Daily Archives: August 9, 2012

Wish Me Luck

09 Thursday Aug 2012

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Sunday 5th August 2012 ko 3pm

North-West Counties League Division One

ROCHDALE TOWN 2 (Barnard 3 Adams 77)

NORTHWICH VILLA 3 (Barnett 3 28 Marshall 55)

Att 103

Entry £5

Programme £1

Tea 80p

The reason for this game being on a Sunday is rather convoluted. Originally slated to be at Northwich on the Saturday, Villa’s new pitch at the former Flixton ground was not ready so the fixture was reversed. However the Mayfield Sports Centre is first and foremost the home of Mayfield Rugby League Club, and they had a home game on the 4th. Handy for me, and judging by the attendance handy for a lot of hoppers.

Rochdale, is probably best known as the birthplace of of the Co-operative movement. The Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society, founded in 1844, was the first modern co-operative; the Rochdale Principles are a set of ideals that current co-operatives are based on. For two decades the local MP was Liberal Sir Cyril Smith, reckoned to have been the heaviest British MP ever, having had a peak reported weight of 29 stone 12 pounds. Other famous people to hail from the town are singers Gracie Fields, and more latterly Lisa Stansfield. Actress Anna Friel was born here too.

The club used to be known as Castleton Gabriels and until the 1960s, the club’s players had to be Catholic and regularly attend both church and Sunday school. Once these restrictions were lifted, the club began to progress. The name was changed as a means of attracting more support and sponsorship from the wider Rochdale area, rather than just the Castleton area of the town. Judging by the club’s average attendance of around 30, that gambit hasn’t exactly paid off!

The larger than normal attendance completely threw the Gabriels. The 15 programmes produced had long since sold out when Lee and I had arrived at 2pm, so I suggested they take down names and addresses and do a re-print after the game. In fact they went one better and dashed off to do the re-print there and then. When I finally bought my copy I was even more impressed. The programme wasn’t photocopied, this was professionally done. It made an excellent impression, as did the NWCFL committee who took time to come over for a chat. They couldn’t do much about the fact that the food ran out before half-time, but full marks to this friendly club’s honest endeavour.

The game was fascinating, if only for the opposition. Northwich Villa, in essence are Northwich Victoria’s reserves. Of course, these days things aren’t as simple as that. With Victoria now homeless they are now playing at Stafford Rangers, whilst Villa at Flixton are 55 miles away, and playing under a seperate registration. There’s a new manager, Wale Kwik-Ajet described as “Former Pro'” on the Villa website, he seems to be most famous for missing an absolute sitter for Hamilton Academical against Queens Park, and never being seen again afterwards! This is his first managerial position, and he seems to have put together a decent team.

That said, he was shocked as Ricardo Brandao fired Rochdale into a early lead only for Kwame Barnett to equalise a few seconds later. Barnett was to be the key to the tie, and I suspect the season for Villa. Obviously talented, but suspect of both fitness and attitude, he did enough to win the game for his team but you wonder where he’ll be when the going gets tough. When James Marshall made it 3-1 and Gabriels lost Jason Hill to a suspected broken wrist, the thunderclouds gathering over the centre of Rochdale seemed somehow indicative of the home team’s chances. Nathan Adams’ goal with 13 minutes to go it made the finale interesting but unlike the previous day’s game there was to be no comeback.

 

Curds and Whey

09 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by in C

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Saturday 4th August 2012 Ko 3.00pm

Western League Division One

CHEDDAR AFC 3 (Jones 16 Manning 82 R Lindegard 85 og)

SHERBOURNE TOWN 3 (Caines 33 46 Day 39)

Att 159

Entry £4

Programme £1

Tea-in-a-mug 50p

When selecting a game to see I’d pondered several ideas. Some hoppers went to see West Didsbury and Chorlton’s first game in the North West Counties League, others ticked off Loughborough University’s new ground. I selected Bowden’s Park for several reasons, firstly because the club are in the process of selling it to a supermarket chain who most be running out of local economies to ruin, and on a less controversial note, I fancied doing something touristy! As incidentally did North Berkshire League Press Officer Phil Annets.

I picked Phil up early, the idea being to visit Cheddar Gorge for at least a couple of hours before heading over to the ground. Its worth noting that there are 2 distinct areas of this Somerset village. There’s the gorge, a tourist trap with its caves, shops and cafes, but turn left at the bottom and there’s a quiet village, the only clue to its fame being the double yellow lines, forcing the tourists into the “Pay and Displays”

Cheddar Gorge is the largest gorge in the United Kingdom and includes several show caves. The gorge has been a centre of human settlement since Neolithic times, including a Saxon palace.  It is also the site of several limestone quarries. The village gave its name to Cheddar cheese and has been a centre for strawberry growing, with the crop being transported on the Cheddar Valley railway line, which closed in the late 1960s but is now a cycle path. It is now a major tourist destination with several cultural and community facilities, including the Cheddar Show Caves Museum.

It was a good job we left early, as mixture of driving rain, and heavy traffic left the M4 and M5 a virtually car park, and our 2 hour visit soon turned into a quick dash for a block of cheese each and some dreadful fish and chips before heading over to the ground.

Cheddar won last season’s Somerset County league, and with the huge advantage of already having floodlights the promotion to Western League football was secured. That said, there are obvious deficiencies with the ground. With two sides being formerly roped off only, they are now inaccessible. There’s no seats either, save for the picnic tables outside the large bar areas. What there is in abundance though is character, most notably to the right of the covered area by the half way line.

For there is a tiny tea bar run by two old timers. It’s a simple enough menu, tea or coffee in a mug for 50p. Phil and I stationed ourselves there, and were soon joined by 4 or so hoppers, including Terry the press officer at Dorchester Town, and one of my subscribers, Bob. We watched the game, chewed the fat, and Phil fielded questions on September 22nd’s North Berkshire League hop. And all the while a steady supply of tea was being supplied; you don’t get that in the professional game.

Ah, the game almost forgot! Well that was the best reason to be there. Sherbourne made the far better start, so when Adam Jones scored the Cheesemen’s first Western  League goal, it was a major surprise. Less surprisingly Sherbourne soon found space in a rather porous Cheddar defence (I couldn’t say holes, could I?) and were good value for their 2-1 lead at half time.

When Marc Caines gave Sherbourne a 3-1 lead soon after the re-start, it looked like the end of the game as contest. The game began to wide down, but with just 8 minutes left substitute Billy Manning’s 20 yard free kick sparked Cheddar back into life. The visitors goal was put under siege, and when George Booth’s misplaced shot was turned into his own net by Richard Lindegard, you didn’t begrudge Cheddar their point.