And so to the St Luke's Barton Stadium and the FA Vase Second Qualifying Round. The imaginatively nicknamed 'Blues' of Winsford United are at home. Perhaps using 'Sal Terrae' (Salt of the Earth) which is emblazoned on the club badge might be a more exciting alternative ? The visitors are Pontefract Collieries FC from the Harratt Nissan Stadium.
The home club was founded in 1883 as Over Wanderers and played in the Welsh Combination Football League before changing its name and moving to their current ground, then called the Bean Latham Playing Field, a few years later. After excessive spending the club folded.
It was reformed just before the outbreak of World War 1, and regrouped after peace had broken out under a committee led by Mr RG Barton. The Blues became a founder member of the Cheshire League and the stadium, by now called the Great Western Playing Field (and incorporating a greyhound track), was renamed the Barton Stadium in the chairman's honour.
Membership of the Cheshire League was unbroken until it and other regional leagues merged into the North West Counties Football League in 1982. A move up to the Northern Premier League in 1987 and promotion to the Premier in 1992, finishing runners up in 1992/3, was as good as it got; subsequently three relegations in four seasons saw Winsford playing North West Counties Division Two football in 2003, although the club were promoted back to Division One (now Premier Division) in 2007 where they remain.
Pontefract is known to have had a football club as far
back as the 1890s when a side competed in the West Yorkshire League as
Pontefract Garrison. Then there was Pontefract Borough who reached the
Yorkshire League in the late 1920s but folded during the 1929/30 season.
By 1935 a club called Tanshelf Gems managed to acquire a
ground on Ackworth Road, and became Pontefract United. United ruled the roost
in local football, but the appearance of a Pontefract Collieries side saw the
latter gain slight bragging rights, with both playing in the West Yorkshire
League.
In 1960 the old Collieries club became extinct, only for
the name to return a couple of years later when United merged with a local
youth side and adopted the 'Colls' name. The club gained in stature and achieved
success in the West Yorkshire League, joining the Yorkshire League in 1979.
Colls were founder members of the Northern Counties East
League in 1982 and successive promotions took them into the top flight.
Progress on the field was matched by improvements to the ground at Skinner
Lane, sometimes known as Beechnut Lane which is the access road near the Prince
of Wales pit, with much of the work undertaken during the Miners' Strike.
Relegation in 1995 after a decade in the top tier was the
prelude to several off field crises. Fires destroyed seats, parts of the stand
and the tea bar, the closure of the adjacent Prince of Wales Colliery and the
loss of the electricity supply were matched by a significant downturn in the
team's performances.
Ponte only avoided relegation out of the NCEL first by
seeking and gaining re-election and then being saved by the constant
restructuring of the Pyramid non league system. Eventually a corner was turned,
and after 15 seasons absence Colls finished Division 1 runners up in 2015 to
return to the Premier League.
However the club was relegated the following year, only to finish runners up last term and yo yo back to the top division. This time they proudly lead the way, with 8 wins and one defeat in 9 league matches, and the last six games producing victory margins of 5-0, 5-1, 5-2, 5-2, 5-1 and 5-0. I predict a goalless draw......
And so, with the sun trying to penetrate a thick cloud
base, it's past The Old Cheshire Cheese, now Heatcraft, and then Code to Exit -
some kind of Escape Room, and nothing to do with Dignitas !! That leads me out
of Altrincham beyond The Vegetarian Society and its Cordon Vert Cookery School
to the new A556.
Several signs warn me of the forthcoming Cheshire Ploughing
Match (this Wednesday if you're interested !) before I come to Tabley, and the
Cuckooland Museum. Then it's The Smoker, all scaffolding and new thatched roof
in progress, and a turn on to the A533.
Right at the pretty floral Road One roundabout and then into Wharton, with the ground on the hill right next to The Top House. After last week's parking shenanigans, a large free car park with marked bays is a pleasant surprise - although a crowd of 103 was always unlikely to produce gridlock.....
Outside, the handwritten sign informs us the visitors are Pontefract Colleries (sic). Inside it's easy to see the ground once hosted a greyhound track; an oval with two curving ends, a finishing straight on the popular side and a pitch like a bowl, banked at the ends and down one side. The popular side has covered, very low terracing and several warnings to 'MIND YOUR HEAD'. Opposite is the main 200 seater stand incorporating a cafe, supporters shop and bar. There's plenty of faded paint, abandoned furniture and general debris, including tyres around the pitch, giving the ground a slightly ramshackle air.
The Blues, sponsored by Winsford Town Council, are,
surprisingly, in all blue with minuscule shirt numbers and Colls, sponsored by
Monkhill Sandwiches, are in change yellow and black. Early chances for both
sides, the best of which sees Ponte's pony tailed striker Eli Hey miss an open
goal. Colls look a side full of confidence, playing at quick tempo and
propelled forward by enormous long throws by their right back, Jack Greenhough.
Surprisingly it takes twenty minutes for the first goal
to arrive - Colls captain Mark Whitehouse, unmarked at a corner, bulleting in a
header via the underside of the bar. Callum Gardner is given the opportunity
for a Winsford equaliser but finishes weakly against the onrushing Ryan
Musselwhite. Home goalkeeper Michael Langley's dreadful clearance is straight
at Kane Reece, but his hideous finish is high, wide and definitely not
handsome. That said he atones in first half injury time, sidefooting home Mikey
Dunn's cutback for a 2-0 lead at the break.
The second period is end to end, Dunn shooting just over
and Musselwhite producing two excellent saves, one in particular to turn aside
Robbie Hatton's goalbound shot. Dunn then does all the hard work but loses
control at the last moment, the ball ending at Hey's feet and he makes it 3-0.
With twelve minutes to go another Ponte break sees Dunn
cross to Hey, who calmly chests the ball down, swivels and smites the ball low
into the corner for 4-0. All too much excitement for one Colls fan, whose
nearly full pint goes flying and celebration turns to desolation at all that
wasted beer...
The Blues score a consolation with 3 minutes to go,
Musselwhite saving and sub Brandon Moores dinking home the rebound. Then in
injury time Hey bustles through and, with only Langley to beat, shoots high to
the keeper's left. The ball hits the frame of the goal and bounces out; the final
whistle is blown shortly afterwards. 4-1 to Ponte, but several grumblings from
disaffected away fans that there wasn't another 5 goal haul (yes really !!) and
that Eli's Heyday didn't end with a hat trick. J
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