Reflections

Inter Belper  2  Aston Village  0

Midlands Regional Alliance – First Division

Admission / Programme – No / No

I’m not an especially active person, walking to the fridge and back for a beer is deemed as exercise in my book!

But, this time last year, I had this idea that I would walk to watch a game, and that game happened to be at Eyes Meadow in Duffield where Inter Belper were playing in a Midlands Regional Alliance League Cup tie. The walk from Casa Hatt is 4.2 miles and on a lovely sunny day I thoroughly enjoyed myself sat on the grass, drinking cans of fizzy stuff while watching the football.

I even walked back, the hill back to the top of Belper was hard work at times but it was a nice way to end the season, ok, it wasn’t quite my last game of the season as I went to St Johnstone the following Monday, as you clearly do when you live in Derbyshire, but it was my last Saturday of the campaign.

So, as we moved into May this time around, I’d got it into my head that I was going to call an end to the season on the 20^th May, and it just so happened to be that Inter Belper were once again at home, this time to Aston Village in a league game, and, as far as the hosts were concerned it was a game that meant something as they were going for both the First Division title and promotion.

I’ll be honest, in the run up to the game I was really looking forward it. The walk is a nice one, it takes me down the hill into Belper, then along the A6, running parallel to the River Derwent through to Milford and into Duffield itself which on a sunny Saturday was buzzing with happy punters sat outside the café’s and bars. Duffield is a nice place, Mrs H works in Duffield at the school, it’s a school that is renowned in the County for it’s outstanding exam results, and some of the pupils are children of footballers, doctor’s, solicitors etc. Thing is though, if I’m flying solo, I won’t pay Duffield prices for lager, no chance, no matter how pleasant an environment it is, so I opted for the Co-Op and some carry outs!

To access Eyes Meadow from the A6 you follow a path almost opposite the Co-Op which takes you under the railway line and out into the open spaces, which contain a lovely cricket ground, where Duffield were playing Chesterfield, and a couple of football pitches, complete with changing room block.

Arriving a bit early for the football I settled down to watch a bit of cricket, but that soon ended up being some scrolling on my phone. I actually started to look back at some of my old blogs from around the time of the pandemic starting, and the stop start situation we found ourselves in which carried on right up to the start of the 21-22 campaign.

It was quite sobering to read some of those blogs, charting the seriousness of the situation, the uncertainty, the unprecedented nature of the World we found ourselves in, but also, the not knowing how long it would take for ‘normal’ to resume.

So, sat on the grass, with can of lager in hand, I had a moment of reflection, a moment to appreciate that for two whole football seasons things have been ‘normal’ and the horrible World that was Covid 19 is now well behind us. Yes, there is a legacy, and yes, many suffered far worse than me and mine did, but something we took for granted is now back, but maybe, just maybe, we won’t take it quite so much for granted like we once did.

Inter Belper arrived on the scene a couple of years ago now, playing initially at Riddings Park, before moving to Swanwick Recreation Ground for a period, but now they are at least within walking distance of Belper itself, in Duffield. I don’t know an awful lot about the clubs short history but I seem to think they started life as a five-a-side team and it simply grew from that. Last season they won the league’s Junior Cup, and I did indeed see them win that down at Graham Street Prims ground, whereas this season they are aiming to gain promotion to the top flight, along with Hilton Harriers, Bakewell Town Development and Willington United. I actually saw them during the previous midweek in a 1-1 draw at Hilton, which itself was a close fought encounter.

Sat on the river side of the pitch, looking up and over towards Eaton Bank (where Nigel Clough lives), along with a sprinkling of spectators we saw Inter Belper grab another three points during what is a hectic May schedule thanks to a 2-0 victory.

The goals came from Isaac Caddy and Mark Wright (that brings back memories!), and even at this stage the hosts had got a further four games to play in a very short space of time to see the season to a close.

But while Inter Belper may still have got games to play, when the final whistle blew that was my season done, no last minute trips to Scotland were in the offing, I was genuinely finished. 135 games had been watched since it started on 2^nd July at Studley, and as I began the walk back along the A6 I did cast my mind back to some of the highlights.

Of course, Cornwall and Devon were superb, trips to Scotland were always great experiences and how good was it to get across the water after the enforced break and take in some games in Northern Ireland? Two specific games stand out though, the trip to Beckenham Town on a Tuesday night with Steve was a cracking night, but for me, the highlight was Berwick Rangers just before Christmas, a day that had everything.

But for a few weeks now, it’s time for a break. It’s been great to get back to blogging again, thanks for reading, thanks for the feedback, and if the good Lord spares us and the creeks don’t rise, I’ll be back again in July.

Now get out…….

 

The Social Scene

Harlow Hill  3  Bramhope  0

Harrogate & District League – Premier Division

Admission / Programme – No / No

Harrogate, I have to say I do like the place.

I’m not a huge fan of trying to navigate it in a car during rush hour to be fair, but other than that, yeah, it’s a reyt nice place, and one I have to say I’ve only ever visited infrequently.

Regular readers and patrons of my blog will recall I managed to combine a work trip with a Papa Johns Trophy game at Harrogate Town earlier in the season, which in itself was the first time I’d been back to the town for many a year. Thinking back, other than a handful of visits to Town and I think a solitary visit to the slope at Railway down in Starbeck, the only other game I’ve seen in Harrogate would have been at a school where Hampsthwaite United played when they had a spell in the West Yorkshire League.

Ironically though, as I took a left at the lights on a glorious May evening, just short of Town’s Wetherby Road ground, I recognised the pub I went in prior to the game at Hampsthwaite, and then a few hundred yards further up the road was indeed the St John Fisher School where I watched the game. Bored yet? No, ok, well if you carry on along Hookstone Road past Hornbeam Park railway station, you stumble upon Oatlands Park on your right, which when I arrived was completely devoid of any signs that a football match was meant to be taking place.

Look, this is the Harrogate League, I wouldn’t expect to see a pack of stewards two hours before kick off being briefed as to their jobs, but I though we might see some goalposts up? Anyway, undeterred, I parked on a side street and had a wander into the Oatlands pub for a liquid refreshment.

The area of Harrogate I found myself in was a very nice place to be, to the South of the town centre the housing stock looked on the expensive side, and when you have an M&S as your local shop, you know you’ve pretty much cracked it as a neighbourhood.

Suitably refreshed I thought I’d better take a gander to see if anything was going on, nothing had appeared online about the game being off or owt, so thankfully when I crossed the road I could see the goalposts being dropped into the holes, and various players from both sides milling around the dressing room areas. It was game on, so what was it like?

Well, it’s a public park, but it’s a lovely setting for a game of football. A kids play area and the dressing rooms adorn the main road side, while behind the goal to the West is a grass bank that leads up to some terraces of houses. Looking across from the dressing rooms you have houses that back up to the park, while behind the opposite goal are some trees set back from the pitch.

All very nice, but on the downside, it did look as though the pitch had been mown earlier that day, and huge piles of grass cutting were left sat on the pitch, and as much as the club tried to remove them, they had an impact on the quality of the game.

It was a league game, but the two sides were due to meet again the following Saturday in a Cup Final at Ripon City, and with Harlow Hill already having won the league, I wasn’t sure just how competitive an encounter it was going to be.

To be fair, both sides gave it a good go but the hosts always seemed to have the upper hand, especially with Bramhope finishing the game with ten men when Tom Landale saw red. Two goals from Dan Brown (no, not the author), and one from Tendai Machama saw Harlow Hill record a 3-0 victory.

A reasonable number of people rocked up to watch it, and many a dog walker passed by and spent a few minutes watching the proceedings. It was kind of one of those nights, take the dog out, watch a bit of footy, have a pint outside the pub, pick up some chips on the way home, oh yes, life is good in downtown Harrogate!

I did read an online report the following day about the game, and in it someone questioned whether Harlow Hill would be staying at Oatlands Park next season when they join the WYFL. As long as they stay in Harrogate I don’t mind, I feel I integrate into the local social scene rather well…..

Wedge

Bramhope  4  Bardsey  5

Harrogate & District League – Medal Cup Semi Final

Admission / Programme – No / No

Bloody hell, I’ll tell you what, there’s some wedge in Rugby Union!

More on that later, but let me tell you why I chose to make my first ever foray into the Harrogate & District League when I could have gone to say, Chesterfield v Notts County at Wembley, or maybe Dundee United v Ross County.

Firstly, Wembley is a ballache and the trains were on strike, and as for Dundee, well, the trains were on strike and as everyone knows, it’s almost impossible to get from Dundee to Derby on train after a game anyway, but they were on strike, so it was irrelevant anyway.

Right, Bramhope, some kind soul posted on the TK Forum recently that a number of clubs have been accepted into the West Yorkshire League for next season, and these lads were one of them. I’ll be honest though, Bramhope, nah, never heard of the place let alone the football team so I needed to do my homework.

Found the league, that was ok, found the place on the map, just North of Adel on the posh side of Leeds, not far from the airport, and as for the football club, well they played at the local rugby club. West Park Leeds RUFC, who from what I can see play in Yorkshire League 3, which given my basic knowledge of Rugby Union is I think the ninth level in England. In football terms it would be non-league Step 5, so Northern Counties East League Premier Division if we are drawing a comparison. I was, about to be a bit shocked at what I found….

So, it was game day, and to be honest I know nothing about the league, and more to the point, and I mean this most respectfully, how reliable it is and indeed the fixtures on Full Time. As a precaution I found a handbook online, sent a text to the Secretary and I have to say Eddie was extremely helpful, and also inquisitive as to my visit, so filled with confidence off I trotted to West Yorkshire.

I made the mistake earlier this season when I went to Leeds University of going through Leeds and then out up through Headingley to the North, it was an unmitigated ballache. The sat nav tried to get me to do it again but I told it to shove that and carried on up the M1 to the newly re-configured Northern Ring Road which is a much easier and quicker way to get to where the footballers and solicitors live!

I actually drove up past the home of Leeds University and within a matter of minutes I was turning into the drive of the rugby club, bloody norah, welcome to Southfork Ranch!

So you trundle down the long drive having seem the clubs name embossed into the stone wall as you enter, and then opening out in front of you is a vastness of greenery, a large car park, and the centre piece which is a massive two story building.

Ok, so you’ve got various pitches, one of which is a 4G surface and one of which is the main pitch complete with floodlight and a seated stand. But the clubhouse, wow! As you walk to the entrance the electronic doors slide open to let you in, and then taking a walk upstairs you’ve got a massive bar, offices, meeting rooms and probably a sauna room or something (I made that bit up). All of the dressing rooms are on the ground floor, but for the time being, I was very much top floor. The bar was lovely, and in it were the Bramhope players watching the Leeds United v Newcastle United game unfolding on the television. I started to think about just how much a facility like this must cost, and I can only assume an awful lot, but, just how much came centrally via the RFU?

The whole place was, as we say in Sheffield ‘reyt proper’, and it also seems that Leeds Tykes Rugby Union also share the facility as well. Anyway, I had a pint, the players departed, and I started to wonder what pitch the football might be on, so I asked the lad behind the bar and he advised me that the only place where football nets were insitu was on the 4G, but as kick off time approached a junior game was still taking place on the plastic.

Somewhat confused I had a wander down, but it was then that I spotted footballers through some trees, it appears that more pitches could be found over a brook, and it was on these that the game was taking place. I had to double back and find a crossing point but with that done, I was walking down to pitch side as the game was kicking off.

Right, where do I start with this game then?

At half time all seemed relatively calm in the hood, Bardsey (a blast from the West Yorkshire League past) had a two goal lead and despite all of Bramhope’s efforts, it looked like a Medal Competition Final place was going to elude them.

As the second half progressed, Bardsey extended their lead to 4-1 but then inexplicably while defending a corner the visitors goalkeeper took it upon himself to inflict some form of gbh on a Bramhope player and subsequently found himself at the receiving end of a red card.

This changed the game, Bardsey were forced to re-group and Bramhope sniffed an opportunity. The hosts got it back to 3-4 before Bardsey got a fifth on the break, only for Bramhope to go straight up the other end and make it 4-5. The last few minutes were somewhat chaotic as Bardsey were giving the referee all kinds of earache (which they did most of the game anyway) over his timekeeping, and Bramhope were waiting for the delivery of the kitchen sink to throw at the visitors along with everything else.

A valiant attempt by Bramhope came to nothing, but looking at the bigger picture, they look like they will be a great addition to the WYFL, a good side with an excellent base to play at.

Ironically, another of the Harrogate League members, Harlow Hill, were reported to be moving into the WYFL as well next season, along with Bramhope and indeed Bardsey. Three days later I would be heading to Harrogate, to watch Bramhope in action once again, but, more on that another day….