Railwaymen 1 Colliers 4
Sun 8th January 2017 | FA Challenge Vase | By Stewart Taylor
The title of this piece may invoke feelings of local football from a bygone age. Works teams wearing hob-nailed boots playing with a leather cased ball on muddy pitches but, in the modern world which is the 21st century, nothing could be further from the truth.
The most anticipated competition for clubs in the lower reaches of the National League System is the FA Vase. 592 clubs stared the competition this season all full of hope, and in some cases, real expectation of reaching the Wembley Arch for the final in May. However, by the end of 2016 just 32 clubs remained.
Of these 32 clubs just one, Atherton Collieries, represent the Hallmark Security North West Counties League – the last man standing if you will. So all hopes of progression in this most respected competition lie on the broad shoulders of Michael Clegg and his merry band of warriors. Their task is to travel to the third placed side in the Ebac Northern League, Shildon.
Saturday morning dawns dull and misty in the hills of North Derbyshire with more than a sprinkling of drizzle in the air. The news from South Durham is good in that there was no overnight frost so the match between Shildon and Atherton Collieries is on.
A largely uneventful drive north reaches Betty’s Fish and Chip shop in Shildon which is the pre-arranged meeting point with my companions for the day, Carol and Ian Williams. No sign of Betty in the Fish and Chip shop and a huge cod and chips at £5.30 was welcome although not of the best quality and a bit pricey.
Shildon was a coal mining and railway town and considered by many to be the cradle of the railways in this country. The now closed loco works was in operation as early as 1825 and produced steam engines for many a long year. In a link to our part of the world, one of the pioneers of the railway industry, Daniel Adamson, came from and worked in Shildon before setting up a boilermaking company in Dukinfield.
Daniel Adamson was also one of the prime movers behind the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal. If you think that you might have seen a reference to Shildon and railways then it may well be that you have seen the Shildon metal loco plate on the wall of Roy’s Rolls on Coronation Street.
On to the ground and we find what could be described as a classic non-league ground in the centre of the town. One long side dominated by a large stand with changing facilities etc, underneath – think Cheadle Town. The opposite long side is mainly covered standing accommodation and the two ends are open. The ground is practically surrounded by housing – think the Marine Travel Arena at Crosby but not as tight as that. A tour round finds a number of items which would attract the attention of our Ground Grading Chairman.
There are not too many supporters in attendance as we get within an hour of the kick-off, the Colliers supporters are said to be taking advantage of the hospitality on offer at several of the local hostelries. Time goes by and the Colls Crazy Gang arrive – resplendent in Green (see photo).
Pre-match is dominated by loud music emanating from a PA system which would not be out of place in a medium sized concert hall. The teams enter the field of play and the “music” stops, thankfully. The home side are in Red and look to be a big strong side, Colls in unfamiliar Green.
A look at the team sheets shows many players in the Colls side who are well known to most who follow our League but, perhaps surprisingly, one name on the Shildon team sheet is familiar, at least to me. The gentleman in question is Amar Purewal who, unless I’m very much mistaken played a few matches for Harrogate RA last season when coming back from injury sustained whilst at Darlington 1883. I saw him dominate a match at New Mills where he ran the show for 50 minutes, at which point Harrogate RA were three goals to the good, before coming off injured – a player to watch.
The whistle blows for the start of the match and the Crazy Gang start chanting. The home side set off like the proverbial trains they used to make in the town but after 45 minutes of huffing and puffing its half time. 0-0. The thoughts around the ground are that the Railwaymen had the better of the half and that the Colliers would have to dig a bit deeper to get anything out of the match. The “music” re-starts at the same volume as pre-match – ear defenders anyone?
The second half gets underway and the intentions of the Colliers are plain to witness. A lively start sees the mercurial Mark Battersby put through on goal only to see his lobbed effort clear the keeper but rebound unkindly from the bar. A sign of things to come? Well not quite as the home side open the scoring; the aforementioned Mr. Purewal slotting the ball home.
The response from the men in green is immediate and within 10 minutes they are level. A further 10 minutes and the match is effectively over as a further two goals gives the visitors a 3-1 advantage. The home side seem unable to raise their game in response and the Colliers add a fourth goal late on to run out 4-1 winners on the day.
And so the match ends with the expected celebrations by the victors and the defeated side leaving the field looking somewhat crestfallen. Such is the nature of many sides in the Ebac Northern League that the pinnacle of their season’s ambition is to win the FA Vase. Dreams shattered for this season for Shildon.
The Colliers celebrate with the Crazy Gang and eventually leave the field with Jake Kenny and Josh Messer wearing green wigs. Maybe not the height of fashion but symbolic of the day.
A brilliant day all round now all we have to do is to decide if the local hotel booked by Mr and Mrs Williams is in Doncaster, as Ian insists, or in Darlington. Not surprisingly it’s in Darlington. Well we are north of Watford after all!
All eyes will be glued to the FA website on Monday lunchtime to see who Colls draw in the next round – Exmouth away anyone?
Railwaymen 1 Colliers 4
Sun 8th January 2017 | FA Challenge Vase
By Stewart Taylor
The title of this piece may invoke feelings of local football from a bygone age. Works teams wearing hob-nailed boots playing with a leather cased ball on muddy pitches but, in the modern world which is the 21st century, nothing could be further from the truth.
The most anticipated competition for clubs in the lower reaches of the National League System is the FA Vase. 592 clubs stared the competition this season all full of hope, and in some cases, real expectation of reaching the Wembley Arch for the final in May. However, by the end of 2016 just 32 clubs remained.
Of these 32 clubs just one, Atherton Collieries, represent the Hallmark Security North West Counties League – the last man standing if you will. So all hopes of progression in this most respected competition lie on the broad shoulders of Michael Clegg and his merry band of warriors. Their task is to travel to the third placed side in the Ebac Northern League, Shildon.
Saturday morning dawns dull and misty in the hills of North Derbyshire with more than a sprinkling of drizzle in the air. The news from South Durham is good in that there was no overnight frost so the match between Shildon and Atherton Collieries is on.
A largely uneventful drive north reaches Betty’s Fish and Chip shop in Shildon which is the pre-arranged meeting point with my companions for the day, Carol and Ian Williams. No sign of Betty in the Fish and Chip shop and a huge cod and chips at £5.30 was welcome although not of the best quality and a bit pricey.
Shildon was a coal mining and railway town and considered by many to be the cradle of the railways in this country. The now closed loco works was in operation as early as 1825 and produced steam engines for many a long year. In a link to our part of the world, one of the pioneers of the railway industry, Daniel Adamson, came from and worked in Shildon before setting up a boilermaking company in Dukinfield.
Daniel Adamson was also one of the prime movers behind the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal. If you think that you might have seen a reference to Shildon and railways then it may well be that you have seen the Shildon metal loco plate on the wall of Roy’s Rolls on Coronation Street.
On to the ground and we find what could be described as a classic non-league ground in the centre of the town. One long side dominated by a large stand with changing facilities etc, underneath – think Cheadle Town. The opposite long side is mainly covered standing accommodation and the two ends are open. The ground is practically surrounded by housing – think the Marine Travel Arena at Crosby but not as tight as that. A tour round finds a number of items which would attract the attention of our Ground Grading Chairman.
There are not too many supporters in attendance as we get within an hour of the kick-off, the Colliers supporters are said to be taking advantage of the hospitality on offer at several of the local hostelries. Time goes by and the Colls Crazy Gang arrive – resplendent in Green (see photo).
Pre-match is dominated by loud music emanating from a PA system which would not be out of place in a medium sized concert hall. The teams enter the field of play and the “music” stops, thankfully. The home side are in Red and look to be a big strong side, Colls in unfamiliar Green.
A look at the team sheets shows many players in the Colls side who are well known to most who follow our League but, perhaps surprisingly, one name on the Shildon team sheet is familiar, at least to me. The gentleman in question is Amar Purewal who, unless I’m very much mistaken played a few matches for Harrogate RA last season when coming back from injury sustained whilst at Darlington 1883. I saw him dominate a match at New Mills where he ran the show for 50 minutes, at which point Harrogate RA were three goals to the good, before coming off injured – a player to watch.
The whistle blows for the start of the match and the Crazy Gang start chanting. The home side set off like the proverbial trains they used to make in the town but after 45 minutes of huffing and puffing its half time. 0-0. The thoughts around the ground are that the Railwaymen had the better of the half and that the Colliers would have to dig a bit deeper to get anything out of the match. The “music” re-starts at the same volume as pre-match – ear defenders anyone?
The second half gets underway and the intentions of the Colliers are plain to witness. A lively start sees the mercurial Mark Battersby put through on goal only to see his lobbed effort clear the keeper but rebound unkindly from the bar. A sign of things to come? Well not quite as the home side open the scoring; the aforementioned Mr. Purewal slotting the ball home.
The response from the men in green is immediate and within 10 minutes they are level. A further 10 minutes and the match is effectively over as a further two goals gives the visitors a 3-1 advantage. The home side seem unable to raise their game in response and the Colliers add a fourth goal late on to run out 4-1 winners on the day.
And so the match ends with the expected celebrations by the victors and the defeated side leaving the field looking somewhat crestfallen. Such is the nature of many sides in the Ebac Northern League that the pinnacle of their season’s ambition is to win the FA Vase. Dreams shattered for this season for Shildon.
The Colliers celebrate with the Crazy Gang and eventually leave the field with Jake Kenny and Josh Messer wearing green wigs. Maybe not the height of fashion but symbolic of the day.
A brilliant day all round now all we have to do is to decide if the local hotel booked by Mr and Mrs Williams is in Doncaster, as Ian insists, or in Darlington. Not surprisingly it’s in Darlington. Well we are north of Watford after all!
All eyes will be glued to the FA website on Monday lunchtime to see who Colls draw in the next round – Exmouth away anyone?
