2.30pm 15 July 2023
Pre-season friendly at Airbus UK Broughton
Hawarden Rangers 3 Cammell Laird 1907 9 (att 35)
I'm ambivalent when it comes to pre-season friendlies, but this fixture caught my attention for a couple of reasons. As a cross-border clash it featured teams unlikely to ever meet competitively, and the unusual venue.
It was played on the grass pitch, effectively a training pitch, at Airbus UK's ground in Broughton. It's not far from the main stadium pitch, which has been developed beyond recognition since I visited in 1996. In fact, even the training pitch is a better venue than the main ground was back then.
It's not railed or roped off, but it does feel enclosed and there are a pair of permanent dugouts, each adorned with the Airbus FC crest. Apart from one goalmouth, the playing surface looked excellent.
Hawarden Rangers, whose own ground is out of action for pre-season, are in the third tier of domestic Welsh football. Cammell Laird, from England's 10th level, were far too strong for them, especially in the first half.
They opened the scoring after three minutes, and had scored five by the half-hour. Harwarden pulled one back, but conceded a sixth before the break.
The second half was closer, in goals at least. Cammell Laird extended their lead to 8-1before conceding twice in quick succession. They got the game's final goal, rounding off an entertaining game. There was a penalty apiece, both scored, amongst the deluge of goals.
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