TT No.137: Mike Latham - Sat 3 Feb 2007: Welsh Cup 4th Round. Holyhead Hotspur 2-1 Bridgend Town (aet, ft: 1-1). Attendance: 300 (headcount); Admission: £2.50; 56pp programme: £1; FGIF Match Rating: 3*
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The thud of the Football Traveller landing on the doormat every Wednesday morning is a reassuring reminder that in an ever changing world some things stay the same- like that sense of excitement when you discover a fixture for the forthcoming weekend that is simply unmissable.
Holyhead Hotspur v Bridgend Town for the right to earn a place in the last eight of the Welsh Cup was a game that leapt from the pages and, on a gloriously sunny morning after a stunning journey from the initially fog-enshrouded north-west across the breath-taking scenery of the north Wales coastline into Anglesey the prospect of a tasty cup-tie lifted the spirits further.
Holyhead, best known as a busy ferry port and harbour, is an outpost town in many ways, with a sea-faring tradition of linking the mainland to
Holyhead Hotspur FC was founded as recently as 1990 and after the later amalgamation of four clubs became the major force. With several junior and youth sides as well a reserve team they are a community club in the truest sense, demonstrated by the half-time girls’ football match they staged and are one of the few Cymru Alliance outfits seemingly capable of rising further into the Welsh Premier League.
The A55 is a splendid road and the miles pass by remarkably quickly. Soon, Holyhead was looming into view and, after taking the B road down by the side of Netto supermarket on the main roundabout the ground was found half-a-mile or so on the right behind a rather drab looking leisure centre. Parking was plentiful and the club officials clearly looking forward to perhaps the biggest game in Hotspur’s history.
Hotspur hope to move grounds in time for next season, into an adjoining site. Their intended stadium was constructed 20 years ago with an artificial turf pitch, stand, floodlights and changing rooms, the latter of which are used by the present club. With help from the Welsh Assembly Government and county council the pitch has been re-laid into a grass surface and work is ongoing to improve the drainage, construct barriers and dug-outs, refurbish the stand and upgrade the floodlights as well as other essential improvements. Ultimately the club hope to have their own club house and offices on the site and, given the room available the dream of one day attaining a Welsh Premier League standard ground seems attainable. The shell of the intended new main stand and the pylons looming behind the current ground leant a slightly unreal air to proceedings.
For the current time Hotspur play on the adjoining New Oval field which has a small and delightful main seated stand straddling the halfway line on the far side and two ferry terminal walkways, converted into covered spectator accommodation on the nearside either side of the dug-outs. With a well-stocked club shop and tea-bar they provide good facilities and the admission price of only £2.50 was ridiculously cheap for a game of this importance. Moreover, a simply magnificent 52-page programme was only £1. Packed with club information, pen pictures and histories of both clubs and statistics it provided reading matter long after the game was over. Hotspur are clearly a club rooted into the community with no less than 56 different advertisements from local butchers, bakers and candlestick-makers in their programme.
Several travellers attended with visitors from, amongst other places, Cambridgeshire,
A crowd of around 300 saw Hotspur prevail eventually in extra-time after a keenly fought encounter on a well grassed though undulating surface. Bridgend suffered the misfortune of losing their goalkeeper, Lee Idzy, to injury after only 15 minutes and the substitute was clearly not accustomed to operating between the sticks though he pulled off several outstanding saves after conceding the opening goal to a handling error from a speculative long-range shot.
Despite having their centre-back, Steve Healey, sent-off for a last-man foul on the hour-mark Bridgend looked the better side for much of the second half and deservedly took the game into extra-time with an equaliser through their experienced striker, Andy Mainwaring.
Inevitably, and sadly, a tie of this importance attracted the undesirable face of football with scores of local youths crammed underneath the shelter to the right of the home dug-out chanting obscene songs throughout the afternoon and ruining the family type atmosphere that the hard-working club officials attempted to encourage. When what proved to be the winning goal was lashed in by Ian Williams there was an impromptu pitch invasion by several of those youths and the referee refused to re-start the game until the stewards stood in front of the miscreants. Clearly, Hotspur must improve their stewarding to prevent a repeat if they are not to be hindered from achieving their aims in the future. Their forthcoming quarter-final home tie against Welshpool gives them an opportunity to further boost the club's profile.
amended & contributed on 04/02/07