And so to North Yorkshire and another lengthy trip to watch the Northern Premier League Division One North West match between Pickering Town and Clitheroe.
Pickering Town FC, the hosts
from Mill Lane with their slightly, er, ‘unusual’ badge (below), was
formed in 1888, the same year the Football League was founded. The Pikes for
many years competed in the local Scarborough and York Leagues, before stepping
up to the Yorkshire League in 1972.
The club became founder
members of the Northern Counties East League in 1982 when the Yorkshire and Midlands
Central Leagues merged. The Pikes' best finish was as runners up in the
Premier Division in 1992/93, losing out to Spennymoor United on goal
difference.
1998/99 was a terrible season
as, following a 1-11 walloping by Bedlington Terriers in the FA Cup, the Pikes
were relegated. Promoted back in 2001 Pickering reached the FA Vase quarter
finals in the 2005/06 season, losing out to eventual winners, the Dabbers of
Nantwich Town.
In 2017/18 the Pikes
finished as runners up again (to Pontefract Collieries) and moved up to
the North West Counties Division One East, finishing 16th from 20 in their
first season at this level, and then being moved to the renamed Division One
North West. This season they currently lie bottom with four points from ten
games - largely due to seven successive league defeats away from home and
a crippling injury list.
And so to the
visitors from Shawbridge, Clitheroe FC from the Ribble Valley.
The Blues were formed in 1877 as
Clitheroe Central at the Swan Hotel in Castle Street, initially playing in
local leagues, before moving to the Lancashire Combination in 1903 and dropping
Central from their name.
They became founder members of the North West Counties Football League in 1982, and soon after won 3rd, 2nd and 1st divisions in consecutive seasons. FA Vase finalists in the 1995/96 season, they won the 2003/04 championship to reach their current level at Step 4. Last season saw a hugely disappointing 18th position from 20, but this term they stand in 9th place.
Then Kushtys Dessert Parlour at Flaxton and a turn onto the A169 by the Eden Camp Prisoner of War Museum, including a replica WWII fighter plane, at Malton before avoiding the villages of Espersykes, Kirby Misperton and Huttons Ambo and then arriving at Pickering Recreation Club on the outskirts of the town.
Past Piggies In The Middle, up Smiddy Gate with the St Peter & St Paul Church lording it over the town, then the Hares and Hedgerows Gallery, the Wonky Pitcher Cellar and onwards to the 13th century castle. After the Kirk Theatre and Primitive Methodist Chapel I reach the North Yorkshire Moors Railway with its fish belly rails and Black Five 5428 Eric Treacy on duty, and all ready for next week's 'Railway in Wartime' celebration - but at £31 return to Whitby I'm going to stick with the football !!
So back to Mill Lane and a three sided ground adjoining the cricket pitch; indeed the cricket scoreboard is actually in the interlocking fenced off football stadium.... £7 in, with a slightly disappointing crowd of 152 including a decent contingent from Clitheroe.
At the top end is the old covered all seater stand, strangely with red seats, and the newer grandstand, The Tony Dunning Stand 2010, is on the popular side by the touchline facing a pronounced dip in the pitch, whilst the near end hosts covered terracing in the corner leading to the clubhouse and changing rooms. Under an overcast sky, with the sun making intermittent appearances, The Pikes are in all blue with white trim, and Clitheroe (or according to the teamsheet Cleethorpes !!) play in a 'wine' strip - think burgundy or claret ☺
Within three minutes Craig Carney has breached a seriously malfunctioning home offside trap but Harrison Foulkes saves well; in response Sam Cable flashes a header wide for the Pikes. Clitheroe look the likelier but it's Pickering who take the lead on 20 minutes, with Jackson Jowett's tenacity, pace and then lay off to Cable who sidefoots hard into the net. Six minutes later Jowett's corner finds Matty Turnbull unmarked at the far post and he heads the ball into the roof of the net for 2-0.
The match is
transformed four minutes before the break by a ridiculous decision from match
referee Gary Fletcher-Tindall. Conor Gaul, for the Blues, stumbles in the box,
and a penalty is given. Denny Ingram, the Pikes' manager, is vociferous in
his condemnation of the decision 'Ref, that is f*cking sh*t -
embarrassing' - the rest of us are incredulous. Gaul gets up, waits for Foulkes
to commit himself, and rolls the ball into the opposite corner; shortly after
Oliver Wood misses badly with a header for Clitheroe which would have tied things
up at the interval.
Into the second period and Wood misses dreadfully from within the six yard box and shortly after is hooked. For the Pikes Cable tees up Jack Simpson with Connor King palming the ball away.
Then, with the Pikes' defence seemingly panicking every time the ball approaches their goal, Mr Fletcher-Tindall, who has spent much of the second half slavishly deciding where throw ins should be taken, decides to take centre stage again. Thirteen minutes to go, a three way aerial battle and the contentious decision is that Owen Watkinson, who has spent most of the afternoon flinging himself to the ground, has been fouled in the D outside the penalty box. Stupid Boy !! Gaul composes himself and then floats the ball over the wall into the top corner for parity at 2-2. 'Feed The Noodle And He Will Score' is the chant from the Clitheroe supporters....
Nothing contentious about the winner five minutes later. Blues' sub Terry Cummings jinks his way across the Pikes' back line and shoots low into the far corner beyond Foulkes and Clitheroe lead 3-2. That leads to a spiteful final few minutes littered with free kicks, injuries, yellow cards and melees but Clitheroe hang on and move up one place, whilst the Pikes remain bottom of the pool.
