Wednesday 4th November 2009. Northern Counties East League - Premier Division
At Newark Road, Lincoln
Lincoln Moorlands Railway (0) 1 (Lee Beesley 86)
Pickering Town (1) 2 (Chaz Wrigley 35, Michael McNaughton 57)
Admission £4 Programme £1 Attendance 45
The referee was Mr Alex Harvey - I never got chance to ask him if he'd arrived in Lincoln via a tea party in Boston.
My original plans to spend the afternoon in Derbyshire and take in the Worksop Town v Matlock Town Under 19's game at Causeway Lane in the evening, where thwarted by a water logged pitch.
Oh well, all the great generals in history always knew where their best exit route was in advance before they sent their charges into battle and had an alternative plan B up their sleeve - the same rules of self survival apply to even the saddest of sad football ground travelling anoraks too.
Alas, I had no idea two of the main routes into Lincoln would be gridlocked due to road traffic accidents and all of the overspill tail backs would be using my apparently 'secret and exclusive' route into the back end of the city, which they must have found by accident.
Fortunately we arrived just before kick off, but then discovered Pickering Town were still unavoidably held up in the jams too.
It had taken us an hour and a half to reach the Newark Road ground, just from Retford ... and that was with local knowledge of all the villages and country roads in the area and one Evel Knievel style U turn manoeuvre chucked in at some traffic lights for comedic effect, so what chance did Pickering have of getting here from North Yorkshire on time?
The game eventually got under way at 8.04PM
In a frantic opening 20 minutes or so, neither team really seemed to get a grip of midfield and as a consequence there wasn't a lot of anything that even vaguely resembled actual passing football to write about, most of it amounted to not much more that a couple of touches by either team before they either lost the ball or simply gave it away.
But gradually (and thankfully for those of us watching) things calmed down a bit and both sides created a clear cut chance apiece.
David Thompson of Pickering bulged the side netting and a minute later Lee Beesley had a long shot tipped over by the visitors keeper.
Pickering started to boss the centre of the park and two players stood out for them, namely the aforementioned Thompson and Liam Salt, though the latter was mainly down to the fancy blue boots he was wearing that sometimes appeared to operate independently from their owner and make him do things he hadn't intended to ... well, that would explain one or two things anyway ;-)
Simon says - all stand still
At half time my camera flashed me a message - Battery Power Empty Recharge - and I remembered why I'd been into town earlier now.
Tomorrow I will buy a replacement charger for the one I broke instead of roaming aimlessly around the shops trying to remember what I was there for. A senior moment me thinks.
I tried to take a couple of pictures on my antiquated mobile phone, the results were quite breath taking, eh!?
The visitors really began to take the game by the scruff of the neck and on 56 minutes their number 5 Michael McNaughton (by far the largest and heaviest player on the pitch) thumped home an header from a left wing cross.
A few minutes later Thompson hooked the ball over the bar as Pickering tried to put the score out of Moorlands reach.
Moorlands went direct but a spell of aerial bombardment into the visitors box amounted to nothing.
Their manager Darren Dye must've gone to watch John Beck's Imps team play a few times back in the day when he himself was a cultured performer for Worksop Town, Lincoln United and Grantham Town, to have picked up those sort of ideas.
Darren also played for Lincoln MR the year they were formed (1989) by his father Stan.
On 67 minutes Salt should have wrapped it up, but those naughty boots got no power into the shot and hit it straight at Herrick, Thompson was wrong footed and couldn't get any power behind the rebound.
On 69 minutes Salt was substituted - nice work boots!
The lad's obviously got a bit about his game, he should wear less obstinate footwear in future.
Former Brigg Town stopper Herrick, is a very capable goalkeeper and he keeps the LMR back four on their toes with a non stop verbal barrage, but throughout this game his language was crude in extremes and I'm stunned the referee didn't pull him up for a few remarks aimed at the officials.
We all swear, but his outbursts were well over the top and all too frequent.
Snippet of dialogue involving Herrick and a spectator:
"F***ing hell ref! What the f*** have we got to do to get a f***ing free kick you c***!?"
"Try asking him nicely!"
"You can f*** off!"
And when the ball went out of play over the pitch side fencing and a spectator jogged towards the ball to retrieve it.
"Come on! Hurry up! Get the ball you c***!"
He must've flown through charm school with extra merit marks and distinction.
With four minutes remaining Pickering's keeper Ken Martin fluffed a clearance (he should have used his hands) and Lee Beesley pounced to score for Moorlands.
It beggared belief given how much of the game the Pikes had had, that they were now hanging on right at the end.
But hang on they did.
LMR's young left back Adam Hewitt was booked late on for swearing at the ref ... hmm, I wonder who he learnt that kind of behaviour from???
At Newark Road, Lincoln
Lincoln Moorlands Railway (0) 1 (Lee Beesley 86)
Pickering Town (1) 2 (Chaz Wrigley 35, Michael McNaughton 57)
Admission £4 Programme £1 Attendance 45
The referee was Mr Alex Harvey - I never got chance to ask him if he'd arrived in Lincoln via a tea party in Boston.
My original plans to spend the afternoon in Derbyshire and take in the Worksop Town v Matlock Town Under 19's game at Causeway Lane in the evening, where thwarted by a water logged pitch.Oh well, all the great generals in history always knew where their best exit route was in advance before they sent their charges into battle and had an alternative plan B up their sleeve - the same rules of self survival apply to even the saddest of sad football ground travelling anoraks too.
Alas, I had no idea two of the main routes into Lincoln would be gridlocked due to road traffic accidents and all of the overspill tail backs would be using my apparently 'secret and exclusive' route into the back end of the city, which they must have found by accident.Fortunately we arrived just before kick off, but then discovered Pickering Town were still unavoidably held up in the jams too.
It had taken us an hour and a half to reach the Newark Road ground, just from Retford ... and that was with local knowledge of all the villages and country roads in the area and one Evel Knievel style U turn manoeuvre chucked in at some traffic lights for comedic effect, so what chance did Pickering have of getting here from North Yorkshire on time?
The game eventually got under way at 8.04PM
In a frantic opening 20 minutes or so, neither team really seemed to get a grip of midfield and as a consequence there wasn't a lot of anything that even vaguely resembled actual passing football to write about, most of it amounted to not much more that a couple of touches by either team before they either lost the ball or simply gave it away.But gradually (and thankfully for those of us watching) things calmed down a bit and both sides created a clear cut chance apiece.
David Thompson of Pickering bulged the side netting and a minute later Lee Beesley had a long shot tipped over by the visitors keeper.
Pickering started to boss the centre of the park and two players stood out for them, namely the aforementioned Thompson and Liam Salt, though the latter was mainly down to the fancy blue boots he was wearing that sometimes appeared to operate independently from their owner and make him do things he hadn't intended to ... well, that would explain one or two things anyway ;-)
Simon says - all stand stillOn 36 minutes Pickering's Gary Hepples played a neat ball over the Moors defence which caught them flat footed as Chris Wrigley ran through the channel to finish emphatically. The LMR keeper Leigh Merrick cursed and swore and ranted, as he is wont to do for the entire 90 minutes anyway.
At the opposite end, Town's keeper Kev Martin appeared to not like using his hands very much and he went off on a couple of runs that showed why he isn't an outfield player, much to the chagrin of those around him.
With half time fast approaching, Herrick did well to save twice from Salt's magic boots and then Lyle Hillier skied the rebound over the crossbar and in the general direction of the clubhouse.
At the opposite end, Town's keeper Kev Martin appeared to not like using his hands very much and he went off on a couple of runs that showed why he isn't an outfield player, much to the chagrin of those around him.
With half time fast approaching, Herrick did well to save twice from Salt's magic boots and then Lyle Hillier skied the rebound over the crossbar and in the general direction of the clubhouse.
HT 0-1
At half time my camera flashed me a message - Battery Power Empty Recharge - and I remembered why I'd been into town earlier now.
Tomorrow I will buy a replacement charger for the one I broke instead of roaming aimlessly around the shops trying to remember what I was there for. A senior moment me thinks.
I tried to take a couple of pictures on my antiquated mobile phone, the results were quite breath taking, eh!?
A few minutes later Thompson hooked the ball over the bar as Pickering tried to put the score out of Moorlands reach.
Moorlands went direct but a spell of aerial bombardment into the visitors box amounted to nothing.
Their manager Darren Dye must've gone to watch John Beck's Imps team play a few times back in the day when he himself was a cultured performer for Worksop Town, Lincoln United and Grantham Town, to have picked up those sort of ideas.
Darren also played for Lincoln MR the year they were formed (1989) by his father Stan.
On 67 minutes Salt should have wrapped it up, but those naughty boots got no power into the shot and hit it straight at Herrick, Thompson was wrong footed and couldn't get any power behind the rebound.
On 69 minutes Salt was substituted - nice work boots!
The lad's obviously got a bit about his game, he should wear less obstinate footwear in future.
Former Brigg Town stopper Herrick, is a very capable goalkeeper and he keeps the LMR back four on their toes with a non stop verbal barrage, but throughout this game his language was crude in extremes and I'm stunned the referee didn't pull him up for a few remarks aimed at the officials.
We all swear, but his outbursts were well over the top and all too frequent.
Snippet of dialogue involving Herrick and a spectator:
"F***ing hell ref! What the f*** have we got to do to get a f***ing free kick you c***!?"
"Try asking him nicely!"
"You can f*** off!"
And when the ball went out of play over the pitch side fencing and a spectator jogged towards the ball to retrieve it.
"Come on! Hurry up! Get the ball you c***!"
He must've flown through charm school with extra merit marks and distinction.
With four minutes remaining Pickering's keeper Ken Martin fluffed a clearance (he should have used his hands) and Lee Beesley pounced to score for Moorlands.It beggared belief given how much of the game the Pikes had had, that they were now hanging on right at the end.
But hang on they did.
LMR's young left back Adam Hewitt was booked late on for swearing at the ref ... hmm, I wonder who he learnt that kind of behaviour from???
