Berkhamsted 1-2 Oxhey Jets
20/12/11
Broadwater
att 76
What to do on a cold, dreary Tuesday less than a week before Christmas? Go on a ground hop of course! This is how we found ourselves walking alongside the grand union canal (?) with its long boats up towards Broadwater. The original team had gone bust in 2009 but with 2 promotions in as many seasons found themselves in the south midlands football league premier division. It was nice turning up to the turnstile to see a sensible approach from a club compared to the joke that is Newbury's admission policy. The prices were U16's free with a full paying adult or £1 unaccompanied. With this in mind I was in for my second free game in the space of 4 days.
The ground supposedly holds 2,500 which we found very hard to believe. The pictures today are in order of our walk round the ground, pre-match, up to the monochrome photo. As we turned right out of the turnstile we were greeted by an obscure piece of terracing. Consisting of 3 steps and bricked around 3 sides it seemed a rather odd feature. Behind it was loads of rubbish and the remains of what appeared to be a Barbecue. In the corner was the toilet block. As we continued round the ground there was a telephone pole with all the wires showing. Also on the fence next to it were all the pipes that the grounds men couldn't find room for. Spanning the majority of the penalty area was a covered terrace that was 3 steps high. As we continued round the path we reached along the side of the pitch. This is quite possibly the narrowest path in non-league football. It wasn't helped by four floodlights being in the way, but should an (unlikely) sell out happen you couldn't get two rows down this side. Behind the next goal was a similar stand to the opposite end. The only uniqueness about it was that it backed onto the station meaning every ten minutes of the match a virgin pendolino darted past. Turning the final corner we got to the main stand. This had 3 rows and was split in two by the tunnel. The seats were red and backless. The tunnel was a cage and people couldn't walk through because of a white picket fence. On one side was the press bx which had 3 seats and hadn't been used for a while. In the middle was a bricked off seating area which was the directors box. The far end was the refreshment hut. The roof was wooden and the dug outs were made of brick.
The game itself was very entertaining for Step 5. I was cautious at the start as every ball kicked went 20 meters in the air. Berko started well with nice slick passing; however Oxhey took the lead when the goalie ran out in a rather optimistic manner to retrieve a cross. It went wrong and a header flew into the back of the net. Hatred of the ref ensued as he had words with the Oxhey bench because he started shouting at someone for changing their boots. He then failed to reward anything in Berko's favour leading to their bench hating him. The half time whistle blew (after the ref telling lots of people to sit down) and we headed to the social club. This was outside the ground so we had to leave and re-enter. It was nice and large and we were able to watch part of the Blackburn-Bolton game. The second half started with Oxhey mounting the pressure to be rewarded with a second. Berkos no.5 had had a torrid time all game and this was just one of his many mistakes after being turned inside out for the pull back that led to the goal. Berko got a consolation. But this was not enough as Oxhey won 2-1. This was after the Berko manager was nearly sent to the changing room for abusing the ref further about his bias.
All in all it was an evening well spent, but I doubt I’ll return again due to more interesting grounds being between here and PDM UK HQ.
The ground supposedly holds 2,500 which we found very hard to believe. The pictures today are in order of our walk round the ground, pre-match, up to the monochrome photo. As we turned right out of the turnstile we were greeted by an obscure piece of terracing. Consisting of 3 steps and bricked around 3 sides it seemed a rather odd feature. Behind it was loads of rubbish and the remains of what appeared to be a Barbecue. In the corner was the toilet block. As we continued round the ground there was a telephone pole with all the wires showing. Also on the fence next to it were all the pipes that the grounds men couldn't find room for. Spanning the majority of the penalty area was a covered terrace that was 3 steps high. As we continued round the path we reached along the side of the pitch. This is quite possibly the narrowest path in non-league football. It wasn't helped by four floodlights being in the way, but should an (unlikely) sell out happen you couldn't get two rows down this side. Behind the next goal was a similar stand to the opposite end. The only uniqueness about it was that it backed onto the station meaning every ten minutes of the match a virgin pendolino darted past. Turning the final corner we got to the main stand. This had 3 rows and was split in two by the tunnel. The seats were red and backless. The tunnel was a cage and people couldn't walk through because of a white picket fence. On one side was the press bx which had 3 seats and hadn't been used for a while. In the middle was a bricked off seating area which was the directors box. The far end was the refreshment hut. The roof was wooden and the dug outs were made of brick.
The game itself was very entertaining for Step 5. I was cautious at the start as every ball kicked went 20 meters in the air. Berko started well with nice slick passing; however Oxhey took the lead when the goalie ran out in a rather optimistic manner to retrieve a cross. It went wrong and a header flew into the back of the net. Hatred of the ref ensued as he had words with the Oxhey bench because he started shouting at someone for changing their boots. He then failed to reward anything in Berko's favour leading to their bench hating him. The half time whistle blew (after the ref telling lots of people to sit down) and we headed to the social club. This was outside the ground so we had to leave and re-enter. It was nice and large and we were able to watch part of the Blackburn-Bolton game. The second half started with Oxhey mounting the pressure to be rewarded with a second. Berkos no.5 had had a torrid time all game and this was just one of his many mistakes after being turned inside out for the pull back that led to the goal. Berko got a consolation. But this was not enough as Oxhey won 2-1. This was after the Berko manager was nearly sent to the changing room for abusing the ref further about his bias.
All in all it was an evening well spent, but I doubt I’ll return again due to more interesting grounds being between here and PDM UK HQ.