My Matchday - 266 Bridge Road

Histon 1v3 Gateshead
Blue sq. Bet Premier
Tuesday 28th September 2010

A midweek trip to Histon FC, who are based approximately 3 miles north of Cambridge in the twin villages of Histon and Impington. The journey down to Cambridgeshire was made courtesy of Torchey Travel’s executive car (est.2008) the most comfortable and reliable way to see the Heed Army on the road.

Histon Institute F.C. formed in 1904, originating from the Chivers jam company, the major employer in the area, whose Chairman John Chivers helped to form the Histon Institute in 1903. The company donated a rose covered field for the team to play on, which is commemorated in the rose on club’s crest. They played their formative years in the Cambridgeshire Football League, dropping the Institute tag from their name in 1952.

In 1960 the club joined the Delphian League for three years until the league disbanded with the affiliated clubs joined the Athenian League. A switch to the Eastern Counties League in 1965 saw “the Stutes” play in the ECL leagues for the next 35 years, as the competition switched to a two tier format in 1988.

The club have made rapid strides since the turn of the millennium, beginning with winning the ECL Premier Division title in1999–2000. Histon went on to win promotion from the Southern League East Division in their third season and followed up this achievement by becoming Southern League Premier Champions at the first attempt.
In their first Conference South season in 2005-06 they finished in 5th place, but missed out in the play-offs, losing the final 2-0 to St Albans City, however the following season the club were league champions, clinching their fourth promotion in 7 years.
The club finished off a remarkable decade by finishing 7th in their first Conference season, with the club’s biggest home attendance of 3,721 seeing Histon beat local rivals Cambridge United 1-0 on New Years Day.
They finished third in their second season, qualifying for the play-offs, where they were defeated 2–1 on aggregate by Football League bound Torquay United in the semi-final. However the highlight of that season was reaching the 3rd round of the FA Cup for the first time, after beating both Swindon Town and Leeds United 1–0 at home they succumbing to Swansea City, 2-1 at home in the 3rd round. The Leeds United cup tie saw a new record crowd of 4,103 as well as a national TV audience on the Beeb witnessing the most memorable day in the club’s history.

Bridge Road is now know as The Glassworld Stadium and has a capacity of 3,800 with approximately 1,700 covered seats
The original Recreation Ground was repositioned due to road works in early 1960’s,with the B1049 road built across the old ground. The pitch was re-laid and an elevated stand was built in 1964. Floodlights were added in December 1984 before a match with Arsenal.
The stadium has undergone major redevelopment in recent years, bringing the facilities up to the required standard to host Conference football and eligible to host League Two if the club should ever progress.

The Main Stand has a capacity of approximately 400. The clubhouse is at the top of the stand which looks directly out towards the pitch, with access gained via a staircase at the front, situated behind each dugout. The stand has been extended with an extra 500 seats added when the Cambridgeshire FA set up their headquarters at the ground in 2007.
The stand at the far side runs pitch length with five rows of red flip seats with a capacity of 800, which was completed in April 2008.
There has full cover behind each goal. The away supporters are giving the Bridge Road end, while opposite is the Rec End which was completed with extra cover added in 2008.
These three sides are similar in size and have been linked together by an advertising fascia board which runs around the top of the roof and finishes off the ground to give it a much smarter appearance.
The Glassworks Stadium is now owned by Histon Football Club Holdings trust, who guarantee the use of the facility for sports purposes, with the football club able to use the ground rent free.

Craig “Nelly” Nelthorpe scored twice as Gateshead’s good run of form continued with a comfortable win in Cambridgeshire.
Gateshead took an early lead when Gary Mulligan got on the end of a Jon Shaw header to poke the ball home from close range.
The Tynesiders went close with headers by Curtis and Shaw, until Nelthorpe doubled the lead with a goal of the season contender.
The winger ran on to a flicked header from Shaw to unleash a 30-yard volley with the outside of his left foot, to leave home keeper Joe Welch clutching fresh air.
The hosts offered little threat in the second half, with boss David Livermore reluctant to make any changes, only making one substitution with just ten minutes remaining.
The Heed wrapped up victory in the dying minutes with a second goal from Nelthorpe, getting on the end of a good run and cross from Fisher to produce a tidy finish.
There was still time for Omar Riza to pull one back from the penalty spot in injury time, after a trip on substitute Adjei, which made the score line look a bit more respectable as overall Gateshead dominated the match throughout against a very poor Histon side.

Torchey Travel departed Gateshead at 1.15pm, the journey went pretty smoothly, arriving in Histon by 5pm. The car was taking up by Squad#51 John Young (aka Torchey) Simon Heedgroundsman and co-driver Kav, who produced an impressive performance behind the wheel to get us there and back in good time.
Since my last trip with Mr Young he has developed a love of Gaelic Scottish Mouth Music, which myself and the other two passengers had to reluctantly listen to, meaning at times we felt like our ears were bleeding as he blasted it out through the car’s CD system.
On departure I requested if possible, to arrive at the ground while it was still light, so I could get some decent pictures before nightfall. Luckily on arrival there was an open door into the stadium, so I was free to walk the perimeter of the ground and get the photographs I wanted. (it was as if someone was expecting me and left the door off the latch)
We stopped off for drinks at the Rose and Crown and bait at the Railway View. It was here that Kav, who is well known within the Heed Army to be quite frugle with his money, mentioned that he should have came into the ground with me earlier and stayed there until kick-off, hence saving fourteen quid! The thought of a big lad like Kav trying to hide behind a seat for two hours to save some money would have been a sight to behold, and knowing him, he would have probably gotten away with it.
You may remember earlier in the season I came straight from my holidays and within hours I was off to see Gateshead play at Forest Green. Well John was doing the same thing but in reverse, as he was off to Magaluff when he got back home, having to be at Newcastle Airport for 4am, because of this we were back on the road straight after the full time whistle.
After disappointing away day Tuesday’s last season, how great it was to endure the long journey home with three points in the bag and a great performance from the lads. Having slept most of the way home I arrived back at 1.30am, content with not just the win, but the first class service provided by Torchey Travel, all for the value for money fare of just seventeen English pounds.

Matchday stats

HFC 1 (Riza 90+1pen) GFC 3 (Mulligan 7 Nelthorpe 35,89)

att.285

Admission (PP) £14

Programme £2.50

Ground no.266 Bridge Road - Matchday Web album (17 pictures)

My Matchday - 265 Sixfields Stadium

Northampton Town 2v0 Bradford City
League Two
Saturday 25th September 2010

I made use of a weekend break, visiting relations in Lincolnshire to travel down to the large market town of Northampton in the East Midlands.
Northamptonshire’s county town lies on the River Nene and is well known as a major centre of shoemaking and leather industries. Many of the town’s old shoe factories remain, most of which have been converted into office space or accommodation, with some still surrounded by terraced houses which were built for the factory workers.

Northampton Town were founded in 1897. The county’s schools were keen on schoolboy football so meetings between schoolteachers and local solicitor A.J. Darnell took place with plans to form a town team instead of playing inter-school friendlies.
The club officially formed on 6th March 1897, at the Princess Royal Inn on Wellingborough Road, with the club agreeing to ground share with Northamptonshire County Cricket Club.
Before a ball was kicked the town’s rugby club objected to the club’s name of Northampton FC, so the Town suffix was added to their name and they began playing competitive football in the Northants League, becoming league champions in their second season.
The Cobblers played home matches at the County Ground for the next 97 years, joining the Midlands League in their third season and the Southern League in 1901-02 season, before becoming a Football League club after World War II.
The Cobblers football statto claim to fame is their record for the shortest time taken to be promoted from the bottom tier to the top tier and back down again in the space of nine years.
They played their only season in the top division in 1965-66, having been promoted from the Fourth Divison in the space of five seasons but were then relegated back to the Fourth Division by 1969–70.

Sixfields Stadium was built and designed by Dutch contractors Bellast Nedham, with the aid of Tyneside based architects Taylor, Tulip and Hunter (I’m their postman..Morning!) and structural engineers Hutter Jennings and Titchmarsh.
After the 65 acre site was cleared, building work on the council owned facility started in January 1994. The 7,653 capacity all seated stadium on the outskirts of town was built at a cost of £5.25 million, made up from a £4.25m contribution from the council and a further £1m from the Football Trust.
The stadium had been scheduled to open for the start of the 1994-95 season, but due to delays the first game took place on 15th October. Barnet provided the opposition for a Division Three clash with the honour of the first goal going to Martin Aldridge in a 1-1 draw in front a near full house of 7,461.

The stadium is made up of four separate stands. Behind each goal are The David Bowen Stand which is named after the ex-Northampton Town player and manager, and opposite is the South Stand for away supporters which both have a capacity of approximately 900 seats.
The Alwyn Hargrave East Stand is of a similar height, but with a large gangway at the rear for disabled supporters. The stand runs pitch length and is also used as the Family Enclosure with a capacity of 1,800.
The West Stand is twice the size of the other stands with a capacity of 4,000. The stand also has the club offices and main reception, ticket office, changing rooms and supporters bar, as well as a club shop on the south west corner.
The stadium is decked out in claret seats with NTFC picked out in white lettering on the East Stand, there’s also a small scoreboard on the back of the building in the south-west corner.
The best feature of the ground is the view from the large hill which overlooks the stadium, which meant I could get some good pictures of the ground before I had even set foot in the place. During the first half there were a couple of passers by who stopped and watched the game for nowt through the opening in the north-west corner, but they weren’t lucky enough to see any goal action.
The atmosphere around Sixfields Stadium was buzzing after the midweek victory at Anfield in the League Cup. Their reward for knocking out Liverpool was a 4th round draw away to Ipswich Town, which was met with a shade of disappointment although I heard the phrase “We’ll DO them as well” mentioned by a few of the Town fans.
Because of this fantastic result, coupled with Newcastle’s equally astonishing win at Chelsea, meant I headed off from Lincolnshire to Northampton, not sure whether or not my final destination was Sixfields, just in case both clubs met in the next round.
The odds of Northampton drawing Newcastle were pretty remote, but I still got my mate Zippy to text me the outcome of the draw, as I’d rather tick off Northampton while watching United play there, than go as a neutral. I also had a Plan B lined up (Stewarts & Lloyds Corby in the FA Cup) just in case, but obviously the draw panned out as we all expected, the reward for beating Chelsea is - Arsenal. (and people wonder why NUFC haven’t won anything for a long time…Eddy)
Northampton showed no cup hangover as they overcame a stubborn Bradford defence with two goals in the second half.
The opening period was a scrappy affair, the hosts best efforts coming directly from free-kicks from Kevin Thornton, while City came closest to scoring when a Moult effort produced a fine save from Dunn.
The Cobblers improved as the game progressed and were patient enough to break down Bradford’s resistance with a goal just after the hour. A Tozer free kick from the half way line was nodding over by Holt into the path of McKay, who turned the ball in from ten yards.
The win was guaranteed with just under ten minutes remaining, a deep cross was headed back into the centre by McKay for Newcastle loanee Ben Tozer to open his account on his Northampton league debut.
This win rounded off a fantastic week in the history of Northampton Town. I had this fixture picked out early in the season so it’s pleasing that my visit coincided with a great atmosphere around the club after such a fine achievement. The Cobblers could well reach the League Cup quarter-finals if they can DO! Ipswich that is, which will be better than my own (looks likely..Eddy) as well as a few other big Premier League clubs have managed to do this season.



Matchday stats
NTFC 2(McKay 61 Tozer 81) BCFC 0
Att.4,646
Admission £18
Programme £3






Ground n0.265 Sixfields - Matchday Web album (21 pictures)

Wearside League Wanderings - part five

258. Eastbourne Sports Complex

Darlington Cleveland Bridge 4v2 Prudhoe Town
Wearside League
Saturday 7th August 2010

Three new clubs entered the Wearside League this season, two of which met on the opening day of the season at the Eastbourne Sports Complex.
This is the fifth season of the current Darlington Cleveland Bridge, having played two years in local leagues followed by two seasons in the Teesside League.
The original club formed in 1903 as a works team for employees only. They began playing at a higher level in 1981 when joining the Northern Alliance, which they won in 1982-83. The following season they stepped up to the Northern League, playing in the Second Division and changing their name to Darlington Cleveland Social in 1993-94. The club folded early in the 1996-97 season after losing all eight matches. The factory closed and their Neasham Road ground where they had played since their formation was sold off for housing.

The Eastbourne Sports Complex is found on the edge of Darlington town centre just off Yarm Road. The players use the changing rooms in the complex building, which means a long walk through the car park to the pitch. The ground has full athletics provisions surrounded by a running track. There’s a storage block which has refreshment facilities and a slight overhanging roof which acts as the only spectator shelter.
At each side of the pitch there is raised grass banks, with the far side giving the best view being closer to the pitch. Cleveland Bridge entertained Prudhoe Town, who have returned to competitive action after a year out after resigning from the Northern League at the end of the 2008-09 season.
The home side only took 8 minutes to score their very first goal in the Wearside League, Ripley pounced with a close range volley after a mix up in the Prudhoe defence.
Further first half strikes from Richardson who finished well after beating the offside trap and a shot from the edge of the box from substitute Wilson but the hosts in a commanding position at the break.
During the first half I noticed a spectator sporting a Plymouth Argyle shirt, I surmised that this could only be one person, as there can’t be that many Pilgrims fans in County Durham. My inkling was correct when I was approached at half time by 100FgC squad#138 Lee Stewart who introduced himself and together we watched the second half.
When Ripley added his second goal of the afternoon it was a case of just how many more Cleveland were going to add to the four goal bagged in the opening 48 minutes.
Prudhoe improved as the game progressed and Best reduced the deficit on 65 minutes, which looked no more than a consolation, but with five minutes remaining he added his second with a close range header after the initial shot came back off the crossbar.
In the last five minutes Town missed numerous chances, creating more in the dying embers of the game then they had in the opening 85 minutes. If the game had gone on for a further ten minutes you would have fancied Prudda to grab a point. Overall the game was quite entertaining and Cleveland Bridge can be pleased with their encouraging start.
Matchday stats
DCB 4(Ripley 8,48 Richardson 12 Wilson 38) PTFC 2(Best 65,85)
Att. 33hc
Admission and programme:none
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264. Bishopton Road West
Stockton Town 4v2 Boldon CA

Wearside League

Saturday 18th September 2010

The other new Wearside League club this season are Stockton Town, this being only their second season in senior football after playing in the Teesside League last season.
The club originally formed in 1979 as Hartburn Juniors, fielding their first side in the Teesside Junior Football Alliance at Under-12 level. In 2003 they became Stockton Town having obtained the FA Charter Standard for Clubs the previous year.
The club now runs seventeen sides from boys under-7’s to under-18’s, along with the senior side, Reserves and three girls teams.

The Bishopton Road West ground is found about a mile from Stockton town centre in between Stockton Sixth Form College and Our Lady & St Bedes School.
The entrance is shared with the college, at the far side of the car park is the clubhouse which has a fully licensed bar which has live big screen football (On them dodgy channels…Eddy) and also houses the changing room facilities.
The pitch is at the side of the clubhouse and behind the neighbouring school, which is quite a walk away over two other football pitches at the far end of the field. The pitch is fully fenced off, surrounded by hard standing with a pair of Perspex dugouts.

My second game in the Wearside League this season saw the same score line as my previous encounter, with the home side again coming out on top.
Stockton took an early lead with a header from Scott Hine from eight yards out which went in via both the goalkeeper and crossbar, as they comfortably held on to their one goal advantage until half time.
Boldon started the second half well and early pressure was rewarded with a penalty on the hour from Meak, who was brought down by ‘keeper Swann in a one-on-one situation, although the referee’s decision was very harsh indeed.
The goal was a wake up call for Stockton, within eight minutes they lead 3-1 with striker Hines completing his hat-trick. His second goal was a cool finish, going round the ‘keeper before slotting the ball home and his third was from the penalty spot, the referee levelled things up making it once each in bogus penalty decisions.
The visitors reduced the arrears in the last minute with a fine finish by Hudson, but never threatened in time added on, instead it was the hosts who clinched it with substitute Ballantyne capitalising on a defensive error, allowing him an easy finish to wrap up the three points. During the interval myself and my son James wandered into the clubhouse and after a spot of channel hopping the barman found the Everton v Newcastle game, which I was delighted to viddy during the half time break. The match finished at 4.15pm which gave us a good 35 minutes left of the match at Goodison to watch, so after racing back to the clubhouse imagine our disappointment when we found a blank screen on the wall, accompanied with the words ‘No signal’ (Dodgy channels indeed…Eddy) so we had no choice but to head back home, having to settling on listening in on tin-pot local radio.

Matchday stats
STFC 4(Hines 5,63,69p Ballantyne 90+5) BCA 2 (Meak 64p Hudson 90)
Admission £1
Programme: none
Att.45hc

My Matchday - 263 B2net Stadium

Chesterfield 2v1 Lincoln City
League Two
Saturday 4th September 2010
After last weeks visit to Morecambe, it was the turn of the other Football League club who have relocated this summer. The B2net stadium replaces the ‘classic’ Recreation Ground, the former home of The Spireites and the oldest continuous used ground dating back to 1871.

The Derbyshire market town of Chesterfield lies north of Derby on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper and is the largest populated town in the county.
Chesterfield is well known for the "Crooked Spire” of the Church of Saint Mary and All Saints, which twists at 45 degrees and leans 9 feet 6 inches from its true centre.
The spire is not attached to the church building, as it is kept on by its own weight. The bend follows the direction of the sun and it’s believed that the bend formed when the original wooden roof tiles were replaced by heavier slate and lead.

The B2net Stadium was built on the former site of Dema Glassworks, north of the town at Whittington Moor on the Sheffield Road, just off the A61.
Built at a cost of £13m by GB Building Solutions, the stadium was designed by Sheffield based Architects Ward McHugh Associates. Planning permission was granted in July 2008 and construction began in July 2009.
The official opening match was a friendly against neighbours Derby County on the 24th July 2010 with new signing Craig Davies scoring the first ever goal in a game which Derby won 5-4.

The stadium has four separate stands with an overall capacity of 10,400.
The main HTM Products Stand has a single tier of blue seat with executive boxes and viewing area for disabled supporters at the rear. The stand has a flowing white curved roof which improves the overall appearance of the stadium. There’s also a police control tower in the south west corner and a capacity of 2,902.
Opposite is the Midlands Co-operative Community Stand which is similar in appearance. The stand has the same style roof, but no executive boxes which gives it a larger seating capacity of 3,144. The stand also houses the TV gantry.
The stands behind each goal are similar, having a single tier of 2,000 blue seats split into five sections. The Karen Child Stand is where the main vocal support gathers and opposite is the away end called the Printability Stand. Both stands have standard flat roofs with glass windshields at each side.
For a new’un the ground isn’t too bad. The curved roofs on the west and east sides gives it a more unique look, which is much better than the standard made to measure stadia which have appeared over the last few years.
The ground also has the welcome sight of four thin floodlights pylons in each corner, which is an old football ground tradition that I like to see maintained.

Chesterfield's good start to the League Two campaign continued as they retained their 100% league record at their new stadium
After a lively start from the visitors, Chesterfield took a grip on the game as the half progressed, taking the lead when a Dean Morgan cross was glanced home from close range by Dwanye Mattis on 36 minutes.
The Spireites doubled their lead after an hour when Jack Lester clipped a through ball over the Lincoln defence for Craig Davies to finish from six yards out.
Ben Hutchinson halved the deficit with a late strike, converting Joe Anderson's left-wing cross. The Imps agonisingly failed to grab an equaliser, as the hosts held on and thoroughly deserved the three points.

For my latest venture I left home at 11am, arrived in Chesterfield within three hours via two lifts sandwiched by two train journeys,
I was accompanied by squad #88 and disillusioned Grimsby fan Graham Precious, who picked me up at Retford for the last leg of my trip to Derbyshire.
On arrival we parked off the Sheffield Road in the Red Lion car park, which is free to use as long as you call in for a drink. The pub serves a good selection of ales from the Old Mill Brewery in Snaith, East Yorkshire, of which I chose Blonde Bombshell(4%)****

We arrived at the stadium at around 2.30 to find that the programmes were sold out and then having the endure the real negative about the stadium, which is having to queue for tickets, before having to queue up again at the turnstile.

Special thanks to Graham for making this trip possible and helping me get home, as I very nearly missed my train at Retford. I had it in my mind that my train was due at 1747, but I was a few minutes out as it was 1744 and we pulled up outside the station at 1743.
To say I made my train with seconds to spare would be an understatement. Retford station only has two platforms, one heading north and one south, however the northern line is on the far side under the subway. I was running through the subway when I heard the train guard's whistle blow, only my desperate cries of “wayyyyttt” give me that few extra seconds to run up the stairs and board the train, greeted by three stunned looking train guards and grinning passengers who were staring at me as if to say “You lucky get!”

I’m pleased to get the two new additional grounds out of the way early in the season and after already ticking four grounds off the “Pissing against the wind 92” as I prefer to call it, I’m now find myself back at the total I was at when last season ended.

My visit to Saltergate in 2006.

Matchday stats

CFC 2(Mattis 36, Davies 62) LCFC 1(Hutchinson 88)

att.6,429

Admission £16

Programme £3

Ground no.263 B2net Stadium - Matchday Web album(19 pictures)

My Matchday - 262 Parkside

Kendal Town 1v2 Burscough
Evo-Stick League Premier Division
Monday 30th August 2010

Our Bank Holiday weekend on the north west coast finished with a trip to the Lake District, with our final stopping off point being the market town of Kendal in the South Lakeland District of Cumbria.
The town is the third largest settlement in Cumbria, behind Carlisle and Barrow and is largely known as a tourist centre, as well as a producer of pipe tobacco and snuff, but is mostly famous as the home of Kendal Mint Cake, which was accidentally discovered by Joseph Wiper during his search for a clear glacier mint.
The town was giving the nickname the Auld Grey Town because its buildings are mostly constructed with local grey limestone.
Netherfield AFC formed in 1919 when employees at the local K Shoes factory formed a football team. The club have constantly played on the same ground which was provided on land near to the factory at Parkside, the workers each paid 1d per week to fund work on the ground.
The club played in local leagues until joining the Lancashire Combination in 1945, winning the title on two occasions in 1949 and 1965 and also winning the Combination Cup twice.
In 1968 the club became a founder member of the Northern Premier League, but didn’t enjoy any success and struggled at the wrong end of the table. Due to financial restraints Netherfield had to step down to the North West Counties League Division 1 in 1982, but returned in 1987 when the Northern Premier League expanded with a second division.
In 1998 the Club changed its name to Netherfield Kendal and re-branded themselves two years later as Kendal Town to reflect it's relationship with the town.
Kendal enjoyed their most successful season for 40 years in 2005/6, winning promotion for the first time in their history to the Unibond Premier League. After missed out on automatic promotion on the last day of the season on goal difference by one single goal, Kendal Town went on to win the play-offs with a last minute goal from former manager Peter Smith against Gresley Rovers at a packed Parkside Road.
The following season long-standing friend of Kendal Town, John Richardson persuaded Preston and England football legend Sir Tom Finney to come to a home game and was offered a place at Parkside, later agreeing to become the club President.

The most striking thing about the Lakeland Radio Stadium(as it is now known) is it’s dominantly black and white. Everything has been painted to replicate the club jersey - the roofs of the stand, surrounding fences and even the rubbish bins have been toshed in black and white stripes.
The main entrance is in the corner of the car park, with an additional turnstile block further up Parkside Road beside the neighbouring graveyard.
Built in the 1920’s, the Main Stand is at the far side which has a 50p “upgrade” admission charge. The wooden framed stand has six rows of black benches and also houses the team changing rooms.
Further along towards the nearside goal is a diminutive covered stand which has two rows of black flip seats, although half the stand is currently out of use.
Next the main turnstile is a cong-iron covered paddock, which was built especially for the FA Cup tie with Grimsby Town in 1955. The open terrace continues behind the dugouts which is in front of a large grass bank.
Extra seating has been added at the top of the terrace behind the nearside goal in front of the clubhouse and the far side goal is open hard standing.
The Park Cabaret Lounge clubhouse isn’t, as you might expect, decked out with Kendal Town memorabilia, the club has a music theme with wall paintings of famous pop stars from the fifties to the nineties and vinyl records above the bar. Entry into the Park Cabaret is via a flight of stairs as the clubhouse looks down onto the ground as it is situated on the brow of the hill on Parkside Road.

Most of my Non-League career as a football spectator has been in the Northern Premier League (or to give it its new re-branded name the Evo-Stick Premier League) so I always welcome the chance to get to a ground I missed out on when Gateshead were playing at this level.
Kendal’s opponents were the Scousers from Burscough who managed to pinch the win with a last gasp goal, when the hosts looked more likely to gain victory.
Kendal lead at half time with a Danny Rowe goal in the 39th minute, taking a cross from the right, his first time shot from inside the box capped an encouraging first half display.
Burscough levelled midway in the second half when Darren Brookfield found space in the box to fire home and could have grabbed a second after hitting the crossbar with a close range shot. As Kendal pressed for a late winner, Craig Mahon fired home in the 88th minute to take all three points back to Merseyside.

Lakeland Radio Stadium is also used by Morecambe Reserves, whose new ground I visited last Saturday . The weekend also included a day in Southport on Sunday and our trip through the Lakes comprised a visit to Ulverston and the Laurel & Hardy Museum. (me and son James are huge fans)
I really enjoyed my Parkside visit. The ground is a bit hickety-pickety but has lots of character and is a friendly and pleasant experience, which makes it the ideal way to round off a Bank Holiday Monday trip to the Lake District.

Matchday stats

KFC 1(Rowe 39) BFC(Brookfield 67, Mahon 88)

att.276

admission:£8

Programme £2

Ground no.262 Parkside Road - Matchday Web album(19 pictures)