The unseasonably mild January weather began to disappear on Thursday 12th, leaving two successive hard frosts on Friday 13th & Saturday 14th, meaning our home game with Stocksfield was called off. As a result, these two programme pieces will never see the light of day, unless I use them here, which is a tragedy as otherwise the last paragraph of "Around The Grounds" would be lost forever. So here they are -:
From The Main:
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Purvis Park for this afternoon’s Pin Point Recruitment Northern Alliance Premier Division game against Stocksfield, which is our opponents’ first fixture of 2012. Consequently, I’d like to extend a special welcome to all the players, supporters and officials associated with our visitors today and to wish them a very Happy New Year on behalf of everyone associated with Percy Main Amateurs.
Of course, we began the New Year with our tremendous 3-1 win over Blyth Town last week. The last 9 minutes, featuring excellent goals from Ryan Laws, Tony Abladey and Liam Robertson, will live long in the memory of the excellent crowd who witnessed it. Let’s hope we can build on that success again today, to give us considerable breathing space in our attempts to move away from danger. Without getting carried away, today’s game, plus the two that follow it, which are also at home to Murton on January 21st and Rutherford on January 28th, can shape our destiny for the rest of the season. Both games kick off at 2pm.
Stocksfield, who are currently below us on goal difference though with games in hand, have been our opponents twice so far this season. Back in September, Jason Ritchie’s last game in charge saw him sign off in style with a crushing 5-1 away victory. During this game Jason scored twice himself, once from the spot, with the other goals coming from Jonathon McEnaney, Ziggy Ewart and last week’s winning scorer Tony Abladey.
However, a month later, Stocksfield were to have a measure of revenge, when they turfed us out of the Northumberland FA Senior Benevolent Bowl, which we’d won in May 2011 against Seaton Delaval, in our first defence of the trophy. The game, which marked Malcolm Morien’s last appearance for the Main, ended 2-2 after extra time, before Stocksfield held their nerve to win 3-0 on penalties. The Main’s goals were scored by the aforementioned Morien and Tony Abladey. Let’s hope that it is the Villagers who are able to extract a modicum of sporting revenge today.
Off the pitch, our old Web Teams website appears to have disappeared in to the ether, so all our cyber activity can be found at http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/percymainamateursfc/ with the site being added to and developed all the team. Comments are contributions more than welcome. The website also gives details of the big fund raising innovation for 2012 is the NEW Percy Main Bingo Lottery, which is being overseen by Geoff. It’s very easy to get involved; just pick 6 numbers between 1 and 49, then choose how many weeks you wish to participate, cost of £1 per week for each set of 6 numbers, then see Geoff to pay your stake and get a lottery ticket in return, or email him at geoff@cinix.co.uk
Every Saturday the numbers from the main National Lottery draw will be ticked off and the first person with 6 matched numbers wins the prize fund, which will be 50% of the total stake, with the remaining 50% of the total going to Percy Main AFC. When the prize is won everyone’s matched numbers are cleared and the draw starts again from scratch. Updates and winners will appear on this website and in match day programmes. 2012 will see a major effort by the club to raise funds for the refurbishment of our clubhouse and this new game is the first of a number of initiatives; watch out for other advertised events in the coming months.
Please consider joining and do enjoy the game today!
Around The Grounds:
Last week’s thrilling victory against Blyth Town did Percy Main the power of good, not just in terms of the buzz created by such a fine win, but also because of the effect it had on the league table. We are now 11th, ahead of both today’s opponents Stocksfield, who were inactive last week, and Walker Central, who lost 3-1 at leaders Heaton Stannington, on goal difference. Stocksfield have 3 games in hand, as do 14th place Rutherford, who were held 2-2 at home by 5th top Ashington Colliers last week. In the relegation spots, 5 points below us, are Ponteland United, who lost 2-0 at home to second top Carlisle City and Murton, who crashed 5-2 at fourth top Shankhouse. There were only 4 Premier Division games last week, but 4 other top flight sides were engaged in George Dobbins League Cup quarter finals, with Whitley Bay A easing past Killingworth 2-1 and Seaton Delaval getting the better of Hebburn Reyrolle 3-2.
In Division 1 there were only 2 fixtures. Amble United went 7 points clear at the top, crushing 8th placed Cullercoats away by the small matter of 8-0. Forest Hall, recently deducted 3 points, won 2-1 at mid-table Cramlington Town, but remain bottom with a new points total of 3. In Division 2, leaders Red House Farm won 2-1 away to second-bottom Swalwell, to go 11 points clear at the top, as second placed Harton & Westoe surprisingly went down 1-0 at home to a Hexham outfit who are now 4th. Northbank are 5th, after winning 4-2 away to 9th placed Wideopen and Bedlington Terriers Reserves sit in 8th spot after being held 2-2 by fourth bottom North Shields Athletic.
There were also plenty of county cup games to make up for the abbreviated league programme, which is likely to be a common theme for much of the rest of the season. In the Durham FA Minor Cup second round, Whickham Lang Jacks lost 3-0 at home to Hartlepool Rovers, with all the goals coming in extra time. Six of the 8 Northumberland FA Minor Cup round 4 ties went ahead, with generally positive results for the Alliance sides. Alnwick Town Reserves beat Newcastle Medicals from the Corinthian League by 4-1, while their Corinthian compatriots FOWS Diggers FC went down 4-2 at home to Seaton Burn. Willington Quay Saints won 2-1 away to North Northumberland League Shilbottle CW and Chemfica overcame other North Northumbrians, Red Row 7-6 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. A minor piece of giantkilling saw Tyneside Amateur League Kenton Bar Community beat Wallsend Town 2-1 and in the only all Alliance tie, Heddon won 1-0 at Wallsend Boys Club. The 2 outstanding fixtures take place today; Newcastle University v Blyth Town Reserves and Wallington v Morpeth Sporting Club.
In the Northern League, there was a quiet day in the top flight, with Benfield inactive and Whitley Bay drawing 1-1 away to Shildon. Perhaps the next round of the FA Vase is where their priorities really do lie. However, Division 2 saw a good day for the North Tyneside clubs, who are now holding down the 3 promotion spots. From the top down, Team Northumbria had a pulsating 5-4 away win at Northallerton, North Shields cruised past bottom club Easington 3-0 away and West Allotment Celtic came out on top against Brandon United by 3-1.
In the Blue Square North, there was an encouraging point for Blyth Spartans, 1-1 away to former Football League outfit Boston United. Gateshead had a comfortable 2-0 home win over Stockport County, the first goal a penalty conceded by a certain Daniel O’Donnell, which makes you wonder if the Lancastrians’ away following included hundreds of tearful middle aged women in terrible knitwear. Presumably the referee wasn’t Mary from Dungloe either.
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