Mansfield 1 Russia 0

Sherwood Colliery Reserves  6  Heanor Town Reserves  1

Central Midlands League – Floodlit Cup

Options were very much limited, it was either Handsworth U21’s, or Sherwood Colliery Reserves, or Zenit St Petersburg.

I worked on the principle that I would be cutting it a bit fine to get to St Petersburg, and get a Visa, assuming I managed to set off around tea time. That would have to wait. Handsworth was a plastic pitch so that could wait until we get frosticles, which left Mansfield Woodhouse based Sherwood Colliery.

I’ve only ever been to Sherwood twice, the first time was in their debut Central Midlands League season, 2012-13, and it was against Phoenix in the August. I can remember being stood on top of the grass bank that runs down one side of the pitch, and seeing a groundhopper fall from the top to the bottom in dramatic style. It was most funny!

The second time was right at the end of the 2014-15 season when they entertained neighbouring Bilsthorpe. I seem to think that game was quite significant, maybe for the visitors, but off the top of my head I can’t recall the specifics.

One of the main reasons I’ve only ever been twice is the fact that Sherwood Colliery are relatively new to senior Saturday football. As I said previously, they moved from Sunday football in 2012 in after three seasons of relative struggle, they got switched from the North Division to the South Division. An upturn in fortunes followed and they finished 5^th 4^th and 2^nd, which was a placing that saw them promoted to Step 6 and the East Midlands Counties League for the 2018-19 season.

They finished third last season, and this time around are one of the favourites for the title and promotion to Step 5, which would be a great achievement for the young club.

As a result of moving to Step 6, an opportunity arose at the end of last season for their reserve side, who won the Division One South of the CML, to take up the place that the first team once had at Step 7. I saw them virtually claim the crown and end the hopes of nearest challengers Rowsley 86 at the end of last season, after a late win at Wirksworth Ivanhoe.

The ground at Debdale Lane has been improved over recent years and is now an impressive arena. Once into the large car park, the club house awaits. Once the pintage has been consumed it’s up the concrete path, past the dressing rooms to the pay booth. It was £3 tonight, and with both Richard Lane and Pete ‘Ken Dodd’ Watmough in the general area as I paid my admission, it was sure to be an interesting evening.

The grass bank remains, but a small area of cover sits at the bottom. On the opposite side are the dugouts and two wooden stands containing seats. Hard standing surrounds the pitch, barring the end nearest the dressing rooms, while the floodlights are an addition since my last visit. It’s tidy, and it does the job.

I spent the evening in the company of Richard (a finer gentleman you will struggle to meet) and Pete (the king of the arse biscuit), and as the game progressed we chatted away about all things local football, and of course Grantham Town who I’d visited the night before. The Gingerbreads are a club that Richard for many years was a loyal follower of.

The game was an interesting one, Heanor took the lead through Callum Jones in the 34^th minute but after half time it was one way traffic as the hosts really put the visitors to the sword. Triston Burrell and Liam West both scored twice, while Jamie York and Jordan Ingram completed the scoring.

The attendance was given as 43, which is probably on a par with what the first team was getting when they first started out on their path. Interestingly this season the first team are averaging 118, while the record crowd came at the end of the 2017-18 when a title decider against Eastwood Community attracted over 700 through the gate.

Sherwood Colliery are a club on the up, they are worth keeping an eye on, and you know what, I’m glad I didn’t take a punt on Zenit St Petersburg, apparently it was a bit on the cold side, and I wouldn’t have got home in time to pick up a couple of sherbets from the off licence!

Gingerbread

Grantham Town  0  Ashton United  4

Northern Premier League – Premier Division

It’s hard to comprehend that it’s almost thirty years since Grantham moved from their old London Road ground to the Meres.

I never went to London Road for a game, but I did have a look over the fence once in 1984 when we had a stop off on the way to watch Belper play at Spalding United. I remember that journey very well, I shared the back seat of my Dad’s car with the great Kevin Hector. I also remember my Dad talking to some of the Belper contingent about Grantham being the birthplace of one Mrs Thatcher.

I’ve been to the new ground on just three occasions, the first being an FA Trophy Quarter Final against Southport in 1998. The ground was packed with a record 3,960 spectators, and the atmosphere was pretty hostile, not least in a pub close to the ground prior to the game. I drank up quickly and left, and as I walked out of the door I distinctly remember the doorman saying to his colleague “told you he wouldn’t stay long”. A fine Grantham side at the time, containing the likes of the Harbottle’s, Dave Taylor, Dave King, Neil Glasser, Steve Sutton and Gary Mills were held to a 1-1 draw before losing the replay.

Since then, I diverted to a game against Margate around a year later after Belper’s game at Lincoln United was postponed late in the day, and then finally I had a not so Good Friday watching Belper get well beaten in 2010.

I’ll be honest, Grantham don’t get a very good press. I think it’s for two reasons. Firstly, they play at an athletics stadium, and no one really likes watching football at these kind of venues, and secondly, the fans, rightly or wrongly, have a bit of a reputation for being less than friendly.

From my own perspective, I’ve seen Grantham play home and away, and not had any problems with the fans, apart from one time when a bunch of them turned up at a Belper game after their match at Matlock had been called off. They did cause a few problems that day, with a litter bin making it’s way onto the pitch, but otherwise, no issues.

Ok, so it’s an athletics stadium, but taking that to one side, the facilities are actually very good indeed. The car park is large and spacious, while the clubhouse is large, reasonably priced, and has live football showing.

The main stand offers great views, while to either side of the stand are two steep areas of uncovered terracing. Opposite the main stand is another steep rake of covered terracing, while the curves behind each goal contain smaller areas of two-stepped terracing. Put another way, if you removed the running track and moved everything towards the pitch, no one could have anything to complain about.

The pitch is also very good, and today, after it smashed it down solidly and games were falling by the wayside, it was in fine nick and the game was never in any doubt.

The history of the club is a rich one. 

A powerful Midland League side in the Sixties and Seventies, winning it three times, they were promoted to the Southern League North Division in 1972 and promptly went on to win that.

They then had five seasons in the Premier Division, finishing runners up in the first campaign, before being relegated back to the North Division in 1978. A move to the Northern Premier League followed and that lasted six years before relegation came, but back into the second tier of the Southern League.

In 1986 the club added ‘Town’ to their name and success came in the late Nineties when they won the Southern League Midland Division and with it promotion to the Premier. Something of a yo-yo existence has followed, with two promotions, two relegations and a lateral move, seeing them now established back in the Premier Division of the NPL. It’s not been dull on the pitch at Grantham, in between the ups and downs, they’ve also lost in two Play-Off Finals.

The FA Cup has also been good to them, with the Town incarnation having played Leyton Orient at home in the First Round in 2003, while the plain old Grantham FC had numerous First Round appearances, with a best effort coming in 1974 when they lots at home to Middlesbrough in the Third Round.

Getting to the ground is pretty easy, but to be honest, it was a fairly late call to go. Grantham wasn’t even on the radar until the middle of the afternoon, but as the rain continued to fall, my plan to head over the tops to Manchester seemed very unappealing so I went for an option with back-ups relatively close by in the way of Notts County and Ilkeston Town.

I went M18 and then A1, the ground on Trent Road is less than two minutes from the A1 exit, and soon I was sat in the bar admiring all of the old programme covers that adorn the walls. Given the weather a crowd of just over 200 pitched up to watch a Grantham outfit on the fringes of the play off places take on Ashton United who were in the lower reaches of the table.

The rain had ceased but it was windy and cold so I opted to perch in the lower tier of the main stand, up against the back wall, it provided some respite from the wind, but it was certainly the first time this season that you could say Autumn has definitely arrived.

Grantham were well and truly beaten by a very useful looking Ashton outfit. Nicholas Clee opened the scoring as early as the third minute, while Conner Hughes made it 2-0 with a cracking shot less than ten minutes later.

Samuel Sheridan made it three before Michael Tweed saw red for Grantham following a rash challenge, and the evening went from bad to worse five minutes before the end when Jordan Slew made it 4-0.

I’m sure Grantham have played much better this season, and will do so again, but on tonight’s showing they were very much second best.

A disappointed crowd trooped away from the Meres (or the South Kesteven Sports Stadium as it is also known) but, after a number of years of league hopping, they are probably to some extent, glad of the stability.

Is the Conference North a possibility? Well they lost out to the very same Ashton United two years ago in a Play-Off Final that would have seen them make it for the first time, so why not? Maybe then we can no longer say the most famous thing to come out of Grantham was Margaret Thatcher……

Abandoned

Newbold Verdon  2  Northfield Emeralds  6 (abandoned 74 minutes)

Leicestershire Senior League – Division Two

I might have covered this subject matter before, but when I first started to watch Leicestershire Senior League football back in the mid Noughties, some of the games I went to were akin to a re-enactment of the Battle of Bosworth Field!

My personal favourite for a good old 22+ man battle was Ellistown, they must have been an absolute delight to play against, but, to be fair, they were also pretty good footballers as well! I once saw a game at Ellistown abandoned after two minutes, it was a bad injury that caused that, but the aftermath was very spicy indeed.

FC Braunstone Victoria were a bit lively as well, but not quite as endowed in the footballing stakes as Ellistown. They could handle themselves though, but they didn’t last long, only slightly longer than most of the players stayed on the pitch!

I was a bit vocal and probably somewhat prejudicial about the league on the Kempster Forum, and to be fair, current Fixtures Secretary Rob Campion pulled me up on it, suggesting we meet at a game for a pint, and he would show me two teams behaving themselves. Melton Mowbray and Barlestone St Giles did behave themselves that day, until mid way through the second half when the centre half sparked out the centre forward with a right hander, for no apparent reason!

I’ll be honest though, since then, I’ve been to several games in the LSL and not seen an ounce of bother, in my mind it is absolutely not a league with discipline issues on the field (if it ever was in comparison to other leagues).

So, what happened at Saturday’s game at Newbold Verdon to my mind was an isolated and out of character incident, that actually could have been avoided, so allow me to give my observations. And please, this is what I saw, and it may differ from others views.

Up until the 76^th minute we’d had a few yellow cards, but nothing noteworthy. The only thing I would have said was that the referee did have a demeanour that was perhaps suggesting it wouldn’t take much for him to react and get a little bit excited. I overheard some of the visitors team talk at half time and the manager pointed this out to his players, warning them to behave themselves as he too sensed the referee was prone to flashing a red without too much consideration.

We had a typical incident that you see countless time, player on the floor, legs get tangled, they push and shove. A few more then join in, but herein lies the problem. The incident happened very close to the touchline, and right next to it were a number of the Newbold Verdon reserve team players who had come back from their game, plus some spectators, so within seconds you had significantly more people on the pitch, involved, than ever should have been.

It did look to be calming but then I saw the visiting goalkeeper get involved and seemingly throw a punch, this resulted in further punches and an ever growing melee, at which point the referee blew his whistle and announced the game was abandoned.

Both sides then tried to get the referee to reconsider, but even then, one or two players had to be kept apart as they left the pitch. It was all a bit unsavoury, and did seem very out of character considering the way the game had been played.

My view? The referee was perhaps hasty in abandoning the game, he could have let the situation calm and dished out some cards, I overheard him say that he saw four players throw punches, but whether he could identify them is I guess a different matter.

But, if everyone who shouldn’t have been on the pitch, had stayed off the pitch, then maybe the situation wouldn’t have escalated, and maybe the referee would have found it easier to identify the culprits.

However, it is what it is, and what happens next, it’s up to the league I guess. Personally I would let the result stand, Emeralds were 6-2 up and coasting, the last fourteen minutes wouldn’t have changed the outcome.

It had been a very entertaining game up to that point. Newbold shocked the visitors, who had a 100% record, by taking a two goal lead, but two hat-tricks, courtesy of Lewis Turland and Ayrton Carter-Fell saw the Emeralds dominate proceedings and play some exciting attacking football.

I’d been for a pint in the village beforehand at Newbold Verdon’s main sponsors home, The Jubilee, where spectators from both teams were enjoying a pre-match drink, while the facilities at the Alans Way Sports Field consisted of a large sized single storey dressing room and club house, that’s shared with the cricket. The football pitch was to the right of this and was taped along two sides.

It was a shame it ended how it did, the people who are involved Newbold Verdon, Northfield Emeralds and the Leicestershire Senior League don’t deserve to have their good names tarnished by what happened in the 76^th minute.

This is 2019 you know, not 2004!

Lady Ga Ga

Parkgate  2  Skegness Town  3

Northern Counties East League – League Cup

I remember it like it was yesterday, it was February 2013 and it had been less than a year since I’d set up home with Mrs H.

It was a Tuesday and the previous night she’d not been very well, and with no sign of her getting better I left her in bed to recover. Being the caring kind of future husband, I checked in throughout the day to see she was ok, and while we weren’t seeing much improvement, she wasn’t getting any worse either.

So by the time it got to around 6pm, I was happy that she would be able to survive home alone until at least 10.30pm when I got in from football…………………

I headed over to Parkgate to watch them play Retford United, and all was calm until half time, and just after I’d blagged my way into the hospitality area, it all kicked off.

The phone rang, it was Mrs H

“Where are you, you said you’d be home by now?”

I tried to explain that as it was only half time at football, and I was going to be a good couple hours before getting home, but it wasn’t landing. It then occurred to me that she was slightly delirious, and a little bit confused having not long woken up from a nap.

This placed me in a bit of a predicament, Mrs H was going a touch doolally, but the game was delicately poised, I had a decision to make……..

Moving forward over six years, I was conscious of the fact I’d not been to Parkgate for a good while, and having noticed they’d got a League Cup tie against high flying Skegness, I thought it time to pay them a visit.

Parkgate FC are located on the edges of Rotherham in the village of Rawmarsh, a village that once had a team called Rawmarsh Welfare playing in the Sixties and Seventies in the old Yorkshire League. I know this because my old mate Steve used to play for them, albeit he was known as Kevin until he reached the legal age for playing mens football at the time!

I first went to the ground back in the late nineties to see Belper Town win an FA Cup replay, from memory I seem to recall the late great Steve Adams scored that evening, but until that night in 2013, I never went again.

Anyhow, they have a lovely set up at the Roundwood Sports Ground. You drive down a potholed path with a golf course to your left and the car park in front of you. The first thing you see is the training ground of Rotherham United and the perfectly manicured pitches, but to the right is the two storey social club with the football ground just in front of it.

The football ground consists of a tea bar and a seated stand behind the goal (more on the stand, or should I say the seats, in a moment). Round to the right the viewing area rises up, and comprises of a short area of covered terracing, and then open terracing which runs beyond the half way line before tapering out as it reaches the corner of the pitch.

It’s flat standing behind the goal at the top end, while the sides that flanks onto the RUFC facilities is inaccessible for spectators but is naturally enclosed via some conifer trees.

The pitch is something else, it really is, if you can find a better surface within a fifty mile radius in non-league football I would love to see it, it’s simply magnificent.

Right, I chose to spend the game watching from the seats behind the goal, but these were not your typical tip-up seats. Try and visualise this for a moment, when you get to a seat you normally push it down, and it turns on a clockwise axis, so when you then stand up, it flips back in the opposite direction to an upright position. Not so at Parkgate, it goes the other way, in the sense that it rotates anti-clockwise, which is fine until you move to the edge of your seat or lean forward, at which point you start to slide off! I’m sorry Parkgate, that is my ONLY criticism of your superb facilities, luckily I was sober otherwise it could have ended in tragedy!

It was a very good game, I must say. Skegness played some lovely passing football and deservedly took the lead thanks to a close range header from Gary King ten minutes before half time. The game turned on it’s head completely though early in the second period when firstly Simon Harrison and then a minute later Lewis Whitaker made it 2-1 to the hosts.

Skeggy were rattled but they found their composure and grabbed an equaliser from Joshua Nicol in the 74^th minute, and just when we thought we were heading straight to a penalty shoot out, the visitors were awarded a penalty in the 86^th minute that King put away.

Skegness looked a very good footballing side, but Parkgate also played some good stuff and showed battling qualities. I really did enjoy the game.

So, the big question? That night in February 2013, did I leave at half time as requested, or did I stay to watch the second half? I’ll leave you to think about that one, and those that know me well don’t even have to blink to know what the answer might be………………..   

Any Given Sunday

Greendale Oak  5  Langold Old Boys  1

Worksop Sunday League – First Division

This Sunday League stuff is ok you know?

After doing a cheeky little double the other week, taking in games in the Burton and Alfreton varieties, it was time to head a little bit further North and try the Worksop version.

Of course, the idea behind it was to pick up one of the grounds being used on a Saturday, without using a Saturday so to speak. Having been alerted of the fact that newcomers to the Central Midlands League, St Josephs Rockware of Worksop, were playing on the same pitch that Greendale Oak used and indeed seemingly were joint custodians of, it all made perfect sense.

St Josephs themselves were a Sunday side up until the start of the season, and having made the decision to move into Saturday football they needed a home, and that home was to be on the Sandy Lane ground that is also the home of Worksop Town Juniors. Prior to this season, it does look as though St Josephs played at a school. I suspect the sponsorship tie up with Rockware had something to do with it, as the ground is actually referred to as the Rockware Sports Ground.

Names, grounds and sponsorship aside, it was a new venue for me, despite the fact I’ve probably driven past it dozens of times as it sits just a few hundred yards further back up the road from Worksop Town’s ground, and upon arrival, via B &Q for some bulbs and batteries, I was pleasantly surprised.

Firstly, parking wasn’t easy despite there being a car park on site. Various junior games were also taking place on the Sunday morning so cars were strewn up and down Sandy Lane. Secondly, once down at pitch side, Steve and I were delighted to see that the bar was open….

When we say bar, it was 10.45am, and it was actually a tea bar, not a real bar, you would need to go down into Worksop to Wetherspoons for that, or simply get some cans and stand pitch side. We did think about it, but we’re both married and all of that, it wouldn’t have been well received…..

So, with a warm cup of coffee on a wet but muggy morning, we surveyed the scene. The adult pitch rang length ways just under the main road side, while in the centre of the arena was a protected cricket square. Beyond the cricket were a number of small sized pitches being used by the kids, while a number of portakabin style buildings sat at the side of the ground and were used as either storage or changing facilities.

A very new looking building, incomplete though, sits at the very top of the complex, adjacent to the edge of the nearby factory, and this looks like it may be a new cricket pavilion, but I couldn’t say for absolute certain what the intentions are with it.

What about the game though, between two sides who’ve started the season with two wins from two?

To be honest, Greendale Oak looked a very good side, and I’m not sure how many of them play on Saturday’s and at what level, but this was a class above what we saw the other week. The pitch was in superb condition and that clearly helped, but some of the football, and indeed the finishing was very good indeed.

After Langold had a player sent off, Greendale scored two first half goals to set them on their way, and then a further three came in the second period, one of which was akin to a Dennis Bergkamp turn and finish. Langold did pull a goal back, but to be fair, they were always second best to a very good outfit.

Chris O’Grady (not the ex Forest and Wednesday player) got one as did Nathan Sherwood, Leigh Warriner who was superb also netted one, while Daniel Wiltshire got a brace.

Is that Sunday League done for me now? Well the other week after the first two, I said one more, but now I’m looking at Barnsley next weekend, that could be quite special you know?    

 

R1R

Route One Rovers  2  Calverley United  1

Yorkshire Amateur League – Supreme Division

I wasn’t a happy bunny, along with a good number of the Calverley United contingent.

You see, clearly marked car park spaces are for parking cars in, the bits surrounding them that don’t have marked spaces, are not for parking cars. Problem is, whoever had come to watch a game at Dixons Allerton Academy which finished half an hour after the game we were at, didn’t seem to understand that concept.

Consequently a good number of us were sat in the car park for a good half an hour after today’s game finished, until those ever so considerate chaps decided to amble back to their cars and let us out.

More on that later, but lets focus on the positives of a trip to Route One Rovers, that wasn’t on the radar until a couple of weeks when I found out that they’d moved grounds.

R1R (as they will from hereon in be known), first popped up a few seasons back competing in the West Riding County Amateur League. I never saw them play because they were based at Esholt Sports Grounds, a venue I’d been to previously to watch Bradford FC in action. 

Just a few hundred yards away from the ground is the famous Woolpack Inn where Emmerdale Farm is filmed, I did have a pint, I didn’t see Amos or Mr Wilkes though, just annoying families with screeching kids. Oh I would have loved to have had access to a cattle prod, had Matt Skilbeck been around to lend me one……

R1R appeared back on the radar a couple of years ago when they applied for Step 6 status, and the word on the street was that they were looking to move to the West Riding County FA Ground in Woodlesford. I went to watch a cup final at Woodlesford to preempt it, and a very nice venue it is, but the move and the promotion simply didn’t materialise.

Anyroadup, as they say in Yorkshire, it transpired in early September that R1R had left Esholt and were now playing at a school in Bradford, and to be honest, my heart sank. I’ve been to lots of schools in Bradford to watch lots of games, but this was one I’d not been to, so, as the rules state, I had to pay them a visit.

Bradford as a City, no issues, Bradford for driving, bag of shite, simple as that. I once remarked to Steve prior to his visit to Campion that he’ll have a lovely journey, until he gets to the last three miles, and then it will be pure purgatory. He rang me when two miles away from the ground and just swore incessantly. It is that bad, especially on the West side, I hate it with a passion.

So, suitably motivated I made the journey to watch my old pals from Calverley for the third time in a month, I’ll be installed as Chairman at this rate! Anyway, it all went fine, and then once off the M606 it was it’s usual unpleasant self all the way up to the crossroads that takes you down towards Thornton. It’s a well trodden path as I’ve said, I do know it pretty well, and after initially approaching the huge campus from the wrong side I was soon in the car park and checking all was ok for the game.

It was, so I made my way back down to the main road and nipped into a pub for a pint. Certain parts of Bradford are not that easy to get a pint in, largely due to the huge Muslim populations. They don’t drink, so what’s the point of a pub? Exactly, what is the point? So you have to do your homework.

The pub I found was fine, and it kept me occupied until ten minutes before kick off, whereby I got back to the campus and found what I thought was a parking space that would see me make a quick getaway at the end.

R1R played on one of two grass pitches that are a decent walk from the car park. I have no idea who was playing on the pitch nearest the swimming pool but a decent crowd had gathered for that, for my game, it was a bit sparse on the touchline in terms of punters.

The grass was a bit on the long side, while both sides of the pitch had a ‘Respect’ tape down it. No dugouts or any furniture, just a pitch. I have no idea if refreshments could be had in the college buildings, it was too far to wander to check it out!

So, the game.

It wasn’t a bad game but the length of the grass did not help in terms of flowing football. Calverley took the lead in the first half, but R1R who had been a touch ineffective in the first period came out looking much more determined to get the points.

An equaliser came from what looked like an own goal, and then a neat turn and shot from just inside the box gave the hosts the lead, and ultimately the three points.

And then came the car park debacle, and when time and motivation permits, I will have a look to see what the game was on the other pitch that seemed to have pulled in such a crowd. But despite my annoyance and not getting home at my pre-planned time of 5.15pm, it could have been a very different story.

I was less than four miles from home, when the A38 just South of Alfreton came to a rapid stand still. I counted three fire engines, half a dozen ambulances, numerous police cars and a couple Doctors with blue lights on civilian vehicles weaving through the traffic to what was clearly a very serious incident.

After 45 minutes, we were turned round and sent back up the carriage way to the nearest junction, eventually arriving home just before 7pm.

And me, moaning about a car park, yet for someone, they may well have never got home.

There but for the grace of God go I.

Poey Is Innocent

Hemsworth Miners Welfare  5  Bottesford Town  2

Northern Counties East League – Premier Division

It appears Poey is most definitely innocent, and I know that for a fact, because the man himself told me!

Anyone who has either been to, or watched Hemsworth Miners Welfare will have seen two large flags hanging from an available vantage point, and on one of them is the line ‘Poey Is Innocent’, with ‘Fitzy Whites’ in the centre of the Cross of St George.

When you spot the flags, and you really can’t miss them, you do begin to wonder just exactly who Poey is, and what exactly he has been accused of, falsely it seems!

I spotted the flags at Staveley last week, and when I got back home I did some research, via a couple of bloggers of excellent repute who had commented on the matter. One suggested Poey had been arrested as part of the famous ‘Fitzwilliam Nine’ who rioted in July 1984 during the Miners Strike, while another suggested it was an incident at a Leeds United v Leicester City game.

Anyway, I was walking around the ground on Tuesday night when I spotted a chap climbing down a ladder having hung the flags up on the netting that stops the balls from finding their way into back gardens. I decided to have a chat.

“So, who is Poey and what is he innocent of?” I said

“Well I’m Poey, and it was a game at Luton Town, I was in the Leeds end and got nicked for supposedly throwing stuff.” came the reply, followed by

“And I was innocent.”

So that was it, from the horses mouth so to speak, now we know, and Poey then went on to sell me a raffle ticket, which I missed out on winning by just one number!

I’ve only ever been to Hemsworth the once before, it was in early May 2007, they were playing at home to champions elect Bay Athletic in the West Riding County Amateur League, and I was well impressed with the set up they had.

It was only going to be a matter of time before they progressed to the Northern Counties East League and that happened at the end of the following season. They had seven seasons in the First Division before being crowned champions in 2015-16 and with it came promotion to the Premier Division.

Since being in the top flight they’ve finished ninth, sixth and fourth last season. With three clubs being promoted to the Northern Premier League at the end of the current campaign, I would wager that Hemsworth will be very much in the mix for one of those spots.

So, it’s over 11 years since my one and only visit, it was time to have a little wander back and see what’s changed.

First things first, Hemsworth don’t actually play in Hemsworth, they play in Fitzwilliam, the birthplace of Sir Geoffrey Boycott, him who doesn’t give a toss apparently! ‘Fitzy’ is a village that sits just off the main road that links Doncaster with Wakefield. For those who can only relate to locations by football grounds, think Frickley Athletic and keep going for a bit, or, if you are coming from the other direction, think Nostell Miners Welfare, it’s not far from where they play!

With no sat nav still, it was handwritten directions, but this time I managed to cock it up and ended up taking a detour via Upton, before eventually finding my way into the large car park that seems to have been hemmed in somewhat by new build houses since I last went. The football ground sits right behind the cricket ground, where I assume Sir Geoffrey played in his youth?

The clubhouse building is very smart indeed, on two tiers, and the cafeteria is located inside the building.  The dressing rooms also form part of the impressive structure.

The ground is fully enclosed with a seated stand on the far side, right next to what I initially thought was a smaller seated stand, but that, upon further inspection turned out to be the dugouts, and very impressive dugouts they are too!

It’s tidy, it’s smart, and it’s a friendly place.  It had changed a bit since my previous visit, in terms of the stand and the floodlights, but otherwise what was already a very good set up has only been enhanced, and yes, I suspect it’s fine for promotion as well.

Hemsworth didn’t play so well at Staveley last week so I was interested to see how they fared against the visitors from Scunthorpe, and to be fair to them I thought they played very well indeed,

Declan Parker gave the hosts the lead inside two minutes with a penalty, but Mason Ellender equalised with a header before the game was ten minutes old. Seon Ripley made it two for Hemsworth after eighteen minutes, while Parker got his second and the Hemsworth third on the half hour mark.

Jason Davies made it 4-1 on the stroke of half time with a thunderbolt of a shot, while just after the break Sidney Santos waltzed through the Bottesford defence to score a fifth. You felt at this stage the hosts might go onto to get more, but with a home game on Friday night against one of the early pacesetters in Thackley, they took the foot off the gas a bit and with the last kick of the game Robbie Leaning scored a second for the visitors.

A super night, a really good set up and a very good football team managed by Wayne Benn and Andy Hayward, two men who certainly know non-league football in West Yorkshire.

And that just left Poey to take down his flags, until the next game, when they’ll be re-erected.

I can feel a Billy Joel song coming on……..