Congleton Town 1 Padiham 1
(North West Counties Premier) Saturday 23rd March 2013 – Booth Street, Congleton
Two mid morning text messages in quick succession woke me from my Saturday morning slumber – “Game off”. Having been sweating at the thought of Shrewsbury’s genuine relegation six pointer with Oldham all week, I was left partly annoyed that this would have to fester even longer, and partly relieved that at least football wasn’t going to ruin my weekend.
With the thought of spending the afternoon waiting for the Scunthorpe, Bury, Hartlepool and Portsmouth scores rolling in from behind the sofa distinctly unappealing, I decided to forget all my troubles and select a non-league match for the afternoon.
With the weather continuing to wreck the sporting schedule, Twitter was a bloodbath. Armed with my Non-League paper and a biro, I cross-referenced each viable fixture to the home teams Twitter feed. Fixture after fixture fell by the wayside until I was left with just three options – Altrincham, Abbey Hey and Congleton Town. Having been to Moss Lane before, and with Abbey Hey a journey best done in the car, a quick train ride to Congleton looked most attractive.
I boarded the same cattle truck as the one I took to Macclesfield a few days earlier, the difference being the sleepy commuters were replaced by an angry Brummy-mummy and her tribe of uncontrollable offspring. Having made sure I sat as far away from them as possible, the train journey began, the snowless metropolis of Stockport gradually mutating into the winter wonderland of Cheshire.
I disembarked at Congleton station, a fairly hefty walk from the ground. I probably looked slightly out of place as I walked the wide residential avenues in my rather battle-beaten parka jacket, but given the seeming absolute desertion of Congleton on an early Saturday afternoon, maybe I shouldn’t be so self-concious. Maybe they were all at the ground?
I walked through a quiet town centre, where there was the usual assortment of bargain shops, pubs, tattooists, and a colonic hydrotherapist. Clearly there is plenty of fun to be had in Congleton apart from football, but it would have to wait another day.
Through the town centre you soon begin to pick up signs for the football ground, which is in a rugged looking housing estate, behind a Cricket/Bowling club. Booth Street, home of Congleton Town, is at the end of a cul-de-sac, with the car park and turnstiles opening directly on the street. With the ground slightly raised from the surrounding houses, the club have installed some netting to stop stray balls getting into back gardens, which is visible from street level.
Turnstiles at Booth Street
Having paid my £6 entry at the turnstile I entered the ground via the North-West corner. A corrugated shed type structure is behind the goal at the North End, with just some grass banking at the opposite end. The West side of the ground houses the main stand, a programme stand, changing rooms, a small area of covered terracing, a booth operating as the club shop, and a couple of lock ups where the groundskeepers tools were briefly displayed. The East side has the dug outs flanking another small covered area of flat standing.
The freezing temperatures, and the small matter of an hour to kick off, meant after a few photographs I sought the refuge of the clubhouse for a pre-match pint. Very impressive the clubhouse is too. Fairly sizeable, with room for entertaining match sponsors and serving food, as well as a well stocked bar, where I ordered a reasonably priced and very refreshing pint of Kodiak Gold from the local Beartown brewery.
The excellent Booth Street Clubhouse.
Whilst thumbing through my match programme (£1.20), to my great surprise a friend from the Midlands I had not seen for a couple of years sat next to me – under the rules of the Groundhoppers’ Union I will not reveal his identity – but it certainly made my afternoon to see a familiar face. The raft of postponements, as well as the international break, meant that a fair few supporters of other clubs made the journey – I counted fans of Stoke City, Port Vale, Wolves, Aston Villa, and of course myself as the token Shrewsbury fan!
Braving the elements about ten minutes before kick off, I took my place, opting to stand under the shelter between the dug-outs which offered the best shelter from the howling wind.
League leaders Padiham, got off to a slow start, much to the chagrin of their animated manager Steve Wilkes. Congleton won a corner within the opening seconds, and continued to probe the final third for much of the opening stages. A skirmish just outside the Padiham box led to an early change for the home side, with Louis James withdrawn in favour of Shaun Williams. For Congleton’s superiority however, they were unable to find the final killer ball, and other than one brave save from a one-on-one and some routine catches, the visiting keeper had little to do.
After forty, Padiham opened the scoring against the run of play. A strong shot from Ben Allen first smashed against the post, the rebound was then parried by the keeper, and finally into the back of the net in the third attempt. For their attacking edge, the Congleton defence did look a little too laid back in clearing their lines, and their experienced opponents made their big chance count.
First half match action from South end banking.
Padiham manager Steve Wilkes hands out another bollocking.
Shortly before half time, a cross into the Padiham box was adjudged to have been handled, and a penalty was duly awarded to Congleton. Chris Smith converted from the spot, his 30th goal of the season in all competitions. Despite feeling that the home side had just about edged the opening 45 minutes, a draw at this stage was probably a fair result given Congleton’s defensive frailties.
Half time: Congleton Town 1 Padiham 1
After retreating to the warm clubhouse once again, I opted to stand in the Shed at the North end of the ground for the second half. Most of the Stoke fans had congregated under here too, and at least created a fairly noisy atmosphere for a completely uneventful second half.
Second half action from The Shed End, Booth Street.
Again, Congleton had the better of the play, but could not score. Padiham did have the ball in the net, only for it to be called offside. Down the other end, the home side missed the target with an unchallenged header from almost point blank range. The match got increasingly fraught in the closing stages, punctuated by more substitutions (annoyingly not announced on the ancient tannoy system), increasingly niggly fouls and multiple Padiham offsides.
Full time: Congleton Town 1 Padiham 1
With this the only surviving fixture in the North West Counties Premier Division, Padiham extended their lead over second placed Maine Road to two points with two matches in hand. With eleven matches of their season remaining, a draw did Congleton’s promotion aspirations no real good, with just one promotion place up to the next tier.
Congleton Town give the impression of being a well run club, and the facilities at the ground are of decent quality – particularly the aforementioned clubhouse! The programme notes state there have been some recent improvements to Booth Street to make the club eligible for promotion to the next tier, so the next challenge must surely be to bring results on the pitch in line with their aspirations to compete at a higher level.
Level of the pyramid: 9
Lost balls: 4
Star of the future: Padiham’s no. 7 – a tricky winger with a fair bit of skill to boot gave the Congleton defence a few problems. Unfortunately he will have to remain anonymous – I couldn’t hear his name over the tannoy!
Goalposts at The Shed End – Booth Street
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