Saturday 23rd December 2023 ko 15:00

National League North

WARRINGTON TOWN 2 (Harris 36 Amis 83)

BANBURY UNITED 1 (Hewitt 21)

Att 1,137

Entry £15 (£12 in bought in advance)

Programme £2

In my eyes at least, I’m slowing down. Part of it is that it’s now almost impossible to find a floodlit game at a new ground midweek, and part its due to a general feeling of not being in any great rush. I see some groundhoppers clocking up the grounds at a rate of over one a day, and while each to their own, I know it’s not for me; I have other interests.

That said, Robyn and I visited her aunt and uncle over Christmas and they remarked how we are here, there and everywhere. I can’t argue the point really, we were watching my 132nd game of 2023 having travelled from Oxford to Warrington. Perception is of course, everything.

So, a trip to the oh-so appropriately named Cantilever Park, the aim surely of every photographer is to get the bridge in the backdrop of at least one photo? On the subject of photos, I’ve long since realised that the point of this blog is to find something in every single location I point a camera at. Sometimes it’s not easy, like at the Mildenhall Hub, or really easy like at the Great Strahov in Prague. This was one that was going to be towards the easy end, in fact the main issues would be the huge crowd, and finding some interesting angles in what is a stadium that is a cornucopia of delights.

It seems to me that non-league is experiencing a real renaissance, and this game was a perfect example of it. Once upon I’d have seen local young upstart in the form of the Paul Stretford-funded Warrington Rylands, and worried for the older club. Not so these days, and this 1000-plus crowd proves the point, there is clearly a market for football that is realistically priced, and geographically relevant.

Normally I can approach these games completely neutral as to what I’m watching. This wasn’t one of those times, I spent 7 years living in Banbury and spent many a happy game at Spencer Stadium and I’d argue that the good times came to just beyond the railway station when I moved back to Oxford! I’ll always keep an eye out for the Puritans results, but I did have an eye on the Warrington team too- well one player at least!

I was fortunate to be at the opening game at Manchester City’s Academy Stadium in 2014 and purposely published a photo of the teamsheet, where City’s youth team took on Oxford United’s youngsters in the FA Youth Cup, the idea to see who would make it professionally. At the moment none of the City players are still at the club with the likes of Bersant Celina at AIK , Toisin Adarabioyo at Fulham and Charlie Albinson at Ayr United. But Isaac Buckley-Ricketts ended up playing for both clubs.

Clearly having Manchester City on your CV counts for something, but by 2018 it was clear that the winger wasn’t going to make it at City’s rarified level. He was loaned to Oxford United but struggled to make any kind of an impact and was back in Manchester well before expectations. A permanent transfer to Peterborough United failed to see him make any headway and by 2019 he was lost to the pro game, a footballing lost soul playing for Stretford Paddock in the Cheshire League.

On that basis it was good to see him back in pyramid football, and back amongst the goals. And he was symptomatic of why Warrington won this game. At the National League’s regional tier, you are at the point where the full-time and part-time games meet. You saw it here, although both sides here are part time, but here the difference was experience. Warrington could call on the likes of Buckley-Ricketts and former Preston forward Josh Amis, while Banbury have 17-year-old Aiden Elliott-Wheeler on loan from Oxford United. 

The game played out as you’d expect given that knowledge. Livewire forward Craig Hewitt gave the Puritans an early lead but gradually Warrington began to dominate, with former Wrexham midfielder Jay Harris running things. Jack Harding pulled off a Banks-esque save to preserve their lead but Harris soon equalised and from then it seemed a question of when Warrington would or could force the win.

When you’ve got a forward with the size and stature of Josh Amis, the obvious thing to is rain in aerial crosses for him to attack, and once they did, he nodded home to win the game for the hosts. My Banbury past was disappointed for them, but in truth the better side won.

It was by any standards an excellent day out, where the GroundhopUK adage of Good Ground, Good Hosting, and Good Game all happened. In fact the only downside was the typically seasonal deluge on the way home- it wasn’t a pleasant drive!