Binfield 3-2 Flackwell Heath
Hill Farm Lane
19/08/13
Att: 204
After the enjoyable evening that I had in the original game on Friday I felt it was only correct that I made the short journey to see the second nearest team to PDM british HQ. Dogs in tow I needn't leave until 7:25 and even then I arrived at the foot of Stubb's lane around 10 minutes before Kick off, after the short stroll up the country lane I was greeted by two men, the larger than usual attendance meant that the usual one person manning the entrance was too little, who gave the warming welcome that was synonymous with Binfield. It was a welcoming surprise to be told that I was allowed free entry as a junior, and as usual when a club is this considerate with pricing I make the effort to spend extra money, so I purchased the programme, a wonderful effort at such sort notice. I'm sure many of the 'hoppers in attendance, of which there were quite a few judging by the sheer number of notepads and cameras along with the long que into the ground, appreciated this effort, along with the, once again top notch hospitality provided by Binfield.
While the ground may not be up to much for the majority of football fans, hardened Non-league fans begin to appreciate places like this. Binfield, unlike the urban nature of Bracknell and Wokingham, has the benefit of being on the edge of quaint countryside, and the ground benefits from this in being slightly further away from these places and Binfield village itself. The entrance to the ground is on the slope behind one goal, this leads onto a car park from which, when it's quieter, you can get a space overlooking the pitch. Also at this end is the Changing room/clubhouse. In relation to the walls in the clubhouse the size of the TV projection on one wall was fairly impressive, it was so large I could see it from the other side of the pitch, unfortunately I forgot to take a photo. To one side of this end is some covered viewing, with chairs laid out. The only other development on the ground, the rest is hard standing, is the small stand perched on half way.
With the setting in place it was up to the players to provide the main plot. While I enjoyed the match on Friday, this one would turn out to be even better. The game was nothing short of superb, and once again I shall leave it to the fantastic highlights video and match report that Binfield put up, these can be found here. While I obviously wanted the home side to win, I shall hopefully be heading down for some more Monday night football this season, I couldn't help but wish for extra time as the game was so good. Off the pitch I bumped into Russ, who'd mentioned to me on Twitter that he'd be at the game and whose excellent blog can be found here (a must for English grounds), whom I got chatting too about groundhopping as we swapped grounds that we felt worth the effort to attend. This helped add to what was a thoroughly enjoyable evening in another lovely setting with fans that make Non-league so great to delve into.
While the ground may not be up to much for the majority of football fans, hardened Non-league fans begin to appreciate places like this. Binfield, unlike the urban nature of Bracknell and Wokingham, has the benefit of being on the edge of quaint countryside, and the ground benefits from this in being slightly further away from these places and Binfield village itself. The entrance to the ground is on the slope behind one goal, this leads onto a car park from which, when it's quieter, you can get a space overlooking the pitch. Also at this end is the Changing room/clubhouse. In relation to the walls in the clubhouse the size of the TV projection on one wall was fairly impressive, it was so large I could see it from the other side of the pitch, unfortunately I forgot to take a photo. To one side of this end is some covered viewing, with chairs laid out. The only other development on the ground, the rest is hard standing, is the small stand perched on half way.
With the setting in place it was up to the players to provide the main plot. While I enjoyed the match on Friday, this one would turn out to be even better. The game was nothing short of superb, and once again I shall leave it to the fantastic highlights video and match report that Binfield put up, these can be found here. While I obviously wanted the home side to win, I shall hopefully be heading down for some more Monday night football this season, I couldn't help but wish for extra time as the game was so good. Off the pitch I bumped into Russ, who'd mentioned to me on Twitter that he'd be at the game and whose excellent blog can be found here (a must for English grounds), whom I got chatting too about groundhopping as we swapped grounds that we felt worth the effort to attend. This helped add to what was a thoroughly enjoyable evening in another lovely setting with fans that make Non-league so great to delve into.