September 2014

Bottomed out?

Only time will tell whether or not this was the month in which the season's low point was reached but it certainly felt that way. Not in terms of performances - the Appleby Frodingham defeat on Bank Holiday Monday already had that particular title wrapped up - but just in the seemingly never-ending loss of players. By the end of September two more had gone through the door marked "Exit", including the club captain. But, incredibly perhaps, as players continued to leave, those remaining put together the start of an unbeaten run that by the end of the month had lasted three matches. More importantly there was a spirit being generated within the changing room that I haven't seen for some time. Of course, chances are that this group of lads will experience several more "shellackings" before the season's close but, on early evidence, they will not only still all be there to recount the experience but in time will probably do so with smiles on their faces. I'd like to think that regardless of background or place of origin, the class of September 2014 already count as "true Eastenders"...  

Saturday 6th September

CML North Division

Easington United 3 Bilsthorpe AFC 8

Those thinking that the season’s low point had been reached in the performance against App Frod or in the result at Welbeck were forced to think again by events a week later when this season’s alleged “money bags”, Bilsthorpe, came to the Farm and inflicted a stunning defeat.

What made the result more staggering was that when new boy Danny Barron marked his debut off the home bench by completing the locals’ rally from two down to 2-2, there were just twenty minutes remaining.

Within two more minutes it was 2-4 and in total, Bilsthorpe went on to score SIX goals in THIRTEEN minutes.

The official account of a remarkable game can be found here. 

A full set of photos from the game is also available via our Facebook page.

Tuesday 9th September

CML North Division

Askern 2 Easington United 0

Three nights after the Bilsthorpe battering, we headed off to Askern for our first floodlit fixture of the season. It was also my first trip to Manor Way, having missed the previous season’s game there. What’s more, I was to occupy the technical area in the absence of a right hand man for AG. A return to tracksuit days was in order.

After the usual ‘wacky races’ involved in getting thirteen players and management to Donny via Hull’s “rush hour” had been negotiated, we arrived in good time and ready for action.

What we perhaps weren’t ready for was the sight, or perhaps sound, that would greet us. As Brett Fisk, pressed into service as a substitute, made his way out onto the pitch for the pre-match warm-up he was greeted by a chorus of “You Fat B_____d!” from the grandstand. Moments later, Pasha Brown, another of tonight’s new recruits, had “Beanie from Matalan” sung to him as he and his Judy-knitted bobhat also strode out to the greensward. It promised to be a lively night.

Enquiring as to the source of the noise I was told by a home Committee member that they were local youngsters from the village who’d been present for the pre-season game against a Doncaster Rovers Youth team. The Askern committee had been so taken with the “atmosphere” they created that they’d invited them here tonight for half-price admission. 

Totalling between twenty and thirty in number and aged, I would guess, from about fourteen to twenty, they were armed with a drum and proceeded to create what for this level of football can only be termed a cacophony of sound. Not all of it was polite in its tone and it certainly had our aforementioned Club Sec Judy (making a rare trip to a CML away game) desperate for us to score simply in order to be able to throw some noise back in their direction!

As it was, aside from a header from new boy Matty Dixon, which was cleared off the Askern goal-line in the first half, we rarely looked like breaching the home rearguard and a fairly routine 2-0 home win ensued. Still, once again the effort of those in green and yellow could not be faulted and in Kris Fitzpatrick in midfield we may well have found ourselves another "player". 

As I sat watching the lads tuck into bangers, chips and Yorkshires in the well-appointed Welfare Club post-match, I commented to AG that things perhaps weren't going to be as bad as I'd feared. It certainly felt that way despite a seventh successive defeat.

The official web site report can be read here.

Our Facebook page pictures can be viewed here.

Saturday 13th September

CML North Division

Dinnington Town 1 Easington United 1

My good feeling of four nights earlier had all but dissipated as I prepared to board the Pistol Pete Express the following Saturday. With half-an-hour to departure time for our second visit to “Saarth Yarkshire” inside a week, we had just the ten players ready to pull on the fetching white and red away kit. This number included Jamie Cousins, who as it later transpired would be a virtual passenger on the park - not surprising considering that a hospital visit a week or so later would confirm he was suffering with pneumonia at the time! Ironically, he'd done okay at Askern and appeared to be over the worst of the "chest infection" that he thought was actually the source of the trouble!

Not on board "The PPE" were Marcus (working), Matty (working), Brett (wedding), Pasha (playing for his "other club" Patrington), Jordy (away for a mate’s birthday weekender that he’d forgotten about when confirming his availability only two days earlier!) and skipper Sam (“not fit”).

Help arrived in the form of Phil Jackman, ex-Eastender and up until the previous week, striker with NCEL side Brigg Town. He told us he’d been dropped for their game and therefore – thankfully – was ready, willing and available for ours. We had ourselves an eleventh man.

Another former NCEL ground, Phoenix Park ensured that this again had the feel of a “proper” game and although there was no “choir” or drum, the sizeable home support was still very vocal in its own way.

We silenced them briefly with a superb first half strike from Jacko, one that should perhaps have been added to before Mason headed home an 86th minute equaliser.

Still, it was an enjoyable ride home on “The PPE” that evening. The rot had been stopped. The only downside was that a 10-0 defeat for Brigg probably meant we wouldn't get to see Jacko again for a while. Still, I couldn't help hoping that we had at last bottomed out?

Our official report can be read here. 

The Facebook page picture album can be viewed here.

Saturday 20th September

CML North Division

Easington United 3 Ollerton Town 1

As expected Jacko wasn't available to play against Ollerton. The Brigg resulted had immediately been followed by the resignation of the manager and our hoped-for saviour had been asked to step up and help the new caretaker out. Oh well.

At the other end of the field Luke Nettleship had been an unlikely hero at Dinnington; one superb goal-line clearance forming the centre-piece of an impressive first run as AG’s central defensive partner. Question was: Could he cut it against better strikers such as Ollerton’s Lee Easom, his likely opponent today? Answer: Yes.

At the AGM, belatedly held the previous week, Chairman Doug had asked for a return to “traditional Eastenders spirit”. In short, this meant a combination of sheer bloody-mindedness on the pitch, a refusal to throw the towel-in and good old fashioned “muck or nettles”, with the occasional piece of good fortune thrown in. And that’s what he got - along with some decent football, which this side is still very capable of.

On a day where the weather matched what was required – constant “mizzle” making spectating an uncomfortable affair – the lads dug in to record a win every bit as satisfying as that achieved way back on the opening day. And it was achieved by a bare eleven. Some lads could barely walk at the end. It didn’t matter. We were three points better off and now unbeaten in two. The revival had some legs...

The full account of an excellent afternoon can be found here.

The Facebook page album can be viewed here.

Saturday 27th September

CML North Division

Bentley Colliery 1 Easington United 1

Let me state this first: on performance level alone we didn’t deserve anything from this game. However, throw in the sort of spirit on show the previous week that was replicated to the full at The Avenue and there’s little wonder that Frosty’s last gasp leveller had me performing a David Pleat from the dugout (click the links younger readers if you're not sure what I mean) .

A day that had begun badly - no working indicators on the bus, further squad depletion (skipper Sam and Jordy now having made themselves unavailable for the foreseeable, Jamie ruled out on medical grounds and Jacko having now got the Brigg asst-mgr’s job on a "permanent" basis!) not to mention a gang of local pond-life at the gates to greet us on our arrival - finished with beer at £1.80 a pint in Rhino’s bar, a superb bus ride back (despite lack of winkers!) and few real ales in Patrington with some lads who I hadn’t seen in yonks. Ah, you could say that September had finished on a bit of a high!

The official report can be viewed here.

The Facebook picture album can be viewed here.

All pictures courtesy of Burt Graham.

So that was November...

Saturday 23rd November

Central Midlands League North Division

Easington United 4 Ollerton Town 1

There are times when even I have to accept that football is not headline news.  There are times when “The Beautiful Game” must take a back seat to other events going on in the world.  And I hold up my hands and acknowledge that this is one of them...

Just what did one of this country’s biggest sporting icons of the Eighties, Steve ‘The Nugget’ Davis – six times World Professional Snooker champion, soul music aficionado and saviour of ‘Voices From The Shadows’ magazine – think he was doing parachuting into the Australian jungle with the likes of Joey Essex?  How has it come to this?  In what times we live.  Cuh.

But I digress.

Against Ollerton Town we gained only our second win of the season.  Admittedly there was a touch of fortune involved, the visitors’ losing defender Bowler for the foul on Gav from which Lewis levelled matters via the penalty spot just before the break.

For a time afterwards we struggled to make the extra man count but when Sam H was felled by keeper Sprigg and Lew doubled up from twelve yards, the old swagger returned.

Sam himself got in on the act late on before Lew capped things with a fine solo effort that completed his hat-trick and a 4-1 win.

As I’ve suggested before, home games aren’t necessarily the most interesting topics blog-wise – they can easily just turn into a re-hash of the “official” match report.  This one did have its moments though, not least when objections were raised to the Ollerton goalkeeper’s refusal to retrieve a ball from just yards behind the Seaside End goal.

“Gerron you lazy b@stard!”

“Why?  You don’t see Robin Van Persie going for balls...”

“’Robin Van Persie’?  When did he play for Ollerton?”

As the game wore on and the visitors’ frustration with the performance of the referee grew, such light-hearted exchanges between both sets of supporters became few and far between.

No matter, we had finally completed a second win of the season, now to go on an unbeaten run...

Match report & excellent pics by Burt can be found here and on our club Facebook page.

Ollerton's report - if any ever appears - will be found on their club website.

Saturday 30th November

Central Midlands League North Division

Thorne Colliery 1 Easington United 0

It would be easy to say that the feel-good factor inspired by the win over Ollerton was ended just one week later, courtesy of the defeat at Thorne Colliery.  But it would be quite wrong to do so.

For despite a poor first half display that ultimately proved our downfall, there were plenty of signs in the game that the current campaign could yet turn out to be a positive one.

Thorne are this season’s surprise package.  They came into this game in fourth place and with only two defeats in 13 league games.  Their ten wins have been built on a solid defence, the best in the competition, having conceded only 12 goals thus far.

At the other end they’ve only scored 31 goals, 10 of which have come from leading scorer Ross Ebbage.  He took this tally to 11 in the game’s decisive moment, which came on 35mins when we were yet again punished for coughing up possession in our own half.

We were much improved after the break, without really creating anything clear-cut; that is until 12 minutes from time when Hutch – employed as Sam Mc’s latest central defensive partner – picked out Stef Radley with a great diagonal but “Lenny” could only steer his shot wide of the far post.

At the other end Thornse struck the woodwork twice more as we were constantly caught out pushing for the equaliser.  But further goals would have been harsh on the lads, their improvement second half being deemed worthy of a point by several observers post-match.

The fine old stand at Moorends Welfare, a tasty half-time burger and some cracking post-match nosh in the Moorends Hotel contributed to another away day that was to be enjoyed...despite no return in terms of points.

My official match report & Burt's pics can be found here and on our Facebook page.

The home report that appeared in the Thorne Times can be read here.

Too Good To Miss…Oh!

No. 2: Chris Frost v Ollerton Town (Saturday 8th September)

 

 

Thanks again go to Burt Graham for capturing a moment to savour for another member of our squad! 

Downed

Saturday 8th September

CML North

Easington United 2 Ollerton Town 3
 

What always looked a tough month when the fixtures were released continued with the visit of Ollerton to the Farm.

The Nottinghamshire side had enjoyed something of a revival under new manager Dave Winter towards the back end of last season and they’d carried this form into the current campaign.

They arrived on the Humber Riviera boasting four wins out of four, albeit this record may well have been punctured had their floodlights not packed up during the home game against AFC Mansfield with the visitors leading 2-0 at the time.

Plenty had been said and written about this incident in its immediate aftermath and some of the accusations levelled by members of the Mansfield club clearly still rankled judging by my pre-match conversations with several of the visiting committee.

 

This was our first game “post-Newton” and The Sumo’s problems were further exacerbated by the continuing absence of Jimmy D and Frosty’s arrival clearly the worse for an extended session the night before.

At this level you always get shown up for such lapses and in addition to some woeful attempts to control the ball first half, Frosty’s comeuppance came midway through the first half.

Having worked hard to cancel out Munson's opener for Ollerton, thanks to Neilo’s header from another delicious Tom Mc set-piece, we looked certain to take the lead when Neilo showed a rare turn of pace to leave the defence trailing in his wake down the left.  Looking up he picked out the arriving Frosty perfectly only for the ball’s recipient to…well, the next blog post “tells” what happened next more accurately than I can!

 

I’ve posted before how hard a side we are to break down when we’ve got our noses in front and who knows how this game may have panned out had we held a 2-1 lead into the interval and beyond.

Instead, it was the visitors who took control with two goals in a five-minute spell midway through the second half.  The first owed plenty to some wonderful skill from Easom; the second to some careless defending on our part.

Had it not been for Charlie we may well have been buried on the back of these two goals.  As it was we rallied and got ourselves back in it when another McLaughlin delivery picked out Eli for 2-3.  Game on…

In the dying moments we were to suffer two major setbacks.  First was the raising of the assistant’s flag that denied Eli the equaliser from another set-piece.  But it was the second that would have the more long-term repercussions – Sam Mc taking an awkward tumble while helping avert a fourth Ollerton goal on the counter and sustaining a broken wrist in the process.  The manager had lost his “talisman”…for up to eight weeks.  Ouch!

An official report of the game, along with a full set of Burt Graham's photographs, can be found here.
Ollerton's own report can be found here. 

 

Empire days

Saturday 25th February

CML North Division

Ollerton Town 2 Easington United 0

On Monday night Jeremy Paxman's new 'Empire' series began on BBC1.  In it, the Newsnight presenter takes a look at the legacy of the days when the term 'Rule Britannia' really did apply.  In the first episode we were treated to shots of some of the magnificent palaces of India, built by the British to give the local tribal leaders a sense of importance.  

Some still look magnificent to this day, others serve as a decaying reminder of the forgotten days of the Raj.  As I watched I couldn't help but be reminded of the cricket pavilion at Ollerton Town's Walesby Lane Sports Ground!

A nice touch

It seemed a bit daft driving past signs for Ollerton on the way home from nearby Center Parcs knowing that in just over eighteen hours time I’d be returning to the same neck of the woods.  Might as well have booked an extra night!

The anomaly that led to the East Riding of Yorkshire schools taking their half-term break a week later than seemingly the rest of the country, had opened up a whole host of holiday opportunities.  Hence we found a multitude of Hull City shirts roaming around their Sherwood Forest site.  And apparently the same could be said of the ones in Cambridgeshire and Cumbria.  As I commented to one well-known City fan who I bumped into over the course of the week, “the gate for the Brighton game will be down by a couple of thousand!”

"Don't warm-up on the pitch" (Why?!)

With no access to DAB radio, I followed the game courtesy of live text, which didn’t really tell the full story of how good a game it was.  And how frustrating for the Tigers.

The City match aside, I managed to remove myself from football for five whole days.  Impressive or what?  Instead, I could allow myself time to enjoy a place I’d always been reluctant to go to.  “Not my sort of holiday” I used to moan, “I like to get out and about, not be stuck in one place blah, blah.”  How wrong I was.  Helped by the fact that the Slushettes and the Rutter offspring got on famously, the week turned into a hugely enjoyable affair.

I was also boosted by the availability of real ale at several venues – Marston Pedigree, Greene King IPA and Old Speckled Hen all being available on cask; though at four quid a pint, I was also glad we’d taken plenty of our own booze! 

Some Ezzie fullbacks of the past would've seen those houses as a challenge!

Allowing myself first contact with Manager Mack on the Friday to check everything was okay for the following day’s game at in-form Ollerton, I was informed we were two down with Bezza working and Jordan away.  However, with the Stiffs shorn of seven players (again!) and the Casuals fielding only thirteen, Dave was happy to go with twelve plus himself.

Pistol Pete hadn’t been expected to do this trip.  It was only three weeks or so since he’d had a knee replacement.  You wouldn’t have guessed.  He through in as many emergency stops, dodgy manoeuvres and bits of road rage as usual…and this was just in getting to the Embassy pick-up point in Hull.  “Ooh, it’s like you’ve never been away”, I said.

Their 'End'

According to the notes sent ahead of their visit to us back in October, football in Ollerton can be traced back to the 1800’s.  The most successful period for the former Ollerton Colliery club came before the Second World War.  The Notts Senior Cup was won in 1937/38, a year after their Reserves had lifted the Intermediate trophy.

Ollerton Colliery ceased to be as a football club in the early 1980’s but was reformed in 1988 as Ollerton & Bevercotes Miners Welfare FC, where it began life in the Mansfield Bitter League before progressing to the Notts Football Alliance in 1991.  They were crowned Division 2 champions in 1992/93.

The closure of the Colliery in 1994 prompted a change of name for the club and Ollerton Town FC came into being.

 In season 1995/96 Town were winners of the Notts Alliance First Division and four years later finished runners up in the Senior Division.

A splash of colour on a grey afternoon

In 2000/01, Town entered the Central Midlands Football League to get onto the pyramid of football, playing in the Premier Division.  They were crowned Premier Division champions in 2007/08 and were promoted to the Supreme Division where they remained up until the formation of Divisions North and South over the close season.

A difficult start to this season had seen them part company with their manager and much of the team.  However, new boss Dave Winter's replacements were in fine form and had lost just two in ten since their 4-1 defeat at Low Farm. 

Town’s home ground, Walesby Lane Sports Ground, is also home to Ollerton Cricket Club.  According to Chris Rooney’s excellent site on Nottinghamshire football grounds, it was also previously shared by Ollerton Rugby Club until “a resident of Main road complained about rugby balls going into his garden”!

When you enter ‘The Lane’ (as the locals call it) the first thing – sadly – you notice is the dilapidated looking cricket pavilion that doubles up as changing rooms.  However, get past the view from outside and there’s a cosy little refreshments venue awaiting you inside.

On the walls are various pictures of times past, including three individually framed shirts in memory of a trio of young players - Craig Charlton, Wayne Brewin and Peter Abram - tragically no longer with us.  The names of the three are also engraved in the brickwork of the impressive Spectator Stand, dedicated to them, that runs behind the nearside goal.

The popular side

The Stand was built in 2001 and was officially opened by former England star Des Walker in front of a then record crowd of over 200.  A factor which helped finance the building work was the supporters’ generosity in buying commemorative bricks bearing their own names, which have then been set into the rear of the stand.  Not one to miss an opportunity, the Club can still arrange for inscribed bricks to added. The stand can accommodate 200 spectators, and has an interesting roof that is raised at the front, in keeping with the Club's dugouts.

The ground itself is impressive for this level, barriered off in neat white painted post and rail, with spacious, eye-catching dugouts and impressive floodlights.

The pitch, on the other hand, is not so good.  Today found it at its liveliest and while it didn’t noticeably contribute to our defeat, the undulations and dry, hard surface certainly didn’t induce good football.

As such, Ollerton’s rather more direct approach would pay dividends – as you can read here.

Up, up and away...

A rather vocal, partisan crowd certainly sounded louder than a head count figure of 42 spectators would suggest.  Unfortunately, Town is another club that doesn’t record its attendances in its match programme but I can imagine The Lane to be a fairly intimidating place for visitors, should the ground ever hold a gate approaching three figures.

Post-match Nicho expressed his frustration at our second half display.  Too many players went hiding being his main gripe.  Given how impressively we’d held our own in the first 45 minutes, I could see his point.  More pertinently, so could the players.

Patty doesn't have to move...which is as well!

Still, as always, the mood had improved slightly by the time we were tucking into post-match sausage casserole along with a lovely pint of Ringwood ‘Fortyniner’.  Another lively bus ride home helped round things off nicely.  Defeat sometimes isn’t that hard to swallow.

A Skip And A Jump

Saturday 29th October
CML North 
Easington United 4 Ollerton Town 1

The latest enjoyable series of DCI Banks mysteries has just finished on ITV. Pity. I could have done with Peter Robinson's Yorkshire-based copper to come across to the East Riding and try to solve the mystery of why we're usually so shit in October.

We came into the fifth and final Saturday of the month on the back of four defeats. A "clean sweep" at the hands of Nottinghamshire visitors Ollerton Town would be unthinkable.

The setbacks at the hands of Yorkshire Main, Westella and Clipstone all came against sides challenging for the title; as did the ERCFA Senior Cup exit against HPL leaders Chalk Lane.

But a reverse against opponents currently undergoing wholesale changes in the wake of their previous manager's departure would really have got the "Farm Faithful" grumbling.

I started the morning with a cup of Lancashire Tea.  I know, it's bloody sacrilege and all that but it's also bloody good tea.  Anyway, to balance the books, when I confessed to this particular guilty pleasure on Twitter, that well known Hull City fan of Lancastrian roots, Mark Gretton (or @INDEPENDENT_MG to give him his Twitter title) admitted his favourite tipple was Yorkshire Gold.  Ah the irony.

In the line of duty...for the last time

Unbeknown to most of the lads, this afternoon's game was to be the last one in which Andy Graham would lead the team out. After much agonising, AG has decided to relinquish the First Team captaincy "for personal reasons". I actually think it's more to do with being sick of his old man Burt pointing an extended lens in his face every time he emerges from a changing room.

And one become two...

A fine if somewhat blustery afternoon helped attract a decent crowd of over seventy to The Farm.  Gawd, if only we could charge a gate.  Still, programme sales were very healthy thanks to the Chairman's persistence, helped also by a decent contingent of travellers from Ollerton.
I spent the second half within decent earshot of one particular band and very entertained they kept me...though I expect the young referee's assistant was gald he was on the far side of the pitch given the amount of flak he copped for.

...becomes three!

By this time, though, the damage was done.  Ollerton found themselves three down at the break, courtesy of a Nicho brace and a well-deserved strike from Jamie Hartley.
Enjoyment of the second half was enhanced by Farny's late fourth and news of Aaron McLean's winner for the Tigers at Forest.  Oh, and the continued witticisms of the band from north Notts.
Some consolation for the visitors came courtesy of Carl Russo's impressive late hit (which Charlie was keen to tell me afterwards took a deflection of Blounty's boot).  But, overall they were well beaten as you may well gather from the official report.

Pictures courtesy of Burt Graham