Another sporting double in Nottingham today. East Midland counties league action (Step 6) in the afternoon as i took in Greenwood Meadows' clash with Ibstock United followed by the biggest match in British ice hockey. The Notingham Panthers v the Sheffield Steelers at the NIC. Mouthwatering i hear you say.
The day however did not get off to a great start. Over the last couple of days one of our Guinea pigs, Bumble had managed to get some hay stuck in his eye thus prompting an emergency trip to the vet. Thankfully the vet managed to remove the offending piece of hay and Bumble seems to be back to his old self, Eating,shitting rumbling,romancing the ladies etc etc.
Plan of attack today was to get the train to Nottingham then have a couple of quick beers before the match. Because of all the fun and games in the morning i was unable to find time to grab any breakfast. However the cafe at Worksop station came to my rescue. A large sausage cob and a cup of tea came in at £3.40 and was just what the doctor ordered. I can thoroughly recommend it to one and all. And best of all? I managed not to get any red sauce on my white Nottingham Panthers Jersey. The day was starting to look up already.
The train journey from Worksop to Nottingham was pretty uneventful. I arrived in Nottingham at just before 12.45 so i had plenty of time to kill. Today i had a range of games i could have attended. All of the riverside three were at home. (Dunkirk, Pelican and Greenwood Meadows) Elsewhere in the City, Hucknall, Carlton and Eastwood were all also at home. As its international weekend Nottingham Forest were without a game. Notts County were at home however as they hosted Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup first round and had dropped admission prices to try to get the floating fans in. Apart from London is there anywhere else in England where you have such a range of games to attend in such a small radius? Isn't Nottingham bloody brilliant?!
The best pub near the train station and the bus stop I required for my journey, in my humble view, is the "Canalside" so i headed straight over to it. At first it was fairly quiet but after about 20 minutes or so the pub was invaded by a "Real ale tour" from Birmingham. Cue lots of strange folk taking pictures of the pub and much intense discussion on the quality of ale and quirkiness of the pub. My first thoughts was what a sad group of people but then again i suppose some folk would think watching a step 6 non league football match in the middle of November is a touch on the strange side, 'each to there own i suppose' i thought as i supped my lager watching the Grand Prix qualifying.
Last time I was out this way I went to watch Dunkirk, last time I got my timing all wrong and only just arrived in time for the kick off. This time i wanted to arrive a bit earlier to chill out and sample the pre match atmosphere. Unlike the last time i didn't have to wait to long for the number 48 bus to Clifton and i alighted at the Clifton bridge north stop at about 1.50pm. There aren't any pubs anywhere near the ground so i hoped that the ground was open as the clubhouse is inside the turnstiles. As i made my way up to the ground i passed Bilborough Pelicans ground which showed few signs of life despite them being at home today.
As i approached Greenwood Meadows' ground i could see that there was already a game going on on the pitch. There didn't seem to be a great deal of life at the turnstile but soon enough a chap did appear to take my money and let me into the ground. Today it was £5 which is the same as step 5 Dunkirk just up the road. As you go into the ground the clubhouse is just infront of you and is elevated. There was a decent crowd in watching the youth game going on but i headed straight for the warmth of the clubhouse and a nice chill out.
Things got even better when i was able to get a pint and a club pin badge for less that a fiver. Horse racing was on the telly and all was well in the world. I decided to have a quick look outside at the ground and saw that the programmes had just arrived. I had read on various non league forums that due to low crowds Greenwood don't print to many programmes and it can be quite tough to get hold of one so it was a relief to bag one. If i visit a ground i have already been to i am not too bothered about getting a programme but i do like to get one from new grounds i visit.
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| Roll up Roll up! |
A couple of things strike you in the clubhouse. Firstly the club is obviously home to a country and western club or something, pictures of various country and western nights, Jack Daniels posters and the "Stars and Bars" flag all grace one corner of the building. The second is the clubs youth programme. Various youth league tables are pinned up on the walls and with most of the Greenwood sides being at the top ends of the tables. The food hut was doing a roaring trade as the youth players and their family's grabbed a bite to eat following the completion of their match. Much as i was tempted i didn't try any of the tucker as i didn't want to spoil my Kebab meat and chips before the hockey later on. I finished my pint and headed out to get some snaps of the stadium.
There are two covered stands and they are both on the same side of the pitch. Firstly you come to a covered stand that has a single long wooden bench in for seating. It may not be much but it gives plenty of cover and is tastefully painted in the club colours of dark green and white.
After this stand you come to the two dugouts again painted in green. They are a decent enough size as dugouts go i suppose. After the dugouts you come to the second covered stand which has about 30 blue plastic tip up seats in two rows fully covered and a small disabled section at the near end. Again the stand is fully covered and gives the best view of the action in the ground. There is hard standing around three sides of the ground with only the end nearest the clubhouse being off limits to spectators. All in all the ground is basic but is adequate for the clubs needs at this moment although there is plenty of room around the pitch if they want to expand.
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| Dugouts |
However i get the feeling that expansion isn't on the clubs mind at the moment. Looking at stats on websites and local papers it seems that Greenwood Meadows struggle to draw the crowds in. A point backed up by the fact that with just over 20 minutes to go till kick off i seemed to be the only paying person in the ground. As kick off approached a few more had come into the ground. The official attendance was given out at halftime as 12 (twelve) I am pretty sure that this is the lowest first team crowd i have ever been at. And of that number i would say that well over half had travelled with the visitors.
On the field things aren't going much better either as before kick off Greenwood sat bottom of the table with only two wins and seven points gained so far this season. The visitors from Leciestershire weren't that better off with only three wins and 13 points on the board. On paper it didn't look like being a classic and unfortunately that's the way it turned out. Before the game both teams underwent pretty tough warm ups and i got the impression that both saw this match as a chance to kick start their seasons and push up the table.
I stayed in the stand till just after the handshakes and kick off then took a stroll around the ground to take a few snaps of the ground and action on the pitch. The pitch itself was a tad cut up from the previous match which made passing football and controlling the football pretty tough. With all this its not surprising that both sides looked to play the ball long quite often. Ibstock started the game the better but failed to force the home keeper into many saves. Greenwood rallied a bit but most of the game were bogged down in midfield. It was the hosts who had the best chance of the game when they hit the post with a header at the clubhouse end. As halftime approached i trudged back round to the clubhouse for a pint and to get warm. I had a brief chat to the chap behind the bar about the match and we both agreed that it was a poor match between two poor sides and that it had 0-0 written all over it. Just as we said that i saw out the window that Ibstock did have the ball in the back of the net but it was ruled out for offside.
HT 0-0
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| The clubhouse end |
As i supped my pint at half time i had a flick through the match programme. Again the youth side of the club takes centre stage with plenty of league tables and team pictures. The programme may not win any awards but it does the job. With gates like 12 its not surprising that the programme isn't one of the biggest issues in the league. The chairman's quiz is a nice feature however.
At halftime i made a quick call to Baz who was watching Retford United take on Scarborough (AKA the all Red Rudi funk express) At Cannon Park it was also goalless but i would imagine that it was a hell of alot better than the fare on offer here. The players were a little late taking the field for the second half which gave me more time to gulp down my last pint. I trudged over to the seated stand to take in the second half and hoped that it got better.
In all fairness the game did pick up in the second half. Both sides started to try and get the ball down and play and the game opened up. As the game went on it started to get a bit niggley with both sides giving away free kicks. With about ten minutes to go and with the home side on the front foot a 50/50 challenge from a home player brought on a scuffle for which a player from each side was booked. It would have been easy for the ref to lose the game but despite what a couple of Ibstock followers thought i think he got it just about right when he booked a player from each side. Although the ref looked like he could handle himself and had a good game his two assistants were quite young and maybe didn't have the conviction that they should have had at certain incidents.
A minute or so from the end Greenwood were reduced to ten men when their number 10 picked up a second yellow. For once i was stood quite near the incident and it looked harsh to me. Fair play to the lad and the Greenwood bench who took it on the chin. As he walked past me you could tell that he was gutted. Had he not been already booked i doubt the ref would have shown him the yellow again.
From the resulting free kick Ibstock fired it towards the back post and it was headed home. Ibstock celebrated as if they had won the league while the Greenwood players looked well and truly gutted. Football can be a cruel game at times and it was hard not to feel sorry for Greenwood. Yes they had been short of quality but they had run their socks off in the second half. Ibstock added another with the last attack of the game to give the scoreline a one sided look. Fair play to the visitors who took their chances well but the result doesn't tell the full story in my view. I am sure that if Greenwood Meadows continue to plug away results will pick up. If only they could get a few more through the turnstiles. The club seems to be thriving at youth level, lets just hope some of that rubs off on the first team, and the club gets a slice of luck because they didn't get any today.
After the final whistle it was back into the centre of Nottingham for Ice Hockey!
To be continued as they say.
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| It would appear the ability to read is lacking in Ibstock |
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