Creeping Up On You (Part 2)

Torquay 2 Crewe 1
And so, following the Saturday victory, it was off, in expectation rather than hope, to Torquay for the Tuesday night game. A mere 240 miles or so. Determined to make an occasion out of it, a few of us had booked time off and were staying overnight. We made an early start, departing from Crewe on the 8.22 train to Stafford. Changing at Stafford our party was split as there weren't enough spare seats for us to be together. No problemo. Once the train arrived at Birmingham the commuters all departed and there was plenty of room. We bagged us a table and one or two of us started on the beers. I was determined to be sensible, so didn't crack one open till after we'd departed Cheltenham just before 11. It was probably the last sensible thing I did all day...
Rather than travelling straight to Torquay, we de-trained at Newton Abbot for a couple of cheeky beers and some lunch. Beers were drunk and food wolfed down. After a restful couple of hours, it was back to the station and on to the train to complete the journey down to Torquay. Except we got off at Torre as that's where the Travelodge we'd all booked into was. Stopping only to dump bags in rooms and freshen up a little, it was into a taxi and off into Torquay  for yet more beers and to meet up with fellow Crewe fans. At around six o'clock-ish, it was time to head up to the ground for a few beers in the Torquay club bar. Probably not a good idea for me - I was suffering already. The beers there nearly finished me off. I was so drunk I had to get someone to pick up my free tickets for me.
Sadly, for all of us, our efforts in making the journey were rewarded with possibly the worst 45 minutes of football that Crewe have played all season. They were quickly a goal down and Torquay could have added more before they notched their second. Crewe were lucky to go in only two down at half time.
In complete contrast, Crewe came out much the stronger in the second half and had a couple of good chances before Danny Shelley crashed in a thunderous free kick. They kept pressing and late on Donaldson could have snatched a point when clean through on goal but he dragged his shot wide. On the balance of play, a draw would have been a bit harsh on Torquay, who had blown Crewe away in the first half.
Anyway, post-match it was back into the Torquay club bar to drown our sorrows. Or drown some chips in a pint of Guinness, as was actually the case. Luckily for our livers, they threw us out at closing time and it was back to the Travelodge to crash out for the night.
Wednesday morning and we all had a bit of a lie-in before heading off back into Torquay for breakfast and more beers. Thence it was off to the station for a train to Dawlish for some lunchtime beers. Once we'd had a few there, we stocked up with train beers for the journey home. The journey back lasted four hours, unfortunately the beer didn't. Mind, one of our party was reaching his limit. Once back in Crewe, we had a couple more before I called it a night, finally staggering back into my house a full 37 hours after I had left it.
So much for cutting down on the beers. I have to say that when my alarm went off at 7 the next morning I truly was sick, sorry and sober....