Saracen Crusade

North Ferriby United v Rotherham United

Cheltenham Saracens v Stroud Harriers

England v South Africa

I don't normally do reports of midweek games as I bore even myself with repetitive visits to North West Counties reserve matches or Manchester league games enforcibly being played on a featureless floodlit 3G complexes.

However, it still being light and with pre-season in full swing, the option for a bit of variety so here is a conglomerate of the back end of the week.

Starting with Wednesday and an afternoon meeting in Leeds meant the opportunity to head out east, with a TransPennine service heading for Hull. 

This was taken as far as Brough.

Where under the watchful presence of an extended semaphore arm, it was onto the Sheffield-Hull all shacks.

Which was taken on the three minute hop to the next stop, Ferriby.

The station actually serves North Ferriby, which like a lot of places on the Humber estuary, was set up by invading vikings in the 9th century.  It carried on as fishing village before moving to agriculture, but these days is a well-to-do commuter village for Hull, attracting such luminaries as William Wilberforce and Phil Brown.  It has a pleasant village centre, complete with Hull white phone boxes.

And estate agents who sound like a binge drink endured STD.

Signs proclaiming jurisdiction by North Ferriby and a risk of flying balls suggested we were in the right area.

Carrying on the trend from Runcorn, a welcome trend of late has been anti-Sun stickering, and it seems that this has spread to the leafy fringes of Humberside.

The opulence of the Rotherham United team bus, and signs welcoming visitors to the 'eon visual media stadium' (if you are giving something a wank name, at least use fucking capitals) confirmed we were in the right place.

But it was a bit of a tease as it was then a march through some allotments to get to the ground itself, with a very zealous steward storming around frantically with traffic cones, muttering about issues with ambulance access at last week’s friendly against Leeds.

Rotherham had doubled up in the vehicle stakes, though the term winning seems to have a different meaning in South Yorkshire.

North Ferriby United 0 v Rotherham United 2, Pre-season friendly

North Ferriby started in the 1930s and played in the East Riding leagues, before joining the senior set up in 1969 with entry to the Yorkshire League.  This became the Northern Counties East through which steady progress was made, and the turn of the century saw promotion to the Northern Premier League.  Again, steady progress was made and a rise up to the premier division.  However, things really started to happen in 2013, when new owners brought with them a rise up through the conference north to the conference itself, as well as a FA trophy win.  However, things have come to a head, in rather murky circumstances.  The new owners were the daughter of Hull City chairman Assem Allam, and intentions have not always been clear, as the club still only attracted attendances in the mid 300s.  It appears that funding has now been substantially cut, and last season saw them struggle at the bottom end of the conference, though relegation was a certainty anyway due to ground improvements not taking place.

Rotherham United.  Well, Ronnie Moore, Shaun Goater, Booth Family, scrapyards, not knowing what a Parkgate is despite eternal sponsorship, motorway viaducts next to cooling towers, Guy Branson, Ronnie Moore again, not being entirely convinced that the largest city in the USA is named after a suburb of Rotherham.

North Ferriby moved to their Grange Lane ground with their elevation to the Yorkshire League in the 1960s.  It was previously waste ground and the immediate work was to level the pitch, instal railings acquired from a works team in a Hull, and add a couple of temporary buildings.

The 'main' side has seen the temporary buildings added to with changing rooms, a bar and club rooms.  The cover in the centre used to have a few seats in it but is now just the duggouts.  The large club name board has been a feature of the ground for as long as I have known it, certainly since the 1980s.

On the opposite side is the most spectator cover.  A stand was originally built in the mid 1990s, which had been extended/replaced at various points, for promotion to the NPL and then the conference.  

It is mostly seating but there are short areas of terracing at each end.

There is a single step of terracing at the allotment end, whilst the other end, with a backdrop of the Humber bridge, has a step less.

Behind it are all weather training facilities, with a more limited seating capacity.

A nice touch was that the bins had been treated to a coat of club colours non-drip gloss.

The teams emerged.

And we were underway.

This was another game that had been chosen for the opportunity of some @nonleague_train, as the ground is overlooked by the railway to Hull, as ably demonstrated during the warm up by resident operator Hull Trains' 1A97 1911 Hull to London Kings Cross.

So as ever, the game through the medium of trains.  It was the home side who had the early play, as TransPennine Express's 1K24 1744 Manchester Piccadilly to Hull passes.

Next it was some pressure from the league side as Northern's 2C85 1925 Hull to Doncaster rumbles along.

A backdrop of flange squeal as the late running 2C76 1625 Lincoln Central to Hull double Pacer excites the locals.

Poking its head through to see the keeper retrieve a wayward backpass is 2R99 1844 York to Hull.

And the premier train of the day, as the sole through Virgin East Coast service nears destination with 1H10 1719 London Kings Cross to Hull being formed of a hired in East Midlands HST.

Into the second half and Northern's 1W50 1841 Sheffield to Bridlington sees some midfield action.

The professional status of the visitors brought with it the only @keepers_towel

I am very much of the opinion that if a corner taker raises their hands up, then they will almost always either scuff the kick to a defender on the front post, or launch it beyond everyone for a throw in.  The outcome of this one confirmed my theory.

But Rotherham did eventually get their act together to score.

They added another in the second half, and the game ended 0-2 in the low sun.

Afterwards it was back to the station.

My Bridlington-Sheffield service emerged from under the Humber Bridge.

This stretch of track was originally four track but has been returned to two, except through Ferriby where sidings for an adjacent concrete works necessitated retention of a passenger loop.  The down lines have had the platforms extended out to meet the remaining main line, but the up platform is still on the loop, despite the works having long since closed.

Across through Goole, and the flatlands of North Lincolnshire.

This dropped us into Doncaster.

Where it was onto a Bradford bound Grand Central service.  This cuts across to Halifax and gives either a +3 onto the last bus which goes from a stop five minutes away, which if isn't made, results in either a six minute walk or an hours wait for the next train.

Despite the required early arrival not happening due to fucking cyclists at fucking Brighouse, a dash through the centre of town saw my bus just leaving the stop, only for it to be ambushed by two late running drinkers, and I gladly took advantage of their insistence on the driver re-opening the doors by leaping on as well.  Needless to say, the additional time at home wasn't wasted as I stayed up until the early hours reading about the history of British Sugar Corporation private sidings in Lincolnshire.

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Next day and another working in Leeds and another over by four.  I was heading south as I was off to the cricket Friday.  This gave me the opportunity to jump on the 1611 Cross Country service.

More importantly, this meant I was into Cheltenham by seven.

A quick scan of possible games for this evening had revealed this.

Which was even more enticing when it was revealed the price of tea had gone down 25p.  For all the guff that had been talked in the week about unsustainable Premier League transfer fees, this is the aspect of football finances that supporters really care about.

Pairs of road signs that could also be warm-up acts for Fairport Convention.

I had to cross the railway, with the ground just about visible next to High Street Loop, which was strangely being used for the Swindon unit to reverse in, vice its normal visit to Alston siding.

The ground is tucked away at the junction of three housing estates, and it is a bit of a scruffy walk off the main road.

However, since my last visit, an impenetrable palisade fence has been erected, of which I was struggling to find the entrance.

So I had the rare experience of watching the kick off from an abandoned BMX track.

But eventually the entrance was found.

Except it isn't the entrance, as a public footpath rund between the changing rooms and the pitch, so it is another lap of palisade fence.

But a sentry booth got me into the ground, with no one present to take the cut price £3 entry fee off me.

Cheltenham Saracens 1 v Stroud Harriers 1, Pre-season friendly

Cheltenham Saracens are part of a larger sports club with rugby and, er skittles teams.  The football section started in 1964 in the Cheltenham league.  I was surprised to find that it has bern part of the Hellenic since 1986, as that and the Wessex Are the leagues that I watched mostly in my Youth but hadn't really noticed Saracens.  They have stayed in the Hellenic since, with a couple of short spells in the Premier.  These days they are closely linked with the university, and also have a large junior and ladies sections.

Stroud Harriers started in 1990 as a kids team.  As they got older they progressed into youth football but then disbanded when players drifted off to college or, knowing the Stroud Valley, probably rural drug addiction.  Come 2002, they were back from university and rehab, so the club was reformed.  They worked their way up the Stroud league, and now play in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League, which is a couple of steps below the Hellenic.  I'd seen them play previously on a field in Stroud, and it is no surprise they have had to move elsewhere to get promoted, although it is a bit of surprise that this is twenty miles away in a sports facility near Nailsworth.

Petersfield Park has always been a slight oddity in that is tucked out the back of three housing estates, with quite a lot of public access.  As ground grading has become more stringent, a lot of work has been undertaken to comply, with some ingenious solutions.  The main amount of work was undertaken in 2003 in order to gain promotion to the Hellenic Premier, with football federation funding eventually being forthcoming after initially groundsharing at Harrow Hill and Evesham.

A couple of Arena/Stadia UK/Atcost flat packs emerged.  Firstly on the near touchline.

With a wide pitchside path in a pleasing parkland gravel rather than the usual concrete.

Behind the goal, there were extensions to changing rooms and medical facilities, along with another stand.

The far touchline borders the railway, so only has access at the far end, where a rudimentary cover has been erected.

The near End houses the benches, but the railings abut the lineside fence.



The remaining end is open, and housed the solitary away supporter.  Normally is someone has chosen to position themselves as far away as possible from everyone else, it usually means they are necking premium strength Polish lager, but he did just seem to be a Stroud ultra.

The ground is also now enclosed, with the required blocking of sight being via wooden boards which have remnants of childhood paintings on them, which have faded through time, to give the impression of cave drawings.

The railings infill was plastic mesh in club colours.

A rather half arsed approach to pre-season corner flags.

The tight nature of the ground meant that the busiest person was the one punting spare balls back into play, as a procession disappeared into various gardens and the railway.

Speaking of which, the grounds location and previous visits gave hope for some more @non-league train, however, vegetation growth over the more significant fence means the railway is much more obscured than before.  Here is the 1858 Wentloog to Daventry Tesco Freightliner passing the warm-up with a DRS class 66/4.

But here's an attempt anyway.  Look hard and you'll see Cross Country's 1V66 1300 Glasgow Central to Plymouth passing a pointing away keeper. 

An unexplained 5T47 1904 Swindon to Cheltenham Spa ECS move is all but invisible, not that there are any players present to see it anyway.

Just a bored looking spectator as Great Western's 1G60 1741 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill, diverted due to engineering works at Oxford, passes.

And finally, the keeper retrieves the ball as a turbostar on 1M84 1846 Cardiff Central to Nottingham heads northwards.

It was the visitors who took the lead.

But the hosts did get a reply.

There were more chances but the game ended 1-1.

Afterwards it was a wander back to the station.

For the glory of an hour long unit move down the Stroud Valley.

A couple of sights on the way back.  Firstly the reversal at Gloucester shows the former Horton Road loco depot, and beyond, the former ground of Gloucester City, which they vacated in the 1980s as for some reason they got some land on a flood plain very cheap.  I wonder how they've got on with that.

Next the the Oldends Lane ground of Stonehouse Town, visited in March.  Behind is the Muller fruit corner factory.

And back for a night in the metropolis of Swindon.

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Next day and it was the turn of cricket.  Travel in from Reading was the torture of the Southern, though at Martins Heron, the lineside mural still depicted gods own railway.

England 353 v South Africa 126-8, Test Match - Day 2

 V 

The opening day had been patchy both in terms of the weather and England's play, but there was hope that both would improve today.

The teams emerged in front of the latest addition to the ground, which is an extended Peter May terrace.  There are now plans to rebuild the Bedser and Laker-Lock stands either side of the pavilion, to take capacity up to 40,000.

I was with a group of mates today, and the usual 'everyone put in a pound, passes round on a boundary and whoever is holding it on a wicket' game had been taken to a new level by someone with clearly too much time on there hands.  There were bespoke coin holders, complete with details of how the money should be passed, and different rules for different events.  I'm glad I'm not in their football prediction league.

  
After losing Cook early on, Stokes then appeared to give up trying to score, so everyone else had a go instead and got out, but a flurry at the end saw Stokes get his hundred and a decent 350+ score for England.

The afternoon saw threats of rain and gloom, with the floodlights not appearing to add much apart from blinding anyone sat opposite.

However, it did make for good cricket, with some decent, steady bowling seeing a South Africa collapse.  Incidentally, it was pointed out if this was the highest partnership of two players with six letter surnames who both have alternate consonant/vowels? I may ask TMS tomorrow.

It was debutant Toby Roland-Jones, who was taking the wickets.  His Wikipedia page was interesting reading.

Only the tiny Bavuma offered any resistance, giving some great opportunity for pictures of him and the giant Morkel.

Play carried on until 1900, which strangely, was the brightest part of the day.  Good value for money having seen almost 100 overs, 14 wickets and over three hundred runs.

And to round the day off, it was the intercity liveried power car doing the grunt work back to Swindon.