Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Good God.
Great Yarmouth Town 1 Godmanchester Rovers 3
Pretty much a red letter day. Loads of different trains to catch and all of them left and arrived on time. I had a while for my connection at Cambridge and decided to have a nose outside. What a nice job of regeneration is going on there. There used to be no shops at all, now there is a Wasabi, Sainsbury's and various pubs and cafes.
Very little time to transfer at Norwich and I had to break into a run to ensure that I caught my connection. Why can they not just leave a few minutes longer?
Great Yarmouth is less than attractive around the station area, the walk to the ground is straightfoward though. I stopped for a bag of chips, there is one table in the shop that had an old couple sitting at it, enjoying their Saturday lunch. I wouldn't be surprised if they have been following the same routine and sitting at the same table for the last 40 years.
I walked past the Minster which was a bit of an after thought having visited York a few weeks earlier and all the shops looked a little bit tired and generally unappealing.
Having found the ground, I discovered that it is literally over the road from the beach. So selfie on the sand it was with a little walk up and down the promenade including sticking my head through one of those cardboard things with a woman in a bikini.
The ground itself is Royalty as far as non-league grounds go. Alleged to be the oldest surviving grandstand in the World, having been opened in I think 1892. Lots of space around the ground, loads of benches to sit on, a long covered area on the far side, a club shop, bar, tea hut and running track which you really didn't notice as the rest of the ground was so interesting.
As for the game, Godmanchester scored twice in the first 20 minutes, despite conceding a goal from a penalty just before half time, they actually won comfortably with a third coming with about 10 minutes remaining.
Great trip.
Pretty much a red letter day. Loads of different trains to catch and all of them left and arrived on time. I had a while for my connection at Cambridge and decided to have a nose outside. What a nice job of regeneration is going on there. There used to be no shops at all, now there is a Wasabi, Sainsbury's and various pubs and cafes.
Very little time to transfer at Norwich and I had to break into a run to ensure that I caught my connection. Why can they not just leave a few minutes longer?
Great Yarmouth is less than attractive around the station area, the walk to the ground is straightfoward though. I stopped for a bag of chips, there is one table in the shop that had an old couple sitting at it, enjoying their Saturday lunch. I wouldn't be surprised if they have been following the same routine and sitting at the same table for the last 40 years.
I walked past the Minster which was a bit of an after thought having visited York a few weeks earlier and all the shops looked a little bit tired and generally unappealing.
Having found the ground, I discovered that it is literally over the road from the beach. So selfie on the sand it was with a little walk up and down the promenade including sticking my head through one of those cardboard things with a woman in a bikini.
The ground itself is Royalty as far as non-league grounds go. Alleged to be the oldest surviving grandstand in the World, having been opened in I think 1892. Lots of space around the ground, loads of benches to sit on, a long covered area on the far side, a club shop, bar, tea hut and running track which you really didn't notice as the rest of the ground was so interesting.
As for the game, Godmanchester scored twice in the first 20 minutes, despite conceding a goal from a penalty just before half time, they actually won comfortably with a third coming with about 10 minutes remaining.
Great trip.
Thursday, November 08, 2018
Island in the sun
Sheppey United 4 East Preston 0
Hold the front page, the trains worked. All left on time and even though I only had three minutes for my connection at Sittingbourne, it was not an issue. My first ever visit to the Isle Of Sheppey, I'm not sure what I expected but it did not turn out to particularly be a green and pleasant land in the area that I saw. An impressive bridge that you crossed on the rail to herald your arrival, after that it was a 15-20 minute walk along a fairly busy, residential road.
I saw a roadside sign advertising the game which immediately lifted the pressure from finding the ground, I was in good time so kept walking to see if I could find some lunch. I eventually bumped into an area called 'halfway' that is the rough halfway spot between the three island towns. I discovered a nice little cafe called 'Emily At Twenty-One'. It was so ridiculously warm that I chose to sit outside and for the first time ever in my groundhopping days, lunched on macaroni cheese with chorizo which came served on the sort of plate you got when you went camping with the scouts.. Filling, but very tasty.
The ground itself was nice. A reasonable stand, a nice upstairs clubhouse that gave an interesting view down on the ground, tea hut facilities, a mascot and a giant minion in one corner of the ground!
The game itself turned out to be a comfortable home win for Sheppey. Three up by half time, they cruised through the second half adding one more towards the end.
A town who are rightly proud of their club, do visit if you can.
Hold the front page, the trains worked. All left on time and even though I only had three minutes for my connection at Sittingbourne, it was not an issue. My first ever visit to the Isle Of Sheppey, I'm not sure what I expected but it did not turn out to particularly be a green and pleasant land in the area that I saw. An impressive bridge that you crossed on the rail to herald your arrival, after that it was a 15-20 minute walk along a fairly busy, residential road.
I saw a roadside sign advertising the game which immediately lifted the pressure from finding the ground, I was in good time so kept walking to see if I could find some lunch. I eventually bumped into an area called 'halfway' that is the rough halfway spot between the three island towns. I discovered a nice little cafe called 'Emily At Twenty-One'. It was so ridiculously warm that I chose to sit outside and for the first time ever in my groundhopping days, lunched on macaroni cheese with chorizo which came served on the sort of plate you got when you went camping with the scouts.. Filling, but very tasty.
The ground itself was nice. A reasonable stand, a nice upstairs clubhouse that gave an interesting view down on the ground, tea hut facilities, a mascot and a giant minion in one corner of the ground!
The game itself turned out to be a comfortable home win for Sheppey. Three up by half time, they cruised through the second half adding one more towards the end.
A town who are rightly proud of their club, do visit if you can.
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