Last
Saturday started brightly enough. Gorton bathed in winter sunshine and I took
full advantage of it by hopping on the bike and taking to the Fallowfield Loop
cycle path for a steady 23km ride.
Even loading up the car with the nephews before the 50 minute drive north for Abbey’s meeting with Bacup and Rossendale Borough we were squinting in the sunlight. It was perfect football weather. Then the sky turned angry. I can pinpoint the exact moment the clouds set in as well - Waterfoot, just between Bacup and Rawtenstall. With the possible threat of snow imminent, it became clear very quickly why the club at the top of the hill fail to fulfill so many of its fixtures.
We found the ground without any bother despite it being a new one on us. The lad on the turnstile questioned my request for two concessions for the youngsters. “Just look at them,” I said. Neither could successfully buy cigarettes without scrutiny let alone booze. Judging by the average age of the crowd, kids don’t go to the match in these parts.
With the grey haired fan in the majority it was heart warming to see a good turn out of old boys from Abbey. Derek and the gang filed in one by one and it soon became clear that the East Manchester delegation might well outnumber the home fans. It was also nice to see ever-friendly Abbey legend Barrie Walker make the trip.
Once our red and black ‘Abbey Hey – 1902’ flag had been hung at the back of an empty main stand we took to the Martin Peters Sports Bar for a brew. The tagline above the entrance boldly stated ‘the place to be seen’. Unsurprisingly it wasn’t. What it was though was hospitable and, crucially, warm.
The local girl behind the till and her daughter kept the troops happy with homemade meat and potato pie, chips and warm Ribena. While the lads scoffed theirs I took a tour of the walls that were adorned with gold framed faded memories of yesteryear. Among the faces were ex-Manchester United men David May and Tommy Docherty. Small world.
At three the teams appeared and we made our way onto the hard standing area in front of the main stand. The match started brightly but was sadly marred by the sending off of Tom Murray for foul language. Had a precedent been set earlier on then the decision would have been easier to take but after watching several of the home players continually berate the referee’s assistants, the call smacked of double standards.
Nevertheless the second half proved to be a blood and guts display and ironically the ten men in red played better than they had in the first with Justin Pickering going the closest to scoring.
In the last five minutes you felt a winner was possible from either side as numerically strong Bacup threw everything forward and Abbey tried to get them on the counter.
Nil nil was as far as it went but once again the three of us, who watch the bulk of our football at the higher end of the pyramid, left Rossendale satisfied and looking ahead to the next game.
Even loading up the car with the nephews before the 50 minute drive north for Abbey’s meeting with Bacup and Rossendale Borough we were squinting in the sunlight. It was perfect football weather. Then the sky turned angry. I can pinpoint the exact moment the clouds set in as well - Waterfoot, just between Bacup and Rawtenstall. With the possible threat of snow imminent, it became clear very quickly why the club at the top of the hill fail to fulfill so many of its fixtures.
We found the ground without any bother despite it being a new one on us. The lad on the turnstile questioned my request for two concessions for the youngsters. “Just look at them,” I said. Neither could successfully buy cigarettes without scrutiny let alone booze. Judging by the average age of the crowd, kids don’t go to the match in these parts.
With the grey haired fan in the majority it was heart warming to see a good turn out of old boys from Abbey. Derek and the gang filed in one by one and it soon became clear that the East Manchester delegation might well outnumber the home fans. It was also nice to see ever-friendly Abbey legend Barrie Walker make the trip.
Once our red and black ‘Abbey Hey – 1902’ flag had been hung at the back of an empty main stand we took to the Martin Peters Sports Bar for a brew. The tagline above the entrance boldly stated ‘the place to be seen’. Unsurprisingly it wasn’t. What it was though was hospitable and, crucially, warm.
The local girl behind the till and her daughter kept the troops happy with homemade meat and potato pie, chips and warm Ribena. While the lads scoffed theirs I took a tour of the walls that were adorned with gold framed faded memories of yesteryear. Among the faces were ex-Manchester United men David May and Tommy Docherty. Small world.
At three the teams appeared and we made our way onto the hard standing area in front of the main stand. The match started brightly but was sadly marred by the sending off of Tom Murray for foul language. Had a precedent been set earlier on then the decision would have been easier to take but after watching several of the home players continually berate the referee’s assistants, the call smacked of double standards.
Nevertheless the second half proved to be a blood and guts display and ironically the ten men in red played better than they had in the first with Justin Pickering going the closest to scoring.
In the last five minutes you felt a winner was possible from either side as numerically strong Bacup threw everything forward and Abbey tried to get them on the counter.
Nil nil was as far as it went but once again the three of us, who watch the bulk of our football at the higher end of the pyramid, left Rossendale satisfied and looking ahead to the next game.
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