Sileby Town FC

SILEBY TOWN 0-1 BLABY & WHETSTONE ATHLETIC RESERVES

Saturday 10th October 2015

Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division

Sileby Sports Club, Southfield Avenue, Sileby, Leicestershire

As is often the case now days my choice of football game is dictated by my work shift patterns, and after having nearly three weeks off it was a case of back to normal. With not getting home from work around 6.30am I managed to get a few hours sleep before rising around midday. I also needed to be back early as I had a family function on in Leicester city centre to celebrate my sister-in-law's fiftieth birthday. With nothing really standing out I decided it was a good as time as ever to visit Sileby Town FC's new ground. Also it would mean that I have again watched a game of football at every venue currently in use in the Leicestershire Senior League (LSL). My first would have been during the 1997/98 season when I saw then members Oadby Town play an FA Vase tie against Tooting & Mitcham United, while of the current members it would have been Highfield Rangers v Kirby Muxloe in August 1998. 

Sileby Town left their previous home in the Summer to move into their new ground in time for the start of the 2015/16 season. It is located off Seagrave Road on the northern edge of the town / village and is next to a new housing estate that is being built. A fully tarmaced car park is in front of a building that houses the changing rooms, toilets and clubhouse. The clubhouse is of a decent size and there is a fully working kitchen and licensed bar. At present the pitch the pretty much fully railed on all four sides with dugouts located on the far side. There is no hard standing around the pitch or floodlights in place, though having spoken to a friendly club official he informed me that club are about to start the planning application for lights. 

Sileby are currently the longest serving member club of the LSL having joined in 1953 and have been in continuous membership ever since. They (Sileby) are defending champions and at the start of play were unbeaten from their opening eight league games, sitting six points behind leaders Birstall United. Their visitors this afternoon had recorded three wins from their opening six games and were in the lower half of the league table. 

A decent crowd showed up and they witnessed a tight game between two evenly matched teams. Sileby should have scored inside the opening minutes, but gradually Blaby began to cause their hosts problems. The game as is the case in this country no matter what the level was played at a fair pace, and was going back and forth. Neither side though were capable of really testing the opposing goal keeper and it was no surprise that they went in at half time all square. The only goal of the afternoon came in the opening couple of minutes of the restart when Ryan Shilton headed home a corner from six yards out. Both sides had their chances, though like the first half few were clear cut and generally both keepers had relatively quiet afternoons on that front. As the game wore on Sileby had more of the possession as they went in search of an equaliser, with Blaby utilising the pace of their left midfielder to hit Sileby on the counter attack.

Overall not a bad game, though with the ground in its current state I am glad I visited it when it was a mild afternoon. With the LSL now complete again my next target locally is to finish the top divisions of the Leicester & District League and North Leicestershire League respectively. 

Admission: Free

Programme: do not issue

Attendance: around 100

57 photos of the ground and game can be viewed on my zenfolio photo site @ http://rambler77.zenfolio.com/p342896078

Bosworth battle in vain

MARKET BOSWORTH 20-24 LICHFIELD

Saturday 7th December 2013

Midlands 1 West

Cadeby Lane, Market Bosworth, Leicestershire

After last weeks trip to Coalville RFC I always had the intention of watching another rugby union game this Saturday as well. It was a case of which local side to visit, and with the fixtures giving me plenty of options I narrowed it down to a shortlist of three. There were along with Bosworth, South Leicester and Leicester Forest. 

Market Bosworth play their home games on Cadeby Lane which is on the eastern edge of the village. As you enter there are three pitches, large car park and clubhouse. The main pitch nearest to the clubhouse is railed off on the two sidelines only, with dugouts on the far side and a scoreboard in the far corner. Also there was no hard standing surrounding the pitch or cover for spectators. When arriving at the ground I was not charged an admission fee and no programme was issued. 

The game today was a bottom v top encounter in Midlands 1 West and on paper it should have been a comfortable victory for the unbeaten visitors. Bosworth opened the scoring early on with a penalty before two unconverted tries gave Lichfield a 10-3 lead. The home side got the final score of the first half with another successful penalty attempt. Early on in the second half Bosworth took the lead for the only time in the game. A penalty attempt struck the upright and they gathered the ball to go over for a try which was converted. Lichfield then upped their game and scored two more tries, both of which were converted to give them a lead of 13-24. After a spell of sustained pressure Bosworth finally got a second converted try to reduce the arrears to just four points with four minutes remaining. 

Websites

Market Bosworth

Lichfield

31 photos can be viewed in the slideshow below:

Coalville RFC

COALVILLE 12-47 OLD NORTHAMPTONIANS

Saturday 30th November 2013

Midlands 1 East

Memorial Ground, Hall Lane, Coalville, LE67 5PF

With no football games locally that grabbed my attention I decided to go and try my hand at rugby union photography for the first time. After checking the fixtures on the RFU's website I chose a game in Midlands 1 East, which is one of the regional leagues that sits at the sixth level of the game in England. Coalville are the only side from Leicestershire in this division, with the other thirteen teams are spread across five more counties. They are Derby, Ilkeston and Matlock (Derbyshire); Mansfield, Newark and Paviors (Nottinghamshire); Market Rasen & Louth (Lincolnshire); Bugbrooke, Kettering and Old Northamptonians (Northamptonshire) and Huntingdon & District, Peterborough and Peterborough Lions (Cambridgeshire). 

pitch side view of the clubhouse 

Coalville play their games at the Memorial Ground in Coalville itself and it is located down a driveway off Hall Lane. This opens up to a large car park, two storey clubhouse / changing room building and several rugby pitches. The main pitch nearest the clubhouse is floodlit, fully railed off with dugouts and a scoreboard on the far side. The clubhouse is located on the first floor and is impressive with both bar and kitchen facilities, and a large balcony gives a good view of the action happening on the pitch. There was no admission charge but a 12 page programme was on sale for £1 behind the bar.

On the pitch Coalville were at the wrong end of the table, recording just one win in their eleven league games with only Peterborough below them. Their visitors from Northampton are having a much better season and record eight victories from their eleven games and sat in 5th place. The game went to form with Old Northamptonians producing some impressive running rugby and had the game all but won in the opening twenty minutes, scoring four converted tries and ended the half with a twenty three point advantage (5-28). Following a sin bin for a Coalville player midway through the second half, ON's scored three more tries (two of which were converted) in the space of about ten minutes. The home side got the final score of the afternoon with a converted try late on. 

I went into this with a bit of uncertainty regarding how things would be off the field, but if I lived in Coalville then I could imagine myself being fairly regular at their home games with everyone friendly and welcoming. The game itself was fairly enjoyable for a neutral like myself and I got talking to the ON's photographer which helped pass the time. There is one thing that I find about rugby union tedious and that is the scrum, as it took every one several attempts for the players to get it correct in the referee's eyes. This could be due to new laws that have come into place. One thing that is guaranteed and that is I will be back to watch some more rugby union very soon, and will start looking at the fixtures later on in the week.

websites / social media:

Coalville RFC - official website

Old Northamptonians - official website - twitter

40 odd more photos of the game can be viewed in the slideshow below: