Spenny are Spiffing as the Magpies wings are clipped

Saturday the 1^st October 2016

FA Cup Third Qualifying Round 

Spennymoor Town 1 Chorley 0

With my good pal Howie stuck in Hull as his alternator packed in when he was just about to leave for County Durham yesterday I attended the Spennymoor Town v Chorley match on my tod. Despite the lack of the avuncular big fella I had a great day at the Brewery Field. It felt like a special day as this Road to Wembley from Scotland fixture had the feel of a big match. A healthy attendance, a good ground, supporters singing their hearts out and some good old fashioned drinking prior to the game.

Get In! The winning goal. Pic coutesy of David Nelson photography

This is how the day panned out.

Pre Match Communications: Full marks yet again. I have been privileged on the Road so far to get such fantastic support for my esoteric project from the clubs involved. Once again the friendly and accommodating people from Chorley have been very generous with their time and have provided loads of interesting information about their club in the lead up to this tie. This tie was my first experience of liaising with Spennymoor Town and volunteer and devoted fan ‘Spenny Fan Chris’, Moors Tavern regular DJKrisopolis and ‘SpennyToffee’ all on twitter have been fantastic in not only telling me about their club but also identifying the Spennymoor Town links with Bella Caledonia. It was great to meet Spenny Fan Chris and DJ Krision yesterday 10/10

Twitterer @DJKrisopolis (right)enjoying a pre-match libation in The Moors with his mates 

Pre Match Pint: The nearest pub to the Brewery Field is The Moors Tavern. I was advised to go there for my pre-match pint by Krision and I was not disappointed. The beer was good. Real ale available and the Red Fox beer was great. The pre-match pint felt altogether more familiar not dis-similar to a Hearts home game. Lots of football fans in this busy pub. The anticipation of the big match was palpable.

Raising a glass to celebrate a special day

After enjoying the atmosphere at The Moors Tavern I then headed in to the bar in the ground. Here I met Andy Hardman and Steph Jones, devoted Magpies fans. They are engaged to be married. Andy told me that before Steph met him she had no interest in football. Sometimes true love conquers all and now they both attend all Chorley matches home and away. Andy told me that Steph has drawn the line at being married at Victory Park but she has ok-d Andy wearing his replica Magpies shirt on their wedding day!

Andy and Steph: Magpies lovebirds

The pre-match pint(s) were most enjoyable. 8/10

Programme: The match day magazine is priced at £2 and is good value. The 40 page glossy publication has everything that you would want from a programme. Interesting articles by the manager, the programme editor, good match reports and great coverage of the visiting team. Plus a battery of statistics to warm the cockles of the heart of a football anorak. A good effort 8/10

Ground: This was my first visit to the Brewery Field and I was very impressed. The ground has an imposing main stand that runs most of the length of one touchline. The stand was actually full at 2.45pm as the locals booked their prime viewing spot. A ‘shed’ behind the goal accommodates the more vociferous fans and the remainder of the ground is well maintained with three step concrete terracing. Yesterday the attendance was 713 – more than double the previous highest attendance on the Road to Wembley from Scotland.

The Main Stand at Brewery Field. Not an empty seat in sight

The view from the Main Stand: Terracings opposite well filled also

One endearing feature of the ground is the pronounced slope that gives teams attacking the ‘shed’ end a distinct advantage. It reminded me of Hibs ground Easter Road in the 1970s – but I won’t hold that against The Moors!

Note the slope: The linesman looks like he is ready to go ski-ing

As seems to be tradition at non-league grounds, the stadium also has a bar in the ground and that can’t be a bad thing 8/10

Atmosphere: The Spennymoor matchday team make sure that all patrons are left with the clear impression that this is a friendly club. On arrival I was met by committee man Mike Rowcroft and his mate ‘Edgy’ who informed me that Mike works in Edinburgh – so there is another Scottish link. These two guys have been following the blog and welcomed me warmly to Brewery Field. The atmosphere was friendly but by no means anti-septic. There was a lot of passionate vocal encouragement being offered by the fans. When The Moors captain was sent off late in the first half the Spennymoor twitter feed noted that ‘a few eyebrows were raised’. The Spenny fans close to me did more than raise their eyebrows, they were incandescent with rage. Both sets of supporters sang their hearts out to urge on their favourites. The most poignant bit of chanting came mid-way through the first half when The Moors fans broke out into a chorus of ‘David Currie – he is one of our own’. Spennymoor legend of the 70s David ‘Kid’ Currie’ sadly passed away recently and the fans paid tribute to this stalwart and local man with gusto and empathy.  8/10

Scottishness: As previously reported Spennymoor have a batch of former players who are Scottish, they also regularly host pre-season friendlies against SPFL teams. However at present none of their squad have Scottish connections. In the current Chorley ranks there are also no Scots players although centre forward Jason Walker did play for Morton for a couple of seasons.  5/10

Entertainment: Another Saturday in the North East of England and another good match.  A first half where Spennymoor had been slightly the better side had been fairly quiet and seemed to be petering out when late in the first period that man Jason Walker of Chorley used his incredible pace to latch on to a flicked header from fellow striker Sefton Gonzales. Jason’s pace took him just beyond the last defender Moors captain Chris Mason. Mason’s momentum as he chased resulted in a collision with Walker. The contact was neither deliberate nor malicious but he was the last defender and these days we all know what happens next. The dismissal seemed harsh but by the letter of the law the ref had no option. Half time Moors 0 Magpies 0.

Chorley's Beesley and Moors' Ramshaw tussle for the ball

After half time the 11 men of Chorley laid siege to the Spennymoor goal. Then, as so often happens in football, ten man Spennymoor scored against the run of play in the 69^th minute – and what a goal it was. A fine deep cross to the back post saw Moors hit-man Glen Taylor leap Connor Sammon like at the back post to thump a magnificent towering header into the net. The keeper and Taylor’s marker had no chance. From that point on the former siege was now stepped up a notch into Alamo proportions. Corner followed corner as The Magpies went in search of an equaliser. Sefton Gonzales squandered a couple of good chances and then with two minutes to go, from yet another corner, Walker had an accurate bullet header from 8 yards out kicked off the line. At that point the Magpies must have known it was going to be time to concentrate on the league

The Moors defend a corner in the second half

The Moors defend another corner in the second half!

The ball flashes across the Moors goal but Chorley can't apply the finishing touch

Final score Spennymoor Town 1 Chorley 0. Chorley will consider themselves very unfortunate to not get at least another bite of the cherry. The Moors rode their luck a wee bit and their victory can be attributed to some dogged defending, an inspiring hard working team spirit and a great goal. 8/10

Match Day Catering: The Dunston catering will not be beaten on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. This contest is now closed as Dunston UTS pies are simply perfection. However the fare on offer at the Brewery Field was more than acceptable. Three different types of pies on offer and I went for the steak pie. At £1.50 a throw it was a tasty morsel with the gravy nice and warm and the pastry soft and delicious. 8/10

Value for Money: The admission price of £10 was fair for the visit of a team from the Vanarama League for an important FA Cup tie. It was a good match played in a good atmosphere with a big crowd in attendance.  8/10

The je ne sais quoi factor: The unusual feature of this match was yours truly being interviewed on the Magpies Live programme on Chorley FM at half time. The interview can be heard by pressing this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lammjdKAkOE&t=47m17s Many thanks to Ian of Magpies Live for giving me the chance to tell his listeners about this wonderful nonsense.It was also great to meet Peter Tissington from Sheffield. Peter is also on The Road to Wembley and had been following Spennymoor prior to this round. Our 'roads' joined up yesterday and I am looking forward to seeing a lot more of Peter as the season goes on. A very enjoyable day out in County Durham yesterday. 8/10

Overall Road to Wembley from Scotland Rating 79/100

It is always a melancholy moment when a tie is decided and I have to say goodbye to new friends who I have met from the vanquished team. Chorley are a great wee club with so many interesting and devoted fans. About 200 of them made their way from Lancashire to County Durham and gave their team excellent support. I wish them well for the rest of the season and, who knows, I might visit Victory Park at some stage in the future. It was a pity that, despite having watched Chorley twice I never got the chance to go to their home ground on ‘The Road’. So, Spennymoor Town are now ‘my team’ on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. The draw for the next round is made tomorrow lunchtime. Will I be heading for back to the Brewery Field in a fortnight or will by I be following the Moors away? Visit this blog tomorrow afternoon to find out.

Miles on the clock for this match 290

Total Miles on the Road to Wembley from Scotland so far 1930