Maine Road

Maine Road vs Burscough, North West Counties Football League Premier Division, Brantingham Road, 24/02/18

Again there’s been a gap between my blogs, and that can only be explained due to a lack of funds, mental health and the weather, although I feel like they’ve been an issue in the past. At least I hadn’t ended up in hospital after watching my side lose 4-0 to Brentford (Yes, the final score was 5-0, but I don’t think my Uncle Ed is aware that Blues conceded a fifth). So I probably should use this part of the blog to wish my Uncle a speedy recovery, and to thank everyone that helped the fool after he had his incident!

I was torn between two games for today, either Maine Road or West Didsbury & Chorlton, so I did the sensible thing and asked my wife a series of quick fire questions which led to her deciding that I would be going to Maine Road. Luckily the journey into Manchester was easy, with minimal traffic, and I pulled up outside Brantingham Road with about fifteen minutes before kick-off. Approaching the turnstiles I committed a cardinal sin as I pulled a £20 note out of my pocket, luckily there was a guy nearby who kindly changed my £20 for two £10s, and, including a programme, I paid £6.50 to get in. The programme itself could probably be used as a doorstop as it contains a large amount of information about both football clubs, the league etc. Although oddly the programme does reveal that one of the Maine Road players is sponsored by the Former Manchester United Players Association.

The reason why I found it odd that a Maine Road player is sponsored by the Former Manchester United Players Association is because of the fact, that as you probably should have gathered from their name, Maine Road are a team set up and run by Manchester City fans. Maine Road began life in 1955, as City Supporters Rusholme, and played friendly matches before joining the Rusholme Sunday League, where they remained until they transferred to the Manchester Amateur Sunday League in 1966. The club also moved their headquarters to the Maine Road Social Club and were renamed Maine Road FC. After they won the Manchester County Sunday Cup and the league title in 1972, the club switched to Saturday football and joined Division Two of the Manchester League. Road won the Division Two title at the first attempt and were promoted to Division One, as well as picking up the Manchester County Amateur Cup. The following season saw them win the Division One title, and they were promoted to the Premier Division. In 1983 the club were Premier Division champions, and they retained the title for the next three seasons, before finishing as runners-up in 1987, after which the club moved to Division Two of the NWCFL. Maine Road’s first season in the NWCFL saw them win the Manchester Premier Cup for a third time. Despite finishing as runners-up in Division Two the club were not promoted as their ground failed to meet the grading regulations. However they won the Division Two title the following season, seeing them earn promotion to Division One. Road were relegated at the end of the 2001-2002 season, they were Division Two runners-up in 2003-2004 and were promoted back to Division One, where they have remained ever since.

I’ve covered Burscough before, and the blog can be found here: https://davidsadventuresingroundhopping.wordpress.com/2016/12/11/burscough/. Unfortunately Burscough did drop out of the Northern Premier League Division One North, and now find themselves down in the NWCFL, which is quite the drop when you consider that not too long ago they were in the Conference North.

Brantingham Road is a very open ground, with a large amount of empty land around it. Upon walking through the turnstile you emerge behind the goal, with a thin strip of uncovered terracing to your right. Round to the left of the turnstiles are the changing rooms, and the refreshment hut. Along the touchline to the left of the turnstiles is a stretch of uncovered standing, and the dugouts, this hard standing runs to just after the halfway line before a small covered stand takes its place. Behind the far goal is a stretch of uncovered standing, and someone has taken the time to plant a few trees behind the goal, which is probably a good thing as there is a row of houses behind this goal, and I can imagine that they are probably sick of finding footballs in their back garden. Finally on the other touchline is a covered stand, which provides the only seats in the ground, however these seats are benches, but the views are good from these and I spent the majority of the game sat in this stand. Overall Brantingham Road is a nice ground, and it certainly has a lot of room for growth!

Once both teams were ready, the game kicked off under a bright sun. However the wind was still making itself known, and whilst it may have looked warm, it was actually freezing! However instead of being sensible and buying a hot drink from the refreshment hut I decided to buy a can of Diet Coke and a Twix which came to the grand total of £1.80.

It didn’t take long for Burscough to open the scoring, as in the 5^th minute Terry Cummings fired home a simple chance. The Maine Road keeper had chosen to punch the ball away following a cross from the left wing, however his punch was weak and it fell straight to the feet of Cummings who hammered home.

Maine Road took the early blow well, and equalised in the 11^th minute, as James Ormrod managed to get the decisive touch from a corner, slamming the ball home to put Road level.

Burscough regained the lead in the 18^th minute, as Chad White found the back of the net, after picking the ball up inside the area. Burscough then established a two goal cushion in the 25^th minute, as Peter Henertey made no mistake, firing the ball home confidently.

Maine Road reduced the arrears in the 42^nd minute as Sean Cookson slotted home tidily to give Maine Road a chance of getting something out of this game.

Now I’m not sure which bench it was, but one of them impressed me with the way they handled their players. The referee was a complete stickler for the rules and you could see both sides getting frustrated with the ref, however one of the benches continually reminded their players to stop whinging and play football. Referees are human, as surprising as that may be, and are prone to making mistakes, and this referee was no different but without the dedicated individuals that decide to spend their Saturdays officiating football matches we wouldn’t have this beautiful game, so cut them some slack once in a while.

Half Time: Maine Road 2-3 Burscough (Ormrod 11, Cookson 42 – Cummings 5, White 18, Henertey 25)

At half time I decided to walk around the ground, trying to find somewhere I could shelter from the wind, whilst still being in the sun. However this task would prove to be impossible, and therefore I walked around the ground trying to find a good place to stand, before deciding to go and sit in the stand again.

Maine Road made a change at the break with their number 10, Alexander Pope, making way for number 16, Jason Perry. In all honesty if I thought that there was going to be a change at the break but I was expecting the Maine Road number 6, James Ormrod, to be the player leaving the field, as in the first half he was involved in a collision which looked serious at first, but luckily Ormrod was able to continue.

With Maine Road looking for an equaliser, and Burscough looking for a goal to kill the game off, the game turned into a midfield battle, with very few chances for either team. The flow of the game was interrupted as the ref ensured that every throw, free kick, goal kick etc was taken in the exact same place as where the ball had gone out/the foul had occurred. This led to the Burscough number 4, Joshua Dunrod, getting booked for dissent, and in all fairness if he hadn’t had quietened down I think the ref would have had no problem with sending him off. Luckily for Dunrod, and his teammates, he remained on the pitch for the full ninety minutes.

In the 55^th minute, Maine Road made their second change with Jack Langford, number 7, making his way off of the field to be replaced by Joseph O’Brien, number 15.

Burscough made their only change in the 65^th minute, with Matthew Ward, number 11, making way for number 12, Prince Ekpolo. Maine Road made their third and final change in the 75^th minute, as Sean Cookson, number 11, was replaced by number 14, Sammual Riley.

The game had fizzled out at this point, as both teams cancelled each other out, and any chances were snatched at. For all of the excitement and goals of the first half, the second half had been drab. I was relieved to hear the final whistle as I had begun to lose the feeling in my feet, and my right foot was still stinging from kicking the ball back to the keeper (I still haven’t fully recovered from breaking my toe in January).

Final Score: Maine Road 2-3 Burscough (Ormrod 11, Cookson 42 – Cummings 5, White 18, Henertey 25)

I quickly made my way back to my car, and turned the heating up as far as it would go. The journey back was rather easy but I’m still confused by people that buy Audi’s and other fancy cars, and then do 50 miles an hour on the motorway. One you are a hazard to yourself and everyone around you, and two you are wasting the power of your car, buy a bloody Ford KA if you feel the need to go at a snail’s pace on the motorway! Motorways are designed for everyone to do 70 miles an hour, but again the extremists always ruin it for everyone as on one hand you have the slow idiots who do below 70mph but then on the other hands you have the reckless fools who do 90mph+, now if everyone did a consistent 70mph there would be no issue, but as is the way of the world, the extremists always ruin it. I’m not saying that I’ve never sped on the motorway, as who hasn’t put their foot down when the road is dry and it’s clear in front of you? But when the road is wet and the road’s are busy then doing anything above 80mph is reckless!

Anyway, enough of my ranting about driving, I mean I’m not perfect I did roll my Rover 25 on a country road once. Burscough deserved the three points, their attacking players were great in the first half, as they attacked in numbers and put pressure on Maine Road.

Maine Road didn’t capitulate and gave Burscough a very good game in the first half, however both sides were poor in the second half, and the game really did fizzle out. I would recommend visiting Maine Road as they are a great club, and the ground is very easy to get to.

Thanks for reading, as always if any clubs/websites etc want to use any of my work, all I ask for is credit!

Attendance: 78

Cost: £5 entry, £1.50 programme, £1 raffle ticket (Which I lost), £1.80 food and drink

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/139632000@N07/albums/72157690828428842

Burscough

Burscough vs Ossett Town, Evo Stik Division One North, 10/12/16, Victoria Park

With Christmas rapidly approaching, this probably would have been a good day to do some Christmas shopping, as I still haven’t bought the majority of the Christmas presents that I need to buy. Luckily my wife has sorted the presents for the kids, and I think she’s sorting out the presents for everyone else as well, so with that in mind I headed off to Burscough today.

Burscough are a team that I’ve heard of before, thanks to Football Manager, as they appeared in the official version during their time in the Conference North, and thanks to the hardwork of a couple of modders, they’ve appeared in the unofficial add-ons, and to be fair they’ve always been a team that have intrigued me. To be fair, I’ve no idea how to pronounce the name of the place, I’ve been pronouncing it as Burs-cough for a while, but recently people have corrected me and it’s, apparently, supposed to be Burs-cow. This is just like the Atherton pronunciation thing again, so if anyone with the ability to pronounce Burscough correctly is reading this, please feel free to attempt to teach me how to pronounce Burscough correctly in the comments.

After a short drive from Chorley, I arrived in Burscough, and parked up on the Tesco car-park, as recommended by the Burscough website. From Tesco I walked around to the High Street, and found my way to Victoria Park, and soon discovered that there is a quicker way to get to Victoria Park, instead of walking up to the High Street, just head to the car-park entrance, and turn left, there will be a sports complex in front of you and the ground is next to this. I found it a little strange that the turnstiles on Mart Lane were closed, but as I was later told, these are closed due to the fact that someone drove into them, rendering them unusable. Fortunately the club have other turnstiles, and I paid £8 for entry, and £2 for a programme. Once through the turnstile I paid £1 for a raffle ticket, and had a walk around Victoria Park, partway through my walk, I decided to stop for a drink and headed in to the refreshment hut by the Main Stand, the main entrance for this refreshment hut, is tucked away at the back, and I had to rely on the signs dotted around for guidance on how to get in, however once inside I was pleasantly surprised by the large space I found myself in, with plenty of tables and chairs, I was quickly served at the counter and paid 70p for a can of Pepsi Max.

Victoria Park is an old-fashioned Non-League ground, and to be honest I really liked the place. To my right, through the turnstiles I had emerged through, was a covered terrace, which straddles the halfway line, and on my left was the club house. Next to the covered terrace were a number of fences, which blocked access to a strip of grass. Behind the goal, to the right of the covered terrace, is another covered terrace, which provided some very welcome cover in the second half. Along the other touchline was a strip of hard standing, with some low garden walls, which must be a perk for those living by the ground, as they can just sneak in, not that I encourage that. On this touchline stand the dugouts, and on the other side of the halfway line stands the Main Stand, which provides the only seating in the ground. The changing rooms are housed under this stand, and by the looks of it the elevated Main Stand provides good views across the pitch. Just passed the Main Stand, as I have already mentioned, stands the refreshment hut. Along the other byline, is hard standing, with the out of action Mart Lane turnstiles, after taking a look at them, you can clearly see where the accident happened, as the brick work is starting to separate, and I hope Burscough are able to get this fixed soon. Behind Victoria Park is a Tesco Extra, which I’m sure has been hit with a number of wayward shots!

The first Burscough Association Football Club were formed in 1880 and played in the Liverpool & District League, before folding in 1900. Burscough Rangers were then founded in 1905, and moved to Victoria Park in 1908, in the 1920s they won the Liverpool County Combination Championship on three occasions, and in 1926 they purchase a grandstand from Everton and erected it on Victoria Park. In 1927 they joined the Lancashire Combination, but never experienced the same level of success, and in 1935 they folded due to financial difficulties. Following the Second World War, the present club were founded, in 1946, and started life in the Liverpool County Combination, before joining the Lancashire Combination in 1953. Burscough were to win the Lancashire Combination First Division title in 1970, but soon joined the Cheshire County League the following season. As with a lot of clubs in the Cheshire County League, the club were founder members of the North West Counties League, and had the distinction of becoming the league’s first ever champions. In 1986, a new grandstand was built to replace the one bought from Everton FC, as it no longer met safety regulations. In 1990 the club experienced their first ever relegation as they dropped out of the NWCFL Division One, but just a season later they gained promotion back to Division One. In the 1997 to 1998 season the club finished as runners-up in the NWCFL Division One, and were promoted to the Unibond League, and in 2000 they were promoted to the Unibond League Premier Division. Burscough were to become the smallest side to ever win the FA Trophy as they beat Tamworth 2-1 at Villa Park, on the 18^th May 2003. During their Diamond Jubilee season, Burscough won the treble, under Liam Watson. The Lancashire Co-Op Trophy was won, after Burscough beat Marine, and the Unibond Northern Premier Division was secured following a victory at AFC Telford, which saw Burscough climb to the top of the table on goal difference, over Witton Albion. Further success came as Burscough beat Buxton in the Peter Swailes Memorial Shield. Burscough were to remain in the Conference North for two seasons, as they were relegated back to the Unibond Premier Division in 2009. Following a turbulent time in the club’s history, with the chairman stepping down, and the Supporters Club raising the funds to complete the 2009 to 2010 season, the club ended up in a groundshare with Skelmersdale United, however this groundshare only lasted for part of the 2010 to 2011 season, and Burscough were back at home halfway through the season, however during the 2011 to 2012 season the club were relegated down to the Evo Stik Division One North. Recent results haven’t been brilliant for Burscough as they sit bottom of the league, with only two wins this season, and five draws, the club currently have eleven points on the board, and are six points adrift of Ossett Albion who sit in 21^st.

I’ve actually covered Ossett Town before, when they were the visiting team at the Giant Axe, home of Lancaster City, which you can find here. Ossett currently sit in 4^th place in the league, and are two points off of Scarborough Athletic who are top of the league, however Ossett Town have a game in hand over the leaders. However Lancaster City and Trafford who sit in 3^rd and 2^nd respectively have games in hand over Ossett Town, so this should lead to an interesting campaign in the race for promotion.

For a team bottom of the league, Burscough started the game fantastically, as they conjured up attack after attack on the Ossett goal, and if it hadn’t had been for the Ossett keeper, Leigh Overton, Burscough would have raced into an early lead.

During the first half, a familiar face appeared, and I spent a couple of minutes chatting football with Mark Lund. I first met Mark at Skelmersdale, and to be fair I admire the guy for his fundraising efforts. As you, the reader, may be aware Mark’s son Alfie has MECP2 Duplication syndrome, and Mark has raised over £10,000 for charity. After meeting Mark and Aflie at Skelmersdale, I sent him two Shrewsbury shirts, which I am glad to say have been sold and have raised some money for this fantastic cause, and I also sent a Shrewsbury and a Chorley scarf which have been added to the football scarf chain. If you have any old football memorabilia that you would like to donate, please get in touch with Mark, as everything helps!

Burscough’s dominance was soon to end, and Ossett Town began to show why they are 4^th in the league. Ossett began to push forward, and were looking increasingly dangerous. In the 24^th minute, they opened the scoring as their number 7, Jake Ellam, picked up the ball on the left hand side of the area, and curled an exquisite shot in to the top right corner. The only way to describe my reaction to this goal, was through a noise. You know the noise, it’s one that you may have made yourself, it’s the noise you make when you are in a restaurant and your food is served, and it’s an amazing looking and tasting meal, or the noise you make when you see a super car, and it accelerates, or the noise when you see a person that you find attractive. The noise of appreciation. If this goal had been scored in the Premier League we’d be seeing replay after replay of it but unfortunately I don’t think there were video cameras at today’s match.

Just a minute after the opening goal, Burscough were to find themselves down to ten men, as their number 2, Deklan Hill, was dismissed for a rash tackle. I’m not being harsh on the lad when I say the tackle was atrocious, it was poorly timed, and it was lucky that he didn’t injure the other lad, there was a bit of handbags afterwards, with Burscough’s number 5, Liam Hollett, getting involved. By the looks of it, Deklan is only a young lad, and I feel that this challenge, and what happened after could potentially be due to his age, and him just getting frustrated. Hopefully the lad will learn from this experience, as from what I saw of him in the first twenty minutes, he does look to be a solid defender.

In the 31^st minute, Burscough made a change, with their number 7, Ezekiel Bademosi, making way for number 14, Keenan Quansah. The change looked to be purely tactical, with Burscough looking to settle their defence.

Half Time: Burscough 0-1 Ossett Town (Ellam 24)

At half time I made my way back round to the Refreshment Hut, and bought a coffee for a £1, which I proceeded to burn my tongue on. I made my way to the hard standing next to the dugouts, and watched the Ossett Town subs warming up, with one of them putting in a good shift as a keeper. It had begun to rain at this point, which meant that my coffee was re-filling itself.

The game restarted with Ossett Town looking to increase their lead, but to be fair to Burscough they didn’t give up the fight. The Burscough number 5, Liam Hollett, wasn’t making himself popular with the away fans, but I honestly don’t think he would care too much what they thought, he was putting in a number of strong tackles, and was having a good game at centre back. As captain he was looking to lead by example, and he seemed to be the kind of player you would want on your team, but the kind of player you would hate to play against.

Ossett made their first change in the 60^th minute, with their number 15, Charlie Freeman, coming on in place of the number 9, Alex Peterson. Freeman looked to be a young lad, but his pace and dribbling put a lot of pressure on the Burscough defence, and he looks to be a good player for the future.

Burscough were forced into a change in the 73^rd minute, as they were forced to replace Liam Hollett, their number 5, with their number 12, Ryan Schofield. A couple of minutes before the change Hollett had been involved in a clash with one of his team-mates, as they both competed for the same ball. Hollett came out of the clash with a head injury, and spent a while receiving treatment. He did get to his feet, but he was clearly feeling the effects of the clash, as he was clutching his temple. Although he insisted he was fine, I don’t feel he should have ever taken to the field again, and he should have been replaced straight away. He clearly wasn’t happy when his number was displayed, and he made his feelings clear as he left the pitch.

Ossett made their second change in the 75^th minute, with Steven Ridey, number 8, making way for Jason Yates, number 14. In the 78^th minute, Ossett made their final change, with Bradley Riley, number 11, coming off to be replaced by number 16, David Brown.

Despite the man advantage, Ossett were struggling to increase their lead, and Burscough were beginning to look like they were going to equalise. With this in mind, Burscough made their final change in the 87^th minute, with their number 6, John Holmes, being replaced by their number 15, Conor Smith, as Burscough attempted to force their way back into the match. However this wasn’t to be the case, and Ossett Town saw out the game.

Final Score: Burscough 0-1 Ossett Town (Ellam 24)

Following the final whistle, I made my way out of the ground and back to my car on the Tesco car-park. Whilst driving home, the results were read out on the radio, and I was amazed to hear that Shrewsbury had won away at Millwall, in fact I was so amazed that when I got home I had to ask my wife to check, as I couldn’t believe what I had heard.

A win for Ossett Town sees them climb to 2^nd in the league, and they are now level with Lancaster City who now occupy top place. Lancaster have three games in hand over Ossett Town, but those points aren’t guaranteed. Scarborough have slipped to 3^rd place, and even this position looks to be under threat, as Trafford occupy 4^th and have two games in hand, as well as only being a point behind. At the opposite end of the table, Burscough now find themselves nine points adrift, and must be hoping for a miracle, as relegation would see them fall into the North West Counties League.

Victoria Park is a great ground, and is certainly full of charm, and I would recommend paying a visit if you are able to. I received a warm welcome from those associated with Burscough, and to be fair the ground is pretty much next to the train station which makes travel easy.

Seeing as how this is now the second time I have seen Ossett Town play, I feel like I should probably head down to their place, and take in an Ossett Town home game, so that’s another ground on my list of places to visit.

As this will probably be my last blog before Christmas, unless I can find some football on Christmas Eve, I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, I hope you have a lovely day doing whatever you are doing, and I hope whichever team you support wins on Boxing Day. Unless you are a Bolton Wanderers fan, as the mighty Shrewsbury Town will be giving me a late Christmas present, in the shape of three points.

Attendance: 67

Cost: £12.70

Movember Total: £8.00 (50p from today’s game)

Hat-tricks seen so far: 0

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/139632000@N07/albums/72157677699176975

Burscough’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/BurscoughFC1946

Ossett Town’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/OssettTownAFC