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Traffic was busier than usual heading to Southampton. In part down to the junction reworks at Winnall, and in part due to the four cruise ships that were in port today. The Winnall junction was not an issue and we headed straight through. The top of the junction had been revised so we were now using the new bridges. Only two lanes wide so perhaps the old bridge was remaining in situ.
Rather than join the M3 here, it directed us down the side road (where we would usually go to the Winchester Park & Ride) and we joined the M3 at the next junction. We had no sooner joined than we were being directed off at the Marwell Zoo junction. It looked as though we were cutting the corner off so as we had plenty of time, we followed the cross country route.
The roads were pretty clear and arrived at the outskirts of Hedge End in 10 minutes or so. We joined the queue of traffic entering the ground and were in within 5 minutes. The marshalls were a nightmare – instead of directing us to the on-site car park, they directed us to the Holiday Inn and David Lloyd centre car parks that were a little far out and not at all where we were meant to be parking.
We headed back down and thankfully caught a different marshall who directed us into the car park. We were pretty near the front so hopefully wouldn’t be too long a wait at the end of the match.
We arrived just as the gates were opening, so we walked around the edge to the entrance nearer to where our seats were and after a short wait and bag check, we were in. We dropped our food bag at our seats and went for a wander. Mainly to check the food stalls out. We had brought sandwiches for lunch, but were planning to grab some food before the start of the Mens game.
Plenty of choice – Cornish Pasties, Dumplings, Asian Bowls, fish & chips, Churros, Pizzas, burgers, loaded fries and more!
This was Southern Brave’s last home match of the season; not sure if they had found extra boxes of flags but these seemed to be handed out to everyone inside the ground. The Meerkat foam paws were also be handed out … Callum was too cool for these this year!
We were in Stand S, Row R – there were Mens & Ladies toilets on the concourse by the entrance, a bar area just opposite and a water bottle refill station right next to us and straight out into the food court. No bins below (unlike where we were sat last year).
We were right at the very end of the stand, and the commentary tent was right next to us. We could just about see the whole pitch, but the rows in front of us had their view slightly blocked.
For the last 3-4 years, Southern Brave had sported a green & black kit with Pom Bears sponsorship plastered over the front. The Hundred franchise had new investment since last year and a change of colour incoming.
The new colours were Red and Blue, and their new sponsor was DP World – with a discreet Pom Bears logo on the sleeve. Jon had bought himself the training shirt and Callum the replica shirt – the training shirt had a really cool pattern.
There was much more emphasis on the branding with the flags handed out to the supporters and a new catchy anthem blasted out at every opportunity. At least the SB anthem was significantly less annoying than the Manchester Super Giants!
Today’s opponents were Manchester Super Giants. They were one place behind the Women in their league with both teams aiming for a playoff place if not the auto qualification. The Mens team were ahead of the Brave men in their league. For both matches, MSG won the toss and elected to bat first. This proved key.
MSG Women hit a respectable 139 in their 100 balls. Southern Brave had been in great form and the crowd expected a win. Alas, the ladies couldn’t catch them scoring only 112 in their 100 balls.
Half time and the band Arxx were playing … they hadn’t read the brief properly as started called the teams the Sussex Brave! Time to grab some food. Callum went for Dumplings, I had Chicken Teriyaki and Jon braved the 20 minute wait for Pizza!
The Men were up next and MSG hit 149 – one of the lowest scores and we all thought Southern Brave were in with a shout of winning. Archer got the final MSG wicket on the very last ball.
Alas, Southern Brave lost several very quick wickets and never really recovered. They ended the day on 139, 10 runs short. The final batsmen did make a good shot of trying to find the boundaries.
After the match, both teams were going to make a lap of honour to thank the crowds for their support … although we bailed and headed back to the car. We eventually found it and were closer to the front than we thought. We were held for about 5 minutes and then started to move. Only to grind to a halt as it appeared someone drove into the back of another car … and the driver of the car in front made a show of taking photos of the back of his car, the car behind and the driver. A shame he didn’t close his door so other cars could drive past. The other driver didn’t get out at all so not quite sure what the beef was!
With all the traffic leaving the stadium at the same time, heading back via the M27 would be slow going. We retraced our journey in and the road was clear straight home. We left our seats at 9.05 and were back home just after 10pm.
Another really good day out … wonder who we’ll see Southern Brave play next year!
