IT'S A RUGBY SCORE AT HINTON TODAY!

I am going west today on my latest football excursion. In fact I am investigating uncharted territory for me, namely the Herefordshire Football League. A new ground in Hereford, that of Hinton FC and their league match against the basement boys of Bartestree Reserves.

Today's forecast is pretty good as I catch the train from Foregate Street station. Mainly cloudy with sunny intervals with a slight chance of a shower.

When the train heads west of Ledbury, we hit blue skies and I am looking forward to seeing Hereford again. It's been about 8 months since my last excursion there.

I arrive at this historic city at 12:15, just enough time for me to have a quick look around the city centre and have a meal. The Saturday street market is in full swing in the High Street and I also have a wander round the Cathedral and Church Street area before heading off to Broomy Hill, the area west of here where Hinton's ground is located. I walk along the Barton Road before turning left down the road called Broomy Hill and then 5 minutes later I turn left again down the path leading down to the ground. Also just across the road from the football ground, is the Hereford Waterworks Museum, which showcases water engineering machinery of all kinds. I see that it's usually open on selected weekends from March till October.

Hinton's ground nestles under the edge of a hill not far from the River Wye. Close by are the playing fields of the Hereford Cathedral School and they are playing a rugby match this afternoon, watched by a crowd which looks to be 100+ in size.

There is a small car park and a building that houses the changing rooms and the small refreshment stall. I buy a cup of tea there and find that I am being served by the friendly Chairman, Graham Andrews. He says that it's ok to take photos and hands me an information sheet about the club.

Hinton were founded in 1947 and that makes them older than the present two leading clubs, Westfields (founded 1966) and Pegasus Juniors (founded 1955). Although they have their ground is situated to the north of the river, the club have their roots south of the river, from the area around Hinton Road. 

Bartestree's first team are doing well in the West Midlands League as they acheived promotion to that League's First Division at the first attempt. Bartstree is a village just a few miles to the east of the city. Their reserve team however are not doing well in the Herefordshire Premier and have been suffering heavy defeats lately.

The 2 teams take to the field, Hinton in black & red while the visitors are in black & white. It doesn't take long for Hinton to score the first goal after 8 minutes, although surprisingly it comes against the run of play.

(Bartestree clear the ball out of defence, with the Waterworks Museum in the background)

One thing that surprises me is that I seem to be the only real spectator in the ground apart from the Chairman and Paul Trattle, who is the Reserve Team Assistant Manager. More spectators do arrive at half time and during the second-half, so at one point there are about 17 watching.

Hinton score another goal after about 18 minutes and then from the 25th minute till half-time, score another 5! Although the Bartestree defence is not playing well, Hinton at times are playing some great first touch football. With one of the goals, a Hinton forward plays a sublime back heel for a colleague to smash a shot in to the net.

 (The Bartestree keeper manages to push the ball on to the post and out )    
Bartestree do manage to have one effort hit the bar after 30 minutes, so it's not all one way traffic. So half-time arrives and Hinton are looking to greatly improve their goal difference before the game ends. I begin to think that the score in this match might end up greater than the score in the nearby rugby match.

So, the second half starts but unfortunately for Bartestree, they keep shipping in goals at regular intervals despite the heroics of their overworked keeper.

       (A Hinton substitute keeps up the pressure on the visitor's defence)

During this half, several spectators from the rugby come over to watch for a while. They seem to know the Hinton No.9 and have a quick chat and then walk back over the school playing fields to their match.

                              (The Hinton No.10 shapes up for a shot)

Bartestree have 2 or 3 chances to score in this half but their finishing is very bad. It's evident that many of their players are lacking in confidence.

So the game ends with the score at 13-0, even though the Bartestree keeper has made several good saves in this half. Although in a way it's good to see some goals it doesn't beat seeing a good competitive game. Before the game I thought Hinton would probably win by a 3-4 goal margin today judging by the two teams league positions.

Hinton have certainly improved their goal difference and maybe they will start to move up the Premier Division table for the next part of the season. They have future aspirations to move up to the West Midlands League, like their near neighbours, Lads Club and Bartestree and with floodlights already in place and hard standing and a small stand there too, maybe they just need to have to build a proper club house to immediately improve their facilities.