Winterton Rangers v Nostell Miners Welfare & Barton Town Old Boys Saturday 25th September 2010 NCEL Double Header

Winterton changed their kick off time for today's game to 12 noon because the Clubhouse was hosting a wedding reception later in the day. This made a double possible with several games within striking distance of West Street and even as I travelled to Winterton it was a toss up between Barton and Brigg for the second game.
I arrived in glorious sunshine but there were not many cars in the car park and it looked like the early start had put off some regulars.

I made my way into the ground and was immediately greeted with “another City fan” in response to my Leicester fleece. This was from Rob, the author of the excellent “All Roads Lead Somewhere” blog who I had seen on the Non League Matters forum was attending today. We had a chat and then went to get a coffee from the temporary “tea hut” set up in the bar. Rob was going on to Nettleham after this game and so I added to my knowledge of the non league as I knew a little bit about Nettleham but Rob filled me in on the their ground.
I made my way into the stand and left Rob to take more photos of the game, joining me in the stand after half time.

The game was not the best I’ve ever seen, the early kick off seemed to affect the players. The winner came on 79 minutes from Nostell’s Lee Maturine. Rob has written a good report here.

Winterton Ranger 0-1 Nostell Miners Welfare
Att: 60
Admission: £5
Programme: £1

So I bid farewell to Rob and although I’d said I was definitely going to Barton, as I approached the roundabout where I could still go to either of my choices, I was wrestling with which game to go to. In the end I stuck with my original choice and turned off to Barton.

I arrived in plenty of time allowing me to grab something to eat and read the programme. I wandered round the ground to take my seat and listened to my Ipod whilst waiting for the game to start. Once again the crowd looked well down on the average attendance, obviously not a day to inspire local fans.
How this game ended up 0-0 I will never know. After only four minutes Ponty had missed two glorious chances and this set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. I don’t like to criticise official but I have to say that this was not one of the best performances I’ve seen from a set of officials. A disallowed goal just before half time despite the fact that a Ponty defender played the ball last denied Barton was typical of the decisions made all afternoon.

Despite Barton being reduced to 10 men on 65 minutes Ponty could not take advantage and the game ended 0-0. This ended a run of 46 games without a scoreless game. The result at Brigg? 3-3. Enough said.

Barton Town Old Boys 0-0 Pontefract Collieries
Att: 74
Admission: £4
Programme: £1