23 May 2012
Accrington Combination, Division One
Great Harwood Rovers 2 Royal Oak 3 (att 50)
If Manchester's City and United had concluded their Premier League campaigns by playing on adjacent pitches it might have been a bit like tonight's entertainment at the Wilson Playing Fields in Clayton-le-Moors, albeit with a few more spectators.
Going into the evening's final matches, Royal Oak headed the table by a point from Crown Rovers, who had the better goal difference. So Royal Oak had to win at Great Harwood Rovers, on pitch number four, while knowing that any slip up could be exploited by Crown Rovers, at home to St Mary's College OB next door on pitch three (pitches one and two were the outfield for a cricket match).
Had this been BBC Radio 5 Live they'd switched between matches depending where the action was. However, my self-imposed groundhopping rules dictate that I watch one match from start to finish, so I took up a position on the grass bank overlooking pitch four, while keeping half an eye on what was happening in the other game to my right.
From the off it looked as if the other game would be irrelevant, as Royal Oak scored twice in the first ten minutes to get one hand on the trophy, much to the delight of their fans - several of whom showed signs of having been celebrating rather hard from well before kick off.
The lead was still 2-0 at half time, while next door Crown Rovers had edged 1-0 ahead by the break in their match.
Towards half time though Great Harwood had begun to look dangerous, while for a side seemingly on their way to a league title Royal Oak spent too much time arguing about decisions, and even among themselves.
As a neutral, Great Harwood's goal early in the second half livened things up no end. It should have been a warning to Royal Oak, but their response was limited. They had a chance for a third thanks to a penalty, but it was saved, and Great Harwood were looking more likely to score.
While this was going on, next door Crown Rovers were racking up the goals against St Mary's. Great Harwood's equaliser, a terrific volley from a long way out with 15 minutes to go, was the first time I can recall seeing players celebrating a goal that wasn't scored on their own pitch.
As the game drew to a close Royal Oak threw everyone forward in a desperate search for a winner, everyone that is except the player given a straight red card near the end for stupidly throwing a punch.
The adjacent game was already over, Crown Rovers 6-0 winners and their players watching our game, when, deep into stoppage time during yet another goalmouth scramble, the ball was forced into the net for a Royal Oak winner. There wasn't even time to restart.
This was my first game in the Accrington Combination. If the Royal Oak are, just about, the best team in the league, then it's fair the say the standard isn't great, but it'd be hard to fault this for an evening's entertainment.
Accrington Combination, Division One
Great Harwood Rovers 2 Royal Oak 3 (att 50)
If Manchester's City and United had concluded their Premier League campaigns by playing on adjacent pitches it might have been a bit like tonight's entertainment at the Wilson Playing Fields in Clayton-le-Moors, albeit with a few more spectators.
Going into the evening's final matches, Royal Oak headed the table by a point from Crown Rovers, who had the better goal difference. So Royal Oak had to win at Great Harwood Rovers, on pitch number four, while knowing that any slip up could be exploited by Crown Rovers, at home to St Mary's College OB next door on pitch three (pitches one and two were the outfield for a cricket match).
Had this been BBC Radio 5 Live they'd switched between matches depending where the action was. However, my self-imposed groundhopping rules dictate that I watch one match from start to finish, so I took up a position on the grass bank overlooking pitch four, while keeping half an eye on what was happening in the other game to my right.
From the off it looked as if the other game would be irrelevant, as Royal Oak scored twice in the first ten minutes to get one hand on the trophy, much to the delight of their fans - several of whom showed signs of having been celebrating rather hard from well before kick off.
The lead was still 2-0 at half time, while next door Crown Rovers had edged 1-0 ahead by the break in their match.
Towards half time though Great Harwood had begun to look dangerous, while for a side seemingly on their way to a league title Royal Oak spent too much time arguing about decisions, and even among themselves.
As a neutral, Great Harwood's goal early in the second half livened things up no end. It should have been a warning to Royal Oak, but their response was limited. They had a chance for a third thanks to a penalty, but it was saved, and Great Harwood were looking more likely to score.
While this was going on, next door Crown Rovers were racking up the goals against St Mary's. Great Harwood's equaliser, a terrific volley from a long way out with 15 minutes to go, was the first time I can recall seeing players celebrating a goal that wasn't scored on their own pitch.
As the game drew to a close Royal Oak threw everyone forward in a desperate search for a winner, everyone that is except the player given a straight red card near the end for stupidly throwing a punch.
The adjacent game was already over, Crown Rovers 6-0 winners and their players watching our game, when, deep into stoppage time during yet another goalmouth scramble, the ball was forced into the net for a Royal Oak winner. There wasn't even time to restart.
This was my first game in the Accrington Combination. If the Royal Oak are, just about, the best team in the league, then it's fair the say the standard isn't great, but it'd be hard to fault this for an evening's entertainment.
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