Doughboys Rising Up

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 8 January 2011 at The Dog & Duck
Result	Wellingborough Town 2004 3 Long Buckby 2
Competition	United Counties Premier League (Step 5)
Hopping	Venue #364. I am here because of an early Twitter confirmation by @WoroTownFC that this game was on, the club’s first since 14 December!
This match in one sentence
Fuelled by the perceived injustice of an early penalty given against them, the home side asserted themselves for a great win against their higher-placed visitors.
This match summed up in the style of: John Motson
This five-goal thriller in step 5 of the English non-league structure takes the average number of goals per competitive fixture at this ground this season to exactly 3.5, oh yes. Heh heh.  Michael Boyle-Chong became the first player with a “double”-barrelled surname to score in separate fixtures covered by this blog, taking his tally to “double” figures for the season.
So what?
Wellingborough Town stay in 15th but have games in hand on every team above them, and the top half of the table looks a realistic ambition.  Long Buckby’s second defeat in a row means that they stay 3rd for now but are now unlikely to feature in the final race for the title as St Neots Town tighten their grip on the division.
The drama unfolds
I was right at the other end of the ground when the ref awarded Long Buckby an early penalty to general amazement.  Their attacker was running away from the goal and, according to those nearby, either fell over his own feet and/or the incident was outside the area anyway.  I will never know but the penalty was smacked straight down the middle by Richard Bunting. 0-1. This kind of thing happened a lot in the first half The home side briefly looked in danger of going down to a heavy defeat but gradually got into the game and just before half-time a shot by Michael Boyle-Chong pinged in off the woodwork for a deserved equaliser.  1-1 at HT. Wellingborough took the lead with a cool finish from striker Jason Turner, who has scored in 5 of the last 6 matches. 2-1.  As Long Buckby searched for the equaliser (and to be fair, very nearly had one as several last-ditch blocks in succession kept them out), Simon Underwood popped up from centre-back with an unchallenged header from a set piece.  3-1. Noisy, happy Doughboys on the far side of the main stand Dan Quigley got one back almost immediately, and after a frantic five minutes Wellingborough held on comfortably enough for the last five. Final score 3-2.
Alternative activity of equal excitement for tourists in Wellingborough
Sneak out of your hotel at night and paint a sequence of white footprints along the High Street with a message “I must fly again” at the end.  This is best done in the early hours of 1 April and the locals will be pleased because it has not happened since 1959.
A snippet from the programme
A “Meet the Player” page for Paul “Smudger” Smith reveals that he is 29 and unmarried with no tattoos or piercings, that he drives a Honda Civic Type R and that although honest, he can be moody.  He likes watching anything with cooking on TV.
What I learned today
The club’s nickname of The Doughboys comes from a local delicacy called Ock n’Dough.  If you were to call it Hock and Dough you would immediately reveal yourself as a foreigner.
Something random
No prawn sandwiches round here ... An icon of beauty. The Mona Lisa of burgers. It was unprecedented in my experience to be presented with such a vast menu for a step 5 fixture, and so of course I simply had to tackle a Belly Buster in the public interest.  For the record, it was delicious, and I will probably be hungry again round about Tuesday or Wednesday.  Thanks to burger monster Haydn who watched with good humour as I photographed his creation.

Trains and Football - It's All About Points

The wrong sort of leaves on the pitch

Hopperational details

Friday 22 October 2010 at Kingsthorpe Mill, Northampton Spencer 1 Wellingborough Town 1 in the step 5 United Counties Premier League.

This match in one sentence

A goal-of-the-season equaliser for the visitors ensured the points were shared.

So what?

Northampton Spencer look set for mid-table respectability as big-spenders St Neots Town lead the league.  Wellingborough Town are a bit too close to the bottom for comfort but may be happy with the point today.

Who caught the eye on the pitch?

Michael Boyle-Chong hit a screamer for Wellingborough.  A long ball was chested-down perfectly by the centre-forward into his path and his first-time shot arrowed into the top corner from 25m past the home keeper’s admiring gaze.  “Worth the entrance fee alone!”, was the sage response from fellow ‘hoppers nearby, and I agree.

This match had the same effect on my pulse rate as …

… the new sport (that I just invented) of synchronised trainspotting, which would be moderately easy from this ground in daylight given its proximity to two helpfully arranged high- and low-level lines close by.

A snippet from the programme

“Tonight we experiment with Friday night football …”  “It’s good to see clubs brave and willing to try new initiatives in a bid to increase gates.”  (The reverse fixture in December will also be on a Friday evening.) Tonight’s attendance of 134 was roughly double the normal home gate, and the first to reach three figures this season.  Certainly a few of us appeared to be ‘hoppers so the club would need to try this again before deciding that the increase would be sustained.  I wonder how many other step 5 clubs are thinking actively about this.  Travel distances at this level would just about allow for it to become the norm, but I’m not sure that it is best for players and playing standards after a day of real-world work.

What I learned today

The Spencer in the club name comes from Spencer School who formed an Old Boys team in 1936.

What Next?

The 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup and a trip to Sheffield v Tipton Town