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Norton Rose v Addleshaw Goddard

8.45pm  11 February 2013

London Legal League, Division Two
Norton Rose 1 Addleshaw Goddard 0 (att 1) at John Orwell Sports Centre, Wapping

The London Legal League isn't for the groundhopping purist. All matches in its three divisions are played midweek, at neutral all-weather pitches around the capital. And with the pitches generally booked for strict 90 minutes slots, matches are usually truncated to allow two even halves in the time available.

But I was in London for the day, and so took the chance to visit a ground that must be among the closest to central London. The John Orwell Sports Centre, in Wapping, is within sight of Tower Bridge, although on a gloomy and snowy night it was difficult to make out the landmark.

The match began 15 minutes later than the scheduled 8.30 kick off, so we had two 35 minutes halves before the 10pm curfew. Seventy minutes was more than enough though. It wouldn't be fair to criticise the standard of this type of football, but it was easy to see why both sides are at the wrong end of the Legal League's middle tier.

Norton Rose scored the only goal in the first half, and the game's only spectator was relieved when the final whistle signalled the start of the drive home.




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