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Raining goals in South London!
With the local weather forecast predicting a downpour in East Anglia, my mate Old Sloppy and I decided, just before mid-day, to ditch our plans of travelling over to Southwold for an Anglian Combination game in favour of a trip down to South London to watch some Combined Counties League football instead. A visit to watch Worcester Park turned out to be a good decision.
We didn't escape the showers though and by mid-afternoon it was simply raining goals at Green Road! A leaky Sheerwater side were completely ripped apart and were extremely lucky not to end the game with a double-figure goal deficit.
Worcester Park took the lead within the first five minutes converted by their tricky number 11 - Mick Petruzziello. The agile player slotted the ball home from close range. But there were immediate appeals for offside. The referee promptly ran over to the consult his assistant and both agreed there had been no infringement. The goal stood. It caused great anger amongst the visiting manager and his players who were incensed by this decision. Unfortunately it was only the start of worse things to come. By half-time his side had conceded three more goals and tempers were really start to boil over. As the players headed back into the changing rooms the angry boss disappointingly let out his frustrations onto the officials, remarking upon their lack of control and inadequacy.
After the interval the game continued in the same vein with the Worcester Park boys turning on the style and seemingly scoring at free-will. By the time the sixth goal had gone in, things were starting to look a little predicatable. It was by sheer(water) co-incidence that the numbers of the goalscorers had followed a set pattern: 11, 9, 4, 11, 9, 4. This caused great hilarity amongst the home fans and a small group of travellers who had gathered in the tiny stand positioned near the half-way line. There was also a feeling of eager anticipation amongst spectators with the distinct possiblity that any one of three players could now score a hat-trick. Within minutes the ball struck the back of the net once more. It was not clear from the melee of players in the area who exactly had grabbed the goal. Eagle-eyed 'hoppers standing alongside were quick to share yet another interesting statistic: goal number seven had been scored by the home number seven! In the dying minutes hard-working midfielder Carl Chaney had his name on the scoresheet again to record his side's eighth goal and fittingly his third.
As the whistle signalled the end of the match the visiting manager walked over to the centre circle and vented his wrath on the officials once again. His protestations led, quite rightly, to a red card which appropriately matched the colour of his face and his shorts. The game had been a good one with no ill-feeling between the players. Quite simply his side were on the end of a thrashing and he obviously couldn't accept it.
For the record a 28 page programme photocopied on yellow paper and containing a mass of stats, was issued for the game which attracted almost thirty spectators, including at least ten travellers who had ventured from places as far away as Sittingbourne and Lowestoft.
The football club in Green Road, is ideal for travellers using public transport as it is situated next to the Worcester Park railway station. Indeed the platform and trains are clearly visible on the embankment which overlooks the far end of the ground. From the main road a narrow entrance and path leads you around the side of the main buildings to the pitch which is partly fenced off. Along the nearest touchline is a small wooden stand, painted in blue, matching the club's colours. Behind the furthest goal are some artificial cricket wickets used for practise in the summer. The cricket square itself runs parallel to the pitch and is separated behind some plastic fencing. The main facilities are basic but homely and are housed inside an old wooden building; the changing rooms and tea bar are at one with a main bar/Sky TV lounge at the other. Hot drinks and food (including bacon butties) were on sale at half-time. A visit to Skinners Field comes highly recommended as this is a friendly, well-run club and makes travellers feel welcome.
Our journey to and from the club involved using most of the M25. On the way down we followed the M11, taking the M25 over the Dartford Bridge and coming off at junction 8 to complete the last few miles on the A217 to Cheam and A2043 to Worcester Park. On site parking is a problem and visitors must use neighbouring roads; this can be tight with many local restrictions in place. On the return leg Old Sloppy decided to open up the throttle on his new VW Golf and so we cruised back down the A3 before taking a clockwise route along the M25 as far as junction 21A through to the A1(M) at Hatfield, by-passing Baldock (A505) before reaching the A11.
FGIF Rating 4* | 