There's Light at the End of the (Dartford) Tunnel

Peter Crouch was among the spectators at Princes Park

Dartford 2-7 Norwich City

Ok, so it was a pre-season friendly but bearing in mind the last time I saw a Norwich City team play was that final day debacle at Charlton, seeing City get 7 was worth the trip.

Michael Nelson, Scott Nielson, Gary Doherty, Chris Martin (2) and Jamie Cureton (2) kept us lot in the press box busy with goals at regular intervals and by mid-way through the second we were taking it turns to ask: "Is that 5-2 or 6-2 now?"

Pre-season is a time for blowing away the cobwebs - and not just for players.

The decision to allow Andy D'Urso to referee the game meant the thousand or so City fans got an early opportunity to flex their booing muscles and get in some work on those chants which include the sort of words that would have made Bernard Manning blush.

Man of the Match: Physical presence is vital in the modern game which is why my eye was caught by the 20 foot-man over on the far side. Dartford's Princes Park is a little over two years old and is the only ground I know with a statue actually inside. I think we should put in an offer. How useful would he be on corners in both boxes? Yes, he's made of oak, but he's less wooden than........... (insert your choice of footballer here)

It's pre-season for the reporters too and that's my excuse for committing the ultimate in broadcasting schoolboy errors. My mobile phone went off while I was recording an interview with Paul McVeigh. Still, it's pre-season - we'll all have it ironed out by August 8th......... won't we?