Blackpool and back finishing at 08:00 .not a bad start .by the time I'm on the train to Preston for the arduous journey to Nottingham its 12:30 ....Three trains later I'm stepping off into a very wet and dark Nottingham station. The friendly coppers greet whilst looking for known faces . Two skips and a jump later and I'm in the jury's inn on London road £53 for the night. first impression is quite good to be fair .quick shower , fresh shirt then off to meet a couple of twitter reds in the Fellows pub by the Canal. By this point I hit my first yawn .with a beer inside and a very nice burger its a stroll up to the Mecca of all things football .yes the Magical City ground ,a quick pause on Trent bridge for the customary picture then off to ticket office to meet my lovely Daughter Lyndsey who has our tickets in the lower Bridgeford .our seats were a peach of a view just to the left of the goal looking from the stand. Must admit I didn't feel the vibe before KO ,not sure why but maybe it was the feeling a beating was afoot or the fact that the young adolescent at my side who's armpits smelt so bad that me and Lyndsey almost vomited. a poorly graced minutes silence was observed (i do hope the morons learn some respect one day )...Mull Of Kintyre soon got me back into the mood  and the game started . Forest looked up for it and started well ,Derby kept possession well but never really threatened the forest defence. Then it happened !! God realised that the famous team needed a break so he allowed Nelson Oliveira to send a second shot on goal after his first was blocked, it took a slight deflection and slid into the far corner of the onion bag ....This is where 23 thousand people decided to do a impression of a person getting electrocuted , I personally must covered most of the lower Bridgeford and my breathing proved the point also we were covered in beer by some kind red.... HT came and went and with it the second half bought nerves.. Stop! No it didn't ? Apart from a few long shots and plenty of the familiar possession Derby County produced absolutely nothing of any consequence and for the first time in many a Derby game NFFC looked quite comfy ,in fact we should have extended the lead , the only nervous moment was a free kick in injury time which would have been a injustice if scored. One quality talking point was Tom Ince getting chopped down by our goal scorer and the following chants from the red faithful.... 'ya Dads a T..T And so are you'... this tune has been in my head for days since.
The final whistle came and we had won the ground erupted and the inevitable happened ,euphoria turned into over exciting celebrating and a few silly people decided to go on the pitch , don't think I'll ever forget that bloke and his wife charging at the Derby lot ,funny as . Lyndsey went home and I went into the Southbank via the secret stairway ...I won't say anymore as its a secret. The mood in the pub was great , singing and laughing  even Notts county gave us a laugh by losing to a non lge side on the big screens. After southbank its Trent navigation , more singing rejoicing and tales of how forest are back ,finally at 12am I laid my tired head on the pillow .approx 22 hours ago I started the best fixture of the season .And thanks to Nottingham Forest it turned out as it should ...Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz