Quite a nice week of local non league football for me this week. First up CML supreme action between Ollerton Town and Harworth C.I on Bank Holiday Monday with a 3.00pm kick off. Ollerton is a ground i have been wanting to tick off for quite a while as i came here a season or two back but the game was called off minutes before kick off as the floodlights packed in. So although i had a programme and a badge i couldn't count it as i hadn't actually seen a game played there. I had played cricket on the pitch next door a good few years ago though and even remember hitting a four here. One of very few in my cricketing career for the Gentlemen of Lound Hall cricket club.
Watching a match on a Bank Holiday gives you a good enough reason to avoid the dreadful Retford Charter day "Celebrations" I know the people who plan it mean well and they put in alot of unpaid hours but seriously, its the same old stuff year in year out. It was also nice to watch a match without checking my phone every five minutes to see how Barnet are getting on.
Ollerton is about a 15 minute drive from Retford through the wonderful county of Nottinghamshire and it was nice to see a couple of Nottinghamshire CCC caps being worn. I really need to get myself one of those. It was the normal CML league £3 to get in and £1 for a decent enough programme. It was very interesting to read the club's views on the north/south split for next year and the costs the club could incur if they end up being placed in the northern section.
The ground is decent enough for this level; the pitch is totally railed off with hard standing down one side. Behind one goal is a decent enough sized stand that gave us great cover from the biting wind that was about today even though the sun was out and one or two hardy fellows were wearing shorts.
The game had a real end of season feel to it and as both sides were in midtable neither had anything to play for. The swirling wind didn't make football easy as it was impossible to judge the flight of the ball. Ollerton took the lead halfway through the first half when a corner was half cleared but Ollerton's Jamie Senior reacted first and blasted into the top corner. Neither keeper was particularly busy in the first half as shots on target were few and far between. Harworth equalised with a penalty from Gareth Sides and that's how it stayed till halftime.
The second half was a carbon copy of the first. Ollerton took the lead following fine work down the Ollerton right, the ball was hit in from a tight angle, the Harworth keeper couldn't hold on to it and Jordan Villums slotted home. Harworth again equalised from the penalty spot this time through Kevin Shelley. That's how the match finished although Harworth did finish the strongest, Ollerton had the better chances overall. All in all not a bad start to the footballing week.
Tuesday 3rd of May
Nottinghshire senior cup final Eastwood Town 6 - 1 Carlton Town
The Notts cup final is normally played at Notts County's meadow lane but this years final had been moved north to Mansfield town's Field Mill ground which is better for us fans based in North Nottinghamshire. Mansfield was the first away match i ever saw Lincoln at back in 1995 when the Imps won 2-1. Both managers were sent off and the Stags were reduced to 9 men and Lincoln ended with 10. Over the years i have seen the Stags give Lincoln a few kickings and and we've returned the favour several times. I always looked forward to matches with Mansfield and if we go down will look forward to them again. Eastwood Town were the top ranked team in the cup and the defending champions. Their opponents were Carlton Town; who play there football two leagues below Eastwood. Carlton have impressed me on the couple of times i have seen them play this season so i decided to support them tonight. Plus Eastwood always seem to reach the final and more often than not win it so it would be good to see a different club win it for a change.
As we arrived in good time we popped into the supporters club bar for a swift pint which went down well. It did seem as if Mansfield hadn't but a great deal of thought into the planning for tonight as they seemed to be totally unprepared for just about everything. We got into the ground in good time but people arriving later were held up for while as the mass crowd flocked to the only open turnstile. I believe that they did open another one just before kick off but a fair few people still missed the first five minutes or so. We managed to hunt down the programme seller and paid a quid for the programme which was a poor effort form the Notts FA in my view. No food was available on the night which was a tad disappointing but MTFC'S loss was the Retford Charcoal Grills gain.
At 7.30 the teams took to the pitch to contest Nottinghamshire's greatest non league knock out competition. Carlton in yellow shirts and blus shorts and Eastwood in black and white stripes. Please don't be deceived by the below picture i know the Carlton Town kit and the crowd in the stand behind the goal may fool you but this picture was NOT Taken at a stags league game ;-)
Had some great banter while watching the game with Rob, Malc and Kev which more than made up for the one sided game. After being told they couldn't take part in the Blue Square north playoffs after a 19 game unbeaten run you would have thought that Eastwood would be a little pissed and thirsty for blood. In truth Eastwood could have scored more goals and the six they did get. Carlton weren't too bad it was just that Eastwood were too good.
The Carlton fans did their best to enjoy the night and get behind the side by making a great deal of noise and light hearted banter. Carlton can and have played alot better than this, maybe nerves got the better of them and i also feel they gave Eastwood a little too much respect. Hopefully they will have another good run in the Notts cup next year and if they get to the final they will have a bit more of an idea of what to expect.
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