Only 3 more venues left of a long season in the Northern League and an 11am kick-off means the chance to see 2 games in a day. Unfortunately the other game (Barnsley v Peterborough United) is over 100 miles south on Easter Monday. After spending most of the week deciding I’d leave maybe 15 minutes early, eventually I plumped for half-time. Truth was, I was also worried about my car, which I’d not quite parked legally. I still didn’t make it to Oakwell for 3pm – bloody Easter traffic, congestion made worse by the rail network seemingly shut down en masse for repairs. What a country we live in!
It’s not as though I hadn’t been enjoying the Northern League game, either. Champions North Shields were playing their penultimate game, away at local rivals West Allotment Celtic. Local rivals have done well out of North Shields over Easter, Whitley Bay pulling in the highest league crowd of the season (1,422) on Saturday, as Shields won to claim the championship. Today, 410 turned out at a venue in north of Newcastle, where urban conurbation gives way to actual fields. This, at a side whose crowds often number in double figures.
West Allotment have enjoyed/endured a nomadic existence, playing more recently at Blue Star’s former ground at Woolsington for 3 seasons before moving to Newcastle Benfield’s Sam Smiths Park for a short time. Now sharing with Northern Alliance side Forest Hall, Celtic still don’t actually play in West Allotment, a village to the east of the nearby A19. Facilities are basic too, with toilets and refreshments provided in the adjacent building technically outside of the ground’s perimeter. As their name suggests, they at least play in green and white stripes. And with Shields in their red shirts with white sleeves, I made this Celtic v Rotherham.
As I said, it’s a basic affair here; one side of the ground is farmer’s fields, which bend around behind the goal. The opposite touchline contain a couple of very small stands, while another roofed area behind the goal contains a small terrace. All very Northern League…and it took me some time to figure why this felt more Sunday morning pub league….and I think it was the lack of advertising boards around the pitch as much as anything else.
I enjoyed the half I saw, including the most comedic own goal of my season; a hopeful Celtic cross (‘Celtic cross’???) to nobody, the keeper coming out only for a defender to nip in and loop a header over him and into the empty net. Needless, but by the interval the champs still led, a scramble off a corner scuffed in followed by a smart turn and shot by a centre forward with a deceptive physique for this kind of finish. That’s why they’re champions, I suppose. They later ran out winners, 4-2. A great season. WELL DONE NORTH SHIELDS!
The Damage:
£7 ent
= £7
(I saw someone with a programme, but not for the first time this season, a club didn’t print enough for me to nab one.)
The Tunes:
Wet Leg (Wet Leg)
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