Sunday 16th August 2009
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Woodside Park, Bishops Stortford
Attendance: 159
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.50
The second game I took in of the opening FA Cup weekend took me to Bishops Stortford for the tie between Stansted, of the Essex Senior League, and Royston Town, of the South Midlands Premier Division. It was a good job I double checked where this game was kicking off as I had planned to go to Stansted's ground, which I was looking forward to, apparently being a particularly scenic ground with an old fashioned wooden grandstand, but then found out that, as Stansted share their ground with the cricket team who were playing all weekend, the tie had to be switched to their near neighbours from the Blue Square South. Certainly far superior surroundings to what you would get from a County League arena!
Woodside Park is remarkably well kept and is a very well appointed and comfortable ground, with the added quirk of planes regularly taking off close by from Stansted Airport. Even in an unpromising location of right next to the M11 and the motorway service area, this is quite a nice venue as you couldn't hear the traffic and surrounding trees added to a rural feel to the place.
A close contest was expected, with Stansted a much stronger outfit these days than in the past and Royston only just promoted into the top division. Stansted had more possession in the first half, although Royston took the lead on 26 minutes. Stansted equalised 10 minutes later, but Royston then scored twice within a couple of minutes of the equaliser. As the first half wore on, Royston looked more in control, playing very attractive football on the floor in the process, and at half time seemed to be in control, although one sensed that Stansted were far from out of the game if they could get a goal back soon after the restart.
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Woodside Park, Bishops Stortford
Attendance: 159
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.50
The second game I took in of the opening FA Cup weekend took me to Bishops Stortford for the tie between Stansted, of the Essex Senior League, and Royston Town, of the South Midlands Premier Division. It was a good job I double checked where this game was kicking off as I had planned to go to Stansted's ground, which I was looking forward to, apparently being a particularly scenic ground with an old fashioned wooden grandstand, but then found out that, as Stansted share their ground with the cricket team who were playing all weekend, the tie had to be switched to their near neighbours from the Blue Square South. Certainly far superior surroundings to what you would get from a County League arena!
Woodside Park is remarkably well kept and is a very well appointed and comfortable ground, with the added quirk of planes regularly taking off close by from Stansted Airport. Even in an unpromising location of right next to the M11 and the motorway service area, this is quite a nice venue as you couldn't hear the traffic and surrounding trees added to a rural feel to the place.
A close contest was expected, with Stansted a much stronger outfit these days than in the past and Royston only just promoted into the top division. Stansted had more possession in the first half, although Royston took the lead on 26 minutes. Stansted equalised 10 minutes later, but Royston then scored twice within a couple of minutes of the equaliser. As the first half wore on, Royston looked more in control, playing very attractive football on the floor in the process, and at half time seemed to be in control, although one sensed that Stansted were far from out of the game if they could get a goal back soon after the restart.
Indeed, Stansted came out for the second half fired up and soon pulled a goal back to make it 2-3 and the game looked anybody's. However, once Royston restored their two goal lead on 64 minutes, there was only one winner, with Royston adding another and should have scored several more as Stansted fell apart probably due to tiredness and lack of discipline. This was a most enjoyable game out at an excellent venue (for this standard of football) and one with several wonderful goals.
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