Train = £3-90 (Manchester-Irlam)
Entrance = £5
Programme = £1
Tea = £1
Total = £10-90
If you are driving Westbound on the M62, between junctions 12 and 11, you may notice floodlights in a distant field - this is the Silver Street home of Irlam FC. I reached the ground via a creeping Northern Rail train from Manchester Oxford Road to Liverpool, which seemed to be stopping at every conceivable stop to Merseyside. Irlam itself was fairly non-descript, and it took me circa 40 minutes to find the ground, just in time for kick off. I parted with £5 for entry, and cobbled together some change for the £1 programme. The chap commented that my wallet would be much lighter after that!
The ground was the usual fare - short covered terracing at one end and seating along the near side in an 'L' shape. The wall behind the far goal had collapsed, with grass and weeds starting to claim it as part of the nearby fields. The away fans were clustered behind the near goal, with an England flag with St Helen's Town on - there were quite a few for this one today. The most distinctive feature of the ground was probably the row of conifers around the far side, which made it look like a Christmas market. I wonder if the club might cash in on this potential income stream nearer the festive season?
The game came in fits and starts to be honest. There were some really exciting and open passages of play, but equally lots of time was lost to soft free kicks, niggly fouls and poor passing. St Helen's started on the front foot, seizing possession immediately, with number 10 looking lively. Irlam had a couple of dangerous counter-attacks, with 4's shot saved on 14 minutes and 8 curling over after a swift box-to-box move. St Helen's were a league above Irlam, but weren't looking all that much better. Their right-back was having a torrid game, mishitting and slicing every ball which came his way. This was looking a fairly level game until a looping header by St Helen's number 5 (how do I apostrophise that correctly?!) was judged to have crossed the line, despite what looked like a goal-line clearance from the home side.
The game really got going in the second half, with St Helen's looking good money for a win. First, number 10's free-kick hit the cross-bar, then the lively 7 had a volley cleared off the line. Not to be outdone, Irlam continued to counter, and very nearly sneaked an equaliser when number 9's shot rattled the post. They also had a decent shout for a penalty when it looked like 8's shot had cannoned off an Irlam hand. As the game became increasingly fractured by free kickd and silly fouls, it seemed like St Helen's would win this one. An excellent interchange between the improved number 2 and number 7 resulted in another good chance being fired over. Irlam were still in the fight for this one, and grabbed an equaliser when 5 headed in from a re-bound to make it 1-1. This was now heading to extra time.
St Helen's weren't done in the 90 minutes, and continued to press for a winner. 15's well-struck volley produced a fantastic finger-tip save from the home keeper, which drew applause from both sets of fans. Then late on, 15 was fouled by 5 when clean, with the latter promptly (and correctly) sent off.
I only saw the first half of extra time, but there weren't many incidents. Again, the game was becoming broken up and despite the best efforts of both sides, hardly any chances were created. St Helen's looked in control now their opponents were down to 10, and re-established their lead when 7's flicked header made it 2-1. Unfortunately, I had to miss the second half of extra time to make the 17:44 train, but it didn't sound like I missed much. The score remained 2-1, and St Helen's moved a step closer to Wembley.
No comments:
Post a Comment