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Saturday 1 November 2008

The Big 300!!!!

GLENFIELD TOWN 1-2 DESFORD
Leicester & District League Premier DivisionSaturday 1st November
Glenfield Sports Ground


As the title sugests today was my 300th sporting venue that I have watched sport at and I suppose I could have gone somewhere a bit more glamorous than where I ended up, but hey ho! Anyhow a rare venture into the District League today saw me primarily take a look at league leaders Desford. Also I planned to stay local and as Glenfield is only a ten minute drive north on local roads an ideal opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

Glenfield is one of the many towns that skirt larger towns and cities in this country and throughout the world that are glorified suburbs yet are outside the city’s boundaries. Some may argue that it is Glenfield and not Leicester that is the county town of Leicestershire due to the location of county hall.

The Glenfield Sports Ground is located on Gynsil Lane between the A50 Coalville and Beaumont Leys exits of the A46 Leicester Western Bypass. If exiting at the A50 head towards Leicester and at the first island (with County Hall ahead of you) take a left onto Gynsil Lane, and the sports ground is signposted after a 100 yards or so on the left hand side. The sports ground is host to three full size football pitches (one of which is completely railed off and is the one the home team use), a half size football pitch and cricket pitch. There is no hard standing or cover which is the norm for District League football. At the start of play Desford (as previously stated) led the premier division with six wins and a draw from their seven matches while the hosts had won four out of their opening six matches and occupied 4th place at the start of play.

Glenfield took the game to Desford from the start and created the first chance on 4 minutes but a far post effort was put tamely wide. Another good chance was created before they got even close when a direct free kick on 23 minutes was deflected onto the outside of the post. The second period of the half saw Desford come into the game more and was no surprise when they took the lead on 39 minutes. Stuart “Paddy” Smith was put through and with only the keeper to beat finished with ease. Only a decent final ball being both sides nemesis in an even first half. The second saw the visitors dominate possession and chances from the start with Smith heading against a post on 59 minutes and Simon Goodman forcing the home keeper into a good save on 65. Desford finally sealed all three points on 83 minutes when the afore mentioned Goodman placed a low shot past the keeper from 10 yards or so. Deep into injury time at the end of the game saw Glenfield get a consolation goal I felt they deserved for the effort they put in today when the ball was scrambled home from a couple of yards.

A fair scoreline and a reasonably enjoyable game in very cold conditions.