No.11 - Sat 15th September 2012; Norfolk Junior Cup Round 1;                                  2.30pm at The Drift; Lynn Road; Ingoldisthorpe; King's Lynn; Norfolk; NR7 0XS.

 

Matchday images (56) https://picasaweb.google.com/footballgroundsinfocus/IngoldisthorpeFC

Ingoldisthorpe (3) 4  South Yarmouth (0) 1

Grounds to celebrate!

It’s one of my favourite days in the hopping calendar as the Norfolk Junior Cup gets underway once again. As soon as the draw for this year’s competition was made last month I drooled over the fixtures with all the excitement of a youngster on Christmas morning. With loads of potential hoppertunities for the grounds collecting neutral to consider I eventually selected a game near to Kings Lynn, an area where several clubs were all involved in mouth-watering first round ties.

 

After much strategic planning we decided to head to Ingoldisthorpe, a small village located a couple of miles north of Sandringham with the larger seaside resorts of Heacham and Hunstanton just up the A149. For insurance we picked back up games at Watlington Sports and Redgate Rangers – just in case!!

 

Thankfully the roads were clear this afternoon and we arrived at our destination, the Ingoldisthorpe Sports and Social Club, with plenty of time to spare before the scheduled 2.30pm kick-off. The football club is easy to reach being in the centre of the village and is found next to the ornate colourful sign post and the main bus stop with its accompanying wooden shelter on the Lynn Road.

 

The venue known as the The Drift is enclosed around most of its perimeter by a beautiful flint wall with trees bordering the far end giving the ground a neat, tidy and self-contained feeling. A narrow driveway takes the visitor on an oval route around the playing area towards a gravel car-park in the corner. Beyond are the main club buildings comprising of a smart clubhouse with a bar and Sky TV and adjacent changing pavilion. There is a separate room or annex for the match referee at one end. Behind here is a small children’s play park and the village bowls club.

 

With space tight in places the bumpy undulating pitch is shoe-horned into place on the field. Indeed a man-hole cover, a wooden electricity pylon support post and a few branches from overhanging trees almost encroach onto the playing area. As a consequence no attempt is made to rope off the perimeter. You've probably guessed that there's no room for spectator cover here.

 

It’s great to see that the pitch is in such terrific condition after it was deemed by the FA to be unplayable for the whole of last season. Apparently after a series of car boot sales held on the field in pre-season which completely damaged the entire surface, the club was forced to play home games at alternative venues, mainly in neighbouring Snettisham. Thankfully there are no such worries this campaign!

 

The match held great interest for us owing to the contrasting fortunes experienced by both sides so far this season. The hosts, newly promoted members to the North West Norfolk League First Division, have made a terrific start having won both opening matches played away from home beating West Winch (5-4) and South Creake (4-3) to lead the table jointly with Lynn North End. Opponents South Yarmouth of the Great Yarmouth & District League have endured two heavy defeats, coincidentally also away from home, going down to Haven Bridge (0-8) and Catfield (0-6) leaving them at the foot of the Division One table. On paper a home win at worst was the anticipated outcome.

 

As expected Ingoldisthorpe completely dominated proceedings with a comfortable victory and advanced into the next round of the competition after winning by four goals to one. A swerving cross from the right by Matt Herbert was directed home by Mikey Barnes (7) to give the hosts an early lead. Edward Patterson (12) thought he had scored soon after but his goal was disallowed by hawk-eyed (and very apologetic) referee Carl Paget who had already blown for a foul in the build-up. The second goal came after a great save from Chris Earnham rebounded to Artur Orlous (39) who, unmarked, tapped home from close range.  There was just enough time for Ingoldisthorpe to add a third when the ball from a Herbert (44) shot crossed the line after hitting the inside of a post and rolling into the net on the opposite side .

 

Immediately after the break the dangerous Herbert (52) headed the ball against a post following a Barnes cross. A fourth was added shorly after when Patterson (59) guided the ball with his head under the body of fumbling keeper Earnham. After four hours without scoring, the visitors grabbed their first goal of the season when full-back Jonny Howell (67) was on hand (not literally) to head home after host keeper Daniel Hearle failed to catch a cross. At the final whistle it was scant consolation for South Yarmouth as they had lost their third game in a row making it long two hour journey home. The match played in hot sunny conditions attracted thirty spectators many of whom moved picnic chairs from the pavilion to sit pitchside for a more relaxed view and to get nearer to the action!

 

A visit to this lovely, friendly club close to the North West Norfolk coast comes highly recommended. To find out more about this and other clubs playing in the NWNFL check out the league’s terrific website which is regularly updated with fixtures, results and tables as well as providing a detailed club directory. For those wishing to attend a Norfolk Junior Cup game log on to the Norfolk FA website which is a terrific resource. Indeed no sooner had we arrived back in Racing HQ than a full set of results covering this afternoon’s cup games were already on-line. How efficient is that? Interestingly neither of the matches at Watlington Sports and Redgate Rangers (our back up games) went ahead after the away sides failed to turn up. Phew! You need a bit of luck don’t you?! The joys of hopping in Norfolk....have fun wherever you go.

 

 

FGIF Match Stats

Scorers: (H) M Barnes (7); A Orlous (39); M Herbert (44); E Patterson (59) and (A) J Howell (67)

Attendance: 30; Admission and Programme: N/A; Match rating: 4/5; Ground rating: 2/5.

Links

http://www.nwnfl.co.uk/

http://www.norfolkfa.com/

edited on 16/09/12