Showing posts with label
EVO STIK NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE.
Show all posts
Showing posts with label
EVO STIK NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE.
Show all posts
It's Non-League Day today and I have decided to visit a ground that I haven't been to for a while and it's 'The Grove', home of Halesowen Town of the Northern Premier League. Also as it's NL Day the club have reduced ground entry to £5!
When I set out from Worcester on the train, it's a cool cloudy day with the promise of sunny intervals this afternoon. I get off at Cradley Heath station and catch the bus from the revamped Interchange bus station just outside. It's just 20 minutes on the bus to the Halesowen Bus Station in the centre of the town.
It's hard to believe that in the 19th century that Halesowen boasted at having 130 working coal mines in the local area (non existing now). They also had a nail making cottage industry that thrived for a few hundred years. Although the town centre has a lot of modern buildings I spot an older looking building opposite the main church (as shown below).
I have time to have a quick wander round the shops and have a meal of cheese omelette and chips in one of the local cafes. It amazes me that some eateries these days seem to serve up watered down tomato ketchup. It can't be that expensive?
The walk to the ground only takes 10-15 minutes and lies in the district of Hawne. When going through the main entrance to the ground (north side) you can see the pitch down below you with the other end of the pitch at the southern side of the ground. There is an uncovered bank of terracing on the eastern side while on the opposite side is located the main stand with covered seating, this is called the 'Harry Rudge Stand'. At the far, southern end of the ground is another area of banked uncovered terracing. At the northern end, is a covered standing area called 'The Shed'. With 3 sides of the ground at a higher level to the pitch, it gives it the feeling of a shallow amphitheatre.
(A view from the eastern terrace looking across the pitch to 'The Shed')
After buying a badge from the club shop and a cuppa at the tea bar, I go to the southern terrace to take my match photos. The teams come out, with the home team in their usual blue and white kit while 'The Gladiators' of Matlock Town from Derbyshire are in their away strip of yellow and blue. Both clubs currently occupy a mid-table league position, so it promises to be a closely fought contest.
Looking at the team line ups, I see that Halesowen Town feature 3 ex-Worcester City players today, in the form of defender Asa Charlton and midfielders, captain Jay Denny and Rob Elvins. Their reserve keeper, Matt Sargeant is also ex-City too.
Both teams take some time to get going in a sluggish start but after 30 minutes Jay Denny sees his shot turned away for a corner by Willis in the Matlock goal. Soon after Halesowen's Danny Bragoli is played in to the box but sees his close range effort blocked by the keeper (as shown below).
Just before the end of the half, Rob Elvins goes close to scoring too. So it's 0-0 after 45 minutes but Halesowen have been looking increasingly dangerous.
During the first half I have chatted to a young photographer taking photos for the home team. He tells me that their main photographer has today been asked to cover the Football League 1st Division, top of the table clash at Walsall who are playing Burton Albion.
Just 2 minutes after the interval, Halesowen take the lead when defender Joe Hull volleys home following a corner kick. Six minutes later and the home side are really in the driving seat when midfielder, Danny Bragoli, puts in the rebound after his first shot is saved by Willis.
In a desperate attempt to salvage something from the match, the Matlock manager makes a triple substitution and this seems to have an effect when in the 69th minute
captain Danny Holland, heads home from a left wing cross.
(Halesowen's Kyle Morrison heads clear after Matlock's Danny Holland slips)
Halesowen are still the dominant side though and after twice going close they look to have the game won, when substitute Greg Pearson heads in a free-kick with just 3 minutes to go.
Matlock go down fighting when Holland heads in his second goal at the far post, when a right wing cross eludes the home defence.
A deserved win for Halesowen in an entertaining match but both they and Matlock will not be able to make much progress this season unless they both iron out their respective defensive problems.
Match attendance: 450
Match entrance fee: £5 ( Non-League Day concession)
Match programme: £2
Match entertainment value: 7.5/10
So, it's Easter Monday and where will I go today. I had been hankering to go to see Rugby Town v Barton Rovers in a play-off clash in the Calor Southern League, Central Division but after seeing the previous day's late night weather forecast with the threat of heavy showers, I decided to head north again and go to another new ground today, namely the Marston Road ground of Stafford Rangers. Looking at the weather map, it looks more likely that if I go north then it's less likely to rain.
I set off on the train from Worcester, a bit later than I wanted. After changing trains at New Street in Birmingham I am making way to Stafford on the Liverpool train. After 35 minutes I am getting off at Stafford and walk out of the station in to the spring sunshine and cross the road and find myself in Victoria Park. This is a pleasant entrance to a new town for me. The River Sow winds it's way through this park and there are plenty of families spending some leisure time in this pleasant area. On the other side of this I find myself in Stafford's town centre, with plenty of historical timbered buildings lining the main street.
After having a look around the town's shopping centre and partaking of a chicken burger and chips from the burger van in the town square, I make my way up the road for the 15 minute walk to the Stafford Rangers ground in Marston Road.
I'm surprised to find myself walking along side Stafford Prison and then streets of terraced housing. When I arrive near the entrance to the ground I find there are lots of fun activities mainly for kids, like bouncy castles etc. Good idea for a holiday weekend.
I pay £9 at the turnstile and part with another £2 for a programme.
For a few weeks now, Stafford have known for a weeks that after a bad season they are doomed for relegation. Their opponents, Nantwich, have achieved mid-table safety.
There is a crowd of 394 today with a noisy contingent from Nantwich who are providing drum led musical entertainment on the far side of the ground, which gives a livelier atmosphere to the proceedings.
The 2 teams take to the field with Stafford in their usual black & white stripes and Nantwich in their away strip of yellow shirts & blue shorts.
(Stafford's Saul Henderson is tracked by a Nantwich Town defender)
There is lots of endeavour by both teams but not much composure in this half and consequently not many chances.
Nantwich have the best chances with Meaney, White and Aaron Burns having efforts on goal.
Saul Henderson has the best effort for Stafford Rangers when he fires over the bar.
(Stafford full-back, Oliver Davies looks to go on the attack)
So still 0-0 at the break and maybe some goals in the next 45 minutes? Stafford's ground has a capacity of 6,000 with one large main stand with seating on the Marston Road side and on the other side there is a covered standing area for most of the length of the pitch.
When play resumes, Stafford start to get more of the play. Substitute, Jack Edward's header hits the post and out and then their lively midfielder goes close too.
At the other end, Max Harrop fails to chip Stafford's keeper, Andy Jones (as shown below).
After 65 minutes, Rangers take the lead through Saul Henderson who after receiving the ball on the left, cuts inside to place a shot inside the far post. Also soon after he hits the side netting too in another attack.
Nantwich come back strongly but Aaron Burns shoots over the bar with their best chance.
So Stafford Rangers have signed off with a win with their last home league game this season. It seems that the fans would like to see the current manager, Graham Heathcote, stay on and lead them back to this division as soon as possible.
They are certainly a club with potential and I would like to see them do well in the future.
As my train heads out of Worcester Shrub Hill station, the weather is fine and sunny, a respite from the continual rain of yesterday. There is rain forecast for the afternoon and I still haven't found out which game to go to yet.
I phone a number for the Solihull Moors secretary but find out it's a wrong number as the guy answering tells me his number has nothing to do with that club. So I must have wrote it down incorrectly. Instead I phone the mobile number for Chasetown FC's secretary, John Richards. I leave a text message for him after hearing his voice mail message and a few minutes later he's kindly rang me up and confirms that their match has been given the go ahead after a 9:30am pitch inspection.
After arriving at Birmingham Snow Hill I make my way to New Street where I take the next train for Cannock. When I get there 40 minutes later, I grab a take away meal of cheeseburger & chips from a van near the shopping centre and soon, suitably refreshed, am boarding the No.60 Lichfield bus. Although I visited Chasetown's ground early last season, I'd forgotten what a long and winding route the bus takes to get there. During this journey, the sky suddenly turns very dark and there is a terrific, violent deluge of hail for a few minutes. It plants a thought in my mind that the match will be called off after all!
However when I arrive in Chasetown, the rain has eased off considerably and I walk through the gates at 2:45pm. I soon find out that the kick-off has been delayed for 15 minutes while ground staff and volunteers are busy getting the pitch ready.
I take my place at the front of the small stand at the western end of the ground to get out of the returning rain and to finish my cup of tea. The Scholar's Ground has been Chasetown's home since 1983 and the club itself are celebrating 60 years of existence. They find themselves in 12th position in the league table and are unbeaten so far this month. Lincoln their opponents are 4 places below them.
As planned the teams troop on to the pitch at 3:15pm, Chasetown in their blue strip and Lincoln United in white.
It's Lincoln who start the better and take the lead after 11 minutes, their No.11 slotting home at the near post.
The home fans are re-assured 4 minutes later when their No.9, Nick Wellecomme returns the compliment to make it 1-1 after Jonathan Gould lays on a pass for him after going past a few defenders . This game has all the makings of a classic,....prediction of a 4-4 draw anyone?
I shouldn't have got so excited as there is no more score until very late on in this half. Chasetown are the better side for long periods, with Wellecomme and Luke Bottomer, in particular being very lively up front.
Luke Bottomer puts Chasetown deservedly in the lead after 47 minutes when after a mazy run, cutting in from the left he beats the keeper in a one on one situation. Great goal!
During half-time I go in to the club shop and purchase a club badge, thinking that I will start a collection, as I did have some years ago but they were taken in a burglary in my flat, when I was living in Southampton at the time. I have a good chat with the friendly guy in charge and one of the coaching/playing staff who has come in to see him.
The second half again sees the home side mainly on top and after 10 minutes they score number 3 when their defender, Richard Teasdale scores with a header from a corner.
( Jonathan Gould pulls back the ball for his team mates)
Nick Wellecomme finishes off the scoring in the 76th minute and a few minutes later I make my way out of the ground as I am unsure what time my bus will be, as I remember the last time I came here, I had along wait at the bus stop. Of course I find out when I get there, that I could have stayed and still have had just 10 minutes to wait.
( Nick Wellecomme is closely marked on the left wing)
I enjoyed my visit today at a friendly club who, from what I have seen, play good attractive football. The ground staff and their volunteers did a very good job to get this match played at all and I hope it was appreciated by the 147 spectators who attended today's match. I know I certainly did and I wish them well for the rest of this season!
This Saturday I am making my way to the Northern Premier League top 5 clash between Rushall Olympic and AFC Fylde from Lancashire. Both teams are looking to make the League play-offs in a few weeks time.
This will be the second time I have visited this ground, as near the end of last season I saw Rushall's tenants, Continental Star, beat Pershore prior to clinching the Midland Combination Premier League title. Also it was a happy occasion for me as one of my photos from that game was selected as the cover photo for the current edition of 'The Non-League Club Directory'.
Both of these clubs have made very good progress up 'The Pyramid' over the last 12 years, especially Fylde as only 5 years ago they were lifting the FA Vase, in their previous incarnation of 'Kirkham & Wesham FC'.
When I arrive in Walsall, an already cloudy day becomes greyer and it starts to drizzle. Not good photography weather, well certainly not for my camera/lens set up.I board the No.997 bus from Walsall Bus Station and soon am getting off the bus at the stop opposite the ground.
It's an entrance fee of £7:50p, cheaper than expected and the programme £2. I must say the Rushall programme is very good value, packed with information about the Evo-Stik Northern leagues and various cup competitions like the Staffordshire Senior, Birmingham Senior and Doodson League Cup. Well done to the editor Darren Stockall!
Fylde have brought down about 50-70 fans with them and I park myself under the cover of the stand at the southern end of the ground where they congregate when they see that their team are kicking towards that goal. Rushall are in their gold and black kit while Fylde are resplendent in all white.
The game is played at quite a pace with both teams anxious to get forward as quickly as possible. A bit too Route One for me at times but there is no disputing that they both mean business.
(Here the Rushall No.2 is given a helping hand by physio, Emma Archer)
It's a pretty even first-half with not many clear-cut chances. The Fylde fans are sure that their team should be awarded a penalty when their player, Harry Winter is brought down after a rash challenge but it's deemed to be outside the area and Fylde shoot over the bar from the free-kick. However Rushall take the lead 5 minutes before the interval when Obeng fires in a well taken goal.
During half-time I venture in to the Club Shop and find a very good selection of Football League and Non-League programmes. When talking to the guy who runs the shop I find that we both attended the same Sutton United (Sutton Coldfield) game the previous Saturday. It's a small world!
I go back to the southern end of the ground as it is still drizzling and soon Rushall Olympic are on the attack. Although I was not greatly impressed by the standard of play in the first-half, I begin to admire Rushall's efforts in the second period. With their combative midfield, the pace of Ahmed Obeng plus the guile and work-rate of top scorer, Dave Walker, Rushall are stringing together some probing attacks. Although Rushall dominate most of this half Fylde are still dangerous on the break.
(Here the dangerous Obeng whips in a shot that grazes the Fylde cross-bar)
Rushall's efforts are well appreciated by their fans and they duly get their reward a few minutes before the end when Lindon Dovey scores their second and decisive goal.
So a great result for 'The Pics' which pushes them up from sixth to fifth and sees AFC Fylde drop from fourth to sixth but with 2 games in hand over Rushall with 2 points separating them. They could be playing each other in the play-offs soon!
In the end I was impressed by Rushall Olympic and today's performance was a great improvement to when I saw them lose 1-3 in the FA Cup to Bridgnorth Town earlier in the season.
