With Richard and Dil preferring the delights of the seaside it was just the Chairman and the Secretary who set out for Manchester from FONCY HQ on Saturday morning as John takes up the story. There was a slight drama before we left when Chief the cat had to be rescued from the claws of the local fox. With cat safely indoors and fully stocked up on sweets we set off for Manchester via the A11, A14 and M6. This route of course takes us via Barton Mills and our first port of call Walkers Snack Bar for breakfast. Richard and I are well known there as we always used to stop when we travel to reserve team fixtures, and doubtless we will be adding to their profits next season. The journey was fairly uneventful to Manchester unlike our snow interrupted trip to Everton. I did suggest to Kathy that she might like to open her purse and put up the £4:70p for the M6 toll, but she politely declined the offer. We arrived at Manchester in good time after some expert navigating and proceeded to the bar above the Manchester City club shop for some refreshments prior to the match. We were joined by FONCY southern correspondent Bob Maynard who had travelled up from London by train and Steve Cowles a friend of Richards who lives in Nuneaton. Steve informed us that he has been to all F.A. Youth Cup games and clocked up 1000 miles, judging by the directions he gave me on how to get to Buxton in Derbyshire he could have knocked a couple of hundred miles off that, only joking Steve we didn't get lost once. You will find Bob's report elsewhere on the site but needless to say we were all very disappointed with result. It was always going to be a tough call against the top Academy side in the country, but we had our chances and if we had taken them then we could have been looking at a full house at Carrow Road against Arsenal in the semi-final. Of course the news started to filter through from Blackpool and after we all started the day in a very positive frame of mine things suddenly didn't seem quite so hopeful. Leaving the stadium we bumped into Sam Habergham's family who insisted on a team photo ….. and I thought the Willis family was large, still it was good to see they enjoyed the day. We set off for our B&B for the night which turned out to be not so much having a couple of beers to celebrate our double win but more drowning our sorrows after two defeats. Still the Church Inn at Chelmorton just outside Buxton was great place to stay. The landlord - a Sheffield United supporter - was the perfect host and had a sympathetic ear, but best of all he pulled a mean pint of Mansfield Mild, yes there some of us who still like a pint of mild and no I haven't got a cloth cap or a whippet. Next morning after a full english breakfast we set out for home via Bakewell where I was refused a tart by Kathy, so it was full steam ahead to the M1 and onto the the A14 and home. It was not the best of weekends following our beloved football team, but what is gone is gone and you have to move on. The first team has two home games this week and hopefully Gunny and the lads can pick up six points. As for the boys, well this weekend there is a trip to Ipswich who also went out of the cup on Saturday at the hands of Watford, so three points there will certainly put a smile back on my face.

The Traeveller's Tale in Pictures

Report and photos from John Landamore.