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| Match action with wind turbine in far distance |
I'm back up north for Christmas and instead of going to watch Scunthorpe (who it turned out put in the performance of the season) we had our annual trip into The North East Counties league for The Humber Derby between Hall Road Rangers and Barton Town Old Boys. With my parents moving closer to The Humber Bridge, this looked like a straight forward trip north of the river. I never got to their old Dene Park ground although we did drive past it on the way from the pub to the ground. Barton Town Old Boys are a team I'd seen play two times previously. The first time was away at Askern Villa and then against Liversedge at their Marsh Lane ground. Barton have recently changed manager after a poor start to the season which had seen an improvement in results but they were still fourth from bottom. Hall Road were comfortably in mid table and looking to move closer to the top.
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| Kick off with Haworth Hall in the background |
With the wind behind them, Hall Road attack from the off and the Barton keeper just about stops the ball going in during a scramble in the six yard box. The Barton forward then manages to power through a couple of challenges but his cut back is cut out by the Hall Road defence. From then on, Hall Road create a serious amount of chances. Firstly, when the Barton defender slips, the Hall Road attacker hits the post from close range before the Barton keeper makes a save to block the rebound. With the strong wind, in swinging corners prove a massive challenge and Hall Road head one over from close range. Hall Road are now getting behind the Barton defence almost at will but every time they lack accuracy at the key moment. The last big moment of the half comes from another corner that this time bounces off a Barton defender and hits the post for a second time.
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| Hall Road attacking the hall end in the first half |
Barton now have the wind behind them but it is Hall Road who have the first chance of the half as the forward cuts inside before hitting a shot that goes just wide. In swinging corners are still proving challenging and it is from one that Barton take the lead. The attacker is able to get his head to one at the near post and sends it into the net to stun the hosts. This gives Barton a lot more confidence but Hall Road still create chances. A low ball across the box results in the Barton keeper having to make a great low save at his near post. The best all round football moment of the game comes when a fantastic ball allows the Barton forward to hit a shot on the volley but he is denied by an excellent reaction save. Hall Road push for the equaliser and in committing so many forward, they are caught out on the break. Following a clearance, there is a fifty / fifty challenge on the half way line between a Barton player and the Hall Road keeper which the former wins, allowing his team mate to roll the ball into the net from the centre circle to seal the points.
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| Barton defending in front of the impressive Humberside sky |
As I mentioned earlier, we drove to the ground but there are plenty of buses from Hull Station (141, Simpli Bus 4 and 5) that stop on Beverly Road, a short walk from the ground. If you stay on the bus into Dunswell, you can visit the brilliant
Ship Inn which had a selection of well kept ales. A bit closer to the ground is
The Rising Sun which looked to have the sports channels. The clubhouse at the ground had the usual selection drinks as well as having a balcony to watch the action from.
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| Usual NCEL high quality programme |
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| Clubhouse and stand at Haworth Park |
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