This turned out to be another
fantastic day. 370 teams did battle in the Extra Preliminary Round and now 320
teams battle in the Preliminary Round.
The day's blog
helper/driver/sandwich maker was Frazer Sanderson (Sandy). He arrived and we
set off on our journey to the game which was 40 miles and 51 minutes from my
house (according to my phone’s Navigation system). The weather was pleasant and
sunny and we listened to Daft Punk mixed with general chit chat about football
and Gareth Bale’s move to Real Madrid. The BBC news had an article on how
Tottenham were CONSIDERING fining Bale for failing to come to training. I wondered how much the average person would
be ‘fined’ if they didn’t turn up for work. The journey was fast and sunny
despite my Sat Nav’s strange ploy of seeming to take us off the M60 and then back
onto the M60 (?).
The ground and complex was
impressive for non-league football. There was a cricket pitch with a pavilion,
a full athletics track, a practice football pitch for the Curzon Ashton squad (presumably)
and a fairly large stadium – we’d arrived at Tameside.
The Statue above is outside Tameside
Stadium.
The Statue Plaque explains that
the three figures are World Cup winners that were born in the local area.
Another Plaque on the Tameside
Stadium wall explains that the world’s first black professional footballer also
played in the area in the 1890s.
The day’s weather was excellent
for football (Temp 16 degrees and partly sunny). It was £7.50 to enter the
ground and we visited a neat little bar for two pints of bitter (£2.50 each,
which is 10p more expensive than Brocstedes Park prices). The match program cost £1.60 and we walked to
sit with the away fans on the sunny side of Tameside Stadium.
Sandy had brought a picnic and as
the match kicked off our own little game started – it was:-
Sandy homemade sandwiches Vs Sainsbury’s
Deli Delights.
This turned out to be a no
contest. Sandy Sandwiches started with a
solid keeper covered in cling film wrap. They had a tight back four of
excellent brown bread (top and bottom), humus, and cream cheese. In
midfield they had spring onion and lettuce and the real firepower came up front with a duel combo of ham and actual cheese – this taste sensation
dominated the Deli Delights.
The Delights were weary, lacklustre
and seemed to be short of any real taste or effort. Panang chicken bites and chicken satey were
far removed from any actual chickens and without the peanut sauce they didn’t
bother the Sandy Sandwiches tight defence. The vegetable spring rolls showed
promise but the effort of chewing far outweighed any flavour. The Thai Sweet
Chilli nuts came on as substitutes and really tested the Sandwiches, but it was
too little too late.
As for the other contest (the actual
football), Curzon Ashton seemed to dominate from the start. Curzon scored the first goal within the first
ten minutes and Ashton Athletic spent most of the game pinned in their own
half. They struggled to get the ball off
Curzon who seemed faster, fitter and better organised. The crowd was quiet, it was a big
open stand and the fans were spread apart so I could not hear any
conversations. The Curzon centre back
was vocal with his shouts of ‘work rate all over’ and ‘two touches all over’
and ‘let’s get the basics right.’ 4–0 was a fair result for the game and it
seemed that Curzon Ashton were simply a division and a class higher than the visiting
Ashton Athletic.
2 teas at half time were £1 each.
It was another small crowd of 101
fans and the Tameside Stadium seemed empty.
I will be saying goodbye to
Brocstedes Park for 2013/14.
The more astute of you may be
wondering about my unofficial photographer from the first game Bev Rogerson. She has an old camera and is struggling to
get the unofficial photos off it without a special connection – we will
get to see them at some point.
Excellent Geeky Stats time:-
RIP Stadiums and teams from The Giant Killing Adventure - 31st
August 2013
RIP Team
|
RIP Stadium
|
St Helens Town
|
Brocstedes Park
|
Ashton Athletic
|
Brocstedes Park
|
The Giant Killing Adventure number of fans – 31st August
2013
Team
|
Stadium
|
Round
|
Fans
|
Curzon Ashton
|
Tameside Stadium
|
Preliminary
|
101
|
St Helens Town
|
Brocstedes Park
|
Extra Preliminary
|
71
|
Ashton Athletic
|
Brocstedes Park
|
Extra Preliminary
|
58
|
The Giant Killing Adventure League table for FA prize money – 31st
August 2013
Team
|
Prize money/Round
|
Total Winnings
|
Curzon Ashton
|
£1925 Preliminary Round
|
£1925
|
Ashton Athletic
|
£1500 Extra Preliminary Round
|
£1500
|
In the Extra Preliminary Round
the FA paid out £277,500 in prize money (185 winners). In the Preliminary Round
a total of £308,000 has been paid out in prize money (160 winners).
The Giant Killing Adventure Program Price league table (cheapest first)
–
Team
|
Program Cost
|
Curzon Ashton 31st
August
|
£1.60
|
St Helens Town 17th
August
|
£2.00
|
The Giant Killing Adventure Top 10 Leading Goal Scorers – 31st August 2013
Chris McDonagh 2 (Curzon Ashton)
Adam Gilchrist 2 (Ashton Athletic)
Ryan Brooke 1 (Curzon Ashton)
Matt Warburton 1 (Curzon Ashton)
Neil Weaver 1 (St Helens Town)
Greg Harrison 1 (St Helens Town)
Nathan Ward 1 (Ashton Athletic)
The Giant Killing Adventure League table –
Team
|
Won
|
Drawn
|
Goals For
|
Goals Against
|
GD
|
Points
|
Ashton Athletic
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
6
|
-3
|
4
|
Curzon Ashton
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
3
|
St Helens Town
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
-1
|
1
|
So far the giant killing
adventure has reported on 270 minutes of football, £35 on the turnstiles, 230
fans, 9 goals, 3 pints of bitter (£7.40), 5 £1 cups of tea, 1 ham and pease
pudding stottie, 2 £16.50 Lobsters, 4 2-4-1 cocktails, 1 City Break, 1 Sandy picnic
battle and the journey has travelled 36 miles from the FA Cup’s current home in
Wigan.
Curzon Ashton has drawn an away
tie at Marine FC in the 1st Qualifying Round of the 2013/14 FA
Cup. Join me again to learn more about
the next round and more about Marine FC.
The match is currently due to be played on Saturday 14th
September 2013...
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