No.52 - Mon. 9th May 2011; North East Norfolk League Div 1 6.30pm at the Gimingham Recreation Ground, Hall Road, Gimingham, Mundesley, Norfolk.
Matchday images (30) https://picasaweb.google.com/footballgroundsinfocus/GiminghamFC Gimingham (2) 3 North Walsham Old Boys (1) 4 Off the beaten track
My end of season desire to watch football matches in new leagues has become more than an obsession in recent weeks. Tonight is certainly no hopping exception. It's a bit of a tall order as the trusty Wraymobile is dutifully called upon once again, at short notice, to convey us on a rare Monday evening excursion towards the north Norfolk coast. It's quite a schlep too as it involves not only negotiating the busy Norwich ring road which at this time of day is packed with loads of rush-hour traffic but also means that we need to complete our journey on some tricky winding back roads as we head slowly up towards the outskirts of Cromer. Our destination is the tiny village of Gimingham, a remote outpost nestled in the North Norfolk wilds and located only a few miles from the (better known) neighbouring seaside resort of Mundesley and the (much larger) town of North Walsham (about four miles away). Historically Gimingham is referred to in the Domesday Book of 1086 under the name of Gimingeham. The village name is thought to mean the ‘Ham’ or the ‘Homestead of Gymma’s people'. Gymma was the name of an Anglo-Saxon warlord who settled in this part of the country some time between the 5th and 6th centuries. The village name has appeared in several different versions. In 1192 it is documented as Gumingham whilst in 1211 it appears as Gemingehem. The local football team, members of the North East Norfolk League are playing their final home game of the campaign in a Premier Division fixture against local rivals North Walsham Old Boys. The hosts have enjoyed a remarkable season having claimed the title with fifteen wins, five draws and two defeats already under their belt. They are still in with a shout of doing a 'double' with all eyes on lifting the Nicholson of Stalham Benevolent Cup when they meet Runton at North Walsham Town Football Club ground this coming Saturday (14th May - kick-off 7:15). The kick-off is delayed for a few minutes as NENL cup committee secretary Giles Marginson is on hand to present the championship trophy to the Gimingham squad. Once the formalities are out of the way the game still starts three minutes ahead of schedule on what is a beautiful warm Spring evening. Despite coming under a great deal of early pressure it's the visitors who open the scoring thanks to an untimely miscued sliced clearance by Al Thurston (13) who puts the ball past his own keeper. Gimingham soon make amends and level just before the half hour mark when James Drake (27) heads home at the far post giving keeper Colin Brezcyek no chance at all. Within the space of ten minutes the hosts take the lead through Mark Grand (34) whose long range strike from twenty five yards takes everyone, including Brezccyek, by complete surprise. The first half ends 2-1. Within minutes of the restart the Old Boys level again following a swift well executed counter attack on the left. It is pacey Jamie Carter (47) who nets at the back post when keeper Charlie Skipper somehow lets the ball evade his grasp. Just when it looks as though honours will be shared the game takes on a breath-taking change of events in the last five minutes. Carter (86) puts the visitors ahead with some clever footwork sending Skipper the wrong way after feigning a shot to leave himself with enough space and time to easily tap the ball in from the edge of the six yard box. Moments later Luke Falcer (89) adds a fourth after beating the offside trap to run goalwards and unchallenged outwits the advancing Skipper with a low drive. It is really exciting end to end stuff. Literally straight from the kick-off Andy Glover (90) leaps high at the back post to head the ball beyond a stranded Brezccyek to pull one back. But time is soon up and as the final whistle sounds it is the Old Boys who leave Hall Road with three totally unexpected points to mark only their third win of what has been for them a long and difficult season. The match, played in lovely warm sunny and slightly breezy conditions took place on what I would describe as one of the poorest pitches I have seen in absolutely ages. Apart from a marked end to end slope and heavily rutted, undulating surface, the roughly mown rye grass just doesn't lend itself to playing a decent game of football. And that's an understatement! To make matters worse the line markings were very difficult to make out amongst the long straggly weeds which had sprouted in large numbers from cracks in the hard ground. Tonight twenty-six spectators were attracted by this fixture to Hall Road. This included seasoned, fellow hopper Simon Barton who had travelled over from Norwich by train and completed the last part of his trip from North Walsham station by bike. Phew that's keen! It was good to have a chat, covering amongst other things most topics of local hopping interest during the game. He kindly gave me a copy of the team line ups for my records before heading back on his strenuous journey back to Norwich. Cheers, mate. The Hall Road ground is fairly close to the village centre. Local housing, open countryside and a number of residents' allotments back onto the playing fields which are enclosed by a combination of fences, shrubs and tall trees. A short inclined driveway leads up to the main (and only) pitch with car parking allowed on land parallel to the nearside hedge and touchline. Incredibly for this level the ground boasts both player and spectator facilities. A rather dated and damaged curved pespex dugout provides a basic dugout close to the half-way line. Behind this and set further back from the touchline is an absolute gem of a red brick built stand. Complete with four wooden roof supports and two shallow steps of terracing this surely has to be one of the narrowest covered stands found at any football ground in East Anglia. Check out the photos to see for yourself. A small wooden groundsman's equipment shed is shoehorned between this and the hedge directly behind. The rest of the ground consists of flat grassland standing. Travellers may be interested to know that a flat area of rough concrete close to the main represents the site of the former club pavilion which once stood here. Sadly the building funded by a Football Foundation grant and club finance was destroyed by an arson attack back in 2009. As a result the club lost its changing rooms, toilets, kitchen and bar area in the devastating event. Players and officials must now use the Gimingham Village Hall which is found at the other end of the village near to the main Hall Lane crossroads, about half a mile from here. For this reason there are no loos or refreshment-making facilities on site so it is advisable to come prepared. By chance we dropped into the local chippy in Mundesley for some pre-match sustenance. Very tasty! As mentioned in the introduction this was our first visit to watch a game in the North East Norfolk League. I know it's not always useful to compare the standard of football with other competitions but based on just one game I would say that it would not be appear to be as strong as, say, the North West Norfolk and Cental and South Norfolk Leagues. Certainly clubs do not advance as far in the Norfolk Junior Cup which is open to all sides in the NENL. If you are interested in finding out more about the NENL the league has a superb website which provides up to date information including a club directory and useful contact numbers as well as listing all necessary match statistics (fixtures, results and tables) with a link to the Full-Time site which also covers the competition. A couple of links are shown below for you guidance. Despite the long journey it had been another terrific hop in what surely has to be one of the most remote footballing outposts in this part of the world. I hope to pencil in another game in this competition next season perhaps to Coltishall Football Club (who incidentally finished as runners up to Gimingham), which is much nearer to home and easier to reach. Ah the joys of travelling to places I had never dreamt of visiting, continues...have fun wherever you go!! FGIF Match Stats Scorers: (H) M Grand (27); R Beeson (34); A Glover (90) and (A) A Thurston (13og); J Carter (47; 86); L Falcer (89) Attendance: 26; Admission: N/A; Programme: N/A; Match rating: 2/5; Ground rating: 3/5. Links http://www.nenleague.org/index.php http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?league=7079615 edited 10/05/11
A home win looks to be on the cards tonight as opponents North Walsham Old Boys come to Hall Road on the back of twelve consecutive defeats including a dreadful 15-1 mauling at home by East Ruston only last month. Indeed the visitors have endured what can only be described as a very poor season by their own standards recording only four wins and five draws in twenty one previous outings leaving them eleventh out of the twelve sides which make up the league table. Bottom placed Hickling FC who are five points adrift have the unenviable distinction of being the poorest side in the NENL.