Match 1. Abbey Hey v Worksop Town

Saturday 15^th August 2015 @3pm

FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round

ABBEY HEY 3-1 WORKSOP TOWN

The Abbey Stadium, Goredale Avenue, Gorton, Manchester.

Admission: £5

Programme: £1 (A5, 20 pages)

Attendance: 180

Refreshments: Becks Vier, £3. Beef & Onion Pie, £1.50

I had earlier taken the opportunity earlier in the summer to purchase cheap Virgin Train sale tickets and the pull of the FA Cup saw me at Goredale Avenue for a clash of sides who have both started the season well in their respective leagues.  The train journey was hassle free and I arrived at the ground quite early at 1.30 due to the hourly service from Manchester and no pubs or cafes on the 10 minute walk to the ground from Ryder Brow.

The ground is dominated by the two storey club building with the clubhouse and tea bar on the first floor and the dugouts in front of the players’ entrance to the pitch.  On the opposite touchline is a covered area of seating and standing around 50 metres in length straddling the half way line.  The rest of the railed perimeter fence has hard standing throughout.

This was a match of two halves.  The first half was dominated by Worksop Town and pleasing on the eye on the lush green playing surface. The second half, following the early substitution of the tall no9, was all belonging to Abbey Hey. They played with 5 in midfield and started to overrun the away side with power and pace. But the main focus of attention during the afternoon regrettably was the performance of referee Paul Ince (no not that one). Firstly he sent off Abbeys Henshaw for something no one else seemed to see. Secondly he failed to punish at least 3 players after a terrible tackle, retaliation and melee which should have resulted in reduced numbers by both sides.  He then insisted that if he stopped play for an injury, the player on the ground would return to the touchline even if the trainer was not called onto the pitch.  Is this a new directive this season???

Worksop took the lead early in the second half when a defence splitting pass found Adam Ward who beautifully dispatched the ball beyond the keeper into the net.  George Noon equalised soon after when Worksop failed to clear their defensive lines. The home lead arrived with 20 minutes left when a free kick was only parried by the Worksop keeper and the defence failed to clear which allowed Jon Hardy to gain the advantage.  Hardy then wrapped up the match in the last minute by unleashing an unstoppable shot beyond the hands of the Town keeper.

Post-match, I killed the 45 minutes wait at Manchester in the disappointing sports bar, The Green in Dulcie Rd, then at the station 1^st floor pub, The Mayfield, which was a Yates pub the last time I was up here.