With all the incessant bad weather around, wiping out so much local sport, my fears were great.  Ever since the fixtures were announced, myself and a few others had planned and looked forward so much to Good Friday.

A chance to cover one of our local League Two clubs, Southend United, followed by an opportunity take in an evening game of my first love, rugby league, is rarer than a Spurs title challenge.

I feared the worst with all the snow and rain these past few months  but lo and behold, when Good Friday came, the good weather came with it!  Luck was on our side.

First up was a Northern Counties East League Premier Division game between Glasshoughton Welfare, near Castleford, and Nostell Miners Welfare.  A big local derby and massively important in their relegation battle.

It’s the equivalent of the Essex Senior League, so just a fiver secured entry.  Just over 300 crammed into the tiny ground to see a host player miss from less than a foot out, a bizarre own goal, a great penalty save, and an injury time winner as Glasshoughton, having played five more games than their opponents secured a priceless 2-0 win.

Onwards to Valley Parade.  A new Shrimpers boss at the helm, the perma-tanned Phil Brown, as they took on this season’s League Cup finalists, Bradford City.

An excellent crowd of over 10,000 were silenced by this early salvo.

It was comfortable throughout the first half for Southend, within even the ref giving them a helping hand, not seeing the ball clearly cross the line from a Bradford free kick.  Not that either one of the Southend United media correspondents or I minded.

It all changed in the second half, though, as Bradford threw the kitchen sink at Southend.  In the end, the Shrimpers were grateful to pick up a point.

After that little Easter treat, we travelled, via the old Bradford Park Avenue stadium, to the Jungle, home of Super League side Castleford Tigers.  A local derby with bitter rivals Wakefield Trinity Wildcats awaited us.

I was particularly pleased, having supported our local SL side the London Broncos, that their scoreboard was broken and that it still showed the Broncos winning score from a fortnight ago!

Soon enough the big crowd was packed in and the game, as well as atmosphere, was ferocious.  Local pride is a massive motivator.  At least for one side.  Wakefield totally outplayed Castleford from the first minute of the opening half to last.  25-0 flattered Castleford, who went off to a crescendo of boos.  At least the cheerleaders were nice!

The riot act had clearly been read to them, though, and by mid-way through the second half, an astonishing comeback was on as the Tigers pulled it back to 16-25.  The home fans were gradually going delirious!

It was not to be, though.  Two quick tries for Wakefiled made it 37-16 to them inside the last 10 minutes.  Until the bizarre kicked in.  An explosion on the roof above us, the outbreak of a fire, and the match was quickly abandoned, with the score at the time counting as the result.

As I made my way back to the car, and home, to say I was breathless was an understatement, as I ran to avoid the stadium fire, and some warring factions of supporters outside.  It was almost like being back in the 80’s.

So to sum up, a home win, a decent point, a derby battle and a roof on fire.  What a Good Friday it really was!  Please, Football League chappies, make sure either Dagenham or Southend are away in Yorkshire on Good Friday 2014.  It’ll make my year!