Train (Stockport-Whitchurch) = £17-30
Tea at Crewe = £2-15
Paper = 50p
Entry = £5
Tea at ground = £1
Post match provisions = £3-50
Tea at Stockport = 99p
Total = £30-44
After some tricky recent trips, I was certainly feeling the effects today. I'm hitting the usual Autumn "ground-hopper fatigue", now with 9 new grounds for the season.
Today's visit to Whitchurch would be my tenth new ground, and I was looking forward to it. The club were only accepted into the NWCFL very late on, and are to my knowledge the only Shropshire club in the league. The town sits roughly halfway between Wrexham and Stoke, barely a few miles from the Welsh border, so held added intrigue today. Unlike Barnoldswick and Eccleshall, Whitchurch has a train station, with services up to Crewe and Manchester and down to Shrewsbury and South Wales.
After 3 trains from Sheffield I arrived in the town at about 1:45. I had a desire to see the border with Wales so strolled through the town out to the A525. Unfortunately the pavement ran out and given that it was approaching 2:30 I headed back towards the ground at Yockings Park.
This was not a bad set up at all. The bonus on entry was that the programme was included in the price, which makes a refreshing change. The ground had an impressive white and red stand with wooden seats and a corrugated iron roof on the near side, with the 'tunnel' emerging in the middle. There was a slither of covered area opposite, and I was surprised to see that the far end had no hard standing walkway, so was cordoned off.
Ashton Town came here as favourites, and Whitchurch were still looking for their first win at this level. The chances in the first half largely fell to the Wigan side, with a shot from 9 and a header from 4 saved in quick succession. The most noticeable home player was number 8, who seemed intent on whinging at the referee (and anyone who would listen!) for every decision. The away side continued to forge opportunities - 4's left footed free kick flew inches over the bar, and no one would capitalise when a parry from 7's effort resulted in a loose ball in the box. 11's inswinging curler was then tipped around thepost by the home keeper. At the other end, Whitchurch's best chance fell to 9, who sprinted through on the right and couldn't find the target from a tight angle.
The second half began with Ashton looking fired up, but Whitchurch looking resilient. Whitchurch's second chance came when 2's shot was tipped/ onto the post by an alert away keeper. Ashton's wave of away attacks were only broken by a pause when some dog mess was removed from the pitch! 11 was the most active, teeing up 9 for a volley which went over and then hitting the side netting. In midfield, I was particularly impressed with Ashton's 10, who juggled the ball like a Brazilian at times. The away side's 8 then slotted in after being adjudged offside, and you had a feeling this might not be their day.
Whitchurch then began to look more confident in attack. 4 hit a shot wide, before 9 was nearly put through by a long clearance downfield. 4 was then caught in a painful area with the ball and lay in agony for a while. Then the home side's 9, who had chalk on his boots on the left wing, screamed for the ball. When he received it he took it down superbly and quickly saw off 3-4 defenders before slotting in to the keeper's right. The crowd were delighted and at 4:45 were asking for full time! At this point I was disappointed that I had to leave to try and make the 16:52 train, but was pleased to see that Whitchurch held on for a historic first win.
The journey back was another disaster story. I missed the aforementioned train from Whitchurch, and had to wait 1hrs 15 for the next one. When I got to Stockport the next train to Sheffield had been cancelled, and the next train was delayed by 15 minutes. The train ride across the Pennines was punctuated by some Sheffield United fans giving renditions of 'The lion sleeps tonight' and songs from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!
Anyway, well done Whitchurch for your first NWCFL win. Based on the ground, spirit of the team, and excellent value for money you'll be a welcome addition to this league.
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