Silsden AFC 1v2 Bridlington Town
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Saturday 17th August 2013
The draw for the extra preliminary round of the FA Cup failed
to throw up any decent games involving my local clubs, as I was hoping to see
the likes of Dunston get a good draw at a previously unexplored ground. So
after careful consideration of over one hundred cup ties, I made an easy choice
by choosing the Yorkshire derby between Silsden AFC and Bridlington Town with a
Wetherspoons tour of Leeds added to my matchday experience.
I arrived in Leeds just before 11am and started the morning
browsing the city’s record stores, namely Jumbo Records, Crash and
my personal favourite Relic found at
the top of New Briggate. Once the clock hit noon it was time for my ‘Spoons
tour to start, beginning at the ‘Stick or Twist’ followed by ‘Hedley Verity’
‘Cuthbert Brodrick’ and finally ‘Beckett’s Bank’ with the first pub providing the
best pint of the day – Ilkley’ Summer’(4%) which I awarded 9/10.
After a decent bevvy I caught the 1356 Skipton train, alighting at Steeton
& Silsden station, which is about half a mile from the ground, found on the
other side of the River Aire.
The original
Silsden AFC formed in September 1904, playing on the same ground as the current
team. There have been many sides that have used the club name, with a lot
of stopping and starting over the years, although in general the town has seen
a lot of local success in this particular area of Yorkshire.
The current set up have played since 1996 and have rapidly
rising to the North West Counties League in just eight years. The club started
life in the Craven & District League, progressing from Division Two to its
Premier Division, which they won with an unbeaten record in 1998/99. They
joined the West Riding County Amateur League 2nd Division the following season
and progressed through the leagues, including another undefeated title winning
season in 2002/2003. The following season they won the West Riding County
Challenge Cup for the third years on the spin, one of only two teams to achieve
this feat. The Cobbeydalers joined the North West Counties League in 2004 and
won promotion to the top division in their debut season, finishing runners up
to runaway winners Cammell Laird.
The club played their original North West Counties League
home games at Cougar Park, home of the rugby league club Keighley Cougars,
while the junior section continued to play at Keighley Road. I actually
attempted to see the club play one of their last remaining fixtures at the
ground in March 2010, but the game I was due to attend was hastily rearranged
so I ended up redirected myself to Halifax instead.
The Keighley
Road ground was upgraded during the 2009-10 season, made possible through the hard
work of the club committee with the assistance of the Football Foundation,
Sports England and the Asda Foundation, plus local businesses and sponsorship.
The ground
is set in the heart of the Yorkshire countryside, with views of the hills of
the Aire Valley, the sound of cattle in the distance and the distinct aroma of
manure in the air. (Especially in the windy second half..Eddy)
You enter the ground next to the cricket pitch, where rain
had stopped play with the home side on 36-3. At the paying entrance I sharply
parted with ten and a half quid, for admission, programme, pin badge and a
golden goal ticket. I’ve always liked these tickets and it’s a shame they’re a
rarity nowadays, as I much prefer them to a raffle because at least it gives
you an extra interest in the match.
On entering
the ground, to your right is the £1.2m clubhouse which opened in May 2009. The
building has a bar & function room and houses nine changing rooms for the
football and cricket teams, as well as match officials and treatment staff.
The McNulty
Stand is next to the admission entrance and has three rows of black benches
with a green and white outer frame. The refreshment bar is in the centre, parallel to the
halfway line next to a diminutive covered stand which has four rows of terrace steps.
The other three sides are open standing with the team dugouts on the opposite
side and six separate floodlight pylons. The work was completed and the ground
officially opened in August 2010. The record attendance against non-league
opposition is 242, however the ground has witnessed a four figure gate when
1,125 saw the pre-season friendly with Bradford City in July 2011.
From the start of this season the name of the ground has
changed to Angel Telecom Stadium following a five-year sponsor package with the
Bradford-based telecommunications company, although for traditional purposes I’ll
stick to Keighley Road.
Brid were gifted an early lead when a routine back pass saw ‘keeper
Ed Hall kick fresh air which allowed Scott Phillips to nip in and slide the
ball into the empty net from a tight angle in the 14th minute (Bugger!
I had 11 in the golden goal) The visitors first half superiority saw the lead
doubled when a left wing cross picked out Joel Scott who fired home from the edge
of the box, however the half may have had a different complexion if a strong
penalty shout from the home side had gone in their favour.
Silsden made a decent fist of it in the second half,
although the torrential rain and swirling wind didn’t help their cause. Several
times they beat the offside trap but were unable to seriously test the goalie.
When the goal did arrive it came out of the blue. A cross from the left saw Chris Wademan rise up above the defender and his header found the top corner of the net. The
equaliser never looked likely and their misery was complete when Stephen Throup
was sent off for a professional foul deep into injury time.
SAFC 1(Wademan 81)BTFC 2(Phillips 14 Sutton 37)
att.101
Admission £5
Programme £1
Ground no.358 Keighley Road - Matchday Web album (25 pictures)
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