Ossett Albion

30 April 2013

Northern Premier League
Division One North

Ossett Albion 1  Cammell Laird 2
Gate: £7
Atten: 106

View all Photos from Ossett Albion

View Official Ossett Albion Website

 

Ground: 8/10

Ossett Albion’s origin, though not unique, is somewhat rare in that the Club was formed in 1944 during the Second World War. Then a junior club, with all the players students at the local Grammar School, Albion enjoyed great success before moving into open age football. Again success was never far away and the club quickly progressed through the local and district leagues before becoming members of the Yorkshire League.

When the Northern Counties East League was formed in 1982 following a merger of the Yorkshire league and the Midland League, Albion found themselves in Division One as their ground at Dimple Wells was deemed sub-standard for the Premier Division. This was a problem which was to come back and haunt the Club many years later and again put a delay on their progression up the ladder of Non-League football.
This season will be Albion’s 9th in the Northern Premier League and their fortunes in recent campaigns have fluctuated considerably. Twice the Club finished just outside the play-off positions but the last two seasons have seen them struggling against relegation and last season only a late reprieve rescued their status at this level.

It was a beautiful sunny evening as I arrived at Dimple Wells and the welcome I was given by Chairman Steve and the rest of the Staff was as warm as the sunshine. The ground is a gem and is adjacent to Ossett Cricket Club with fine vistas over the Yorkshire countryside.

Tonight's opponents were Cammell Laird who themselves needed a point to guarantee a play off place. They had been on a terrific run of form, so this was far from and end of season game.

Forget about Champions League semi-final Madrid v Dortmund, for me this was the game of the day ! 

Match Enjoyment: 7/10

Albion were safe for this season so for Cammell Laird there was more at stake. So it proved as they took early control and scored early and the feel was how many they would get.They did have a few chances to extend their lead, the most notable being a pinball moment in the Ossett box to which the Cammell Laird Officials were certain they had claims for a penalty after the ball 'appeared' to bounce off an arm in a gold shirt. To be fair if it did the ref stood no chance of seeing it, due to the speed of the ball and the amount of bodies in his way blocking his view But Ossett came back into the game and equalised and this only irritated the Cammell clan even more. You could say Cammell got the hump ! (if you'll pardon the pun !).

As the game went on it was noticeable how Laird were getting anxious and they were appealing for everything, a sign of desperation ! Even the goalie was shouting 'hand ball' from one hundred yards away. He was a 'prickly' character who I think he must be an ornithologist because he kept calling the locals 'tits' .

But Cammell kept pressing and finally got the winner and at the final whistle their bench erupted and danced with joy and had a giant group hug as if they had already won promotion.

The floodlights were turning off as I said my farewells to the wonderfully kind Ossett Albion staff, who had made my evening so enjoyable. As I then made my way to my car I passed behind the Dressing Rooms of Cammell Laird and they were still celebrating with dunking their manager with cold water, loud music, banter and dancing, reminiscent of a wedding reception party. At that point I felt like turning back to knock on their dressing room door to tell that they were not being promoted just yet, as they still had the tense occasion of the Play Offs to come and infact they still had a lot to do ...... Call me a party pooper if you want !

group hug