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No.48 - Sat 9th May 2015; Mid Essex League Premier Division; 2pm at the Bocking Sports Ground; Church Street; Bocking; Essex; CM7 5JS |
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Matchday images (51) https://picasaweb.google.com/footballgroundsinfocus/BraintreeBockingUnitedFC
Braintree & Bocking United (2) 2 Great Baddow (0) 2 'A Bocking great game!' 'It was only a few weeks ago that I attended my first ever game in the Mid Essex League with a trip to watch the then leaders Stifford Town. So impressed was I by the standard of football that I have decided to take in another game in this competition today and I’m heading for Braintree & Bocking United Football Club who are taking on Great Baddow in a Premier Division fixture. The club currently runs two teams in the league with the reserves playing in Division 5 of the competition. The first team won the Premier League title for the first time back in 2008-2009 repeating the feat in 2009-2010. The 2010-2011 season saw the club achieve great success reaching the Essex County Cup Final and winning both the Premier League and League Cup. The following season, 2011/2012, saw the first team claim runners up spot for the second year running. As the league website currently states there is cause for concern with a few clubs failing to fulfil games in recent weeks. With this in mind, I manage to contact club secretary Dave Morgan who assures me that there are no problems today and the game is definitely on. From Racing HQ it’s only about an hour’s drive travelling through Essex along the M11, A120 and into Braintree. Located a mile or so outside the town centre the ground is found just off Church Street in the neighbouring village of Bocking. The village itself stands on the left bank of the Blackwater river adjacent to the Braintree railway. A trade in baizes, called 'bockings', was at one time prominent though the manufacture of silk and crape is now more profitable. Bocking Windmill, a major landmark in the area, is a grade I listed post mill which has, in recent years, been restored. The entrance is not easy to see as it is hidden from view behind the Rose and Crown (Greene King) public house where an adjacent driveway leads up the Bocking Sports Club home to the local football, cricket and bowls clubs as well as a venue for children’s Rainbows and Guides groups. You could say it’s a veritable hive of activity. The impressive low roofed wooden football pavilion and changing rooms are found next to the bowls club where a row of steps leads you through a narrow gate and up an embankment onto the playing field at the back. Surrounded by local housing and open fields it’s a pretty location bordered by leafy hedgerows to give it a semi-enclosed feel. The main un-roped pitch marked out on the opposite side of the field slopes up towards the far touchline. There are no dug outs or any cover on site. A crowd of nearly thirty spectators (including a young local hopper from Braintree) was treated to what was a cracking game of football played in warm and, at times, showery conditions. The hosts went into the break with a comfortable two goal lead before the visitors struck back in some style with two well worked goals (scored in the space of five minutes) to draw level and take a share in the points. This result now means that Great Baddow (with games in hand) look to be on course to win the title and hopefully gain promotion to the Essex Olympian League for 2015-16. I found everyone here to be most welcoming and a visit to this friendly little club in the Braintree District comes highly recommended. Travellers can find plenty of details about the club on the team website as well more general information about the Mid Essex League on the competition site which incorporates the useful Full-Time pages (see links below). The joys of hopping in the leafy parts of Essex continue...have fun wherever you go!'. FGIF Match Stats Scorers: (H) Ansell (32), Harle (45) and (A) Flack (54), Arain (61) Attendance: 27; Admission: None; Programme: No; Match rating: 4/5; Ground rating: 3/5. Links http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/braintreeandbockingunitedfc/227343/Home
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edited on 10/05/15 |
