Entrance: £6
Programme: £1-50
Raffle: £1
Train ticket (Stockport-Congleton): £8-60
Tea: 70p
Total: £18-10
Congleton in Cheshire was on my list as one of the cheaper and closer grounds to do. At 1 hour 14 mins journey time (according to National Rail) this looked like a comfortable one to get under the belt. Again utilising my Sheffield-Manchester season ticket, I changed at Stockport for the service bound for Crewe. After a pleasant ride through rolling hills (and with some sunshine threatening to break through), I reached Congleton. The Booth Street ground was located in the centre of the town, which was a brisk 20 minute walk from the station.
Nestled at the back of a cul-de-sac (and up a gentle slope), Congleton's ground was a fairly decent one. After attracting the attention of some locals when I took a photo of the sign outside, I made my way through the turnstiles (£6 entry!), and got my bearings. You have to walk up a couple of steps from the turnstile, and this brings you onto the corner of the pitch. To the left of me were two levels of terracing behind one goal - to the right was a hut for matchday programmes. As I walked further down past the hut, I noticed the club bar behind the main stand, and this was aptly titled the 'Bear's Den' (after the nickname of the club). The classic feel of the place was enhanced with the cage-like gate which was closed as the players entered the pitch. Behind the goal at the far end was an earth embankment, which was used as an impromptu terrace by a cluster of home fans.
The first quarter of an hour was abysmal, and I was pretty appalled by the standard to be honest. The main thing I noticed in this period was the impressive hills in the distance, which made this quite a picturesque ground! Plus there was the solitary bloke behind the goal with a football rattle! The game picked up, and Congleton began to dominate this Cheshire derby. First their number 11 cut inside to fizz a shot wide, before number 10 forced a save from Winsford's Nathan Beckett. They then won a penalty when their 11 was scythed down in the box, and this was converted by Andrew Langford (only just though as the keeper dived the right way and it just evaded his grasp). Winsford barely threatened, and the closest they came was when their right-back hit over from some distance.
At half-time, I made my way inside the Bear's Den 'to see a man about a dog'. Alongside their trophy cabinet (which looked a bit bare - no pun intended), stood a huge plastic bear, sporting the club's home kit. I'd not seen anything of the kind before, and chuckled as I made my way outside for the second half. Congleton again dominated possession, and just seemed to have that inch more fight. They doubled their lead on 49 minutes when a thunderbolt shot from Matthew Worrall nestled in the net before anyone knew what had happened. The unfortunate away side didn't have much luck in front of goal, and it said a lot that the main event at that end of the pitch was when the corner flag was blown away in the wind. They had half-chances fired high and wide, but just couldn't create or capitalise on anything clear-cut. Congleton continued to control midfield, and made it 3-0 when Koral was slipped through in the 90th minute. They'd overcome local rivals Winsford with relative ease, and made the 4-point gap (7 points after this) look even greater than it was. Winsford just had to grin and bear it!
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