Salford City

Northern Premier League
Division One North
Salford City 1 Ramsbottom 2

Atten 317










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Classic Main Stand  (click to enlarge)

Ground & Match Enjoyment 8/10

A glorious spring day in Manchester was rewarded with a decent game at Moor Lane and the seasons highest attendence for the visit of play off chasing Ramsbottom. The buzz before the game was regarding David Moyes and his probable departure from down the road. 

 
The Rammy goalie was to suffer a slice of misfortune with 18 minutes played. An attempted clearance was hit with plenty of power but the ball cannoned into the back of a Salford player before dropping over the frantically retreating custodion and into the net.
From then on Rammy had the better of the chances and as the game progressed their pressure was bound to tell eventually. The winning goal came as a result of a long throw-in which caused all sorts of confusion and the Rammy number 10 nudged the ball over the line to send the strong travelling support into celebration. 

Ramsbottom head into a play off place whilst who knows what will happen to Salford as the new investment will make a big difference , from a much healthier weekly playing budget to a new kit to match the colours of their near neighbours in red and white. But the locals want to stay with their beloved Tangerine. I think I know who will win this particular debate eventually. But how can you have a team who's name ends in 'City' in Manchester playing in Red ? Maybe another rename to Salford United ?. I just hope that this excellent club do not lose their history and where they came from. Keep the Tangerine i say and thus keeping their identity.

I really enjoyed my visit to Salford City FC. The people were great to chat with and made me very welcome especially the fellow Hammer on the gate ! All in all a cracking day out and a visit to Moor Lane comes strongly recommended.

As i drove back to base through Manchester listening to the car radio and the news from Old Trafford regarding misfit Moyes i passed Man City's ground as they prepared for a late kick off in the Premier League and after todays events all seemed peaceful in the blue half !

Castleford Tigers

Super League
Castleford Tigers 28
St Helens 30
H-T 24-6
Atten 6,487 
(looked and sounded like many more) 




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Castleford Tigers
 
Match Enjoyment 10/10
Ground Enjoyment 10/10

Iconic Main Stand as Wheldon Road

Wheldon Road is an iconic British Sporting Venue and needs no introduction. The whole ground is just fantastic in every nook and crannie the place was bouncing tonight as Cas(2nd) met Saints (1st). Tigers got of to the perfect start as Saints player fumbled and let Cas in for any early try during their first set of tackles. Cas ran in two quick tries for an 18pt lead and were simply irresistable. Particually impressive was the speed of passing and handling. But as expected Saints backed by a large following fought back.
Cas left the field at half-time to a standing ovation 24-6 up. 

Cas fans getting nervous as Saints fight back

Early in the 2nd Half , The Tigers had a try disallowed when full-back Luke Dorn was ruled to have benefitted from obstruction, and Saints then struck with two quick tries in a matter of minutes. But on the hour Cas scored another try when Carney won the race to Sneyd's kick to the corner and it seemed that was the winning try.
But no it was not ! Saints put in a powerful last 15 minutes and snatched a late winner when Swift finished off a thrilling cross-field move to seel an outstanding Saints second half performance , whilst maintaing their unbeaten record. 
You must feel sorry for Cas who made a significant contribution to a fantastic evening's entertainment down in The Jungle. 

Wheldon Road - "The Jungle"

Quite clearly one of the great grounds in sport. Classic Northern Rugby League Ground which just wreaks of bygone history and great nights under the floodlights. Simply outstanding.

Castleford Tigers have a large fanbase based on the size of the town by population/attendance records the support of Castleford Tigers is leading the way in Super League with 17.6% of the town population attending home games, the club have averaged a gate close to 7,000 per home game throughout the Super League era. The majority of Castleford's matchday support comes from primarily Castleford and the surrounding towns of Sherburn-in-Elmet, Kippax, Knottingley along with fans who travel from Garforth, Crossgates, Tadcaster, Selby and other various suburbs of Leeds, York and the Calder Valley.

Formed in 1926, Castleford was one of the twelve founder members of Super League when the new league format was introduced in 1996. The 'Tigers' nickname and logo were introduced in 1992 and the late-1960s represented their most recent period of success, with two Challenge Cup successes back to back in 1968-69 and 1969-70, The club's most recent major trophy was the now defunct Regal Trophy in 1993-94.


The has been talk of the Club moving to Glasshoughton whilst Wheldon Road be sold for a supermarket but thankfully in October 2012 they started to talk of staying put and developing what they have. Even to develop anything of the ground would be a shame as the beauty is how it stands today. It stinks of great nights , full houses roaring the Tigers on to another victory.

It is a classic venue and long may it stay exactly how it is.

Boston Town

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United Counties League  

Premier Division
Boston Town 2 

Deeping Rangers 2
Atten 80ish

 

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My first dip into this league and an enjoyable one at that. I was told by the locals that I was visiting probably the best ground in the league and who was I to disagree. Covered stands on three sides and covering on the fourth. Not many Clubs can boast such a ground at this level of the pyramid and I was also warned that there were some really “unremarkable” grounds in the league. To be honest Tattershall Road home of Boston Town aka “The Poachers” had been on my radar for nearly four years and i was not disappointed. A busy kitchen was purveying tasty freshly made sandwiches all with a friendly smile. 

Todays fixture with Deeping Rangers (3rd) who although are located 28 miles away are regarded as their “El Classico” or fierce derby rivals. For me a 'fierce derby rival ' is one which is located within ten miles or less but for today I will overlook these thoughts due to I am in Fen Land and towns are more isolated from each other. 

The game itself was a game of two halves as Deeping cruised into a two goal interval lead. There seemed no way back for Boston after having a player sent off in the second half until they were awarded a soft penalty and then ten minutes from the end a poorly taken free kick somehow squeezed through the defensive wall ,bobbled and wrong footed the Deeping goalie. 

I have a lot of time for the friendly people at Boston Town as they just go about their stuff quietly.Recent new manager Nathan Collins has come in a given more structure to the playing side and improvements have already been noticed. They are realisitc as what can be achieved and will go about it in a methodical way. I am certain with Nathan's strong leadership only good things will happen.

Great ground,friendly people,decent game with a great fightback where "Poachers turned goalscorers" !