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March 2020

Posted in Uncategorized | April 3rd, 2020

Dad stomped in, all grumpy and sore,

He stamped his feet and slammed the door.

He growled and grimaced and threw down his coat,

And made funny noises down his throat.

Then mum said kindly, “Don’t worry dear…”

“United might still win again this year.”

By Rachel Appleyard

Sunday 1st March 2020
Austrian Bundesliga

SK Rapid Vienna 3

Stefan Schwab 16, 78, Taxarchis Fountas 46,

SV Mattersburg 1

T. Mahrer 37,

Referee:- Alan Kijas……………………………………… Attendance:- 14,100
Admission:- €33.00………………………………………….. Programme:- F.O.C.
This was the very last match of our brief sojourn in Austria. It had been an electrifying few days with a brilliant pad for the four of us (Jonny Crane, Mark Sumner, son Jim and me), which included a pool table and a double bedroom each. Enjoyed a couple of beers in a local hostelry prior to the match – one named after the place where it was brewed in north Austria!!! This was the last match of our short, but very enjoyable Austrian tour. Disappointed by the size of the crowd – the stadium was half full, but the home ultras were in good voice behind one goal! Sadly less than fifty away fans were penned in at the opposite end. A regulation victory for the home battalions over relegation threatened opponents but the sense of atmosphere was less than anticipated! After the match, Jonny’s Austrian friend, Michael Laczika, took us to a fine restaurant where we whiled away the evening with fine food and lots of good wine!

Marvellous sunset over the stadium!

The away fans section was sparsely populated

Eddie and Mark Sumner

Tuesday 3rd March 2020
Chromasport & Trophies Peterborough and District League
Premier Division

Parson Drove 0

Netherton United 3

Zack Fisher 60, Fraser Sturgess 74, Richard Baines 77,

Referee:- Craig Hardy………………………………………………….. Attendance:- 51
Admission:- F.O.C. ………………………………………………….Programme:- NONE
On a very cold evening out in the Fenlands between Peterborough and Wisbech, these two teams served up a tasty, feisty clash with the visitors eventually and deservedly prevailing. Main Road is wide open to the elements except for a couple of Meccano stands holding around fifty seats each and a wooden structure which might shelter twenty or so hardy souls. There was a warm welcome – a free club badge and a free copy of the only programme they have ever produced, but If Parson Drove hope to progress to step 6 next season, they will have to play better than this!

The wooden structure adjacent to the dug-outs which sheltered standing spectators

Wednesday 4th March 2020
The Emirates FA Cup 5th Round

Leicester City 1

Ricardo Pereira 82,

Birmingham City 0

Referee:- Jonathan Moss…………………………………………….. Attendance:- 27,181
Admission:- OMGDS £20.00 (£25). ………………………………..Programme:- £3.00
Birmingham City brought some impressive support to The King Power Stadium and for more than eighty minutes, they frustrated the hosts with a determined defensive display. Despite having 80% possession in the match, Leicester managed only two shots on target, one of which was the winning strike in the 82nd minute. With son, Mike and grandson, Freddie.

from the left, son, Mike, grandson, Freddie and the old man!

Thursday 5th March 2020

A walk from the wharf at Market Harborough along the Harborough spur of the Grand Union canal to Foxton Locks. It was a flat walk, quite muddy in places and the water in the canal was the colour of cement! Stopped for a short break at Foxton and enjoyed a couple of fine pints of ale in the local hostelry before climbing the locks – which were undergoing extensive maintenance – and rejoining the canal bank by the swing bridge for the return leg. With Alison Merricks and Maureen Owens, 12.0 miles, NO stiles!

Alison Merricks on the bridge over the canal at Foxton

All the ten or so locks at Foxton were out of order and undergoing extensive renovation and repair

Saturday 7th March 2020
North West Counties League Division 1 South k.o.:- 11.00am

I drove Graeme Askham and John Main up to Manchester for three games from the North-West Counties League ‘hop’. We had done all the other four grounds and decided just to take in three new grounds

Wythenshawe Amateurs 1

Chris Howard 4,

West Didsbury and Chorlton 0
Referee:- Andrew Daniels……………………………………………… Attendance:- 546
Admission:- £5.00……………………………………………………….. Programme:- £2.00
A stand with maybe a hundred seats down one side of the ground, a comfortable club house and ‘planes coming in to land at Ringway flying every couple of minutes overhead. The match was uneventful, an early goal capturing the victory and the points for the lowly placed hosts!

Saturday 7th March 2020
North West Counties League Division 1 South k.o.:- 1.45pm

Wythenshawe Town 3

Mattew Bryan 15, Brad Byrne 49, Liam Crellin Myers 56,

Abbey Hey 2

Jordan Lazenbury 7, Grant Spencer 23 (pen),

Referee:- Jonathan Chadwick…………………………………………….Attendance:- 434
Admission:- £5.00. …………………………………………………………….Programme:- £2.00
Ericston Park is a tight little stadium with plenty of cover on both sides and behind one goal. There is a very pleasant club house and bar, but they ran out of pies! The match was a feisty affair with plenty of colourful language and argumentative contestants! The hosts eventually prevailed after a bruising battle between two of the top sides in the division!

Saturday 7th March 2020
North West Counties League Division 1 South k.o.:- 4.30pm

Cheadle Heath Nomads 1

Kyle foley 58,

Stockport Town 5

Jardel Depieaza 2, 21, 70, Tyler Ferguson 3, Chris Middleton 20,

Referee:- Ben Robinson…………………………………………………….. Attendance:- 342
Admission:- £5.00………………………………………………………….. Programme:- £1.00
A couple of small Meccano stands – one with seats – and cover on the near side by the changing rooms represented the sparse facilities of the hosts, but they put their hearts into this event and the beef stew was excellent! Sadly, on the pitch they suffered an opening twenty minute onslaught, when the visitors ran in four unanswered strikes. A goal apiece after the break, but the early damage ensured a Stockport victory!

Monday 9th March 2020
Bet Victor Southern League Premier Division Central

Hitchin Town 0

Peterborough Sports 2

Daniel Lawlor 11 (pen), Dion Semble-Ferris 88,

Referee:- E. Kaye……………………………………………….. Attendance:- 183
Admission:- OMGDS £8.00 (£12)………………………. Programme:- £2.00
On a wet, wild and windy night, the potholes in the car park were inches deep and, needless to say, I stepped into one inadvertently!!! The attendance was meagre by Canaries standards, but the weather was the principal reason. The hosts have improved recently after a poor start to the season, but the visitors are flying high and challenging for promotion and they took an early lead with an eleventh minute penalty. In the second half, the hosts threw the kitchen sink at The Turbines, but then lost an player sent off after a mad, bad challenge which roused tensions on both sides. Thereafter, the visitors wrapped up the victory and the points with a second strike in the 88th minute.

Tuesday 10th March 2020
Uhlsport United Counties League Premier Division

Harborough Town 3

Callum Milne 17, Daniel Forbes 41, Harry Wakefield 80,

Rothwell Corinthians 1

Andy White 28,

Referee:- Ellis Mills………………………………………………. Attendance:- 104
Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£6)………………………….. Programme:- £1.00
The ultras were out in force tonight – a feature I hadn’t previously encountered at Harborough Town – with noise and even a second half flare! This hurriedly rearranged match was meandering to a sleepy conclusion when a mass brawl suddenly developed from nowhere, ten minutes from time. When order was finally restored, the visitors had a man sent off whilst the hosts had a man booked. There was no further addition to the score and Harborough took the match and the points!

Wednesday 11th March 2020
Oxfordshire Senior Cup Semi Final

Banbury United 2

Lewis Wilson 6, (penalty saved 85,), Ravi Shamsi 32 (pen),

Oxford City 4

Elliot Benyon 26, 46, 59, Kyran Wiltshire 48 (Reece Fleet s/o 85)

Referee:- John Okole……………………………………………………….. Attendance:- 199
Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£8)……………………………………. Programme:- F.O.C.
On a wild, wet, windy night, these two teams served up a cracker of a cup-tie. The match was played at Banbury’s Spencer Stadium and although they are a division below their Conference South rivals, they started brightly and took a 2-1 half-time lead. Three minutes into the second half and they were behind and on the hour mark, Elliot Benyon completed his hat-trick to make the game safe. There was still time for late drama as the visiting custodian made an incredible double save on 85 minutes only for a third attempt to be handled off the line by a defender and Oxford were reduced to ten men. The goalkeeper then saved the ensuing penalty shot! With son, James.

Saturday 14th March 2020
Sydenhams Wessex League Premier Division

Alresford Town 4

Craig harding 12, Mike Gosney 30, Craig McAllister 64, 85,

Lymington Town 1

Sam House 11, (Steve Flynn s/o 14,)

John Main drove Graeme and me down to deepest darkest Hampshire for a rare foray into The Sydenhams Wessex League and top of the table Alresford against handily placed Lymington Town. We enjoyed a fine repast before the game in “The Horse and Groom” hostelry in the middle of town

Referee:- Martin Bloor…………………………………………. Attendance:- 121
Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£5)…………………………….. Programme:- £1.00
There is a fine view from the upstairs balcony of the Arlebury Park clubhouse where the bar is located (with real ale!). The changing rooms are below. This game nearly didn’t start with the visitors unhappy that one of their team had been taken ill (Coronavirus?). An eventful opening fifteen minutes saw two goals, a booking and a visiting player sent off for violent conduct. The scoreline looks decisive and convincing but it didn’t feel that way as top of the table Alresford laboured against fifth placed Lymington! With Graeme Askham and John Main.

Monday 16th March 2020

A beautiful morning, bright and sunny and mild, but the weekend rain had left the ground heavy and sodden and slippery in many places. The Harrington lake was home to a great flock of what we thought might be greylag geese, who fled squawking if we got near! The preserve shop in Bulwick was still closed some fourteen months after the fire that gutted it. The church which is usually open, was locked! We followed a similar route back to Gretton, but, to avoid the very heavy, churned up farmyard, we came back via The Dusty. Quite a challenging expedition! With Alison and Norma, 9.8 miles, no stiles!

Harringworth Lakes

The shop at Bulwick, where quite a thriving company used to produce all kinds of exotic preserves. Sadly, a fire in early 2019 almost destroyed the building – which is still not yet fully repaired!

Church of St Nicholas at Bulwick

Monday 16th March 2020
Midland League Division 2

Solihull United 4

Miracle Okafor 42, Kyle Hudlin 65, 69, 85,

Earlswood Town 3

Matthew Pemberton 35, Harry Street 45, 71,

Referee:- Matt Joyce…………………………………………………………Attendance:- 54
Admission:- £4.00…………………………………………………….. Programme:- NONE
Is this the twilight of football? Not only in this country, but around the world! Is Boris the new Oliver Cromwell banning EVERY form of entertainment? Bugger Coronavirus! There was a good gathering of hoppers for this match which provided rich entertainment as top of the table, Solihull United, struggled against lively opponents. The visitors led 2-1 at the interval and pulled it back to 3-3 after two early second half strikes from the hosts. Kyle Hudlin’s hat trick goal five minutes from time clinched it for United! The lights are going out across the football world!

Coronavirus or Covid 19

So, Football came to an end tonight, Monday 16th March 2020, because of the world wide Coronavirus epidemic. I don’t think we have any concept of the scale of the epidemic and the havoc that it will wreak, but, certainly, football is small beer and safeguarding the population has now become the greatest priority. That means, in my case, locking myself into my home and only venturing out for occasional long walks, well away from other people and out in the vast countryside around Gretton.

Tuesday 17th March 2020

Self isolation, self inflicted, self immolation! Keeping safe in troubled times is not easy, but a walk in the country – and there is plenty of it around Gretton – keeps you fit and reasonably separate. Today’s walk was a shortened version of yesterday’s route, out to Harrington lakes and return by a different path. It looked like a couple of cormorants at play on Harringworth lakes, but, I’m sure I’ll be corrected by seasoned ‘twitchers’. With Charlotte, four stiles and just over five miles.

Wednesday 25th March 2020

The weather was gorgeous. Not a cloud in a peerless, opalescent sky as I set off down church gap and across the field – and the railway line to Thorpe by Water, negotiating the River Welland and the old LNWR line that once chugged its way from Rugby to Peterborough via Market Harborough. All the wayside stations – Rockingham, Seaton, Wakerley & Barrowden, Kingscliffe and Nassington have long gone – along with the tiny spur that served Uppingham! From Thorpe, by Road to Lyddington and then across the fields to Caldecote and by road again to Great Easton (almost), before turning down towards Rockingham and a fine view of the castle. Then, the last leg back to Gretton. It was mostly dry and hard underfoot, but there were some very soft and boggy patches to negotiate! Nine stiles and 11.52 miles.

St James church, Gretton

Rockingham Castle

Monday 30th March 2020

Under slate grey skies with brooding clouds, it was really quite mild as I set out down to Gretton Weir. The water level was low and I followed the track across the fields, past the bird hides and onwards to Caldecote where, at the parish church, it is ever 12 o’clock! Walked onwards to Great Easton and then across the fields up to Bringhurst. From there it was downhill into Cottingham. Cottingham never had a railway station, but there was a fairly major junction to the north, where the Harborough to Peterborough line peeled off to Melton Mowbray. The Jurassic way passes to the rear of Cottingham Primary school and the remains of the former Cottingham Town football club. Onwards to Rockingham and then the track up to Westhills across the railway line with a glimpse of the tunnel under Rockingham Hill. A couple of showers made life more interesting! Eighteen stiles and 12.91 miles