Hanley (28-02-2015)

Hanley Town 1 - 1 Rochdale Town (NWCFL Division 1), Saturday 28th February 2015

Train (Stockport-Stoke): £13
Tea: 80p
Entrance: £4
Programme: £1
Bovril: 80p
Total: £19-60

The last time I came to Stoke was way back in November for my trip to Market Drayton. That feels like a long time ago now we're edging out of winter. Hanley was an ideal one on a slightly bleak February day - we are in that weird Hinterland where it's not quite Spring but not exactly in the depths of Winter. The ground was about a 40-minute walk from the station, off a barely noticeable track off Abbey Lane. If it hasn't been for a tiny sign on a gate, I would have missed it altogether.

 

Hanley are relative newcomers to the NWCFL, having joined a season or two ago. The ground was simple and straightforward, with a portakabin forming the turnstile and a couple of small stands along either touch line. After the obligatory tea in the small but cosy bar, I sat down in the small seated stand bang on halfway. The ground had suddenly seen an influx of visitors with lots of kids and WAGs milling about.

The away side were Rochdale Town, who almost scored immediately when 9's attempted lob drifted just wide on 2 minutes. Hanley responded with a left footed free kick from Stair flying wide, and now we had a game - albeit a scrappy one - on our hands. Hanley repeatedly fell foul of the offside rule, with Price and Stair caught off in quick succession. The opener came for Rochdale almost bang on the half-time whistle, when Bradbury chipped over the keeper when through. Hanley were not to be outdone, and nearly equalised when a near-post effort from their own 10 (Stair) was saved.

After the usual warming Bovril, I took up my place standing next to where I'd been sat before. My notes suggest this was a game of the 10s, with both players threatening for their sides. Hanley's Stair attempted an awkward shot with what I would call a 'bicycle header' - i.e leaning back whilst heading the ball with the back of your head. The technique is nigh on impossible to perfect, so I'm not surprised it didn't really work! After Rochdale's 10 had fired wide on his left foot, Hanley equalised when Stair slotted in from inside the 6-yard box, and rattled the post with a header shortly after. Rough tackles began flying in, with a particularly contentious one from Rochdale's left-back, and a running battle (verbal and physical!) between Hanley's 3 and Rochdale's 2.

Despite gradually seizing control of the game, Hanley could not force another breakthrough. I have to add that they seemed to have an aversion to crossing the ball from either flank, which wasn't an ideal attacking move. As the game drew to a close, three young lads (maybe aged 9-10) appeared next to me, asking who was playing and what the score was. Evidently they'd decided to drop in for the closing stages. Their conversation about football (Premiership, the game in front of them etc) made me think of three old men pontificating on the game. I wonder if they'll be here in a few decades time?!

Man City Academy (10-02-2015)

New York City 2 - 0 St Mirren (Friendly), Tuesday 10th February 2015

Toastie & hot chocolate: £5-10
Water: 63p
Ticket: £10
Total 15-73

Tonight I managed to get lost at the Etihad! In the search for the City Academy stadium, I initially went the athletics ground next to the main stadium, before following the crowds across the Etihad campus to the right ground. New York were playing St Mirren in a slightly bizarrely timed friendly, in a stadium I'd not visited before (though it's in a grey area and is not on my 'list'). The academy stadium is well worth a visit, and could easily host some bigger non-league, or even League Two, teams. The only down side tonight was that I had to circumnavigate the entire ground just to get to the correct entrance, and just about made it for KO. There were no programmes, just team sheets, which made a refreshing change from the glossy advertising magazines which some clubs produce. I was fairly centrally placed in the main stand, a few rows up from the action, and was surrounded by Scots, Americans, and Mancs - what a lovely combination!

The opening half an hour of the game was played at a fast pace, with the triangles in midfield reminding me of a fast 6-a-side game. New York in particular applied themselves well and worked incredibly hard. The star of the show - David Villa - started brightly for New York, firing wide early on. New York's went close when one of their midfielders headed straight into the keeper's chest, before Sebastian Velasquez cut inside on his left foot, again going close. At the other end, the New York keeper fumbled a shot from James Dayton, before the same player had a left footer deflected wide. The ever-present Villa was caught offside, but then opened the scoring on 35 minutes when two players had failed to connect with a cross from the left. St Mirren didn't look altogether bad, and Thompson threatened when he reached a near-post cross shortly after, and McGinn lobbed the ball over.

The second half lost some of the pace and aggression of the first. This was when the game really became a friendly, albeit a very open one, with one of New York's substitutes - Tony Taylor - bearing the number 99, and several coming on without numbers at all. Velasquez again looked dangerous, hitting straight at the keeper again. St Mirren continued to work at the other end, but seemed to mistake this for a game of rugby when Dayton set up Goodwin, who scored what would have been a terrific drop-goal. As expected my favourite number - New York's 99 - scored a superb goal when he took down a long ball and smashed it, and he could easily have had a brace when he raced clear only to be smothered by the keeper. At this point, the game slowly descended into lots of long-range shots, although St Mirren did go mightily close to a consolation near the end.

Silsden (07-02-2015)

Silsden 2 - 1 Runcorn (NWCFL), Saturday 7th February 2015

Train ticket £20-90
Tea £1
Bovril £1
Programme £1-50
Entry £5
Total £29-40

Today brought more postponements left right and centre. I had a short list of clubs to visit, and had aimed for either Hanley or Ashton Town. Thanks to my weekly 'Twitter watch' for postponements I discovered that both those games were off, and Silsden was 'ON'!

Silsden must be pretty unique in the NWCFL as its the only club in Yorkshire playing in this league. The town sits between Keighley and Skipton, on the edge of the Pennines and not too far from the Lancashire border. Today I travelled via Leeds, something of a rarity for this league, though it made a nice change from Manchester.

              

According to Google maps, the Keighley Road ground is 2 miles from Steeton & Silsden. It was actually much closer being barely a 15-minute walk. As I had a spare half an hour, I wandered into Silsden itself, where the streets were lined with stone terraced houses leading up to a steep hill - 7% gradient no less.

I headed back down to the ground, and parted with the standard fiver for entry at a little white hut. The ground was small and neat, bounded by wooden fencing on two sides and the clubhouse on the other. There were two short covered areas - terracing with a space for a wheelchair at the front and a seated area painted white. The view and the relatively small ground reminded me of Stokesley in North Yorkshire.

Today's game was again fast and furious, with both sides determined to take victory. Silsden's 8 had an early shot blocked while at the other end Runcorn contrived to get offside at almost every attack. Runcorn's Curtis Cummins hit over on 21 minutes after a setup from Shanley. Silsden opened the scoring on 29 minutes when Josh McNulty's nearpost header drifted into the net. Silsden's Robert Grimes was a real handful, holding up play and distributing the ball with ease to his teammates. Runcorn still carried a threat, with Cummins scooping over after a swift counter, and Keddie firing just wide after he'd used his shoulder to control the ball.

At half time I heard an amusing comeback when a chap near me didn't have the winning raffle numbers - they're the right numbers but just in the wrong order! Runcorn came out looking absolutely determined to get a goal, with three early chances falling to Cummins and Jack Irlam. Then on 69 minutes Silsden doubled their lead when Damien Kinsey set up a deserved headed goal for Grimes. The rest of the game belonged to Runcorn so its quite incredible to think they came away empty handed. They pulled 1 back when Irlam slid a setup from Shanley to the keepers left. The big chance came when Keddie had a free header after a deep cross from the right. Somehow he managed to put it wide, and that was that. Silsden had worked hard and the real difference between the sides had been the industrious and creative Robert Grimes up front.