The Biggest Week Of The Season (so far)

Last week was Boston United's week of destiny, or so we're told, with a League Cup final and the title deciding league game to play over the course of four days.

Unibond League Challenge Cup, Boston Utd vs Retford United.

Irritatingly the Unibond League thought it'd be a brilliant idea to put the League Cup final in the last week of the season.  This was obviously never going to be a good plan considering the title deciding game only a few days later.  Boston reflected this by making seven changes to the starting line-up, bringing several youth and reserve players through to the first team.  Retford, who's play-off hopes relied on Kendal losing at home to Whitby, put out a strong team to contest the final and try to claim some silverware.

The chosen venue for the final was Ashby Avenue, home of Lincoln United, which is all well and good as long as you don't have to rely on public transport.  As it turned out I managed to get a lift to the ground and arrived twenty minutes before kick-off.  There was already a queue stretching the thirty-odd yards between the solitary turnstile and the clubhouse.  Seeing this made the clubhouse all the more appealing, at least until the queue had died down a little.  One word of warning, if you decide you need to use the clubhouse 'facilities' take a map, G.P.S. or a ball of string, anything to make finding your way out easier.

The queue remained pretty constant until about three or four minutes before the teams came out as the 503 crowd made their way into the ground.  Eventually getting in for the meagre sum of ten whole English pounds, TEN POUNDS!  The prices set by the Unibond may be similar to those at York St but that sort of fee certainly won't encourage fans who are used to lower prices to attend.  A large proportion of the supporters in attendance were from Boston and a number took up station behind one of the goals.  It was difficult to get an atmosphere going, or to get excited at all in the first half as minds were, inevitably, on the weekends game instead.

The players warm up on the pitch at Ashby Avenue

The game didn't help matters.  Boston started in a 3-4-3 formation and while this provided plenty of options going forward it also let Retford in at the back.  Only a great performance from Aaron Butcher in goal, coupled with the Retford strikers not being able to hit water if they fell out of a boat, kept the scores level.  It looked like it would be level at half time until Marc 'Tap-in, Jesus' Newsham popped up with a tap-in, fifteen yard half-volley (surprise!) from a Yates cross.

The second half was fairly similar to the first.  Boston had a couple more chances but the Badgers could've won with ease if they had more composure in front of goal.  Boston made the most of their chances and had one Parker effort ruled out before Semple went on a mazy run and slotted home to kill the game.  The trophy was presented on the pitch in front of the Boston fans, some of whom were celebrating as though we'd already won the league.

I left Lincoln with a feeling that the League Cup would probably mean much more in a couple of days and a hope that the excessive celebrations wouldn't come back to bite us.

D-Day at Marine.

After a couple of days of nervous excitement Saturday rolled around.  I warn you now this section of the blog will contain very little about football...

I left my flat in Bedford at ten past seven, having seen six o'clock for the first time in a long time.  Everything went well until Nuneaton, I managed to distract myself with a paper and I wasn't feeling too nervous.  Just as I left Nuneaton my weekend took a turn for the disastrous.  The guard announced over the P.A. system that there had been a power failure at Birmingham New Street.  No problem, thought I,  as I'd left plenty of time to get there.  The train did arrive into New Street, despite the guards claims otherwise, only five minutes late.

I waited to meet my travelling companion at New Street and as the power was off it took a while to find the correct platform but we got there in the end.  The train left half an hour late.  Still, no problem, plenty of time left.  Things went massively wrong when the train was caught the wrong side of a line-side fire about twenty miles from Liverpool.  We were stuck there for two and a half hours, TWO AND A HALF COCKING HOURS!!!  No air-con. or refreshments.  There were four other nervous Boston fans on the train along with a girl from Ireland who'd missed her flights due to the delay, a couple of hen parties (from one of which I received the invitation to partake in a little yoga, I declined and chatted to them instead) and a terminally ill woman without her medication.  Serious thought was put to breaking out of the train and grabbing a taxi to the ground.

Eventually the train began to move, we had five minutes to make the last connection to Blundellsands and Crosby. We didn't.  Waiting for a taxi and listening to commentary on a phone is not an experience I'd like to repeat at any game, let alone a last day of the season title decider.  We got stuck at pretty much every red light in Liverpool on our way to the ground and arrived just as the half-time whistle went.  It was 0-0 apparently.

Boston had been given two thirds of the ground with six buses having travelled.  Over all there were 743 Pilgrims there to watch the last game of the season (we hoped).  During the second half news filtered through that first Guiseley, then Bradford Park Avenue were winning.  Boston weren't playing as well as we have done the rest of the season and Marine were causing us problems.  Especially their number ten who was a superb out-ball for them until he was substituted.  Chances arrived and passed us by, including a injury time stonewall penalty claim for a handball.  In fairness though Boston didn't deserve it as time slipped away from the Pilgrims.

The game finished as a draw and the Boston finished third in the league.  The players looked devastated at the end of the game with several fans going on the pitch to pick them back up.  With all the expectation of being in a position to win the league it will be very tough to lift the players for the play-off semi-final against North Ferriby.  Out of context a draw at Marine is a great result.  Marine only the week before had beaten league Champions Guiseley 2-0 with ten men.

Well done to Guiseley (except their number seven), good luck and I hope we are playing you next year.

Special thanks go to the fans, stewards, officials and general population of Marine/Blundellsands and Crosby. What a nice area and a very well organised and friendly club.  Disappointed as I'd be not to go up I wouldn't mind a trip to Marine any day (hopefully with better transport luck).  Sadly no pictures from Marine as I didn't get there in time and then when I did get there I was more concerned with other things.

The FA Sunday Cup, Hetton Lyons CC vs. Magnet Tavern.

My weekend didn't end there though, ohhh no.  I had a hotel booked on Anfield road, WHAT A DUMP!  Boarded up houses everywhere and a real risk of being mugged (at least that's how it felt).  My night out fell through as well and so I was surprisingly not hungover the next morning.  I mooched around Liverpool for a bit, seeing Goodison Park and plenty of tidy Scouse girls in the process, before going back to Anfield for the FA Sunday Cup Final between Hetton Lyons Cricket Club and Boston's own Magnet Tavern.

The view from the Kop.

Free tickets made the journey to the Kop much more enjoyable.  The football wasn't bad and an end to end game saw Hetton run out 4-2 winners for a record third time in front of 856 onlookers.  Not too bad for free really.

Looking Ahead...

Last night Bradford Park Avenue beat Kendal 2-1 in their play-off semi-final (including two missed penalties).  This means a trip to the Horsfall Stadium on Saturday is the reward for the winner of the second play-off semi tonight.  Am I nervous much?  Hopefully my awful luck this week will change for York St tonight.  Hopefully...

It's Down To Us Now.

What a week!  The unbelievable set of results that I could never, in my wildest dreams, have expected have happened.  This won't be a long post (honest), mainly because I'm speachless.  It all started last Saturday against Guiseley...

Guiseley

Guiseley, you may remember, came into the match against Boston on the back of a fantastic run of form.  I duly expected the Pilgrims to get spanked and on 29 minutes a very soft penalty was converted to increase my fears. In honesty neither side were stunning but Guiseley probably deserved to be ahead.  The second half was a massive turn around though.  Guiseley were relieved to just get out of their half as Boston battered them.  Guiseley stood firm though and were well organised.  It's easy to see how they could grind out a result against the poorer teams in the league under these circumstances.  Boston are not, however, one of the poorer teams.  The persistent pressure eventually told with two Boston goals in the last ten minutes.

A fair proportion of the Boston fans waited behind for the Guiseley players to come off the pitch, aggrieved at the level of 'cheating' that had occurred.  Some words between players and fans were exchanged, culminating in the Guiseley number 7 telling us to "enjoy the play-offs"...

Worksop Town

Midweek saw a fairly routine trip to Ilkeston to play Worksop Town.  I didn't attend this match but instead listened to the commentary online.  Brilliantly my commentary feed cut out at exactly the right moment for me to miss both the first and second goals, I then missed the third whilst on the phone.  Not that I'm going to complain too much.  There was very little to commentate on and really Scotty Dalton could've gone to the pub during the second half.  Boston converted a their chances and ran out 5-1 winners.  We just don't seem to be able to keep a clean sheet at the moment.

More important were the results from the other promotion contenders games.  Bradford could only manage a draw against a good Buxton side on the Monday.  More results went Boston's way with Guiseley losing to Matlock.  This meant that the win at Worksop took Boston top on goal difference but Guiseley and BPA both had games in hand.

FC United of Manchester

FC United of Manchester were the visitors to York Street this Saturday in an important match for the Pilgrims.  A win would keep Boston top regardless of other results.  It's always a wonderful atmosphere whenever the FC fans come to town and this weekend was no different.  Flares, flags and incessant singing accompanied the opening exchanges of the game.  Boston went 1-0 down to an absolutely stunning free-kick.  No way that was going to be saved.  Cue more flares form the FC end.

Why the guy with the flares didn't get chucked out I'll never know.  It's not like he's hard to spot, he is carrying a bloody flare afterall!  The police seemed content to take a few home videos of the incident and leave it at that.  It did make the steward trying to throw a Boston fan out for standing in a cross-hatched area seem like a bit of a jobs-worth though.

In spite of the early goal FC didn't bring much football-wise and, in the first half at least, neither did Boston.  Going in at half time 1-0 down was made even worse by the news filtering through that both BPA and Guiseley were losing.  To be given an opportunity to take the league into our own hands and throw it away was gutting to say the least.

The second half saw a much improved Boston side.  All the endeavour of the first half was now combined with the much needed final ball.  FC United were being put under real pressure, only managing to get out of their half four or five times before Boston's breakthrough goal came on 70 minutes.  Without reading the match report I couldn't tell you who'd scored, the stand went completely mental and no one really cared who the scorer was (turns out it was Canoville, who knew?).  After that it didn't take Boston long to get in front with goals coming from Church, Weir-Daley and Davidson to see the game out.

The Boston fans applaud the FCUM fans in the Town End

4-1 to Boston is how it finished, a little harsh on FC maybe but the right result overall.  As the Boston fans poured onto the pitch to await the awards the vast majority walked over to the Town End to applaud the wonderful support provided by the FC United fans.  One or two idiots in the crowd were intent on causing trouble but it couldn't mar a great day.  Congratulations to Shaun Pearson on capping a brilliant season by receiving every award going, keep it up this week please!

There was a nervous wait for results elsewhere to come in... Guiseley 0 - Marine 2... Frickley Athletic 2 - Bradford Park Avenue 2... Brilliant!  It's now in Boston's hands, win at Marine next week and we win the league.  Only a small matter of a cup final to play before then, but who gives a cock about that?!

The top of the league table with one week left (lifted from the Unibond League website).

Easter Egg-stravaganza Part II

This is part II of my ridiculous weekend of football, where I attempt five matches in five days.  The first part can be found here.

After a Sunday's rest and recuperation it was time to squeeze in the last two games of the weekend.  Nottingham was the destination for the day with a 3pm kick off seeing Hucknall Town play host to the Pilgrims.  Preceeding this, however, there was time to fit in a trip to Selhurst Street to watch Radford take on Gedling Town in the East Midlands Counties League.  The kick off of this game had been brought forward so that ground hoppers could take advantage and provide a boost to the 60 odd average attendance.

Radford FC vs Gedling Town

Selhurst Street can be found by taking the tram out of Nottingham and alighting at Noel Street, a quick walk through ASDA later and you find yourself at the turnstile.  Four quid gets you in the ground and another pound gets you a programme.  A quick mention for the programme here, it's one of the best I have seen from a non-league team and it puts a lot of higher level efforts to shame.  Plenty of information, stats and commentary can be found inside.

The club house was warm and inviting due not so much the décor as the people.  Whilst sat having a pint a couple of people came over to have a chat and were very knowledgeable, welcoming and friendly.  Kick off soon approached and reluctantly the supporters left the warm bar for the distinctly chilly, fresh air.  Plastic glasses lessened the blow to some extent, enabling those brave/foolish enough to take their hands out of their pockets to consume of several pints of crap larger on the 'terraces'.  The 'terraces' consist of a small covered stand down the far side of the pitch with hard standing along the dugout side and behind one goal.  Behind the other goal is the clubhouse and a seated area.

The teams emerge from the tunnel.

Radford are second bottom and have conceded over 100 goals, ten of them to Gedling Town in the last meeting and they make an awful start to the first half, falling behind on 11 minutes after some shocking defending.  Gedling looked to have messed the lead up when a penalty was awarded to Radford by the seemingly eleven year old ref.  Things rarely run for you when you're in Radford's position though and they duly proceeded to stuff it up with a tame effort down the middle.  This was all the motivation Gedling needed to go and get a second.  Nothing Radford could do about this one as a great header powered to the back of the net near the half hour mark.  Gedling continued to pressure but couldn't break through before half time.

Half time was welcomed by everyone, not least because it provided the opportunity to go back into the warm!  Inevitably the snack bar was the next calling point.  Stock issues prevailed and whilst a sausage bap is nice it's no real replacement for a burger.  The portion sizes on the chips were a bit slapdash as well, the only thing you can say is the food was fresh (well, freshly defrosted), tasty and prepared while you wait.  Consequently the second half was well under-way by the time I started paying attention again.

The Gedling Town left back takes a throw in.

Some brilliant moments broke the mediocrity of the second half.  The ball, having been hoofed out of the ground for a corner, needed replacing as often happens at non-league grounds.  This is the first time I have ever seen the replacement ball get thrown towards the corner flag, bounce once and follow it's predecessor out of the ground though!  On the subject of firsts, it's also the first time I have seen a player done by a tree!  One side of the ground backs on to a school yard.  Every so often the ball would go over the fence and one of the subs would have to retrieve it.  This was all well and good until one of the subs, being clever, tried to belt the ball back into the ground.  Cue an interception by a school-yard tree worthy of any Premier league defender.

The football was fairly similar to the first half.  Radford would defend shockingly, fluke it then tan the ball up the pitch straight back to Gedling.  Another goal was clearly coming.  It arrived 15 minutes from the end thanks to more woeful defending and some dire goal keeping.  3-0 it finished, it clearly could've been more and it's fairly obvious why Radford are where they are.  Despite this it's a thoroughly recommended day out.  The football was fairly entertaining, punctuated by brilliant comedy moments but there was no time to reflect as Watnall Road was beckoning...

Hucknall Town vs Boston United

It's a trying walk from the tram terminus on one side of Hucknall to Watnall Road on the other, not just because it's a long way but also because of the risk to life and limb.  Hucknall seems to be a place inhabited by those not quite classy enough to live in Nottingham (yes you did just read that right).  At least that's the impression I got from the walk to and from the ground past the numerous closed take-aways.  Still, it's not the worst place I've been by a long shot.

Watnall Road, home of Hucknall Town FC.

Once I actually got to the ground I was pleasantly surprised.  Some nice stands surrounded the pitch on a couple of sides with a reasonable open terrace behind the far goal.  The attendance was 501, 80% of those must've been Boston, 20% of which seemed to be in the snack bar queue!  One poorly stocked snack bar was never going to be a good idea and a lot of Boston fans waited in line for 45 minutes to be told that chips and burgers had sold out.  Not good enough Hucknall!  What did you expect?  The programme was poor as well.  28 pages, mostly adverts and twice the price of the Radford offering.  Anyway, on to the football.

With one eye on the important Bradford PA vs Guiseley score the Boston fans camped out behind the goal which the Pilgrims were attacking and proceeded to make a large amount of noise to encourage the team.  It must've worked as Marc (Jesus) Newsham tapped in on 13 minutes.  It seemed to be a fairly easy game for Boston, rarely getting out of first gear.  Hucknall did threaten occasionally but nothing to really worry Tom Evans.  The only worry for Boston in the first half was the lack of goals to show for the dominance.  1-0 Boston at half time.

The view from behind the goal.

A pint later and it was time for the second half.  The Pilgrims supporters spread out in the second half but still clearly out numbered the home fans.  I'm not sure how much of a help this level of support is to the players but it certainly can't hurt.  Boston flew out of the blocks and were soon two up with another Jesus tap in.  Judging by the efforts to save it, Dan Haystead in the Hucknall goal must've been scared of hurting himself diving in the sandpit of a penalty box.  There was so much sand in fact that the Pilgrims fans were beginning to wish they'd brought their deck chairs.

The sandpit.

Hucknall had a goal ruled off-side but this just galvanised the away team.  Boston racked up the chances and Davidson eventually took advantage by banging in a Semple cross.  Boston ran Hucknall absolutely ragged and should've had more but for Jesus' inability to score a hat-trick.  Hucknall did eventually manage to strike back through Hawes but it was only a consolation as a few minutes later Weir-Daley braved the sandstorm to belt in a rebounding Sleath effort making it 4-1.

A 4-1 win away from home is a cracking result whoever the opponents are.  Sadly Guiseley beat BPA 2-1 on the Saturday then followed it up with a 4-2 win, again versus BPA, on the Wednesday to put them firmly in the title driving seat. Next Saturday's game between Boston and Guiseley is now massive for the Pilgrims to snatch second and gain home advantage in the play-offs.

Easter Footballing Egg-stravaganza (sorry!) Part I

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.

1/5 - England Women vs Spain Women

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.

Well It Had To End Sometime

A short post this week to round up a couple of poor showings from the Boston.

Boston United's winning run has come to a crashing halt.  You may remember I predicted Whitby Town away was going to be a tough game.  It turned out to be slightly more than that.  The Pilgrims were, by all accounts, toothless in attack.  Whitby took advantage of this, running out 2-0 winners after a wonder goal and a cheaply conceded penalty.  The night was made worse by results elsewhere.  Bradford and North Ferriby each picked up three points with Guiseley winning against Stocksbridge Park Steels the night before.  The only positive was that both Retford and Kendal failed to get anything out of their games against Buxton and Marine respectively.

Boston looked to bounce back from this disastrous midweek with an away tie at North Ferriby.  Around 250-300 Pilgrims travelled only to witness a poor game in which neither side threatened.  I was planning to write a match report on this game but, in all honesty, absolutely nothing of any note happened.  Special mention to the Ferriby fans who were great and who gave us a good bit of banter.

On reflection a point against a strong North Ferriby side is a good result, especially considering they have beaten Bradford twice this season. The real downer is the manner in which this result occurred.  There was very little attacking prowess, and while the defence stood strong we never even looked like scoring.  In my opinion the managers left it too late to change things and dropping the clubs top scorer (Marc 'Jesus' Newsham) to the bench before the game was never a smart move.

Once again the only saving grace for this day came in the form of results elsewhere with Retford and Bradford both losing.  Guiseley had the best weekend, with a win and all their rivals failing to keep up the pressure.

These are the sort of games the Pilgrims have to win to top the league.  It was vital to take advantage of any slip ups made by the teams in the top five and that hasn't happened.  Now there is a reliance on other results for there to be any hope of winning the league.

Only Two Weeks? Are You Sure?!

For various reasons it's been almost two weeks since my last blog update, but what a two weeks!  The Pilgrims have played four, won four and are in the most successful run of form since the sixties.  These four victories have seen United slot home ten goals with only one conceded, defeat promotion rivals, reach the final of one competition and win another. Hectic is not the word!  After a bit of time to reflect I think now is a good time to sum up these events...

Retford Away

The topic of the last post was the away trip to Durham City AFC.  The Durham game on the Saturday was followed by a trip to fellow promotion chasers Retford United FC on a Tuesday night.  There are several ties between the clubs with ex-Boston players Peter Duffield (now Retford's manager), Lee Thompson and Paul Ellender all being involved in the Retford set-up.  The sides previous meeting at York St in September was, by all accounts, a fractious affair which resulted in a 1-0 defeat for the Boston and a touchline brawl.  With this in mind the trip to Cannon Park was looking a bit tasty to say the least.

The BUSA bus left Boston with around twenty five hardy supporters, as most had made other travel arrangements.  We made it almost all the way to Sleaford before technical issues with the lights slowed progress.  A replacement coach was sorted and with the remainder of the journey largely uneventful we arrived at Retford's ground.  Apparently bewildered by the large following from Lincolnshire and with a lengthy queue already forming at the turnstile, the stewards struggled to find room to park the bus in an already brimmed car park.  Upon entering the ground it became apparent just how many Boston had travelled.  In fact there was such a following that Retford's league attendance record was broken as 664 people poured into the ground through the one block of turnstiles.  The programmes sold out shortly after our arrival and the grease-packed offerings of the snack bar were depleted by half-time.  It was beginning to feel like one of those nights.

The teams shake hands.

As the match got under-way a 'physical' Retford side started well penning Boston back.  Boston started to come into the game and after several headed opportunities for Pearson the break-through came.  A nice move culminated with Weir-Daley putting in a cross for Sleath to nod home.  This lead was quickly cancelled out courtesy of a cracking Bettney free kick leaving the teams level at half time.

Cannon Park under floodlight with some of the travelling fans behind the goal.

A few minutes into the second half Boston's lead was restored. A deserved header from Pearson given, despite the claims for a foul on the keeper.  A nervous 30 mins followed but the Pilgrims managed to hold on.  At the final whistle all hell broke loose with people on the pitch, benches clashing and punches being thrown as the stewards and officials struggled to regain control.  All in all an ugly end to a fantastic night which went a long way to proving Boston's promotion credentials against one of the better teams in the league.

Curzon Ashton Away

Kick off time approaches at the Tameside Stadium.

This trip in the Unibond League Challenge Cup provided a first visit to the Tameside Stadium for Boston supporters.  The Tameside made a pleasant contrast with Cannon park.  The ground was tidy, with a good set of stands on either side and a very nice sports bar.  The atmosphere during the game was that of a pre-season friendly with the Pilgrim supporters more interested in events down the road at Gigg Lane where Durham City were picking up their first points of the season by beating FC United of Manchester.  Talking to some Curzon fans at the Ashton game earlier in the season I was assured that they would 'play us off the park'.  They didn't.  In fairness the football on display from both teams wasn't the best and two second half finishes from Sleath and Weir-Daley gave Boston the victory and a place in the final.  The ground tick was probably the highlight of the day.

Grantham Town Away

Lee Canoville looks a little embarrassed lifting the Lincs. Senior Shield (photo courtesy of Scott Dalton, who's excellent coverage of Boston United can be followed on Twitter).

Grantham Town hosted Boston in this year's Lincolnshire Senior Shield final.  The quality of this competition can be summed up by highlighting the fact that the shield is made of wood.  Again the quality of football on show was poor.  This time there wasn't even a nice ground, or enough programmes, to rescue the situation for the 378 fans in attendance.  The running track around the pitch contrived to kill off any atmosphere and put the crowd so far from the action as to dampen any excitement that might have arisen had it been a better game.  A professional performance from the Pilgrims was capped by a second half winner from the head of Shaun Pearson.  A huge downside to the night was an injury suffered by Adam Millson who fractured his leg, again.  It wasn't the best to watch but at the end of the day silver wood-ware is wood-ware.  One positive, the chips and curry sauce in the club house was well worth the £1.50 (ish) and come highly recommended.

Nantwich Town at York St

Saturday rolls round and it's finally time for a home match as Nantwich and their eleven fans are the visitors to York St.  It seems like it's been a long time coming with so many away games this month.  The Boston boys have some unfinished business with Nantwich.  5-0 drubbings home and away, along with a broken leg for Adam Millson last season, have left a sour taste in the mouth.  Boston went some way to putting this right late last year, hammering Nantwich 4-0 at the Weaver Stadium in October.

Boston started slow and were lucky not to be behind, a brilliant goal line clearance by Shaun Pearson rescuing the situation.  Boston kicked on from there and it took 17 minutes for Marc 'tap-in' Newsham (a.k.a. Jesus) to put the Pilgrims ahead from what looked to be a massively offside position.  This wasn't the only bit of help Boston got from the Referee who seemed to be biased in our favour for once (not that I'm complaining).  Boston came out for the second half 1-0 up but were nearly punished for being half-asleep when a free header was missed by Michael Lennon.  Again the Pilgrims were spurred on by this near miss and it wasn't long before Davidson put us ahead.  Boston never looked back from here and further goals followed from Weir-Daley, Sleath and Suarez.  Whilst not the best team to visit York St this season, Nantwich certainly weren't the worst.  This is a big win for Boston on a day when table toppers Bradford Park Avenue had a game called off and promotion hopefuls Retford and Guiseley could only draw.

In my opinion the difference between this performance and the preceding abject cup performances can be summed up in two words... Anthony Church.  This guy can run the midfield with his eyes shut and seems to be able to get the best from Danny Sleath as well.  Class player, I just hope we can keep him fit and playing.


As I said at the start, all that in two weeks, are you sure?  Looking ahead the Boston have what could be a really tough away game at Whitby Town this Wednesday.  Whitby's form has been pretty good recently with wins coming against Retford and North Ferriby, a defeat to Durham last week was the only real hiccup in their recent run.  The month is rounded off with a trip to play-off hopefuls North Ferriby making it one home game and six away games in March.  The Unibond sure know how to pack the games in.

Durham City AFC vs Boston United

This weekend the Boston Boys undertook the six billion mile (at least it felt that way) round trip to play Durham City. Many thanks to Ken Fox for providing the pictures.

The Durham lads pre-kick off.

Durham City left Ferens park, their home for the 43 years after their reformation, in the '93-'94 season.  They ground shared with Chester-le-Street Town for a year before moving into their current ground, the Arnott Stadium.  Successive promotions in the '07-'08 and '08-'09 seasons found them in the Northern Premier League's top flight.  An ambitious, well backed club, Durham were eyeing a third promotion in three years.

The club's aspirations were dealt a hammer blow as the season started with the news that, due to their all weather pitch, the football conference would not admit the club, regardless of where they finished the season.  This news resulted in Durham's backers pulling out and left the North Eastern club battling for financial survival at the expense of their league season.  The cost of this has been heavy.  Players left and the team was filled with youngsters.  At the time of writing Durham have played 28 and lost all of them, conceding 137 goals in the process.  Durham were also handed a 6 point penalty and had their manager suspended for fielding a player under a false name and relegation is certain.  Despite all this the club has survived and that, it must be remembered, is the important thing.

This wasn't the first time Boston United had visited the Arnott Stadium during the course of the season and that seems as good a place to start as any...

On the 3rd of October 2009 Boston made their first attempt at playing Durham.  Around 100 people made the journey to the North East.  As the final few supporters were rolling into the club bar the game was cancelled due to strong winds.  Accusations and counter accusations flew about who was responsible for the game being called off.  Understandably the Boston fans were a bit miffed about a weather related postponement on the much maligned 'all weather pitch', especially considering the time, cost and effort of making the trip in the first place.  Ultimately the afternoon was spent in one of the most expensive Lloyd's bars that I have ever had the misfortune of entering, before a lengthy trip home.

Since then Durham have been on the end of a 10-0 thrashing at York St.  Their players came out of that day with a great deal of respect from the Boston supporters.  Not once did a head drop and their keeper was arguably the man of the match.  There was a well deserved post-game standing ovation for the lads in the Pilgrim Lounge.  This went some way to allaying the trepidation and bad feeling following the October debacle and so it was that, bleary eyed on a Saturday morning, around 150 of us made our way North.

Several hours, and a large proportion of the A1 later we arrived at Durham.  The greeting we got was nothing less than marvellous.  The Durham fans seemed genuinely pleased to see us (a novel experience for Boston).  There was a great atmosphere in the bar as the fans mingled.  On a personal note it was great to meet Danny, who I speak to occasionally on Twitter, and his mate Mark.  These two lads embodied the spirit of non-league football, enjoying their time in the NPL regardless of the circumstances.

Kick off came around quickly and Boston got off to a sluggish start.  Durham penned us back for quite a while.  It took 19mins for the break through to be made, Church providing a throughball for Weir-Daley to convert.  Durham then piled on the pressure with several chances before equalising in the 35th minute through a stunning 30 yard drive from Winter, cue mad celebrations from Danny, Mark and the rest of the Durham lot.  It looked like things would be all square at half time until Weir-Daley converted a useful Ryan Semple cross deep in added time.

Durham celebrate the equaliser.

Spencer Weir-Daley scores his second.

The second half kicked off with the Pilgrims supporters hoping for a little more out of their team.  This was provided with two goals in ten minutes.  Semple scoring on his debut followed by Weir-Daley completing his hat-trick.  At 4-1 up there was only one team in it, Boston kept pressuring for more goals but were denied by some resolute defending and some shoddy finishing.

Spencer Weir-Daley and Danny Sleath get the second half underway.

Ryan Semple running the wing.

It was a good result overall with Durham making vast improvements at home over the last few months.  With the top two teams drawing and North Ferriby slipping to defeat at the hands of Kendal it was important for Boston to get the three points, even if it wasn't the best performance of the year.  Credit to Durham (definitely not the worst team I've seen this year) who's players, supporters, stewards, officials and chairman's daughter (DAMN!!!) epitomise everything that is good about the non-league game.  Can we play you every week!?