Every other weekend, I travel the length and breadth country to watch Bath City away. These excursions often end in defeat or draws, but occasionally we’ll win, making would always be a fun away day, a great one. Sometimes the manner of these victories means a great day out turns into a magnificent one. Yesterday’s trip to Southport was magnificent.

My away outing in Merseyside almost didn’t happen. The day before, I was struck down by a cold and woke up Saturday morning feeling terrible. Had the trip not involved visiting a new football ground, or had Claire been unable to accompany me to the game, I would have probably stayed in my bed all day, getting high from Lemsip.

I arose from my slumber and very slowly made my way to Twerton Park for the 9am coach departure. We then made the four and a half our trip to the North West. Upon our arrival, I did feel somewhat better. The banana and custard smoothie bought from the service station and winning £17 on the 50/50 prize draw probably aiding my recovery.

As with most away games, we visited the clubhouse. The place was awash with excited and happy Southport supporters. Despite their lowly league position, they had reason to smile. They had hosted Sheffield Wednesday just days earlier in a televised FA Cup game. Unlike some rival fans this season, the Southport faithful were a joy to meet – although their knowledge of geography does leave some room for improvement. The travelling fans from Somerset were amused when asked if Bath was near to London.

Still feeling the effects of a ghastly cold virus, I stayed off the booze, but after everyone else had drank the clubhouse dry, we made our way into the ground.

Since Bath City’s promotion to the National Conference, we have visited some impressive football grounds – Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium and Luton Town’s Kenilworth Road being some of the stand out venues. With no disrespect to Southport whatsoever, their Haig Avenue ground was one of the more traditional stadiums and reminiscent of our trips in the Conference South.

I would go into the detail about the game, but think I would bore most of those who are still reading. Besides which, I am rather hopeless at writing match reports! Needless to say, at half time, the vast majority of the travelling fans were cold, disappointed and angry at the fact Bath City were trailing 2-0.

While I shared my fellow fans’ annoyance and cold, I was strangely optimistic. Maybe it was the cold virus which had infected my brain, but after watching Southport on TV the previous weekend, I knew they were a weak team and there for the taking. They could be beaten.

Bath City’s comeback began just four minutes into the second half. I was already feeling a lot better – it’s remarkable what a hot chocolate can do to reduce the symptoms of the common cold. However, when City striker, Kaid Mohamed made the scoreline 2-1, any thoughts of infection were forgotten.

The mayhem which followed was wonderful – Bath City playing a quality of football which would get Alan Hansen, one of the hardest to please sports pundits, into a state of extreme excitement.

As the winning goal was scored by in-form Lee Phillips, delirium was infused throughout the Bath City army, while the once jolly home fans stormed out the ground in total disgust. The celebrations could only be matched by those at the final whistle, which saw City pick up 3 priceless points in a 3-2 win.

The journey home may have been long, but it was a happy coach. It could have lasted 20 minutes or 20 hours, it wouldn’t have affected the mood of the joyous fans aboard.

Photos will follow, but I haven’t uploaded them to Flickr yet.