A little tucked away corner in Derbyshire

03 Tuesday Jul 2012

Tags

Anthony Blackburn, Ashbourne, Chris Smith, Derby Summer League, derbyshire town, Lee Mosedale, Longford, Mammerton, Red Lion, Sean Jones, The Summer League, Wheel

Monday 2nd July 2012 ko 7.30pm

The Summer Football League

RED LION 3 (Blackburn 38 Smith 51 Mosedale 68)

WHEEL 0

Att 19 (h/c)

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

There are of course no lack of summer football leagues in the British Isles. Football is a summer activity these days in the Republic of Ireland, and there are no lack of summer “Welfare” leagues in the north of Scotland. In England and Wales, they’re far more unusual, with amongst others the Llandyrnog, and Catforth leagues together with the Tunbridge Wells Veterans League.

The Summer Football League tends to get referred to as the Derby Summer League by groundhoppers, but is actually based around the North Derbyshire town of Ashbourne, famous for its Shrove Tuesday “Football” match. The league isn’t affiliated to the Football Association, and there’s a rule that precludes players who play in winter football taking part. The league started in 1930 as an agricultural league, with kick offs timed around the needs of farming. Even today, the league retains a rural feel, with minimal facilities, and each team having a base at a local pub. Games are over 80 minutes, except for the cup competitions where the full 90 minutes are played.

Red Lion are based at the David Naylor Transport Ground in the tiny village of Mammerton, near Longford. Last season they played as Ostrich, in Longford, but moved for this season, swayed by a pitch for free and uncertainty over a change of landlord at the Ostrich pub. Its basic, a pitch where a field could be, but for a league where changing rooms are deemed unnecessary, it suits the team well.

The opposition was Ashbourne-based Wheel, who I once saw in their previous incarnation as Wheel Inn lose 19-0 at home to Bradley, one of the leading lights of the league. Time hasn’t seen much change to Wheel’s fortunes, at kick off rock bottom of the table with just one draw to show for their efforts. With Red Lion a place above them also with just a point, there was little chance of a high quality game.

In fact the game greatly exceeded expectations, even though Wheel played with just 10 men throughout. In the drizzle, Red Lion had most of the possession, but it took until near to half time for them to force home the advantage, Anthony Blackburn shooting low into the left corner from 10 yards out. Wheel showed great spirit, and in Sean Jones a goalkeeper capable of excellence. His save in the dying embers of the half was worthy of a far more lofty stage.

As the second half wore on, and Red Lion made use of their bench Wheel noticeably tired. Red Lion’s left winger Lee Mosedale, a contender with Jones for man-of-the-match, found the key to Wheel’s defence, a quick “Give-and-go” with central midfield then cut across the right-back. It set up Chris Smith for the second, and Mosedale himself fired home for the third.

A deserved win for Red Lion, but Wheel fought well enough to suggest that with luck and a full complement of players, better fortunes lie ahead.

That’ll do!

01 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by laurencereade in C

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Tags

Chris Smith, Combined, Combined Counties League, Counties, Football, Georgie Smith, groundhopping, Harewood, isthmian league, Lavery, League, offside trap, South Park

Tuesday 31st January 2011 ko 7.45pm

Combined Counties League Premier Division

COVE 1 (Harewood 63)

SOUTH PARK 7 (Lavery 2 9 13 64 G Smith 41 C Smith 74 84)

Att 25 (h/c)

Entry £6

Programme 50p

Oak Farm, at the end of Squirrel Lane, in Farnborough owed me a game. Or rather I owed the Farnborough district of Cove a game! Let me explain. Around 14 years, and 1000 grounds ago, I was learning my hopping trade. I spotted in the “Non League Paper” that Cove were at home on Spring Bank Holiday. I arrived at 2pm, about an hour before what I thought was kick off. What I didn’t know then was that on Bank Holidays CCL fixtures are usually at 11am, so all I saw was the start of the post-match drinks! Entirely my fault, and I’ve made use of this quirk of the fixtures a few times since.

It was a chilly night, but I tucked into a mug of tea and a delicious burger (a shame no onions) , and with 3 other hoppers enjoyed a game that summed up much of this friendly little club’s recent history.

From being relegated by choice from the Isthmian League in 1996, to finishing rock bottom of the Combined Counties League in 1997/8 and 98/99, and the Premier Division in 03/04, to having arsonists torch the main stand in 2002, life has not been kind to them. The stand was replaced by a modular affair which does little else but maintain necessary gradings, but on this occasion the defence looked in most need of rebuilding.

Put simply, defending a high line and being incapable of spring the offside trap properly will inevitably lead to the concession of goals, and plenty of them. Time after time the Cove defence stepped up and each time a South Park forward found himself clean through. Keiran Lavery collected a quite superb 13 minute hat trick, and goals continued to arrive at regular invervals. It wasn’t that Cove were wretched, but every mistake was being punished. A shred of salvation arrived with Andrew Harewood’s fine shot, but a minute later there was Lavery at the other end to resume normal service. Substitute Chris Smith scored and missed two, as Cove’s defence seemed to lose what little of the plot they’d had had in the first place.

On this occasion the final whistle served two purposes, one to put Cove out of their misery and for those hardly souls spectating to trudge off in search of some warmth, observing that the puddles in the car park, were now ice.