UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE, PREMIER DIV SOUTH
Butlin Road, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV21 3SD
25th March 2023, 3:00 pm Kick-Off
It's Non-League Day and I will be celebrating this occasion with a visit to Rugby Town FC, who are entertaining the current F.A. Vase holders of Newport Pagnell Town, in a top of the table clash. The hosts currently hold top spot while the visitors lie in 4th place but with games in hand. Iv'e a feeling it's going to be a tight game today.
I have been to this ground twice before but the last time was eight years ago. Butlin Road is a ground that I admire and have often thought that (hopefully in the not too distant future) it would be great if my home town club, Worcester City, had a stadium along these lines, maybe with a bigger capacity (8-10,000) rather than Rugby Town's 6,000. Wishful thinking at the moment.
Also it's good to see Rugby Town are doing so well this season and scoring plenty of goals too!
The weather forecast is promising after all the recent rainy weather and I without too much bother I arrive in Rugby at about 12:30 pm, with time to have a look around this town again.
It takes me about 15 minutes to walk into the town centre and I find a nice Italian themed cafe for a breakfast wrap and chips. Unusual but tasty. I then make my way to the town's Art Gallery and there are 2 small exhibitions on show which are quite good but only take 20 minutes of my time. It's a nice facility and is situated above the Library.
Afterwards I have a quick look around the town centre and the local market stalls and then it's time to make my way to the ground. I walk more slowly than usual as I have plenty of time to get there. 20-25 minutes later I turn off the main road and in to Butlin Road. There is a park on my right and a row of houses on my left before I get to the ground 5 minutes later.
I make my way through the car park, pay my entrance fee, buy a programme and walk through the turnstile. There seems to be a good sized crowd here today and I'm already seeing some visiting supporters wandering around. I buy a cup of tea at the kiosk at the other side of this impressive main stand (500 seater), near where the club house is situated too. The team dug-outs are situated on this side too, while on the opposite side there is a smaller stand with seating available, which has 2 areas of covered standing areas either side of it.
I walk down to the covered terraced area on the western side of the pitch and walk to the other side of the goal and will start to take photos from here. At the other end of the pitch there is also some terracing with a covered area behind the goal. Behind that end are 2 state of the art artificial playing and training pitches.
The teams come out on to the pitch soon after I get settled, with Rugby Town in their usual all sky blue kit while the visitors are decked out in all green.
From the first 10 minutes of play I can tell that there won't be many goals being scored today as both defences are covering their goals very well.
It's the visitors who are the more threatening at first with the home keeper, Matt Hill saving a shot from the right in the 9th minute and then 6 minutes later, he eventually gathers the ball following a scramble in the penalty area.
Rugby Town do mount some attacks of their own and it's usually prompted by the tricky footwork of their No.7, Tom Fielding.
( Tom Fielding looking to get free from his markers )
Their best chance of this half sees him make a good cross from the right, which is met with a glancing header from their No.10, Jordan Wilson which hits the far post and out. Very unlucky!
Rugby Town's experienced No.9, David Kolodynski, was playing for the club the last time I saw them in 2015. I think he has been on the playing staff here 2 or 3 times altogether. He is full of running as usual and will always cause defenders problems.
( Kolodynski hooks in an effort on goal )
Despite the efforts of both sides, the game remains goalless by the time half-time arrives. There's been plenty of effort but defences have been generally on top so far. During the interval, it's announced that Rugby Town's closest and also local rivals, Coventry Sphinx, are losing 0-1 at home to Histon. So that's some good news for the home fans and maybe inspiration for their team to try harder for a win today?
When play resumes, it's Newport Pagnell who take the lead in the 57th minute. Rugby defender Keenah Rosser, loses possession and lunges in for a tackle to dispossess striker, Jake Watkinson but only succeeds in bringing him crashing down inside the penalty area.
Fellow striker, Albie Hall steps up to take the resulting spot kick and successfully fires the ball past Tom Hill.
This sparks the Newport Pagnell fans on the terraces behind to celebrate this breakthrough.
Although Rugby Town step up their efforts in search of an equaliser, the visitors defence is proving to be resolute and 10 minutes later, their manager is throwing on 3 substitutes to shake things up. I later find out that an ex-Worcester City striker called Michael Taylor (who replaced Kolodynski) was called upon. He has recently been signed up to strengthen their championship bid. He is 35 years old now and in the veteran stage of his career but he is one of those players who always has an infectious enthusiasm for the game.
Rugby Town are not able to carve out any clear cut chances for the rest of the game and it's the visitors who are looking the more dangerous side.
Newport Pagnell are able to keep out the home side and come away with a deserved and hard fought victory. This enables them to keep up the pressure on Rugby and more importantly enables Coventry Sphinx ( who have come back to win 2-1) to shorten Rugby Town's lead to just 2 points, with a game in hand.
Newport Pagnell now have their FA Vase semi-final at Congleton Town next Saturday to look forward to and Rugby will be looking to bounce back to winning ways, albeit with a tough looking fixture at Milton Keynes Irish.
It's certainly shaping up to be an entertaining title race now.
Rugby Town is a good ground to visit and their facilities deserve a higher level of football.
Entrance Fee: £8 (£4 concessions)
Match Attendance: 405
Match Programme: £2
Entertainment Value: 7/10
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