This allowed me to tick off three step 5 grounds in a league I have barely scratched the surface of. All are based in Essex, which made it a cost effective, if hectic, way of getting three grounds done.
As you can imagine, lots to get through so I'll keep this brief. It was a 6am early start for the 275 mile journey to..................
12pm Eastern Counties Premier League
Broad Lane
WIVENHOE TOWN 1-3 Felixstowe & Walton United
Attendance: 137
Our travelling party arrived at Broad Lane about 15 minutes before kick off. As we anticipated the programmes had long sold out but no dramas as the club offered to do a reprint.
Plenty of familiar faces were milling about and it was great to have a catch up with a few of them.
The main stand at the ground appears unfinished as there are steel supports erect at either end of the seats.
As for the game, well it wasn't the greatest as Wivenhoe are struggling this season and Felixstowe didn't have to get out of second gear to clinch the points.
The Dragon's Luke Goldie-McSorley (66) cancelled out Jordan Matthews (37) opener but goals from Daniel Thrower (70) and Bradley Barber (90) ensured the win for the Seasiders.
The Rush Green Bowl
FC CLACTON 1-4 Newmarket Town
Attendance: 197
Next on the agenda was trip to the seaside, though I never had time to see any of it!
Clacton's quirky Rush Green Bowl was my favourite ground of the day. A hotch potch of stands gave the ground a proper non-league feel. The ground was opened in 1987 after the sale of their Old Road ground.
The current incarnation of Clacton were founded in 2007 after the demise of Clacton Town
Unfortunately for the seasiders they were comprehensively outclassed by a lively Newmarket Town. The Jockey's could and should have scored more than the four goals they did. Jamie Thurlbourne (2 & 37) Deakan Napier (25) gave the visitors a 3-0 interval lead. Richard Chadwick (47) added the fourth before Aaron Condon (53) bagged a consolation.
North Road
BRIGHTLINGSEA REGENT 2-1 Stanway Rovers
Attendance: 250
The final game of the day took place at Brightlingsea's North Road, the ground is tucked away in a residential area. The only football furniture was a pre-fab stand.
The club were very welcoming and made good on their promise of a free programme and half time cup of tea.
The game was a niggly affair which saw the visitors end the game with 9 men. Two strikes from Terry Rymer (21) and Liam Whittaker (25) gave the homesters the lead. substitute Peter Maina (53) halved the deficit but any hopes of a comeback were extinguished when two players saw red. Just a 'Brucey Bonus' an unused substitute also saw red for Stanway. Not a pleasant end to the day.
The journey back home ended at 3am when I put the key in the door, but there was a pit stop at the Alexandra Arms in Kettering, where 16 ales were on offer. As much as I would have liked to have tried many, I had to make do with a couple of halves.
Overall, the day felt more like the league had just staggered kick off's rather than a full blown groundhop. To me that gave the impression of 'normal' games with just a few extra bods in attendance.
The clubs basically got on with it and all the boxes were ticked as far as I was concerned. The issues (excuse the pun) with programmes were sorted (or in the process of being sorted) and I hope the clubs found it worthwhile. I certainly did and I look forward to visiting Norfolk next March.
This is the leagues take on the day
http://thurlownunnleague.co.uk/essex-groundhopper-day-proves-popular/
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