Harworth C.I 1-0 Belper United

Just one midweek game this week and it was the coldest night of the season so far. By and large we have been lucky with the weather with very few local games being called off. So i suppose we shouldn't grumble about a spell of chilly weather.
On the menu tonight, a Central Midlands League cup 2nd round replay. Harworth are in midtable in the northern section of the CML with Belper, who are making their debut at this level this season are midtable in the southern section. Despite the freezing temperatures the clubhouse was quite full with music playing out full blast and the African cup of nations on the TV screens. I thought that it would be a low crowd tonight but the game seemed to have attracted quite a few neutral fans/Groundhoppers. It was £3 entrance on the gate and £1 for a programme. Top marks to Harworth for producing a programme and very good it was too.

As it was dark i didn't get any decent pictures of the ground but it has been tided up a bit since i last saw a game here. The stand behind the goal has been removed and the old turnstile block pulled down. The main stand behind the dugouts is still here and its the best place to view the game from as it is slightly elevated. There is hard standing along the touchline where the stand is placed. All in all its one of the better grounds on the Central Midlands circuit. Here is a pic of the main stand from the last time i was here in glorious sunshine.

As it was cold we left it till just before kick off before entering the stadium. The one thing that you don't want on a night like this is extra time but for a long time it looked like we may well just get that. In the first half both sides wasted decent chances with Harworth just about shading it. Although it was goalless i wasn't too worried as i expected Harworth to step it up in the second half and win by a couple of goals. However after they continued to waste chance after chance myself and many of the folk around us started to get the dreaded feeling that another half an hours "entertainment" was on the way.
Then 5 minutes or so later the homeside were awarded a penalty which they duly dispatched. It did look a tad on the soft side but to be honest we had all got to the point that we weren't really bothered who scored as long as somebody did so we could all get home.
Belper then threw everything they had at Harworth to the point that they even sent their Keeper up for a late corner. Then came the moment of controversy when it appeared that the ball hit a Harworth defender on the arm as he cleared the ball however the ref just waved away their protests. Harworth almost rubbed more salt in Belper's wounds as the wasted the breakaway and hit the post with the keeper still making his way back from the corner.

At the end of the game you could see that the Belper Unted bench felt very hard done by with the two penalty decisions that went against them. I could understand their anger but even so their constant verbal abuse of the referee as (who had stepped in to do the game at the last minute) as he left the pitch was in my view well out of line and totally uncalled for. Not only that but for me it reflected very badly on the management and the club as a whole. In short i can't see many people busting a gut to visit Belper United. Some days decisions go for you, some they don't. That's football fellas.

All in all it was a decent night out good company and an above average game given the conditions. Most folk their seemed to enjoy themselves apart from some muppet strutting round in a Burton Albion coat moaning about pretty much everything from the ref, to the weather, to whinging that he couldn't find any milk for his tea in the clubhouse. Plenty of people did have hot drinks and seemed to be enjoying them. Me thinks we have a leading contender for the "Tool of the season" section in this blogs end of season awards.