the 20 min post final whistle sing song in the stadium was incredible! id say 3,500 of us there but sounded like twice that. class trip!
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the 20 min post final whistle sing song in the stadium was incredible! id say 3,500 of us there but sounded like twice that. class trip!
Very snidey post, there were loads of LOI fans there including myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by gufcfan
Cracking trip, the locals were class it has to be said, made it worth the 13 hour trip there and back, very envious of those who paid the extra couple of hundred for the charter, yesterday morning was utterly horrific, the Irish support in Bari airport at 7 for the 8.15 flight looked like extras from Dawn of the Dead!
Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
You were lucky Paul.......I was close enough to HEAR him:eek:;)
I was there with my hi-vis green Athlone Town 'keepers jersey :D
Have to agree, although throat was absolutely parched by the end -Quote:
Originally Posted by jbyrne
Could have stayed there all night! Best performance i've witnessed by both players and fans alike.
Bring on Sofia!!
I thought you were one of the stewards!!:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Ash
best away match i've been to. the bus out to the stadium was just pure class. we were staying about 20km south in Molla di Bari. we were trying to find the train station in to Bari on wed and took a few wrong turns. we didn't have the energy or intelligence to stop and discuss the situation so just carried on walking, ended up in some Esso garage in the middle of nowhere and some sound local guy took pity on us and gave us a lift in to Bari. probably the best week of my life!!
got back this morning.. support was class in the ground before, during and after the match... even though had no accomadation and had to sleep on the floor of the airport it was still totally worth it and up there with some of the classic away games
As for the clapping during the anthem bear in mind that the band playing were very difficult to hear as they were not miked up, no Italian I spoke too had any problem with it.
yeah, couldn't hear the band for either anthem, so don't think the booing was aimed at us.
Just returned this morning after 4 fantastic days in Italy which ranged from visiting the leaning tower of Pisa at 3am Tuesday night, to the craic in the square and onwards to the match.
A fantastic performence in a game where we outplayed the World Champions.
It was a suprisingly low attendance given we were playing a team of the same claibre of France where we had over 30,000 just 3 years ago and we're having a good campaign. Will we have even fewer in Sofia?Quote:
Originally Posted by jbyrne
It hardly mattered though, we sung our hearts out. A great couple of days.
1. Big difference between a mid week and a saturday game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beavis
2. Paris was far easier to get to then Bari, took me 3 flights and 13 hours to get there and 2 flights and 13 hours to get back.
3. Hell of a lot more money around 3 years ago!
Great effort by so many to get there for Wednesday night, you can't compare it with the Paris crowd.
Fcuk the recession, we're having a session!
was fierce ould craic altogether alright, the bus before the match was brilliant...was waiting to get on for a while behind one of the lads with half a palm tree who was trying to stuff it onboard, surreal stuff!
the throat is still raw after all the singing and the day hanging around Pisa on Thursday was not very pleasant (having been up at half 5 that morning) but all in all a fantastic trip. And i must say the Italians were fantastic, we'd be making our way in from the suburbs and would have locals coming out of their shops and also stopping their cars to wish us good luck, i've never seen that before on any other away trip so fair play to them
unbelievable trip, the square,the footballs,the palm tree,the locals..... the 20 minutes in the stadium after the game will never be forgotten
The most famous palm tree in Bari. It managed to make it to and from the stadium!:DQuote:
Originally Posted by superdubs
Thats what its about. The amount of texts I got but sure what can you do. A proud night to support our team. what a trip and what a goal and what a nightQuote:
Originally Posted by Sligo Hornet
Great trip, 6 flights in two days a bit rough but worth it.Of all the trips, the freakout for the goal was up there with the best.Craic on flight from Bologna to Bari unreal.Magic moment on bus back into Bari after match,bizarre swopping of hats and jersies with lads on bikes , through narrow windows, one of our crew passed out his ROI jersey, expecting azzurri equivalent in return, he got a Bari Fc scarf and had to go topless for the night....classic.BTW, great to hear "on the one road" getting an airing.
The most noticeable thing about Wednesday was the familiarity of the faces, even those who you don't know but recognise as regulars for away games, particularly in the bars along the Corso Vittorio Emanuele.
The response of the bar owners to the two cops (Little and Large) walking about, one with a clipboard, handing out fines to those who wouldnt close down appeared to be 'fu*k them' as beer was lorried in from all directions. One of the bar owners told me they could only be fined once a day and that with amount of beer he was selling he could easily afford the fine.
Playing in Bari was a blessing in that because is was a bit more awkward to get to and booking hotels wasn't as straightforward, it kept a lot of the messers at home.
As someone posted earlier, great crack going out on the the buses from the main Station to the stadium and even though it took a lot longer getting back into town, there was good crack with the locals most of whom were in cars.
Don't know about anyone else but I thought the Italian fans were good. They hated Lippi, they loved Trap. Despite the sh*te band on the field many of them clapped our national anthem, as we clapped theirs.
The only downside for me in Bari was the thieving taxi drivers. Heard one good line from a Dub who, when negotiating a fare told the driver 'I only want to to hire your cab, I dont want to buy the fuc*in thing'.
As far as the game was concerned, there were some real plusses:
- a point away against the World Champions
- Trap coming out of his defensive mode and making the changes early
- Another good game for John O'Shea (at this rate I'll soon be a fan :D)
- the fighting spirt and passion of the team which was never on show against Bulgaria a few days earlier.
Hopefully we can kick on for the Bulgaria game which is now the key game in the group, we need at least a point.
It will be interesting to see if McGeady and Duff are fit for that game and how Trap will play it, especially with Hunt having played so well. You certainly can't play all three of them, I have reservations about playing even 2 of them which has not worked well in the last 4 games, prior to Italy.
I would love to see Lee Carsley brought in for the Bulgaria game. I'm sure he would revel in breaking up the Bulgarians midfield game.