Potton United 2 v 3 Barton Rovers

Saturday 22nd August 2020, Kick-off 13.00
Pre-season Friendly
The Hollow, Potton
Admission: £3.00
Programme: None
Attendance: 40 (estimate)

So finally, after 160 days , today was the day when senior clubs from Steps 3 to 6 were finally allowed to admit a limited number of fans into their grounds. And I decided to mark the occasion with a "champagne job" of completing visits to all grounds in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division with a trip to The Hollow.

Potton is not the easiest of places to get to without a car, with the nearest train station over three miles away, and although a bus service does serve the village, the last bus of the weekend departs from Potton at just after 1pm, and so walking would be required. Although Sandy station is closer, I chose to walk from Biggleswade station instead, just over 4 miles each way but a pleasant, straightforward and flat walk, with the majority being along footpaths across farmland, and via the small village of Sutton. Located just to the south of the village of Potton, spectators enter the ground in one corner, paying admission through a window in a wooden hut, and were then invited to use handgel and write their name and contact number for track and trace purposes. A separate wooden hut is located just beyond the entrance from which refreshments are usually served, but not today. Behind the goal is a brick clubhouse,  with a bar area which has a pleasantly bright and modern decor inside. Between the clubhouse and the goal, there is a fenced grass area with picnic tables on. Towards the corner there is a small black modern metallic stand with steps to stand on. Along the length closest to the entrance there is a fair sized stand with a brick base containing three rows of seating - conveniently, in these socially distanced times, with plenty of space between rows. There is just hard standing along the remaining length and end. There is a cricket field immediately behind that end, and behind the length, there are tennis courts, a disused basketball court, and a water treatment works, which does provide "interesting" smells along that length. The Hollow is a very pleasant and peaceful ground, with a very friendly welcome and atmosphere.

After 27 years in the United Counties League, Potton United are about to embark on their third season in the Spartan South Midland League Premier Division, and last season, they were in 13th place in the 21 club division, following ten wins and five draws from their 28 League games, when the season was abandoned. Barton Rovers play a step above, in the Southern League Division One Central, and were in seventh place when last season was abandoned.

On a sunny afternoon, Potton almost scored inside the first minute, when a cross/shot was fumbled by the keeper, and the ball came back off the post. But that was a false dawn for the hosts as the visitors went on to dominate the first half, and opened the scoring on 5 minutes with a very good goal, a run through midfield ended with a perfectly placed shot into the top right hand corner gave the keeper no chance. On 8 minutes, Barton saw the ball bounce twice on the crossbar following a corner, before the game settled down, and the scoreline remained 0-1 at the break.

But two minutes into the second half, Barton scored their second, after an initial shot was parried by the keeper, the rebound was tucked home. And they scored their third on 57 minutes, the ball was worked across from the left, ending with a clipped shot just inside the post. Potton scored on 74 minutes, with a perfectly judged cross from the right was met at the far post by Niall Jones, who just beat the keeper to head the ball into the net. And they scored again on 78 minutes, following a clever dinked ball over the defence to find a team mate, who slotted the ball home. And Potton came close on a couple of occasions to score a third to level the scoreline, but it wasn't to be.