John Mills
Maltby Main - Club Secretary
Competition : Northern Counties East League Premier Division
Result : P:P
Attendance : None
"Desolate At Kick Off"
Another postponed fixture on our featured Match Of The Day list. We were almost at Muglet Lane when we heard via the Scarborough Athletic twitterfeed, that the referee had deemed the pitch unplayable. Knowing that there would be many Scarborough Athletic supporters on their way or even at the stadium, we persevered onwards and arrived at the ground at what would have been an hour before kick off. We were met by John Mills, Maltby Main secretary, who had at the time taken approximately sixty phone calls from questioning supporters, mostly from the coast. Following a brief chat with John, who was about to lock up the ground, he gave us a few moments to photograph the emptiness, the condition of the pitch whilst he still took phone calls from frustrated and angry travelling supporters. Below is a set of photographs we created that afternoon before we left for home.
"The Only Standing Water on Muglet Lane"
Centre Circle
"Flying South"
A Grey Sky, A Desolate Stadium.
The playing area was drenched, it would easily cut up, but the only standing water on the pitch is shown here. Was it unplayable? In the eyes of the referee and his officials, it was. We stayed at Muglet Lane until 2.45pm, we took these photographs and as you can see, there was no rain falling at the time. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to gain any thoughts from the two club's officials. We wonder whether if either of the managers that day were in agreement with the decision? We must feel some sympathy for those who made their way there from Scarborough and surrounding areas, the home club suffered financially, as it was reported that there were up to 200 travelling "Seadogs" on route to S66, which would have helped generate some much needed income into this club. Will the Scarborough Athletic supporters make the journey back on February 06, a Wednesday evening? We will be there, fingers crossed there's no rain that night.
"The Dugouts"
Home - (Above)
Away - (Below)
"Chris"
One of many who had travelled to Muglet Lane this Saturday afternoon. We spoke to Chris, who was a Sheffield United supporter, but had long since been disillusioned with the game at that level. His passion was football, and now it was Clay Cross Town who got his support. Looking for a fixture to attend, Chris travelled a forty mile round trip as a neutral, a football lover, to what he thought would be another highly entertaining match featuring two good teams. Whether he will return for the rearranged fixture (date above), he's not sure. As an addition, I spoke to Chris at the forthcoming featured game, Shirebrook Town v Athersley Recreation (09 January 2013), he'll be returning to Muglet Lane when Scarborough Athletic are the visitors.
"The Open Door To 2013"
This was our last Match Of The Day feature for 2012. In the space of seven days, we had two matches postponed on the actual day and an abandonment at Hallam FC on Boxing Day after thirty-five minutes. Our fortunes were still out, when on New Year's Day, our featured match at Stocksbridge Park Steels was also called off a day in advance.
*****
Match Reports - None
All Photography : ©fotografica137
Website Links To Both Clubs In The NCEL Premier League Panel At The Side
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