Anyway, after the journey up to Leeds, things got very much better.  The Bridge (ostensibly the reason for our thrice-yearly gatherings) was good fun, as always – the first 3 hands yielded a grand slam, followed by 2 small slams, which was remarkable by our rather pedestrian standards.  Over the course of the weekend, the trophy was narrowly retained by the Leeds boys – they didn’t seem overjoyed (maybe they were hoping for an excuse not to have to display it in all its garish tackiness for another few months….).

The coveted trophy, with other tasteful objets d’art.

A good weekend was made even better by City’s win against Doncaster Rovers, courtesy of an 88th minute goal by Jamie McCombe, who, at 6′ 7″ is an inch and a half taller (and even better at football) than I am.  This was City’s second consecutive away win at the death (last week it was Crewe), and the excitement is definitely now tangible.  Literally.  Saturday sees a HUGE game at Ashton Gate, against Nottingham Forest – win, and we go 7 points clear in 2nd place, almost guaranteeing promotion: lose, and Forest climb to within a point of us, with the playoff lottery beckoning .  My only regret is that I couldn’t make the short trip from Leeds to Doncaster for the game – it had been part of the plan, but I was outvoted.  Not surprisingly, I suppose, given that my companions consisted of a West Brom fanatic, a Brighton supporter, and a founder member of the “I Hate Football and Everything Related To It” Club.  So I had to make do with a walking tour of Armley instead, a strange, alien sort of place, which, despite its nickname of “Charming Armley” seems completely devoid of any redeeming features.  Still, the company was good.

Our journey home was long, thanks mainly to the built-in delays that they put into the Sunday timetable (presented as good news by our friendly “train manager” – “we’re scheduled to be here at Derby for quite a while, so plenty of opportunity for you to stretch your legs, maybe have a cigarette, perhaps even take in a movie at the nearby cinema…”), but very pleasant, with lots of space (twice the size of  train that we had on the way up for half as many punters – sort it out, Mr Branson….).  I read a Sunday paper from cover to cover, whilst listening to the whole of “Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards”, the recent triple album from Tom Waits – what luxury!  I love the Sunday papers, not least for the little side stories, many of which are probably made up, like the one about a man in Virginia who was murdered for refusing to buy an evangelical CD from a Christian street vendor.  Dear oh dear…