My Matchday - 367 Valerie Park

Prescot Cables 4v3 Radcliffe Borough

Evo-Stick League - First Division North

Saturday 28th September 2013

Liverpool is one of my favourite cities in the UK, but unfortunately I don’t get across to Merseyside as often as I‘d like to. The last time I was there was for Jimmy Jimmy’s 40th birthday in 2006, so I took the breadknife and the Smudgers down for a much belated visit, staying in Southport and spending Saturday in Beatleland.

As far as football was concerned I didn’t look for any particular fixtures, just the closest and most convenient club playing at home from Liverpool city centre. The team that had the privilege of my presence was Prescot, a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, approximately eight miles to the east of the city and just a short 20 minutes train journey from Lime Street. 

The name is believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon preost "priest" + cot "cot", meaning a cottage inhabited by a priest i.e. "priest-cottage". During the 18th and 19th centuries it was a major player in the watch and clock making industry which is recognised by the local Wetherspoons pub - The Watchmaker, where I had a pre-match pint. 

The primary employer in this part of Merseyside was British Insulated Wire Company which formed in 1890 before becoming BICC after merging with another company in 1945, before the site closed in the early 1990s.
The cable company is maybe one of the first examples of commercial sponsorship in football. Prescot FC formed in 1884 and made their debut in the FA Cup in 1891. The club was renamed when the directors of the Wire Works were invited to the opening ceremony of the revamped ground in 1928, after several more visits it was agreed to add the Cables suffix and donate the cost of a new stand. The club also changed the team colours to the Tiger combination as the first insulated cable drawn at the plant was covered with amber and black paper.

Prescot Cables joined the Lancashire Combination in 1927–28, taking over the record of Fleetwood who resigned after playing 22 matches. Cables finished runner-up in the Combination in three consecutive seasons from 1930–31 before joining the Cheshire League in 1933. After three years the club returned to the Lancs Combo, finally lifting the league title in 1956-57. A successful decade closed with Prescot twice reaching the first round proper of the FA Cup, going out of the competition away at Hartlepool United and Darlington.
They changed their name to Prescot Town in the 1960’s and spent the following decade in the Mid Cheshire League and the Cheshire County League, winning titles in both divisions. In 1980 changed their name back again and became founder members of the North West Counties League in 1982, winning the championship in 2002-03 and promotion to the Northern Premier League. They lost out in the play-offs in their debut season after a fifth place finish, but are currently in the Division One North section after suffering relegation in 2009.
The club is now been owned by its fans with a football committee formed from the Supporter's Club, which took over the reins of the club in the summer of 2005. 

Hope Street opened in September 1906, hosting athletics and cycling and football in the shape of Prescot Athletic. The Hope & Anchor pub was originally used for dressing rooms until a converted barn was added then after the First World War the surrounding tracks were replaced with cinder banking and fencing. The aforementioned rework saw the ground made larger in both length and width plus new turnstiles, this was followed by the gift of a new stand on the west side and a new entrance on Eaton Street.In 1930 minor improvements were made and there was little change to the ground until August 1960, when a huge fire destroyed the grandstand.
The new stand was soon built in the classic design of this era, similar in design to those at Cheltenham and the old Christie Park at Morecambe. The stand has a built up seating area with the changing rooms and clubhouse found underneath. Access is gained via staircases at the sides and front, from the standing paddock below. Nowadays the stand is decked out in plastic flip seats in a range of different colours, which looks as if they’ve been giving leftovers from various old stands. There’s an excellent clubhouse which looks out onto the pitch, which has a large bar area, a club shop stall and Soccer Saturday on the TV. 
The Hope Street end is fully terraced, forming a V-shape which is half covered and half open. The far side and top goal has a hard standing pathway with a built up grass bank which apparently you're not allowed to stand on, but that request is mostly ignored as its a good matchday viewpoint. 
Hope Street is now known as Valerie Park and is shared with AFC Liverpool from the North West Counties League. The record attendance stands at 8,122 in a match with Ashton National in 1932 and has a capacity of 3,000, with approximately 500 seats.

The Tigers were up against struggling Radcliffe Borough, who went into this game sitting bottom of the table with just one point from 7 games. The match looked to be going to the form book when Connor McCarthy met a right wing cross with a neat volley in the 13th minute - a worthy strike for the 100th goal I’ve seen so far this season.
Borough got themselves back into game on 56 minutes when a shot from Lambert was parried into the path of Chadwick for a tap in, but the home side responded immediately with a Mike Smith bullet header from close range. 
With twenty minutes remaining the match turned on its head. Radcliffe equalised when a routine back pass saw ‘keeper Nick Culkin kick fresh air to allow Caldon Henson to slot home, then from the restart Cables instantly lost possession and the same play was allowed time and space to fire his team into a 3-2 lead.
Just as it was beginning to look as if the visitors were about to register a first league win of the season, a defensive mistake allowed Robert Doran to capitalise on a misjudged back-pass to make it all square. Then with time running out a cracking second half was rounded off with a peach of a strike from Enzo Benn firing in a first time effort from twenty-odd yards to make it a purr...fect result for The Tigers.

I had a great time at Valerie Park and on the whole a fabulous day in Liverpool. My personal experience of previous visits to Merseyside is the friendliness of the locals. Everyone who spoke to me at the match acted as if they’ve knew me for years, which makes a refreshing change from  - ‘who’s that daft bugger with the camera’  - which I’ve experienced in some other parts of the country. Apart from the ground tick I also marked off five new ‘Spoons(3 in Liverpool, Prescot and Bishop Auckland on the way home) found some great record shops and introduced the bairns to The Cavern, which apart from watching football, its the most enjoyable place where you can spend a Saturday afternoon. 
Cheers Liverpool, it was another good'un! I promise it wouldn’t be so long until our next visit!

Matchday Stats
PCFC 4(McCarthy 13 Smith 58 Doran 78 Benn 88) RBFC 3(Chadwick 57 Henson 71,72)
Att.175
Admission £7
Programme £2

Ground no.367 Valerie Park - Matchday web album (31 pictures)

Around The Alliance - part eight

359. Oakford Park
Wallington 1v2 Walker Cental
Northern Alliance Premier Division
Saturday 24th August 2013

Wallington FC was first established in 1877, making their competitive bow in the Border League in the 1890s and winning their first trophy in 1901. They joined the Coquetdale League after the Second World War and were fairly successful in the 1960s, which lead to progression to the Northern Alliance in 1965. The club left the league in 1982 but rejoined in 1995, winning the Second Division in 2001-02 and last season the First Division title.

Wallington are based in Scots’ Gap which is located 11 miles west of Morpeth in Northumberland. I travelled to the match in my car up the A696, but I can imagine this ground would be a bugger to get to on public transport. The ground is hidden in the corner of a small residential street call Oakford, the park tucked in the far corner behind the garages.
The club facilities and changing rooms are found at the entrance with car parking allowed off the near side of the pitch. The dugouts are also on this side and the ground is enclosed by hedges and foliage on two sides.

Wallington hosted Walker Central, suffering a narrow defeat after gifting their opponents an early goal and conceding a late winner. Ben Fenwick was the unfortunate defender whose attempted volleyed clearance ended up going in the opposite direction and over the despairing ‘keeper’s head to gave Walker an early lead. Josh Gilmartin equalised just before the half hour mark, managing to stay onside before producing a good finish, firing inside the far post. 

The home side wasted some good chances, especially the big number nine up front, who should have giving his team a comfortable lead, missing good opportunities each side of half time. The second 45 didn’t live up to the entertainment of the first period and a draw looked on the cards until the closing stages, when a great move and interchange of passes cumulated in Phil McCoy fired home from the edge of the box to bag the points for Walker.

Matchday Stats
WFC 1(Gilmartin 27)WCFC 2(FenwickOG 6 McCoy 90)
Att.20(HC)
Admission and programme:none

363. Kingston Park Road

Red House Farm 3v2 Blyth Town

Northern Alliance Premier Division

Wednesday 28th August 2013

Red House Farm FC was formed in 1990 as a junior club, quickly developing 2 teams into local leagues for the 1991-92 season. They’ve established themselves as one of the top clubs in the area with over 300 players playing between the ages of 6 and 19. The senior side joined the Northern Alliance in 2010-11, finishing Second Division runners-up the following season and achieved back-to-back promotions when finishing in second place behind Wallington last term. 

The junior sides used Regent Farm school, Broadway West Playing Fields and in 2003 moved just next door to Kingston Park Road, located in between Gosforth High Street and Kingston Park.
The ground has benefited from major investment, with the local authority supplying funds for the installation of sand based drainage system into the pitches. After gaining planning permission the club successfully gained a grant from the Football Foundation and the Arts & Trust Council to enable the the building of the clubhouse and changing room block. The work commenced in June 2007 and opened in January the following year. The total cost of the building and pitch work was £612,000 and as part of the grant application the club have gained Charitable Status and FA Charter Standard Status.
The ground is fenced off from the other pitches with a pair of perspex dugouts in a blue frame, furnished with matching blue school desk seats. 

Just as the match was about to kick-off I saw some familiar faces. I noticed the referee was the same official as last Saturday’s attended game at Wallington (I spoke to him at half-time and told him I wasn’t stalking him) and also Squad #138 Lee Stewart and future 100FgC ‘A’ listed Katie Wallace turned up just in the nick of time, after getting lost on route travelling up from County Durham on public transport.

Red House Farm got off to a great start against Blyth Town taking a sixth minute lead when a direct free kick from the edge of the box was well saved, only for to ball to fall kindly to Brady to net the rebound. The lead only lasted five minutes as Morien was on hand to fire home, after a wayward shot fell into his path to draw Town level. Soulsby regained the advantage when he fired in from close range after 33 minutes, only for the half to finish all square when a right wing cross was deflected past the ‘keeper for an OG on the stroke of half time.
In similar fashion to my previous Northern Alliance fixture the second half wasn’t as good but again the match was decided with a late goal, when Sheeran was on hand to convert a right wing cross to claim all three points for Red House Farm.

Matchday Stats
RHFFC 3(Brady 6 Soulsby 33 Sheeran 88) BTFC 2(Morien 11 OG 45)
Att.45(HC)
Admission and programme: none







366. Chopwell Welfare Park
Chopwell 5v4 High Howdon SC
Bluefin Group Amateur Cup round 1
Saturday 21st September 2013

Chopwell is a village on the edge of the county of Tyne and Wear and the metropolitan borough of Gateshead and before 1974 was part of the administrative County of Durham. Chopwell Colliery was first sank in 1781 and closed in November 1966, employing over 2,000 people at its peak. The village is locally known as “Little Moscow” because of its historical strong support for the Communist Party. During the 1926 General Strike the Union Jack flag was replaced with the hammer and sickle of The Red Banner at the council offices and the village still has streets named after both Marx and Lenin.

Chopwell Top Club originally appeared in the Northern Alliance in 1999 winning two promotions to reach the Premier Division in 2003. The club were relegated the following season and in 2007 changed their name to Chopwell Officials Club. The 2010-11 was a difficult season in the Alliance with Chopwell one of four clubs resigning from the league mid season, having their league record expunged. Last season the club remerged as plain Chopwell FC playing in the Tyneside Amateur League and were accepted back into the fold this season.

I was pleased to see Chopwell return to the Northern Alliance as it gave me a chance to revisit the village for the first time since 1982. Back in my painter & decorating days,* one of my first jobs was painting the interior of the local community centre, taking the long trek up to Chopwell on the X42 bus from the old Marlborough Station in Newcastle. 
On my arrival I had a quick look around and not much has changed. The community centre is still there in the main street but it was disappointing to see ‘The Chopwell’ pub closed down and boarded up. The football ground is found at the end of the aforementioned Communist named terraces, at the top of Chopwell Park, which provides panoramic views across to Consett. The park also has a bowling green and a cricket pitch, the pavilion used as changing rooms for the footballers. The ground is fully fenced off with a brick uncovered dugout at each side and is enclosed by the nearby Chopwell Woods.
(*This is my actual trade. Available for work. Good rates)

The second division cup tie with High Howdon turned out to be a cracker, but as we approached the interval with the game still goalless little did we know what was in store. The visitors  finished the first half strongly but it was the hosts who took the lead on the stroke of half time,  when a right wing cross was nodded back into the path of John Meadows who had plenty of time to round the ‘keeper and run the ball into the empty net.  Derek Waters doubled their lead from the penalty spot on 54 minutes, but Howdon hit back almost immediately through Nick Mcdonald. The two goal cushion was restored ten minutes later when Ryan Lowes got on the end of a left wing cross to fire home from six yards and with their opponents reduced to ten men after Black’s second yellow card it looked game over.

The ten men finished the game strongly with Jason Walsh running onto a through ball to fire a first time shot into the far corner on 81 minutes, then a cracking shot from the edge of the box from Nick Mallen with four minutes remaining sent the game into extra-time.

With the team dugouts being on opposite sides of the pitch I had to wander between the two to find out the goalscorers names. When I enquired about who was sent off, one of the Howdon players turned and said “It’s f**king me!” before he confessed his name.

High Howdon took the lead for the first time in the tie through substitute Ryan Errington, who beat the offside trap to run through and score just before the end of the first period of extra-time. Two minutes after the turn around Waters scored his second penalty of the game and just as it was looking like we were in for more spot kicks, substitute Stuart Rook latched onto a through ball to fire home his left foot shot to book Chopwell a place in the next round.

I met a fellow groundhopper called Brian at the game, a big Northern Alliance fan from Middlesbrough, who is also into Welsh football and supports Plymouth Argyle. Everyone on the Chopwell bench made us welcome and after the game we were invited into the clubhouse for a bite to eat, which we unfortunately had to decline as I was going out on Saturday night and Brian had to catch his first of two buses back to Boro. A fantastic game and overall a great afternoon in Chopwell, so good that I’ll make sure that it won’t be three decades before my next return.

Matchday Stats
CFC 5(Meadows 45 Waters 54pen 107pen Lowes 81 Rook 118)
HHSC 4(McDonald 56 Walsh 81 Mallen 86 Errington 105)
Att.27(HC)
Admission and programme:none

My Matchday - 365 Westfield Lane

Frickley Athletic 4v1 Sheffield
FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
Saturday 14th September 2013

Frickley Athletic is a club I’ve been looking forward to visiting for ages as it’s a destination that throws up a lot of opinions. Throughout the years people have asked me - Have you been to Frickley yet? Off the top of my head I can remember that question being followed by these quotes;

“You haven’t lived until you’ve been to Frickley” (Rob Urwin 100FgC Squad#42) 

‘You’re in for a treat’ (Rev.Nick Percival 100FgC Squad#3)

A dump – I wouldn’t like to go to a night match there. (Harry Watson 100FgC Squad#54)

‘In my top 3 grounds of all time - love the place’ (Rob Waite 100FgC  ‘A’Squad)

“It’s a f**king shithole” (Tony Carter, Heed fan)

So I took these mixed comments on board before making my own judgement, as I travelled down for Frickley Athletic’s FA Cup First Qualifying Round tie with Yorkshire rivals Sheffield.

The club play in the small town and civil parish of South Elmsall in the City of Wakefield. The town is close to the southern boundary of West Yorkshire, and just one mile from the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster with a population of just over 6,000.

The town is most famous for its coal-mining tradition, being the site of one of the largest collieries in the whole country, named after the nearby village of Frickley. The colliery was the scene of major disturbances during the Miners’ Strike between 1984 and ‘85. It was one of the last pits to return to work as it was picketed by a group of hardliners from Kent who continued their demonstration after the NUM called off the strike, with the Frickley miners refusing to cross the picket line. The colliery finally closed on the 26th November 1993 following on from closures of four neighbouring pits which turned this part of Yorkshire into one of the most depressed areas, not just in this country, but in the whole European Union.

Frickley Colliery F.C. formed in 1910, initially playing in the Sheffield Association League before joining the Yorkshire League in 1922. After finishing league runner-up in their second season they joined the Midland League, playing in the same division until the league disbanded in 1960. The club spent the entire 1960s in the Cheshire County League, the only Yorkshire side to ever play in the competition, until returning to the Midland League in 1970.

Frickley changed their name in 1976, changing the suffix to Athletic as they joined the Northern Premier League. The Blues played at the highest level of Non-League football, spending seven seasons in the Alliance (Football Conference) finishing league runners-up to Enfield in 1985–86, before suffering relegation the following season. They have played in the Northern Premier League Premier Division ever since, finishing second in 2005-06 and the only trophy they’ve ever lifted is the Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup, although they have won it on twelve occasions and are the current holders.

The club’s best performance in the FA Cup was reaching the third round in season 1985–86, beating Hartlepool United away before going out of the competition to Rotherham United 3-1 at home. The Millers also knocked Frickley out of the Cup in the first round back in 1971, but needed a replay after a record attendance of 6,500 witnessed a 2-2 draw against the League club.

The Welfare Ground for the benefit of the Colliery workers was laid out in 1925, with the Main Stand built the following year during the miners’ strike. The stand was damaged in February 1991 when a floodlight crashed through the roof after a storm, both being replaced by the end of that year. The stand has 490 blue bench seats, with a separate section of red flip seats for club officials at the front. Access is gained at the front of the stand with a steep staircase from the front terrace which has blue crash barriers. The dugouts are separated by a caged tunnel which leads to the changing rooms underneath the stand. At one side of the stand are the turnstiles, Big Fellas Social Club and at the opposite side there’s Big Fellas Snack Bar.

After the war a terrace was added opposite the stand and during the 1960s the ground was regularly updated with 3,000 miners paying a weekly shilling in welfare towards its maintenance. This additional revenue financed the addition of new terracing and fencing. The far side terrace is called The Frank Hill Stand. The sections of the roof are knitted together, giving shelter between the 18 yard boxes. There’s open hard standing behind each goal with a disabled enclosure next to the club shop on the left hand side. The ground is now known as the JJ Leisure Stadium and has an overall capacity of 2,087.

The club will benefit from a substantial redevelopment plan as part of the Westfield Lane Improvement Area scheme. The £17m regeneration of the former colliery site includes new houses, football pitches for South Elmsall United Juniors and new changing room block and car park for the football club.

 Frickley started the cup tie on the front foot with a Gavin Allott header hitting the post in the fifth minute. Jake Picton soon put them ahead when he picked up a through ball on the right and swept the ball past the keeper from the edge of the box after 12 minutes. The lead was brief as the visitors kicking upwards towards the one man and his drum hit back, when Ben Algar rifled in a shot from 20 yards inside the ‘keepers right hand post. After two quality goals the best of the lot came from Luke Hinsley, he shot the Blues back into the lead with a terrific half volley from outside the box.

The hosts booked their place in the next round with Picton scoring two identical second half goals. He was on hand to net the rebound after the initial shot from Fox was parried into his path on 57 minutes, then he was again on cue when Annerson saved an Allot effort which completed his hat-trick after 78 minutes. The second half wasn’t as one sided as it appeared as Tom Woodhead produced some top draw saves to prevent Sheffield from getting back into the tie. Overall a good game with some great goals, capped off by an outstanding performance from Jake Picton.

Before this season began I looked into possible grounds which can be easily done within reach of Doncaster Rail Station, as my closest uncharted grounds get further away, now heading out towards west and south Yorkshire. I can do my shift at work and make the 1225 train which arrives in Doncaster at 1350, so for this trip I even had time for a pint before catching the 1426 Leeds train which stops at South Elmsall within 15 minutes. The ground is a ten minute walk from the station so the journey was timed to perfection. It was nice to meet up with Squad #26 Alan Price who had secretly travelled down on a different train. He suggested we walk up the spoil tip to take an aerial view of the ground after the game and it’s from this viewpoint that you can see what a cracking little ground Westfield Lane is.

At the top of this post I stated previous visitors thoughts on this club and now that I’ve ticked the ground off I can now form my own opinion, so next time I’m asked “Have you done Frickley yet?” I can reply with “Aye, I have and it’s a classic non-league ground that you must visit” 

Matchday Stats
FAFC 4(Picton 12 57 78 Hinsley 18) SFC 1(Ben Algar 14)
Att.222
Admission £9
Programme £1

Ground no.365 Westfield Lane - Matchday Web album (34 pictures)

Revisiting Netherdale

On route to the Vale of Leithen v Edinburgh City fixture last Saturday I stopped off in Galashields to take some photographs of Netherdale, a ground I visited ten years ago.
The stadium has a capacity of around 2,000 and since my initial visit has vastly improved with the stand refurbished, new dugouts and a 3G playing surface.  The 500 seated capacity main stand was opened in 1964 and designed by the renowned British architect Peter Wormsley. The largest stand in this part of Scotland is locally known as “the San Siro of the Borders.” and was recognised in December 2006 with a 'B listing' award by Historic Scotland.

The match I attended in 2003 was a pre-season friendly between a Border Amateurs select side and a Newcastle United eleven. My only recollections of this bright summer evening were;

•  Spending a lot of time in the clubhouse bar before the game.
•  A lot of late goals including a hat-trick from Bradley Orr.
•  A wee gentleman with blonde hair stopping for a chat and then suddenly realising that I was actually taking to former United striker and Hearts legend John Robertson.

Revisited(photographs only) on Saturday 7th September 2013
Matchday Stats
Originally visited Thursday 14th August 2003
Ground no.97 Netherdale
Border Amateurs 1(Blacklock 86)
Newcastle United XI 6(Zola 55 Brittain 57,74 Orr 59,88,89)
att.200.apx
Programme £1

Revisiting Netherdale Web album (17 pictures)

My Matchday - 364 Victoria Park

Vale of Leithen 1v2 Edinburgh City
Scottish Lowland Football League
Saturday 7th September 2013

Even though it’s Non-League Day my original plans for this weekend were in the Football League and the long slog down to Newport to re-complete The 92, but yet again the Newport curse struck for a third time and the trip was cancelled.(That’s a story for another day...ie when I finally get there)  I studied the fixtures on Thursday night for an alternative, looking through the FA Vase ties and the various leagues in northern England before deciding to drive in the opposite direction, up to the Scottish borders for my first match in the new Lowland League at Vale of Leithen.

The club play in the Civil Parish and small town of Innerleithen in the county of Peeblesshire in the committee area of Tweeddale. The name "Innerleithen" comes from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "confluence of the Leithen" as it’s  here that the river joins the Tweed. The town forms a T-shape at the top of the valley of Leithen and east-west along the north bank of the Tweed. The town is  surrounded by the scenic setting of  Caerlee Hill, Windy Knowe, Plora Craig, Pirn Craig(know locally as ‘Rocky’) and to the north the highest peak of Lee Pen(502m)

Innerleithen is said to have been founded by St Ronan, an itinerant pilgrim monk who came to the town via the Tweed in a coracle in A.D.737. Legend has it, that he protected the town from the devil  "St. Ronan Cleik't the Deil by the hind leg and banished him" The saint is a major figure in Innerleithen folklore, with streets and landmarks named after him throughout the town. The football club badge features an image of St Ronan in his boat, to portray the sojourn through life. The crest also features the club motto ‘Keep Faith’ (see Matchday Stats)

Vale of Leithen are one of the oldest clubs in the Borders, formed in 1891 before becoming full members of the Scottish FA in 1897. They were originally called Leithen Vale (be it for only two games) and played matches at Caddon Park until moving to their current home in 1922.
The club have this year became one of the twelve  founder members of the Lowland football League as part of the reconstruction of the Scottish league system. They were East of Scotland League Champions on four occasions in 1924-21,1977-78,1978-79 and 1986-87 and have added an array of cup honours, having enjoyed the most  success with seven  Kings Cup wins and lifting the Border Cup a dozen times.

Victoria Park has one covered stand which is three steps of terracing, split by the players tunnel which leads to the pavilion at the rear. The stand has brick walls, with a gravel floor, con-iron roof and steel supports with the team dugouts housed at the front. The structure has a chequered history since it was first built in 1963. The stand  originally had 268 seats until a spate of vandalism in the early 1970s lead to the seats being removed entirely. In 1975 the council ordered that the back wall needed replacing due to safety reasons, but when the wall was half dismantled a gale blew the roof off so it had to be completely removed for scrap. The new roof was put in place in 1987 but the stand remains a standing enclosure, so Victoria Park still has no seating arrangement.
The original pavilion was destroyed in a fire in August 1974, so everything the club owned was lost including the club records and minute books. The new building opened in 1976, financed by the Scottish Sports Council, an SFA grant and a share of Scotland’s 1974 World Cup handout. The building has ample space for changing rooms, committee room, toilets and a kitchen.
The rest of the ground is open but at the far side there’s a couple of cheeky wooden crash barriers facing the halfway line. The record attendance stands at 3,700 for a Scottish Cup tie with Hearts in January 1962.

Vale are the early pace setters in the Lowland League debut season, going into this home game with Edinburgh City sitting top of the pile with four wins and two draws. The first half of the match was pretty even, but littered with niggling fouls with the patient referee having to show  four yellow cards before half time. I don’t know what was said at the interval but the hosts were terrible in the second half. The restart began with a torrential rain shower, then once the sun reappeared the Citizens struck twice with Ian McFarland latching onto a through ball to fire home from a tight angle then minutes later Peter Stenhouse doubled their lead with a fine individual effort.
The league leaders chances of maintaining their unbeaten start never looked likely as the visitors comfortably seen out the last 30 minutes and created plenty more chances to add to their tally. Deep into injury time Eddie Mearns reduced the arrears when his header from the edge of the box looped over the keeper to half the deficit, but that was the best they could muster and City easily held onto the three points.

Before I left home I sat in my room and drew up a plan, which entailed - driving up to Galashields to take some snaps of Netherdale for the website and tick off the local Wetherspoons, before heading onward to Innerleithen for the game. Everything went exactly to plan so I  arrived at 215pm, but was somewhat alarmed by the lack of activity at the ground, until I realised I was in the Leithen Rovers AFC car park and Victoria Park was at the bottom end of their pitch. I received a warm welcome from the two auld fellows at the paying entrance, who sought me a pin badge and then when I needed a cuppa before the match, the woman in the refreshment room wouldn’t take a penny for the coffee, milk and two sugars. I don’t like driving too far a distance when I’m alone but the journey home was tops. I was able to tune into Radio Newcastle once I got to Carters Bar so I got all the local non-league scores followed by top music show Beat Surrender, so I enjoyed the drive home so overall a canny day out in the south of Scotland, when I should have been in the south of Wales instead.

Matchday Stats
VOLFC 1(Mearns 90+2)ECFC 2(McFarland 55 Stenhouse 59)
Att.90(HC)
Admission £5
Programme £1

Ground no.364 Victoria Park - Matchday Web album (25 pictures)