Saturday 9th July 2022 ko 15:30

Pre-Season Friendly

SHARNBROOK 2 (Griggs 68 69)

SHEFFORD TOWN & CAMPTON 2 (63, 79)

Att 16 at Court Lane, Stevington

It is an oddity of my footballing life that Bedfordshire is a path less trodden for me. Take away the county’s clubs in pyramid football and those that got visited in the Bedfordshire Hops, and my list looks threadbare.

One sadness is that the Bedfordshire Hops are now over, due to the league’s treatment of the organiser Craig Dabbs. That I regret on many levels, not least being able to attend an event with no personal involvement! So when Craig pointed out that due to cricket Sharnbook were playing this friendly at Stevington I made a beeline. 

Of course, Stevington has no lack of history in the Bedfordshire County League, and it is a shame that Stevington FC folded at the end of last season and that Court Lane doesn’t now fulfil ground gradings for the league; the old Stevington played their last few seasons exiled at Pavenham. These days only Sunday League outfit M & J Group play here. 

The ground has a quite wonderful view of Stevington Windmill, the only complete windmill left in the county and my happiness would have been complete but for the penny dropping when I parked up at the ground. 

I’d been there before; senior hoppers call it ARS(e) or Accidental Revisit SyndromE. I’d watched a reversed Beds League game featuring Marabese Ceramics hosting Stevington around 15 years ago at Court Lane. But these things happen, its nothing to rant and rage at- just accept the error and enjoy the game, which I did. 

I do have some history with the two sides. Sharnbrook  were excellent hosts on the 2015 Beds Hop and I watched Shefford Town & Campton win the Spartan South Midlands League Division One Cup Final en route to promotion late last season and I enjoyed my trip to their Rectory Road home 3 years ago. 

Despite the sweltering heat the two clubs provided an entertaining afternoon, even if all 4 goals were scored in one 10-minute burst. In the end it was an afternoon to spend chewing the fat with friends, a quirk was that a quarter of the attendance knew each other, and not worry too much about the semantics.