Harworth Colliery FC

 A midweek trip down to the South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire border was the order of the day, the fixture a local derby vs Brodsworth Main. The ground boasts an excellent car park and is only about 3 mile from the A1M. Inside, the pitch is grass and was in excellent condition, admission at £4 and £2 is as cheap as I know, food was basic but amazingly cheap, soup, a sausage roll and a hot chocolate for £3.50. The bar over the far side, as well as blaring some fantastic 90s dance music out of the giant speaker and serving a range of cans of beer, also has an excellent range of merchandise and pin badge was duly acquired for £3. The attendance was 146 which was fantastic given there was only about 40 of us in with 5 minutes to go to kick off.

The game itself was a very feisty affair, Brodsworth seemed to be intent on kicking everything and everyone, I was shocked when I looked at the league table to see them in second place. It didn't take long and Harworth had a penalty in the 7th minute. The referee was weak and seemed to consult his assistants over every single decision, it was bizarre. In his defence though the players didn't make it easy for him, scuffling every minute it seemed. The penalty was saved but Harworth were first to the rebound to open the scoring. There was controversy with their second goal too, the linesman flagged just as the ball was kicked into the roof of the net from wide right. The ref blew and then we had one of a number of consultations with the officials. They gave the goal. The reason being the linesman said he flagged incorrectly but in my view the referee blew so surely a contested drop ball should have been the decision. Anyway 2.0

There was then a red card in the 21st minute for Brodsworth, I'm not sure who it was or what it was for as the referee, Im sure booked players and either didn't show the card or only briefly threw it up in the air, anyway blink and you miss it with this ref and I missed it. I only realised in the second half when they had another red and I noticed only 9 of them on the pitch. The third goal for Harworth was a moment of class and genius the number 9 on the by line somehow weaved his way through at least 3 defenders into the box and slotted home a calm finish. The fourth came from the sub winger, racing into the box and smashing home. As I was walking around at 2145 towards the exit, Harworth got a free kick on the edge of the box, it was curled home to complete the rout, 5.0 and nobody can have any complaints despite the poor referee.