Tuesday 29 July 2014

Salford City (29-07-2014)

Salford City 0 – 3 Chorley (Friendly), 29th July 2014

Dinner (Thai!) = £11
Entrance = £4
Tea = £1
Fruit juice = 62p
Total = £16-62

On a sultry July evening after work, I decided to head down to Moor Lane for another friendly, hoping to take advantage of the light evenings at the moment. For once, I came completely unprepared, and had only my work shirt – no jumper or coat in sight! I hoped I wouldn’t regret this, but fortunately the weather was reasonably warm through this one. Salford City had been in the headlines recently when Manchester United’s Class of 92 had taken over the club, so I half-expected to see some famous names there tonight. On the pitch, they’ve established themselves as a solid Evostik Division 1 side, and should do reasonably well this season. In the other corner (black and white to be precise), Chorley had just been promoted into the Conference North, and would shortly be starting their debut season at that level.


The ground was a hidden gem, off Bury Road, about a 45-minute walk from the centre of Manchester. As I entered, there was an earth bank to walk down, and two stands – one short row of terracing on the near side, and a stand of seating on the far side. The seated stand was a classic, with long wooden benches embedded onto a magnificent concrete structure. With its pillars and burgundy and white colours, this had something of a regal feel to it.

This had all the makings of a decent match, certainly more evenly contested than Saturday’s game at Wigan. It started off with a bang, with Chorley’s James Dean giving them the lead almost from the kick-off, as the Salford defence seemed to turn to statues as the away side walked through them. This set up a fiercely contested game brilliantly. Salford immediately threatened an equaliser when their 7 hit a superb first-time shot to force a decent save from the away keeper. They looked fired up by conceding the early goal, and had a hatful of half-chances throughout the first-half, with 5 shooting miles over from a decent position, and 10 volleying wide shortly before half-time. Chorley’s only real chance came with a free-kick from 11 which flew just wide, until they made it 2-0 with a 42nd minute volley from Dale Wigan. Salford had worked really hard in this first-half, but not really got the rub of the green, having been undone by two badly-timed goals.


As I wandered around at half-time, I noticed a crowd around a group of hooded Mancs, with people’s iPhones and cameras at the ready. I wondered what all the fuss was about until I noticed that the guy in the grey hoodie was Paul Scholes, flanked by Phil Neville and Nicky Butt! They had just looked like a normal group of blokes at the football. This was proving to be quite an evening so far!

The second-half was as competitive at the first, with Salford having lost none of their verve. Number 4’s shot on 53 minutes was saved again, while 8 fired a half-chance over. By now the Chorley contingent behind the left-hand goal were in fine voice, creating a great atmosphere at what was a pre-season friendly. Chorley were often in control of the game but didn’t create many chances of significance, apart from a dipping volley from 15 on 69 minutes. To cap Salford’s rather bad luck this evening, they conceded a 75th minute penalty, which was converted by Chorley’s 10. (The foul looked to me like it was committed just outside the area.) 3-0, and a rather unfair scoreline on the home side, who had done well against a side two leagues above them.

Saturday 26 July 2014

Wigan Robin Park (26-07-2014)

Wigan Robin Park 0 - 2 Morecambe (Friendly), 26th July 2014

Train ticket (Manc-Wigan) = £4-20
i-Paper = 20p
Entrance = £5
Tea = £1
Water = 53p
£11-13

On a scorching hot day in July, I made my way to Wigan's Robin Park Arena for this pre-season friendly against League 2 Morecambe. I could title this blog 'the road to Wigan Pier', but more accurately it could be titled '2 delayed trains and a bus to Wigan'. I was perplexed at first by the fact that Wigan is not on my A-Z of Lancashire, seemingly in the Nether region between Manchester, Lancs and Merseyside. Needless to say the ground was easy to find, being a 20-minute stroll from Wigan North Western and sitting right next to the DW stadium. As I had half expected, the 'Arena' was effectively an athletics stadium with a football pitch in th middle. The ground entrance was through the adjoining leisure centre, where I parted with £5 for this afternoon's entertainment. Though there were no programmes, the welcome ws friendly, with the gent at the turnstile/table directing me up to the tea-bar and seats. Nice welcome! After the customary sit-down and sandwiches, it was just about time for kick-off. Fortunately tthe stand of seats was well-shaded, so I had no fear of getting sunburnt (a rare concern of UK groundhoppers!).




Morecambe had the lions' share of possession in the first half. Number 7 was particularly busy and industrious, working hard to win the ball and taking on the home defence with ease. He had a couple of chances, before a superb curling shot from a fellow midfielder hit the post. Morecambe, unsurprisingly, looked faster, stronger and more organised. Even Robin Park's attempt to shackle them with 5 at the back at times was ineffective. Morecambe took the lead on 30 minutes, when their alert striker (9) slotted in a rebound, after a great run by 7. It could have been more shortly after, when the same player rolled a low shot against the upright, and Morecambe also hit the cross-bar on 34 minutes. Robin Park's main action of the half was when their number 10 fouled an away player, who was then stretchered off.


It may have been the weather, it may have been the fact this was a friendly, but the second-half petered out somewhat. Morecambe still had the best of it, with the active 7 heading at the keeper just after half-time, and their 17 imposing himself on the left wing. Robin Park had a rare half-chance on 57 minutes, when their central midfielder (10) could only toe-poke a loose ball wide. On 76 minutes, Morecambe's 17 scored a deserved second to put the game beyone doubt. There were only a couple more chances of note - a rifled volley from Morecambe's right-back, and a header from Wigan's 11. It hadn't been a classic start to the season, but I was glad to get another ground under my belt.

The journey back to Sheffield proved long and frustrating. First, the 17.09 from Wallgate was cancelled, then the next train from North Western was delayed by 10 minutes. Then, to put the feather in the cap, the East Midlands service from Manchester to Sheffield was delayed by 20 minutes. I finally arrived through the door at 8.40pm. Not really the road to Wigan Pier; more like the road to Timbuktu!