Keyworth break down the Brickies wall

Saturday 28th February 2015
Kirton Brickworks 1-7 Keyworth United
Notts Senior League Senior Division
Station Road, Kirton, Nottinghamshire, NG22 9LG

Outside of my home county of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire is the county that I have visited most for football and at the start of play I had watched the sport and fifty nine different locations within its boundary. In East Midlands non-league football circles Kirton Brickworks had been attracting attention for the performances on the pitch, though not for the right reasons as they have been on the receiving end of some heavy defeats. This was not my reason for me choosing to visit them today - it was just a case of why not.

I got up in plenty of time after my night shift and made the 52 1/2 mile journey in around an hour. There is an ample sized car park close to the social club and when I arrived Rob Hornby and a few other ground hoppers were already there, with some coming a lot further than I had. In fact hoppers made up around two thirds of the thirteen in attendance. The club did not charge an admission but an eight page programme was on sale for 50p. Also the club had refreshments available for spectators with a coffee also costing 50p. The ground as expected was basic with in being inside the grounds of the Hanson Brickworks. The pitch is railed off on three sides of the ground and there is a little bit of hard standing in from of the social club. 

At the start of play the hosts were, and in fact still are bottom of the table with just two league wins all season. Both of these came in consecutive weeks in late November - Beeston AFC were beaten 2-1 at home on the 22nd and then they won 3-2 at PMG Cavaliers a week later. The visitors from Keyworth had recorded seven league wins this season and sat in tenth place in the sixteen team division. 

team sheet thanks to @NLgyles

The game took just ten minutes for the opening goal when an Ian Marley shot was deflected past James Fuller in the Kirton goal. Two further goals followed in the next five minutes - Jack Smith slotted the ball past Fuller and then came the goal of the game and a goal of the season contender - left midfielder Callum Barratt hit an unstoppable volley into the top left hand corner of Fuller's goal from the edge of the area. At this stage we could have been looking at a cricket score and Keyworth certainly had their chances to increase their lead further. Right at the end of the half the hosts got a goal back from Daniel Bircumshaw - a goal I missed as I had gone into the social club to get a coffee. The visitors added four more goals in the second half. Gregg Whatnall converting a penalty kick on fifty two minutes, though the awarding of it annoyed the Kirton manager. Jack Smith got his second of the game on sixty five minutes before substitute Jurgen Charlesworth added Keyworth's sixth of afternoon on seventy one minutes with his first touch. The final goal of the afternoon came with fifteen minutes left when Luke Burrell got the ball ahead of Smith who was looking for his hat-trick.

Credit must be given to Kirton who despite some demoralising defeats continue to put a side out every week. It cannot be easy for them and hopefully they can re-group next season. After the game I took a detour into the northern suburbs of Nottingham to tick off two JD Wetherspoon pubs - The Samuel Hall in Sherwood and The Woodthorpe Top in Mapperley. The former is located on the A60 Mansfield Road and there is a free car park a few hundred yards away on Winchester Street. The latter is located on the junction of Plains Road (B684) and Woodthorpe Drive and there is a handful of parking spaces outside of the establishment which is restricted to thirty minutes. 

Websites / social media:

Notts Senior League - twitter - FA Full Time site

Kirton Brickworks - twitter

Keyworth United - facebook - official website

39 photos of the ground and game can be viewed in the slideshow below:

Map showing the locations of the sixty grounds that I have visited in Nottinghamshire:

Keyworth United FC

KEYWORTH UNITED 1-2 aet MOORGREEN

Saturday 26th October 2013

Notts Senior League Senior Cup 1st Round

Platt Lane, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, NG12 5GE

Nothing really stood out in terms of where to go, with my only requirement was that the fixture had to be local, and preferably an early kick off as well. This was due to winning two tickets to watch the Leicester Riders v Glasgow Rocks in the British Basketball League. Following a scan of the fixtures in the Nottinghamshire Senior League (NSL) this cup match caught my attention between Keyworth United of the Senior Division and Moorgreen of Division 2. 

According to the NSL website the kick-off was 2pm and also their (Keyworth United's) ground on Platt Lane was the nearest at step 7 and above that I had not previously visited. The ground (and Keyworth itself) is straight forward to get to for myself coming from Leicester - a few miles on local roads to the A46 Leicester Western Bypass, and then stay on the A46 until the exit with the A606 (Melton Mowbray and Nottingham). Heading north west on the A606 towards Nottingham, you turn left when signed for the British Geological Survey, and the ground is on the right after the bridge. You enter through some gates into a fairly large car park and the main pitch and clubhouse are to the right. The ground is home to numerous full size and junior pitches and also Keyworth Cricket Club. The main pitch is railed off on three sides, has dugouts on the Platt Lane side and had recently installed floodlights with connection to the national grid happening this week. The clubhouse is also new with the club receiving grants from the Football Foundation. 

the clubhouse

I arrived at the ground at around 1.45pm in readiness for what I thought was the advertised 2pm kick-off, but in turned out to be 2.30 which gave me enough time for a sausage cob which were on sale in the clubhouse for £2. I got recognised as a hopper by one of the home officials and he told me about the club, and that they were looking forward to being part of the NSL groundhop in April. 

The football club are one of the oldest in Nottinghamshire, and have played under various names, at different grounds and in different leagues throughout their existence. An excellent detailed history of the club can be found on the club website: history. 

programme cover

Keyworth went into this game at the bottom of the NSL's Senior Division recording just one league win so far, while their opponents from Eastwood sit top of division 2 with an unbeaten record. I saw Moorgreen earlier on in the record when they recorded a 3-0 victory at Greyfriars FC and they looked a decent side. Right from the off Moorgreen looked the better side and most of the action was in the Keyworth half. It felt only a matter of time before the visitors would take the lead, but the first half ended goalless. The visitors were again the better side, creating the better chances and at one point coming very close to opening the scoring but the ball struck the cross bar. Against the run of play on 82 minutes Keyworth were awarded a free kick on the right hand side, and the resulting kick was turned into the back of the net by a defender. Their lead lasted just three minutes as Moorgreen took the game into extra time when Sam Dilks levelled the proceedings. An even first period of extra time followed, with the home side having their first shots on target during this time. The visitors winner came on 108 minutes when Ben Holmes cut inside from the left and smashed the ball past the Keyworth keeper. Dilks should have put the game to bed but missed two excellent chances in the final ten minutes. No further scoring and the visitors deservedly booked their place in round 2.

Admission: Free

Programme: 50p

Attendance: 25

Websites / social media:

Notts Senior League - FA Full time

Keyworth United - official website - twitter

Moorgreen - twitter

Maps:

grounds visited in Nottinghamshire

new grounds visited during the 2013/14 season

44 photos taken during the first half can be viewed in the slideshow below:

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:

Plan D

MOORGREEN 1-1 ASHLAND ROVERS
Saturday 29th September 2012
Notts Senior League Division 2
Birnam Park, A610, Eastwood, Nottinghamshire

After my trip to York last week I was always going to stay relatively local today, but over the past week or so changed my mind several times. Plan A was a double involving Nuneaton Town Under-18's followed by Moreton Rangers, while Plan B was to head south east into Northamptonshire for a Junior Cup tie @ Stanwick Rovers. Then on Friday evening I changed plans again and decided to head to Corby Locos in the same competition for a tie against Northampton Harlequins, but around lunchtime Rob Hornby put a post on Facebook stating he was going to be at the above game. This swung my decision as firstly I knew where the ground was, and secondly Rob is always good for a tale or two if the game is crap!!!

This was the first season for Moorgreen as an open age side, with the club more associated with junior or youth football. They were accepted into division two of the Notts Senior League (NSL) and before today had picked up four points from their four league games. The victory came last week @ West Bridgford Reserves. Opponents Ashland Rovers who this season are based at The Summit Centre in Kirkby-in-Ashfield joined the NSL in the summer after switching from the Notts Amateur Alliance. They are unbeaten so far picking up eight points from four league matches. Last week they recorded a 3-1 victory over Selston Reserves. 

The ground is very easy to find with it being located just off the A610 dual carriageway, heading north west from junction 26 of the M1 motorway. After passing IKEA on the right hand side take the next exit which is signposted sewage works, with the entrance to the ground on the right hand side. 

The changing rooms are immediately in front of you with the pitch being set further back. The pitch is railed off on three sides and there are dugouts and a stand also. During the game the club had a tea bar in operation, with hot drinks costing 50p. Also on the site is a model racing club next to the changing rooms and a shooting club to the left of the pitch.

Rob was already there when I arrived, in fact he was there when I phoned him at 1pm having stopped off here on his way home from a two week holiday in Cornwall. He had arranged with the club to take a team photo in their new kit, and kindly allowed me to do the same. 

Moorgreen FC

The game was played in bright sunshine for the most part, but there was also a biting wind that made conditions tricky at times for these amateur players. It was not the best game I have seen and generally a scrappy affair. Ashland settled quicker and looked the better side and came as no surprise when they took the lead on seventeen minutes. A corner was only half cleared and Mark Canon hit a sweet half volley from twenty five yards that flew past the Moorgreen keeper. There was plenty of effort from both sides but chances were at a premium. The equaliser came with eleven minutes remaining as Matthew Clowes chipped the ball over the oncoming Ashland keeper. In the final few minutes Mark Canon was sent off for violent conduct. A decision that bemused not only Rob and myself but also Mark himself. We saw a push from Mark on a Moorgreen player and thought yellow card here, but were not expecting a red.

Overall a very pleasant afternoon at a very friendly club. Rob did inform me that the ground was used by Priory (Eastwood) FC before they folded in the mid-90's, and that Moorgreen have been awarded a grant to make improvements.

Admission / programme: none

Attendance: 18

Rob's account on the game can be found on his blog "Around the Grounds" http://aroundthegrounds2012-13.blogspot.co.uk/

A slideshow of photos of the ground and game can be viewed below:

Phoenix / Kimberley MW

Saturday 26th March 2011

Firstly let me say sorry to disappoint folks but there are no reports from the two games I attended today. The reason being is simple enough and that is I could not be bothered as I was more interested in taking photographs.

Phoenix FC 0-0 Kiveton Park

Central Midlands League Premier Division

Pavilion Lane, Brinsworth

The first game in South Yorkshire was the opening gambit of four that were part of this years Central Midlands League "Bonanza" ground hop. This was a 10.15am kick-off which meant an early start for the 75 minute journey northwards on the M1. 

A brief summary of the game...a shocker, truly awful, 90 minutes of dross etc etc. To be fair the Phoenix keeper did pull off a couple of cracking saves in the second half and that was about it.

A slideshow of photos take of the game and stall holders selling their wares etc can be found below:

Admission: £3

Programme: £1

Badge: £3

Team Sheet: 20p

Attendance: 220ish

Match rating: 1 out of 5

Kimberley Miners Welfare 4-1 Linby Colliery Welfare

Notts Senior League Senior Division

Digby Street

Game 2 saw me head south into Nottinghamshire for this 1pm kick-off which was brought forward a couple of hours early due to the Wales - England international. The ground is a tidy affair that is hemmed in on all four sides, one by housing, two by industrial units and the fourth being the A610 dual carriageway. It is also located just a few minutes from the nearby Ikea store.

The game was a reasonable and competitive encounter with the bottom of the table visitors looking dangerous early on. Kimberley scored their opening goal against the run of play and then added a second a minute after Linby and come close to an equaliser. The second half was very scrappy and Linby pulled one back from a corner. It was not until the last five minutes that the home side added two late goals, the first coming from the penalty spot that put a gloss on the score.

A slideshow is below containing some photos of the ground and game:

Admission / programme: none

Attendance: approx 40

Match rating: 2 1/2 out of 5

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.

Nott again!

MAGDALA AMATEURS 0-1 BASFORD UNITED

Saturday 5th September 2009
Notts Senior League Senior Division
Roko Health Club

Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 32 (h/c)

My original plan was to head to a game in the North Leicestershire League, but with games in this league kicking off at 2pm this makes this difficult due to working nights. Instead I decided to make the short trip to West Bridgford for another game in the Notts Senior League between Magdala Amateurs and league leaders Basford United. This was to be my third game in this league and fifth new ground visited in Nottinghamshire this season already.

This piece on the club is taken from http://www.nottinghamshirefootball.com/

“There are two pitches at the Roko Sports Ground which, up until the 2005/06 season, were shared between Magdala & Notts Police. Until the Force vacated for pastures new, historic, yet little known about Magdala, would usually play on the left hand pitch, with Notts Police playing on the other slightly superior right hand pitch.
Playing second fiddle is something which isn't particularly new to Magdala. To anyone affiliated with Midland Amateur Alliance outfit Nottinghamshire Football Club, it would be easy to deride Magdala as having always played 'second fiddle' to them. Why? Well, go back a hundred odd years and this was indeed the case.
In 1895, Bishop Gwynne founded Notts Magdala Football Club. However, up until 1902 the Club did not play any competitive fixtures, only local friendlies. By which time, interest in the Club had grew to such an extent that a second XI was formed. Not content with life in the reserves, this group of players decided to break away to form a new club called Notts Magdala Amateurs, a title kept until 1906, when they became the Magdala Amateurs that still exist today.
Had they not broken away, The Amateurs could have soon found themselves being part of a Club which would play friendlies against such distinguished opposition as Corinthian Casuals (who at that time made up the majority of the England team) and Old Carthusians (who were beaten F.A. Cup finalists in 1881).
Still, the fact that Magdala Amateurs are on a higher rung of the football pyramid then Notts Magdala, now Nottinghamshire Football Club, perhaps provides some small comfort for this historic second XI.”

The ground is owned by the Roko Health Club and there are two pitches, the main one used my Magdala is fully railed off though there are no dugouts or hard standing. Catering facilities are available inside the health club through a Costa Coffee franchise.

Magdala have not had the best of starts to be fair having lost all of their opening four games while leaders Basford had won four and drawn one of their opening five encounters. One this basis you would expect a comfortable away win. As things turned out this could not have been further from the truth. It was a game of very few clear cut chances but was at times compelling due to the effort and work rate put in by Magdala and they did not allow Basford to play the passing game I saw them in their last fixture v Bulwell. The only goal of the game came on the fortieth minute through an Austin Wallace header, though the home side were somewhat aggrieved as it looked like there was a foul from the player that made the assist. The second was held up for twenty minutes when Basford forward John Manders suffered a broken leg and had to be taken to hospital. I did not have a good view of the incident being on the other side of the ground, but it looked like two Basford players and a Magdala player went for the ball with Manders coming off considerably worse. When play resumed it was a case off as you were with Basford looking to and unable to break down a spirited Magdala side, who played some pretty good football themselves in search of an equaliser.

www.clubwebsite.co.uk/magdalaamateurs

ABH part 1

BULWELL 1-3 BASFORD UNITED
Greenwich Avenue
Monday 31st August 2009
Notts Senior League Senior Division

A rare chance for me to get to a game on a Bank Holiday, this being the first since Easter Monday 2008 when I saw two games in the Central Midlands League. One of my contracted nights at work is a Sunday but having done three previous bank holidays this year already I opted out of this one and took full advantage. An early kick off in the Notts Senior League (NSL) saw me make the 45 minute journey north on the M1, then the few miles towards Nottingham and specifically Greenwich Avenue which is home to both of these clubs with Basford being the landlords and Bulwell the tenants. When arriving at the ground I was surprised to find a programme had been issued for this game and cost £1 which included admission. The main pitch which is to the left of the entrance is part of a complex with at least three other pitches and is enclosed and fully railed off. A tea hut is located within the setup of the main pitch. I believe the only requirement that would be needed for Central Midlands League (CML) football is some hard standing, though on a today like today is was certainly not needed.

Bulwell, not to be confused with Bulwell Town of the CML were only formed in 2006 and played their first two seasons in the Notts Amateur Alliance (NAA), winning the Premier Division title two seasons running. A promotion to Division 1 of the NSL followed and another title league title followed as they won the division at the first attempt. Promoted was granted to the Senior Division but only after Basford United allowed them use of the main pitch at Greenwich Avenue as the other pitches did not meet the required standard of the Senior Division.
Basford United meanwhile are currently in their fourth campaign in the NSL having been invited to join the league in 2006 following Calverton MW’s promotion to the CML. Previously Basford were in the NAA and won the league championship in the 2005/06 season along with the Nottinghamshire Intermediate Cup. In their three campaigns to date they have finished 3rd, 5th and 3rd respectively.

At the start of play both sides had started the season in a positive fashion – Bulwell collecting six points from their opening four games while Basford were sitting at the top of the table unbeaten from their opening five games, and conceded only once. The game was a typical local derby with no quarter given or even expected and played at a good pace throughout with some good football from both sides played. It was the visitors who scored the opening goal on 13 minutes when Austin Wallace forced a save from home keeper Matt Singleton only for the ball to fall kindly to John Manders who tapped in from a couple of yards. Bulwell protested for an offside decision and it was their captain Jay Knight who protested too much and was sent off three minutes for foul and abusive language to one of the referee’s assistants. To be honest I didn’t even notice that Bulwell were down to ten men and only noticed it later on in the half. Bulwell were not fazed by the disadvantage and continued to give Basford a game of it. A crucial second goal for the visitors came on 34 minutes when following another shot from Wallace it was Manders again that was in the right place to tap home his second goal. Three minutes before half time and it was 3-0 when Manders proved he is more than a goal poacher when he drilled in a low powerful shot from a narrow angle on the right hand side which gave Matt Singleton no chance. The second half saw Basford guilty of missing numerous chances and Bulwell gave the game a much needed boost when Dave Warden struck home on 65 minutes. Ten minutes later and it could have been a one goal game only for an offside flag to disallow the goal. Basford had further chances to wrap up the game but could and did not take them.

Overall an enjoyable game in a league I am becoming to like a lot. The attendance was around the 70 mark which was boosted by a number of ground hoppers taking advantage of the early kick-off, which gave the chance to take in another game with a 3pm kick-off. I myself headed off to Kirkby Town in the Central Midlands League while others made their way towards Melton Mowbray and Sileby Town in the Leicestershire Senior League.

wesbites:

Notts Senior League: http://www.nottsseniorleague.co.uk/index.html

Bulwell: www.clubwebsite.co.uk/bulwellfc

Basford United: http://basfordutdfc.intheteam.com/

Cotgrave Welfare

COTGRAVE WELFARE 1-1 WOLLATON

Tuesday 18th August 2009

The Woodview Ground

Notts Senior League Senior Division

With the weather being as it is, a lovely summers evening my preferred choice of game would be that of one that has little in the way of spectator facilities and also one that kicks off at 6.30pm. After trawling through various local league websites I eventually settled upon Cotgrave Welfare v Wollaton in the Notts Senior League (NSL). Cotgrave, rather obviously due to the name of the club is an ex-mining village, of which there is a plethora of in this part of the country. Other examples being Clipstone, Rainworth and Blidworth. I knew that Cotgrave had lights but presumed that they were not being used tonight hence the early kick-off stated on the NSL’s excellent website. Arriving at the ground with my dad with about ten minutes to kick-off we found the place locked up, but shortly after we were told that the league’s website was wrong and in fact kick-off was 7.30pm. To kill the hour we ended chatting over a pint in the Miners Welfare in which the ground is located behind. When time came for kick-off we were not charged any admission nor were any programme issued. To be honest it didn’t come as a surprise even though this was my first ever game in this league.

The game started with both sides up for this encounter and chances were created at either end with some pretty good football at times being played. It was the visitors from Wollaton who took the lead on twenty minutes when a through ball played in Bascombe who lobbed the ball coolly over the home keeper. This did not deter the home side and they came close themselves a few minutes later when a shot from the edge of the area went straight at the Wollaton keeper for a comfortable save. Cotgrave got a deserved equaliser on fifty four minutes when a free kick from the right hand side was fluffed by the keeper which allowed Bee to tap in from a yard or so out. No further goals followed and clear cut chances were at a premium and the game ended in a fair 1-1 draw.

Overall an enjoyable first taste of Notts Senior League football and I can say without doubt that I will be back for more this season, helped by the proximity to Leicester of a lot of the clubs.