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Sunday 26 January 2014

Getting one over on God!!!

PETERBOROUGH ROVERS POST OFFICE 2-4 WITTERING
Saturday 25th January 2014
Peterborough & District League Intermediate Shield 2nd Round
Fulbridge Road, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire (access via Tennyson Road)

With what seems like an eternity of low pressure weather systems crossing the Atlantic Ocean, it is case of trying to figure out where the weather is to be best, what time during the day it will rain and what games are going to be postponed due to waterlogged and / or flooded pitches. Thankfully the East Midlands has not been as badly hit as in some parts of the country, and those particularly in Somerset. Despite this there has been an awful lot of rain recently and to be honest I am grateful and thankful that prior to today, I have managed to watch four games of football in 2014. Leading up to the weekend I was keeping an close eye on the weather forecast and come the day before, decided that heading east to Peterborough would be the best bet. I managed to find a 1pm kick-off which, if the forecast was correct would mean we (my Dad and I) would not encounter the rain until we were on our way home back to Leicester. 

I picked up dad at around 11.30am and we then headed east along the A47 for around forty miles. This was to be our first game in the Peterborough League since February last year when we paid a visit to Whittlesey United. The ground was very easy to find, located about 1/4 mile south of exit 19 of the A47, and with arriving about half an hour early before the scheduled kick-off went in search of a local pub. This we managed to do which was a few minutes drive away, though I didn't pay any attention to the name of it. 

The venue is a very basic set up and is literally a public park with a football pitch marked out. There are changing rooms and a small car park but no facilities for spectators, pitch side or off the field. The car park is accessed between houses on Tennyson Road, though with it being tight decided to park on the road itself. 

As expected their was no admission charge or programme issued which is the norm in the PDFL. The game pitted two teams doing very well in their respective divisions - Rovers currently second in division 2 and Wittering top of division 3. The game started off in blistering fashion with the visitors opening the scoring after only a few minutes, but by the quarter hour mark were 2-1 behind. Come the end of the first forty five minutes Wittering had drawn level. The second half was not as enjoyable as the first - Wittering re-took the lead early on and were fairly comfortable after that, with the home side not looking capable of getting back on level terms. In the final throws of the game, with the wind picking up and the clouds darkening Wittering broke and made it 2-4 to confirm their place in round 3.

About ten miles east of Peterborough was when we encountered the forecasted rain. This along with some impressive strikes of lightning around the Uppingham area and a few damaged trees lying in the road made for an interesting drive home. 

Websites / social media:
Peterborough & District League - FA Full Time Site - twitter
Stamford & Rutland Sports Network - official site - twitter

Maps
Grounds visited in Cambridgeshire - currently 22
New grounds visited this season - currently 30

37 photos of the game can be found in the slideshow below:

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