25/02/17 Review: Dulwich Hamlet vs Macclesfield Town

Dulwich Hamlet 2-2 Macclesfield Town (FA Trophy Quarter-Final)

Champion Hill

For a ground-hopping Macclesfield Town fan, an FA Trophy Quarter-Final away day at Champion Hill is basically unmissable. With this weekend being mine off from work, I was London-bound again in search of another great ground- and hopefully safe progression for the Silkmen into the Semi-Final. As I've done when making trips to Wembley and the Old Spotted Dog in the past, I made use of taking an opportunity to visit family in Southend so that I could make a proper weekend of it.

Made it with plenty of time to spare

Arriving in the South-East of London after driving through the dreaded traffic of our country's capital city, I was surprisingly chuffed to see a Sainsbury's located right next to ground- meaning that free parking and post-match snacks would be in store. With this being a big-tie for both sides, this match was one of the rare occasions that the Hamlet had to make tickets available before the fixture date. Knowing that they'd be popular, I purchased mine so that I could be guaranteed to join almost 3,000 others at the home of the Isthmian Premier side as their National League opponents came to see what all the fuss was about.

Hamlet vs Silkmen

Sitting in 9th place in the fifth and seventh steps on the English Leagues ladder respectively, this Quarter-Final fixture came about after the visitors had so far eliminated Altrincham, Sudbury and Forest Green Rovers, meanwhile Dulwich started their campaign back in October and since beating Lowestoft Town, they have gone on to sweep aside Chesham United, Winchester City, Royston Town, Whitehawk and most impressively Braintree Town. That famous 5-2 Replay win for Dulwich is what set-up today's match and as I entered the ground I could feel the anticipation of the home crowd for another "giant" killing against John Askey's men. Since the start of 2017, Dulwich have only lost one game- against strugglers Canvey Island- and in February they have won one League game as well as games in the London County's Cup, Alan Turvey Trophy and FA Trophy. Yup- they've been busy! In the meantime, the Silkmen have been making steady progress in the National Premier and with good back-to-back victories against Eastleigh and Braintree, they would be hoping to dump a second Isthmian side out of the competition.

Not if these lot have anything to say about it

Macc were lining-up with a strong starting eleven and from the kick-off you could tell that the away side weren't willing to let the home support and their underdog side get the better of them in the early knockings. By far looking the strongest side, Macc had an early corner which didn't test, but on eight minutes they made the most of a long-range free-kick. From my view it looked like it was 25 or so yards out and with a central position Luke Summerfield, on loan from Grimsby, pelted his drive goal-wards and surely enough it found the back of the Dulwich net. Hamlet 0-1 Macc. At this stage the home-side looked rattled and the Silkmen continued to press for a second. Summerfield hit a second free-kick into the wall on 12 minutes and Holroyd hit over from close-range on 17 minutes. The following goal-kick from Preston Edwards in the Hamlet goal went straight into the path of Summerfield and he reacted with a pinpoint chip that went into the goal again and seemingly give the away boys a big early advantage- and also causing one away fan to shout out "you're so shit, they didn't even put your name on your back!". Hamlet 0-2 Macc. With Macc threatening to run away with it against they're part-time opponents, Dulwich managed to sort themselves out and start to play a bit of football with just under half-an-hour played. The Hamlet number 11- sorry, didn't catch his name- looked to be the man pulling the strings for the hosts and with 25 minutes on the clock they won a corner. A mixture of determination from the side in pink and blue and a poor defensive clearance from the white-shirted Silkmen eventually meant that a third set-piece would be scored from in the game, as Quade Taylor prodded a goal in to send the majority of the crowd into cheers as the deficit was halved. Hamlet 1-2 Macc. From then on, it is fair to say that Dulwich Hamlet believed in themselves and they were well up for this game now. As the half went on, the home team came close again as one of the strikers had a dig, and they almost notched again from a corner just before half-time. The away gathering certainly looked ready for the break and we all hoped that Askey would give the lads a pick-up in time for a big battle in the second-half.

2-1 at HT, which was my pre-match prediction for the result

As the whistle blew I looked over to the away fans and spotted the Macclesfield Town announcer shouting loud and proud for the side- obviously enjoying his time off from Moss Rose and telling the Cheshire locals where they can purchase their pies. During half-time I spent the whole 15 minutes in a queue for the clubhouse, not necessarily for a drink either, but just to see what it was like as I continued my usual scout around the ground. As 14 of the 15 minutes passed, I finally made it to the end of the queue to enter the bar, only to then see a giant hoard of people waiting for a drink. I quickly exited and was just in time for the restart.

That's a lot of people wanting a pint!

I made it around to the opposite goal-side alongside the rest of the away support, who had swapped over with the home fans, just in time for Macc's first chance of the half. Some great work by stand-in captain Kingsley James, who I'd seen win this competition back in May 2016 with Halifax Town, led to a pass into the box which fell to Chris Holroyd. Unfortunately the Silkmen top-scorer could not get the ball from out of his feet to hit home and the ball was easily defended. We continued to see Dulwich turn the game in their favour possession-wise and they almost grabbed an equaliser from yet another set-piece as Holroyd this time came back to defend and ended up thrusting a header towards his own goal. The pressure continued and for me, Neil Byrne was having the best game for the visitors as he cleared and dealt with all that came his way. With just ten minutes left to go, there was a stoppage in play as Summerfield was bundled to the ground and this led the home fans to pick out the bald, pasty figure of Macc veteran Danny Whitaker. As Summerfield received treatment, the home fans shouted out "you're just a shit Jonjo Shelvey, shit Jonjo Shelvey!" and the away fans raised a smile amongst their concern for the man who'd scored a brace earlier in the game.

Thinking back to the good times- the goals and the pre-match Bratwurst

The clock ran down and with just three minutes of the ninety left, there was to be a deserved late twist in the tale for the home-side. In a truly magical fashion, Ash Carew hit a wonder-strike and surely enough it went straight past Flinders and the fans were in dreamland once again. Hamlet 2-2 Macc. Although I was gutted for Macc, who now have to host a replay against the Hamlet, I also felt somewhat happy for the over 2,000 fans who would at least get to see their side in the hat for the semi-finals. In truth, the hosts could have nicked it late as Carew fired a 30-yard strike towards goal again in the 94th minute, but this time the shot was saved and the resulting corner came to nothing.

Let's hope they don't make this sort of mess at Moss Rose

I left the game and headed back through the traffic-ridden streets as the rest of the Macc fans went their separate ways. Some of them were going to stay the night and head to Wembley tomorrow for the League Cup Final, whereas others had to long trip home to make. I am yet to decide if I'll be able to make it to the Replay on Tuesday night, due to a late finish at work, but if not then I am hoping to at least make a trip to see Sutton Coldfield Town versus Marine. Either way, I'll be back on Tuesday!

22/05/2016 Review: Morpeth Town vs Hereford and Halifax Town vs Grimsby Town

Morpeth Town 4-1 Hereford (FA Vase Final)
Wembley Stadium [Match 1 of 2]

Sunday 22nd May, the day when history was made as the FA decided to host both the FA Vase and FA Trophy finals back-to-back live from the iconic Wembley Stadium. The day that I'd been waiting for had come upon me and I was ready to set off to London in search of any non-league fan's dream day out at Wembley. With a bag full of beer and a smile on my face, I found myself sat in Basildon train station at 8:55am with an otherwise grumpy bunch of Essex-folk who apparently weren't looking forward to the day as much as me. Spotting no other football fans on the train to London Fenchurch, I started to wonder at what point I would be hit by the inevitable flurry of fans from Hereford, the northern crowds of Halifax and Grimsby faithful and the light sprinkling of over-excited tangerine-coloured Morpethians. So far, the only tangerine-coloured people I'd seen were fresh from the sunbeds of Basildon's town centre.

The starting point for today's almighty adventure

With a trip to Barcelona on the horizon for me, today would be the first of three trips to some of Europe's biggest stadia. Camp Nou and Old Trafford both being on my agenda for the next month, but not to watch Barca or United- I'm not that mainstream. Anyway, back to London and after not planning my route to Wembley I was riding along on the tube hoping to head towards the general direction of the ground, knowing that I was meeting my friend Dean before the games. Upon arrival at Marylebone station I was finally greeted with a mass of fans, of whom at this time were mainly Hereford and Halifax. I was curious to see how many Halifax and Grimsby fans would get to Wembley early to watch what would be considered a warm-up game for them, before their own big final later in the afternoon. For Grimsby, this was a second trip within 8 days to the national ground, after they rose above Forest Green Rovers in the National League play-off final last weekend. I jumped on the train alongside the many supporters and headed for the promised land.

A big day out for the Shaymen

The clear favourites for the day were Hereford and Grimsby, who had both tasted success in the past and would hope to live up to their pre-match expectations by beating their opposition, although everybody knows that any team who has made it to a final will be up for a scrap. Morpeth Town are a relatively unknown team in terms of having national recognition, but the Northern Football League Division One outfit had fought their way into the final from the earliest stage of the competition. A journey that started with a home-tie against Padiham FC back in September had culminated in the biggest day of the club's history. Meanwhile for Hereford, their fans have been hoping and expecting days out at Wembley as a part of their efforts to rise from the ashes of the Midlands League and make their way back to the Football League from where they fell in 2012, alongside my beloved Macclesfield Town. My journey of course was not as long-winded as this one, having only jumped on the bandwagon for the final. I had, of course, been following the competitions and hoping that the Silkmen would make it to the Trophy final, before joining allegiance with Nantwich's great-run to the Semi-Final of the Trophy, which ended against Halifax. The Vase was a competition that had also caught my eye, with Bristol Manor Farm (a favoured team of Partizan Bristle) being a team that I'd followed up until them departing the competition to Morpeth. One Peth fan that I found myself sitting alongside had obviously been doing his pre-match prep, as I saw over his shoulder that he was reading an on-line copy of the official rules of referees- being from the non-league, it often seems the case that the fans know the rules better than some of the officials!

Here we go, here we go, here we go!

As the morning turned to 11am, I hopped off the train and made my way towards my base for the day- the absolutely sublime Wembley Stadium. With the ground starting to become busy, the time had come to meet up with my guest of the day, a Manchester United fan from Eastbourne, Dean. After many failed attempts to meet in various parts of the ground, we finally met outside Entrance F of the stadium- even though we were sitting in Entrance B. We had a quick catch-up and a chat with a beer before walking down to a merch stall down Wembley Way in search of a tee-shirt for Dean. I was sporting my Canvey Island top from my visit there in February, and I was apprehended twice by a fellow Yellow Army fan who was amazed to see the Gulls being represented by more than just herself. Dean, on the other hand, was wearing two thick jumpers on this very warm day and needed something to wear that wouldn't make him look like the sweaty lump of meat he was turning into. We found him a nice Morpeth Wembley shirt and we both grabbed a scarf so that we could be disguised amongst the rest of the Peth fans as friendly locals. And we almost managed to fit in too, until we stood in a part of the ground which we realised afterwards was labelled as a "Dog Relief Area"- I wondered why it was so quiet!

Fitting in as Geordies- minus the Canvey Island shirt and lack of Newcastle Brown

With half an hour until the first kick-off of the day, we headed into the ground and took a look around, taking in some of the "free entertainment" on display. We joined the queue to get a picture with a replica FA Cup, we listened in to a local rapper who had better timing than Tinie Tempah, and supped our over-priced beer. At this stage, the only thing that was non-league about the day was the fans. The Morpeth army were in full-swing now and the excitement had started to his us, but this could not be complete until we walked out into the stadium itself. I always get a tingling feeling when I step out into the sun-glazed pitch and see the pitch for the first time. It is always an unexplainable feeling of joy, amazement and being in one of the greatest places in the world.

Game time- and a few of the Halifax and Grimsby fans had started to filter in

With one-third of Hereford's population expected to attend and cheer on their side, it is safe to guess where a lot of the noise was coming from! As we reached kick-off, both sets of fans were in full-voice and the start of a terrible sore-throat for many was in progress. Hereford set the tempo of the match and within two minutes they had taken the lead. Rob Purdie was given far too much time and space for a cup final game and made the most of the chance with an unstoppable hit which nestled into the net to set the Hereford end alight. Morpeth 0-1 Hereford. My pre-match prediction of 3-1 to Hereford had started well, and despite wanting to see Morpeth lift the Vase, I couldn't help but feel the nerves would get the best of the Wembley virgins.

The Hereford masses couldn't believe the start- and the Peth faithful didn't want to

On the 4-minute mark it was almost 2-0, as the 20,000 Hereford fans thought the ball had flown in again- which led to taunts from the Morpeth crowd who were simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief at not being out of the game so early. As with any nervous start, Morpeth needed a moment to settle and for the first 15-minutes it just wasn't happening. Hereford looked sharp and aggressive, with shot after shot peppering the Morpeth goal. The side who had knocked out both North and South Shields on their run to the final had to carve a chance of their own and avoid being kicked into touch. One large chap sat in front of us burst out with the definite instruction of "put him on his arse, man!" as the Geordie language started to come out to try and encourage the Highwaymen.

Why aye, man!

Alas, it was Hereford who pressed again and a mazy run from midfield led to a strike against the Peth cross-bar. This appeared to be a bit of a wake-up call for Morpeth, who all of a sudden jumped into life and back into the game. Just before the half-hour mark a strike was hit into the side-netting from a Morpeth counter, and seconds later they earned a corner. Morpeth's centre-back powerhouse Chris Swailes, 45 years-young, marched up for the kick and when the ball crossed his path he used his sturdy-chest to conjure up the equaliser. What a moment for the veteran. Morpeth 1-1 Hereford. The game was becoming a true classic and both myself and Dean were now truly inducted as honorary Morpethians. So much so that Deano plucked up the courage to start a chant, which spread around the ground like wildfire. "Morpeeth, Morpeeth, Morpeeth!" was Dean's mispronounced roar, but I don't think anybody noticed.

That's more like it lads, let's see those smiles

As the crowd rallied, so did the players, and it should have been 2-1 by the end of the first-half. Luke Carr pulled the strings out-wide and his pull-back left the goal gaping for his partner. Unfortunately, it squirmed inches wide and left the scores level at the break. Based on the first 20 minutes from Hereford and the last 25 minutes from Morpeth, the score was fair so far and we had thus far witnessed a great game between two of the non-league's finest. We headed into the bar for a half-time pint and this ultimately proved to be a costly error. The queue was so long that by the time we had purchased and downed our pints, we had missed the crucial goal which gave Morpeth the lead. I was actually in the toilet when I heard a roar from within the ground, which led to an outburst of Peth fans running out to see who had broken the deadlock. Luckily, thanks to the joys of the game being televised, we didn't have to run far and as we re-emerged in the bar it was clear to see that Carr had hit home a controlled first-time hit. Morpeth 2-1 Hereford. This led me and Dean to head back out to our seats and try to start various unsuccessful chants. I still don't understand how "we buy any Carr, dot com!" didn't become an instant classic!

Beer Only Lane- it's as if they knew that's what people would want!

Following a dirty lunge from a Hereford player, I did eventually start off a chant of "off, off, off, off!" which the referee wasn't buying. The disgruntled fans soon perked up though as the groundsman, yes the groundsman (and striker), notched a third goal for Morpeth in the 60th minute, to send the fans into ecstasy. Morpeth 3-1 Hereford. The town, supposedly named after the Norman term for "murder path", were well and truly killing off the favourites and it appeared to be of no surprise to them. The fans had always backed their lads to come to Wembley and produce the goods, and barring the poor opening they had done just that. As time ran down, Hereford brought on some fresh-legs to try and force their way back in, but some meaty challenges from former Vase winner Keith Graydon were enough to subdue the pressure. A close effort from an all-out attack almost halved the goal difference for Hereford, but eventually it would prove to increase to three after Bell's deflected hit sealed the deal for Morpeth. Morpeth 4-1 Hereford. No more action followed in terms of goals, and that was that. Game one of two was over and the mighty Morpeth Town had won the Vase. We hung around to watch them lift the silverware and spread the champagne, whilst watching the tonnes of Hereford fans descend from the ground. You cannot help but appreciate the turnout from both sets of fans, but Hereford really did go above and beyond with their support and it is a credit to the club that they travelled in such numbers.

Party time for the Northumberlanders

Halifax Town 1-0 Grimsby Town (FA Trophy Final)

Wembley Stadium [Match 2 of 2]

And with all of the excitement still fresh in the mind of fans, it was hard to believe that we had another feast of football to come in just under two hours. This time though, in the form of non-league heavyweights Grimsby Town and Halifax Town. Throughout the course of the firs match, the stands started to fill with fans who wanted to catch the end of the Vase match, and now we were starting to see some of the fans from Morpeth and Hereford disappear, having had enough excitement for one day. Needless to say that me and Dean were in it for the long-haul and we took our place back in the bar to nibble on a couple of hot dogs whilst we waited for round two. As a Macclesfield Town fan, I felt that I owed it to Halifax to support them in this one, seems as how our draw with them at the end of the season relegated them just a few weekends ago. To test the waters, I told one Halifax fan that I was a Silkmen fan whilst in a queue for beer, to which his response was to pace away from the queue whilst saying "I'm not queueing with him!".

Was it something I said?

Between matches there wasn't too much to do, as I'm assuming Wembley's staff had underestimated the amount of fans who would actually hang around. Either way, there was a bar open so we weren't moaning, and after knocking back a couple more beers we went in search of some more "free entertainment". We found a juggler who was chucking Golden Balls about like a loonatic, and in the end I challenged him to hugely unsuccessful juggle-off. After being humiliated and offending Halifax fans, it was soon time to reassemble in the ground for the Trophy final. As the ground was partially empty at our side, we moved along a bit to find some people to sit with- and in the end found ourselves chatting with Grantham Town's management team. Here to support the non-league finals day like a couple of gents, they were looking forward to a solid display from Grimsby and had predicted a 3-0 pasting to follow-up last weekends win. I had made a pre-match prediction of 2-0 for this one, and it appears that we all had written off the Shaymen. Despite a good half of possession, Grimsby looked a bit lacklustre from the victory against FGR, and it is perhaps safe to say that Halifax wanted it more. The chance to end a relegation-season with silverware is enough to keep the passion flowing and with a couple of ex-Silkmen players in the squad I was pleasantly surprised by the Blues. It was 0-0 at half-time, and the tension of the game meant that a goal was going to be hard to come by. However, Halifax flew out of the blocks in the second-half and in a similar fashion to Morpeth earlier in the day they took the lead with the only goal of the game coming from a worldy from Scott McManus. Halifax 1-0 Grimsby. I had previously singled out Chard Town's opener at Hengrove as my Goal of the Season, but this topped it! A fine goal.

A great goal and well deserved

There were to be no more goals in this tightly-contested tie and Halifax will have been delighted to take the lead. I was happy for them too, and despite being frustrated by the referee Lee Mason and his seeming to not want the game to flow, the game ticked on and both sides looked like they could've grabbed a goal. Hamza Bencherif, who scored the first two goals I ever saw at a live game for Macclesfield against Burton, was solid at the back and was as happy as anyone to see the full-time whistle go. The Yorkshire side had overcome their Lincolnshire foes in this one and ended the season on a high. Grimsby will still be happy to have rejoined the Football League for the upcoming seadon, but they'll also know that they will need to play much better than today if they hope to stay there.

The Halifax fans at last had something to smile about

After watching the lads collect the Trophy, me and Dean departed the ground and headed off in our separate ways home. Until the next time, cheers for the great day out Wembley, we had a blast!

Up the Morpeth!

03/10/15 Review: Newcastle Town vs Spalding United

Newcastle Town 5-4 Spalding United (FA Trophy Preliminary Round)
The Lyme Valley Stadium

It's Saturday afternoon, it's my weekend off and the FA Trophy is beckoning. Still buzzing from the enjoyment of my trip to Kidsgrove on Wednesday night I was hoping for another good game between two teams from the same level of English non-League football. Four goals were scored by the home side on Wednesday and today I was watching teams who sit in 15th and 8th respectively, so surely I would be able to expect more of the same in terms of attacking football, dodgy defending and hopefully enough quality to see the odd goal.

Heading to see my first ever FA Trophy match, exciting! 

Upon arrival at the ground I rushed into the ticketing booth to purchase a ticket, when I bought said ticket I decided to ask if it was likely to be a busy one. He looked at me with a sour face and regrettably exclaimed that we'd be lucky to get 100 this aft. He also claimed that he couldn't understand why it was so busy due to the fact that Stoke City were away. Being that they were playing against Aston Villa, I doubted that any true fans would mind travelling to this particular away fixture, but rather than sounding rude I simply said "Yes, but Vale are at home, so that may explain it". All of these ground-hopping days are giving me a great knowledge and high-standard vocabulary of the non-League. With this, I entered the ground and took a few minutes to have a look around before kick-off. Having seen an image online of a very nice looking Lyme Valley Stadium, looking great in the floodlights in it's circular form, I was somewhat underwhelmed by the reality of the blue sheds, cramped urinals and lack of seating- good job there wasn't many in attendance today.

Football Stadium or local Garden Centre?

To the credit of 'The Castle' it wasn't that the stadium was terribly bad, it was more the fact that after visiting The Novus Stadium (Kidsgrove), Queensgate Park (Scarborough/Bridlington) and of course the mighty Moss Rose, I was feeling that today's ground was more on par with Alsager's Wood Park Stadium as being a very average ground. However, the cycling track around the outskirts of the pitch did give the rounded form to the ground, a somewhat quirky feature. I also had to have a chuckle at one of the players, presumably injured/not selected, as he was the first person I saw to have a beer in his hand. Spalding United, aka 'The Tulips', were today's opposition and they went in to the match as slight favourites due to their higher place in the Evo-Stik First Division South Table, albeit only by 3 points. The Castle had lost their game midweek away at Market Drayton, whereas The Tulips had only lost 1 match in all competitions this season (against high-flyers Stafford Rangers). With kick-off looming I scouted out a good standing spot and prepared for the opening match of both sides FA Trophy campaign. Due to the form of Spalding, I predicted a 2-0 victory. I assumed that neither side would want a draw at this stage of a busy season, with the replay pencilled in at Spalding for Tuesday night.

The view from the front was not as close as I'm used to- damn cyclists!

Kick-off had only just taken place, but Spalding United were already cracking on with some forceful play- and within the opening couple of minutes The Tulips were ahead, after Griffiths knocked in the first goal of the afternoon. Castle 0-1 Spalding. With this, the few fans in the ground had their heads down and seemed set to endure a painful outing today. Castle kicked-off and following a couple more minutes of hit and hope football, Neville Thompson outran the defenders and calmly slotted home an equaliser. Castle 1-1 Spalding. The third kick-off in 5 minutes meant that we were under-way again- and not for the last time! With the amazement of two early goals, I decided to take my phone out to take a few action snaps, but in the time it took me to do that I looked up to see what looked like the aftermath of another goal. The complete non-reaction from the crowd made me doubt it, but the tannoy soon confirmed that Spalding had taken the lead again. Castle 1-2 Spalding. I was astounded by the early drama in the game, with one fan asking his son if he thought this would be a higher scoring game than England's Rugby World Cup match later this evening. (Sadly for England Rugby fans, it wasn't!)

The goals-to-crowd ratio was pretty 50:50 at this point

Believe it or not, but following this third goal we had to wait at least another 5 minutes before the next. After I had moved over to a seated area, some good build-up play from Castle, mixed with some ludicrous defending from the Tulips led to an opening for Tim Sanders- and the former Leek Town man took his chance to grab the second equaliser just before the 15-minute mark. Castle 2-2 Spalding. My only recollection of a game with so many early goals was a flash back to 2005, when I recall watching Teletext to see a game between Bolton Wanderers and Aston Villa which was 2-2 after just 9 minutes. Unlike that game, however, the goals didn't end here- and for the first time in the game Castle took the lead. A nice strike from the midfield was palmed up into the air by Spalding's flapping keeper, it then hit the bar and bounced down into the path of Thompson and allowed him to grab another goal. Castle 3-2 Spalding. I thought to myself an amusing slur against the Tulip's keeper at this point- "They may as well have planted a row of Tulips on the goal-line at this rate, they might have prevented more goals than this lad!" is what I wish I would've said to the old lady sitting nearest to me. The next 20 minutes or so provided no goals, which to me was a signal that both teams had settled down a bit. There was a few fouls and the odd bit of good play, but the match certainly had taken a turn. Most of the impressive runs were being made by Castle's left-back, who unfortunately couldn't bring anything to fruition as his final ball was lacking. Towards the end of the half there was the opportunity for Castle to gain some breathing space. Following a corner from the right, a second ball was swung in and remained in the box for a few seconds until Marc Grocott crashed in a half-volley to put a bit of daylight between the sides just before the break. Castle 4-2 Spalding. This would remain the scoreline until half-time, meaning it was time to take a bit of time to absorb the first-half over a pint in the clubhouse. I popped in to find the most pleasant sight of all- the clubhouse was a Joule's Pub, which meant that they served my most favourite alcoholic bevvy.

Green Monkey for £3... YES!!!

I then came across today's 'Pint of Football Moment' in the clubhouse. A montage of photographs from 1995 showed that almost 20 years ago Newcastle United's Premier League squad visited the Lyme Valley Stadium, to which the images showed superstar striker Les Ferdinand training and then later on enjoying a pint in the same place I was now stood. A very touching moment and I'm sure it is one that club remain proud of to this day. I headed back to my seat with my pint in my hand, something which is never usually allowed, ready for the second-half and hopefully more goals.

Les Ferdinand, Sir Stanley, all of the greats have visited NTFC

The half-time team talk from Spalding's manager had obviously given the Tulips the spark they needed and they came out with the urge to get back into the game. With not too much of the second 45 played, the goals were flying in again- a header this time bouncing in off the post meant it was game on yet again. Castle 4-3 Spalding. Spalding continued to press and hoped for an equaliser, with the subs coming on to freshen up their starting XI. A big lad came into the match up top for the Tulips and it was his header that looked to have assisted an equaliser. Alas, he was offside and the goal didn't stand. Shortly after this, Castle broke at the other end and we were treated to an 8th goal of the game- and probably the best. Haughton got into a good space just outside the box and used his left boot to pop the ball into the net. Castle 5-3 Spalding. The opposition didn't give up though, despite giving away a few frustrated fouls and often looking like they may concede again on the break. Eventually, the pressure yet again paid off for Spalding and a second header for Newman meant that there would be a tense final 10 minutes. Castle 5-4 Spalding. The lady sat behind me decided to ask at this point what score it was. After telling her, she revealed to me that she was the grandmother of Castle's Tim Sanders, scorer of the second goal which seemed oh so long ago. Having met Giuseppe Sole's Dad in Macclesfield and Filip Twardzik's Girlfriend at Vale Park I was now in the pleasurable company of yet another proud relative. Despite a final push from Spalding, there were no more goals and it was Castle who progress to the First Round of the FA Trophy. The nine-goal thriller was over and it had been a true roller-coaster this afternoon.

"I don't know how I'm going to write this up in 100 words", said the match reporter 

I left the ground to hear a surprisingly downbeat announcement from the tannoy which was, "In the next round we will be facing Kidsgrove Athletic at home in four weeks time. Our next game at home is on next Saturday and will also be against Kidsgrove." He didn't seem too thrilled about the thought of two ties of the same opponent in the same month, but then again he was perhaps just tired from the nine goal announcements he had to make throughout the afternoon. Hopefully the next match that I attend, Macc vs Kidderminster on non-League Football Day, will be half as goal-filled as today's encounter.

Grab yourself a post-match coffee, lad. You've earned it