Saturday 17th March 2012 ko 1.00pm

Central Midlands League South Division

BASFORD UNITED 4 (Holt 38 Horton 52 79 Hastings 90)

NOTTS POLICE 1 (Alves 9)

Att 268

Entry & Programme-Hop Ticket

Pie & Peas £2

Tea 80p

Badge £2.50

From Clifton it was a short drive to Basford, (which is pronounced Base-ford by the way), a northern suburb of Nottingham, and an area most famous for its soap factory. The factory was established in the 1890s by Gerard Bros before in 1955 the company was acquired by Cussons Sons & Co., manufacturer of “Imperial Leather” soap. In 2005 the factory was closed and production was moved to Thailand.

At Greenwich Avenue until recently, the problem wasn’t soap, rather bats! The club, being top of the table, are looking to progress to the East Midlands Counties League, and for that you need floodlights. The trouble is that the tall trees behind the far goal are a significant nesting site for bats, and there were concerns that the club’s ambitions might disturb them. Perhaps the fact that the mammals are there despite the presence of a tram and rail station convinced the authorities and in November the lights were erected. All a bit late for Rob Hornby as floodlit grounds are rather handy for evening kick-offs.

Basford looked a little surprised at the whole occasion. The programmes sold out a clear half hour before kick off, and the queues for the food were huge, perhaps due to the lunch-time kick off. This was the only game of the day where a team sheet was not available, and the line-ups were posted by the changing rooms only a minute or two before the match started. That said, the club rescued the situation by taking down names and addresses to send on the reprinted programme.

The feeling of surprise also affected the team, it appeared. The visitors are struggling, second from bottom of the league and are set to fold due to Police cut-backs at the end of the season. However it didn’t stop Bernardo Alves firing them into a shock lead after 9 minutes. That lead lasted long enough for the crowd to wonder whether were about to witness one of the great rearguard actions of a groundhop game, as bodies were thrown in front of shots as Basford piled forward.

It couldn’t last and didn’t. Martin Holt equalised, and after half time Basford simply pulled away and ended up easy winners. Aaron Horton collected a well-taken brace, and Courtney Hastings rounded thing off nicely for the home team. That, I felt was a little rough on the visitors who didn’t look a bad side, and how can you find inspiration when you have no future?

Still, it was a markedly better game than the previous one, and it was fun being interviewed by the Norwegian TV2 crew who were covering the Bonanza.

I’d like to thank Chris Powell for his photo.