Pre Christmas Cracker - East Yorkshire Carnegie vs. Winterton Rangers

Throw down the touchline towards the stand at Dunswell Park

With me coming close to my five hundredth ground and me wanting to do it with my Dad, I needed to reach the milestone on Boxing Day. After finding out very late that May and Baker were playing their cup tie at Barking FC the other week, this meant I needed to find one in the last week before Christmas. Thankfully East Yorkshire Carnegie who play just across the Humber Bridge from my parents were at home on the Tuesday I returned to North Lincs. East Yorkshire play in The Northern Counties East Division One and this evening they were up against Winterton Rangers who were one of the first non league teams I ever visited and therefore responsible for me losing pretty much every Saturday since. It has been a turbulent week for Rangers with them sacking their manager after a dip in league form but they were still in sixth at the start of play.

Kick off in the rain at Dunswell

 There had been relentless rain for most of the afternoon in the lead up to the game but the pitch looked decent considering. Winterton start on the front foot with a lot of good passing moves but lack the final ball. When they do get in on goal, the East Yorkshire keeper dives at the attacker's feet to win the ball. It is East Yorkshire who make the breakthrough with their first decent effort on goal. The East Yorkshire winger is able to get a cross in from the right and the forward gets ahead of his marker to finish from close range. They double their lead shortly afterwards as the forward finds himself in behind the Winterton defence before lashing the ball home. Winterton try to get back in the game but the striker takes too long when he is found with a pull back allowing the East Yorkshire to reorganise and block the shot. The visitors are given a way back into the game as the Winteron player is clattered in the box with the resulting penalty put into the top corner.

Winterton attacking the stand end in the first half

 East Yorkshire look to restore their two goal lead after the break, causing panic in the Winterton defence who just deal with a scramble in the six yard box. They have another great chance as the player at the back post shows great control to kill the ball but the visiting defence just clear the ball in time. They come even closer when the ball gets stuck in the mud before the Winterton defence clear the subsequent shot off the line. East Yorkshire are then caught with a sucker punch. A cross from the Winterton right isn't dealt with and the forward is able to finish from close range to level the game. Both sides have chances to win the game in the closing stages. Winterton's is a header from a corner that is cleared off the line while the Winterton keeper makes a vital block when the East Yorkshire attacker powers through.

Wing action in front of one of the stands. The clubhouse is on the far right

 While it will take a while to get to Dunswell Park from London, it is a relatively simple journey. You first need to take a train to Hull from Kings Cross and the direct trains take two and a half hours. Then you can take either the 121 or 246 bus right up to the ground. If you have time before hand, I recommend staying on the bus for one extra stop and visiting The Ship Inn which had four ales on hand pull and served delicious meals. The bar at the ground only had cans but there was no faulting the welcome from everyone at the club and considering they were also home on Saturday, the programme was bang up to date, a great programme.

Previously mentioned excellent programme

Further covered standing opposite the clubhouse