After making the trip over the border with Luke on Tuesday, I thought that would be me done for the week as I planned for a relaxing weekend. However, on the Wednesday morning my brother said there was some Friday night football we could attend at Cardiff v Fulham. We checked the train and football tickets and before you know it, we were at the train station.

This match was a Premier League game last season so I was expecting an exciting encounter between the two sides. The game didn’t have the most goals I’ve seen this season but it didn’t lack drama. Cardiff’s Josh Murphy opened the scoring late in the first half before Aleksandar Mitrovic equalised even later in the half, which was the end of the scoring.

Harry Arter was sent off in the second half for the visitors and plenty of other Fulham players were carded for time wasting which built up for a fiery game. So on the pitch it was entertaining but how did I rate the experience, let’s find out…

Atmosphere:

With the match being on a Friday night I was expecting a decent atmosphere. I didn’t really have any preconceptions about the Cardiff faithful so I went into it with a clear mind, unlike the times like Leeds and Liverpool where they have a internationally known atmosphere.

Despite this, I think the Cardiff fans should certainly be put in the same bracket. They were unbelievable throughout the night and deserved a late winner for all their support. Where I was sitting I couldn’t hear the Fulham fans as much but I they were still vocal throughout.

The atmosphere I will rate 4.5/5

Cost:

For a Championship I was expecting the tickets to be near £20 but I managed to get a ticket in the Ninian Stand for just £11, without having to pretend to be a year or two younger. With the train ticket being touch under £9, I managed to get there and in the stadium for under £20 which is quite brilliant. It could have been 5/5 if I didn’t have to take out a mortgage if I wanted a burger.

For the cost I will rate Cardiff 4.5/5

Entertainment:

I touched on it at the start of the piece but the game was a lot more entertaining than your average 1-1 draw. The atmosphere helped with that as there was a lot more hype around every corner and tackle. There was an abundance of chances at either end, and I was literally on the edge of my seat for a lot of the game.

For entertainment I will rate it 3.5/5

Facilities:

The facilities are similar to my local club Bristol City. They have a similar capacity and the concourses are also almost identical, although I think Ashton Gate edges it in that aspect. There are plenty of food stands around the concourse and the stadium itself looks fantastic from inside and outside. The leg room is surprisingly good at the Cardiff City Stadium which is rare for a football stadium.

Facilites I will rate 3.5/5.

Food:

As I’ve said there were plenty of choice when it came to what I was going to eat and in the end I went for a portion of chips which put me back £3.50. I went for that for the reason that it was the cheapest hot food on the menu as the burgers or pies would have cost a couple of quid more on top.

The chips were more like fries but nonetheless they were still decent and there were a good amount of them. If it wasn’t for the price of other things it would have been a solid 4/5 but I can’t ignore the other prices.

For food I will rate Cardiff 3/5

Man of the Match:

I can’t look any further than Fulham talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic. He was a handful for Aden Flint and Sean Morrison all game and deservedly got his goal just before the break. You can tell he is Premier League quality and I don’t doubt that if Fulham don’t get promoted, Mitrovic will make his way up to the Premier League another way.

So what does this mean?

These ratings put Cardiff in a very respectable 3rd place. It was one of my brother’s best ideas to head across to Cardiff on a Friday night and I am so glad I took him up on his offer. It was a great game and a great night out.

Football matches were like London buses this weekend. We’ve waited three months for some action and we see two matches in as many days.After Bath City on Saturday, we headed off to our local football league club, Bristol City and their ground, Ashton Gate.

We will be heading to university in Southampton in September so it was important that we manage to go to a City game as soon as possible. Thankfully, Sky Sports moved this game to a Sunday so we could make the trip to BS3 to see the Robins face up against Leeds.

The game didn’t disappoint with Leeds comfortably running out winners 3-1 after a scintillating first 70 minutes or so. Pablo Hernandez opened the scoring with a belter of a goal before setting up Patrick Bamford for a second. Jack Harrison made it three before Andreas Weimann scored a consolation after a good solo run.

Atmosphere:

With it being the first match of the season, the atmosphere was expected to be brilliant and the Leeds fans didn’t fail to deliver. The 2295 Leeds faithful were singing their hearts out from minute one.

It did help that the football was going well but they still exceeded all my high expectations of them. Bristol City fans also tried to get a decent atmosphere going with their renowned section 82 dominating the pre-match noise. However throughout the game it was largely Leeds you could hear.

I am going to rate the atmosphere 4/5.

Cost:

Let’s start with the tickets. We paid £19 each for our seats which were the cheapest available at the short notice. For Championship football I was reasonably happy with this pricing

Being local, we were able to cut any transport costs as we got a lift with my dad, who kindly forgot to turn the trip meter on. Our seats were right next to the Leeds fans and in the biggest stand in the stadium so for our money I think we got a good deal.

For cost I am going to rate Bristol City 3.5/5.

Entertainment:

After the Conference South battle on the previous day, we expected a different type of game at Ashton Gate and Marcelo Bielsa’s side proved us right. They played lovely free flowing football throughout and were only missing a goal until Hernandez pulled one out of the top draw to score past Daniel Bentley.

City lacked any chances in the first half with their best coming with Josh Brownhill’s effort which was safely parried away by Kiko Casilla who spent the match relatively stress free.

Leeds went into another gear in the second half and put the game to bed with 15 minutes to go. The match itself and the fans were entertaining throughout and made for a good day.

Luke, the die hard Spurs fan, noticed that Paul Robinson was a pundit for Sky at the match. He would eventually get his picture with him after the match despite some protestations from some sinister City stewards

For entertainment I am going to give City 3.5/5.

Facilities:

Ashton Gate and Bristol City as a club are developing and the facilities are quite brilliant. There are several different food places both in and out of the stadium, which allows picky eaters like me to get what they want.

The ground itself holds a tad under 28,000 and for the Leeds game over 23,000 were filled up ( some were lost in the away end where City took precautions with the Leeds fans). The stadium looks magnificent after walking up the steps with the stand we were in being reasonably new. A slight negative would be the away end which does look a bit average compared to the rest of the stadium.

For facilities I am going to rate Ashton Gate 3.5/5

Food:

With the match being a 4:30 kick off I decided beforehand I would have a light lunch and eat before the game. After entering the stadium at 3:00 I looked around to see the options I had. There was plenty on offer and despite all the fancy names for pies and burgers I opted for a good old fashioned Sausage Roll. With a slight discount from a mate’s season card the price was £2.90.

The roll itself was very nice and to wash it down I bought a bottle of water outside the stadium as the water inside was a steep £2.20. At half time I also felt peckish so I brought out my wild side and got a Walkers Ready Salted grab bag. At £1.50 I didn’t have too many other options to chose from

For this I will give it a 3.5/5

Man of the Match:

With the scoreline being how it was I have to choose a Leeds player but I am going to give a lot of credit to City left back Jay Da Silva who put in a stellar performance after signing for the club permanently this summer.

It pains me to say it but Patrick Bamford had a very good game up top. The striker held the ball up well and allowed Leeds to play how they did. But MOTM has to go to Pablo Hernandez. The silky Spaniard ran things in midfield and scored a sumptious goal alongside his clever assist for Bamford.

If Leeds somehow don’t go up this season, then I could see Hernandez making a move to England’s top flight as he is just too good for this league. Everything he did he made look so easy and he will be a key player for them this campaign.

So what does this mean?

Unsurprisingly, Bristol City leap above Bath into top stop with an overall rating of 18/25.

Scoring an average of 3.6