Thankfully the tube was in full working order so it was a straight forward enough journey up to Northwood hills from my central London base (passing Wembley stadium on the way). The road the ground is on is only about a ten minute walk from the station but finding the lane that leads up to the ground isn't quite as easy. If you go to the bottom of the lane and come to a posh gym with loads of fancy cars outside then you have gone too far. What you are looking for is a small crappy sign pinned up about half way down the road near to some allotments.(see below) The ground is about 500 metres down from here. To get to the bar you have to go past the turnstile block.
The bar is a tad on the small side but does have a cosy feel to it. There is a hatch serving hot food as well. I didn't have any as i had a Roasted beef salad with goats cheese and wholemeal bread washed down with tomato juice for lunch at a top London eatery. As i was tucking into this the rest of the Retford Imps were eating Kebabs 100 plus miles north in Rotherham ahead of the Imps JPT Match there. No way would this humble scribe eat such slop (And if you believe all that....)
I guzzled my pint and admired all the signed football memorabilia on the walls. Club badges cost the standard £3.50 and were available from behind the bar. On overhearing that they hadn't printed that many programmes i quickly downed my pint and took a brisk walk to the entrance to purchase one. Yes i am that sad that I rushed my pint down to make sure I got a programme that will more than likely be worth precisely nothing in years to come.
It was £8 to get in tonight. I decided to have a stroll around the ground as there was over 30 minutes to kick off. As i wandered to behind the goal where the visitors were warming up, one of the subs managed to boot the ball over the crossbar and into into the grave yard and nettle beds behind that end. "Can you get that mate" he said. Needless to say i didn't and just wandered on. If its in the ground i don't have a problem with fetching the ball but if he thinks i have come all the way to London just to fetch balls from a grave yard covered in nettles, dog piss, and god knows what else he can think again. In the end he gave up and went for it himself and the starting 11 headed into the changing room.
The ground isn't too bad. There is plenty of covered seating and standing and there does seem to be room for further expansion if required. The side opposite the seating area is raised up which gives a good view. I sat down as i was knackered from a tough days sightseeing and i had a front row view as well!
As the scoreline from the first match shows the two sides were very well matched and cancelled each other out. Both sides had a quick forward lines and were looking for the ball over the top alot although both sides looked to play the ball on the ground hell of alot more that most of the evo stick league sides i have seen (The northern version of this league). The coaching does seem to be geared to playing the passing game down south as oppose to the kick and run style of the north which is both a shame and a curiosity as to why the coaches up this end continue to play this way.
Finchley and Wingate took the lead when their number 9 Leon Smith beat the offside trap on the left and smartly rounded the keeper before tapping into an empty net for a very well taken goal.
Northwood drew level on 44 min when Leon Osei scored from close range, and with that it was back to the bar for more ale! In the second half Northwood grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and it was no surprise when they took the lead on 72 through Aaron Cato. Again this was a well taken effort; A long range shot came in from Northwood, which the visitor's keeper dived full length to beat out, but only into the path of Osei who did well not to either sky it or blast it into the keeper on the floor. Cue wild celebrations you could see how much the FA Cup means at this level to the players and fans. Northwood made the game safe with a penalty on 85 minutes from John Christian. A minute later they had another one but this one was fluffed and 4-1 would have been harsh on Finchley and Wingate. Good luck to Northwood in the next round.
The only down side to the night was my bladder. I knew I'd had a few drinks at the game but i was sure my bladder was empty enough as i left the ground. However London underground again had other ideas. The train back rattled and bounced along the track way too much for my liking and then had to stop at baker street. It didn't take long till the next one came but when you are busting for a piss it seemed like a life time finally the fucking thing got into Kings cross and i waddled like a duck to the gents. Thankfully i didn't have to pay and there were no gentlemen "sharing" toilets. There really are no words i could use to express how relieved i was after that piss, pure bliss it was.
Admission £8
Programme £2 again very good 8/10
Ground 5/10
Badge £ 3.50
Match quality 7/10
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