"Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more."

I have increasing admiration for away fans.

To travel 158 miles on a Tuesday evening to support your fans is admirable.
To make as much noise as you can muster for 90 minutes is admirable.
To take the inevitable humiliation of a 4 -1 loss and the chanting of the home fans in good humour is admirable.
However to put up, week after week with the kind of 'football' served up by Barrow is madness.

A team that comes away from home and puts up a solid defensive effort with 9 men behind the ball and one up front is understandable. What I struggle to comprehend is why supporters put up with a clearly pre-meditated plan of perpetually fouling the opposition in the hope that it will some how lead them to victory. They will travel probably 6 hours on the road for a team to not even try to play the ball.

They say the top stars at the highest level have little regard for the sacrifice fans make to follow their team, but the management and players of Barrow....hang your heads in shame, you have done those travelling mad men an injustice.

The first half was categorised by needless sliding tackle after another,feigning injury,shirt pulling and general thuggery and were it not for the referee somehow finding his balls on the half time table they may have got away with it. As it happened the Stags handed out another Mansfield Town FC spanking.


I am starting to get the hang of the chants. I even joined in with a loud rendition of 'Yellows, yellows, yellows, yellows,yellows, yellows, yellows.'.......I believe that is sign 1 of 23 in Pastarini's guide to becoming a real football fan.

Sign 2 shortly follows...."do those pies taste as they good as they smell" I ask my viewing companion.

There is also a chance that anyone down at Field Mill this season will witness the emergence of raw footballing talent in the shape of Jake Speight. After a couple of sprightly cameos in the first three matches, last nights impact (scoring within 1 minute of his introduction) is a promise of something more.

I would hope the manager has the sense as it appears he does to use him sporadically for the benefit of the team and the player. I have watched enough sport to know that the glimpses of talent as a teenager is no proof of a glittering career.

There were 3,100 in the ground tonight and I have worked out there is a certain skill in leaving your seat after the half time whistle, pegging it to the toilet, queueing at the bar, downing a pint of Worthingtons and getting back in your seat ready for the second half to begin. Still, tonight, mission accomplished.