And so to Cougar Park in Keighley for this afternoon’s clash between Steeton and Atherton LR in the North West Counties Division One North.
Steeton AFC was founded in 1905, although
some believe it could have been in the 1890s, playing at The Oaks in the
Keighley & District League – a league they won three times. After the
Second World War the team moved to the Craven & District League where they
were famous for their ‘Bits of Mint’ side which tasted silverware. The club
also won a solitary league championship in 1960.
In 1969 the club relocated to the Doris Wells
Memorial Field in Summerhill Lane following the construction of Airedale
Hospital, and in 1985 entered the West Riding County Amateur League with a
highest placing of runners up in the 2012/13 season.
Third last term and their application to join
the North West Counties Football League proved to be successful. However the
Doris Wells Memorial Field was not up to league ground grading requirements –
it will still be used for reserve and youth team games – so a groundshare
arrangement with Keighley Cougars RLFC was agreed. Near neighbours the
Cobbydalers of Silsden AFC came to a similar arrangement when they joined the
North West Counties in 2004.
Steeton AFC’s nickname is ‘The Chevrons’,
from the French word for goat (chevre) and the club emblem features a goat’s
head, with the nearby Goat’s Head pub claiming to be the ‘Home of Steeton AFC’.
Atherton Laburnum Rovers FC was founded in
1956 as Laburnum Rovers, an U-14s side to play in the Briarcroft Junior League.
'The Laburnums' were named after the Laburnum Playing Fields where they first
played; it is not clear where their other nickname, 'The Panthers', emanates
from.
The club expanded to senior level, starting
in the Leigh & District League, and after moving to Hagfold Playing Fields,
became members of the Bolton Combination in 1961. Ground facilities prevented
promotion so a farmer's field was found at Greendale and, despite a footpath
criss-crossing and duck ponds on either side, a football pitch was created. The
move to the new ground occurred in June 1966, and after winning the Bolton
Combination Division Two, the Laburnums were promoted and new changing rooms
were erected - a major improvement on the old air raid shelters previously in
use !
The Panthers joined the Cheshire County League
in 1980, with the league stipulating the team changed its name to include that
of the town - and Atherton Laburnum Rovers was born. The ground was renamed
Crilly Park in honour of chairman Jack Crilly, who had died suddenly.
LR were also founder members of the North
West Counties in 1982 and, as champions in 1993 and 1995, were promoted to the
Unibond Northern Premier League, the latter a stay that lasted three seasons
culminating in relegation after financial problems. Thereafter there was a
flurry of managers - 6 in 2 years at one point - and the intervening years saw
two relegations, one promotion and two Bolton Hospital Cup successes.
2015/16 represented the nadir for Rovers,
finishing next to bottom in the lower division with only 4 wins and 18 points
all season – fortunately there was no relegation. 20th and 18th
both out of 22 in the last two campaigns shows progress has been limited…..
So after
overnight rain has given way to sunshine and clouds, it's onto Manchester Road
and past a van with the numberplate W4SP F - naturally owned by Paul Jones Pest
Control !! But the real pest is the unannounced roadworks and lane closures at
the Eastway crossroads which cause gridlock.
Beyond the
ELCTRICAL TOILETORIES shuttered shop, with the malaise extending to several
businesses either side, although Noisy Neighbour Soundproofing has opened
across the way, to the M60. Some moronic driving and another strange
numberplate - PO15ON G whatever that is supposed to signify....
And then the
M66, where my earlier traffic delays make it perfect timing to see Flying
Scotsman roaring over the bridge on the East Lancs Railway ! Into Hyndburn,
'Home of Accrington Pals', then onto the M65 and the signs for Shuttlewoof
Hall.
The end of
the motorway brings me to Vivary Way and Colne. Difficult to know what, if any,
effect The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival being held in the town has
on traffic because it's always a nightmare, but today is particularly horrific.
Having
finally negotiated my way through I come across Wycoller Country Park and The
Atom Panopticon. Then the sprawling village of Cowling, past the football club
(home to Airedale today), before arriving at the sign Glusburn & Cross
Hills (coming t'other way the sign has the names reversed), home of Funky Monkey.
There follows an interminable wait at Kildwick Level Crossing - the lengthy
delay before the Bradford Forster Square train arrives allowing me to eat my
entire lunch.....
Right at The
Trawlerman onto the A629, Silsden to the left and Steeton to the right, The
Doris Wells Memorial Field visible from the road. Then left into the outskirts
of Keighley with Cougar Park behind the Texaco garage immediately on the left.
I park next to a scrap metal merchants on a rundown, litter strewn side street.
The main entrance
to Cougar Park features a fine set of wrought iron gates as I pay my fiver and
early impressions are favourable. Last week's first home match for the Chevrons
saw the second biggest crowd at this level - 177 - but the stadium has a 7,800
capacity. Today's attendance is 102, but this is nowhere near as ridiculous as
the 72 at Widnes's 13,350 all seater earlier this year….
Not
surprisingly only one stand is open - the main Danny Jones Stand named in
honour of the Keighley Cougars player who died at the age of 29 from heart
failure in a match against London Skolars in 2015. The covered stand comprises
wooden benches rather than seats, and there's a rather quiet bar towards the
end.
Two
uncovered terraces are to my right and opposite, the covered terraced Terry
Hollindrake Stand to the left. Once again there are some fabulous rural views
with the ground seemingly nestled in the foot of the hills.
Those views
are even better from the walkway behind the Danny Jones Stand which abuts
Keighley Cricket Club. A match is in progress with the fielding side obviously
short of players - eight in whites, two in jeans and T shirts, and a rather
rotund man in shorts....
The Chevrons
are in all green and obviously going up in the world, being sponsored by Acorn
Stairlifts. In fact there is advertising for two stairlift companies and
another for mobility aids - not sure what that says about Keighley.... Atherton
are in yellow and blue and their shirt sponsor is illegible. I discern, from
two away fans' hoodies, that it is myDelayedFlight.com, a compensation and
claims company from Milton Keynes. Not sure what that says about Atherton....
The first
fifteen minutes are instantly forgettable; a swirling wind, bumpy pitch, some
awful control and passing and a flat ball that everyone in the crowd can see
but apparently no one on the pitch. Then a cross from the left finds debutant
Liam Blades in acres of space, his touch is dreadful and the chance is blocked
but when the ball drops Ben Clarkson nods it through a defender's legs to put
Steeton ahead.
The
Laburnums have been marginally the better side up to this point and they are
soon on level terms. Alistair Morgan's woeful back pass lets in the lanky Henoc
Mukendi and the black Panther pounces to equalise. Two minutes later he is left
unmarked to head home a cross and Rovers lead. Five minutes before the break a
lovely through ball plays in Aaron Hollindrake and he thumps the chance home to
restore parity for the Chevrons.
On half time
Clarkson chases down a ball and Atherton's goalkeeper Louis Murray handles
outside the box. A red card, realisation that the Laburnums don't have a
substitute keeper, and his shirt is passed to a team mate revealing a ‘panoply’
of multicoloured tattoos - not a pleasant sight !!
Half time
brings something I have never seen before – the steward unlocks the back gate
to allow two fans to nip over the road to McDonalds and bring their meals back
into the ground. This becomes a recurrent theme during the second period……
Surprisingly
the Panthers look the brighter team at the start of the second half despite
being down to 10 men, but all they can produce are long range efforts, as the
Chevrons struggle to create chances. On 58 minutes a long ball reaches Blades
who gets a lucky ricochet then exquisitely lobs the ball into the net to put
Steeton ahead.
Five minutes
afterward his game is over. A second yellow card, this time for smashing the
ball thirty yards away in a fit of pique over an offside call - utterly stupid
and completely unnecessary. Nonetheless the Laburnums wilt as Steeton score
twice more. Clarkson gets his second, thrashing home from close range after the
replacement keeper tips shot onto the post, and then Andy Briggs strokes the
ball into the corner for 5-2.
Mukendi then
completes his perfect hat trick (one left foot, one right foot and a header)
for the Panthers in the closing moments after captain Martyn Parkinson's header
is spilled.
So 5-3 to
the Chevrons at the death and the man in the middle again the villain of the
piece according to the away fans 'Get back in that cracker where you came
from'......
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