TUESDAY JANUARY 29
Harrogate Town 6 Corby Town 1
HARROGATE are having terrible problems with their CNG Stadium pitch and are playing a few games at other grounds in order to clear a backlog of fixtures. They haven't played a home game since December 18!
Tonight, Doncaster Rovers' Keepmoat Stadium plays host to their Yorkshire compatriots and Bootham Crescent is their destination on Saturday.
For reasons I cannot quite fathom, I fancy this trip, though other options are few and far between on a really filthy night.
It is tipping it down with rain but the secretary assures me the game is going ahead. ‘Home' fans are being charged £12 to make the 45-mile journey south by coach.
I am asked to pay £2 parking but opt for the free car park next door! I am charged £5 at the gate and another £1.50 for the programme.
On closer inspection, tonight's programme is from the original date in October, somewhat out of date, which would be slightly more acceptable if someone had bothered to print an insert with anything approaching recent news. What a rip-off!
The Keepmoat is one of those breeze block and tin bowls showing all the character of a modern day snooker player.
Pipework and lagging are visible everywhere and the seats are designed to accommodate the average leg length of a hobbit.
The only thing that makes this visit bearable is the prescence of two friendly Frickley lads, here out of curiosity.
The first half is dreadful. Corby take to the field in insipid pink shirts and white shorts, rather at odds with their nickname of the Steelmen.
The players' shouts echo around the empty bowl of Doncaster. A cascade of tumbleweed would complete the picture nicely. The Frickley contingent joke that I won't have much to write about!
Thankfully, there are seven goals to liven up the 99 spectators in the second half. I am not sure what half-time sustenance provokes this outburst of activity from the players but I want a stock of it!
I should have known better than to be tempted to a League basin but at least I racked up seven goals to boost my average.
sad.hopper@ntlworld.com
