Kellamergh Park Tuesday February 17th 2015 Conference North
Remember the Sunday League games you might have played, or the places you’d play a school fixture? Thought so, well last night we had our rescheduled fixture with the Lancashire club who had gone from total obscurity to within frighteningly close distance of playing Bristol Rovers, Grimsby…. even Pompey (if their struggles continue) all in a very short space of time, represented a throwback to my days as a totally useless goalkeeper for BGS or an even worse batsman for Boston CC.
Fylde have had an incredible rise through the leagues, aided significantly by an obscene amount of investment by their owner, which also involves the building of a new £18 million, EIGHTEEN MILLION POUNDS! Mill Farm stadium complex which will hold 5,000 fans- some 15 times their current average gate.
Alright Dave- we all believe you’re on a shoestring……
Postponed due to Fylde’s Trophy run (well, it was never going to be us was it now!), this represented the 21st of 22 grounds in the league to tick off and thanks to it being half term, I could tick it off.
So having stayed in Boston after our 5-0 win over Bradford Park Avenue (breaking one hoodoo), I was quite hopeful of breaking another hoodoo and winning 3 league games in a row. Fylde had lost 4 in a row in all competitions and was the first of 2 important games away to top sides (Guiseley too, yuck), but the drama began long before kickoff.
We left at 2:30 and in true BUSA style, stopped at a service station just 40 minutes from the ground (in a 4 hour trip!), but then realized the team were miles behind us, despite having set off earlier. They’d got caught up in an accident and the subsequent tailbacks. Kickoff was going to be delayed.. I may as well waited for the early train back to Brum with such a late finish!
Arriving at the ‘ground’ (back of a pub) was bizarre. The last mile or two took forever as we pondered where to go, where to park up, but eventually located the pitch and the turnstiles. £10 to get in was a bit of a bonus, though facilities are so minimal, it shouldn’t have cost any more, £2 for a small programme wasn’t over-doing it, nor was just over £3 for a burger and the largest cup of tea I’d had at a footy game in ages (all in a Fylde plastic cup!)
Main stand
Given that the time was only 7:15, I took a good look around, though there wasn’t much. Down 1 side there was the 250 seater ‘not big enough for the Conference’ Main Stand (gonna have to fork out up to 75k to install temporary seats and upgrade fences) with the directors suites at either side, showing off prestigious trophies, like the Lancs FA Trophy and the West Lancs Premier League (won 7 times in 8 years from 2000-2007) as well as the FA Vase (as Kirkham & Wesham FC). There was also a model of their new ground, which should be ready at the end of next season.
The Dugouts
Behind one goal was a shallow, but decent sized terrace for about 800 away fans to be housed in when segregated. Down the dugouts side was open hard standing and behind the other goal was a small hut, a bar and the dressing room portakabins. (Yes, really).
The changing portakabins
The few Fylde fans that were there (crowd just 349) were very welcoming towards us and sympathized with such a long journey). Don’t forget, it was a big night for them as in 2005/6 as they chalked up another West Lancs title, we were League 2, light years ahead. Now we are 3 places below them.
The team did arrive and at 8:15 they kicked off and sadly for the 40 or 50 that had made the trip (superb turnout) the players played like they were still on the bus for the first 20 minutes. A speculative Danny Lloyd shot from 25 yards went straight through Sam Vince’s fingers (no Joel Dixon as his loan spell was finished) after 7 minutes and 8 minutes later, an own goal by Mark Jones following a corner settled the game. It was imperative to give an out of form side nothing early on and we did the opposite.
Their tails were up and could have had 3 or 4 but after that, as we have done so many times in the last 2 years, we got it down and created one or two openings…. a match-fit Marc Newsham would’ve beaten their centre back to one from 3 yards out, but he didn’t and a series of Carl Piergianni headers either missed the target or were well held by the home keeper Ben Hinchliffe.
Proper Flag- none of this Nottingham Forest wank turning up at our games
The 2nd half was more of the same. Zak Mills had a one-on-one well saved and Grant Roberts should’ve done better when sent through but it was to no avail and as the flag came down in injury time, they added a 3rd through Richie Allen and that was that.
The defeat sent us behind Guiseley and makes Saturday a must-win (along with 6 or 7 of the 10 others). Mercifully, the journey took a mere 3 hours 30 and we were back before sunrise, but an all too familiar feeling of going away and only playing AFTER we’d gone 2-0 down. It cost us last year and may well cost us again.
The way we’re going, we might not escape this league until Fylde’s bubble eventually bursts.
FYLDE: Hinchliffe, Hughes, Langley, Hannigan, Sumner, Wilson, Barnes, Barnes (Allen 73), Hamilton (Tomsett 67), Lloyd, Rowe (Blinkhorn 82); Subs (not used): Booth, Denson.
UNITED: Vince, Marrs, Mills, Piergianni, Steer, Roberts, Garner, Dixon, Walker, Newsham (McGhee 59), Jones; Subs (not used): Southwell, Felix, Hollingsworth, Saebe.
Referee: Kevin Mulraine.
Att: 349. (About 40-50 Boston)
Next up is that trip to Guiseley. See you soon & thanks for reading
Josh
Under The Floodlights 