Baked potato & tango! £3-10
Tea = £1-20
Chewing gum & apples = £1-19
Tea = £1
Bus (Chorlton-Manchester) = £3
Total = £9-49
As the nights really draw out, I wanted to get to one of the accessible grounds in Manchester after work. My motivation has really increased now the weather has improved and the end of the season is in sight. This is a great time of year to do evening games, so West Didsbury was an ideal one to aim for this evening. I ambled down Oxford Road from work, and had time for a baked potato and cup of tea on the way, before I wandered into the suburb of Chorlton and into the local supermarket. This is only 4 miles or so from the centre of Manchester so I’d decided to walk the route there, and get a bus/metro on the way back in. On the way I passed Whalley Range FC, who play in the Lancashire & Cheshire league, and Maine Road (who I’d visited some time ago, possibly in 2011). And in fact, West Didsbury’s Brookburn Road ground is not actually that far from Old Trafford.
Tonight’s game was a match in the NWCFL Reserve Trophy, which probably wouldn’t exist next year as the Reserve league had been disbanded. This is unfortunate because the NWCFL has for a long time been one of the few leagues at this level to have a reserve league. For this cup competition, there were 2 groups of 4, and West Didsbury were bottom of their group, which had been won by Glossop NE. I gleaned this from a detailed conversation behind me in the main stand! The ground was decent enough, given they had only recently reached the NWCFL level. From Brookburn Road itself is a short track into the ground, where a few cars had parked on the grass verge on the left. To my right was a small covered terraced area, and on behind the far goal there were a few seats in the black and white of the home club, next to the clubhouse.
Despite the fact that this evening’s game was a dead rubber, it was a really entertaining game, demonstrating the competitiveness of the NWCFL set-up. Cheadle started more strongly, and took the lead when their number 7 flicked it to number 10, who couldn’t miss his header from close range. At this point, a woman with a Macclesfield Town puffer jacket asked me what the score was and who had scored – it turned out that number 10 was her son! After some kamikaze defending from West Didsbury, Cheadle’s number 7 doubled their lead with a fierce shot on 20 minutes – he reminded me of Rooney, carrying the ball from midfield, and brushing aside players with ease. The defending was shocking, and it was all the stuff you are taught not to do from school to Sunday league level. West Didsbury barely threatened in the first half with the only real chances (half-chances at that) falling to Shackeel Depeiaza and Nduoma Chilaka. Cheadle were in command, and could easily have doubled their lead when a superb left foot drive from number 9 was tipped over by Betton in the home goal.
The second half (which I saw up to about 85 minutes) was amongst the most entertaining of the season. On 57 minutes, Cheadle’s number 10 had a penalty well-saved by the home keeper, before Chilaka hit a drive which cannoned across the box and just out of reach of a home striker. The away keeper repeatedly shouted ‘No bounce’ to his players when another ball was launched forward, but this didn’t seem to have any effect on the play, as it bounced several times before it was won. This was becoming open now, and on 69 minutes West Didsbury’s substitute attacker rattled the cross-bar. The home side deserved a goal, and it arrived shortly after when their centre-back headed into his own net after a rebound off the keeper. It looked like game on but West Didsbury were looking increasingly tired compared to their opponents. It was Cheadle’s turn to hit the woodwork, with the wiry 10 hitting the outside of the post from an acute angle, before a swift counterattack saw the away number 7 round the keeper, only to fire onto the cross-bar. I was a bit gutted that I had to leave on 85 minutes to make my train back to Sheffield, as this had been one of the most entertaining periods of play this year. Once again, the NWCFL fails to disappoint!
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