No.44 - Sat 25th April 2015; Cambs County League Division 3B;                                     3pm at Houghton Playing Field, St Ives Road, Houghton, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE28 2BJ

 

Matchday images (55) https://picasaweb.google.com/footballgroundsinfocus/HoughtonWytonFC

Houghton & Wyton (1) 2  Ely Crusaders (0) 0

'Champions look forward'

'Out of all the Cambridgeshire County Football League grounds I have attended throughout the last season (and there have been quite a few), this has to be one of prettiest I have been to. On a lovely sunny afternoon the ground looked a real picture. To be honest you wouldn’t know that this is the hub of village sport at first glance. Located off the main High Street the venue, which shares with the local cricket, tennis and bowls clubs, is partly hidden from view by a number of overly expensive but highly sought after detached properties and the leafy surrounding woodland to create what is in essence a veritable hopping oasis. 

The marked narrow entrance (opposite the village sign post and bus stop) leads to a small car park at the end of the ground. A small wooden pavilion and couple of floodlit tennis courts are on your immediate right with a cricket square marked out in the centre of the field. At the far end and to the right a tidy pavilion with patio and function room (complete with sporting memorabilia displayed inside) stands next to some children’s play equipment. Space in this corner of the ground is at a premium as the building backs very closely onto the goal line and adjoining fence belonging to the bowls club. A small self-contained compound further along the touchline stores most of the club’s pitch equipment including nets and flag posts. A dense swathe of tall trees borders (and in places overhangs) this side of the pitch as it stretches along most of the length of the playing field. It's a truly delightful location.

 

Houghton & Wyton Football Club is definitely a team that is on the up. It’s a remarkable story really. The enthusiastic management partnership of Roy Shaw and Andy Stapleford explained to me briefly before kick-off that the club is relatively young having been formed only three years ago and has achieved great success in that short time. They have gained back to back promotions in consecutive seasons from Division 5C (as runners-up in 2012-13) and 4B (as champions in 2013-14) and are set to go up again as (possible) champions at the end of this season from Division 3B. In addition they have already won the John Ablett Cup after beating Saffron Crocus 3-0 at Ely City a couple of weeks ago.

 

Today’s game sees the visit of Ely Crusaders to the Houghton Sports Field for the club’s last home league game. It's the reverse fixture from only seven days ago when the Houghton won 5-2 at the Paradise Centre. Despite arriving with the bare minimum number of players Crusaders put in a spirited performance today. Sadly they are no match for the skilful champions-elect who go on to win the game 2-0 (with a goal coming in each half) in front of nearly twenty spectators.

 

The match played on a well grassed surface in sunny and at times windy conditions is expertly refereed by match official Jerry Woodroffe whose firm but affair approach helps to make it a terrific spectacle. Incidentally Houghton & Wyton do have one more home game when they take on Little Paxton (3A champions) in the Division Three Play-Off Final here in a couple of weeks time. These type of 'championship' games form regular end of season matches across all divisions in the Cambs County League.

 

A visit to the delightful little ground is a must for all hoppers. You’ll love it. For more details about the club and the league click on the links shown below. The joys of sylvanian hopping continue...have fun wherever you go'.     

FGIF Match Stats

                Scorers: (H) Morris (41), Saso (68) and (A) N/A  

Attendance: 24; Admission and Programme: None; Match rating: 3/5; Ground rating: 4/5.

Links

http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?league=7984801

https://twitter.com/houghtonwytonfc

 

edited on 26/04/15