Not a brilliant first half and we should have won this overall but I have to admit it was a fantastic strike from McCarthy. The atmosphere was all Arsenal except for the last 5 minutes and the locals and the stewards were friendly enough. Had a few pints beforehand in the `away sides`  Fenhurst pub about 200 yards from the ground. 

Stayed overnight in the Royal Carlton hotel on Blackpool seafront. Great performance from Blackpool from the first minute and it could easily have been five or six.  Forbes and a cracking volley from Burgess kept `Pool on course for the play offs. Great atmosphere from the home fans led by two great drummers.

Without doubt the coldest I`ve ever been. Great game that could easily have gone the other way as the Preston keeper made 4 fantastic saves. It was all Preston in the second half and David Nugent got a well deserved goal. If you get a chance then visit the Football museum in the corner of the Tom Finney/ Bill Shankley stands.

Quite a poor game I thought considering these two sides are currently the top two in the championship. Neither side could really get going but it was a good strike that won it from Vine. The atmosphere was better than the game with Birmingham in full voice for most of the 90 minutes despite the amount of empty seats.