Crewe FC 1-3 Sutton Athletic (Pre-Season)
The Cumberland Arena
It might not last forever and it almost certainly isn't gonna be the same as it used to be, but on Saturday 1st August proper football returned and the beloved English grass-routes game started up again for the first time since mid-March. Yes, a whole twenty-one weeks after I attended a brilliant game of FA Vase action between Atherstone Town and Consett at The Mark Webster Community Stadium in front of a packed out pre-COVID crowd, I was on the train once again and on my way from Stafford to Crewe to go and see some pre-season action. In truth, this first day back in the hunt for new grounds didn't offer too much choice because all matches at Step Six of the non-league pyramid and above were being played behind closed doors and therefore the two standouts for attendance for me were Redgate Clayton in Newcastle-Under-Lyme OR The Cumberland Arena in Crewe. Being as how I'd already visited Clayton's ground back in May 2018 and I'd seen online that many fellow desperate groundhoppers were likely to be descending on Northwood Lane, I decided to visit the lesser advertised Cumberland Arena fixture- which had the added bonus of allowing me to catch up with Crewe's new manager who I had the pleasure of working with whilst I was at Stone Dominoes.
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| First thing's first though, pre-match pint |
With this one being a 12:30 kickoff I jumped on the 11:24 train from Stafford and found myself in the vicinity of the ground just before 12, meaning that I'd have time to pop into the Kings Arms and grab a quick beer before stumbling down Thomas Street in time for the game. Upon arrival I had a snoop around the ground, well the bits that weren't taped off, and it has to be said that it's not a bad little setup they've got. The main pitch, which wasn't being used for this game, is in decent condition and has a running track around the outside. There is then a second pitch, the 3G one which was hosting the match, that is surrounded by a fence. This pitch, which I assume is primarily used by the reserves, is practically adjacent to the railway line and therefore has a higher and much more sturdy looking fence on one side to try and prevent the trains passing by every fifteen minutes or so from popping their balls!
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| No action on the main pitch this time round |
The Cumberland Arena is technically my fourth Cheshire Premier League ground and although that does include Congleton Town's Booth Street, which also hosts Congleton Vale, as well as Alty's Moss Lane, home of their Reserve team, I have also been to Middlewich Town's Seddon Street ground meaning that this would be only the second time I'd watch a match at a ground where the hosts play in the CPL. Crewe Alex's ladies side play here too and the aforementioned reserves team too. To give a bit of context- Crewe FC, who would argue that they were well on their way to winning the Cheshire League last season before the season was nullified, will no doubt be one of the favourites again this time around and although the restart is still subject to how the peaks and troughs of the virus play out, plans are going ahead to be ready for a new season to start in the Autumn and the boys in blue would welcome a team on the rise, in the form of newly promoted West Cheshire League outfit Sutton Athletic. Having won all there was to win in the Chester and Wirral League the club came over to Crewe looking to begin preparations of their own for their West Cheshire League Division Three season. They will be playing at the very impressive Syncreon Arena in the upcoming season and will no doubt be hoping to bask in the success of their ground share buds, Vauxhall Motors.
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| I thoroughly enjoyed my trip there with Stone Doms in 2018 |
Strangely enough, when I visited Vauxhall's ground as the Club Secretary for Stone Dominoes, Pete Griffiths was in charge of the visitors and today he was in the dugout for the first time as Crewe FC's gaffer. It was nice to see Pete again and after a hugely successful year with Nantwich Town Under 18's, which saw him take the young Dabbers into the First Round proper of the FA Youth Cup before losing out to Oldham Athletic in a great run, he was back at Crewe FC where he was returning with a tough task of living up to the expectations of competing for silverware at The Cumberland Arena. First up, though was this outing against Sutton Athletic and my pre-match prediction would be for a close and toughly fought game. I made a 2-2 draw my guess for this one.
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| Let's have it then.... FOOTY IS BACK |
In front of about thirty spectators or so, the game kicked-off on time and although it wasn't quite emotional enough to made me shed a tear, the Ref's first whistle to kick things off did send a little shiver down the spine. Yep, I was stood in just a tee-shirt and shorts, in the rain, eating a soggy sausage roll, watching a game through a fence and I could not be happier. The opening exchanges were very open and although there was a certain element of caution to the early minutes, we'd soon see things settle down into the usual rhythm of a non-league football match- lot's of meaty challenges, a few dodgy goalkeeper touches and even the odd bit of play that wouldn't look out of place up the road at Gresty Road. In the fifteenth minute, we'd be treated to an opening goal as Lee Ludgate found himself twenty yards out with the ball at his feet, which led him to look up, spot Crewe's keeper just off his line and then fire home a tidy finish to give Sutton Athletic the lead. Crewe 0-1 Sutton. The goal clearly woke the hosts up as they almost equalised straight from kick-off, only for their left-winger to be denied by a last-ditched clearance on the line. As Crewe got themselves moving, with their number 8 looking particularly handy in central midfield, the visitors began to seem rattled and one sub clearly was getting nervy as he began to turn his pitchside warm-up into a mission to mooch a lighter off a spectator to calm himself with a fag.
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| Luckily for the visitors though they made it to the Government enforced drink break intact |
There were no more goals in the first-half and to be honest Crewe will have counted themselves lucky to ride out the Sutton storm in the final ten minutes of the half, which gave them a chance to regroup and make a few changes. For me, this was also a chance to regroup and I took the opportunity to run down to Tom's Tap for a pint of delicious Sanctuary Torrside IPA which was made even sweeter by him serving it up in a plastic for me so that I could return to the game and savour the taste rather than going for the "neck it and run" approach. If ever you are in the area, I would definitely recommend popping into this ramshackle brewhouse- well worth it.
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| An absolute belter! |
Back at The Cumberland Arena the visitors had an unfortunate start to the half as their keeper seemed to damage his hand which led to an outfielder going in goal for the remaining half an hour of the match. Crewe FC tried their best to capitalise on their position and although they managed a couple of shots at the uncomfortable newbie between the sticks they didn't really test him enough. The hosts resorted to making a couple of subs, which included the introduction of Christoph Azimale who is an exciting striker I've seen play for Stone Dominoes, and this would surely add a bit of spice to the final third of the match. The game continued to rise in quality as players started to find their sharpness and equally it rose in tension as a rough challenge near the corner flag ended up with a Crewe steward almost scuffling with Sutton's beefy keeper.
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| Don't forget your two meter distance, lads! |
On the pitch we would eventually see the first of three second-half goals, all coming in the final ten minutes, with Sutton doubling their lead after a slick counter that ended with Corey Beaven tucking the ball home. Crewe 0-2 Sutton. It wasn't going to be a whitewash for the hosts though and they responded with a goal of their own as Azimale did what he does best and got his goal to give us a very open end to proceedings. Crewe 0-2 Sutton.
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| Nobody could argue it hadn't been a well-fought friendly |
As Crewe's reserves began to turn up ready for their match with Mary Dendy FC in the later kick-off, which I didn't bother sticking around for as I was meeting someone afterwards, the match wound down to a close- but not before Sutton's Liam Wall thrashed home his team's third goal of the afternoon. Crewe's keeper looked flustered and flappy on this occasion, meaning that the lad just couldn't keep it out and with that, the result was sealed. Crewe 1-3 Sutton. The Ref soon called full-time and with that Crewe FC began their tough pre-season schedule with a loss. I'm sure that both of these sides will do well in their respective campaigns as both looked competitive and showed class in parts, which at this level is a very good starting point. No doubt I'll be following Pete's progress with the blue team from Crewe and in the meantime I'll be heading to a couple of other matches during this very strange month of the return of the beautiful game- it's great to be back!
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