Skelmersdale United

Ground 33

Match 34

Evo-Stik League Division 1 North

Skelmersdale United 2-2 Clitheroe

Ground - The west Lancashire College Stadium

Ground Capacity 2,500

Founded 1882

Admission £8

Programme £2

Distance travelled 21 miles

Attendance 167

Clitheroe Nickname 'The Blues' playing in away kit red

Skelmersdale is a town in West Lancashire and lies on high ground on the River Tawd .
Its well known for its mininig , shopping concourse and probably , roundabouts .
It was designated a new town in 1961 and is close to Liverpool and Wigan .
The first recorded use of the name skelmersdale appears in the Domesday Book 1086 .

Printed my directions using the club website location information and followed it directly to the ample club car park without a hitch , negotiating several roundabouts after exiting junction 4 on the M 58 .

An ex player chatted to me outside the turnstile entrance and helped with my photos . This was much appreciated and a great welcome to the club as the entrance sign states . Once inside the ground the locals were jovial , funny and relaxed .




The programme hut is between the turnstile , toilets and club house . There's a covered seated grandstand adorning the far touchline . Grass banked verges are behind one goal and run the length of the opposite touchline with neatly inserted advertising boards . The grass verges are sectioned off with hoarding probably due to health and safety reasons ; seems a shame as they are neatly trimmed and beautifully tended . The pitch is immaculate considering all the rain lately and is a credit to the groundsman whom i was pleased to meet before the game started .
Skem are doing well in the league but have stuttered a little lately albeit , mainly against the teams around them . Clitheroe are near the botttom so skem will be hoping for a victory to keep the pressure on the other table toppers .

Main Seated Covered Grandstand and stuning pitch .


















Citheroe , in all red , started briskly and soon sent their following contingent into rapturous applause when centre forward Hine netted with a cool finish from inside the box .
The 'Skem' supporters were still upbeat and somewhat amused with the Clitheroe fans . What a great atmosphere and rapport amongst the crowd . Terrific !
Full Match Report - see the excellent club website .

One club official asked me not to take photos with flash so i explained i'd only take normal shots ; no flash which he agreed was fine .
A couple of minutes later , as i was hovering around the snack hutch , the guy came back and asked me not to take anymore photos ; said he was fed up and sick of groundhoppers . A bit of a contradiction to say the least but i suppose thats his prerogative . I decided to leave early . Apart from this incident the fans were great and filled me in with information and history about the club .





Skelmersdale United photos November 30, 2011">
Burscough FC also use this venue as their temporary home ground . Season tickets have been frozen for Skelmersdale United season 2011-2012 and there's a special offer for Skem fans attending Burscough home games .

Padiham

Ground 32

Match 33

F.A. Carlsberg Vase Second Round

Padiham 2-5 Askern Villa

Ground The Arbories

Formed 1878

Ground Capacity 1688

Nickname The Storks

Distance travelled 20 miles

Admission £5

Programme £1

Kick Off Time 3pm Sunny/dry

Attendance 116

View showing Clubhouse Terrace and Grandstand during the 2nd half






Padiham lies on the River Calder , 3 miles West of Burnley and South of Pendle .
Not to difficult to find , its only a mile or so from the M65 motorway . Narrow streets lead to the ground past the Hare and Hound public house , i parked opposite the West Street sign on a cobbled road . There's a reasonably sized car park next to the ground but i decided to walk the short distance to avoid any chance of being blocked in later on . The turnstile is located at the top of the inclined street next to the car park .












First impressions are good , people are friendly and as i entered the ground i saw a contrast of old and new . It has plenty of character and charm with a new clubhouse , an older standing part covered terrace behind one goal , main grandstand , grassed banking running the length of the touchline opposite the clubhouse , bus shelter style dugouts , open air gents toilet in the far corner . You can see progress has been made ; it's a groundhoppers dream . I was warmly welcomed by the locals and staff . Programmes are excellent value at £1 with plenty of information , large bold print , reports , photos , facts/figures on the opposition , several glossy pages . At any level it's very affordable and a credit to the club .

Today's opponents are Askern Villa ( formerly Askern welfare ) from the Northern Counties East League Division One , currently second bottom . They've already knocked out three clubs including Silsden so they're no mugs .



Indeed , Villa start brightly like the mid-afternoon sun , creating several opportunities without finding the net . Padiham are slow out of the 'blocks' and don't seem to reach second gear . Villa's tall , long legged , long neck number ten provides a lynch pin and magnet for their sorties forward . He's a bit of a Terry Sheringham type , ambles around the left flank nonchalantly but to a trained eye , he's going to be a thorn in the side of the ' Stork's ' if they don't start shaking him off the ball . Most attempts to tackle him fail , when he's eventually knocked off the ball , free kicks are awarded for infringements .



Villa take a deserved lead but fail to add to their tally before conceeding a penalty which is netted by Padiham . The Storks are in the ascendancy and punish Villa again with a low drive into the net . Half-time arrives at the right time for Villa , after a bright start , they've drifted away with the midday sun .
Half Time - Padiham 2-1 Askern Villa .











Askern show their intentions after the restart and pin the Storks into their own half , eventually the pressure reaps reward with a well deserved equaliser .
Padiham find it difficult to make progress and Villa take the lead with their third goal . The next goal is so important and its Villa who find the net yet again to make it 4-2 . Padiham manage to put a few moves together and are unlucky with a shot from the edge of the box that rattles the crossbar . Another chance goes begging for the Storks soon after , in added time Villa complete the second half rout .
Scintillating stuff from Villa but credit to both sides for providing excellent value for money .




Padiham More Photos Nov 19 2011">

Tempest United AFC

Ground 31

Match 32

West Lancs Premier

Tempest Utd 2 - 2 Blacpool Wren Rov

Ground - the Famous Shed

Attendance 70 (est)

Admission - Free

Programme - not available

Distance Travelled 17 miles

Kick Off 2pm

Match Officials 9/10 Hardly noticed them - not many complaints

Tempest United is situated one mile from Junction 5 of the M61 off the A58 heading towards Bolton town centre and close to Lostock railway junction . If you're going down Locke Lane be prepared for a rough ride as its a cobbled farm track surface . There's another entrance via Tempest Road . If you're on a tight budget , get down to this ground , its friendly , free to get in and you don't get ripped off with food and drinks .
Tempest have been struggling in the League whilst Blackpool Wren rovers (BWR) are current Champions and riding high in the table . For a team near the bottom , Tempest's goals for column compares admirably with any team in the league but their defence is the weakest . I was expecting plenty of goals on this sunny afternoon , especially in the Tempest net ! Tempest don't seem phased by their opponents and in the opening twenty minutes take an unexpected lead . Rovers contnue to make forrays forward and eventually find the equaliser on the half hour mark with a close tap in from a luke-warm cross into the six yard box . United continued to make Rovers work in midfield as both sides tried to get the upper hand . Didn't take long for United to restore their lead wnen a low centre was squeezed home from two yards . The home crowd were delighted as the referee blew for half time with Tempest in the driving seat leading two goals to one . We all head towards ' The Famous Shed . ' I ventured into the club house for half of Guiness ( £1.35 ) and checked out the snack hatch . Tea/coffee/drinks 60p , sausage barm £1.50 . Excellent prices and very popular with the locals .



Will take a monumental effort to keep Rovers out in the second half with the slope of the ground in their favour so Tempest will have to be up to the challernge . 

Rovers take the game to United and begin to show why they're the feared team in this division . Relentless pressure with precision passing and penetration , an assault and battering of the Tempest goal for overforty minutes but still no equaliser . Only isolated sporadic breakouts brought moments of relief for United . Quite incedibly Rovers finally find the net with a soft strike beating the keepers outstretched dive with virtually the last kick of the game . To be fair you had to feel sorry for Tempest ; ironically they gave an example of how to defend , tackle , track back , give everything for the cause , this for a team with the poorest defensive record in the league . The ref' blew for full-time as Tempest's distraught team rolled the ball forward from the centre spot . Final score Tempest United 2-2 Blackpool Wren Rovers Tremendous game - the tension was unbearable for the home fans but thoroghly entertaining . Super afternoon out followed by a meal at the Three Pigeons just down the road .



Tempest after scoring their second



Rovers players reief after equalising with the last kick of the game !







Can't see an equailser !

Tempest United Pics Nov 12