Tuesday 22nd November 2022 ko 19:45

Herefordshire Senior Challenge Cup 2nd Round

HINTON 2 (Nicholls 24 Burley 63og)

WELLINGTON RANGERS 4 (Andrews 6 Mann 28 Woodcock 42 Nunn 45)

Mann missed penalty 45

Att c30

Free Entry

Any hopper might find it useful to look out for this competition on Full Time. The Herefordshire League’s comparative isolation is also its strength and there are clubs with excellent facilities playing at Step 7 when if they were a little more centrally placed you wonder if they’d be playing higher up the pyramid. Travelling costs for the likes of the Hellenic League must be substantial here.

To give you an idea of just how far west you are, a couple of hundred yards beyond the far side is the River Wye, and a few miles to the south that forms the border with Wales. As one club official joked, “If it wasn’t for Wales, we’d be a seaside resort!” I hadn’t looked at it that way!!

That said, Hereford does seem to be hotbed for football, with Hereford FC, Hereford Pegasus (Juniors), Hinton and Lads Club all within city limits. I even managed to see a game at the Racecourse once! The sadness is that some may exchew a visit to Broomy Hill as there isn’t a programme, and you are below Step 6 after all. That said, Hinton FC are well used to seeing groundhoppers; I was offered and bought a club badge as soon as I visited the tea bar, the hub for most things on a matchday. You’ll soon find out that Hinton are the only club in Hereford that owns their own ground. Yes, they are a rather proud of that fact!

That idea of isolation is very much the case with Wellington Rangers. I saw them in the West Midlands League in 2014 as Wellington FC and since then they’ve played in the Hellenic League. I was shocked to find out they’d all but folded last season, and dropped back down to the Herefordshire League they’d left in 1997. Once again there’s a superb set of facilities, well and truly off-pyramid. Another gem for you to seek out. 

There is so much to love about Broomy Hill, and it all starts with you following signs for the Waterworks Museum. As you head down the hill the ground opens out to your left, you see the trees, the backing, and the stand and I remember thinking ” I knew it was going to be good, but not this good.” I even phoned my wife Robyn to apologise to going to such a wonderful ground on a day when she wasn’t available to come with me!

Apologies to Robyn once again, as I got a good game too, albeit one where Wellington looked that little bit sharper to stay ahead of their hosts. But as I dashed back to my car occupying the last spot in the car park, my thoughts were exclusively on Broomy Hill, what a gem!