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…….