Mildenhall Town 2 Coggeshall Town 4
Isthmian League – Division One North
“There’s no
mistake, I smell that smell, it’s that time of year again, I can taste the air,
clocks go back…..”
The opening
line from ‘Local Boy In The Photograph’ by the Stereophonics, and while the
lyrical meaning of the song means something very different, that introduction
just reminds me so much of watching football in November.
We are very
much into Autumn, the bonfires are burning and the nights are darker, and yes,
it does smell and taste very different, in fact it’s best time of the year to
be alive!
Football
today was somewhat limited, as my main list at the start of the season of clubs
to conquer was down to just four, but, none of them were at home, so attention
had to be diverted to the secondary list, which is effectively eighty or so
clubs at Steps 1 to 4 that have yet to have the pleasure of a Bobbling!
The Business Side |
Mildenhall
stood out for me, I’d never seen them play before, nor had I seen Essex based
opponents Coggeshall Town. Having driven close to the town on the way down to
Suffolk at the end of August, I reckoned I could smash it in two and a half
hours, and with a bit of luck have time for a swift one in the clubhouse.
Other than
the speed restrictions before Cambridge, and along the North edge of the City
on the A14, it was a relatively simple journey listening to the dulcet tones of
Frank Skinner, before diverting to a bit of Five Live for the egg chasing build
up. Mildenhall was reached almost bang on the time predicted and after
initially driving to the wrong entrance at the town centre based ground, I
found my way to the large public car park that the club has use of.
Mildenhall is
an interesting town, it’s the home of the huge RAF Mildenhall Air Force base,
which is largely made up of the US Air Force using it as a refuelling centre,
hence a large number of Americans residing in and around the town. However, in
early 2016, the Ministry of Defence announced that it was to be close. A
stone’s throw away is also RAF Lakenheath, which serves a similar purpose, but
here are stationed the F15 fighter wing of the US military, the boys who mean
business in other words!
Autumnal |
In terms of
sport though, football isn’t the premier pastime in the town. The town is
famous for its speedway track, located a little way out of the town, where the
Mildenhall Fen Tigers ride. To be fair, they did compete at the lowest level
last season, the National League, although they did go on to win it. In the
past though, they have competed at a higher level, without ever being one of
the big names in the sport. In a sport where teams are struggling and tracks
are closing, it’s good to see the Fen Tigers thriving.
But what
about the football club though?
Founder
members of the new First Division of the Eastern Counties League in 1988, they
won promotion to the Premier Division in 1999, where they remained until
2016-17 season whereby they won the championship for the very first time, and
with it earned promotion to the Isthmian League.
Their first
season was something of a struggle with a third bottom finish, but they
survived, whereas so far this season it’s still been tough, with the club again
sat close to the drop zone three months in.
The ground
couldn’t be closer to a town centre, and on one of those lovely Autumnal days,
a crowd of 181 turned up to watch the hosts take on a side that is owned and
funded by music star Olly Murs.
Town Centre? |
With a beer
festival in full swing in the clubhouse, I opted for the decent thing and stuck
to Carlsberg, while taking the opportunity to survey the scene. Much of the
furniture is down one side of the ground, with the dressing room block
adjoining the club house and tea bar. In front of the building is a very small
area of covered bench seating, while a separate area of covered terracing sits
further up the touchline, beyond the end of the clubhouse.
On the
opposite side is the obligatory Atcost stand filled with yellow and black
seats, while the pitch has a very smart black and yellow fence round it that
looks like a recent addition. No other cover is in place, while four floodlight
pylons provide the illumination.
It was tidy,
it was smart and it was a welcoming ground, but with the pitch having a
noticeable slope from end to end, how did the game fare?
Well, Olly’s
team got a bit of a shock when the hosts took a third minute lead through Jarid
Robson, but by half time it was all smiles for the Essex boys, who have been
promoted three times in successive seasons, when Joshua Pollard and Ross Wall
got the goals to put them into the lead.
The Atcost |
Coggeshall,
who had actually been spelt in four different ways in the clubs programme, the
correct way, plus ‘Coggershall’, ‘Coggleshall’ and ‘Cogglershall’, looked an
impressive side as the second half wore on, getting further goals from Samuel
Bantick and Thomas Monk. Mildenhall did add a second through Emmanuel
Osei-Owuso, but to be fair, there was no doubting who deserved the three
points.
Back into the
Mildenhall early evening darkness we trudged at the final whistle, I could
smell that smell, I could taste the air, it’s definitely that time of year
again, a time when football truly comes into its own.
The best time
of the year, no mistake…..
No comments:
Post a Comment