This weekend I aimed to go to five football matches in five days. It's currently Sunday and I have been to three games already. Today is a day off before doing two games tomorrow afternoon. This weekend should see me visit four new grounds in total and see a couple of Boston games along with a few other matches.
The first game of the five was at the New Den where England Women took on Spain Women in an important World Cup qualifier. This is the second in a double header of qualifiers, the first of which you can read about elsewhere on this blog. This week my £5 bought me seats in the second row of the stand, level with the penalty area. Pleasingly the weather cleared up and went from being wet and cold to just cold, as evidenced by the risk of losing an eye every time Rachel Unitt came to take a throw in on the near side.
£5 buys good seats in the Women's game.
The lasses played well and eventually ran out 1-0 winners. England has much the better of the first half and should've taken advantage of several chances after a Katie Chapman strike around the half hour mark. In the second half Spain came back into the match and put more pressure on. England managed to hold out for the win and an all important three point haul in their quest for World Cup qualification.
Rachel Unitt taking a throw, you could hang a coat on those!
Kelly Smith played a brilliant game before being subbed off. That girl could even teach Wayne Rooney a thing or two about tracking back with an absolutely massive work rate! Several times she put vital challenges in inside the England box. A special mention goes out to Fara Williams who I adore for several reasons. Fara has a brilliant array of passing and works really hard, she's like a good, attractive, non-fat version of fat Frank Lampard and she really makes the team tick from midfield. Ellen White got her second England cap coming on as a sub in the second half and played really well again.
Fara Williams, talented in so many ways.
2/5 - Boston United vs Frickley Athletic
Boston and Frickley had agreed an evening kick off for this Good Friday fixture ensuring that all the other league results were known. All of Boston's promotion rivals had taken three points on Friday afternoon with Bradford, annoyingly, coming from 2-0 down to win against Kendal. So it was that three points were essential for Boston.
It looked like it was going to be an easy, stress free night of entertainment when Anthony Church slotted home in the fourth minute. However, Frickley had been on a great run of form recently, coming from three down to win 5-3 against Retford the previous weekend and they conspired to make this game more exciting than I'd have liked. The Frickley equaliser came in the 22nd minute from a predictable source in the form of an ex-player. Ben Chapman, looking about five years younger than when he left Boston, hit a cracking volley from just outside the box. The closing down could have been quicker but there were no real complaints as you can't defend shots like that. A few minutes later and a shot on the turn from Danny Clarke left Boston with half time to wonder how the hell it'd all gone wrong.
Boston took ten minutes of the second half to quiet the moans from the fans when the superb Shaun Pearson put the ball away to equalize. Boston continued to batter Frickley and could've scored on several occasions. The break through came on 70 minutes with two quick goals from Weir-Daley and Canoville shattering the away team's resistance. Boston could've had a few more goals before the final whistle.
4-2, job done. I can do without games like that every week though!
3/5 - Sleaford Town vs Northampton Spencer
Eslaforde Park, home of Sleaford Town.
This match made a pleasant change from the televised clash between the 'big-time charlies' in the Premier League. Having watched United - Chelsea in a Sleaford pub I made my way towards the ground. What I found was a really nice environment to watch football in. The ground itself was accessible through the clubhouse, which plays host to a fully stocked bar, comfortable seats and a big TV showing Sky Sports News. After pausing for a quick, reasonably priced pint, I entered the ground proper.
The small terrace behind the right hand goal.
The ground itself is encompassed by a six foot perimeter fence. The dugouts sit along the clubhouse side with a covered seating area opposite and a miniature terrace off behind the right hand goal. I chose to watch the game from this terrace and in the first half this put me behind the home goal.
The home goal keeper, Andrew Scott, has to be one of the fattest keepers I have ever seen. The large stature of the man belies his mobility and on several occasions he was solely responsible for keeping Sleaford in the game. I can see on this quality performance why he has played 300 odd times for Town. The first half was fairly even with both sides getting good opportunities. It seemed that neither side really wanted to take the game though and the opportunities were spurned. 0-0 at half time and a cracking portion of chips and curry sauce was needed along with a pint to wash it down while watching Soccer Saturday.
The chubby keeper, surprisingly mobile!
The second half continued in much the same vein as the first with chances to score being fluffed. A mix up at the back and some shoddy defending finally gave Northampton Spencer a chance they couldn't refuse. 1-0. More chances fell to Town who, it seemed, wouldn't have scored if they were there all week. One golden opportunity was denied when a clear penalty was given then over-ruled by the linesman and given as a free kick. The lino., sporting the thickest glasses ever (there are a few milk bottle factories missing their bottle bottoms), got that decision very, very wrong.
On balance Sleaford probably deserved a point out of the game. I found out later that Town also had quite a few players out and this surely can't have helped. Still the impression that lasts is how nice a place Eslaforde park is to visit.
In part two...
... I do two games in one afternoon as Radford FC take on Gelding Town and Boston United travel to Hucknall Town.
Sorry about the formatting for this one, guys. No idea what's going on with that!
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