The Bulls In Lye Meadow…
(Midland Football League, 2016…)
The Bulls arrived at Lye Meadow,
Players with muted, edgy impressions.
With a slight bow I ushered them past me,
To amused, confused expressions…
Recognition permitted my admission
And proceeding, I made for the bar.
I noticed a chap sweeping rain from the roof,
A photographer, doubling as a char…
Access to the roof was at the rear of the building,
For wedged near a caravan and tractor
Was a shaky aluminium extended wet ladder
And to climb it was a risky factor…
Algae hid beneath several puddles
Across the dark felting, rain-sodden.
After scaling the height, I kept a close check
On where my boots had just trodden…
The view, once I was comfortably settled
Was quite literally stunning
But moving about on a potential rink
Took stealth and a good deal of cunning…
As Hereford’s fans trickled into the ground,
With the kick-off scheduled for just over an hour,
Charcoal clouds hung low over Alvechurch
And deposited a sharp April shower…
Soon all the seats had been taken,
More Bulls congregated behind one net;
Their chanting began, their drummer drummed,
Their resolve undiminished, despite getting wet…
The press-box on the roof was carpeted but drenched,
With no head-room to stand up straight inside;
There were no chairs, or even a wooden bench
In what felt like a lakeside bird-hide…
The scene thus set and beer being sold from a gazebo,
Portaloos stood straight as a sentry
And still the singing Hereford throng
Clamoured to gain late entry…
The game was tense, Hereford settled
But Alvechurch were uncreative.
The Bulls netted first and took the initiative,
With Rob Purdie quite superlative…
A second concession, poorly defended by ‘Church
Surely left them with too much to do,
Then substitutions, a goal pulled back
And The Congregation’s hopes grew…
Nadat fell, as if suddenly shot and a penalty was awarded
But trouble flared amongst the troubled fans.
Harassed officials attempted to becalm,
Waving their arms and flapping their hands…
Tension, pressure, Nadat stepped forth,
Confident, with his left boot trusted
But Horsell, the ‘keeper was alert and intent, as
His fans bellowed derision, whilst he stood unflustered…
The shot, well struck, was knee-high,
The dive, low right, was successful;
The save, beaten out, was relieving,
The fans spilling over, was regretful…
Then rage, confrontation,
Engaged aggravation…
Fencing hauled,
Beer hurled,
Punches thrown,
Hate full-blown,
Then vilification
And enraged castigation…
Unwilling police pushed back the angry,
The players looked on in disbelief.
Nobody was arrested, blamed or disgraced
And the game restarted to general relief…
The intensity dropped, the ‘Church offense ran cold,
And the Bulls were able to see out the match
For an important victory over their rivals,
In an all-ticket game on a wet, muddy patch…
The Bulls’ chanting reverberated long after the finish,
The inebriated, the drummer, the madder
And it remained only for me to negotiate
That rickety, unsecured, aluminium ladder…
Pete Ray…
Kevin Carroll was the referee and I knew him because his son used to play football with my son Jamie.
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| KEV CARROLL MANAGED A TOUGH EVENING WELL... |
He told me years later that the pitch was unfit on the night but because the all-ticket game had been postponed once already, there was an urgent need to get it played.
He became really concerned about the behaviour of the spectators during the tense match which basically won promotion for Hereford FC and wrecked Alvechurch’s aspirations…
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| 0-1... |
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| 0-2... |
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| JORDAN NADAT'S PENALTY WOULD BE SAVED... |
Both teams amassed more than 100 points during the season but Hereford scored 138 goals, conceding only 33, leaving them with a fine goal-difference of +105…
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| NADAT MEETS THE BODGING PRE-GAME... |
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| NEAT SKY 1... |
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| NEAT SKY 2... |
I had been asked to record highlights of the match with commentary and thus I climbed onto the wet grandstand roof to film from what proved to be a great position...
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| PUDDLES ARE SWEPT FROM THE ROOF... |
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| ME FILMING FROM THE ROOF... |
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| MY BROLLY LEANS IN ANTICIPATION OF IMMINENT ACTION, WHILST THE CLUB PHOTOGRAPHER TAKES A FEW SHOTS... |
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| ACCESS TO THE ROOF... |
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| ...AND AGAIN... |
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| NOT EASY TO DESCEND IN DARKNESS... |
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| WELL, I SEEM HAPPY ENOUGH... |
