Away days part I (parts II etc to follow after additional games!)

And so at 3:10 (kick-off was delayed for 10 minutes due to the crowd size) the 2011/2012 season started for the mighty stripes!

Mansfield, the opponents for the last game of the season, lined up at Field Mill in front of a crowd of 3,997.

Away days (especially Northern and midland ones) throw up many a conudrum for the following fan. For this game we had a fellow stripe in Sheffield, so on Friday night, me, Timbo and Palmer set off. Having got horribly lost in Sheffield we arrived, had a few excellent ales at the Hillsborough Hotel and slept dreaming of future victories.

We travelled to Mansfield on the train, stopping at Worksop for a pint before arriving at Mansfield. We eventually met up with fellow City fans at The Railway and after a few proceeded to make our way to the ground.

Field Mill is an odd ground, one big main stand, two reasonable ends, and a closed (and I assume due for demolition) stand opposite the main.

City started awfully conceeding from a cross (following last seasons trend early on!) however, steadily the stripes built there way back into the game and scored via a heavily deflected Adam Connolly shot. 1-1 was how the game finished with plenty of effort, but little in the way of chances, so we departed Field Mill happily unharrassed by the stewards and happy with an away point.