SOUTHERN LEAGUE, PREMIER CENTRAL
The Arden Garages Stadium, Knights Lane, Tiddington, CV37 7BZ
15th April, 2023 3:oo pm Kick-Off
The season is rapidly coming to a close and the excitement mounts with the different battles being waged for promotion and relegation across the different league competitions.
I have opted to watch an intriguing encounter between Stratford Town and Coalville Town, with the visitors sitting at the top of the Southern League Premier Central and looking to cement their quest to be crowned champions.
Stratford Town on the other hand are looking to make sure that they avoid relegation, which looks likely after their resurgence of form in the last few weeks.
I make my way by train from Birmingham with no problems and soon I am stepping out of the station at Stratford and walking down Alcester Road into the nearby town centre. There is a market taking place, as it does on every Saturday and I am soon buying a Manchester City enamel pin badge, as I lost my previous one a few years ago (I started liking this team many years ago, before the Premier League was ever thought of).
It's a good quality market with interesting things to buy and delicious looking food items for sale too.
I then find a great fish & chip shop and restaurant where I have a steak & ale pie and chips. They are proper chips too, thick and tasty, with no grease. I then have time to have a browse around some shops before wandering down to the river and the canal basin.
I don't have much time to stay around here and so soon I am making my way across the bridge over the River Avon and turning left on to the Tiddington Road. It takes me 30 minutes to reach this village and even though it's on a main road, it's a pleasant walk, with the beautiful houses lining both sides. Most of them I suspect are worth seven figure sums I'm sure. Also the weather is good, mainly cloudy with the occasional sunny interval and a temperature of 13 degrees.
The turning for Knights Lane is on my right and five minutes later I'm walking down the drive to the stadium.
I pay my entrance fee and buy a programme inside the ground but unfortunately they have sold out of badges. I'm sure this happened to me when I last came here about 10 years ago and again it had been their last home game of the season.
I decide to stand at the west end of the ground where there is a covered standing area. The main stand lies to my left and on the opposite side of the pitch are the team dug-outs, with a small covered stand with seating and either side of this are larger uncovered seating areas for spectators. At the opposite end of the pitch there are no stands or seating.
The teams soon come out onto the pitch with the hosts in a very smart looking kit. Orange shirts with a vertical white stripe on the left, navy blue shorts & white socks. 'The Ravens' of Coalville Town are decked out in black & white shirts, black shorts & red socks.
'The Bards' of Stratford go straight on to the attack and their forward, Callum Ebanks goes down the right and manages to get in a shot that goes just wide of the goal.
From a corner in the 13th minute Stratford defender, Lewis Ison sees his header pushed over the bar by keeper, Paul White.
It's certainly entertaining end to end football for today's big crowd, swelled by the hundreds of supporters from Coalville.
Their team go very close to breaking the deadlock in the 24th minute when danger man, Tom Mc.Glinchey sees his shot hit the bar and over.
The visitors go very close again when Luke Shaw hits the right hand post right at the end of this half.
So it's still 0-0 at half-time with still everything to play for. During this half I have been standing close to one of the club's 2 photographers, Paul Grant, and he tells me that it's thanks to some good recruitment of new players that's helped his team to move away from the relegation zone. Iv'e noticed that the experienced defender, Paul McCone, who I saw playing for Halesowen Town last season is in their ranks and he's been having a fine game so far.
I move down to the other end of the ground for the second half and I hope it's going to be as good as the first 45 minutes?
Again the home team come fast out of the blocks and go ahead after just 5 minutes. After a good break down the left, Callum Ebanks shot comes back off the left hand post and Kyle Bennett is on hand to steer in the rebound.
The Stratford fans go nuts and the players are jubilant too!
The rest of this half sees Coalville having plenty of possession but the Stratford rearguard are in inspired form and they are not giving away many chances.
'The Ravens' have plenty of corners and free kicks but just can't find a way through.
They are even being helped by the referee who adds on an extra 9 minutes of time but it's to no avail and Stratford have pulled off an unexpected victory today. With Coalville's nearest rivals playing against each other today, Tamworth earn a 3-1 home victory over Leiston, which sees them reclaim the top spot after being there for a large part of the season.
Stratford have had their biggest crowd of the season today and they will be looking to build on this performance for the next league campaign, while Coalville will be looking to see if they can exploit any possible slip-ups by Tamworth in the last 2 games.
I have really enjoyed my visit to Stratford and I don't think I will wait another 11 years to visit this stadium again.
Match Attendance: 1038
Entrance Fee: £10 (£8 concessions)
Match Programme: £2
Match Entertainment: 9/10
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