Thursday 22nd November 2011 ko 7.45pm

Herefordshire League HJ Handley Cup 2nd Round

WEOBLEY 1 (L Williams 40)

SINKUM FC 2 (Gallimore 57p Barefoot 65)

Played at Hereford Leisure Centre, Holmer Road

Att 25 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No programme

Tea (from the leisure centre) £1.30

A first for me this, as I don’t think I’ve watched a game INSIDE a horse racing track! The pitch is part of the leisure centre, but you do have to walk across the horse racing track to get it, set as it is, inside a running track. This ground was using for a short time by Pegasus Juniors, before they moved in to their new ground in Old School Lane. To the left the Bulmers Cider Factory is clearly visible.

I reached the ground at around 6.50, and strolled over to the pitch. I was told by a grumpy athletics coach that kick off was not at the advertised 7.30 but 8.00 “Because we’re here until 7.30.” I retreated to the leisure centre cafe and tried to buy a meal, to be told the kitchen was closed, I made do with a cake and a cup of coffee.

The warring factions settled on a compromise time of 7.45 and I found out precisely what I was to be watching! This was a game between 2 sides in the 1st division (2nd tier) of the Herefordshire league, a feeder to the lower divisions of either the Hellenic or West Midlands League. Neither side call the ground home, that honour lies with Holmer FC of Division 2 South. I would also comment that the floodlights were poor, with one not working at all! These pictures are literally the only usable ones!

It was Sinkum though that proved to be most intriguing. Formed a few years ago from a group of lads who met at a now closed pool club (hence the name) they decided to start a football team. I’d have thought pool and football wouldn’t exactly go to together, but last season they won the Herefordshire League Division 3 at a canter, so the league have placed them in this season’s division 1. It hasn’t exactly clipped their wings as prior to this game, they were played 6 won 6, including an 11-0 demolition of Dore Valley. They also told me they were on a 26 game unbeaten run!

The match was rather eccentrically referreed by Herefordshire FA Chief Executive Jim Lambert, but to be honest I was a little more concerned about the blustery wind and rain, and that bluntly the standard wasn’t great. Still, despite the best efforts of the esteemed official I watched a decent game, and perhaps predicably Sinkum were just too strong for Weobley in a scrappy game littered with errors. Barefoot’s headed goal from Gallimore’s cross was a fitting coda though.