3pm 7 October 2017
Sheffield County Senior League, Premier Division
Houghton Main 0 Stocksbridge Park Steels reserves 3 (att 40)
Getting from a 1pm kick off at Grimethorpe Sports to a 3pm start at Houghton Main was always going to be a challenge, and leaving the ground at Athersley, and then extricating myself from the car park, cost me time that meant I arrived a couple of minutes late at Houghton Main.
The linesman I spoke to assured me there'd been no goals before I arrived, and I then watched as Stocksbridge scored three, all before half time, to set up a comfortable win.
The league's Full Time website says the result was 4-0*, so either the site is wrong, the linesman forgot about a very early goal, or I dozed off and missed something.
Whatever the final score it was a very easy win for the visitors, who took their collective feet off the gas in the second half with three points (and either three or four goals) already in the bag.
Houghton Main's Middlecliffe Lane ground is one I've wanted to visit for a while, having seen photos of what is a very nice venue for this level of football. Three sides of the pitch are railed off, the exception being the roped off touchline closest to the cricket square.
The ground's main feature though is the stand. It's typical of the stands found at miners welfare sports grounds in Yorkshire but, while many are now neglected and falling into disrepair, Houghton Main FC have added seats, spelling out HMFC in club colours. A pair of modern dugouts and an excellent playing surface complete an excellent ground.
*Several days later the website was finally corrected to give the result as a 3-0 win for Stocksbridge, so neither the linesman nor me managed to somehow miss a goal being scored.
Sheffield County Senior League, Premier Division
Houghton Main 0 Stocksbridge Park Steels reserves 3 (att 40)
Getting from a 1pm kick off at Grimethorpe Sports to a 3pm start at Houghton Main was always going to be a challenge, and leaving the ground at Athersley, and then extricating myself from the car park, cost me time that meant I arrived a couple of minutes late at Houghton Main.
The linesman I spoke to assured me there'd been no goals before I arrived, and I then watched as Stocksbridge scored three, all before half time, to set up a comfortable win.
The league's Full Time website says the result was 4-0*, so either the site is wrong, the linesman forgot about a very early goal, or I dozed off and missed something.
Whatever the final score it was a very easy win for the visitors, who took their collective feet off the gas in the second half with three points (and either three or four goals) already in the bag.
Houghton Main's Middlecliffe Lane ground is one I've wanted to visit for a while, having seen photos of what is a very nice venue for this level of football. Three sides of the pitch are railed off, the exception being the roped off touchline closest to the cricket square.
The ground's main feature though is the stand. It's typical of the stands found at miners welfare sports grounds in Yorkshire but, while many are now neglected and falling into disrepair, Houghton Main FC have added seats, spelling out HMFC in club colours. A pair of modern dugouts and an excellent playing surface complete an excellent ground.
*Several days later the website was finally corrected to give the result as a 3-0 win for Stocksbridge, so neither the linesman nor me managed to somehow miss a goal being scored.
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