STOKE CITY (bet365 Stadium)

PREMIER LEAGUE, STOKE CITY 1-1 EVERTON, ATTENDANCE: 27,671

With a couple of odd days holiday left to take, I decided to book a day off work and head to the warm sunny climes of the Potteries as Everton travelled down the M6 for a Premier League clash at Stoke City.

It was an uneventful journey to Staffordshire until I got within 5 miles of the stadium when an accident had brought the A500 to a standstill. The sat-nav advised that the quickest way now was to spin the car around and head back to the M6 and go to the next junction.

Eventually I was parked up by 6.45pm (at Longton Bowls Club) and a short walk over the footbridge over the A50 had me outside the ground around 7pm.

The ground, which opened in 1997 as a replacement for the Victoria Ground, has always been sponsored (though when Stoke qualified for Europe UEFA called it the Stoke Stadium) and from its inauguration until the beginning of this season it was known as the Britannia Stadium, after a local building society, but for the next six years, at least, it will be known as the bet365 Stadium.

The ground was officially opened by the legendary Sir Stanley Matthews and when he died in 2000 his ashes were buried beneath the centre circle. There is a statue in his honour outside the ground.

My last visit to the ground was in 2002 when Everton secured a 1-0 victory in an FA Cup 3rd round tie. The record attendance for the stadium were present that day as 28,218 packed in to watch Alan Stubbs score a 51st minute winner. This record will certainly be beaten next season when the capacity of ground is increased to around 30,000 when the open corners are filled in.

I had a great seat tonight (not that anyone sits down in the away end during the game) behind the goal, seven rows from the front. It was so close to the action that during the warm up a wayward shot hit me in a rather sensitive part of ones anatomy, much to the amusement of the people around me.

The blustery conditions were never going to be conducive to free flowing football and the home side used these to their advantage time and again. Veteran striker Peter Crouch won everything in the air as he gave the Everton back line a torrid time. It was Crouch who opened the scoring after 7 minutes when he fired home, unmarked, from 10 yards after a Marko Arnautovic cross. This was Crouch's 100th Premier League and to celebrate he reprised his famous robot dance.

Stoke had further chances to increase their lead but it was Everton who scored next, and in slightly controversial circumstances. In the 39th minute a Seamus Coleman shot was turned into his own goal by Ryan Shawcross but the linesman flagged an offside Romelu Lukaku, who appeared to get the final touch. After a brief consultation, the goal was awarded when it was confirmed Lukaku, who was offside, never touched the ball or impeded the goalkeeper's position or vision.

There was still time before the break for Stoke to restore their lead but Arnautovic, when one-on-one with Joel Robles, saw his effort blocked by the Spanish goalkeeper.

Everton made a tactical substitution at half time with James McCarthy replacing young Mason Holgate, who endured a tough time in the first half. The Irishman offered a little more protection and finally allowed Everton to get a foothold in the game. Stoke still had chances, Saido Berahino had an effort headed off by the line by Ramiro Funes Mori, but now at least Everton were getting forward.

It wasn't until the final 10 minutes that Lee Grant in the Stoke goal was properly tested. The best effort was a bullet header from Tom Davies, which was parried into the path of Ademola Lookman, whose effort was inches wide. That could have clinched all three points for the blues but a draw was a fair reflection of the game.

I was back at my car for around 10.20pm and away on the A500 by 10.25pm. Despite the M6 north being closed I was back in the house before midnight to reflect on the evenings events. Onward Evertonians.