Cold day, warm welcome

Saturday 24 February 2018, Cogenhoe United 3 Wellingborough Town 1 - United Counties League, Premier Division, Compton Park

Sunny but very cold but ground not frozen and had 4 games down on my list of possibilities - so why choose Cogenhoe?

First it was a local derby and expected a big crowd and both teams have had some good results but the main reason Cogenhoe was chosen s the club seem to know how to attract the dedicated groundhopper with just the simple task of communicating via twitter.

It amazes me how many clubs fail to keep their twitter accounts up to date and some do not even have a tatter account at all. When the cold weather arrives and we have the possibility of games being called off, an up to date club twitter account is a god send.

Cogenhoe not only welcomed us by twitter, they saved us two programmes and wished us a safe trip home - great service.

The ground is basic and gave little cover from the strong cold wind. The clubhouse was warm and welcoming but Cogenhoe do not have many fans and today the crowd was bout 70, and at least 20 of them were following the visitors. But this club still survives thanks to a small team of volunteers, however even with little money to spend, the home team seems to have no problem staying safe in this division.

In the end it is their football that keeps them up and they were the better team today with one of their forwards getting his hat trick with almost the last kick of the game.

Goals galore at the Dog and Duck

Saturday 17 December 2016, Wellingborough Town 5 Huntingdon Town 3 - United Counties Premier League, Dog & Duck Ground

Watched a few games in this league this season and this looked to be a much lower standard than previous games - Huntingdon are bottom of the league and seem to have not only a very young team but also have one of the shortest back fours in the league.

Home team soon got in front and continued to add goals at regular intervals - but Huntingdon did have chances but could not find the back of the net, no surprise in the second half that the home team got 4-1 ahead. But the young opponents never let their heads drop and suddenly they found the net and we found ourselves at 5-3.

The visitors kept pressing but could not find a fourth goal and in the last minute had their number 9 sent off- no one seemed to know why! So after a poor start, I ended up witnessing  a great game.

The ground is OK for UCL standard but a bit basic for their fellow tenants,  Rushden who play at a higher level.

Cracking 'old school; stand on one side in club colours with the seats at a high elevation giving a good view, two covered terraces at the ground. Simple but new clubhouse and a great tea and burger stand.

Just like Dundee, their town neighbours ( who play in the division below) are very close with Wellingborough Whitworths ground just sitting behind the main stand.