No Brakes! Leamington 0-0 Boston United (19/4/14)

The New Windmill                  Conference North                  Saturday April 19th 2014

Boston United’s season appears to be over after a goalless draw at Leamington- combined with Guiseley and 10-man Hednesford both winning, left them with a mountain to climb in the final week of the season.  The Pilgrims are 5 points behind Guiseley and 6 behind Hednesford and Altrincham with 2 games to play.

Leamington FC v Boston United

After a full week building up in great anticipation of a trip to Royal Leamington Spa, I was quietly confident, despite midweek results not going our way, that we could at least do our bit and win. Leamington were in good form but had little to play for and we had got some much needed confidence away from home.

The Saturday started miserably, as the Grand Prix qualifying session did not go how I wanted so I trudged out of the house at 9am- to get a bus where I’d meet Tom, who as due in at 9:20 from Ancaster. Seeing as 9:40 would be a bit early to head for Leamington, we waited an hour and header for The Roebuck Inn for breakfast. Despite ordering a Bacon Bap/Cob/Butty/whatever it is  in your language, and Chips, I got a Sausage, not a bacon whatever it’s called.and played it safe with a cuppa- my lingering cold from Solihull making me a touch cautious with too much gassy booze!

A nice breakfast sorted, we caught the 1041 for Leamington (£16 train fare quite respectable) and began testing if I could tie up balloons- I’d ordered 2 packs of 50 and had some confetti. Tom also had breach balls as a party atmosphere was anticipated amongst what would be a healthy travelling support.

A pretty uneventful ride to Birmingham (apart from chatting to some shoppers from Burton trying to convince them that Boston does exist in England), we bumped into Chuck at Platform 3a as it was a very tight connection. Making our way to the front of the train, Chuck was causing chaos as his attempts to blow up a balloon ended with it flying all round the carriage! The ride to Leamington was quick and only lasted 30 minutes and by 12:30 we were in Leamington. The station there is relatively old fashioned. It still has 4 platforms, but only 2 see regular usage. It did used to have more lines from it but they were cut long ao (the bridges also torn down as we later saw what appeared to be the base of one with the span having been removed.

Leamington Spa Rail Station Front

With the ground being in the middle of nowhere- some 4 miles south of the town centre, we decided to have a look around and quickly found a Wetherspoons- The Jug and Jester. Not long after we settled down there, Shergy and Hallgarth arrived (Later found out that Tom sent them a tweet using the sophisticated phones I don’t have!).

The 5 of us sorted in there- quite a nice place, we decided to order a taxi to the ground. Despite the quietest ever voice on the other end of the phone, the message got through and as we were just about to head for a bus, a 6 seater taxi rolled up and we made the short road journey to the ground.

At £2 per man (5 of us) it was fair cop and we rolled up to find an elderly Leamington fan being argued at by a steward. Apparently the bloke had run the steward over (we’d not seen the actual incident) but the steward was really pissed off and was saying “I’m gonna get him done for assault!”, which may have seemed excessive!

The ground is very new, as Leamington reformed relatively recently. They’ve had an incredible rise from almost literally parks football (On this day in 2001, they beat Cadbury Athletic 1-0 and in 2003, they played Rugby Town, who I also saw this season) to the Conference North and their ground sort of reflected that rise. It was very basic, although the actual facilities there were find- a really tidy bar/beer garden, a small but decent main stand and a nice little terrace behind one goal- very similar to Solihull Moors.

Main Stand, Leamington FC

BUFC fans behind the goal in the covered terrace

The North Bank (opposite end) and the odd looking ‘stand’ down the side

The Leamington flags behind the goal

Sadly, they also win the award for the most pointless stand; a tiny  temporary looking structure with about 30 seats (5 rows of 6?), but the terrace had been donned with flags and colour. There were also quirks- a sweet shop to o with the programme shop and what looked like a car boot sale in the space next to the main stand, but all forms of fundraising that had helped fund the club.

Actually, they have one of the better supports (average around 600) and I think they had the most fans at York Street (80-something), added with what was probably 200-250 of us and the gate of 792 was hardly a surprise figure.

We got there in good time, so I grabbed a Becks (£2.90) but before I’d quite finished it, I ventured outside- sadly for me I wasn’t meant to take my bottle and had to give it to security before I’d drunk the last few sips. We had a good sing song when we returned to the beer garden and were blowing up some of the 50 balloons I’d brought, before returning to the covered terrace for the first half.

Match action as Boston look to get the crucial 1st goal

There was a great atmosphere as the teams came out and it was Boston who generally enjoyed more of the play, though after only 5 minutes, Lee Chilton missed a great chance for the hosts- firing wide from Danny Newton’s cross from the right. It was mostly a scrappy affair with the ball bouncing around in midfield a lot and clear-cut chances were minimal. Ricky Miller almost gave us the lead when, after taking on a first time lob (as opposed to bringing it down and being through), his effort just didn’t dip in time and clipped the top of the bar.

Miller, firing shots in like a soldier repeatedly tried to break through but his efforts were often tame, straight at the keeper Tony Breeden, or the result of poor decision making. Jamie mcGhee also had a free kick straight down Breeden’s throat. The Brakes rarely threatened and their most likely source of a goal would come through kamikaze defending at the back. King smashed a clearance at the back of the home team’s frontman which just fell safe.and also Nathan Hicks had an effort well dealt with by King.

We started the 2nd half alright, causing the home side nervy moments from a couple of set plays. Carl Piergianni missed 2 good chances with headers from McGhee and Ross deliveries- both of which were very gettable. however, the substitution of Junior Konadu, ended all fluency in the game, as Stefan Galinski went in defence and Scott Garner was pushed up top. At this stage also, Guiseley had fallen behind and Hednesford were 1-1 and playing with 10 men.

30 minutes of the worst hoofball all season followed as neither side fund fluency. Boston desperately lumped it forwards but Leamington’s Number 5 (Stephan Morley?) was a really tall bloke and hoovered everything up in the air. Ricky Miller was denied a very decent shout for a penalty but the referee bottled not only that, but also a 2nd yellow for Miller for either the ‘dive’ or dissent (he’d been booked for dissent first half).

As we pushed men forward, we left gaps and King had to save 1-on-1 from Newton and in added time a Weir-Daley effort went narrowly over, but ultimately, the final whistle signalled huge resignation amongst the travelling support- the results from elsewhere only just hitting home.

Some of over 200 Boston fans on the North Bank (not that one!) in the 2nd half

To be fair, it was a relatively even game. Chances were few and far between, with the hosts having the best two. I felt we had slightly more of the play but didn’t create anything against a side which don’t score many and don’t concede many- which I can see why from their display, which was unusually defensive for a home team in good form with no pressure to get a result. Ultimately, we will miss out because these away games, which the top sides have won, we have dropped points.

The question now, is can we ruin North Ferriby’s title hopes… I really hope so, as it would suck to witness for a 3rd straight season, champions being crowned against us (after Hyde & Chester). Ferriby can’t mathematically win the title against us but with a superior goal difference, them winning and Telford losing will all but secure it.

The journey out was more exciting than the game. As we waited for a taxi to get to then ground, we had to experience Leamington’s efforts to filer cars out of the ground onto a small road which was blind due to hedges lining it. A taxi did roll up but slowed down, a BMW driver tried to go round but a car pulled out into it’s path. A crash was avoided but the road was blocked and the clown in the BMW was forced to reverse, before angrily flooring the throttle to get away- tyres screeching, to the disgust of the stewards. (I do  think BMW is a German anagram for Stupid Fucking Muppet as most of their drivers tend to set their own rules on the road!)

Leamington Station Looking Eastwards on the line towards Banbury

Only upon the 4th taxi arriving did we get into the right one and the chaos we’d caused was over as we fled the scene of the mayhem. They’re probably still filing cars out as I type this at 1930 on a Sunday!

With trains not immediate, we headed into town again for a bite to eat and typically, for us, this ended at Maccies. Waving Shergy farewell once he’d finished his meal, we decided to give it a bit longer, as we had until 6:40pm to wait.

It was a sombre trek back- Myself, Graves and Chuck pondering whether Leamington away ought to be a weekender next season given it was a very pleasant place from what we saw, and also ruing the home crowd on Monday being 3-400 down on what it could’ve been as well as what could’ve been a big travelling support at Kidderminster, but hopefully the fans will turn out well to cheer the boys off in what has been a largely positive season.

We crept into New Street and said cheerio to Chuck. I was thinking by now “I’ve not been greeted as a Wolves/Hull/Burton/Bradford fan yet, but that changed as we were then joined by some Scarborough-based Villa fans. They were pretty sound to be fair, even if one was slightly worse for drink! They’d also seen a shocking 0-0 but paid £32 for a ticket alone! They also generously offered us a beer for the ride back and the only issues then was getting Tom onto the 2050- the last train to Grantham from Nottingham. We got there with only 5 minutes to spare, so I quickly said my goodbyes (will possibly see him Monday anyway) before heading for the shop for some hot food…. all rather forlorn by now.

The Windmill, which the ground is named after

Game rating- 4/10. Very few chances, 2nd half was dire… neither side were fluent.

BUFC performance- 6/10. Solid enough at the back against only the occasional threat, but poor up top and didn’t look like creating much.

Atmosphere- 8/10. First half was good under the roof. The 2nd half was alright but the last 20 mins were hard work as we lacked any threat. Leamington fans were also more audible from the other end when they were under the roof.

Ground rating- 6/10. Nice facilities and a good platform for Leamington to build on, but you can see that the team has exceeded the expectations the New Windmill was built for.

Prices- 8/10- £5 to get in, £2.50 for one of the better programmes, £2.90 for a Becks was less than I’m used to. Didn’t get food in the ground but the taxis worked out OK and trains not bad.

Overall- 7/10. A good day out, nice weather, decent atmosphere but the game was a massive hammer blow and I haven’t felt this empty leaving a game since the playoff loss to Guiseley in 2011. And I’ve seen us lose to some poor sides and 7-1 to good sides…

 

Leamington (4-2-3-1): Tony Breeden; Ryan Higgins, Liam Daly, James Mace, Stephan Morley; Craig Owen (Peter Till 78), Reece Flanagan; Aron Wint (Lee Moore 77), Nathan Hicks, Lee Chilton; Danny Newton (Ricky Johnson 85). Subs (not used): Matt Dodd, David McNamee.

Boston (4-1-3-2): Lewis King; Zak Mills, Scott Garner, Carl Piergianni, Rene Steer; Jay Dowie; Jamie McGhee (Stefan Galinski 63), Junior Konadu (Ian Ross 63), Ben Milnes (Ben Fairclough 85);Spencer Weir-Daley, Ricky Miller. Subs (not used): Indy Aujla, Andy Hewitt (gk).

Referee: Simon Barrow

Attendance: 792 (200-250 Boston)

Next up- North Ferriby on Bank Holiday Monday and then I’ll report next weekend from my 3rd visit to Kidderminster’s Aggborough Stadium as we play  Worcester City, who now play there as their old St. George’s Lane sadly got demolished.

Thanks for reading,

Josh