Camberley Town 0-2 Hampton & Richmond Borough
Krooner Park
16/07/13
Att: 63 (Headcount)
Throwing the Atlas in the bin
At the back end of last season I sat at my desk and made plans for the season forthcoming. I knew that I'd be attending less Aldershot games, with the league being more of a northern bias, and due to the increase in workload at college. So in anticipation I set myself the target of completing a league. The two that I'll be targeting will be, namely, the Hellenic and Combined Counties Premier leagues. With this in mind I dusted down the Atlas, threw it in the bin (who uses an Atlas anymore?) and loaded up google maps and my ground list. It was with an element of shock that I realized I'd never set foot in Krooner Park, despite going past every other Saturday on the train. With this I jotted down their name as a priority when looking for pre-season fixtures.
Fast forward two months and I found myself in the almost daily ritual of scouring Non League Matters for a local fixture to delve into. To much luck, ok not a lot of luck, Camberley were at home. So for the second time this season, in as many games, I was rushing off to a game that few would’ve known had been played by the time the final whistle came, and much less care about. Approaching the driveway to the ground I hopped out of the car and approached the turnstile perched in the corner. After waiting for the turnstile operator to make his way back I parted with my £2 admission money to join the other 62 spectators for this evenings match. What greeted me was the standard scene at a Pre-season game featuring two Non-League teams. The whole crowd was found in the corner nearest the turnstile. Here you were in easy reach of the small covered stand, seating around 100, perched on half way. Between this and the turnstile was the Clubhouse. From what I could tell half of it was the bar and the other half was the changing rooms. In front of this was an area of dead grass with a couple of tables, and a close refreshment hut.
The rest of the ground was as you'd expect. One end featured cover and some elevated standing, while the other two sides were paths, with more dead grass behind. What surprised me about the opposite side was that the perimeter fencing didn't block the viewing of the pitch from outside the ground. The views around the ground were somewhat contrasting, also. As you looked to one end you glimpsed housing, to the other end it was rather scenic with all the shrubbery, meanwhile either side was a view of the industrial estate that the ground is situated in.
The game, in my opinion, was better than the Hampton v QPR game I saw on Friday, although I guess the second half was poor. Prior to Hampton's opening you'd probably argue that they had the best of the opening play, but initial pressure amounted to nothing. Around 20 minutes into the half Hampton were awarded a corner to be taken from the right hand side. The ball was swung in low to the near post where a Hampton player, Matt Reece, was on hand to simply poke the ball beyond the reaches of the static home goalie. Hampton didn't have to wait much longer for their lead to be doubled about midway through the half. Annoyingly this goal has been erased from my memory, so I can't provide any further details, although a glimpse at the Hampton website shows that Jordan Rocastle was the scorer.
At half time Hampton did their team talk on the pitch, the reason given on Twitter was oh so very Non-league. Not because the manager was angry like Phil Brown at the Etihad a couple of years back, rather the changing rooms were too small! As I mentioned the second half was pretty poor, so much so I can't remember anything of note happening. Part of the reasoning was because I ended up with a duty that anybody under the age of 18, attending a game in the lower reaches of the pyramid, will undertake at some point in their life. I became the person that had to hop over the fence to retrieve the stray balls, a duty I have carried out many times throughout my life.
As the final whistle blew it was once again a case of this game will be forgotten by this time next year, but for me at least it brings me one step closer to completing a league. I can also not think of a finer way to spend a summer evening than watching two teams most haven't heard of slug it out in a ground that few will know about. Until next time.....
Fast forward two months and I found myself in the almost daily ritual of scouring Non League Matters for a local fixture to delve into. To much luck, ok not a lot of luck, Camberley were at home. So for the second time this season, in as many games, I was rushing off to a game that few would’ve known had been played by the time the final whistle came, and much less care about. Approaching the driveway to the ground I hopped out of the car and approached the turnstile perched in the corner. After waiting for the turnstile operator to make his way back I parted with my £2 admission money to join the other 62 spectators for this evenings match. What greeted me was the standard scene at a Pre-season game featuring two Non-League teams. The whole crowd was found in the corner nearest the turnstile. Here you were in easy reach of the small covered stand, seating around 100, perched on half way. Between this and the turnstile was the Clubhouse. From what I could tell half of it was the bar and the other half was the changing rooms. In front of this was an area of dead grass with a couple of tables, and a close refreshment hut.
The rest of the ground was as you'd expect. One end featured cover and some elevated standing, while the other two sides were paths, with more dead grass behind. What surprised me about the opposite side was that the perimeter fencing didn't block the viewing of the pitch from outside the ground. The views around the ground were somewhat contrasting, also. As you looked to one end you glimpsed housing, to the other end it was rather scenic with all the shrubbery, meanwhile either side was a view of the industrial estate that the ground is situated in.
The game, in my opinion, was better than the Hampton v QPR game I saw on Friday, although I guess the second half was poor. Prior to Hampton's opening you'd probably argue that they had the best of the opening play, but initial pressure amounted to nothing. Around 20 minutes into the half Hampton were awarded a corner to be taken from the right hand side. The ball was swung in low to the near post where a Hampton player, Matt Reece, was on hand to simply poke the ball beyond the reaches of the static home goalie. Hampton didn't have to wait much longer for their lead to be doubled about midway through the half. Annoyingly this goal has been erased from my memory, so I can't provide any further details, although a glimpse at the Hampton website shows that Jordan Rocastle was the scorer.
At half time Hampton did their team talk on the pitch, the reason given on Twitter was oh so very Non-league. Not because the manager was angry like Phil Brown at the Etihad a couple of years back, rather the changing rooms were too small! As I mentioned the second half was pretty poor, so much so I can't remember anything of note happening. Part of the reasoning was because I ended up with a duty that anybody under the age of 18, attending a game in the lower reaches of the pyramid, will undertake at some point in their life. I became the person that had to hop over the fence to retrieve the stray balls, a duty I have carried out many times throughout my life.
As the final whistle blew it was once again a case of this game will be forgotten by this time next year, but for me at least it brings me one step closer to completing a league. I can also not think of a finer way to spend a summer evening than watching two teams most haven't heard of slug it out in a ground that few will know about. Until next time.....