Closing In

Tintwistle Athletic  8  UOB Bolton Borough  0

Manchester Football League – Division One

Admission / Programme – No / No

It’s the end of May and I’m looking at what is almost certainly my last game of the season.

Match number 145 was a big one, because Tintwistle Athletic knew that if they beat UOB Bolton Borough (UOB stands for University of Bolton) then they would be promoted to the Premier Division of the Manchester Football League.

I’ve wanted to visit West Drive for a little while now, partly because I like to stay on top of the Premier Division, and for some time now that’s looked very much where Tintwistle are heading. I’ve also wanted to pay them a visit because as far as I can see, they are the highest ranked football club in Derbyshire I’ve never been to.

I didn’t have too many concerns about whether the game would be played, no way are Tintwistle not showing for a game they need to win to go up, and the visitors, well, just out of sheer sporting integrity, had to turn up, otherwise Old Altrinchamians (who were set to miss out if Tintwistle won), might have had something to say about it!

But what I hadn’t legislated for was the weather, and the heavy rain that hit the Greater Manchester area in the build up to the weekend. On Friday morning Tintwistle announced that due to waterlogging the game had been moved to the plastic at Glossopdale School, and I wasn’t overly interested in that as a venue, so that was it, my season was over, an abrupt end it seems, a blank Saturday loomed, the garage might get cleared after all!

But then, I’m sat in the orangery at Hatt Towers on Friday evening, watching the annoying pigeons copulating on the garden fence while enjoying a Carling (me, not the pigeons) when a scroll through Twitter presented an unexpected surprise.

It seemed the pitch at West Drive had dried out a bit quicker than expected, so the game was now being moved back to it’s original venue, I had a plan after all, I had to break the news to Mrs H that the garage would have to wait.

I can see exactly why Tintwistle did what they did, they had to get the game on, it was three points or bust, a postponement would have meant the game would probably never be played, so it would end up a point each, which was no good to them. Glossopdale School was booked as a precautionary measure, and in the end it wasn’t needed. 

Travelling to Tintwistle on a Bank Holiday Saturday from Belper is not the easiest of journeys, yes, it’s a very picturesque route, but the annoyance factor of cyclists, caravans, pedestrians, Bank Holiday drivers and clueless tourists meant it took well over an hour and a half to clear the 40 odd miles.

But when I did arrive at West Drive Football Centre, around 45 minutes before the 1pm kick off (FA Cup Final day and all that), I have to say I was impressed with what I found. The ground sits on the edges of a small area of housing, just off the main Manchester to Sheffield road, and once you’ve found the tight entrance, you drive down to a decent sized car park at the bottom of the facility.

The pitch itself is surrounded on all four sides by a modern plastic rail, while behind the goal, raised up from the pitch is the dressing room and clubroom facility. The tea bar, which is located in the clubroom, was prepped for a busy day, with plenty of beer, crisps and chocolate on offer, but after various requests for hot food some pies found there way out of the freezer (or someone’s freezer) and were put into a cooking receptacle, with an eta of half time announced.

One or two members of the ‘fraternity’ rocked up to watch it, including the man from Garstang who it seems had inadvertently gone to Glossopdale School, I’m sure GMPT buses looked after him accordingly!

It was as I wandered out for the game that I bumped into Tim, a chap from Stourbridge who I’ve known for years. We actually met up at Derby Singh Brothers the previous Saturday, and when we do meet, he often mentions an infamous post of mine which went on the Tony Kempster forum many years ago now, it was about the time I went to the toilet at the gentile surroundings of St Peters Park in Little Eaton, only to find someone had decided to defecate in the urinals! I have grown up since by the way…….

So we had a game, and to be honest, it was all over by half time, with the hosts racing into a 6-0 lead, while the visitors probably wished they were still in bed or something. They did get a little more organised in the second period and only conceded another two goals to leave the final score 8-0.

Star of the show for the hosts was a lad by the name of Sheriff Njie, who netted a hat-trick, he looked a very useful player, and it’ll be interesting to see how his career develops. The other goals came courtesy of a brace from Thomas Beswick, and solitary efforts from Nick Regan, Anthony Rodrigues and Thi-Reece Ienihan.

Celebrations at the final whistle, and just when I thought my season was over, I spotted one last game as I was browsing on Saturday night, an intriguing one as well, but as always, it’s late May, something could quite possibly go wrong……..