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

Steel City Show

PARRAMORE SPORTS 3-4 LOUTH TOWN

Saturday 27th February 2010

Central Midlands League Supreme Division

Woodbourn Road Stadium

Thanks to the weather my original choice of game in the Leicester & District League premier division between Welby Lane United and Kingsway Rangers was postponed on the Friday, so it left me with the option of choosing another game or heaven forbid not going at all. To be frank there was not a lot that grabbed my attention or that I could be bothered with until a posting on Tony’s non league forum by Rob Hornby – he of Central Midlands League fame!! which stated that Parramore Sports game v Louth Town had been switched from their normal venue of the Don Valley Stadium (DVS) in Sheffield to the nearby Woodbourn Road Stadium, a smaller athletics venue which does not normally host men’s open age football. Having been to the DVS before to watch the Sheffield Eagles Rugby League team I had no interest in going there again to watch football, but thankfully this switch gave me the chance to visit a new venue and see a new team in action. A call on the Saturday morning to Rob gave me confirmation that the game was on and I duly gave him confirmation that I would definitely make the seventy mile trip up the M1 to the independent state of Yorkshire and asked him to reserve me a programme and badge.

The stadium facilities include an eight lane track with an addition two for the sprinting; two long jump / triple jump pits; 400 seated stand and a bar. The stadium is fairly easy to get to and took around 1 hour 20 minutes to get to from my home in Leicester. If coming from the south exit the M1 at junction 33 and take the A630 towards Sheffield, continue to follow City Centre signs when the A630 becomes the A57, exit the A57 signposted Manor Park onto Parkway Drive, turn left at island onto Parkway Avenue, then turn right at junction onto Woodbourn Road. Stadium is ahead of you on right hand side, though for the small car park turn right at lights immediately before stadium.

Parramore Sports Football Club were founded in 1936 and played in the Sheffield Works League from then until 1972. Three seasons were then spent in the Barnsley Junior League before returning to the Works League in 1975. Just two seasons were spent back in the Works League before they joined the Sheffield Amateur League in 1977. Eight years later in 1985, following success at Amateur League level they joined the highly rated Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League. Despite not being in the premier division of the County Senior League the club, in 2008 made the switch to the Central Midlands League and recorded an excellent fourth place finish. Promotion to the Supreme Division was achieved at the first attempt. Their first game in the Supreme Division saw Parramore record a 5-0 away victory at Lincolnshire side Nettleham. At the start of play ‘Sports sit literally in mid-table in the eighteen team division, recording eleven wins in the twenty-one games played so far. Sports go into this game in the back of four straight wins, two in the league and two in the Floodlit Cup and last Saturday saw them record a 3-1 victory @ strugglers Kimberley Town in a league match with Lewis Fothergill (2) and Gavin Davies scoring the goals. Opponents Louth Town, also in their debut season at Supreme Division level top the table with fifty points from their opening twenty one games played so far. They have a one point cushion over Sutton Town AFC but have played two games less. I visited Louth Town in September last year for their league game against Calverton Miners Welfare (report can be found here: http://www.rambler77.net/2009/09/louth-town.html) where they record a 3-1 victory. Louth come into the game on the back of seven straight wins, recording a 3-0 win at Southwell City last Saturday.

The game was one of the better ones I have seen this season with the visitors from Lincolnshire emerging victorious in a seven goal thriller. The visitors supporters from Louth and neutrals in attendance did not have to wait long for the first goal when Jamie Rowbotham lobbed the ball over the Parramore keeper Mark Clements on eight minutes despite being under pressure from a couple of defenders. A further eight minutes passed and it was all square when a mistake in the visiting defence allowed Gavin Davies to score from ten yards or so out. Parramore then took the lead for the first time just four minutes later, when the first of three penalty kicks was awarded by referee Craig Langton. Davies went down under a challenge from Louth keeper Craig Wherey and Kieran Gallagher despatched the penalty in the top right hand corner. The second penalty kick was awarded on thirty three minutes, this time for Louth. Mark Wood stepped up and made it 2-2. Louth nearly re-took the lead on 38 minutes when an incisive breakaway resulted in Mark Clements making an excellent save at his near post. Just two minutes into the second half and Louth did indeed regain the lead with Mark Wood getting his second of the game, steering the ball home from a cross from the right. Just after the hour mark and the third (and final) penalty kick of the game was awarded and Kieran Gallagher made no mistake and brought the game level for the third time. The winner for Louth came with ten minutes remaining when Mark Wood completed his hat-trick, scoring direct from a free kick. The game did not end with all players remaining on the pitch as both teams had a man sent-off in the last five minutes. Both sending offs were for two bookable offences and not straight red cards, though this came as no surprise to myself as, despite it not being a dirty game it was competitive and the referee took the names of at least ten players and you felt that one or two would end up being turned into dismissals.

Overall it was an enjoyable outing to the Steel City of Sheffield and credit to both teams for producing an entertaining game of attacking football.

Admission: £3

Programme: £1

Badge: £3

Coffee: £1

Woodbourn Road Stadium

http://www.donvalleystadium.co.uk/woodbourn_road_stadium/

A numbers game...

FC 05 1-0 EASINGTON UNITED

Saturday 20th February 2010

Central Midlands League Premier Division

Bilsthorpe Miners Welfare

Today was a second attempt at visiting Central Midlands League (CML) newcomers FC 05. I planned to go a few weeks ago only for the game to be called off due to a frozen pitch. The aim was also to meet up with Rob Hornby for the first time this season. Rob is the CML's club liason officer and league registrar, though a word of note and caution is that Rob has more stories than a library and spends most of the time telling them than actually watching the game!!!!!  FC 05 unsurprisingly were formed in 2005 and began life in the second division of the Midland Amateur Alliance (MAA). In their first season they won all of their twenty-six games played and with it a double promotion to the Premier Division. Three seasons were spent in the top division of the MAA finishing in 4th and 2nd place respectively before being crowned champions last season and thus promotion to the Premier Division of the Central Midlands League.

The visit to FC 05’s ground in Bilsthorpe will be a revisit for me having previously seen former CML members Santos here. I know a lot of ground hoppers will not do revisits even if a different / new club now plays on a particular ground, but I class myself as more of a “club” hopper. Today’s game will be a first this season that falls under this category as such. Last season I made revisits to see different teams on four occasions: Loughborough University, FC Dynamo, Evington and Desford, while I have plans over the next few seasons to visit various other clubs of the same vain. These include Romulus, Castle Vale and Rushden & Higham United.

This season 05 find themselves in 14th place in the sixteen team division and have so far won four of their opening nineteen games, obtaining fifteen points in the process. Their last outing was a 3-0 defeat @ Bulwell Town. Opponents Easington United are also in their debut season in the league after transferring from the Humber Premier League. Easington have made a steady start to life in the Central Midlands League finding them in seventh place winning eight of their eighteen games played at present. They lost 4-2 at home to division leaders Church Warsop Miners Welfare in the previous game. The reverse fixture earlier on in the season between today’s teams ended in a 0-0 draw.

The game was another that was easily forgettable with the only goal coming on seven minutes when a cross was headed against the bar and bounced over the line. The first half was better than the second with only a few half chances being created by either side. No further comment your majesty!!!

Admission: £2
Programme: £1 – 20 pages full glossy production
Attendance: around 30
Match rating: 1 out of 5
Google maps driving time / distance: 1 hr 3 minutes / 44.5 miles


Websites:


FC 05
http://www.webteams.co.uk/Home.aspx?team=fc05
Central Midlands League
http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/News.cfm?LeagueCode=CENTM2009

Allenton

ALLENTON UNITED 4-0 CASTLE DONINGTON TOWN

Midlands Regional Alliance Premier Division

Saturday 13th February 2010

Rolls Royce [Merrill Way], Derby

My trawl through the grass roots clubs of the East Midlands continued this afternoon with a visit to Derby based club Allenton United for their game against Leicestershire side Castle Donington Town in a premier division clash in the Midlands Regional Alliance. Allenton play on one of the myriad of pitches that surround the Rolls Royce complex on the southern edge of the city. The site in which they play on is accessed through Gate 1 which is on Merrill Way, just before the junction with Moor Lane if coming from the Chellaston area. There is two football and two rugby football pitches on the site, with Allenton using the pitch nearest the changing rooms. Both rugby pitches were also in use today. There were no catering facilities for spectators on the site, while the pitch in use was roped off.

The game was not one that will not live long in the memory. Allenton were clearly the better side and had I felt a touch off arrogance at times, this confirming each team’s respective position in the league table – Allenton in 4th and CD in mid-table. The home side did most of the pressing and scored the opening goal on just nine minutes when their number nine rounded the visiting keeper and put the ball back across goal for it to be headed home. The remainder of the half was pretty uneventful until Allenton were awarded a penalty on 37 minutes but was blasted over the bar. A few minutes before half time and a case of handbags broke out only for the referee to send off one player from each side, when I felt a booking each should have been sufficient. Allenton doubled their lead five minutes into the second half when the number 9 slotted the ball past the keeper from ten yards out. The final two goals came in the last ten minutes, firstly from the penalty spot on 81 minutes scored by the home keeper and the final one with just three minutes remaining. One note to make is that both goalkeepers made two or three good saves each in the second half, while Castle Donington struck the woodwork late on in the game.

Admission / programme: none
Attendance: don’t know as I didn’t do a head count
Google maps driving time / distance: 43 minutes – 31.6 miles

Brix not Bricks

BRIXWORTH ALL SAINTS 3-2 MEDBOURNE

Saturday 6th February 2010

Northants Combination Premier Division

St. David's Recreation Ground

After a week off without football due to car problems caused by the engine maintenance pilot light coming on, I am back on the M1 heading south to a game in the Northants Combination with thankfully no problems. My destination this week is the village of Brixworth which is located between Market Harborough (8 miles to the north) and Northampton (5 miles to the south). In 2001 the population was given as 5,162. The village is home to one of the oldest and finest Saxon churches in the country which was founded c680 ad.

The journey from my home in Leicester takes around 45 minutes and is a simple one, taking me down the M1 to junction 19, across the A14 and then onto the A508. The club play on St David’s Recreation Ground in the village, of which the car park is accessed down a narrow drive off the southern side of Foxhill Crescent. The pitch though is adjacent to St David’s Close and the northern side of the afore mentioned Foxhill Crescent. The club share the facilities with the cricket club with a single story building hosting the changing rooms and club house. There are no facilities at pitch side and it is a roped off affair with no dugouts or hard standing.

Today’s match sees them up against Leicestershire side Medbourne, the top scorers in the division and a club that I visited before Christmas for a league game v Whitefield Norpol. The Northants Combination is a league that I have seldom ventured in over the years, and apart from the previously mentioned game my only other match was in 2007 for Rushden Rangers last ever match before their merger with United Counties League Higham Town.

The game was an interesting one that was competitive and committed throughout. It was the visitors who created the first chance when the home keeper pulled off a good save after only a couple of minutes. Brixworth got the opening goal on 33 minutes from the penalty spot, but the awarding on the penalty was hotly disputed by the Medbourne players and officials. I was at the other end of the pitch and did not have a good view of it, but a couple of people connected with the home side it was “dodgy”. Medbourne equalised five minutes into the second half with the best goal of the game. Brixworth re-took the lead on 66 minutes when a cross from the right hand side of the penalty area crept past the keeper and found its way into the net for a very soft goal. The old saying that a team is at its most vulnerable when they have scored could not have been more apt, as Medbourne equalised for a second time just a minute later when a shot was parried by the keeper only for the ball to be headed home from six yards out. Both sides had chances to take the lead and win the game but it was the home side that struck the killer blow with the winner coming seven minutes from time.

Attendance: between 20 and 30

Admission / programme: none

Driving time / distance (Google maps): 45 minutes / 32.7 miles

Lichfield City

LICHFIELD CITY 6-0 KENILWORTH TOWN KH
Midland Combination Division 2
Saturday 23rd January 2010
Brownsfield Park

My original plan was to take in a Leicester & District League (LDL) fixture between Houghton Rangers and Kingsway Rangers, but with all the postponements of late the LDL made some changes to the fixture list and as such Kingsway are @ Magna `73 in a 1st v 3rd encounter. I had already made a visit to Magna’s ground in Countesthorpe a couple of years ago so was now on the lookout for another fixture that fell within my preferred criteria of up to sixty miles away or within an hours’ drive.

A few fixtures caught my attention in the Notts Senior League and Northamptonshire Combination so it was a case of waiting to see what was on due to the weather. In the end I decided to head west and in particular the cathedral city of Lichfield in south Staffordshire. It takes around an hour to get to Lichfield from my home in Leicester and is very easy to get to. My route took me down the A47 towards Hinckley, then across the A5 before turning onto the A38 and then into the town itself.

Lichfield’s population is just over 30,000 and its most well known landmark is the cathedral. The three spires are considered unique amongst medieval cathedral and are often referred to as “Ladies of the Vale”.

The football club were formed in the 1970’s as Beacon Rangers, then changing its name a few years later to Beacon Park – the name of the ground which the club played on. In June 2006 the club changed its name again, this time to the current title. Up until 2008 the club played in the Burton & District League finishing runners-up in their last season before joining division 3 of the Midland Combination. Last season saw City finish in 5th place and with it promotion to division 2. This season they have made a steady start and at the start of play occupy 5th placed with 22 points obtained from their opening 13 games. Opponents Kenilworth Town KH lead the division by seven points from Knowle Reserves with eleven wins from their opening 14 games. The club play their home games at Brownsfield Park which is just off Eastern Avenue on the edge of the town. The pitch at Brownsfield Park is fully railed off with dugouts but there is no hard standing or cover. A decent social club is on the site which has a variety of Lichfield City merchandise for sale alongside hot and cold drinks and hot food in the form of Pukka Pies. No admission was charged but the club issued a sixteen page programme which was sold for £1.

The game itself saw City hit the ground running with three goals in the first fourteen minutes to shock the leaders, this along with hitting the woodwork as well. The remainder of the half and the majority of the rest of the game was an even affair in terms of possession with neither keeper making any save of note. The game was held up for around twenty five minutes around the half hour mark when the visiting keeper suffered a suspected broken hip. As Kenilworth had no substitute keeper an outfield player went in goal and like previously stated was not troubled by the home side. City’s fourth goal with fifteen minutes to play was somewhat fortuitous as the stand-in keeper fumbled a corner and the ball was bundled home. The fifth was added just a minute later when the visitors were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area which was taken by the keeper, but it went straight to a City player who put the ball back over his head and into the net from 35-40 yards out. The last goal came right at the end of the game but I could not tell you anything about it due to being in the clubhouse visiting the mens room.

Overall an enjoyable visit to a friendly club who on this showing should be a good bet for promotion to division 1.

Attendance: 50-60

Google maps driving time / distance: 1hr 3 / 36.5 miles

Websites:

http://www.lichfieldcityfc.co.uk/

http://www.visitlichfield.co.uk/

http://www.lichfield.gov.uk/

Winter break is over!!!

CATERPILLAR 1-2 BLABY UNITED

Leicestershire Intermediate Cup Quarter Final

Saturday 16th January 2010

Caterpillar Sports and Social Club

After five weeks without a game due to the weather and Christmas I am desperate to get out of the house today and take in a game, though after the snow a lot of pitches in the East Midlands are unplayable. Thankfully a check on the North Leicestershire League (NLL) confirms that premier division leaders Caterpillars home game in the Leicestershire Intermediate Cup against Leicester & District League (LDL) side Blaby United is definitely going ahead. The tie (along with other county cup quarter finals) was originally scheduled for last Saturday.

Caterpillar Football Club (unsurprisingly) uses the sports & social club inside the compound of Caterpillar itself on the outskirts of Desford in Leicestershire. If travelling from Leicester to Hinckley along the A47 do not turn right at the junction with the B582 but travel another mile or two towards Hinckley and turn right. This takes you towards the Caterpillar site and the sports ground car park is accessed via entrance number 1. The main pitch is already up to Leicestershire Senior standards with it being fully railed off and dugouts in place. A smart social club is adjacent to the main pitch and serves hot and cold drinks. It looks like either a recent addition or a refurbishment, with Suffolk brewers Greene King getting involved with another local non-league club some 100 miles from their base. This following ground naming rights at fellow Leicestershire sides Hinckley United and Oadby Town.

Records I have for Caterpillar only go back as far as 2001 when they joined division 1 of the NLL and finished in 10th place in the 11 team division. Relegation followed but they only spent one year in division 2 as they won promotion back to division 1 as runners-up winning fourteen of the eighteen league matches played. Five years were spent in division 1 before winning the division in 2008 and promotion to the premier division for the first time. In their debut season in the NLL’s top flight they finished in a creditable fourth place but this season they have hit the ground running, currently unbeaten and recording ten wins out of eleven games played. As is stands they are five points ahead of Loughborough based Genesis having played a game less. Opponents Blaby currently sit in mid-table in the premier division of the Leicester & District League having only played seven league games so far which is the lowest in the division at the present time.

The game itself was not the best but it was underdogs Blaby United who came through a competitive encounter with a last minute winner. Caterpillar probably had the great percentage of possession but were not clinical with the chances created. The first talking point came around the twenty minute mark when a Blaby player was brought down by the home keeper in the penalty area only for the referee to wave play on. From this a different player from Blaby was booked for protesting too much to the official. The opening goal came just five minutes before half time when the visitors broke on the counter attack to make in 0-1 and give the game a much needed kick up the backside. Fifteen minutes into the second half and Blaby were down to ten men when the player who was previously booked was sent off for lunging into one of the home players. Caterpillar did not waste much time in making the numerical advantage count when just five minutes later they equalised when the ball was volleyed home from the right hand side. Further chances were created by the hosts with the Blaby keeper pulling off one excellent save of note, but with extra time looming it was Blaby who stunned the hosts with a last minute goal to put them into the semi-finals.

Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 14 (h/c)
Driving distance / time (according to Google maps): 5.1 miles / 10 minutes