Llanelian Road Conference North Tuesday April 8th 2014
Given that Boston United will probably never play in Europe in my lifetime, the closest we will come to such experiences will be trips to Welsh based teams. Tonight was one of those nights as we had our rearranged fixture against Colwyn Bay, whose season had petered put after briefly threatening to be memorable around the turn of the year.
Fortunately, with it being half term, I could make the trip. Train from Nottingham on the way there and then supporters bus back to Boston after the game.
Teams line up at Llanelian Road
Given our excellent win at Solihull and a good point at Altrincham, I was optimistic that we could turn over a Colwyn Bay side who had nothing much to play for, even though they got a late point at Brackley on Saturday and had been on a reasonable run of late.
The day began at half 2. Packed for home so that I could get uni work done (which I should be doing now instead of writing up this blog!), I stepped out the house in Clifton and made my way to the bus shelter. It said the #1 bus was 18 minutes away so I turned around and went the other way towards a later stop where there were more options. Typically, the #1 bus passed me minutes later, but I got the #2 bus which went a diverted way into the city and got to the station at 2:55 for a 3:10 departure.
The people at the ticket office took forever to be served so I had minimal time after paying £20.65 for a single to Colwyn Bay to grab any food. I got a quick cuppa and hopped aboard the Cardiff train, where I’d get off at Derby.
Once there, it was all aboard the train to Crewe. Now this service is so poor, it gets worryingly close to the abject misery of the Nottingham-Skegness ‘service’. One coach for a pleasant day, almost full with mostly elderly passengers and it took 15 minutes to get to the first stop (Tutbury & Hatton), merely a handful of miles away.
From there, it was relatively smooth until just outside Stoke, where we stopped, probably having to wait for a proper train (not this bus on rails) to pass ahead. Arriving into Stoke 6 minutes late, we were met by the usual sort of local breed who roam the streets on transfer deadline day scaring the poor Sky reporter to death. Also ironically, a Robbie Williams lookalike stepped on at this station too!
From there we got to Crewe without any issues and with 45 minutes to kill, I decided to go looking for food. Sadly, Crewe is just a glorified village which happens to have the Great Northern Rail Junction through it (sort of like Grantham having the ECML passing through it, making it relatively important even though it’s totally irrelevant) and there was little of note, so I ended up popping in a local chippy to grab sausage and chips.
Crewe Station- disused platforms (I think)
Thius is where panic started. I couldn’t find my wallet… heading back out in serach of it, it was only when I’d got halfway back to the station when I felt it in my hoodie pocket- UNDERNEATH my Boston top, that I felt safe again!
So with food down me and a drink to take along for a reasonable price, I felt a bit better and waited for the 1749 Virgin Trains service towards Bangor (stopping at Colwyn Bay). Once I was on there, having managed to find a reserved seat which nobody claimed, it was a smooth run to Colwyn Bay. Once we got past Chester, it was new territory for me and a new train line.
Interestingly, the North Wales line has a number of disused stations, some of which you can still see the remains from the trains. I grabbed a picture of two of them (Bagillt & Talacre) as we stopped at Flint, Prestatyn, Rhyl and Colwyn Bay- finally arriving at 6:50pm.
Beyond that bridge is the remains of Bagillt station
Eastbound platform at what used to be Talacre station
For a seaside town in Easter, Colwyn Bay was a bit quiet, though I must say I headed from the station towards the ground in Old Colwyn, so probably an unfair picture there. The pier seemed like it would blow into the sea if I could push it and heavy redevelopment was taking place on the beach and the promenade.
The extremely neglected pier building
The 1.8 mile walk wasn’t the hardest in terms of roads but it was mostly uphill once you left the promenade and the hike up Llanelian Road to the ground with a rucksack full of study materials whilst contending with a bout of man flu made the legs feel like jelly by the end but eventually, the floodlights came into view and the tiny ground was upon us.
Llanelian Road is a tiny ground, make no mistake. Perched in the hills about a mile inland, it has very basic facilities. A clubhouse at one end with the changing rooms where I got in, got a programme £2 (out of date with a small handout for tonight’s teams) and the food counter (which had no sausage rolls so I had a £1 hotdog which was alright). Down the hill side were 2 small covered terraces where it would be possible to make some noise. The dugouts were this side to, so the hosts manager, Frank Sinclair would no doubt take some stick for just generally being a cock.
At one end was a tiny covered terrace- so small I would hit my head if I jumped (and that was standing at the front!) and down the road side was a tidy enough little main stand with press boxes. I think it is a recent addition as there are concrete steps either side of the stand where I’m guessing terracing used to run all down the side.
Main Stand at Colwyn Bay
Clubhouse
Covered side terraces at Colwyn Bay
What I referred to as the Yoof End. Opposite the Clubhouse End. Note the roof literally is only 8ft high
Having wandered round, having a brief chat with Junior Konadu and my ex- Boston CC team-mate and sub keeper Andy Hewitt, more fans arrived and we made our way behind the clubhouse as the teams came out.
Sadly, I’d barely put my bags down when a high ball was punted into our box and as Lewis King made a regulation catch, the referee blew and gave the hosts an extremely soft penalty, as Scott Garner was adjudged to have pushed Marc Williams and Anthony Stephens scored from the spot.
We struggled to get to grips with the hosts’ approach in the early stages, though Ricky Miller did hit the side netting with a low shot from the left, but after we had not taken advantage of a free kick 20 minutes in, great work down the left by Cameron Darkwah saw his cross stabbed in at the near post by Williams, who just got ahead of his man to finish off a good move.
With the prospect of our season disappearing in the space of 20 minutes, it spurred us into life, as for the rest of the half it was largely one way traffic. Spencer Weir-Daley had a shot well saved by Chris Sanna and Zak Mills’ header found Sanna’s gloves rather than the bottom corner but Bay held out until halt time.
With Altrincham 4-0 up at Workington and Guiseley also winning, we needed a miracle in the 2nd half or our season could take a real setback. As we made our way round to the other end for the 2nd half (having spent most of the first under a roof down the side near our goal), the stewards wouldn’t let us into the covered end.
The reason? Altrincham had apparently caused trouble there the other week and even though the crowd was only 257 (about 50 Boston), their latest breed of kids who were only there to see the Boston were kept at that end. It seemed ridiculous to assume there would be trouble tonight, and actually it only made for a more intense atmosphere 2nd half, as we made our way to the covered terrace down the hill side towards that end.
But before we’d got there, we’d got one back. I’ve no idea what happened but apparently Rene Steer’s low hard cross was put into his own net by Tom Smyth and we’d got the early goal we badly needed.
From there, it was a case of Boston piling on the pressure. Miller had a shot well saved, Agnew had one tipped onto the post as Sanna did his best to keep his side ahead. As we piled forwards, William got a good shot in which was well saved by King (who was alrgely a passenger though he didn’t looked as convincing as he has of late).
As stewards struggled to keep the fans apart, and with their subs getting in on the act, it was to a chorus of “Your not fit to shag our sheep” that Mills’ deep cross was perfectly nodded down by Garner and Miller was on hand to blast in the equalizer with still 15 minutes left. This was a cue for the 15 or 20 United fans towards that end to leap over the fences in delight and mob the players and against a team who had been mostly penned back, a winner was not out of the question.
Stefan Galinski then almost brought the house down with an amazing 40 yard drive which flew inches wide with Sanna grasping at thin air. but as Boston chased a third goal, gaps were still left, and with 2 minutes to go came the sucker punch, as, following a brilliant 1-handed save by King to keep Marc Williams out, Sean Williams managed to lob one agonizingly out of King’s reach and into the top corner.
That knocked the stuffing out of the fans, but the team continued to press. In the 2nd of 4 extra minutes and following a throw in, Zak Mills managed to find time to curl home a 20 yarder to rescue a point, which could yet prove crucial in the playoff scene in 3 weeks time.
On balance, I’d have taken a point. It is 6 unbeaten now, 4 away games unbeaten and the 3 away games in a row yielded 5 points. Also, at 2 down, it can be viewed at a point gained, but I felt other than the first 20-30 minutes, we had control of the game and did the majority of the attacking. A point was the very least we deserved out of it. Results went against us so we now need Guiseley to lose 2 of 5 games or Hednesford to drop points in 2 of 4 games- with us winning the lot!
So once we’d escaped the Colwyn Yoof, who did very little but sing songs about us rather than their own team, it was the long journey back to Boston. To be fair, the roads were dead and we had a mega run. Back into Boston by 1:45 and back home by 2am, where the unmistakable sight of Billy the Cat would greet me, begging for food as usual. Him sorted, results and bets checked, it was off to bed. Just another incredible match in a season which will go right to the wire.
Billy’s way of saying ‘Give me food’. By pretending to die!
Colwyn Bay (4-4-2): Chris Sanna; Danny Taylor, Denislav Pilliner (Jonathan Royle 59), Tom Smyth, Anthony Stephens; Gareth Evans (Theo Bailey-Jones 84), Sean Williams, Jamie Crowther, Cameron Darkwah (Jamie Ellison 66); Rob Hopley, Marc Williams. Subs (not used): Josh Clark, Jamie Tolley.
Boston (4-1-3-2): Lewis King; Zak Mills, Scott Garner, Carl Piergianni, Rene Steer; Jay Dowie; Ian Ross, Ben Milnes (Stefan Galinski 71), Liam Agnew; Spencer Weir-Daley, Ricky Miller. Subs (not used): Indy Aujla, Ben Fairclough, Jamie McGhee, Junior Konadu.
Referee: Steve Copeland
Attendance: 257 (about 50 Boston)
Match Rating- 9/10. You don’t get more dramatic than 89th minute goal being cancelled out minutes later, but the early goal in the 2nd half made it a really tense/exciting affair as Colwyn Bay desperately tried to cling on.
BUFC performance- 7/10. we struggled earrly on to cope with their threat but once that was dealt with, I felt there would only be one team scoring next, which is why their 3rd was such a killer. Garner going up top 2nd half worked wonders again but we must sort out those first 20 minutes away from home. Cost us too many points.
Atmosphere- 7/10. First half being well apart there wasn’t much happening but as we got into it 2nd half, it was really noisy and scenes of delight when we got back into the game late on were golden. Lots of shanter flying around between both sets, their ‘fans’ seemed content to just slag Boston off rather than cheer for their side… part-timers!
Ground- 6/10. Although it is really tiny, I think get even a few fans under them roofs and you’d be able to make a half decent atmosphere, so Stockport fans will have no problem once they get inside the ground. Main stand is tidy enough but they do need something behind the other goal to be fair.
Prices- 8/10. £6 entry is alright as was the £1 hotdog. Whilst the programme was out of date (put together for the original fixture date) and wasn’t that fat with content, they didn’t flog it at a stupid price like others…. just £2 tonight. Didn’t go in the bar beforehand so can’t comment on that.
Overall- 8/10. A long and lonely trip for most of it but a good game, a reasonable atmosphere and we managed to grind something out when it looked lost. Better than I expected on a few fronts
No caption needed
Next up- Stalybridge at home in what ought to be a home win but the next blog post will be our first ever visit to Leamington’s Windmill Ground on the 19th. See you there!
Cheers
Josh
Under The Floodlights 