Uppity Uppity

UPPINGHAM TOWN 2-0 LEVERINGTON SPORTS

Saturday 27th March 2010

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

Uppingham Sports Field

My choice of game today sees me take in a first venture into the Peterborough & District League (PDL) to see Rutland side Uppingham Town in action. Uppingham have played in the PDL since 2002 when they transferred from the Leicester & District League. There first campaign was in the leagues first division where they secured the runners-up finishing three points behind divisional winners Emneth Seniors and with it secured promotion to the Premier Division. In the six seasons to date in the Premier Division the club to be fair to them have struggled, finishing in the bottom half on five occasions with a highest finishing position being 8th place in the 2004/05 season.  This season Uppingham currently sit in 9th place in the division winning eight of their twenty league games played so far. Their last game saw them lose 1-0 at home to Ramsey Town in the Peterborough Senior Cup, while Leverington lost 2-1 at home to Oundle Town in a premer division encounter. Leverington themsleves joined the PDL in 1962 and won Division 3 (Southern Section) at the first attempt remaining unbeaten in the process, winning twenty nine of their thirty league games played. Two years later and they won the division two title finishing five points ahead of Spalding Youth Old Boys. A division 1 runners-up spot in 1968 secured promotion to the premier division, and they have remained in the PDL top flight ever since. Their one and only premier division title came in 1996 when they finished eight points ahead of runners-up Deeping Rangers. 

League table (as at 20th March)

Pos / Team.............Pl W. D. L. F. A. Pts
1. Whittlesey Utd......24 17  4  3 75 32 55
2. Moulton Harrox......26 17  4  5 71 30 55
3. Deeping Sports......25 15  4  6 74 35 39
-----
9. Uppingham Town......20  8  6  6 40 44 33 (+3 points)
13.Leverington Sports..20  6  1 13 26 48 19

Uppingham itself is a small market town (population 3,721) in Rutland which is the smallest historic county in England. The town is located roughly half way between Leicester and Peterborough with the county town of Oakham 6 miles to the north. The town is probably most well know for its public school which was founded, along with a hospital in 1584 by Archdeacon Robert Johnson. The original school building can still be found in the towns churchyard and is a grade 1 listed building. Old Uppinghamians include:

Jonathan Agnew Leicestershire and England cricketer

Donald Campbell World Land and Water Speed record holder

Stephen Dorrell MP and health secretary

Stephen Fry Actor and writer

Phil Spencer property expert

Rick Stein Chef and restaurant owner

Johnny Vaughan TV and radio presenter

The home of Uppingham Town is the imaginatively titled "Uppingham Sports Field" which is on North Street East. The pitch is a basic roped off affair though the club do have their own clubhouse on the site. There is street parking around the field and there is also a small pay and display car park opposite next to the co-op. As expected there was no admission charge or programme issued which I believe is normal for the Peterborough League. The game itself was not the best with the referee making some strange dicisions at times. Uppingham took the lead on 24 minutes when their number eight scored with a low shot past the keeper that went in off the post, but before that Leverington had two goals disallowed, the first of which was for offside and the second for a foul on the keeper. The game became niggly and dissent was creeping into the game and it was for dissent that Leverington had a man dismissed towards the end of the half. In stoppage time at the end of the half Uppingham were awarded a very soft penalty but the resulting kick was saved by the visiting keeper. The second half was primarily a stale affair with neither side making much of an impact, but as the half wore on Uppingham began to find space with their numerical advantage and secured all three points with just seven minutes left on the clock when a cross from the right was headed home.

Attendance: varied but peaked at around 40
Google maps driving time / distance: 43 minutes and 22.5 miles

websites:

Peterborough and District League: http://pdfl.footballleagueadmin.com/

Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uppingham and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutland

A Knight Show

MARKFIELD 4-0 SILEBY SAINTS

Saturday 20th March 2010

North Leicestershire League Premier Division

Jubilee Playing Fields

My reason for choosing this game today is quite simply I could not be bothered to or wanted to travel any distance, and with having seen a lot of grass roots football in Leicestershire over the years I wanted to watch a new team play a first team game.

My records for Markfield Football Club only go back as far as 1997 when they were known as Markfield Red Lion and competed in division 1 of the North Leicestershire League (NLL). In 2001 the club secured a runners-up spot and with it promotion to the premier division. At the end of the 2000/01 season the club changed their name to the present title. Their stay in the NLL top division only lasted two seasons before relegation back to division 1 in 2003. Six seasons were spent in the division before finishing in 2nd place and with it promotion back to the premier division. This season they have found life pretty good, currently occupying 5th place in the 14 team division and find themselves ten points behind leaders Caterpillar but having played two games less. Last weekend Markfield recorded a 2-0 away victory over Loughborough while visitors Sileby Saints lost 2-0 at Genesis.

Premier Division table (Top 6 as at March 13th 2010)

Pos / Team.......Pl W. D. L. For Aga Pts
1 Caterpillar....18 15  2  1 67  17  47
2 Anstey Town....18 13  1  4 57  33  40
3 Falcons........18 12  2  4 50  26  38
4 Genesis........17 12  2  3 52  32  38
5 Markfield......16 12  1  3 48  28  37
6 Sileby Saints..17  8  1  8 31  31  25

Markfield itself is a commuter village (population 4,474 in 2001) that is located on the northern edge of the Hinckley & Bosworth District. Leicester is nine miles to the south east while Coalville is six miles to the north west. Junction 22 of the M1 motorway is one mile away heading in the Coalville direction. The football club play their home games on the Jubilee Playing Fields which is located on Altar Stones Way.

Directions (from Leicester)

Follow M1 (north) signs to Markfield, and at island just after Coach & Horses public house take the second exit onto Leicester Road. Leicester Road turns into Ashby Road which in turn leads on to Altar Stones Way. The ground is on the left after the Hill Street junction.

A second half hat-trick from Ezra Knight gave the hosts a comfortable victory. The first half though was a fairly even affair and Markfield thought they had scored the opening goal midway through the half only for it to be ruled out for offside. Sileby's best chance came right at the end of the half but the home keeper made a good save to deny them. Just two minutes into the second half and the hosts made the breakthrough when Herbie Mawazda found space in the penalty area to fire home fron eight yards out. Markfield continued to have the better of things as the game opened up, and they used their pace to cause Sileby problems. Knight's first goal came with just thirteen minutes left when he scored with a solo effort slotting the ball past the keeper. With five minutes to go he got his second when, after being put through he hit a low powerful shot past the keeper to seal the points for the hosts. In injury time the Sileby keeper parried a shot and Knight reacted first to complete his hat-trick.

Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 13 (head count)

Google maps distance / driving time: 8 miles / 17 minutes

websites:

North Leicestershire League http://www.nlfl.co.uk/

Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markfield 

What the POOK!!!!!!!!

BURTON ALBION 5-6 CHELTENHAM TOWN

Saturday 13th March 2010

Football League 2

Pirelli Stadium

In 2009 Burton Albion followed their predecessor and became the fourth team from the town of Burton-upon-Trent to play in the Football League. The first team to do so was Burton Swifts who joined the second division in 1892, while just two years later Burton Wanderers joined them after being elected from the Midland League. Wanderers stay only lasted three years before re-joining the Midland League. The two teams then merged in 1901 to form Burton United though the stay in the Football League only lasted until 1907 when the club were no re-elected. Following this they joined the Birmingham League but at the end of the 1909/10 season folded. Before Albion’s formation in 1950 the last team to carry the town’s name to have any significance was Burton Town. Town who were previously known as Burton All Saints played in the Birmingham Combination, Birmingham League and Midland League until the outbreak of the Second World War but did not reform when the war ended. Like previously stated Albion were formed in 1950 and joined the Birmingham League. They remained in the league for eight years before joining the Southern League. Twenty-one seasons were spent in the Southern League before being transferred to the Northern Premier League (NPL) due to reorganisation following the formation of the Alliance Premier League (now Conference). The club spent just eight seasons in the NPL before switching back again to the Southern League in 1987, while another switch back to the NPL for a second time came in 2001. The 2001/02 season saw Albion crowned NPL champions and with it promotion to the top tier of non-league football in the Conference. Seven seasons were spent in the Conference before the club were promoted to the Football League as champions.

The town of Burton-upon-Trent (population in 2001 64,449) is located in Staffordshire and is the administrative centre for the East Staffordshire district. The town is most well known for the brewing industry with Coors being one of the five breweries in the town. Both the River Trent and Trent & Mersey Canal wind their way through the town.

The reason for the choice of game is that I have a very good friend who is a supporter of Burton’s visitors today Cheltenham Town and this fixture gives us a chance to meet up for the first time since mid-December when we took in the Cirencester Town – Thatcham Town match in the Southern League. (report can be found here: http://www.rambler77.net/2009/12/ciren.html). I never managed to get to Burton’s old ground of Eton Park so I am looking forward to this fixture. One word of warning to Cheltenham Town supporters is that I have seen them play four times in the midlands over the years at Notts County, Northampton Town, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City and they have lost all four games without scoring a goal. If this trend continues then I have a feeling that I will be barred from attending any further games watching Cheltenham away from home!!!!!!! At the start of play Burton have made a solid start in the debut season in the Football League, currently occupying 12th place with forty-nine points on the board, while Cheltenham who were relegated from League 1 last season are in a relegation fight. The Robins sit one place above the relegation zone but have a four point advantage over Grimsby Town having played a game less. If I were a betting man then I predict either a 2-0 or 3-1 victory for the hosts this afternoon.

The Pirelli Stadium has only been Burton’s home since 2005 and has a capacity of 6,912. The ground is covered on all four sides with one seated main stand and the other three terracing. Away supporters are housed in the terracing behind the goal on the Derby Road side and are allocated a section of seating in the main stand.

The game itself was one of the old football clichés, a game of two halves with the second forty five minutes one that I am struggling for words to describe. The game was only two minutes old when a mistake in the Cheltenham defence allowed Shaun Harrad to score with a low shot past visiting keeper Brown. A good move from the home side saw Steve Kabba come within inches of connecting with a Harrad cross to double their advantage. Further confusion in the visiting defence saw an attempted lob by Harrad well saved by Brown. Around the half hour mark Lee Ridley brought down Harrad in the penalty area who subsequently stepped up and made it 2-0. Half time could not come quick enough for Cheltenham who were playing with no confidence and it appeared they had no hope of getting anything out of the game. Whatever was said in the dressing room by manager Mark Yates seemed to work as on 53 minutes they pulled a goal back. Following an error in the Burton defence David Hutton crossed for Justin Richards to stab the ball home from a couple of yards out. Just three minutes later and it was all square when Medy Elito scored the goal of the game when he struck a superb first time shot from the edge of the penalty area into the top right hand corner of the net. Only five minutes had passed before Burton re-took the lead when Cheltenham skipper Michael Townsend diverted a Cleveland Taylor cross into his own net. The home side then had further chances to restore their two goal cushion before, on seventy two minutes Kabba did just that. The game then calmed down a bit before it reached the 84th minute when things just got silly. A free kick on the edge of the area was struck low past the home wall by Michael Pook to set up what we thought would be a tense finish. A minute later and Burton though were two goals to the good for a third time when Kabba got his second of the match after turning in a Harrad cross. Game over right? Wrong. Pook got his second on the 87th minute when his deflected shot looped over the home keeper Krysiak to make it 5-4. On the stroke of ninety minutes Justin Richards reached a long ball first to slot the ball past Krysiak to give Cheltenham an equaliser and send the visiting supporters into raptures and completely stun the Brewers fans. Deep into injury time and Pook completed his hat-trick with a twenty yard volley to give the visitors an astonishing victory that will no doubt go down in Cheltenham folklore and be talked about for years to come.

Trying to summarise the game is very difficult but the second forty minutes is something that will be with me for a very long time. What a way for me to end my jinx of watching Cheltenham away from home – the first time I’ve seen them score and they score six and the first time I’ve seen them won. In all the years I’ve been watching football this is the first 5-6 scoreline I have witnessed and only the third in which I have seen 11 goals scored. The last time this happened was at the end of September 2008 when Sileby Town won 8-3 at FC Dynamo in the Leicestershire Senior League.

Wow is my final world on the game.

Admission: £13

Programme: £2.50

Badge: £2.50

Attendance: 2,500

Websites:

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burton_upon_Trent
Burton Albion FC: www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk
Football Grounds Guide: http://www.footballgroundguide.com/burton_albion

Identity crisis

NUNEATON TOWN 4-0 BEDFORD TOWN

Tuesday 9th March 2010

Southern League Premier Division

Liberty Way

A week off from work has allowed me time to take in a rare midweek fixture now days, and with not wanting to travel too far a home game for Nuneaton Town fitted the bill perfectly. Nuneaton is a half hour drive down the A47 from Leicester, while the ground itself is on the eastern side of the town, adjacent to the ring road on the edge of Attleborough Fields Industrial Estate.

The current Nuneaton Town Football Club were formed in 2008 after their predecessors Nuneaton Borough went into liquidation after were forced to drop two divisions from the Conference North to the Southern League Midland Division. Borough themselves were formed in 1937 after (I believe) an earlier incarnation of Nuneaton Town suffered financial problems themselves and were wound up. The earliest record I have seen for the original Town club is for the 1899/1900 season when they competed in the Leicestershire Senior League and finished in 4th place in the nine team division. They did though fail to complete their last two away games at Burton Swifts Reserves and Gresley Rovers. The next records I have are that in 1906 they left the Coventry & North Warwickshire League and joined the Birmingham & District Junior League and were crowned champions at the 1st attempt. In 1908 the league changed name to the Birmingham Combination and Town remained there until football was suspended following the outbreak of the First World War. The last season before the war saw Town take the title winning twenty of their thirty league games. When football resumed after the war Town joined the Birmingham & District League (which later became the West Midlands (Regional) League and spent five years in the competition. In 1924 the club made the switch to the Southern League but only two seasons were spent in the league before returning to the Birmingham Combination. Two more championships were achieved before they rejoined the Birmingham & District League in 1933. The club were to last just four more seasons before being wound up and a new club Nuneaton Borough was formed in 1937. The clubs inaugural campaign was in the Central Amateur League where a 4th place finish was recorded in their one and only season before switching to the Birmingham Combination. Borough played in the Combination until 1952 before joining the more prestigious Birmingham & District League. Six seasons were spent in the Birmingham League before the club made the move the Southern League. Twenty years were spent in the Southern League before becoming founder members of the Alliance Premier League (now Conference) in 1979. Borough spent their time between the Conference and Southern League before becoming into financial problems themselves, just like their ancestors some seventy one years ago.

Liberty Way has only been home to football in Nuneaton for a few seasons as their previous home was Manor Park on the other side of town. After the sale of Manor Park the club agreed to ground share / become joint tenants with Nuneaton RFC at Liberty Way, but had to bring it up to the standard required for semi-professional football. Two sets of covered terracing are behind both goals, while the only seating is on the far side of the ground along with changing rooms, sports bar and club shop. A few steps of uncovered terracing run along the near side of the ground.

This evening sees Nuneaton looking for a second successive promotion against relegation threatened Bedford Town. At the moment the Southern League championship looks like it is Farnborough’s to lose with the four play-off spots at present occupied by Brackley Town, Bashley, Leamington and Nuneaton. Bedford sit one place above the relegation zone though have a four point cushion over Hemel Hempstead but have played two games less.

The match itself was hit and miss, as at times it was very good and equally at times it was very poor. Chances were created by both sides with the majority (and possession) coming from the home side, but were given a few scares by Bedford. The opening goal came just a minute before the half time interval when Kyle Storer hit an unstoppable from the right hand corner of the penalty area. Just a minute later and it was 2-0 when Stuart Pierpoint scrambled the ball home from a few yards out. Six minutes after the restart and it was all over as a contest as Gareth Dean headed in from a corner. It wasn’t until ten minutes from the end that the fourth and final goal was added through Lee Moore.

The club itself I felt were and are suffering from an identity crisis as the only references to Nuneaton Town are on official signage etc. There is no reference to the team from the supporters as Town only Borough. This seems to me that they think they are the same club and if that is the case why not pay off all the creditors owed money from Nuneaton Borough and revert the name back.

Admission: £9

Programme: £2 – over priced

Badge: £2.50

Attendance: 659

Match rating: 3*

websites:
Nuneaton Town http://www.nuneatontownfc.com/
Bedford Town http://www.bedfordeagles.net/
Southern League http://www.southern-football-league.co.uk/

CML Hop

CENTRAL MIDLANDS LEAGUE FOOTBALL BONANZA 2010

Saturday 6th March 2010

2010 is the seventh football bonanza that the Central Midlands League (CML) have organised and the first that I have paid in advance for a ticket for admission and programmes to all of the games. There are only three games today due to the distances involved and only one of the clubs being floodlit. I have been on several bonanza games before in 2005 (Santos and Forest Town) and 2007 (Yorkshire Main, Askern Welfare and Hatfield Main) but normally work and time dictates that I cannot normally attend these games. I first watched a game involving a CML club in 1998 when I took in Long Eaton United’s FA Vase game against the now defunct Oldbury United and have watched at least one new team each season since. Prior to today I have seen four games in the CML this season with the games being at Kirkby Town, Louth Town, FC 05 and Parramore Sports.

A few weeks prior to today I had been offered a lift to all three games by a fellow Leicester based groundhopper called Gary. Neither of us had met each other before but it made sense that two people from the same place to go together. Fortunately we got on with each other and it made the journey all the more enjoyable and pass a lot quicker than if sitting in a car on your own. Thanks go out to Gary for this.

Game 1

EASINGTON UNITED 3-0 HUTTON CRANSWICK UNITED

Low Farm, Beck Street, Easington, East Yorkshire

Attendance: 209

The first of the bonanza games and the furthest away from Leicester saw us depart at 6.30am for the 148 mile trip to Yorkshire’s Holderness coast. The journey up was straightforward, uneventful and traffic free and we arrived in Easington at approximately 9.15. This season is Easington’s first in the CML having transferred from the Humber Premier League. They had been founder members of the Humber Premier League (HPL) since its inception in 2000 with a runners-up spot in 2004 being their best finishing position. Opponents Hutton Cranswick are in their second season in the CML having transferred from the HPL a year earlier than their hosts today. Like Easington they too were founder members of the HPL and also like Easington their best ever finish came in 2004 when they were crowned champions. At the start of play Easington sit in mid-table with 31 point obtained from their opening nineteen games played so far while Hutton are third from bottom recording only four wins from twenty-one games played.

Low Farm is a basic affair with the pitch being railed off and some hard standing on a couple of sides of the pitch. An overhang on the changing room block provides the only cover but with the game being played in sunshine it wasn’t required this morning. The first half was a better affair than the second with all the goals coming in the first thirty two minutes. The opener came with just eight minutes on the clock when Craig Havercroft put in a free kick from the right which was headed home by Paul Morrill from six yards out. Havercroft made it 2-0 on twenty minutes when he hit a shot from just inside the penalty area which to be honest the Hutton keeper should have done better. The third on 32 minutes was another soft goal from Hutton’s point of view as Jamie Cousins scored with a shot from the left hand side of the penalty area. Within five minutes of the re-start Hutton had their best chance when a shot from outside the penalty area struck the crossbar. The remainder of the half was mainly forgettable as Easington won comfortably.

Game 2

WESTELLA & WILLERBY 0-1 PARRAMORE SPORTS

Blackburn Welfare Leisure, Prescott Avenue, Brough, East Yorkshire

Attendance: 194

An hours drive to the other side of Hull and more specifically the town of Brough saw us arrive with an hour to spare before the start of game two. West Ella and Willerby are two villages / suburbs of Hull some six or seven miles from Brough but play here due to ground requirements of the CML. Like Hutton Cranswick, Westella are in their second season in the CML having transferred from the HPL. Like the other two former HPL clubs they were also founder members and recorded their best finish in 2007 when a runners-up spot was achieved. Opponents Parramore Sports come from Sheffield and like Westella are in their second season in the CML having been promoted from the Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League. At the start of play both these teams sit in mid-table in the CML’s supreme division with just two places and four points separating them in the home side’s favour.

The Blackburn Welfare Leisure is home to four football pitches with the one used by Westella nearest the excellent social club and is fully railed off. The game was the worst of the three with the only goal coming on seventy minutes when following a break by Gavin Davies, he then put the ball across for Gallagher to side foot the ball into the net from six yards out.

Game 3

LOUTH TOWN 3-1 NETTLEHAM

Park Avenue, Louth, Lincolnshire

Attendance: 257

The last game of the bonanza saw us have three hours between the two games. The journey south to Louth across the impressive Humber Bridge took just over an hour, and with time to kill we spent some of it in a restaurant having a chip supper. I have covered Louth before so will not go into detail on their ground etc. This game was the best of the three with it being played at a quick pace throughout, possibly due to it being bloody cold!!!. Louth took the lead early on in the game when Paul Watts volleyed in past Nettleham keeper Leigh Herrick following a chip from James Archer. The home side got a further two goals in the second half from Jamie Rowbotham and Kurt Crossley, but the final goal of the game and day was scored by Nettleham from the penalty spot.

We arrived back in Leicester around 10.45pm some sixteen hours since departing. Overall a long but enjoyable day out.

Websites:

Easington United: http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/easingtonunited/

Louth Town: www.louthtown.co.uk