Cleator Moor Celtic (15-04-2017)

Cleator Moor Celtic 0 - 0 Silksworth Colliery Welfare (Saturday 15th April 2017), Wearside League

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Today's game at Birks Road, Cleator Moor, was my third consecutive football weekend in a row. Being up in Cumbria for Easter, I decided to find a local game. Often when I am up here, most of the local sides are away, but today I had a choice of Workington, Celtic, and even Carlisle City. Cleator Moor is about 4 miles from the in-laws' home so was perfect for an (almost) end-of-season match with the sun shining. Cleator Moor is a town just outside Whitehaven, with strong connections to mining, industry and railways of times past. I am often reminded that it is not part of Whitehaven but is a town with its own identity and community. The football club is renowned locally even though they are currently in the Step 7 Wearside League, so I wanted to satisfy my curiosity.

The club's Birks Road ground is located just off one of the main streets in Cleator Moor, behind a doctor's surgery. Initially I managed to get lost on the way in, going too far down the road and turning down a cul-de-sac. Needless to say I could still have got in as a gate was invitingly open next to the pitch!

When I arrived at the ground, I found a neat set-up. Most of the ground 'furniture' was clustered around the near side, with a car park, modern club-house and a covered standing area in close proximity. The area behind both goals was bounded by high fences and in the distance was a magnificent view of nearby fells and mountains.

Celtic started today at 6th in the league, whilst the visitors Silksworth were 4th. However, the home side had played 8 less games - incredible considering there are barely a few weeks of the season left. When I looked at Cleator's fixtures, it seemed they had a packed April and were still due to be playing when the rest of the Wearside had finished. 

The first half was an evenly balanced affair. Silksworth had an early shot blocked on the line, while Cleator's number 9 could only watch as he nearly made contact with the ball across the face of the goal. Silksworth's number 7 bore a strong resemblance to Michael Laudrup but his football was not quite of the same quality! There were some physical battles at either end of the pitch but the referee let the game flow without too many cards. One of the away fans from Wearside grumbled "we get nought from refs over here". Quite apart from refereeing decisions, it must be a long journey to come across to Cumbria - and in fact, teams have to come twice, with nearby Windscale also in this league.

Cleator Moor Celtic came out firing on all cylinders in the second half. They hit the post early on with a header and had a cluster of chances which flew wide or were foiled by a tenacious keeper. Celtic's number 10 very nearly made the breakthrough but a fantastic diving save by away keeper (in front of the distant fells) put paid to that. So it finished all square, and I headed back to base via a bracing walk with the wind blowing strongly. As I am writing this in mid-May, I can now see that Celtic finished a creditable 3rd in the league (behind Jarrow and Redcar), whilst Silksworth finished 6th. Cleator Moor are one to watch, and they may well be on their way up to Step 6 in years to come.

Campion (08-04-2017)

Campion 3 - 0 Brigg (Saturday 8th April 2017), NCEFL Division 1

Train to Bradford £12-50
Entry £5
Programme £2
Tea (x 2) £2
Bus £3
Total £24-50

After an extended sabbatical (with the new arrival) I headed on my first longer distance ground-hop since Hereford. Campion was a decent one to do given they are relatively new to the league, and the ground is relatively close to Bradford Interchange.

It was a beautiful sunny day as I set off from Sheffield, and while I had a bit of concern over the impact of the rail strike, it was set to be a good day. Campion's ground was located about 2 miles from Bradford, very close to the iconic Manningham Mills, which hark back to perhaps a more glorious era for the area.

Campion's Scotchman Road ground is located just behind a new-ish looking bar/clubhouse, which also seems to double as a DSA driving test centre! The ground is shared with a cricket club, so (like Hallam) one side is fairly exposed, and presumably the metal pole can be removed for matches in the summer. Upon parting with £5 entry and £2 for the programme, I surveyed the ground. The main covered area was on the far side, where scaffolding held up a long roof covering a couple of blocks of white seats. Some of the seats were discarded on the floor as if someone had forgotten about them or was planning some work over the summer! All in all it was a nice set-up and it was a day to relish football with the weather so good.

This was an intriguing game in prospect. Campion lay in 8th, having done superbly in their maiden season here, while 16 points behind them were Brigg in 13th. It was the home side who started quicker, attacking at a ferocious pace, and with players who were able to find space in all areas. They took the lead when Jason Davis lobbed the keeper superbly from a fair distance out - as someone next to me said 'you won't see that in the Premier, on TV'. Although Brigg had a handful of chances - Ben Kendall's volley well caught by an alert keeper and then Ryan Thompson's drive being tipped over - I could see that Campion were going to dominate proceedings if they continued at this pace.

Brigg came out for the second period with a degree of intensity. But they could not find the equaliser when they had possession - their nearest chance came when Nathan Peat had an effort cleared off the line. In the Campion ranks I noticed that the physio resembled Paul Lambert, whilst the centre back looked like Peter Crouch! Back to the football and Campion made it 2-0 when Jason Davis curled in a low shot from around 35 yards. He was in form today as was the industrious and pacey Kieron Batey. Brigg attacked but could not find a way round or through a stubborn Campion midfield and defence. Then after a brilliant flowing counterattack, Campion were awarded a penalty when the pony-tailed Eli Hey was denied a goal-scoring opportunity. Brigg's red-head Charlie Clemenshaw was red-carded and stood ashen-faced behind the goal as Davis smashed in the spot-kick to claim a hat-trick. There was still time for the home side to rattle the post (the second time they had done so in the game) but 3-0 was just reward for their efforts. 

It is great to see a new team do so well in the NCEL and illustrates how strong this league is. I headed back to Bradford for the 17:27 train amid blazing sunshine, which makes a complete contrast to the freezing conditions in Hereford back in November. My first trip out for a while was a decent one, and saw me tick off another Yorkshire ground.

Liverpool (01-04-2017)

Liverpool 3 - 1 Everton (Saturday 1st April 2017), Premier League

Match ticket £46
Train £18-15
Tea £1-95
Bus to Anfield £4
Tea £2
Toilet 30p
Total £72-40

Finally Liverpool had a midday home kick-off! After a string of endless 5:30 Saturday and 4PM Sunday kick-offs, it was a nice change to have an early match to go to. Although this meant an early start in Sheffield and the 8:40 train, it also meant that we would get home at a reasonable time (and in time for tea!).

Everton were today's opposition, in what was a key Merseyside Derby. As mentioned in my previous blog, Anfield now towers over Goodison, and the gap between the two sides is widening once more. There was a period in 2013/14 when Everton looked destined for a Champions League place, but now they would just be happy to get into the Europa League.

The start of the match was marked by tributes to the legendary Ronnie Moran ('Bugsy'), with seat signs in the Kop marking out his nickname. The number of trophies and years read across the tannoy was incredible, and just illustrates the historical size of this club.

Today's Liverpool could be going places if they can close out this season. As against Arsenal they started superbly, taking the lead through Mane after a one-two with Firmino. They huffed and puffed, but couldn't blow the Toffees' door down a second time. Everton looked handy on the break and I was particularly impressed with the young Tom Davies - pacey, able to turn quickly and with an eye for a pass. Meanwhile, Ross Barkley (supposedly the great white hope of English football) was having a shocker, fouling at almost every opportunity and unable to put together more than a couple of passes. But, with this being Liverpool, there is always an opening, and Pennington took full advantage when a simple corner wasn't dealt with by Liverpool's back line. The fans were deflated. But within a couple of minutes, the home side took the lead again when Coutinho's effort flew into the top corner.

The second period saw Liverpool further stretch the away side, who looked tired and devoid of ideas. So it was no surprise when Origi made it 3-1 on 60 minutes to confirm Liverpool's dominance, and take the edge off a slightly nervous Anfield crowd. This was another excellent performance, and if they can keep getting results in their final few games, they should be on the way to the Champions League for the first time since 2014.