This was my 2nd visit to the ground after seeing us (QPR ) win 1-0 up there a few seasons back and quite frankly I was unsure on whether going up there was really worth the risk as the first visit was marred with crowd trouble after the game. But as we have been in great form I thought there was no reason why not to go.

The stadium itself is impressive from the outside and is situated on the top of a hill so you have nice views over the area. Inside its good too. The away end is big and the view is excellent from the top of the stand. The journey to the ground from London was good fairly quick 3 hrs and the ground was easy to locate just off the motorway, we managed to park about a 5 min walk from the ground near a big Sainsburys warehouse. Stoke is not a very welcoming place for away fans and there is a distinct lack of pubs/places to visit before the game so we all went to the ground early and had a few beers in there but the pies were awful!

The ground was not very full , about three thousand QPR had made the trip but there was a poor crowd from Stoke I was expecting a lot more. The game kicked off with QPR stamping their authority on the match and we were drowning out any noise coming from the city fans. A very bad tempered affair on the pitch incited the home fans, which were to lead to repercussions at the end of the game. Taggert was sent off for raising his arm at Bircham and a mass brawl followed. In my book, Ade Akinbiyi should have also been sent off  for his aggressiveness on the pitch, but I think the ref was too scared to send him off!

We took the lead in the 2nd half and held on for yet another win which we were delighted about but crowd trouble afterwards marred the game. Some Stoke fans had appeared to try and get on the pitch during the game, so I suspected that it would be bad outside the ground. Just as predicted the QPR fans were penned in the away car park afterwards for over half an hour as the stoke hooligans numbering 200-300 taunted the QPR fans. Some even tried to mount the fencing to attack the QPR fans, but were prevented by the Police. Still the Police were stretched to contain the hooligans and a number of bottles and various others objects were thrown and it was all pretty ugly. Eventually the neanderthals dispersed and we made the journey back to our car keeping very quiet and always aware of the restless mindless locals around us.

The behaviour of some of the Stoke fans was nothing short of a disgrace.  I'm only 21 but have been to many games up and down the country and never have I experienced such an incident. Still, three points for us and I won 200 quid on a bet too so I was chuffed to bits!