Bentinck

Quarrydale United   4   AFC Creswell   3

Nottinghamshire Senior League – Division Two North

As the morning game in the Church League was drawing to a conclusion my thoughts were turning towards where to go in the afternoon.

While the weather had not been nearly as bad as forecast, it was still raining and likely to remain that way for the rest of the day. To be fair, in the locality, hardly any games had been called off, social media was relatively active with positive news and league websites were not changing any fixtures to P-P.

Plan A was a run over to Newark to watch Fernwood Foxes, but, with that being somewhat out on a limb, I was just a bit apprehensive that if I arrived and we had a problem, I didn’t have much of a back up plan.

So, I decided to stick with general vicinity of Mansfield, and picked out two options, a game at Blidworth Welfare Reds and a game at Quarrydale United, both of which were within a few minutes of each other. The other positive was that Quarrydale was a 2.30pm kick off, whereas Blidworth was a 3pm start, so with staggered kick offs it was a less of a risk in the event that I went to the first game and we had a last minute problem. Blidworth confirmed all was ok via Twitter, while a text to Quarrydale secretary / player Jason Yates also confirmed no problems.

Roadworks at the Rufford Arms crossroads in Mansfield held me up significantly for what should have been a relatively short journey from Manor Recreation Ground to the edges of Kirkby In Ashfield, but even with that slight hiccup, I was arriving at the Bentinck Miners Welfare a good hour before the scheduled start of the game.

Firstly, we had plenty of cars in the car park and players already warming up on the pitch, so all was good to go, so what’s the story with Quarrydale United then?

They are one of the long list of clubs to have joined the Notts Senior League from the Notts & Midland Amateur Alliance, although to be fair they are one of the few new entries that I’d actually heard of. Firstly, I’ve passed the ground many times as it’s sits on the main road into Kirkby that runs from the A38, but not only that, I was aware that as a club they are blessed with one of the best junior set ups around, all of which play at the large complex at Bentinck Welfare.

I also know they had a side on a Sunday playing in the Alfreton Sunday League recently, and, I did hear on the grapevine last season that they were considering a move into the Central Midlands League, but clearly that didn’t prove to be the case.

Despite having passed the ground countless times, because it’s blocked from the main road by a high wall, I’ve never actually been able to look inside and take a view of the facilities, but I have to say I was very impressed.

Firstly, the main pitch (there are four of varying sizes) was in brilliant condition and despite all the rain it suffered from no ill effects whatsoever. So on a rainy day boys and girls, this is the place to be. They’ve got a temporary metal rail in place on the sides that permit spectators while they also have some permanent dugouts. Behind the goals is where the changing rooms are located, and just to the side of these is an area with pub style seating, where you can enjoy the food and drink on offer at the tea bar.

The tea bar came as a very welcome surprise, the sausage and bacon cobs were superb, while, and get this, a tea bar with draught beer! I told Steve, he’s on his way…..

The imposing site of the huge Bentinck Miners Welfare building at the corner of the ground dominates the area though, and apparently, it’s the last standing institution of it’s type in the wider Ashfield area. Bentinck Colliery, later to become known as Annesley-Bentinck Colliery when the two pits merged, was located South West of Kirkby and sat adjacent to the M1, it ceased production in 2000 after being privatised in 1994.

While the facilities are very impressive, what about the game? Well, firstly as the players were taking to the pitch, Jason came over to me and introduced himself, which I thought was a nice touch, although he was bemoaning the fact he was having to get his boots on due to a shortage of players!

On the field, both Quarrydale and visiting AFC Creswell were unbeaten at the start of the season, with the hosts having won two and drawn one of their three games, while the chaps from North Derbyshire had an identical record in Division Two North.

It proved to be a very entertaining game with the balance of power during proceedings swinging from one side to the other, although the bulk of the goals came in the second period as the game started to open up. It proved to be the hosts that edged it though scoring the vital seventh goal of the game and the fourth in their favour as the match moved into it’s closing stages.

For the record, Lee Butler, Daniel Fisher, Reece Martin and Harry Pride netted for Quarrydale while Paris Baldwin and a brace from Arron Darch were the men on target for Creswell.

A very good end to a busy if not somewhat wet Saturday, a Saturday that 24 hours previously looked a little precarious due to the weather.  Quarrydale United though, give them a visit, you won’t be disappointed.