A game of one half.

Harrogate Town vs Boston United

This Saturday brought a trip to the poshest part of North Yorkshire for another B.S.B Conf. North game.  Proof, if proof were needed that there is a definite sliding scale of posh.  North Yorkshire posh, when it comes to football, apparently doesn't buy you much more than a few tin sheds and a pitch with a steeper gradient than the finest of the worlds ski slopes.  Add to that a £12 entrance fee and your looking at an all round recipe for disappointment.  The actual trip up to Harrogate went pretty well, I hitched a lift instead of training it which saved me a lot of time and money.  The only issues encountered on the way there was traffic on the Weatherby Road on which the C.N.G. Stadium is located.  Parking wasn't too difficult to find in the hospital next door to the ground.  It was also free as the machine was broken.  Result!

So this is what passes for posh in North Yorks. then.

£12 in seems almost as steep as the slope on the pitch and when you add a £2 programme, a couple of over-priced and frankly terrible pints, and some reasonable food it starts to put a strain on the wallet.  The food wasn't even prawn sandwiches, it's obviously not that posh!  There is a good seated stand down one side of the pitch, a terrace stretches half the length of the other side.  For the first half the Boston faithful took up station behind the goal next to the tunnel.  As the teams walked out it was easy to spot the Pilgrims connections in the Harrogate line-up.  The manager to start with, Simon Weaver, put in a good stint with the Boston.  Dominic Roma who played two games for the Pilgrims in the league.  Boston born and bred Richard Pell who has played for Lincoln C***, Gainsborough Trinity and Boston Town; no bad blood there then.  The final connection is Matt 'Captain Clean' Bloomer, winner of the Daz doorstep challenge 10 years running.  Bloomer, what can you say about Bloomer?  He was the embodiment of everything that Pilgrims fans hated about the previous team.  No commitment, no passion, no hope.

Pretty sure this is a photo of Church getting the touch to put a Pearson knock-down in.
At least it would be if my aim was as good as his!

After the disappointment of Tuesday night a reaction was required and didn't the Boston lads just show it?!  In the first five minutes they set themselves well and truely apart from the old Conference North regime and good work from McKeown denied Harrogate.  Boston soon went on the offensive and the first goal went in with twelve minutes gone.  Pearson beating Bloomer (surprise, surprise) and another defender in the air before heading the ball home.  Five minutes later it was Pell with all his Boston ties beating his own defenders in the air to score a perfect own goal.  Semple, who for me was the man of the match, put in another good cross which Yates managed to 'meg the keeper with.  Church managed to get a touch on another goal-bound Pearson effort to score the Pilgrims fourth goal in twenty-three minutes.  It was looking like another Redditch and we looked like scoring with every attack.  Harrogate were rocking and so were the Boston support, mockery of 'Captain Clean' was the order of the day: "That's how you make a tackle, Bloomer!"

Harrogate scramble the ball to safety again.

Harrogate aren't Redditch, however.  They have a threat going forward and they aren't bad across the middle of the park either.  This combined with some shoddy defending let Harrogate get one back.  Hardy taking advantage as Boston's back-line made a right hash of clearing it.  Obviously after a 9-0 we have forgotten how to defend on the road.  Weir-Daley put Boston 5-1 up after some stunning footwork from the oft disappointing Davidson.  The scoring still wasn't over, Harrogate getting another one back courtesy of Nowakowski (or at least that's how I think you spell it) taking advantage of a rebound following a cracking McKeown save.  There was time for one more before the break and Semple added the finish of the match to curl home from the edge of the box.  Nothing the keeper could do about that one.  6-2 at half-time, who needs the Premier League for excitement?

The boys in the 'car-park' end.

A quick time-out for a beer during the interval and we were back out for the second half.  This time we took up station behind the other goal.  We were standing in-front of a rotten toilet block sitting in what was essentially a car park.  When in such a situation it is incredibly difficult to get any sort of atmosphere going.  This led to a odd sort of feeling pervading the second period.  This feeling was matched by the performance on the pitch.  The game never really got going again and the highlight was probably the banter with the 'keeper: "Who's Bloomer's sponsor, 'keeper? Daz?"  That one got a smile amongst others.  You get the feeling he doesn't really appreciate 'Captain Clean' in his defence.  Bloomer was oblivious to all this as he was off with the fairies wandering aimlessly around the eighteen-yard box and trying to dodge the abuse from the Pilgrims Support as well as rogue patches of mud.  Both keepers pulled out some brilliant saves to keep the second-half score down with only Hardy able to break through for Harrogate in what was a reasonably equal half.  Boston seemed to have taken their foot off the gas and this was evidenced by Gareth Davies substitute appearance giving us a more 'robust' midfield to see the game out.

The great open-cast mine of Weatherby Road.
Who says mining is dead in Yorkshire?

The game petered out to nothing really and it was all a little disappointing.  To say that about a 6-3 win seems a little strange but after the second-half it, bizarrely, almost felt like a defeat in front of the 447 crowd.  Still, three points and a boost to the goal difference isn't unwelcome.  We're looking very, very tasty going forward, averaging over three goals a game and with Marc 'Jesus' Newsham playing the last ten minutes things will only get better.  The momentum is starting to build and the games are coming thick and fast with Eastwood next up at York St on Bank Holiday Monday.