6.30pm 27 August 2024
Westmorland League, Division Three
NJC 4 Burneside 3 (att 15)
NJC are new to adult football this season, and have been given a place in the third of the Westmorland League's four divisions.
It's early days of course, but this win was the second from their opening three fixtures, so the decision not to make them begin in the bottom tier looks to have been a sensible one.
Had it not folded during the summer they may have joined the North Lancashire League. I don't know what the initials stand for, but the club appears to be an offshoot of NJC Coaching, which is based around Lancaster and Morecambe.
NJC's first team, who have the suffix 'dynamos', play in Burton in Lonsdale. I can't recall senior football being played the venue before, but it's a pleasant set up with a single pitch and a pavilion that houses the changing rooms.
The front of the pavilion also provides shelter for spectators, which made it a popular place to watch this game from as the rain began at kick off and continued for most of the 90 minutes.
Luckily, especially from the point of view of a neutral spectator, it also rained goals. An unfortunate own goal in the second minute put the home side in front, and they dominated the early part of the game.
NJC had extended their advantage to 3-0 before Burneside got a goal back just before half time. The visitors put up sterner resistance in the second half, and scored again to make it 3-2.
The home side always looked likely winners though, and an 86th minute penalty seemed to make that a certainty. But Burneside weren't quite done, two minutes later they hit back for 4-3. But, despite a spirited effort in the closing minutes, they couldn't recue a point.
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