Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division
Roker Park, Stotfold
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 48
Match Rating: 3
Having attended a wedding yesterday, ideally I would have wanted a fairly local groundhop closer to home today. Unfortunately, rail engineering works made a trip to Hampshire unappealing, and there were no grounds in Greater London that I had not previously visited, or had plastic pitches that I wanted to save as an option for the depths of winter. And so I headed to Bedfordshire, and a ground that is easier to visit, when relying on public transport, on a nice day before the clocks go back.
Roker Park is a brisk, just over half hour walk from Arlesey train station. It's a straightforward, flat walk, although regular buses do also ply the route. The ground is situated on the northern fringe of the village of Stotfold, down a short lane before paying the admission fee and obtaining a programme next to a wooden hut, before walking into a car parking area behind one of the goals. Beyond the car parking area, in the other corner behind the goal, the brick clubhouse is set a little way back, with picnic tables on a fenced off grassy area making a pleasant place to enjoy a drink on a warm and sunny day like today. Alongside the clubhouse, there is a wooden tea bar hut. Along the length from the clubhouse, there is a fairly long stand covering a flat standing area, and then, straddling the half way line is another quite long and smarter all-seater stand. Along the opposite length there is hard standing, slightly elevated, whilst behind the remaining goal there is just grass and is not really intended for spectators. Tall trees line this end, with lower trees also along the length behind the stands, to give the ground a nicely enclosed and fairly rural feel to it. The 28 page programme was very decent for Step 5, with a very smart and professional cover, nicely laid out inside, with all of the important stats and some interesting reading material, including welcome message and introduction to both clubs.
Having been reprieved from relegation last season, finishing bottom of the division last season, albeit only on goal difference with two other clubs, things are not going any better for Stotfold so far this season, bottom of the table although after losing their first five league games, they have steadied the ship somewhat with draws in their last two games. Wembley have not had a much better start to their season, immediately above Stotfold in the league table following one win (which came last Tuesday, away at Harpenden) and one draw from their opening eight league games.
On a gloriously warm and sunny afternoon, it probably wasn't too much of a surprise that, despite plenty of honest endeavour from both sides, quality was at a premium today, particularly in the final third. Both sides had sights of goals, without coming particularly close to opening the scoring, and perhaps the most entertaining action of the first half was when a cat sauntering along on the grass behind the goal burst into life when a wayward shot on goal bounced uncomfortably close to it.
The second half followed a similar pattern although became a little more end to end as the half wore on, and although Stotfold did more of the attacking, they never really convinced that they would score, and it was Wembley who came agonisingly close to grabbing a winner - first, when a free-kick from deep was pumped into the area and headed home, only for the linesman to raise his flag for offside, and then, a quick break forward eventually ended with a shot which came back off the post. Although a winner from either side looked possible right up to the final whistle, it wasn't a great surprise that it never came for my first goalless game of the season, and both teams will probably be happy to have got another point on the board, and to have kept a clean sheet as they hope to build the foundations for a better run of form to climb the table as winter sets in.
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