Dublin Hammers Day Trip - Hull City - Sunday 18th January 2015

West Ham 3 vs Hull City 0

13 of us gathered in the bar in the airport for our day trip to the Boleyn to watch the Irons take on Hull. Liamo was in charge of arrangements and it has to be said that they were top notch. The departure gate was directly across from our seats in the bar! Mind you, it was the second time that Liamo had been to the airport that morning, as on his first visit he realised he had left his boarding pass at home. So it was taxi home and back and we’re sure the taxi driver was traumatised following this fare!

I slept and snored (or so I’m told) on the flight and apparently nobody else was able to sleep with the noise... sorry about that! After getting off the flight, I was informed that the guy beside me on the plane was none other than Kenny Cunningham. Kenny if you are reading this I am extremely sorry for... a) not recognising you and b) snoring loudly!!

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We land in Stanstead on time and head for the bus to Stratford. Tour Guide Liamo made sure we all knew where we were going and recommended the café for breakfast... Stratford’s Best Café (I kid you not) where we had a filling breakfast and a good laugh. The President’s brother tried to offload some sterling that he had received on his confirmation many years ago to pay for their breakie, but the quick thinking staff caught him rapid!

Following the breakfast we split up, some headed straight to the ground (a 25 minute walk away) while a few of us decided to investigate the local hostelries. We left them in time to get to the ground, get a programme and take our seats.

The first half was a shocker and only for Collins and Tomkins we could have been behind. We never really threatened their goal as we had a tendency to play backwards once we got near their box. The crowd were not happy at the break and a few boos rang out.

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The second half saw us change around a little bit and it paid off. Valencia was busy throughout and when his strike was parried by the Hull keeper, Wor Andy was on hand to tap in the rebound. The stadium went wild, Hull just died! Morgan turned on the heating when he came on and scored a cracker and finally Song’s wonderful through ball saw Downing score from close range. 3-0 and the crowd were happy, we actually looked like we could add lots more but Hull worked hard not to concede any more. The clean sheet was a bonus thanks once more to a fine save by Adrian. Winston came on to a big cheer and even Joey O’Brien looked reasonable.

Final whistle and I headed off back to Stratford to meet the lads in the pub. A few nice pints and a review of the game, the bar even brought out sambos and sausage rolls to make us feel at home (mind you we hope next time their microwave is working so the hot food won’t be cold!) – big shout out to the Princess of Wales... could be our new local when West Ham move in 2016. A number of lads were happy having put money on Big Andy to score.

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We get the bus to Stanstead and JT realises he’s booked onto the flight one hour before us. As soon as the bus stops JT races (not a pretty sight) to try and catch his flight. We’re not sure how he got on, but there was no sign of him in the airport when we got through security so we reckon he made it.

We have a final drink(s) in the bar before getting on the plane and heading home having enjoyed a great day trip. There were five people on this trip that had received the trip as a Christmas present from their other half so next year when you are sitting wondering what to get your Dublin Hammer hubbie or wife for Christmas, look no further than the January Day Trip! Finally, a big thbak you to Liamo for Travel Sec!!!

Thanks to Gerry Murtagh for the report!

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