A few days ago I realised that I had ignored the West Midlands League so far this season, so decided to rectify this, this Saturday. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to visit a new ground too and 2 grounds came to mind while scanning over the fixture list, namely those of Cradley Town and Dudley Sports. Both are reachable by bus from Stourbridge too.
So today I am travelling by train to the Stourbridge Town station and the forecast is not too bad, cloudy but not much rain. After getting to Stourbridge Junction station I see the connecting shuttle train to the 'Town' station just disappearing round the corner. Rats! So instead of waiting another 10 mins for it to come back, I decide to stretch my legs and take the 15-20 minute walk to the town centre.
I get in to town and have a look round the shops, noting along the way that they have completed the new shopping area by the new Tesco and the new entrance for the Library. Also I find a Record/CD fair at a local church, which I find out is to be found there on the first Saturday of the month. There are some good potential buys there but decide not to be extravagant today.
After a good meal at a French style cafe/restaurant I phone up the number for Cradley's ground and am told the good news that the game is going ahead despite the recent rain. I take the No.142 'Diamond' bus for Halesowen which passes near the Cradley ground. After a 20 minutes bus journey I take the five minute walk to Beeches View Avenue where the driveway to 'The Beeches' ground can be found.
I get to the entrance and part with £4 entrance fee + £1 for a programme, which proves to be a good read. It has recent match reports with photos too!
Cradley's ground is a bit of a ramshackle affair. By the ground entrance is the Club House and the eastern end of the pitch. This is covered but with no seats. The ground is situated on the side of a hill overlooking the nearby countryside. The pitch slopes a bit from one side to the other. There is a small stand with 2 rows of seats on the higher side of the pitch and at the western end of the ground is another stand with more seats in the middle. I go to this end as I will be sheltered from the stiff wind and won't be taking my photos in to the sun.
When the teams take to the pitch I see that Black Country Rangers are in their 2nd strip of all pale blue as Cradley play in all red. Rangers are doing very well with 12 wins from 13 matches and lie 3rd in the table. Cradley meanwhile are in 9th position.
(Full-back, Alex Hammond (left) lunges in to tackle this Cradley player)
I see that there is another photographer nearby and find out it is another 'ground hopper' I met at an FA Vase match at Walsall Wood last season, who has travelled from Market Drayton in Shropshire. He tells me that he came here before...20 years ago!
The match is being played in autumn sunshine and for the early part of the 1st half, the visitors are looking the more dangerous. However Cradley get in to the game more and go close a couple of times before they take the lead, when Scott Devlin fires in a great free kick in to the net from the right.
(Scott Devlin, seen here being congratulated by his team mates)
There is another photographer who joins us at this end of the ground. It's the Club Secretary's wife, Jean Attwood, who takes the photos for the Cradley programme. She is very pleased that she has captured a snap of the goal.
Rangers are awarded a penalty when one of their players is pushed over in the box. With five minutes to go to the interval this will put them back on track. However their penalty taker shoots too close to Matt Jones the Cradley keeper and he blocks the shot with his legs.
So 1-0 to Cradley at half-time and an upset is on the cards as the home team are playing well.
The weather is taking a change for the worse though and we have a shower for 5-10 minutes. Although the rain goes, the cloud doesn't and when the teams come back, it's decidedly murky. For the first 10 minutes of this half, it's pretty dark and then the nearest set of floodlights come to life. It takes another 10 minutes for the other floodlights to come on, one after the other down the pitch.
Back to the football and Cradley start the brighter, fashion out 2 good chances and the fancied Rangers are looking decidedly rattled. Gradually Black Country do get back back in to the match and after 57 minutes, equalise through their No.9, Jozsef Jakab. I wonder if he comes from Poland?
(Jakab is congratulated on his equaliser)
Black Country Rangers finish the game, well on top and score a third before the end, although I don't think it's a fair reflection of the whole match. I think Cradley have played well today and were certainly in the running for the first 60 minutes.
(Jozsef Jakab goes close again with a header)
The attendance today looks about 50-60 to me and Black Country move in to 2nd place in the table behind the leaders, Cradley's Black Country rivals, Lye Town.
The Beeches is a 'homely' quirky little ground, that's certainly worth a visit, with plenty of shelter from the elements at this time of year.
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