Lancaster City

Ground 26
Match 27





Lancaster City 2 (Gregson hattersley ) Mossley 0
Evo-Stik League First division North
Admission £7
Programme £1.50 decent for this level + a team sheet
Obtained 3 autographs ( 2 from Lancaster and one from Mossley - Cavell Coo )
Ground - Giant axe
Ground Capacity 3,500
Nickname The Dolly Blues
Attendance 198 (official)
Kick Off 3pm
Sunny/part cloudy/warm
Kit Blue shirts white shorts blue socks
Distance travelled 31 miles
Opponents - Mossley Tangerine and Black
Match Officials 8/10 solid performance . REF D Underwood







Lancaster City 's Giant Axe ground is ideally situated near the train station , close to the City Centre . The club gates are dwarfed by a large billboard sign standing overhead with todays match details clearly listed . The car park gates lead to the Dolly Blue Club and office . There's an even larger car park next to the ground . No complaints , absolutely terrific , in the club for a drink and purchased two programmes . I noticed and obtained an Evo stik official team sheet , like gold dust if you don't get to grounds early enough .Toyed with leaving my jacket in the car as it was fairly warm . Once inside the ground i chatted to a few club regulars , mentioned last weeks FC Halifax game and City's recent poor form .

Didn't take City long to get the breakthrough , nine minutes , a soft opener .
Mossley were on the back foot , soon after City struck again with a neat finish inside the box . Looked like an avalanche was on the way but to Mossleys credit they managed to creep back into contention but only created one significant opportunity before the break . Half Time 2-0 to Lancaster . The Press box send out an assistant for the half time snacks , over to ' Dolly's Diner ' an American sounding tea hut with ample snacks ; reasonably priced too ! I don't usually buy food at grounds but was tempted by the sizzling bacon and burger auroma engulfing the midday air and at £1.70 i caved in . Beautiful ! Plenty of bacon on it not just one slice . Decided to give the chemical toilet a miss when i noticed the turnstile gates were open for supporters to use the club bar , i opted for the club toilets . Strange why they have a chemical toilet - maybe for the players or press as its situated conveniently near the dug outs and press box . There's toilets on the other side of the ground though . Hey up , the raflle ticket sellers are here !


The ' Shed End ' in the background .




Mossley are more composed in the final 45 minutes , gnawing away at City unable to devour the chewed remains . Its a midfield battle of attrition and no team can gain the upper hand . Mossley come very close , the ball goes in the net but the referee blew for an infringement , in the final minutes their forward receives a yellow after appearing to dive in the box . I legged it up the pitch thinking a pen had been awarded , ' flaming heck ! '
Full Time Lancaster City 2-0 Mossley .





You could see Mossley's players gave everything , totally dejected coming off the pitch . City were astute and protected their early goals looking solid in all departments . Grabbed a few autographs even though it had turned bitterly cold ; i could excuse players for wanting to get in the warm changing rooms .

Spectators eating grub in the'Shed End ' and the Clubside goal



Off to sample some Lancastrian food and grab a few snaps of the Prison Castle . Merchants 1688 provides a super setting , bit like walking into 'The Cavern ' Liverpool , great food and friendly staff . wide choice on the menu .

Lancaster City Photos set 1

Lancaster City Photos (2)

Lancaster City: Martin Fearon, Sam Edgerton-Wilson (booked), Ryan Elderton Danny Gregson (booked), Neil Marshall, Alex Kenyon (Simon Wills, 31), Dave Swarbrick, Craig Carney, Danny Hattersley, Lee Dodgson (Zach Clark, 66), Michael Hall (Max Rothwell, 66).

Mossley: Pearson, Cavell Coo, Ben McNamara, Peter Band, Keil O’Brien, Steve Halford (Lee Constantine, 83), Kayde Coppin (Harry Noon, 58), Lee Rick (Alex Byrne, 83), Cameron Darkwah, Nathan Neequaye, Dan Queeley.

Burton Albion

Ground 24
Match 25

Burton Albion 0-2 Cheltenham Town

Ste the Groundhog and Grumpy The Grasshopper on their Nomad travelling journey football ground focus on Paul Peschosilido's Burton Albion



Nickname The Brewers
Ground Capacity 6,912
N Power League 2
Pirelli Stadium Princess Way
Opponents Cheltenham Town 'The Robins'
Kick off 7-45pm

Attendance 2701
Programme £3

Bought two - sixty four pages - excellent quality
Distance from home 103 miles
Match Officials 7/10 Got conned a few times but did a reasonable job .
Sausage and chips £2.50 Mars £1.00 Chips £1.80 Pint of beer £3.20
Official Football Supporters Car Park £2 Most vehicles were blocked in by a truck but i parked near the entrance and was lucky to make a swift exit .
The ground has a similar look to the Globe Arena with part standing/seating and a capacity to match .











I'm in a Subbuteo tournament in Leicester ,The ESTFA National League on Saturday so it seemed a great excuse to make Burton my base for a few days , take my wife to Alton Towers and go shopping in Burton Upon Trent .
Burton straddles the River Trent and is within the National Forest Burton Upon Trent Staffordshire . Burton Albion was formed in 1950 and moved from Eton Park in 2005 to a new 7.2 Million pound stadium with the Pirelli factory building and brewery visitors centre close by . The stadium is a mixture of seating and standing so naturally i chose seated !
Its relaxing having spare time to peruse the stadium a day before the game , buy my tickets and chill out in the club shop . The Mrs outside and inside the club shop with tickets for Block 7 Row G seats 178-179. ' Bobs your Uncle ! ' Can't wait for match night Only 2 minutes walk from the supporters car park past the players entrance , Chelenham team coach , club shop , into the Grandstand . Lovely !
Queued for food while trying to avoid the rafle ticket seller who was two feet away .

Skipped past the ' raffle woman ' heading for my seat like a scene from ' The Great Escape , ' its a cool , calm night with a healthy crowd . A fair few from Cheltenham too , not bad for a Friday night .
The first half was bordering on awful , never got going although 'The Robins' looked lively and most likely to engineer an opportunity . Couldn't believe it when Albion created a gilt edged chance only to be denied by Robins keeper Butland who made a great save from Richards when it seemed easy to score . Would have been unfair on Town who managed to conjure up several chances before the interval , half-time 0-0 . Score of 3-0 came over the tannoy from Port Vale , was thinking i should have made the trip there instead then the announcer broadcasts the raffle draw . My Mrs says , ' What number ? ' I said , ' You're joking , you bought a flipping ticket ?
'
Cheltenham were quick out of the blocks in the second half finding gaps down Albions right side . After 47 minutes Josh Low netted with a header from a great ball in from Towns on loan Everton fullback Luke Garbutt . The second goal came from a similar situation after an impressive move down the left and a tap in for Spencer .
Albion were lack-lustre and devoid of ideas for a side unbeaten at home this season .
Cheltenham finish the job deservedly running out 2-0 winners . Unfortunately for the Brewer's their team never got going leaving the visitors to provide the entertainment for the night . Overall a dour match with little atmosphere generated in tightly packed surroundings although fans were friendly and staff polite . Far Right Burton substitute Billy Kee couldn't change the game when he came on .Burton Albion photos 15th October, 2011">