United Counties League Division One
RUSHDEN & HIGHAM 3-2 PETERBOROUGH SPORTS
Hayden Road, Rushden
Admission: £5
Programme: £1
Attendance: 50 h/c
Refreshments: Guinness, £3. Egg & Bacon bap, £2
A swift lunchtime goodbye to my Aussie bound nephew went askew as he was running late from the pie & mash, so didn't leave home until 1pm, arriving at Hayden Road at 2.58 pm and inside the ground, which is accessed through the clubhouse right on 3pm and the teams were still tossing up! The game eventually started 3 minutes late.
The ground is hemmed in by housing on all sides with tall trees alongside the far touchline, where the standard seated Atcost stand as well as dugouts are situated. There is 5 steps of old terracing on various areas of the pitch perimeter, most noticeable in front of the clubhouse. The main feature of the ground is the old main stand, with wooden seats and benches, covered by a steal sloped roof. Today however, the stand lies derelict and out of bounds to spectators. The only current function is are the dressing rooms built underneath the raised seating area. With current Health and Safety recommendations I cant see this stand re-opening, and sadly will be demolished some time soon, as soon as the changing rooms are no longer to standard.
The game however was a classic holiday match with lots of effort, the odd hard tackle and plenty of battle from both teams. The first goal came after only 1 minute from Jon Tites shot. This stunned both teams and the crowd, some of which were still making their way to the seated stand. The pitch had no surface water but was very soft and cut up a lot during the match. The equaliser came after 35 minutes as a corner was not cleared and no11 shot through the crowded penalty area into the middle of the goal. Peterborough Sports were behind again 2 minutes later when a handball gave away a penalty. The "full of turkey" no90 hammered the spot kick into the top of the net.
The second half continued in the same vein and the oranges extended their lead 5 minutes after the break and arrears were halved 6 minutes later by Clements. No further goals but plenty of banter between the full back and the crowd and example from the right back was "spend all your Xmas money on this game then?!" I wonder what the best reply would be....
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