Woe-then double celebration
Match day woe but two celebrations
The build up to the final derby to be staged at Maine Road before we move to the new City Of Manchester Stadium next summer couldn't have been much worse if it tried!
The weather in the week leading up to the game brought us 68mm of rain-18mm of that coming in the 36 hours prior to the match-we also had the attack of fusarium!
Fortunately the forecast on the day of the game was to be dry, but with some foresight in the preparation for this game-the pitch had been vertidrained two weeks before and we had kept off the surface unless absolutely necessary. We hadn't had a game at home since October 19th, which helped us immensely.
The pitch had been soft but free of surface water during the wet spell, the verti drain holes taking the surface water without problem. The pitch had also been fertilised 9 days prior to the game with 13 x 20kgs of Mascot 6-0-9 fertiliser. This started to take effect a few days before the game helping to green up the pitch for the players, fans and the watching millions on Sky.
The pitch was cut and marked despite the wet weather we had encountered, ensuring the pitch surface was just as our players and management wanted.
Going into the game, City hadn't won a derby match since 23rd September 1989-my 15th birthday-so it was nice to be able to beat them in the manner we did. T he pitch played well, the team played well and the majority of the people in the stadium went home happy and contented.
As for my feelings on how the game went- I wasn't actually there!
I took my girlfriend to hospital the previous night and after hours of pain, she gave birth to our first child, Callum, who weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds 12 ounces at 3.12 on Saturday afternoon, an hour after the game had ended!
Talk about bad timing.