Market Rasen Town v Grimsby Borough Reserves Saturday 26th November 2011 Lincolnshire Premier Division

I decided to stay fairly local today and decided upon Boro's reserve game away at Market Rasen, about 20 miles away. This is Rasen's first season in this League and I'd heard that they had a stand which had had some work carried out on it, but as with many grounds at this level that was the only stand. Mrs Reynard came with me as we intended to go to Willingham Woods for a walk and something to eat before the game.
However, I decided to pop to the ground before we went to the woods to get my photos. It was fairly easy to find thanks to Google Maps, with the narrow entrance and lane fairly well concealed if you did not know it was there.

Sign to the ground

We parked up and the ground was already a hive of activity with a training session for local youngsters just about to start and in the distance, there were Club officials setting up the supports for the rope barrier to mark off the pitch. The only stand was on the far side of the pitch which in turn was past the cricket pitch.

View across Rase Park to the Stand

There is no hard standing here and you have to walk across the grass to get the pitch and the stand, which is not a problem today even though there has been a heavy overnight dew and it is fairly damp and misty today, but in the depths of winter it would be advisable to wear some good sturdy footwear. We reach the stand and you can see that there has been some recent work done on it.

Approaching the Stand

There are no seats as such, but the concrete has been laid to provide a continuous raised seating area although it might be a bit cold on the bottom on colder days. The dugouts are part of the stand although when we are at the game the reserves seem to use the concrete seats behind them. With no barriers and no game on yet I'm able to nip onto the pitch and take some photos of the stand face on.

Welcome to Rase Park

The only other facility is the Clubhouse which contains the bar and tea hut together with the dressing rooms for the teams and officials which is situated where the car park is.

Clubhouse

Photos finished we head off to the woods. Three hours later we return for the game which kicks off at 2pm as there are no floodlights here and so the game has to be completed in daylight.

Rase Park Sign

The game kicks off in bright sunshine with the shadows of the trees beside Brimmer Beck that runs behind the Stand. Boro start brightly and have the best of the early stages without really creating anything to trouble the Rasen keeper. We even have time to have a bit of banter with Rasen's keeper Dale Christie as Rasen get into the game and put Boro on the backfoot, but again do not really trouble the Boro goal. Christie is then called into action, pulling off two superb saves, especially one from John Toyne which he tipped over the bar.

Rasen defender heads clear

The first half ends with no score and we head over to the Clubhouse for a cup of coffee and a sit down. After a couple of minutes we are joined by Rasen keeper Christie who proceeds to light up a cigarette! I don't suppose you would see this at any Premier League games, but at least he had an energy drink too.

Rasen keeper Dale Christie

Rasen start the second half with renewed hope of a victory and start to dominate play with Boro struggling to get their own game going. Some determined defending by Boro kept Rasen at bay and their better chances were wasted by their struggling forward line. Boro started to find a bit of space as Rasen continued to attack and were able to exploit the space and make some attacks of their own. On about 70 minutes Boro won a corner and the ball was played into the heart of the box where John Toyne beat Christie to nod the ball home.

Boro's John Toyne heads in the winner

The game became even more of a midfield battle with Rasen creating the better chances but with no end result. Several balls had ended up in the during the afternoon and towards the end of the game several balls had gone missing and Rasen's keeper shouted to the bench "Get these balls sorted out!" only to be met by the reply "We can't mate, they are all in the water".

Boro on the attack

The Boro defence hold Rasen at bay and with no further score they head home with all three points. There is not a lot to see at Rase Park in terms of stands but it is a nice ground and well worth the visit, although I think I would save it for spring or summer day.

More pictures of Rase Park here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Market Rasen Town 0-1 Grimsby Borough Reserves
Att: 47 (Head Count)
Admission: None
Programme: None