Harwich & Parkeston A v A Braintree Town Reserves

Match abandoned after 23 minutes due to serious injury
Saturday 17th November 2018
Eastern Counties League Division One South
The Royal Oak, Dovercourt
Admission: £4.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 100 (estimate)
Match Rating: N/A

Although taking in this game would represent a revisit for me after just over a year, when it was arranged that kick-off would be at 12.30, I planned to combine it with a visit to Stanway Rovers for their 3pm kick off, thereby allowing me to recomplete the Eseex Senior League.

Revisiting the Royal Oak would be no hardship, as I recall the Royal Oak being a ground simply oozing with character, as well as the very friendly and welcoming feel about the place. Happily, there have not been any major alterations to the ground since my visit for a pre-season friendly in July 2017 - it remains a lovely old ground, ramshackle and a little rough around the edges in places, and all the better for that, with the delightful imposing old stand. The outside signage has been freshened up and spectators enter through a turnstile next to the main stand, although still only the front two rows of seats, from which good elevated views can be had apart from some supporting pillars along the front, are available, with the rear section out of bounds. The clubhouse is situated in the corner closest to the passing main road, with a tea bar housed in quite a large standalone building in the opposite corner along the length. Behind one of the goals the covered steep bank of steps is still standing behind one of the goals, with a large brick wall along the rear to separate the ground from the main road, and along the remaining length there is an overgrown bank behind a hardstanding path which is not completely clear to pass along. The 16 page programme, printed on glossy paper with quite an attractive cover, was informative enough and a good read and decent for the level, apart from lacking a league table.

Harwich & Parkeston were another club to benefit from the creation of the new step 6 division in Essex this eason, as they were a long way away from being eligible for promotion naturally, finishing in 10th place in the 15 team Essex & Suffolk Border League Premier Division. They have done well in their first season back in senior league football for nine seasons though, in seventh place following seven wins and three draws from their opening 14 league games. It is very pleasing to see the locals embracing the club's rise back to senior football after some lean and at times seemingly hopeless years in intermediate football, attracting three figure crowds, and their last home game attracted 240 spectators. Braintree Town Reserves have competed at this level for the last seven seasons, always finishing in mid table, with a high of fifth last season. They went into this game in 13th place, following four wins and two draws from their 17 league games.

On a bright, sunny early afternoon which was rather cold out of the sun, this game started off evenly matched, Harwich having the better of the early chances - with just three minutes on the clock, a shot from the edge of the area fizzed just over the bar, and a couple of minutes later, a poked shot shot took a deflection to send the ball agonisingly just wide, with many in the crowd prematurely celebrating the opening goal. Braintree were also looking lively too in what was developing into an entertaining encounter. That was abruptly ended on 27 minutes however, following a free kick that was played into the box from the right wing. The keeper James Waters jumped to claim the ball under a challenge from a Harwich forward, but missed the ball which then bounced out of play. It seemed a very innocuous challenge at the time, even when the referee initially called the physio over to attend to the keeper lying on the ground. The signalling became more frantic and it soon became apparent that a more serious situation was developing, as the keeper was not moving and was being tended to by a gaggle of helpers. Apparently the injury was caused by Waters taking a bad blow to the head from the forward as he fell to the ground - completely accidentally. An ambulance was called, as the player was knocked unconscious and remained unresponsive for some time (too long), and after about half an hour, the ambulance arrived onto the pitch, with the crew taking care to load him on board, and park up outside the ground for further treatment. As always, and completely understandably in the circumstances, information was scarce for the concerned spectators, but news spread that the keeper was coming round, with much relief that the situation appeared to be no longer life threatening. The message was spread that the game would restart in ten minutes following the ambulance's departure, but this turned out to be Chinese whispers, as the truth was it would be ten minutes before the referee made a decision about whether to restart. It turned out that that decision was to abandon the game, surely the only sensible decision that could have been reached - with the phrase "there's more to life than football" very much coming to mind. On the plus side for me personally though, at least it allowed me more time to make my way over to the other side of Colchester for the game at Stanway Rovers, albeit in a rather sombre mood.

News was released later in the evening that Waters was at home, and various scans gave him the all-clear, although there are fears that he has suffered a broken eye socket. Here's hoping he makes a full and complete recovery as soon as possible. A second attempt to play this game was announced for Tuesday evening, which will be free entry but with donations welcome.