The good thing about the Imps playing on Friday nights is that i can do another random non league match on the Saturday. Its even better when they win because i can sit back, relax and just enjoy the match knowing all around us are playing catch up. There were a few matches i could have done, but i decided to watch the latest gripping episode of Shirebrook Town's battle against relegation in the NECL Premier division.
Shirebrook is quite an easy one from Retford on the train. I left Retord just after one, then its a half a hour wait in Worksop for the Nottingham train (which stops at Shirebrook) and the ground is a 2 minute walk from the station. Although waiting around in Worksop isn't the most inspiring thing to do in the world it is made much more pleasant due to the Mallard Pub which is built into the Station and must be one of the smallest pubs in Nottinghamshire.
Sky sports news was on the TV with Phil Thompson spouting off about Liverpool's latest woes, thankfully i couldn't hear it totally but i would imagine he would be blaming the owners for everything. Not the manager for bringing in crap players and letting go of good ones and paying over the odds prices for them. To say the pub is so small, it was surprising to see there was a bloke from Denmark and a chap from the Dominican rep in there out of the 5 people in there, including the barman. Interesting fact of the day i learned in there, was that the "World series" is named after a man whose surname was World and had something to do with setting Baseball up. I have no idea if this is true or not if you do then feel free to comment in the comment box below this blog entry.
I was chatting to a rouge Mansfield fan on his way to the Stags and Tamworth match about all things football. The Stags new away kit sounds quite smart. Shame that it will be only seen in the conference because Mansfield's support deserves to be in the league and we can watch more 4-2 Lincoln away wins there.
I was sat in Shirebrook's clubhouse at about ten past two drinking Carling cold at £2.61 a pint. It didn't seem too busy so i settled down to watch the build up to the Ireland v Wales six nations rugby union match. I don't care for rugby too much,but it was the only thing on. I went into the ground at just gone 2.30 and it looked as if i was the first paying person in the ground.
The Shirebrook players were warming up at the far end of the pitch. Some of them were wearing Peterbrough United wind tops from about the 2000-01 season. They had sewn Shirebrook badges over the Peterbrough ones but having the word posh written across the front gave the game away. I walked around and took a few crappy pictures then when and sat down to read the programme.
Shirebrook have struggled this season and are firmly in the relegation battle and are points 9 clear of Lincoln Moorlands Railway in the last relagation place. (although LMR have 5 games in hand on Shirebrook) down at the bottom of the NECL. The last time i saw them was at Armthorpe just before Christmas and they were well beaten. Selby are in upper mid table, and the first match between the clubs finished 0-0.
Selby had the first chance; drawing a great save from the home keeper down at his near post in the first few minutes, but that was about as interesting as the first half got although i would say that Selby shaded it just. I can honestly say that this was one of the dullest 45 minutes of football i have watched this season. The boredom was broken up by a trip to the snap bar where i got an above average cheeseburger and a cracking cup of tea for £2.10. This will be right up there for the value for money award at the end of the season. The half time whistle signaled a return to the bar.
The rugby was still on the tv with Ireland giving Wales a good kicking. I had to check the half times scores on my phone and saw that our good friends from Grimsby were losing up at Morcombe. Torquay and Maccelsfied were both winning and Cheltenham, who are the club the cods are most likely to catch if they catch any, were losing at Burton. After I had finished my pint i trudged into the ground hoping the game would get better. I got in just in time to see Selby take the lead when a cross come shot ended up in the back of the Shirebrook net.
I got talking to a Selby fan who told me that they had lost about 7 players in midweek are were in his words "up shitstreet" Even if this was a weaker than normal Selby side they still had to much for Shirebrook. The goal seemed to settle them down and they started to knock the ball around alot better. The home team seemed a tad rattled and stared giving away more and more free kicks.
Selby looked to have the points wrapped up when their number 9 latched onto a ball over the top and shot past the keeper to make it 2-0. It looked like a soft goal to me, and one the defence can't take a great deal of credit for.
Shirebrook then played their best football of the match. Why do teams start playing when they go 2 down? They got a good, well worked, goal a couple of minutes before the end, "Come on there's still time for a couple of goals" came the cry from one Shirebrook fan. Alas there wasn't and Selby held on for the win.
I enjoy going to watch Shirebrook but if they dont pull there socks up soon then they will be looking the NECL division one firmly in the face.
As i waited for the train back to Worksop i checked the scores. Grimsby had got a draw, as had Torquay with Crewe. On the face of it, the cods draw looked a decent point.. until i saw that Cheltenham had pulled off an amazing 6-5 away win at Burton; thus Grimsby lost some more ground. The Imps were now ten points clear of the cods with a game in hand. Grimsby now trail their nearest rivals by 6 points.
From time to time i do ask myself why i go and watch matches like this and do i need to get a life? Then you come across a group of people who make you feel much better about yourself and life in general. A bit like watching the Jerermy Kyle show. Watch out America show is coming to you in 2010!
My pick up came at Worksop station; on the way from Shirebrook to Worksop i chatted with the same Stags fan from earlier about how bad the two games we had both watched were. When we alighted we could tell something wasnt quite right. Worksop station at 5.20 pm isnt normally busy but tonight was different; it was full of Roy Cropper lookalikes with very expensive cameras and note pads a-ready yep... the station had been taken over by...TRAINSPOTTERS!!
So we took the only sensible course of action we could..head straight over to the Mallard for more beer. The pub was busy so you could hear all the conversation and it all seemed to centre on "it"
"Whens it due?"
"I think somebody said the signal man said it was running an hour late"
"it was an hour late out of Baranby"
Although i was tempted to ask what "it" was i knew that it would be a fatal move to do so. Then somebody asked us if we were here to see "the train" i was tempted to say "no i am fucking not i have been to watch the mighty Shirebrook" but manners got the better of me. With that we gulped our pints down and headed out to get the Retford bound train.
As we waited some guy below told us "it" was about an hour late. Not the Retford train but this special steam train that every misfit this side of the Watford gap had come to see. He then went on to bore us shitless about the train and how it had a diesel engine on the back so they dont have to pay network rail docking charges or some shit like that.
Its each to there own with hobbies of course, but it does get on my tits when you go to catch a train and every freak going has there cameras pointed on you. A coal train went past and some of the prats still recorded it. Why? I mean what are you going to do with that? Who is going to want to watch a goods train rumbling through Worksop at 5.45 pm ever again? At least with football you dont know how the match will pan out. With trainspotting the train just drives past! Simples!
A sober thought to add, is that there were a couple of lady trainspotters! so this all means that sometime, somewhere in the future, these spotters can proudly show the video of a crappy March night in Worksop when they filmed an old goods train rumbling past, and talked to a freak who had nothing better to do with his time or money that to go and watch a crappy football match at Shirebrook to their grandchildren.
But why oh why can they afford top of the range cameras and stuff but get trousers that dont fit?
Admission £5
Programme £1 5/10
Food Burger& tea £2.10 tea 9/10 Burger 7/10
Match quality 3/10
