The Elvis Moment

Longlevens  1 Hardwicke  1

Friendly

It was a bit of an Elvis Presley falling off the toilet in 1977 moment.

I’ll never forget the moment when we finally got notification that we could legitimately go to watch football matches again. We were sat in 5 Degrees West, a bar overlooking the docks at Falmouth, when Mrs H spotted on her phone that subject to certain guidelines, the doors were opening.

It was too late to secure any midweek football in Cornwall, but it did mean that the journey back on the Saturday could be broken up with a game somewhere.

We looked at options in Cornwall and Devon, notably a game at Elburton, but that would have meant a long haul in early evening so we scrapped that idea. A 1pm kick off at Bridgwater Town was tempting, but again, ideally when we got back in the car we’d got it into our heads that we’d prefer to be North of Bristol.

That meant venturing into Hellenic League territory, so the Twitter feeds of the likes of Cheltenham Saracens, Tytherington Rocks, Newent Town, Bourton Rovers and Moreton Rangers were scoured, but jumping out as the clear favourite was Longlevens.

Longlevens jumped out for a few reasons, it was very close to the M5, and it was located in Gloucester so eating options would be relatively plentiful. The clubs social media was excellent so we could be kept fully up to speed regarding admission and the fixture itself, bearing in mind pre-season friendlies do have a habit of falling by the wayside at the last minute!

The only issue of course would be the traffic, the plan was to depart Falmouth at 9am, and under normal circumstances we should have ample time, but, A30 and M5 on an August Saturday? Funnily enough though, I’d spotted a bit of a connection between Falmouth and Longlevens. It seems the two sides met in the FA Vase last season, and one of the Falmouth goals in the game got some exposure on social media for the players and the crowds reaction, encapsulating the passion of non-league football.

Anyway, other than a bit of a queue around Exeter, we were soon speeding up the M5 and turning off into Gloucester with plenty of time to spare to go and grab some food. Food was duly grabbed and with about three quarters of an hour to spare we were soon parked up next to the hotel that sits adjacent to the Saw Mills ground of Longlevens.

Longlevens in an area on the very North side of Gloucester, but the ground is located in an area called Barnwood which sits to the East of the City Centre very close to the M5. The area around the ground is dominated by retail and commercial units, with the aforementioned Ibis Hotel behind one goal and a telecommunications providers offices behind the other.

The club were doing things properly, it was Track & Trace on the way in and a temperature check, it seems I was coming in at 32 degrees which is a good way off the 37.5 degrees that, I quote “we’d start to get a bit nervous about!”. Admission was free by the way for the game against Gloucestershire County League (Step 7) neighbours Hardwicke.

The Longlevens story is one of recent success. Once a Gloucestershire Northern Senior League side, they moved to the County League in 2011, and going on to win it twice in 2013 and 2014. This saw them promoted to the Hellenic First Division West, which they won at the first attempt, and since then they’ve plied their trade in the Step 5 Hellenic League Premier Division. Last season was the clubs fifth at this level, and without ever challenging for honours, they’ve always been comfortable in their highest ever status.

The ground is tidy, when you come through the gates on the Saw Mills End road side, the dressing rooms and tea bar area are in front of you, with a narrow seated stand adjacent that runs down past the half way line. Otherwise it’s standing room only, and as you can imagine, the ground is quite tight due to the proximity of all that’s going on around it. The pitch was in excellent condition, and to cap a very good visit, we were treated to a competitive and entertaining game of football.

The hosts looked the better side in the early stages, playing some good stuff, although they did lack a finishing touch in the penalty area. Hardwicke on the other hand had to work hard to get a foothold in the game, and as they grew in stature they took the lead with a cracking strike late in the first half.

The second half saw numerous changes, not least from Hardwicke who looked to field a completely different team (well they all had a different kit on!), and after a considerable spell of pressure the hosts got a deserved equaliser late in the game courtesy of a close range finish.

At the final whistle we were soon away and back on the M5 in minutes, home was reached in just shy of an hour and three quarters. Longlevens had been a bonus game we hadn’t been expecting, and as a club, I’ll be honest, they weren’t even close to the radar a few weeks ago let alone on it, so much so, I didn’t even know where they were from, but from now on, they’ll always be the club that came next after the Elvis moment…..