Southern League Division One Central
Yarnton Road, Kidlington
Admission: £8.00
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 76
For my Easter Saturday action, I decided to head back to Oxfordshire, to complete my visits to all grounds in the Southern League Division One Central.
Yarnton Road is located on the south western border of the large village of Kidlington, and about 5 miles north of Oxford. Regular buses ply the route from the city centre, and I was very tempted to walk from Oxford train station along the Oxford Canal, but in the end, after reading mixed reviews about its pleasantness as a walk, I caught a further train to Oxford Parkway, the nearest station to Kidlington, and from there it was about a half hour, mile and a half walk to the ground. Colourful club signage including a fixture board decorate the entrance on the passing road, with a short lane leading past and around the clubhouse, to the entrance turnstiles, housed inside a green wooden panelled hut. Arriving well ahead of kick off, I first made my way to the clubhouse, bright and nicely decorated with club memorabilia, and I took advantage of a rare opportunity to have a pint of cask real ale at a football clubhouse - Gale’s Spring Sprinter - whilst watching Spurs lose 0-1 at home to Brighton on one of several flat screens adorning the walls. There is also plenty of room to enjoy drinks on a grassy area outside. When I finally went through the entrance turnstiles, I found a ground that is functional and well maintained. To the left of the entrance behind one end there is a metallic stand with steps to stand on, whilst to the right is a tea bar hatch. There is just hard standing along the rest of this end, and along one length, which has an allotment immediately behind the see-through perimeter fence making for an unusual backdrop. The hard standing continues along the other end, with a large grass area between the hard standing and trees lining the ground's boundary, and the trees continue behind the remaining length, where there is a metallic all-seater stand in one half, and a flat standing area covered by corrugated sheets around a metallic frame in the other half. It is a ground that has a pleasantly rural and tranquil feel to it, with a friendly and welcoming feel about the place. As well as a decent 36 page printed programme available for purchase at the turnstiles, a limited quantity of team sheets were available free of charge, a nice touch, and mention should also be made of an excellently priced admission fee - it is a shame that this does not attract more support, with official attendances at Kidlington usually struggling to reach three figures, and the club has the lowest average attendance in the division this season.
There is still a little work left for Kidlington to ensure that they remain at Step 4 level next season. They came into this game down in 17th place in the 20 club division, following eight wins and nine draws from their 33 league games, just one place above the possible relegation play-off spot, but do lead Kempston Rovers by 4 points and have a game in hand, with Kempston only having three games left to play. They have lost their last four games though, a run which included a 3-1 defeat away at Kempston a fortnight ago. There is not too much left for St Neots to play for apart from pride, as they were in tenth place, following 13 wins and nine draws from their 36 league games, and with three games left to play for, they are six points behind ninth placed Biggleswade, and four points ahead of FC Romania. In the reverse fixture back in August, St Neots won 4-0.
On a gloriously warm and sunny afternoon, Kidlington started on the front foot and were rewarded with a goal on 12 minutes when a free kick was dinked into the penalty area, a defender just failed to get a strong enough touch on the ball, which Rhys Wells ran onto and then slotted past the keeper. For most of the half, they looked quite comfortable in their lead, but the visitors grew into the game and grabbed an equaliser in added on time at the end of the first half, when Callum Anderson ran across the edge of the box before firing a lovely low curling shot from the edge of the area just inside the right hand post.
In truth, the second half had a rather end of season feel to it, as it lacked a spark, although both sides did each have a decent chance to win the game in the closing minutes, Kidlington in the 85th minute when a shot was struck powerfully over the bar, and St Neots in the 88th minute, when a free kick was pumped into the box, and their forward just got his head to the ball before the keeper, but could only divert it over the bar.
A point apiece was a fair result overall, and with Kempston surprisingly losing 3-0 at already relegated Wantage, Kidlington now look safe from relegation, leading Kempston by five points, who only have two games left to play, and Kidlington have a better goal difference. But in all probability, their safety has probably been sealed anyway, as it appears that fifth placed Welwyn Garden City will probably fill a relegation berth, due to ground grading issues.
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