attenborough

ATTENBOROUGH 3-2 COTGRAVE
Saturday 13th October 2012
Nottinghamshire Senior League Senior Division
University of Nottingham Sports Ground, University Boulevard, Nottingham

For the first time in two months I will be in the company of my dad at a football game, and with dad stating he would prefer a game in Nottinghamshire I looked around for possible fixtures. With having visited every ground in the county that plays in the first ten levels of English football my choice would come from either the Central Midlands League (CML) or Nottinghamshire Senior League (NSL). In regards to the CML it would be between Harworth Colliery Institute, Linby Colliery and Sherwood Colliery, but unfortunately the first two were away and Sherwood without a fixture. The NSL fixture list for today through up plenty of options, helped by the fact that I have not visited many of the grounds in the league yet. Of the eight teams at home in the top division, seven would at new venues to visit. One fixture stood out due to the venue that the respective fixture would be played at.

Attenborough Football Club have been playing home games at the University of Nottingham Sports Ground since the start of last season due to flood defence work in the village, and with the work completed or very close to the club are moving back to their ground in Attenborough itself in early 2013. The venue is one that I believe does not have any other Saturday side playing here, and it is also only a forty five minute drive from Leicester.

This season both teams have not had the best of starts and sit in the bottom half of the Senior Division table. Attenborough are the higher of the two and are in 9th place with nine points from five league outings. Last Saturday they recorded a 3-1 victory over CML side Thoresby Colliery Welfare in the 1st round of the Nottinghamshire Senior Cup. Cotgrave meanwhile have only six points from nine league games and at the start of play are in 13th place. In their last match they were spanked 6-2 @ Burton Joyce in a league fixture.

The Admiral Sir John Borlese Warren

I was picked up just after midday and we made our way up the M1, and with traffic light we stopped  off in Stapleford for a pre-match bite to eat and pint. We found a free car park on the Derby and went into the local JD Weatherspoon outlet, The Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren.

The University of Nottingham Sports Ground is located on the A6005 University Boulevard, just inside the Nottingham city boundary if coming from the M1, while the entrance you need to take is the 1st on the right about 50 yards after the island. It is a large complex and was very busy today with numerous football games plus rugby, netball and lacrosse matches going on. The pitch that Attenborough use is in front of the cricket pavilion and was roped off, this despite there being a railed off pitch with dugouts not in use close by.

the pavilion at the sports ground

The game was not bad with and the early exchanges were fairly even. Attenborough took the lead just after the quarter hour mark through Chris Myton, though even though it only happened around six and a half hours ago I can't actually remember how the goal was scored!!! Anyway four minutes later and it became 2-0. Paul Ireson received the ball on the left hand side of the penalty area, cut inside and beat the Cotgrave keeper at his near post with a low shot. Cotgrave did not let their heads drop and got a goal back ten minutes before the half time interval. A free kick was parried by the Attenborough keeper and Kyle Waddell was quickest to react and finished off the rebound.

Attenborough started the second half with purpose and it was no surprise when they increased their lead on 56 minutes. After a good move and cross on the right Myton got his second of the afternoon with a header at the far post. From this the home side seemed to take the foot off the gas and seemed intent to turn three points into one or none. Fortunately for them Cotgrave were unable to take advantage of this, though they did get a goal back with twenty minutes remaining. A cross from the left was turned in at the far post by Mark Holvey. 

Overall a pleasant afternoon and the forecast rain failed to materialise while we were watching the game. 

Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 30
Free tea and coffee at half time

31 photos taken during the 1st half can be viewed in the slideshow below:

Attenborough

ATTENBOROUGH 1-3 BILBOROUGH PELICAN
Saturday 19th September 2009
Notts Senior League Senior Division
The Village Green

Today is another case of making the most of the warm weather to get up early and take in a game. My chosen destination is Nottingham and specifically the suburb of Attenborough which lies to the west of the city. The fixture of choice sees me take in another Notts Senior League game between Attenborough and defending champions Bilborough Pelican. The home side were founder members of the league when it was formed in 2004 with their best finish coming in the 2005/06 season when fourth place was achieved. Bilborough Pelican are currently in their third season in the league joining in 2007 after a spell in the Central Midlands League. Both teams were previous members of the now defunct Notts Alliance. The ground and facilities are shared with Attenborough Cricket Club with both pitches overlapping. For match days the club rope off the pitch though there is no hard standing and spectator cover and no admission is charged or programme issued. Behind the ground is Attenborough Nature Reserve which is a complex of flooded gravel pits and islands and covers 145 hectares. It provides an ideal habitat for birds, plants and other wildlife and is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

www.attenboroughnaturecentre.co.uk

The drive up to Nottingham is as routine as it comes and would have took around 45 minutes to get there, but an accident between the East Midlands Airport exit and junction 24 caused a short delay and I arrived at the ground with about five minutes to kick-off.

At the start of play both teams were sitting in mid-table though with the hosts having played two games more. Pelican started the stronger of the two teams and nearly went in front after only a couple of minutes when the keeper produced a fine save from a shot from outside the box. It took only ten minutes for the first goal when Danny Blanchard scored with a shot on the turn from 12 yards or so to give the visitors a deserved lead. Two minutes later and it would have been two-nil only for the assistant to rule the goal out for offside. Attenborough got a lucky break on 22 minutes when Dave Constable equalised with the ball falling kindly to him following a long punt up field. Another excellent chance went begging one of the Pelican forwards put the ball wide when one on one with the keeper. The half ended with both teams cancelling each other out – Attenborough playing the long ball game and Pelican the short passing game. The second half saw the home side dominate the proceedings in terms of possession, chances and territory, but were hit with a sucker punch on 77 minutes when Sean Allen scored from close range to put them in front. Six minutes later and the game was effectively over when Liam Thompson made it 3-1.