No.5 - Wed. 26th August 2009; Cambs County League Senior B Division 7.45pm at the Hudson Playing Fields, Station Road, Wisbech St Mary, Wisbech, Cambs.
Matchday images (8) >view> Wisbech St Mary (2) 4 Haddenham Rovers (0) 2 Dad, there's a cat on the pitch!
Visitors to the Wisbech St Mary Football Club, known locally as The Saints, will be in for a bit of a surprise when they decide to take in a game at this remote footballing outpost hidden away in the depths of the Cambridgeshire Fens. The venue is reached by turning down Station Road and driving through the housing estate to the end where a a cul-de-sac leads to the Hudson Playing Fields. We found it all a bit surreal as we pulled up in into the car park and looked around. The whole place resembles, what can only be described as, a large building site! Although quite a bit of the work has already been completed it appears that there is still much to be done. A whole host of construction machinery, assorted aggregates, materials and tools are scattered about suggesting that it is still very much a work in progress. Foundations have been laid and scaffolding poles erected in preparation to build a new village hall which should be ready for use during the early part of next year, all being well. Thankfully most of the football facilities are now in place. The club is lucky enough to benefit from a recent Football Foundation and Sport England grant aid and now boasts a superb clubhouse and changing pavilion which can be seen at the end of the make-shift car park. This is at the centre of the football 'complex' which caters for a wide range of teams covering all ages, from boys and girls right up to adults. With several acres of land covering the huge site there are a large number of pitches already marked out on two separate playing fields. The first team play on the field situated to the right, parallel to the car park and use the pitch (one of two here) nearest to the clubhouse. This playing area is now floodit (with four pylons, one in each corner) installed with the funds made available at the end of last season. Quirkily, each of the yellow corner flags appropriately has a stick footballer wearing a halo above his head printed on them! Apart from a metal post and rail fence, a couple of dug outs and some hard standing along the nearside touchline, there is no other dedicated spectator cover. You would not be wrong in thinking then that the ground is set in an exposed location and as a consequence is very much open to the elements. Get your anorak ready. Beware travelling here in the winter months! Tonight Wisbech St Mary FC was entertaining Haddenham Rovers in only their second ever Senior B fixture (since gaining promotion from the BIS 1B division in May). With the fixture programme starting exactly a week ago (unusually there were no games at the weekend) St Marys had already suffered defeat here to Soham United (2-5) whereas Rovers had got the better of Bluntisham Rangers at the Recreation Ground winning by an encouraging 8-2 scoreline. The match kicked off at 7.45pm. I don't know about you but I always find it a bit surreal watching a game played under floodlights at this level of the pyramid. No doubt many travellers will be aware that both Littleport and Needingworth Football Clubs who play in the top tier (three divisions) of the Cambs County League also have lights. After a quick bit of mental arithmetic I reckon this brings the total number of clubs who can play midweek fixtures (if necessary) in this competition up to eleven (that's if you include the Reserve sides of Ely City, Newmarket Town, March Town United, Mildenhall Town, Soham Town Rangers and Wisbech Town as well as the A teams at Ely, Histon and Soham). What a flippin' anorak! The match, played on a hard bumpy surface, was a superb contest featuring two fully committed teams and attracted about 25 spectators. Despite the strong wind which blew from end to end the players adapted well in the breezy conditions. The row of conifers running behind the goal line and ditch at the far end certainly acted as a useful wind break and we noticed that the upper branches took a bit of a battering as they buckled in the mini gale. Just when it looked as if the first half would remain goalless the hosts broke the deadlock with two quick fire goals moments before half-time. Joe Woods (40) claimed the first after bringing the ball into the area with a strong purposeful run down the left. A deceptive touch to the right allowed him to cut inside his marker before connecting with a right foot shot that saw the ball creep inside the left hand post. Pure Geovanni. Two minutes later the young, lanky, Chris McAree (42) (whose brother Marc is also in the side) bent the ball perfectly around the Rovers wall to score from a direct free kick, awarded after a clumsy foul on the edge of the area. It was a real scorcher. Within minutes of the second half getting underway Rovers pulled one back. John Lee was brought down inside the box and Aaron Spencer (48) scored from the resultant spot kick to make it 2-1. However there was barely enough time to draw breath when St Mary's restored their two goal advantage following a corner at the other end. The ball was only partly cleared when bullish defender Grant Rider (50) was on hand (not literally) to send the ball back again into the area. His cheeky (or should that be flukey?) lob dropped under the bar surprising the keeper who thought it had gone over! For the neutrals from racing HQ it really was exciting stuff. The hosts dressed in a colourful strip comprising of purple, black and yellow (yuk) were not in the mood to rest on their laurels and within two minutes added another when the skilful Woods (52) struck again. This time he struck the ball from distance to beat the shaky keeper in the Rovers goal. It had certainly been an energetic and action packed last ten minutes. To be honest there had been so much frenzied activity that I couldn't quite remember the score. I hope some of you have suffered the same fate. Thankfully the scribbled writing on my FGIF Match Stats Card revealed that it was now 4-1. Phew! And then something rather unusual happened. With about twenty minutes left on the clock one of the Rovers players unexplicably jumped up in the air as he was dribbling the ball in the centre of the pitch. Although his hurdling technique was pretty good we couldn't quite understand what had made him react like this. And then without any warning we heard a strange squealing noise. The game suddenly came to a halt. A young lad standing next to us by the fence immediately leapt in the air and with an outstetched arm pointed to something in the middle of the pitch. It all became clear when he shouted: 'Look Dad! There's a cat on the pitch!' As we gazed over in amazement sure enough we could just about make out what was a small black and white cat running about aimlessly, obviously in a state of shock, on the playing area. The moggy, according to one of the locals, had been struck by the ball. Apparently he was seen here on a previous occasion having strayed across from the neighbouring housing estate. The sad feline was soon put out of his misery (not like that) when two teenage girls reacted to his plight, ran onto the pitch, picked him up and following a round of applause made off in the direction of the estate on Station Road. I can't ever recall a game being held up by a cat before...there's a first time for everything. Over the years I have seen several dogs, a horse (at CMB Metal Box FC), a kite/hawk (at Chinor FC) and even a bull (whilst playing for Westella & Willerby FC at Beverley OG!!) coming on/over a pitch but never a cat before...perhaps our readers can enlighten us with their own anecdotes!? Back to the match. Despite trailing by three goals the Haddenham players continued to create chances and eventually their endeavour paid off as they deservedly pulled one back. A corner from the right was fumbled by the home keeper allowing John Lee (72) to connect successfully with a diving header. The goal was a beauty (voted the best in the game so far) and led to a frantic ending to this intriguing fixture. The visitors had two further 'goal' -den opportunities to score: Chris Hughes was through on goal before being brought down in the area. The spot kick taken by Tom Parish (76) was brilliantly saved by the home keeper whose cat-like (oh dear what did I just say) reflexes kept the ball out. Seven minutes from the end Lee (83) did put the ball in the back of net but his strike was rightly adjudged offside by the eagle-eyed referee. What might have been! The Saints managed to hang on to win by four goals to two. It had been a magnificent game, full of incident and compelling viewing for the neutral. Sadly the club, like many, if not all, in this particular division of the County League, The Saints do not issue matchday programmes. However a wide range of refreshments are available from the new bar area in the clubhouse. We endulged in a half-time cuppa dispensed by a most polite club official who was only too pleased to welcome us to the ground. Doesn't it make a difference? My visit here tonight represented a bit of a milestone, meaning that I had now completed ticks at all the grounds in the Senior Divisions. A trip to Wisbech St Mary Football Club comes highly recommended. If you are travelling by car allow plenty of time to reach your destination. We thought the club was nearer to Wisbech than it actually is and ended up taking a bit of a detour along the A47 towards Peterborough to get there. Hopefully many travellers will take advantage of any planned midweek fixtures here as the season progresses. Don't forget to bring your anorak though to combat that chilly wind. The joys of friendly flat Fenland hopping! FGIF Match Stats Scorers: (H) Woods (40 and 52); McAree (42); Ryder (52) and (A) Spencer (48, pen); Lee (72) Attendance: 25; Admission: N/A; Programme: None; Match rating: 4/5; Ground rating: 4/5. edited 28/08/09
