Saturday 17th August 2024 ko 15:00

Hellenic League Division One

REDDITCH BOROUGH 0

STONEHOUSE TOWN 0

Keveren sent off 49 (2nd booking)

Att 45

Entry £5

Programme £3

When Redditch Borough won last season’s Midland League Division Two and successfully applied for Step 6 status, I wonder whether they imagined that would mean membership of the Hellenic League. There can’t be too many clubs as north as this or further that have played in the Hellenic or are there?

Cherry Tree Close is only around half a mile from Redditch United’s Valley Stadium, and driving past with them at home did come with the odd feeling of seeing game about to take place and me not making a beeline for it!

That said a visit to the Cherry Tree Stadium was interesting. You’ll enter the facility to the left of the club and assume the pitch is in front of you. Dont, turn left, and the paybooth is 100 yards or so away. For those who like a programme, Borough’s is printed for them by well-known hopper, and programme enthusiast Craig Dabbs, so if paper is prerequistite for you, that’s a close to a guarantee as you’re like to get!

Do see these photos as very much the “Before” bit of the “Before and After” shots. To get to Step 6 the club will have needed to have concrete plans for both floodlights and seating, and my understanding is that the work will start imminently. That is not to say the ground isn’t well-appointed as it is. There is no lack of cover, and a trip to the tea bar is recommended- the cappucino is very good!

The game was far better than the score might suggest. A short-benched Stonehouse team still managed to dominate possession, but were hampered by the loss of Lee Keveren to a second booking with most of the second half left. Nevertheless, the visitors will feel they should have forced the win.

I’ve never bothered to add it up , but the amount of grounds I’ve seen Hellenic League football at is way above and beyond the league’s two divisions might suggest. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve completed the top two divisions of the league, this visit did it again. Perhaps that’s a tribute to Brian King and all at the the league, in how they’ve managed to reinvent themselves over the years.