Brisbane Road, Leyton Orient FC

One of the more odd grounds to be found in England.  Four stands, three of which appear to include more apartments and offices than stand.  The main stand stops after the first tier and turns into a solid wall of windows with some rather precarious looking executive seating halfway up.  The corners have people's balconies overlooking the pitch.  Very bizarre.

And that's really how it felt, becuase it was an unbelievably cold night game which ended 0-1.  And my it was boring.

I took the tube for this one, and arrived way too early - the tube can sometimes be over-reliable - so naturally found myself a cracking little pub to acquire refreshment.  The place was decked out ready for Xmas (remember this is mid-november), and was a little like what I would imagine a pub was like in the 70s.  Very friendly however, a good pint and best of all, warm.

The ground, as described above, is bizarre.  The turnstiles are built into the bottom of what appear to be (in fact, are) apartment blocks.  These blocks form the basis from which the stand is constructed.  There were a few brave souls who were sat on their balconies, but they soon wisely retreated to the sanctuary of their centrally heated flats.

My choice of a 'meat' pie soon proved to be a wrong one as a steak and kidney pie was delivered.  I was hoping for one of the tiny little meat pies you get from the chippy, but simply had to trade in for a chicken balti one (now becoming commonplace, it seems).  Kidney is evil, and should not be allowed near foodstuffs, let alone the holy pie.

As I got onto the ground I set about trying to answer the question of why I had been sold a seat, on a half empty stand, behind a massive steel beam at the back of the seating area.  I was none the wiser by the time I decided that I was probably not going to be sat in anyone's seat if I moved down a couple of rows.  In fact, there was so much space I took to doing some exercises to keep warm, as the action on the pitch certainly wasn't anything to warm the fans up.  They soon became restless, one chap left at 50 minutes in, and the bulk of the ground were soon calling for the manager's head.  Two fans close by started a heated arguement about James Scowcroft's contribution to the game, which ended in the more aggresive participant storming off to get a hot dog.

Tranmere went through to the second round to face a relatively simple home tie.  So I expect they'll get beat.