HULL UNITED (Craven Park)

NORTHERN COUNTIES EAST LEAGUE DIVISION ONE, HULL UNITED 1-2 PENISTONE CHURCH, ATTENDANCE: 498

After making the trip along the M62 last time out to visit Hall Road Rangers, it was take two as I made the same journey but this time to watch city rivals Hull United

Like Rangers, Hull United are playing at a rugby ground after leaving Dene Park after a dispute with the owners. Hull United are playing their home games at the magnificent New Craven Park, the home of rugby league side Hull Kingston Rovers.

The football club has been in existence for a decade having been formed in 2005 as St Andrews Police Club. The club were founder members of Division One of the Humber Premier League and in 2008 they won Division One and promotion to the Premier Division. 

In 2009 they changed their name to St Andrews and once again in 2014, this time to Hull United. The club also adopted a new nickname, The Citizens, changed their colours to black and white and relocated to Dene Park, the former home of Hall Road Rangers, leaving their original base at East Mount Recreation Centre behind.

The 'East' Stand terrace

In January 2015 the club appointed ex Sheffield United player (and professional boxer) Curtis Woodhouse as manager, with ex Hull City player Ian Ashbee as his assistant. The pair led the club to runners up spot in the Humber Premier Division and they gained promotion to Division One of the Northern Counties East League.

In September 2015 club founder and former chairman Jamie Waltham announced he would no longer be working with the club and, as owner of the ground, he and the club were unable to agree on a lease to play at Dene Park and the team were locked out, forcing the postponement of a game. 

The Main 'West' Stand

As a result, the club needed to find a new home and an agreement was reached to play at home of Hull Kingston Rovers, how long this agreement lasts remains to be seen, hence the reason for my trip here today.

New Craven Park, currently known as the KC Lightstream Stadium for sponsorship purposes, has been home to Hull KR since it's inauguration in 1989. The ground is undergoing redevelopment, with the Colin Hutton North Stand, opened in 2013, bringing the capacity of the ground up to just over 12,000. The south stand is next in line to be upgraded. Despite the relative age of the ground, it does have the feel of a classic old stadium, especially the Main stand, which was the only part of the ground open today..

The Colin Hutton 'North' Stand, opened in 2013

There was a decent crowd, of just under 500, in attendance today, largely due to tickets given away to school children, but on a bitterly cold afternoon, the game did nothing to warm the cockles.

The conditions were not conducive to producing a classic match as heavy rain and strong winds moved in as the game kicked off.

It was Penistone who adapted best and they took the lead inside 10 minutes when a corner was whipped into the penalty area and Hull failed to clear their lines, after a little ping pong the ball was put into the net by Steve Kenworthy.

Penistone had further chances to extend their lead, including a glorious opportunity from the penalty spot, but Danny Barlow's effort was saved by Hull's Phil Dobson (pictured left). 

In conceding the penalty defender James Piercy was shown a straight red card, leaving Hull to play the remainder of the game with 10 men.

Early in the second half Penistone saw an effort crash back off the upright as they searched for a second goal but late on Hull came up with an unlikely equaliser. On 71 minutes, a free kick was swung into the box and Jordan Harrison headed home.

Their joy though was short lived as with 10 minutes remaining a Penistone corner was headed home by substitute Jack Moore to give Church the 3 points and, on the balance of play, deservedly so.

HALL ROAD RANGERS (Haworth Park)

EAST RIDING SENIOR CUP 2nd ROUND, HALL ROAD RANGERS 4-2 SOUTH CAVE UNITED, ATTENDANCE: 67

With the foul weather battering the country, I made the decision to head East today where the incoming rain was not due to hit until late afternoon. The fact that the game between Hall Road Rangers and South Cave United was a 2pm kick off also helped matters enormously. A tweet saying the pitch was perfect-ish and no inspection was planned also reassured this groundhopper!

Northern Counties East Division One (step 6) side Hall Road Rangers were taking on Humber Premier League (step 7) South Cave in the East Riding Senior Cup. Rangers are now playing at a new ground and this was their first senior cup tie at their new home. They left their previous home of 55 years, Dene Park, at the end of last season and relocated to rugby ground Haworth Park, a mile or so down the road.

The had been some disputes in recent years including the club being locked out of Dene Park in a row over a Christmas Party. Another club, Hull United, made Dene Park their home but ironically they too have now been locked out in a dispute with the owners.

Haworth Park has a capacity of 1,200 including a 250 seat covered stand. The ground has been brought up to league standards in the past few months with the installation of new dugouts and floodlights. The playing fields were once part of the grounds of Haworth Hall, which you can see behind one of goals. However there could be possible trouble on the horizon as the council have announced proposals to build 160 houses on the site.

Despite the closeness of the scoreline, Hall Road Rangers always had a little too much for their visitors from South Cave and their passage through to the next round was never really in doubt.

On a very heavy pitch, the opening period was virtually one way traffic as Rangers attacked the South cave goal but it wasn't until the 33rd minute that Ben Kinsley finally broke the deadlock.

As the second half kicked off, the predicted heavy rain finally arrived but the game carried on like the first half with more Rangers pressure. Andy Harrison doubled the their lead on 51 minutes and that seemed to suggest game over. However an own goal from Charlie Brownlie (59) gave South Cave a glimmer hope but that was quickly extinguished when Callum Harrison scored on 61 minutes with a great shot into the top corner.

Darren Rookes then scored to make it 4-1 (63) before Josh Brownlie (68) netted for the visitors to reduce the arrears further. However it was Hall Road Rangers that progressed through to the quarter finals.

ALTONAER FC VON 1893 (Adolf Jäger Kampfbahn)

OBERLIGA HAMBURG, ALTONA 93 2-2 SV HALSTENBEK-RELLINGEN, ATTENDANCE: 1,000 (est)

For the second part of my Hamburg Oberliga double header I headed west to the borough of Altona. Until 1937 Altona was a city in it's own right before being merged into the city of Hamburg.

Altona Football Club is one of the oldest in Germany having being founded in 1893, initially as a cricket club.

The Adolf Jäger Kampfbahn is a 500m walk from Hamburg Bahrenfeld staion and the ground appears before you as you walk down Freisenweg.

The ground is named after Adolf Jäger, who was a German international, who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics, who played for Altona from 1907 until 1927, scoring over 2000 goals in over 700 amateur matches.  He died during World War II, whilst working for bomb disposal in Hamburg, and is buried in Altona Main Cemetery.

The ground is another example of one of those ground where you just go "Wow!" when you enter through the turnstile. It has been home to Altona since 1909 and, yes, it is showing it's age, but give me crumbling terraces with trees growing through them any day. I would much prefer standing on a grass bank, or a long open terrace, or sitting in an old wooden stand to a soulless modern stadium.

Altona are looking to move away from their spiritual home in the not too distant future. As far as I can gather, from speaking to fans, it possibly won't be for another year or so, as the planning issues drag on.

There are plans to build flats on the current ground and the club relocate to a site on nearby Memelland Allee. It was supposed to be all done in time for the beginning of the 2016/17 season but it could drag on into 2017. Considering the move was mooted as long ago as 2008, who knows when it will finally happen?

Altona are the third largest supported team in Hamburg and a large number of their fans are left leaning in terms of their political views. There were plenty of anti-fascist, anti-racism, and anti-homophobia stickers and banners posted around the ground.

I was introduced to Jan, who writes/edits the Altona fanzine All-to-Nah and he produced a copy that was written completely in English. A very good read too. There were also plenty of Dulwich Hamlet supporters present today, as the respective clubs have a fan friendship. It all made for a pleasant afternoon.

The game was an entertaining draw.  Jan Novotny (18) headed HR into the lead before Enrik Nrecaj (32) doubled the visitors lead. There was a quick response from Altona when Cody Shields (34) fired home to reduce the deficit.

Altona came out for the second half with more attacking purpose but despite their efforts it appeared that HR were going to hold on for the win but, as the game moved into stoppage time, one last attack resulted in the ball falling to the feet of Mustafa Hadid and he blasted home to earn Altona a deserved share of the spoils.

Post match was spent wandering around the city of Hamburg before having a few nightcaps in the superb Altes Mädchen, the weekend certainly finishing a lot better than it started!

UHLENHORSTER SPORT CLUB PALOMA (Jonny Rehbein Sportplatz)

OBERLIGA HAMBURG, USC PALOMA 5-1 SV LURUP, ATTENDANCE: 150 (est)

After finishing Saturday night, in the wee small hours, at a fun fair in St Pauli, my alarm went off at 9am. I had a choice; either roll over and have another couple of hours sleep or drag myself into the cool Sunday morning air for the first game of a Hamburg Oberliga double header?

I managed to make the train to Dehnhaide where a 10 minute stroll soon found me at the Jonny Rehbein Sportplatz, on
Brucknerstraße, where USC Paloma play their home games. 

The ground has a clubhouse but little else in the way of football furniture. The pitch was an artificial surface but none of your modern day 4G technology, this was your 1980’s Luton Town model. I dread to think of the players slide tackling on this surface!

Uhlenhorster Sport Club Paloma was formed in August of 1909 by a group of students and it's name is taken from the Spanish word for dove, hence the club crest. 

The club's biggest successes have been in the 21st century when they won the Hamburger Pokal twice, beating Viktoria Hamburg in 2002 and SC Condor in 2014, to earn a place in the DFB Pokal first round proper. In 2002 Paloma lost 5-0 to Bundesliga side 1.FC Kaiserslautern and 2014 they lost to another Bundesliga side TSG Hoffenheim, who beat Paloma 9-0.

USC Paloma have played in the Hamburg Oberliga (level 5 in German football) since 2014 though they are struggling this season. Indeed looking at the statistics before the game, it hardly seemed to have had the makings of a classic as second bottom Paloma hadn't won in five games and rock bottom SV Lurup had only drawn one game all season. It turned out to be a decent watch, though a little one sided, with plenty of goals.

The game was virtually one way traffic as Paloma looked like scoring every time they went forward. The only surprise was that it took until the 16th minute for the first goal to arrive, Ahmed Osmanov firing home. Paloma skipper Mladen Tunjic made it 2-0 after 20 minutes with a superb overhead kick. He soon made it 3-0 after 24 minutes. If it wasn't for some fine saves by Lurup goalkeeper Michael Glamann (and some intervention by the woodwork) it is no exaggeration to say the scoreline could have been treble that at the break.

The second half continued in much the same vein as the first, however Lurup did manage to get out of their own half and have some efforts at the Paloma goal. Milos Ljubisavljevic made it 4-0 to the home side after 76 minutes before Tunjic (81) completed his hat-trick to make it 5-0. Shafi Karimi scored a stoppage time goal for Lurup, but I doubt that was any consolation whatsoever.