Town Derailed In Late Flurry - Billingham Town vs. Darlington Railway Athletic

Snow storm passing over Bedford Terrace

This was weekend I was spending a weekend with my parents in the north east and we had planned to take in a Northern League game. Then the weather stepped in - again!. Looking at the forecast, it looked like we would have to resort to watching Sunderland to see a game. However, on Saturday morning both Billingham Town and Darlington tweeted saying their games were and we were saved. We stuck with our original Northern League plan and headed to Bedford Terrace for their Divison Two match with Darlington Railway Athletic. The closest I've come to seeing either play or visit either town was when I saw Scunthorpe at Feethams and The Reynolds Arena some years ago. The only other time I'd seen a Northern League match was Penrith versus Consett a couple of seasons ago. Coming in the game, the hosts were seventh with Darlington second bottom.

Snow already on the pitch at kick off

The visitors are the first to put pressure on the opposition defence and the Billingham keeper has to make a good low save early on. Darlington then have a bit of luck as the defender falls on the ball in the box but they are able to clear their lines. They come closer when the Darlington defender has to head a shot off the line after the forward cuts inside. The ball falls twice to Darlington players in good positions but they fail to seriously trouble the Billingham keeper. With the strong wind behind them in the first half, would Darlington regret not making the most of their sights of goal.

A Billingham cross in the first half

Darlington continue where they left off at the start of the second half and the Billingham keeper makes a good close range save following a pull back from the byline. The visitors are almost gifted the opener when the Billingham keeper drops the ball from a corner but he is bailed out as his defenders block the resulting shot. The Billingham defenders then perform more heroics as they get a last second tackle in to deny Darlington a break away goal. Then as so often happens, Darlington are caught out by a sucker punch. A Billingham free kick is delivered into the box and is poked in from close range. Shortly afterwards, a Darlington corner is handled by a defender and the resulting penalty is buried to equalise. Then in the very last minutes, Darlington put together another break away move and claim the three points with a finish from the left hand side.

A Billingham free kick goes just wide of the target

It takes a long old time to get to Billingham from London as you would expect. If you're really keen, you first need to catch a train from Kings Cross to either Darlington or Eaglescliffe and change there for a train to Thornaby. Then from there you can catch the final train to Billingham which overall takes just under four hours. The good news is, the ground is then only a short walk away. If you still have the energy there are a couple of decent micro pubs - The Crafty Cock  and The Village Crossing are both close to the ground. Both had an excellent selection of beers (both local and from further afield) and the sports channels. The Crafty Cock also sold amazing smelling pies. The clubhouse outside the ground had the usual selection of drinks and offered a warm welcome. While it was the only Northern League game on the whole afternoon was fantastic.  

Side on view of the stand and the snow

Trimmed down but still good programme

Northern train passing the ground