Eastern Counties League "Groundhopper Day"

The first Eastern Counties League "Groundhopper Day" of the season took place this weekend, the staggered kick off times allowing local football supporters the chance to see four games in 24 hours.

It also proved attractive to some not so local people, such as myself! 

The extravaganza began on the Friday night when Long Melford lost 3-0 at home to Saffron Walden Town. Due to work commitments I was unable to attend, so I came to the party for the three Saturday games....

12pm Eastern Counties League Division One, Blackhouse Lane,
Cornard United 0-4 Wivenhoe Town
Attendance: 108

The first match of the day took me to the village of Great Cornard, on the outskirts of Sudbury, for the midday kick off between strugglers Cornard United (currently 2nd bottom) and Wivenhoe Town (currently the league leaders). I was a little concerned as the sat-nav took me down the very narrow Blackhouse Lane but suddenly a football ground appeared before my eyes! It was a hive of activity with many junior games taking place on the outside pitches. The actual ground is in the corner of the complex, hidden behind the trees.

Given the respective league positions of both teams, the game turned out exactly how one would have predicted. Wivenhoe were two goals up inside ten minutes thanks to Ray Turner and Adam Hampson. In all honesty Cornard offered little and could count themselves fortunate that it was still only 0-2 at the interval. Wivenhoe added two more goals in the second period, Turner completing his hat-trick. 

3pm Eastern Counties League Premier Division, The New Croft,
Haverhill Rovers 1-1 Swaffham Town
Attendance: 152

I first visited Haverhill Rovers back in 2010 when they were in the last days at their previous home Hamlet Croft. The New Croft was opened that same year and is a genuine community sports ground with numerous teams (including Division One side Haverhill Borough) sharing the facilities.

The game was a tale of two penalties, one for each side, in the second half, converted by Perry Moody for Haverhill and for Alex Vincent Swaffham. Overall the game was a cagey affair with neither team looking like scoring until the very kind intervention (for us hoping to avoid the dreaded 0-0 anyway) of the referee. A draw was a fair result in the end.

6pm Eastern Counties League Division One, The Unwin Ground,
Ely City 1-0 Haverhill Borough
Attendance: 157

The final game of the day involved a trek through many picturesque villages in eastern England as my car weaved along roads that flitted between Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire to the city of Ely.

As the Cathedral disappeared into my rear view mirror, I did wonder, once again, where the sat-nav was taking me. The Unwin Ground, named after former club president Doug Unwin who passed away in 1990, is about 1.5 miles from the city centre. It has been home to Ely City since 1986.

Ely were always in control of this game but couldn't convert their chances. Fortunately, for them, an Alex Knowles effort did find the net after 65 minutes.

That brought to an end a top day of 'groundhopping' spent in some top company. I hope the clubs felt the effort worthwhile, I appreciated their efforts and I will certainly look forward to the next "Groundhopper Day" in March 2016.

MARCH TOWN UNITED (GER Ground)

EASTERN COUNTIES LEAGUE DIVISION ONE, MARCH TOWN UNITED 0-2 CORNARD UNITED, ATTENDANCE: 25

Following on from last weekends visit to Welton Rovers to see their old wooden stand, today was another such trip to see another iconic old stand, soon to bite the dust, this time at the home of March Town United.

March Town, founded in 1885, were one of two teams in March, the other being March GER United (the GER being the Great Eastern Railway) who were founded in 1911. March Town played at various grounds whilst March GER United played at the current ground after it opened in 1923, the year the famous old stand was built.

At the end of World War II, March GER United did not reform and March Town took over the GER ground, adding the suffix United to their name in 1950.

The wooden stand is a distance away from pitch, due to the ground hosting cycling, greyhound racing and cricket up until the 1960's. There are also plenty of posts obscuring the view of spectators, so even though the stand is a rare beauty some of the views are not the best. I sat towards the front of the stand and to be fair, it wasn't a bad spot.

This will not be a problem much longer as work is soon to commence on a new stand and changing block. The club hope work will be completed in time for next season.

The game pitted 3rd bottom versus bottom and you could tell. The game wasn't the greatest and won't live long in the memory. Cornard scored two second half goals, through Joe Paton and A.N.Other to take the three points. 

Another highlight of the afternoon was a visit to the local Wetherspoons, which is the old Hippodrome Cinema. Decorated with old film posters, with the upper tier of seats still intact, this has to be one of the few 'spoons worth a visit, couple that with the ongoing beer festival and it made for an ideal pre-match.