2pm 3 December 2016
Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League, Division One
Oldham Victoria 3 Bury Amateur 2 (att 4)
I had planned a trip slightly further afield but non-football matters meant I needed to be back home early so a visit to Oldham Victoria's new ground suited me well.
The last time I saw the club play a home game they were little more than a long goal kick away at Broadhurst Park. After a short spell in nearby Failsworth they've returned to the area and now play on an artificial pitch at St Matthews RC High School in Nuthurst Road.
The venue is entirely as you'd expect for a 3G pitch in the grounds of a school. It's a floodlit pitch enclosed by a high fence, and totally lacking any facilities for spectators, not that you'd expect any at this level of course, and not that any are needed when a generous headcount of the crowd was lower than the number of goals scored.
All four of us watching, or certainly the two of us watching closely, had to wait until well into the second half for the first of the afternoon's five goals.
Victoria had created plenty of chances but wayward shooting and over-complication in front of goal cost them, until they broke the deadlock with about 20 minutes left. Within two minutes they doubled their lead, but then allowed Bury Amateur back into the game.
The visitors looked to have snatched an unlikely draw, until an excellent passing move in the final minute gave the home side a dramatic, and deserved, winner.
Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League, Division One
Oldham Victoria 3 Bury Amateur 2 (att 4)
I had planned a trip slightly further afield but non-football matters meant I needed to be back home early so a visit to Oldham Victoria's new ground suited me well.
The last time I saw the club play a home game they were little more than a long goal kick away at Broadhurst Park. After a short spell in nearby Failsworth they've returned to the area and now play on an artificial pitch at St Matthews RC High School in Nuthurst Road.
The venue is entirely as you'd expect for a 3G pitch in the grounds of a school. It's a floodlit pitch enclosed by a high fence, and totally lacking any facilities for spectators, not that you'd expect any at this level of course, and not that any are needed when a generous headcount of the crowd was lower than the number of goals scored.
All four of us watching, or certainly the two of us watching closely, had to wait until well into the second half for the first of the afternoon's five goals.
Victoria had created plenty of chances but wayward shooting and over-complication in front of goal cost them, until they broke the deadlock with about 20 minutes left. Within two minutes they doubled their lead, but then allowed Bury Amateur back into the game.
The visitors looked to have snatched an unlikely draw, until an excellent passing move in the final minute gave the home side a dramatic, and deserved, winner.
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