First Game For Weeks - Maidenhead United vs. Basingstoke Town

View From The Main Stand At Kick Off.

After a frustrating period of nearly three weeks in which several games were postponed, I finally got to another game. I'd being planning to go to Maidenhead for a while and finally got to York Road for their home match against Basingstoke Town. The away team were hoping to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three teams. Maidenhead were looking to push on from their mid table position.York Road is widely acknowledged as the oldest continuously used senior ground in the world.

View Towards Covered Standing Where The Majority Of Home Support Stand.

Basingstoke set out their stall early on and force most of the early running. They win a lot of corners and the home goalkeeper has a few saves to make. From Maidenhead's first proper attack comes the critical moment of the match. When put through on goal, the Maidenhead player is clattered by the Basingstoke goalkeeper and the referee has no choice but to send him off. There is no goal keeper on the bench and the new goalie attempts to save the following driven free kick with his feet with no avail and the home have the lead. Despite being a man down, Basingstoke continue to do most of the attacking but still go in at half time one down.  

Maidenhead's Goal.

The second half continues in the same vain as the first with Basingstoke playing some great attacking football. Maidenhead's fans grow restless as they struggle to string passes together and make their numerical advantage count. The game becomes increasingly scrappy until Basingstoke finally get the goal their performance deserves. A cross from the left hand side is meet with a brilliant diving header to send the away following in to hysterics. They very nearly throw away all their hard work a minute later but the Maidenhead forward fails to get a proper connection when free in the box. This is the last clear cut chance and the away fans are in fine voice at the final whistle.

View Down One Side Of The Pitch With The Clubhouse Behind The Terrace.

The ground is two minutes walk from Maidenhead station and a similar distance to the town centre where there are several pubs. Trains depart from London Paddington on a regular basis and take between half an hour and fifty minutes. The clubhouse is quite big but does not have Sky Sports and so you'll have to go in to town if you want a game beforehand.

View Down The Other Side Of The Pitch Towards The Only Seating In The Ground.