Conference South
Bishop's Stortford vs Maidenhead
Stereotypes in
football always fascinate me.
For example: If I said
"Blatter" to you. You would probably think of Greed, Corruption and
an old miserable fat bloke who reminds you a little bit of one of your
inlaws...
Also if I said
"Liverpool" you would think of scousers who always brag about the champions
league, never seem to be walking alone and spending too much time on the
History channel...
But what if I said
"Millwall" to you. Your mind would probably think of people who want
to always seem to want to smash everyone's face in and always seem to be
bragging that they don't care that no one likes them.
But the Millwall fans
I've met so far have been really friendly! You may or may not remember Steve
and his two sons Luke and Teddy who I just happened to stumble across at Corley
services on the way to Chester.
They asked me where I
was going today and we both replied Bishops Stortford vs Maidenhead, not only
that but I also learned that dan was coming along as well.
I've been to Stortford
a number of times. The last time I went was an FA Trophy match against
Chelmsford last season, in which Stortford went 4-0 up but ended in 4-3, that
day I almost the comeback of the century. But narrowly missed out.
Bishops Stortford play
in the conference south and have been there for quite a while now, their only
recent claim to fame however was getting to the first round of the Fa Cup in
2013 and playing at home to Northampton which was broadcasted live on ITV. I
wasn't at that game however I do have the Stortford scarf from that day in my
collection since it was on sale last time I went for only £2.
Stortford is a pretty
special town to me, most of my friends live/are from here since I attended one
of the high schools in the town until recently. It is a really nice and
relatively large town, the park has some great memories from previous years and
the town features some pretty decent shops and a really nice Weatherspoons.
The only problem is
the football ground is no where near the town centre or train station at all.
Half and Hour walk up should make you collapse at the turnstiles. Trust me on
that!!
I arrived at the
ground an hour before kick off and payed £6 to go through the turnstiles in
which I immiedietly met up with Dan and gave him a late birthday present, a
book about non league called "Love not Money" which I don't read
anymore.
Dan went and bought
himself a pin badge and programme from the club shop and as we were coming back
we spotted a couple Maidenhead fans and a very familiar face indeed.
Braintree's last
manager before The Cowley brothers and fa cup winner Alan Devonshire.
After that we both met
Steve and his son Teddy in the bar. His other son Luke wasn't with them today,
instead he headed to Peterborough away with Millwall.
The four of us headed
round behind the goal in which Stortford were going to be shooting in and the
game begun.
If Carlsburg did selfies.... Teddy opening his mouth for some reason, Steve wondering what's going on and Dan on my right smiling for once. |
However the topic
which almost started World War three between the three of us was:
"Do you prefer
baggy or tight nets"
This lasted the whole
of the first half with me and Steve being pro-baggy whilst Dan and Teddy being
pro-tight.
Devonshire's Stoke
city tactics hadn't changed however, it was still a case of pass to right or
left back, then hope for the best by launching the ball down field.
Stortford meanwhile
were playing like Arsenal. Doing some great pass and move play but couldn't
find there shooting boots apart from one effort which hit the bar.
Half time approached
and before switching ends I got myself some chips for £2.50 which weren't too
bad to be fair.
The ground itself
again isn't too special. It has a small main stand just like the one at Bromley
another small seating area opposite and two stands behind the two goals which
almost mirror each other. Since it's near Stansted airport you see planes
constantly come in for land. Another fun fact is that the half way line is the
Hertfordshire/Essex border, funny that.
The second half got
underway and for some reason a bird of some sort flew over us and went under
the roof somewhere to it's birds nest which it for some reason decided to set
up there.
The Birds Nest was somewhere up there |
Second half started
like the first half ended with Stortford playing still like Arsenal but this
time not taking hardly any shots whatsoever.
Devo's men capitalised
on this and went down the other end and scored an easy one on one chance from
the left side and the striker slotted home.
From that nothing
really happened in the rest of the match apart from me finishing my chips and
Dan and Teddy still trying to say that tight nets are better than baggy.
FT: Bishops Stortford
0-2 Maidenhead
With that we all said
our goodbyes and headed home. It had been a really decent day meeting up it's a
shame all the goals were down the other end, still at least they were scored in
baggy nets!
http://youtu.be/-w2MCmCboJ0
http://youtu.be/NiESvR5bN24