A step too far

North Ferriby United v Tranmere Rovers - 21 Mrach 2017
National League
Attendance 638

North Ferriby United                                    

1 Watson; 2 Topliss; 5 Gray; 21 Dixon; 20 Skelton; 15 Middleton; 16 Tinkler; 

14 Fallowfield (Templeton 75);  6 Emerton (Kendall 67); 25 Thompson (Cosgrove 83); 

4 Oliver

Substitutes

7 Cosgrove; 9 Templeton; 10 Kendall; 19 Cooke; 23 Douglas

Tranmere

1 Davies; 5 McNulty; 3 Ridehalgh; 8 Harris; 6 Ihiekwe; 12 Sutton; 2 Vaughan; 

24 J Hughes; 11 Jennings (Mekki 89); 9 Cook (Stockton 71); 

10 Norwood (Mangan 71)

Substitutes

7 Mekki; 13 Turner; 16 Dunn; 9 Mangan; 23 Stockton

Adults £15
OAP (over 65), Students: £8
Under 16: £4
Under 12’s admitted free if accompanied by an adult. (for National League fixtures only)

Programme £2

We are coming to the business end of the season and it has become clear that North Ferriby United are not going to escape the drop back to the National League North.  Promotion last season was brilliant and this season has had its moments but the harsh reality is it is too difficult at this level, it is a step too far.  Ferriby is a village and it is being pitched up against cities with traditional football league sides like York, Lincoln and today's visitors Tranmere.  It doesn't seem too long ago that Tranmere were on the cusp of joining the Premier League and before that playing in a League Cup final.  How the mighty have fallen.

The game started brightly with Tranmere nearly scoring in the opening minutes with Watson pulling off an excellent save to his left when seemingly unbalanced  and wrong footed.  Ferriby were getting into the game and scored first on the 12 minute mark when Gray headed home smartly from a free kick delivered in from the right hand side.

The game then descended into a scrappy period of play with Tranmere wrestling for dominance and they eventually equalised from Harris after 22 minutes.  Rovers were becoming the more dominant side and were stringing together some decent passing moves and producing another good save from Watson.

Just when it looked that they would be going into the half time break level controversy was to strike.  Rovers had a corner and when it looked like United were going to clear it from the box there was contact with a striker who went down and the penalty was awarded.  Yes “we’ve seen them given”, but it looked a little soft considering that Ferriby had what looked a stronger claim turned down earlier.  Watson managed to pull off a great save from the resulting kick but could only push the ball into the centre of the goal and Harris was the quickest to react and stroked the ball home right on half time.  The home bench and fans were clearly not happy with this and their team now had an uphill struggle to get anything from the game.

United started the second half well having another decent penalty shout turned down and attacking in numbers.  However, on 60 minutes they were caught out on the break by their opponents.  An excellent long ball was brought well under control by Norwood, albeit with more than a hint of the use of an arm, and a right footed cross was perfect for Cook to head home.  The United players appealed to the referee and linesman to no avail.

Ferriby continued to battle on gamely but Tranmere were very much in control and always seemed to have more in reserve should they need it.  For them and Harris the icing on the cake was his hat trick goal added in the final minute of four added.

Tranmere were deserved winners and a clearly a very accomplished side at this level being as good as any I have seen this season.  I thought the 0-4 score line flattered them and it is disappointing that once again the talking points revolve around decisions not going our way which is frustrating.  As a Hull City supporter I am used the perceived big club bias and am beginning to wonder if applies as far down as the National League.  Ferriby manager Steve Housham seems to think so and was clearly annoyed when interviewed by local TV.  Yes the fans do get on the officials backs but there does appear to be inconsistency in the application of the laws within games.

Match highlights video 

This is not one of my better videoing efforts; I took the wrong gloves with me and struggled to capture the 2^nd and 5^th goals.  However I will not beat myself up too much over this as I think I saw more of the key incidents than the man in the middle did.

Tranmere are a good side and I wish them well for the rest of the season.  They still could win the title but are likely to be in the play offs.  On the basis of tonight’s match I can see them being back in League 2 in the near future.

Ferriby has given it their all this season and considering the changes since their 6-1 defeat at Lincoln at the start of the season they have made a good fist of it.  If they can keep the nucleus of this side together there is no reason why they shouldn’t have a good season back in National League North and it will certainly nice to see more victories rather than a string of gallant defeats.

The nasty ones

Pontefract Collieries (Colls) v Hall Road Rangers (Rangers) – 18 March 2017

Northern Counties East League Division 1

Attendance 168

I identified Pontefract Collieries as the team to beat in the NCEL Division 1 earlier in the season and so it was proving to be.  I missed the home defeat of Hall Road Rangers back in October, a game by all accounts Rangers could have won, so I had this fixture pencilled in my diary for some time (as much as you can pencil in Google Calendar).  The alternative game was watching North Ferriby United battle for survival against Solihull Moors and friend Rick said he was fed up of seeing them lose.  I plugged Pontefract in the satnav and Rick rode shotgun for the top of the table clash 1st versus 3rd.

The satnav dropped us at the end of row of houses where there was a playing field with two teams warming up.  For just a moment I thought we must have gone wrong, but then I recognised some familiar faces.  We were in the right place, the unassuming ground was just behind.  Once inside we could see there was plenty of cover and proper seating not bleaches but the place wouldn't miss a little TLC in the summer.

The match day programme is a good quality colour one with a lot of statistics and information but no bloody staples in it.  The seemed to be no working tannoy and the whiteboard for the teams was blank so we had to quickly mark up the programme as best we could.

Admission £5.00
concessions £3.00
free for under 16s
Match day programme £1.50      







     






Hall Road had the better of the early exchanges creating a number of chances but failed to capitalise on any of them.  Perhaps they were trying just a bit too hard to force the issue at times shooting from distance and added to this the Colls goalkeeper (Ben Saynor) was impressive form.

The key moment of the first half was to come on 34 minutes when a speculative ball found Jordan Turner in space and from the edge of the penalty box he fired into the top far corner.  Phil Dobson in the Rangers goal had no chance; to save that he would need the levitation skills of Dynamo or a magic carpet!

Not surprisingly Pontefract started the brighter in the second half.  On the 50 minute mark a long throw from the right was headed dangerously into the Rangers box and Jordan Turner was on hand to score again.  That was effectively game over, but the Rangers player continued to attack in the hope of narrowing the deficit and perhaps nicking a valuable point.  As so often is the case this, together with a sapping heavy pitch, lead to gaps for the Colls to exploit.  Christopher Jackson added the third on 64 minutes (which I missed with the video camera due to being distracted by updates on Hull City and North Ferriby United).  Jordan Turner then completed his hat-trick on 75 minutes, latching onto a defensive error to face Phil Dobson one on one and the finish with great composure.

Match highlights Video

As they say, not a good day at the office, but there is much still to play for and Rangers need to get themselves back up ready for Saturday’s home game against Brigg Town.

As we were leaving a Pontefract supporter suggested that these were two of the nastiest teams in the division.  A bit harsh perhaps but there was no holding back in the tackling by either side and the referee, who didn't have an easy job out in the middle, had reason to speak to both benches during a first half altercation.  He could well have shown a red in the first half and was lenient not showing a yellow for a fairly blatant dive late in the second half.

I think Pontefract should finish champions with Rangers battling it out with Emley for the other automatic promotion spot.  It is likely to be close with the team coming 3rd having to rely on the play offs needing to make the most of home advantage.  A good entertaining game but probably more enjoyable for Colls fans and any neutrals present.

Well that escalated quickly...

Barton Town Old Boys (Swans) v Bottesford Town (Poachers) - 14 March 2017

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

Attendance 110

A Tuesday night football fix, the choice of Leicester City in the Champions League or get in the car for a live game?  Paul a friend and former work colleague and I have been meeting up at various non-league football grounds in the Yorkshire area every few weeks.  He suggested Barton Town, which was fine by me as its pretty local and one of my favourite grounds, thinking it wasn’t too far for him.  Alas Lincolnshire geography is not one of his strong points as he soon found out, the ground being 55 miles from his home on the A19!

Admission prices

Adults: £5.00
Concessions: £3.00Children (Under 18): £2.00Under 5: FREE





Match day programme £1.50

It was a lovely early spring night, dry and fairly mild, so ideal football conditions.  We have been fortunate this winter that there have been no prolonged periods of extreme weather so few matches have had to be postponed and pitches in general are bearing up fairly well.  A quick look at the playing surface showed it having a fair grass covering and a reasonable surface unlike some ‘glue pots’ I have seen.  Not bad considering that Westella ground-share here so there is double the number of games played on it.  However, appearance are deceptive as the pitch is bumpy (which is evident from the video) with some real man traps in one goal area.

 

Teamsheet courtesy of @BartonTownOB                Perfect 10 special offer

The match was not one to disappoint.  I had barely got the video camera switched on when there was early penalty area action; a Bottesford player went down after a shove resulting in a penalty kick.  This was well despatched by Reece Newell (3); Poachers 1 up.  A bad start for Barton who took a while to recover, but gradually got back into the game which was looking pretty even.  It was Bottesford though who added the second when Luke Anderson (34) was nicely played in and slotted home from a short way out.  Things were to get worse for the Swans a couple of minutes later when a good shot was excellently cleared off the line by the Barton defender, only into the path of Joshua Nicholl (36) who stroked it past the despairing blocker who tried to head it off the line from his prone position.  So Swans 0 Poachers 3 and so it was to be at half time.

Barton started the second half brightly and was to quickly get back into the game.  A Swans free kick was headed into the area towards Oliver Donald (61) who delivered a lovely cushioned header towards his owner goal but unfortunately for him past his own goalkeeper at full stretch.  We now had a game on our hands; the next goal was always going to be crucial.

Alas for Barton it was to be scored by Bottesford; Daniel Boulton (67) scoring after some scrappy play in the box.  Even at 1-4 down the Swans continued to battle on and were awarded a penalty which Thomas Waudby (76) managed to convert though the Poachers’ keeper very nearly kept it out.  In fact a lasting memory was the keeper punching his goalpost in frustration and thinking ‘boy that has got to hurt’.  Good to see that even though they were 4-2 in the lead it still mattered to him.  Indeed a great deal of commitment was shown by both sides and the tackling was a times very robust, so much so that both sides had a man sent off for getting a second yellow.  Still nothing too ‘over the top’ and neither dismissal had a significant bearing on the result.

The scoring was rounded off with great composure in the box by Daniel Boulton (81) making the final score Barton Town Old Boys 2 Bottesford Town 5.

So a disappointing result for the Swans after their recent mini recovery with relegation almost certainly three from four (Barton, Parkgate, Armthorpe and Retford).

All in all an excellent evening's entertaining with only one small gripe.  There is lots of on site parking which is great, however, there are some big potholes in parts so take care when parking!

Links

http://www.ncefl.org.uk/

http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/bartontownoldboys/

Look at me, please!!

It was Andy Warhol, the somewhat eccentric artist who is probably best known for his Campbell’s Soup tins prints, who came up with the well know quote "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes".  In many ways I guess he is right with so many so called ‘reality’ TV shows thrusting the generally talentless to the forefront of the media to then fade into obscurity in a relatively short period.  This also applies to the various ‘talent’ shows like The Voice, The X Factor and the beautiful oxymoron that is Britain’s Got Talent, which have never really thrown up much in the way of lasting superstardom.  Bizarrely some people seem to be famous for being famous and nothing else and no one knows what they do, such as the Kardashians.  I like to feel that talent and hard work are rewarded, which I think they generally are, but sometimes that’s not the case.

Being a shy and retiring sort I have avoided being recorded on film to such an extent of crossing the road if I see that Look North are recording opinion pieces in Hull.  I have never wanted to be a spokesman and if one is wanted I will go AWOL.  I take the Homer Simpson approach that volunteers are suckers; never volunteer, never own up and always make fun of people who are different.

I have had a few fleeting seconds of fame though.  I got my name in the Times and Financial Times when I passed my professional exams.  I even proved to be a winner ...albeit the crossword in Fishing News and the Sodoku in Professional Pensions both of which had small prizes and results in print, but this is hardly big league fame.

It is possible to buy a bit of fame by sponsoring some event.  I guess I could try to get my name on the Big Screen at the KCOM stadium but knowing the Allams that would be eye-wateringly expensive as no doubt match and match ball sponsorship packages.  However, if you drop down to non-league it becomes very affordable.  I sponsored the match ball at Hall Road Rangers a few weeks back for the princely sum of £25.  That gets your name on the front of the programme and an announcement over the tannoy to a crowd perhaps running into three figures.  Not only that, you get admission for two with programmes and a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich in the inner sanctum of the committee room.  Bargain indeed. 

The match I covered was an incident packed local derby ...

Hall Road Ranger 2 (1)  v  Westella VIP 5 (1)   Thursday 14 April 2016

Adam Foster 47P, 63P      Chris Spinks 5P, 60 Garry Flounders 58, Chris Short 70, Joe McFadyen 75

Attendance: 75

Exhibit A match programme and the spelled my name correctly!

This game pretty much had the lot; seven goals, four penalties and a red card, so I couldn’t have picked a better game to be associated with, just a shame about the result.

This was probably the key moment 4 minutes in when the referee gave a red as well as the obvious penalty.  Personally I though he pushed the ball well out of range and so we would have managed to cover it.

The resulting penalty was put away.

The referee then continued to gave Hall Road Rangers no favours when he gave another penalty this time for hand ball when the ball made contact from an almost point blank shot.  Harsh in my opinion.

This time the stand in goalkeeper managed to keep it out.

Hall Road Rangers managed to get on terms just before half time with a penalty of their own.

In the second half Hall Road Rangers converted their second penalty the 4th of the evening but the extra man took its toll and Westella VIP put away another 4 to run out comfortable winners.

Smile please!

It’s over a month since I posted on this blog but not through a lack of things to say.  In fact more the opposite I've been so busy since the last post I just haven’t had time.  I had a three day visit to Belgium and France with work as well as fitting in a dozen football matches, a rugby league game and an ELO concert in Leeds.  The thing is the wet winter put paid to so many games that April has been a period of catch up with some non-league teams playing Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday.   Getting to four games in five days is great but when you work doesn't leave you with much time for anything else which is evidenced by the growing pile (physically and electronically) of books, audio books and football magazines in Chez Fleming.

I've also been faffing around with things I don’t understand...

Football fans in general have a sense of humour.  Standing in the cold and wet watching another drab goalless draw you’ve got to have one.   Admittedly much of the humour is coarse and ribald, probably as a result of the working class roots of the game, and it can manifest in a number ways.  Facing defeat in another relegation dog fight may result in gallows humour in a vain attempt to stay sane.  Some supporters can with superb comic timing usually coinciding with a moment of relative hush come up with a witty comment befitting Oscar Wilde and making smart-arse jokes at the expense of the match officials is now almost obligatory.   Then there are the songs and chants; sometimes coarse and offensive but others inventive and very funny.

Taking the piss out of friends and fellow supporters is also part of the game and if you are going to give it you better be able to take it!  Over the last few weeks I have been getting my share of good natured stick, well I hope it is good natured...

A couple of years back I got a pocket video camera for Christmas, to replace one that got lost, which sort of lives in one of the bedroom drawers.  The thing is being busy and suffering from age-related forgetfulness I never seem to have it with me when I go out and end up thinking if I had brought it I could have captured the moment.  This was to change though when one evening I had the idea of taking it with me when I went to see Hall Road Rangers.  What is wrong with that?  Queue the leg pulling.  Yes it is shaky.  No I am not after a job with ITV.  Yes I am the official adopted unofficial Videographer for Hall Road Rangers but I am not going up that tower, it doesn't look safe.  In fact it looks the sort of scaffold and architrave combination beloved of cowboy plasterers which can only end in tears for the unwary.  The funny thing is I also get “did you get that” and “let’s have a look” for the same people so it is of some benefit at the lower levels.  At North Ferriby United though they have a proper professional standard camera so I didn't get mine out, well no man wants to be belittled over the size of his equipment!

Still I will shrug off the jibes and persevere with it during the next non-league season and post the results on Twitter as well as some in this blog.

Hall Road Rangers 1 (0) v Knaresborough Town 1 (0)   Tuesday 12 April 2016
Jordan Harrison 57             Will Lenehan 80

Attendance 61

Hall Road Rangers hit the bar from a free- kick.

Hall Road Rangers take the lead from the spot

Knaresborough Town equalise from a corner.

A draw was probably a fair result and the game will probably be best remembered for the language emanating from the away bench, strong stuff!

Still I will shrug off the jibes and persevere with it during the next non-league season and post the results on Twitter as well as some in this blog.

The Day I Joined the Good 'ol Boys

Getting old, sadly it comes to most of us lucky enough not to die young, which of course is sadder still.  Most of us hope for three score year and ten as a minimum, whereas only a few years ago 70 was considered a very good knock indeed.  Now most of us under 60 will be expecting to make it to 80 or beyond.  The aging population is playing havoc with pension schemes where contributions were set with say an expected post retirement life of 10 years and in a short time frame that payment commitment has doubled.  What a time to grow old in this 'vale of tears'.

I have passed 50 now and have had the day when I realised that I had probably lived over half of my allotted span and that this is probably as good as it is going to get.  All downhill from now, faculties fading and bits dropping off, I just hope my teeth hang on as long as I do.  How do we take this process?  Grow old gracefully or go all gung-ho like Iris Apfel (the 94 year old in the Citroen advertisement) and live life to max?  You're not ready and you never will be!  Well being a boring accountant I guess I will steer a path down the middle but with the occasional mad moment.

Television doesn't help; I for one am sick of the pathetic, contrived over 50s life cover adverts, so much so that if I ever met a certain professional Yorkshireman it would be a tossup whether shook his hand in awe or nutted him for being a sanctimonious git.  You can get that sort of cover for less and I hope you have BUPA cover too.  But seriously it can be frustrating getting e-mails from Saga trying to entice me on grab-a-granny cruises and the like and if after a 27 year hiatus I decided to 'get my boots out' it wouldn't be veterans now but walking football.  I am now old enough to play walking football; is there any wonder I feel like crying?

For now I will concentrate on beer and whisky and getting football fixes where I can at least until the cricket season is in full swing...

Today its 'Tales From The Riverbank' and sees Hammy (me), Roderick (Darren), GP (Rick) and the Wise old Frog (John) visiting the Good 'ol Boys of Barton Town on the south bank of the Humber.  A trip to Mississippi or Alabama would have been nice but sadly the budget doesn't stretch that far.

Barton Town Old Boys 3 (2)   Thackley AFC 1 (0)    Thursday 31 March 2016

Ashley Dexter (14, 22):         Thomas Dugdale (77)         

Jake Vernon (72)  

Attendance: 91

(Floodlight photo courtesy of Darren Norton - https://knockernortonfootball.wordpress.com/)

After last week’s race up the pyramid to National League North (which mysteriously includes Lowestoft) today we are back down to the Northern Counties East League Premier Division.

It has to be said that this nice little ground is not the easiest to find even though it is in the shadow of the Humber Bridge.  It’s down a little lane amongst houses near a railway crossing.  There is a decent size car park and pay up £5.00 and you are in and then realise that you can't actually see said bridge, it’s as if Dynamo has magic’d it away!  The Swans Review is the match day programme (£1.50) and is an excellent publication, one of the best I have seen so far. Full colour with a good mix of articles, statistics, player profiles and information amongst the necessary advertisements.  Well done, shows what can be done and is certainly a level to aspire to.

The club building is single story and pretty new, housing the changing rooms, a comfortable bar and committee rooms.  Opposite the dugout is a decent stand with seating and behind the goal to the right (south) is a 'shed' in which the Barton flag was hung and the keen lads stood.  As near as you can get to Ultras in Curva Sud in this level of non-league football and to be fair they did make some noise.  As I had come straight from work in Doncaster it was straight into the bar for something to eat.  Pie and peas.  The pie was decent enough but the mushy peas were a bit of a letdown, a small portion (I’m a growing lad) and a little watery.  I guess that this being the start of the south it is considered to be 'pea puree in pea jus' if they have gone all Jamie Oliver on us.  Still it set us up nicely for a cold night of football.

The 'Curva Sud'

The first half was a slightly odd affair with neither side creating clear cut chances from open play and Thackley for me probably just shaded it in quality of play.  It was Barton Town though who were on the score sheet with two powerful headers from Ashley Dexter who may not be the quickest of centre halves but can certainly head a ball with some force.

As with most small grounds the ball disappears out of play over some pitch side obstruction.  At North Ferriby United it may be the allotments; here it was the garden fence of some pitch side houses.  The lad assigned ball retrieval duties had to scale a 6 foot fence to get the ball.  Get the lad a stepladder chaps, health and safety and all that!

The second half was just as frantic as the first one but at least there fewer aimless punts up field.  With the ball on the ground, albeit somewhat bumpy, Barton Town exerted their dominance and Thackley seemed to run out of ideas.  Both sides scored but Thackley's was little more than a consolation goal and they never really looked like getting back into the game and taking anything from it.

This was a hard fought game between two committed teams and at the top level there would have been a flurry of cards for some of the tasty tackles.  A red one was shown for an impressive double pole-axing; no quarter is given at this level and I did note that the coach did seem to carry a tool box for some reason...

All in all an excellent evening; no doubt we will be coming back next season.

*no rye whisky was sipped or baccy chewed while producing his piece

The day I joined the Village People

Anyone who knows me will say that I am partial to a nice piece of head wear.  At football I can be seen wearing a beanie hat, Yorkshire cricket baseball cap or one of those Peruvian hats with ear covers.  For horse racing or holidays I have a nice straw hat.  At work I became rather fond of a denim tea cosy which could be shaped into a rather fetching hat in the Russian style and when we had a particularly shrill female Interim Finance Director a bump hat with attached ear defenders.  In fact I need little encouragement to put something on my head even though I have a good head of hair (for my age) albeit slightly receding at the front.

Recently I have had a hankering for a txapeldun, which is a special Basque beret.  I fear wearing a normal beret would leave me looking like a short, fat Frank Spencer.  Lets face it nobody wants people to go 'oooo Betty' when they see you.  A txapeldun is big, no outrageously big beret.  You can sometimes see them being worn in the crowd at Athletic Bilbao matches, usually by older gentlemen smoking huge cigars.  Just how big a txapeldun can be is probably best illustrated by an episode of The Goodies (from those old enough to remember them!)  In one episode entitled Kung Fu Kapers the lads introduce us the mystical ancient Lancastrian martial art of Ecky-Thump.  I seem to remember Ecky-Thump mainly consisted of men dressed in trousers with big braces, Fair Isle tank tops and ridiculously large flat caps hitting people with Rochdale black puddings (I guess a lot of acid was dropped in the late sixties and early seventies).  A man was reported to have laughed himself to death at this episode.

A txapeldun is about the size of the flat caps worn by The Goodies...

So to todays match when I popped along with John to see North Ferriby United play Stockport County in the Vanarama National League North.  North Ferriby are known as The Villagers (North Ferriby being more village than town) and so wanting them to win would make me one of the Village People!  Sadly no Native Indian headdress, police motor cycle helmet or Stetson today (and under no circumstances leather peaked cap), just a straightforward Beanie hat.

Fat man in a beanie

North Ferriby 2 (0)  Stockport County 0 (0)  Saturday 26 March 2016

Eon Visual Media Stadium

Brooksby (63), Denton (69)
Attendance: 926

The National League North is probably the top level of the part-time non-league game so is a pretty decent standard.  The next step up the National League, which is one step below the Football League, is a serious business and clubs are largely professionally run and the players full time footballers.  The National League contains a number of teams that were in the Football League in recent years and in standard is close to League 2, so think of it as League 3 (or division 5 in old money).

The ground is a decent little one, I have been here before for Hull City Reserves matches, but promotion to the next level will probably require a fair bit of investment in improvements.  Today’s opponents were an established football league side until recent years and this was reflected in the travelling support and the attendance in general of over 900 which brought some atmosphere to the match.

Admission was a reasonable £12 and the match day programme £2 although a bit lacking in content for me.

Humber Bridge in the distance

If the match is dull you can always manage a bit of train spotting










Conditions made playing decent football difficult, with a very strong, gusting wind and angled drizzle.  Much of a combative first half was spent with big punts up field and the ball in the air a lot; both sides being desperate not to concede an early advantage to the opposition.  The feeling was that both sides were above this and that hopefully if conditions would ease a bit then there was the danger of a decent game breaking out.

There were big queues at the refreshments hut but John showed great patience to come back with Bovril and a very decent steak pie.  In half time conversation I remarked to Nick that I couldn’t see a breakthrough and if the side half followed as more of the same we were set for a dire nil-nil, but Nick disagreed.  Shows what I know.

Action at the 'Allotment End'

The second half started much better and North Ferriby quickly produced a bit of a panic in the Stockport box and a goal mouth scramble (oh how we love one of those).  Then Stockport had a decent chance at the other end but headed wide.

North Ferriby broke the deadlock when a nice move was finished off with a powerful strike by Brooksby.  The lead was doubled six minutes later when Denton sprung the offside trap (though we less sure than the assistant referee) and neatly finished.  It was though just reward as he had played very well in attack despite a lot of defensive skulduggery and had produced some fine headed clearances.

Stockport redoubled their efforts to get back into the game in the remaining twenty minutes but North Ferriby used all their experience and showed great composure meaning the result was never really in doubt.

The second half made up for a poor first half and the bracing weather brought a glow to the cheeks.  Now all we needed was England to finish off Sri Lanka in the 20Twenty cricket and Roy’s lads to beat Germany in Berlin to end a great Saturday...not asking for much.

My mistress

I decided to make a conscious effort to embrace Non-League Football this season.  I go to Hull City home games as a season ticket holder, but as I rarely go to away games there are a few spare winter Saturdays that are often just a case of watching football on TV and a few pints in the local social club.  So if I am married to Hull City why not ‘play away’ with the odd mistress on the side?

My first affair was a brief one match stand with Tadcaster Albion in the NCEL Premier Division.  This looks like a cracking little set up and it was a real shame that they were so badly affected by the floods at the end of last year.

Next came two on my doorstep, Hall Road Rangers and Hull United both of NCEL Division One.  

Hull United is a newish team with big, bold ambitions but is perhaps trying to run before it can walk.  This season has been a fraught one for them and they are currently without a ground and having to play out all their home fixtures away.  I managed to catch a few of their games whilst they were playing at the KC Lightstream Stadium, home of Hull Kingston Rovers Rugby League side, but this arrangement sadly proved to be short lived despite them pulling in good attendances .  I hope they can find a suitable home ground for next season so I can catch some of their matches and at this level a nomadic existence is not sustainable financially for a long period.

Hall Road Rangers are a long established small community club running teams for both boys and girls from under 8s to adults.  2015 was a big year for them when they moved grounds from Dene Park to Haworth Park.

The first thing that struck me about Hall Road Rangers was the badge.  Football badges are a very emotive topic for some fans and whilst many of them have changed and evolved over the years it takes a brave man to suggest making a change.  Hull City changed theirs last season, much to the chagrin of many supporters, by dropping the Hull City AFC and replacing it with 1904 the year of the club’s formation.  This was part of the much argued name change and re-brand (more on this another time).  Some badges are brilliantly evocative of the club; others just plain silly as highlighted by When Saturday Comes in their weekly email.  The Hall Road Rangers badge appears to be a Mountie sat on a rearing horse.   Very bold I must say, but in short supply in North Hull where you are lucky to see a Police Community Support Officer.

I’ve been to their ground a few times now and I am starting to be recognised and people connected with the club are stopping for a chat.  Most small clubs at this level are friendly, welcoming places where it is easy to fit in so if you haven’t tried non-league football what are you waiting for.

Hall Road Rangers 6 (2)        Worsbrough Bridge Athletic 0 (0)             Thursday 17 March 2016

J Harrison (4, 90), C Harrison (13), Bennett (84), Kinsley (87), Jones (88)

Attendance: 78

Despite arriving well before kick-off I was unable to get a programme so it was immediately clear that there were more spectators than expected on a Thursday night, which is not a regular football night.  Once inside it was obvious that there were a number of visitors unconnected with either club. A number of ground hoppers had taken the opportunity to ‘tick off’ another ground/club, some coming from the other side of the Pennines which shows dedication.

The match was very entertaining and better than the score line suggested.  Hall Road went into an early lead which was doubled inside the first quarter hour.  Thereafter the game was pretty even until the final 10 minutes when the Worsbrough lads, who only had one substitute, tired.  Both sides showed neat skilful touches but were undone by over eagerness and the bumpy pitch at times.  The Worbrough team which was largely made up of youngsters acquitted themselves well but lacked a cutting edge up from.

It was a confidence boosting performance by Hall Road who like many sides has a bit of a fixture pile up with another league match on the Saturday and a cup semi-final on the following Tuesday.

Hall Road Rangers 0        Yorkshire Amateur 0      Saturday 19 March 2016

Attendance: 54

This match in comparison had plenty of incident but little by goal line action with both teams lacking composure at times, especially in the final third.  The nearest Yorkshire Amateur came to scoring was when a mix up between the Hall Road goalkeeper and defender saw the former’s clearance kick come off the latter but just go wide of the post.  In the second half Hall Road came nearest and hit the bar but generally they cancelled each other out and neither side really looked like scoring.

                               

Sadly I cannot make the cup semi-final on Tuesday, but as it is an International Break at the weekend there is every chance I’ll be seeing a bit on the side on Easter Monday.

The pitch was plastic but the football wasn’t!

Unless you live in the Gobi Desert or say Brunei (keep reading folks) you will probably be aware thatthere has been rather a lot of rain so far this winter.  There was widespread flooding either side of Christmas and some northern areas such as Carlisle and York have been particularly hard hit bringing misery to many.  As well as impacting upon business life it has also hit sport hard with Carlisle United and Tadcaster Albion’s grounds being flooded.  The sport has rallied around though and both clubs are now back up and running.  Having been to Tadcaster’s ground earlier in the season it was good to see them bounce back, it’s a nice little ground and I can recommend a visit if you are in the area.

Thankfully my home city Hull missed the flooding this time.  There was extensive flooding in 2007 but the media appeared to gloss over this, perhaps because Hull is not as photogenic as some places.  We have had a lot of rain though just how much was brought home to me on Sunday when I was walking home from the KC Lightstream Stadium.  As I walked over the bridge over Holderness Drain I noticed the water level was very high, as high as I can remember.  I must point out that this is a land drain not a sewer; even Hull got rid of open sewers many years ago and the plague cart no longer goes around shouting ‘bring out your dead’.  The carrs of Holderness are very flat and wet but thanks to extensive drainage works carried out in the 18^th Century much of the land is habitable and indeed arable farmland.  All of this water is drained away and is pumped into either the city docks or the River Humber.

The weather has played havoc with local non-league fixtures and on a number of occasions arrangements have been made to attend a game only for it to be called off.  After three such cancellations in eight days I was beginning to wonder when I would next see one.  Hall Road Ranger’s senior county cup game against Hull City was scheduled to take place on Tuesday 16 February when Hull City were playing Brighton, then it was postponed to the following night which meant I could go with Twitter pal Darren ‘Knocker’ Norton.  The rain continued to fall and on the Wednesday the pitch failed another inspection.  Then the emergency plan came into place, with the game being moved to be played on the 3G pitch at Hull City’s Bishop Burton Academy.  Home advantage would be surrendered along with admission and bar income, which are vital to non-league sides, but at least the game would be played and the fixture pile up reduced by one.  Hasty re-arrangement of plans but we had a match to go to!  I had never seen a game on an artificial surface other than on television so was curious to see how it would play out.

Hall Road Rangers 2 (1) Hull City 1 (1)

Wednesday 17 February, Bishop Burton

Attendance 77

Bishop Burton is a lovely picturesque village a few miles from Beverley and there has been an agricultural college based here for many years.  The site has developed somewhat in recent years as the education sector has become liberalised and is now the base for Hull City’s Academy. 

The rain continued to fall throughout the evening and I can confess to being the ‘wally with the brolly’ not that I was on my own amongst the hardy souls on the touchline.  This made the surface very slick and to be fair it seemed a reasonable one to play football on favouring hard, quick passes on the ground.  Yes if the ball was punted up field the bounce may not be what one may expect but would it be any truer on the ‘glue pot’ pitches that we seem happy to play on.  I for one was happily surprised to find myself forgetting about the pitch and concentrating on the game, which was a pretty decent, free flowing one belying the conditions.  Rangers had the better of the first half scoring the opener, a cracker from Darren Rookes.  They then had a chance to double the lead when they were awarded a penalty for handball but Danny Walker’s spot kick was saved by the City keeper.  Then just before the break Tyler Hamilton managed to equalise for City and Rangers were left to wonder what went wrong.

No half time whisky because I was driving but we went indoors for a warm up.  This gave chance for a bit of catching up and non-league gossip.  So much so we missed the restart and the third goal of the game when Danny Walker put Rangers ahead and that’s how it stayed.  The City team was made up of young lads who showed good levels of skill but perhaps it was greater experience and game management that got Rangers home.

So what did I conclude?  Artificial surfaces are here to stay, that there is no doubt and more are being installed.  During the week there were scare stories about the rubber compound causing cancer which is worrying and should clearly be studied and monitored, but I cannot see this having a major impact in the short term.

Having a number 3G pitches to fall back on in the region would clearly be an advantage and allow backlogs of games to be played and save pitches from being destroyed.  Whether there should be widespread digging up of grass pitches for artificial surfaces I am not sure, I think I would want to see more games in differing conditions to be sure even though my view of this game was favourable.