4: Bamber Bridge 0-0 Warrington Town

Bamber Bridge 0-0 Warrington Town
Evo-Stik Division One North
Tuesday 11th September, 2012
Att: 146

As a Scarborough Athletic fan who is hoping to see us performing in this division in the not too distant future, I thought I'd pop along to Bamber Bridge to see two of our (hopefully) future opponents in action.

Bamber Bridge is a small town, 3 miles or so south-east of Preston. After passing their ground on the train in, I was taken aback at the standard of the place. It would easily get into the Conference North, and would probably be knocking on the door of the Conference if the need ever arose.

The main stand was the highlight, spanning around two thirds of the pitch centred on the half-way line. The changing rooms and tunnel were beneath the stand and around the back in a seperate building.

The two other areas of cover were to be found behind both goals, one near the turnstiles and the other at the opposite end of the ground, which backed onto a wood yard.

As for the two teams, they'd only played 7 league games between them going into this fixture. Warrington had made the better start with two wins and two draws, whereas Bamber's three matches has produced a win and two defeats. It was 16th vs. 5th going into this match, even though the league tables don't mean a great deal this early in the season.

One name of note in the Warrington line up was Kevin Townson, the ex-Rochdale striker who spent 5 games on loan at Scarborough in 2004.

The game kicked off with 146 in attendance. 146 people who would rather be here than watching England huff and puff their way to a 1-1 draw against Ukraine at Wembley...

Bamber Bridge, in their black and white strips, against Warrington in a resplendent yellow.

To be honest, the grand setting, dry evening and rather nice kits were not matched by the game of football. One sentence probably sums it up. Lots of hard work, but nothing at the end of it.

I genuinely can't say much more than that. The closest anyone came to a goal was Warrington in the first half, when a decent effort rattled the bar, much to the frustration of the 10 or so visiting supporters who'd made the short(ish) journey up the M6.

If I had to pick a deserved winner, I would probably say Warrington, who had marginally the better play and chances. Unfortunately, neither keeper had to make a decent save in the whole match, and those who braved the cool but dry Lancashire evening left feeling frustrated at the lack of goalmouth action.

For Boro fans, and the promised land of the Evo-Stik North, it'll be nice coming to grounds such as this with a home support to match our away followings, but of course the NCEL title is not an easy thing to grasp, and it may be a while yet until we venture across the Pennines en masse to play the likes of Bamber Bridge.

An enjoyable evening, with a cracking Steak Pie to boot, but ultimately a poor game of football.

Special mention must also go to my Forest Green supporting friend, who has provided lifts to Runcorn and Preston stations on the last two evenings. Thank you!