No.34 - Sat. 27th February 2010; Anglian Combination Football League Cyril Ballyn Trophy S-F; 2pm at Harleston Recreation Ground, Wilderness Lane, Harleston, Norfolk.
Matchday images (15) >view> Harleston Town (0) 2 Thetford Rovers (0) 2 3-3 AFTER EXTRA TIME (5-4 ON PENALTIES) Town slip up!
By 3.45pm I couldn't help thinking: 'This is what hopping is all about'! Licking my lips for more, I felt like a cat that had just polished off the very best double cream as this cup game entered a period of twenty further minutes (of extra-time) to try and break the deadlock. I just couldn't wait for it to re-start. The first ninety had been absolutely brilliant and a terrific advert for the Anglian Combination Football League. Both sides had already served up a veritable feast of end to end, action packed and mouth-watering football that belied their lowly pyramid league status. In fact it was one of the best tussles I had seen all season. Forgive me if I over elaborate here! Back to the match stats in a moment.... This was all quite amazing really considering the amount of rain and sleet that had chucked it down in the area for a good half an hour prior to kick-off. It was simply rodding it down as we by-passed Diss on the A143 on our way to the Norfolk market town. I went into my 'bear with sore head' mode once again. This deluge was falling on already saturated ground, the culmination of several days of rain over the week leading up to the game. Indeed the pitch at the Harleston Recreation Ground looked more like a large bowl of thick brown porridge. You could have gone for a paddle inside the deep puddles that had filled the bowl-like craters found inside each goal area, no problem. I didn't though. To be honest we fully expected the match to have fallen victim to the pre-match tempest as we turned up pitchside at half past one; we couldn't believe it when the game was given the green light to start. Thankyou to Nick Warnes, the referee, what a great decision in allowing the game to go ahead. We hadn't made a wasted journey after all. My initial dismay quickly turned to one of overwhelming anticipation. With a place in the final (on 5th April) for the winners, both Hareleston Town and Thetford Rovers Football Clubs were keen to progress further in this well regarded, junior knock-out competition, open to all clubs playing in the lower divisions (from two down to six) of the Combination. Both sides had quite rightly deserved to take their place here today: the hosts, from division three, had already taken care of higher ranked Mundford, by recording a convincing 5-1 victory in a previous round and their opponents Thetford Rovers had accounted for leaders Norwich CEYMS and scored twelve goals in three games en route to reaching the Semi-Final. An even contest was predicted. Back to the game. With almost twenty minutes gone on the clock, the rain finally stopped, brollies were rolled back down again and the makings of a spectacular rainbow could be seen arching over the recreation ground in Wilderness Lane. What a terrific sight! As you might expect it didn't stay long and you had to be quick it to capture it's beauty on camera. With tackles flying in left, right and centre, the playing strips of both teams were barely recognizable as the clagging mud seeped through the synthetic material. It was a keenly fought contest though and to their credit all the players adapted well to the quagmire beneath their feet. The hosts wearing their distinctive black and white striped shirts had come closest first when James Trudgill headed just over at the back stick after only five minutes. To make amends Rovers almost snatched one themselves moments later when the quick thinking Matt Blake, seeing a back pass had come to a virtual stand still inside the muddy box, nipped in but with unsure footing could only spoon his shot over from ten yards out. Being unable to separate either side even by the width of a Rizla fag paper, the half-time break was reached much more quickly than expected. It was that good. The first goal of the game came just before the hour mark when the quick-thinking Fionn Goodwin-Wright (57) (what a name) pushed the ball onto his right foot beyond defender Nick Kent and shot hard and low from the edge of the area to beat diving keeper Matt Baker at his right hand post. It was a lovely strike to give Harelston the lead. The boys from south Norfolk grew in confidence and were unlucky not to double their tally when Alex Degraca hurriedly blasted the ball over whilst under pressure in the six yard box. With just over ten minutes left, Rovers got back into the game with a hotly disputed equaliser. After some neat footwork down the left, it was the nimble-footed Blake who beat two defenders for pace before crossing to set up Ian Fancett (77) left with the easiest of tap-ins at the back post. No sooner had the ball struck the net then a melee of home players quickly surrounded the referee collectively claiming that the ball had gone beyond the goal line before being crossed. They looked over to his young assistant for some support but he wasn't having anything to do with their protests and had already started to run back for the re-start, indicating that a goal had been scored. Now I don't like criticising officials but I really do think that they had got it horribly wrong on this occasion. Even from our fairly remote position near to the half-way line we could tell from the players' body language that the ball had been overun and gone out of play. We also noticed that the referee's assistant on the near side was well behind the phase of play and in no way could judge a goal accurately. For the first time in the game a bit of resentment was shown towards the officials (by the home side) who had, up until now, not put a single foot wrong, making consistently correct decisions. What a roller coaster of emotion it was. Despair was soon replaced with sheer elation as Harleston took the lead once again. Incredibly it was another cross from the left and another mistake that led to the crucial goal. A quick counter-attacking move paid off when wide man Gary Vickers sent the ball back into the area only for the hastily retreating defender and captain Gary Hockings (82) to deflect the ball past his own keeper with an acrobatic diving header. I know I shouldn't say this but it was an absolute peach of a strike! With time running out the question now was: could the homesters now hang to their lead and claim a memorable victory? Not wanting to exit the cup competition just yet Rovers had other ideas and came back once more. With only seconds remaining the tireless Fancett headed goalwards on another exciting run. A constant thorn in the hosts' side all afternoon the tricky forward was finally brought down midway in the Harleston half. The coaching staff urged him to shoot for goal with the words: 'Go on Fanny, give it some stick!!' The lad needed no encouragement as he purposefully put the ball down eyeing up his target beyond the black and white wall. He stepped up and with perfect accuracy placed the ball inside the angle where the post meets the bar. It was a Geovanni-esque moment and went down really well with the travelling faithful. They just couldn't believe their luck. They were back in the game again. There was hardly time to resume play when the referee signalled for full-time. Rovers had pulled off the great escape. Further to my introductory paragraph, I will even go as far as saying that it was, without doubt, the best forty-five minutes of play we have witnessed so far this campaign. The players dispersed to their respective dug outs for a well-earned breather as they prepared to do battle for another twenty minutes and possibly penalties to decide the final outcome. It's not often you get excited about watching added time and penalties is it? As I initmated earlier: bring it on! Following a goalless first ten minute period, Town regained the lead once more during an amazing second half. A heavy tackle on Matt Goreham by Kenny Brooks left referee Warnes in no doubt that the clumsy challenge occured in the area. The cool headed David Norman (103) calmly put the ball keeper Barker to make it 3-2. But there was still more to come. Within three minutes Rovers got back in the game thanks to the dimunitive Jaimie Pinto, a substitute brought on to replace the injured Blake. It was the little fella, no more than four feet tall, and undoubtedly the smallest footballer I have ever seen (and that's saying something after watching the annual Stable Staff Cup Final held at racing HQ each year) who made one of the most crucial contributions of his 'short' career. With shorts almost covering his knee caps, the pocket rocket latched on to a loose ball and dribbled it into the area before being upended by a Trudgill. It was a messy challenge. The whistle sounded. All eyes turned towards the rotund referee. Without hesitation he signalled confidently that a foul had been commited and ran forward pointing to the penalty spot. A quick glimpse at Fran's watch indicated that only three minutes remained. So could Rovers keep their cup hopes alive by drawing level with the vital spot kick? This was left to the other substitute, Rick Bowers, whose proportions resembled those of a brick out house. Calmly his stepped up to slot the ball home. It was mayhem as the lads in blue and yellow celebrated. Pinto was held aloft like a mascot on display. Phew. Unbelievably two goals from two penalties had left the game all square and there was even more to come. For the neutral the shoot out was going to be compelling viewing; for the teams involved it was nail biting stuff. Harleston started proceedings and their first shot was saved by keeper Barker. The following eight kicks all found the target to make it 4-4 with just one left. The last kick of their five was now left to Rick Bowers to try and score, snatching an incredible victory for Rovers. With so many twists and turns during the afternoon somehow you thought there might be one more. And sure enough he missed! Aimed straight at the keeper, it was a pretty weak effort. And if we hadn't seen enough excitement already, the sudden death rule followed. It didn't take long though as the visitors failed to hit the target leaving the hosts 5-4 winners. After two hours of terrific entertainment Harleston now find themselves in the prestigious Cyril Ballyn Cup Final (against either West Lynn or Bradenham Wanderers who meet on 5th April). It will be a tremendous achievement for the club who last reached this stage in the 1997/98 season losing 3-0 to Hempnall. Harleston is a town located in the southern limits of the county of Norfolk. It shares a parish with the village of Redenhall; the population of the parish is around 4000 and is situated in the South Norfolk District Council area. It's a small market town which, despite pressures created by large superstores elsewhere and the departure of the industries which once prospered here, has held on grimly to its traditional commercial base. In its earliest days, Harleston was nothing more than a collection of market traders enclosed in a very small area, but the market became permanent as the town grew and prospered. Although the town has benefited from its geographical location, which enabled it to take advantage as a staging post for coaching companies and cattle drovers alike, and later from the influx of servicemen brought to the area by two world wars, the local traders always provided the basic economic driving force behind Harleston. Formed in 1885 Harleston Town Football Club is one of the oldest surviving clubs playing in the Anglian Combination Football League. Travellers here will find the recreation ground (known as the 'rec' by the locals) off Wilderness Lane to be a basic but homely venue. Although it's within a stone's throw of the town centre and surrounded by local housing, the verdant plane with its tree-lined aspect creates a more open and rural appearance. A short driveway leads you past a row of tennis courts (some grassed) on the left down to the Harleston Leisure Centre at the end. This building doubles as a fitness centre and a changing area used by the matchday officials. The players change in separate white painted and pebble-dash buildings around the back. A narrow path provides access from here up to the adjoining field and main playing area - note the groundsman's equipment shed which has the club name painted on the back in white letters on an alternative black and white striped oblong wooden board attached above head height. As you reach the pitch in the corner there is a row of smart, colourful wooden advertising display hoardings arranged in an orderly line and set back behind the goal line to the right. The land behind the goal opposite benefits from a couple of floodlights used for mid-week training sessions. Two permanent brick dug outs are positioned near to the half-way line on the side nearest to the tennis courts. This is the only cover at pitchside. Unusually the perimeter around the playing area was unroped for today's game. A crowd of about fifty spectators was in attendance for the match today. This number grew rapidly from just a small handful of fans during the first half once the rain had stopped and the sun decided to make a rare seasonal appearance. Most of those gathered chose to stand close to the dug-outs and helped to create a bit of an atmosphere. Four-legged fan Toby, a young cocker spaniel belonging to one of the Rover's coaching staff, was soaking it all up (sorry no pun intended). Despite being tethered to his master for much of game the canine companion with ears pricked up, watched every kick of the ball with unbridled joy and deep concentration. Mind you by the time the game had reached the penalty shoot in the later stages he was lying down sound, fast asleep on the muddy grass. What a part-timer! Like most, if not all clubs in this division of the Anglian Combination, Harleston Town FC does not issue matchday programmes. No attempt was made either to serve refreshments, although spectators in need of sustenance can buy soft drinks, crisps and chocolate bars from a couple of vending machines situated back in the foyer over at the Leisure Centre. The local Esso garage on the corner of Wilderness Lane also provides additional supplies if you're in need. We had come prepared with a slection of calorie-inducing snacks and a flask of hot tea courtesy of the new Asda store in Bury St Edmunds. The Twirl bars were so good I managed to consume three during the afternoon. What a gannet! Hmmm. A magical day out. Despite several other games facing early postponement due to waterlogging, we were extremely fortunate that the referee passed the pitch fit for play and so allowed us to get in a game in today. Would another official have reacted in the same way? The lottery that is groundhopping in poor weather had certainly favoured us for a change. It certainly made up for our agonising late call off at Corby Khalsa FC last month (see: http://footballgroundsinfocus.com/R91030.htm). A scan over the results making the back pages of the Non League Paper the following morning indeed confirmed that the match at neighbouring Diss Town FC had all fallen victim to the elements and will have to be re-arranged in the coming weeks. Unbelievably there aren't that many left. Before concluding I would just like to thank Ted Zipfel. After trying several times, each unsuccessfully, to contact both the matchday secretary and the club HQ at Harleston, it was the long serving club secretary at Thetford Rovers who told me that the game was definitely on when I phoned him before setting out at midday. What a star you are. I can understand that many hoppers would be reluctant to travel to such a venue and take in a game at this level, after all there were no programmes, no refreshments and no standing cover. In addition the match was played on an unroped, glue-pot of a pitch in heavy rain. Not the best ingredients for watching a game of football, is it? Forget it, this was a magical day out that we both thoroughly enjoyed. It just goes to show that you can have still have fun hopping if you just happen to pick the right game...and get lucky. On this occasion we did. Phew! Scorers: (H) F. Goodwin-Wright (57); G. Hockings (og. 82); D. Norman (pen, 103) and (A) I. Fancett (77; 90 ); R. Bowers (pen, 107) Attendance: 52; Admission: N/A; Programme: N/A; Match rating: 5/5; Ground rating: 2/5 edited 28/02/10