March 2022

The Frog

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Be kind and tender to the frog

And do not call him names

As ‘Slimy Skin’, or ‘Polly Wig’,

Or likewise ‘Ugly James’

Or ‘Gap-a-grin’ or ‘Toad-gone-wrong’,

Or ‘Billy Bandy-knees’:

The Frog is justly sensitive

To epithets like these.

No animal will more repay

A treatment kind and fair;

At least so lonely people say

Who keep a frog (and by the way,

They are extremely rare).

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by Hilaire Belloc (1870 – 1953)

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Friday 4th March 2022

Lancashire Football League West Division

Macclesfield Town u23 2

Mir Ishaq 7, Zoller Gray (pen) 84,

Fulwood Amateurs u23 1

Kane Froggatt 35,

Referee:- Ethan Murray.                        Attendance:- 58

Admission: F.O.C.                               Programme: NONE

John Main drove us both up to Lancashire and the Premier Inn just off junction 4 on the M65 for the start of the North West Counties Hop, but we didn’t go to the first game at Golcar (we’d already been) and plumped for this esoteric fixture at The UCLAN Sports Arena, where we met up with a very worried Graeme Holmes, whose beloved Everton are sinking towards the foot of The FA Premier League! The kick-off for this match had been put back to 8.00pm because of children’s training sessions and, prior to kick-off, we adjourned for cake and hot chocolate to a cafe situated across the road from the car park.

Quite what Macclesfield Town are doing in The Lancashire League is a mystery as is why they are playing at UCLAN (University of Central Lancashire). There was some mention of sponsored players from abroad playing in Macclesfield’s colours and Fulwood Amateurs of The West Lancashire League must be at least a couple of steps below the hosts – even at their demoted level. This was a feisty match which threatened to explode on more than one occasion and did so right at the final whistle. A draw would have been a fair result, but a dubious penalty award, six minutes from time, gave victory to the hosts! With John Main and Graeme Holmes.

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Saturday 5th March 2022

North West Counties League Division 1 North – k.o.: 11.00am

Bacup Borough 6

Dennis Sherriff 7, Alex Mellor 25, 45, Anthony Hall 36, Kyle Siddle 77, Joseph Fallon 90,

St Helens Town 1

Dale Korie-Butler 14 (pen), Phillip Clarke s/o 34,

Referee:- Kieron Chell.                              Attendance:- 460

Admission: £5.00.                                   Programme:- £2.00

A very pleasant and olde world stadium.

On a very heavy playing surface at Bacup Borough’s rustic Cowfoot Lane, these two teams played out a rip-roaring encounter, especially in the first half where there were five goals, five bookings and a dismissal. The hosts added a further two goals after the interval to register a convincing victory against the backdrop of the lower Penines.

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Saturday 5th March 2022

North-West Counties League Premier Division – k.o.: 2.00pm

Padiham 1

Benjamin Hoskin 45+2,

Ashton Athletic 5

Joe White 16, Thomas Carr 23, 54, 74, Daniel Morton (og)50,

Referee:- Lee Harding.                               Attendance:- 378

Admission: £5.00.                                      Programme:- £2.00

Arbories Lane Memorial Ground was neat, fresh and resplendent in Royal blue and the corned beef hash was in great demand, but the home team were mugged. Playing down the slope in the first half, the visitors garnered a slender 2-1 half-time advantage. However, two strikes within ten minutes of the restart and a final goal fifteen minutes from time, ensured an imperious and well deserved victory.

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Sunday 6th March 2022

North West Counties League Division 1 North

Steeton 2

Tobias Jeffrey 33, Jordan Townsend 84, Andrew Briggs s/o 90

Ashton Town 1

Declan Hill 14, Ethan Van-Aston s/o 80,

Referee:- George Dennis.                            Attendance:- 479

Admission:- £5.00.                                       Programme:- £2.00

After the wonderful stadiums of yesterday, this characterless arena had a small covered area behind one goal created out of a lorry container and a small stand down the near side with seating for perhaps 100 spectators. Other than that, there was no cover. Two evenly matched sides jostled for supremacy. A goal to each side in the first half and deep into the second half, a draw looked the likely outcome . A visiting player dismissed for violent conduct some ten minutes from time tipped the balance and the hosts scored the winner with five minutes remaining, only to find themselves reduced to ten men with a dismissal for a second bookable offence. This was a finely balanced match, won by the finest of margins!

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Sunday 6th March 2022

North West Counties League Division 1 North

Ilkley Town 0

Garstang 0

Referee:- Anthony Parr-Robinson.                   Attendance:- 455

Admission:- £5.00.                                              Programme:- £2.00

Despite the sunshine, this was definitely not a day to venture onto Ilkley Moor without appropriate headwear. This ‘Roses’ fixture between teams from Lancashire and Yorkshire, was played out in a drab, featureless cage on a 3G surface with minimal cover – maybe fifty seats behind one goal and a short stretch of cover down one side. The match, sadly, was equally featureless as the two teams cancelled each other out and goals proved elusive.

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Monday 7th March 2022

FA Cup 5th Round

Nottingham Forest 2

Sam Surridge 30, Ryan Yates 37,

Huddersfield Town 1

Tom Lees 13,

Referee:- Graham Scott.                                    Attendance:- 27,417

Admission:- OMGDS £15 (£20).                     Programme:- £3.00

A good crowd on a cold evening for this fifth round FA Cup match, the last of the round, and a tasty home tie in prospect for the winners. All the goals came in the first half, the visitors striking first after a quarter of an hour and the home side scoring two in a seven minute spell ten minutes from the interval. Despite best endeavours, there was no addition to the score after the break and it will be Forest who entertain Liverpool in the next round. With John Main.

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Tuesday 8th March 2022

United Counties League Premier Division South

Rugby Town 0

Harborough Town 2

Freddie Robinson 44, Nathaniel Ansu 88,

Referee:- Stephen Davies.                         Attendance:- 212

Admission: OMGDS £4.00 (£8).            Programme: £2.00

The hosts, fourth in the table were looking to put one across the league leaders, however, it was not to be as the visitors dominated the opening session and scored with a strike on 44 minutes. The second half was an entirely different story, with a revitalised Rugby side pressing very hard for an equaliser which never came and then, in the 88th minute, a breakaway by the visitors saw them wrap up a hard won victory. With John Main.

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Thursday 10th March 2022

EUFA Europa Conference Round of 16

Leicester City 2

Marc Albrighton 30, Kelechi Iheanacho 90+3

Stade Rennais 0

Referee:- Orel Grinfeeld (IRS)                            Attendance:- 25,848

Admission: OMGDS £15.00 (£20).                   Programme: £3.00

A good result for The Foxes which didn’t look possible after an over cautious opening spell. Rennes looked confident and competent to upset the hosts, but only landed one shot on target all match! A blistering drive from Marc Albrighton in the first half and a precise and deft strike from Kelechi Iheanacho three minutes into added time at the end will probably be enough to clinch the tie. With John Main.

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Saturday 12th March 2022

Wessex League Premier Division

Bashley 2

Jamie Webber 9, Dan Thompson 30,

United Services Portsmouth 0

Referee: Derek Pratt.                                  Attendance: 192

Admission: OMGDS £5.00 (£7).             Programme: £2.00

Bashley, in recent memory, graced the upper echelons of The Southern League and, now, are trying to regain that status. Their ground is relatively compact, with covered seated and standing down one side of the ground, but no cover elsewhere. We were treated to a tour of the boardroom and a sumptuous breakfast repast, prior to the match. The hosts dominated the opening session of the contest and quickly established a two goal advantage, but thereafter criminally wasted several quite tasty opportunities. After the break, the visitors tightened up considerably and a dull stalemate ensued until the final whistle! With John Main.

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Tuesday 15th March 2022

Sky-Bet EFL League One

Sheffield Wednesday 1

Callum Paterson 66,

Accrington Stanley 1

Ross Sykes 83,

Referee:- Ross Joyce.                                         Attendance:- 20,688

Admission: OMGDS £20.00 (£30).               Programme: £3.00

Hillsborough is looking a tad careworn these days, but there was a healthy turn out to welcome the minnows from Lancashire, particularly after Saturday’s 6-0 mauling of Cambridge United. Stanley, however, are made of sterner stuff, robust in defence and spirited in attack. Even when they went behind with a scant twenty minutes remaining, they kept plugging away and upset the home crowd with a deserved equaliser in the 83rd minute. Perhaps Wednesday should not have substituted influential skipper, Barry Bannan in the 71st minute! With son, Mike and grandson, Freddie.

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The small gathering of away support, maybe 250 fans, at the Leppings Lane end of the ground.

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Father and son – Mike and Freddie

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Grandfather and grandson, Ed and Freddie

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Friday 18th March 2022

Cinch Scottish Championship

Dunfermline Athletic 1

Lewis McCann 89

Greenock Morton 1

Iain Wilson 42,

Referee:- Kevin Clancy.                                 Attendance:- 4,593

Admission:- £5.00.                                       Programme:- £3.00

I left home early in the morning to catch the plane from Luton to Glasgow International Airport and when I got there I picked up a Ford Fiesta hire car and drove to Dunfermline, where John Main had booked us both into The Premier Inn just off the A90. I had a truly enormous carvery at a hostelry, The Sweet Chestnut, just down the road from the hotel. I met up with Jim and Jonny Crane at The ground around 7.00pm.

Collecting the tickets in the afternoon gave me the opportunity to have a good walk round East End Stadium in all its daylight glory. Tickets were all a fiver and sit where you like. Both teams had a noisy following in the stand opposite and whilst the hosts enjoyed a large measure of possession, it was the visitors who struck first, three minutes before the interval. In the second period, the hosts became increasingly desperate but eventually, with time fast running out, they squeezed a deserved equaliser. It was a good contest, and probably, just about the right result.

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Jim and Jonny Crane

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Saturday 19th March 2022

East of Scotland League Conference B

Glenrothes 3

Lea Schiavone 4, Kyle Bell 25, Stuart Cargill 64,

Kinnoull 0

Referee : Craig Wilson.                         Attendance:- 410

Admission: £6.00.                                Programme: included

Warout Park, home of Glenrothes must have been an impressive arena in its day, sadly, now it has the feel of genteel poverty, but is still, nonetheless, imposing with a seven hundred seater stand! The hosts sit in second place in the table and easily demolished fifth placed Kinnoull with two first half strikes and a final goal late into the second period.

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Saturday 19th March 2022

Cinch Scottish Championship

Raith Rovers 2

Aidan Connolly 14, Matej Poplatinik 32, Kyle Benedictus s/o 69, Ben Williamson s/o 90+3

Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3

Shane Sutherland 27, Logan Chalmers 89, 90+1,

Referee:- Colin Steven.                                  Attendance:- 1,581

Admission: OMGDS £13.00 (£20).             Programme: £3.00

You live for games like these! It’s run of the mill for hundreds of games and then ….!!! The locals were very friendly to us in the 200 club under the home stand and the game progressed fairly moderately for and hour or so while the home side ground out a slender 2-1 advantage. A poor referee then dismissed a home player for violent conduct … maybe, and the home fans erupted, even so, the Rovers held on until a minute from the end when Caley equalised and a host of invective descended on the referee. Worse was to come. Another away goal and another home sending off and one spectator behind us just lost it, totally, unleashing a non-stop stream of abuse at the top of his voice. I seriously thought he was close to cardiac arrest! It was eye-wateringly funny, but sad, too, because we had met so many friendly locals!

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The away supporters at the far end of the ground, in The Val McDiarmid Stand.

Spectators were mainly behind each goal.

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The shadow of the floodlight pylon overshadows the terraced house below it,

and the light bulbs are reached by a precarious ladder which gave me vertigo just looking at it!

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These two photographs of me were both taken by Jonny Crane…

and the comment below the first one is Jonny Crane’s, too!

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Saturday 19th March 2022

East of Scotland League Premier Division

Hill o’ Beath 3

Ryan Connelly 19, 48, Ross Allum 90+2 (pen)

Linlithgow Rose 1

Alan Sneddon 35,

Referee:- Andy Gamble.                                  Attendance:- 584

Admission:- £7.00.                                          Programme:- £2.00

This was a game of commitment and determination. Linlithgow Rose sit proudly in second place whilst lowly placed Hill o’ Beath have recently acquired a new manager who has instilled some steel into their performances. Stopped on the way to the ground to capture the statue of a famous son of Hill of Beath, Scotland and Rangers hero, Jim Baxter, and then the ground, Spartan but well appointed and surprisingly spacious with cover on three sides, but no seating. Beath scored first, but the game was level at the interval. Three minutes into the second period, the lead was regained, but then, the hosts withstood enormous pressure, before clinching the match and the points with a penalty right at the death!

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‘Slim’ Jim Baxter, born in Hill of Beath and probably the finest left half Scotland ever had. 

He played mainly for Rangers, but later in his career he had spells with Sunderland and Nottingham Forest

Sadly, drink was a problem for him and caused his early demise in 2001 at the age of 62

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Sunday 20th March 2022

Cinch Scottish Premier League

Dundee 1

Christie Elliott 5,

Rangers 2

Aaron Ramsey 65, Connor Goldson 85, James Tavernier missed penalty 40,

Referee:- Bobby Madden.                             Attendance:- 7,669

Admission: OMGDS £22.00 (£30).           Programme:£3.00

This was the last game of my sojourn in Scotland with eldest son, Jim and Jonny Crane, and a first visit to Dens Park, which to my mind looked a tad decrepit and certainly not as good a ground as Tannadice, over the road. Bottom of the table, Dundee, gave a plucky and determined account of themselves in front of a crowd of Rangers supporters who outnumbered the home contingent, but made idiots of themselves, firstly plastering the home penalty area with toilet roll and later in the game raining tennis balls onto it! Dundee opened the scoring in the 5th minute and held on for an hour, including a missed penalty by the visitors. The equaliser was followed by the Rangers winner, a scant 5 minutes from time.

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Jim and Jonny Crane

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It was said that the toilet rolls and the tennis balls were a protest by Rangers fans

at the proposal to play an Old Firm derby in Australia, later this year.

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Monday 21st March 2022

Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division

Rugby Borough 1

Ethan Meadows 61,

Thurnby Rangers 2

Lewis Murphy 54, Shaun Barber 69,

Referee:- Martin Jarvis.                                  Attendance: 77

Admission:- F.O.C.                                          Programme: NONE

Kilsby Lane, home of Rugby Borough is a purpose built football complex with several football pitches and two adjacent and floodlit plastic pitches. Tonight’s game on the main pitch saw second place, Rugby, take on third place, Thurnby. The first half was largely forgettable, but the game livened up when the visitors shocked the hosts by taking the lead on the hour mark. Back came the hosts to equalise five minutes later, but the visitors struck again with twenty minutes to go and comfortably and deservedly won the match and the points.

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Tuesday 22nd March 2022

Spartan South Midlands League

Gladwish Trophy Quarter-final

Northampton Sileby Rangers 3

Nathan Burrows 10, 44, Luke Stevens 59,

Wellingborough Whitworth 3

Richie Bailey 20, 79, Fayed Rhaman (og) 90,

Wellingborough Whitworth win 5-4 on penalties

Referee:- Aaron Lloyd.                                    Attendance:- 70

Admission: OMGDS £3.00 (£6).                  Programme: NONE

Fernie Fields, home of Sileby, has improved since my last visit some four years ago. New toilet facilities and refreshment bar make it a much more welcoming environment. This evening, the hosts were equally generous on the field of play. Having worked hard to build a 3-1 advantage, they conceded twice in the final ten minutes and then lost the penalty shoot out.

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Saturday 26th March 2022

Sky-Bet EFL League 2

Leyton Orient 2

Barrow 0

Referee:- Simon Mather.                                    Attendance:- 6,032 (332 away)

Admission: Hospitality.                                            Programme:- incl. (£3.50)

Chris Berezai joined us at Kettering Station for the trip down to London and we met up with Jim and his boys (and Andrew and Christopher Coxon, Rory and Leanne Clark, who were spending a day in London for Rory’s birthday) at the pub on Kings Cross Station. From there it was a train from St Pancras to Stratford and Uber to Leyton Orient, where we met up with Phil Evans. The hospitality was fine – spare ribs and burgers and pecan pie and ice cream – and plenty of good red wine.

Brisbane Road (or whatever they call it these days) had a neat tidy feel to it with a block of flats at each of the four corners. The weather was balmy and, for an hour, there was little or nothing between the two teams, until the visiting custodian made the mistake of chasing the ball to the edge of the area, and leaving his goal unguarded for a precise strike. Ten minutes later a second strike killed off the opposition and the hosts claimed the spoils.

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from left: Gary Miller, Kingsley, Jim, Mike

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Freddie and Sonny

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Phil Evans and Chris Berezai

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Jonny Crane and Liam McGeown

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Tuesday 29th March 2022

United Counties League Premier Division South

GNG Oadby Town 1

Amarvir Sandhu 25 (pen),

Godmanchester Rovers 1

Mohammed Akhtar 67,

Referee: Callum Timperley.                       Attendance:- 53

Admission: OMGDS £3.00 (£6).              Programme: £1.50

It was sad to see the decline at Oaks Park and even more so, to hear that next season, the hosts are decamping to Holmes Park, the Leicestershire County Ground. It is entirely probable that this could be the last season that football is played here. GNG, who presently run their first team on the pitch have no connection with the club house facilities (and hence, no income from it). The substantial car park the far end from the club house has been long since sold and there is even talk of developing the pitch for further housing, although access might prove a problem.  On the night, these two mid-table sides provided reasonable entertainment with the visitors equalising the hosts first half strike and a draw was a fair result. With John Main and Mike Dean.

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Other Matches:

Monday 14th March 2022

Midland Midweek Floodlit Youth League: League Cup Semi-Final

Rugby Town u18 0 Leamington u18 0

No extra time, Rugby Town won 5-4 on penalties         Attendance:- 183

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Thursday 24th March 2022

Northants Senior Youth League – League Cup Semi-final

Rothwell Corinthians u-18 2 Bugbrooke St Michaels u-18 3  attendance:- 84

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Sunday 27th March 2022

FA Women’s Super League

Leicester City Women 0 Chelsea Women 9             attendance:- 2,278

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Monday 28th March 2022

Northants Senior Youth League Jaymann Shield Group Stage

Corby Town u18 3 Wellingborough Town u18 3     attendance:- 71

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