Spartan South Midlands League Division One
New Roker Park, Stotfold
Admission: £6.00
Programme: None
Attendance: 102
With strong rumours emanating that the UK could go into a countrywide lockdown in the next few days, it felt like today might well be the last opportunity to take in some groundhopping on a Saturday for at least a month. Similar to last Saturday, heavy rain was forecast to sweep in from the west during the morning, so I wanted to play things fairly safe today and head for Arlesey station, from which I could make a late choice between Shefford Town & Campton or Stotfold, both grounds I recalled can withstand a fair amount of rain and are not too susceptible to waterlogging. Indeed, with neither clubs showing any signs of postponement by the time I arrived at Arlesey, I chose to head eastwards for Stotfold in the hope of a Hallowe'en treat, to visit their new ground, just over two years since visiting their previous ground.
New Roker Park, which hosted its first game in February, is an easy 20 minute walk from Arlesey station, flat and along a footpath, along the same road as to the old ground. There is a decent sized car park in front of the ground, and entrance to the ground can be gained through one of two black metallic turnstile blocks, although only one was open today. As I arrived well over an hour ahead of kick-off (having allowed time for rerouting), I chose to go into the clubhouse first. After being invited to leave contact details via the NHS QR code or on a piece of paper, and use hand gel, table service was conducted efficiently and in a friendly and welcoming fashion by staff suitably dressed in Hallowe'en attire, and whilst the interior is a little on the clinical side, it is practical and serves its purpose well, being very spacious, with a range of table sizes and chairs, as well as some comfy sofas, and some big screens to watch live football on. The ground itself is very well appointed, neat and tidy, and has clearly been designed to not only be virtually ready to host Step 4 football as it is, but could very easily be upgraded further should the need arise. In one corner is the clubhouse building, with a couple of doors providing access to the clubhouse, picnic tables scattered on the asphalt outside, and hot food and drinks can be obtained from a hatch in one corner. A metallic all-seater stand, with quite steep rows of club coloured black and yellow seats, straddles the half way line on the same side, with a toilet block positioned behind. There is just hard standing behind both ends, with plenty of space back to the perimeter wooden fence, and this continues along the remaining length, with a metal stand with steps to stand on straddling the half way line, although this length was out of bounds, presumably due to Covid concerns as the dugout are on that side. And indeed, Covid precautions were certainly thorough here, including a couple of measures I had not encountered previously - gel dispensers placed regularly on the pitchside railing, and spectators told not to touch the matchball, and to leave it to the numerous stewards dotted along each side to return the ball to the field of play. The ground is rather exposed, with mostly flat farmland as far as the eye can see beyond the ground, and no trees to provide shelter. Unfortunately, no programmes were produced for today, neither printed nor online.
Stotfold have had a steady start to their season, winning three and drawing one of their eight league games so far, whilst London Tigers have had a very disappointing start to their season, losing all seven of their league games so far. Both sides lost their opening FA Vase fixture, and neither participated in the FA Cup.
After steady then heavy rain falling up to about 2pm, which made me very nervous as to whether this game would go ahead up until my arrival at the ground, bright sunshine behind one of the goals was surprisingly more of an issue during the game, together with very chilly conditions as the afternoon wore on. It was a little surprising that the officials were happy for both sides to play in very similar coloured kits - both wearing black shorts, and Stotfold wearing amber shirts while London Tigers wore orange shirts. I have certainly encountered referees having bigger issues with less of a clash! The tone for this game was set right from kick-off, as Stotfold attacked and forced two corners with barely a minute on the clock, and the second one brought about the opening goal, played low and found its way towards the back post for Max Ryan to tap the ball home. On 6 minutes, they had a powerful shot parried by the visiting keeper, with the loose ball only just evading a tap in, but within a minute, Stotfold did double their lead when Owen Robertson drilled the ball home. After threatening to run away with the game, the visitors did actually create a couple of chances, and on 19 minutes, after the Stotfold came wide out of his area to clear the ball, it went straight to a London Tigers player, and he had a strike at goal from a fairly tight angle with the keeper out of position, but the ball came back off the post. The game became rather scrappy, but on 31 minutes, Stotfold scored the crucial third goal. A shot from a slight angle by Kieran Barnes could only be fumbled by the keeper, and Kaan Fehmi tapped the ball home from close range, the ball faintly brushing the keeper on its way through. The rest of the half continued to be rather scrappy, and the referee certainly seemed to favour the visitors with his calls on perceived fouls, but Stotfold went into half time with a comfortable three goal lead.
London Tigers did occasionally look a threat going forward in the first half, and the next goal could still have been crucial. But on 48 minutes, it was the hosts who scored it to really put the game to bed, Max Ryan firing in a low shot from the edge of the area that took a deflection en route to finding its way inside the post beyond the keeper's dive. The visitors had a great chance to pull a goal back on 50 minutes, with their forward running through one-on-one with the keeper, but his eventual rather tame effort was easily gathered by the keeper. That was as good as it got for the visitors, as Stotfold went on to dominate the rest of the match. On 54 minutes, a free kick from a central position by Barnes came back off the bar, and on 69 minutes, Stotfold scored thier fifth. Shortly after a threaded through ball found the run of Robertson, whose shot was blocked by the keeper's legs, Nico Coleman had all the time in the world at the edge of the area to pick his spot and drill the ball low into the corner. On 77 minutes, Stotfold had a goal ruled out for offside, and on 85 minutes, a drilled ball from a tight angle on the right brushed off the keeper and then the far post. But a minute later, and the home side did score their sixth, Robertson striking a low shot from the edge of the area inside the post, and they made it seven as the game entered added on time, Barnes striking a free kick from 25 yards that the keeper couldn't grasp, and Jack Bradshaw made sure the ball hit the back of the net from barely a yard out.
So, a very comprehensive win for Stotfold, who certainly deserved the win but were helped on their way to a large score by some pretty weak play at the back by the visitors, for whom it looks like being a long season indeed based on today's game. On my way home, a much delayed announcement by Boris Johnson confirmed that today would be my last Saturday watching football until at least early December, although that Hallowe'en "trick" was slightly tempered with the temporary "treat" that "non-elite" football would continue with spectators up to and including Wednesday evening. And so, I fully intend to make the most of being able to attend games in the remaining days and evenings before the enforced month long drought.
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