Ground #251 - Hall Lane

Date: 26th December 2017
Ground: Hall Lane
Location: Willington, County Durham

My thirty-fifth new ground of 2017 was on Tuesday 26th December at Hall Lane in Willington, County Durham. The match was Willington vs. Tow Law Town in Northern League Division Two.

Hall Lane is close to the centre of the small town of Willington and is surrounded by housing on all sides. The ground is 4 miles north of the nearest railway station at Bishop Auckland and 7.5 miles south-west of the nearest major railway station at Durham.

Spectators enter via the eastern side of the ground and there is a nice clubhouse building by the turnstiles. Directly in front of this is a small parking area before reaching the actual arena. This side has the Jackie Foster Terrace - an uncovered 4-row concrete terrace with one dugout in front of it. To the right of the terrace is a secondary club building with dressing rooms and a tea hut facing out towards the terrace. The roof of this building extends out slightly towards the pitch allowing a covered section with a handful of seats for players and officials. The the right of this is the second dugout and then an area of uncovered standing in front of a fairly flat grass bank.

The other three sides are all at the foot of a grass bank which encircles the ground. The largest stand at the venue takes up the middle third of the western side of the pitch. This structure has 5 rows of wooden benches fixed onto concrete foundations and has a capacity of 350. There are several supporting beams holding up the roof and two floodlight poles in front of the stand all of which restrict views to an extent. Either side of this there is uncovered standing. The southern end has a covered 4 row metal terrace directly behind the goal with uncovered standing either side and it is a similar set-up at the northern end with a single stand behind the goal. This construction, the Bob Nichols Stand, is a covered flat concrete area.

The away side went into the game one place outside the promotion places but struggled on the day against their mid-table opponents. The early going was marked by several strong tackles flying in from both sides. Fortunately rather than boiling a football match soon broke out as Willington went close in the 17th minute when Jeffrey Smith's delicate chip from 25 yards was just tipped over by Tow Law keeper Tom Orton. The visiting shotstopper was called into action again a couple of minutes later when a corner was headed towards goal requiring Orton to save on the line to keep the score level. Willington continued to have the upper hand and took the lead in the 35th minute. Jason White picked up the ball on the left and smartly cut inside beating two defenders in the process. Advancing on goal he rode a third challenge before striking a strong shot at Orton who saved but unfortunately for Tow Law the ball bounced back to Conor Winter who smashed into the roof of the net. In the period after the break it was the hosts again looking strong, it should have been 2-0 in the 58th minute when the ball broke to Jeffrey Smith on the left of the area but with only the keeper to beat he produced a tame shot which was easily saved. The respite lasted only a minute as Andrew Taylor got down the byline on the left and his low ball across found Damon Ellis who knocked in from a couple of yards out. To be fair Tow Law reacted to going 2-0 down and so nearly got a goal back in the 66th minute when a Lewis Teasdale free-kick came back off the post. The visitors had the perfect chance to reduce the areas with a quarter of an hour remaining when Teasdale was tripped during a scramble in the six-yard box. Dean Thexton struck the ensuing penalty kick to Lewis Graham's right but the Willington keeper guessed right and deflected the ball away to safety. This knocked the stuffing out of Tow Law and they were fortunate not to concede two minutes later when Damon Ellis' one-on-one encounter with Orton resulted in his weak shot being saved. If there was any doubt as to the result this was stamped out in injury time as the ball was played into Conor Winter from the right. Winter had plenty of time to control the ball and though his first effort was saved the ball fell at his feet again and this time he rounded the keeper and knocked the ball into the net to finish off a great 3-0 win for Willington.

Result: Willington 3-0 Tow Law Town
Division: Northern League Division Two
Attendance: 165

Ground #86 - Roots Hall

Date: 9th November 2011
Ground: Roots Hall
Location: Southend-on-Sea, Essex

My seventy-third new ground of 2011 was on Wednesday 9th November at Roots Hall in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. The match was Southend United vs. Waltham Forest in the Essex Senior Cup 3rd Round.

Roots Hall is located just under half a mile from Prittlewell railway station in a residential area just north of the town centre. The ground has been home to Southend United since 1955.

Due to downsizing in the 1980s and converted the stadium to an all-seater in the 1990s Roots Hall is smaller than it used to be with its current stadium capacity of 12,400 around one-third the venue's capacity prior to the changes. The ground is rather compact and cramped for spectators and the club have been looking to move to a new development at Fossetts Farm for the past few years. The most recent change to Roots Hall was a new two-tiered South Stand added in 1994 on the former site of the huge South Bank Terrace which was sold off to housing developers. Because of the houses that border the ground, the South Stand is very narrow, with just six rows of seats on the upper level and seven rows of seats on the lower level.

Behind the opposite goal at the northern end of the ground is the North Stand which accommodates away fans. Adjoined to this is the West Stand which runs alongside the pitch. Although all the stands in the ground suffers from numerous supporting beams which restrict views, the West Stand is the worst for this with over 20 of them in the structure. Opposite this is the East Stand, a mixture of wooden seating in the upper part and more modern plastic seating in the lower part. This was the only stand open for the game so I watched the action from here.

The game was an Essex Senior Cup 3rd Round tie between League Two side Southend United and Isthmian League Division One North side Waltham Forest, with the hosts putting out a reserve team for this match. The first half was a dull one without a single shot on target although Southend did have a header ruled out for offside on the half-hour mark. Towards the end of the half the hosts looked the more likely to score and they continued this into the second period with a combination of Waltham's goalkeeper and the post denying them the lead. In the 70th minute though it was Waltham who took the lead after a corner was knocked over the Southend keeper at the near post. The League Two side pressed ever harder for a goal and struck the post again from a spectacular 30-yard drive shortly after. However, with 10 minutes to go Waltham made a mess of clearing the ball from their area and Southend rifled the ball into the roof of the net. No more goals were scored and when the final whistle went the game immediately advanced to a penalty shoot-out. Both teams were successful with their first five spot-kicks but Waltham missed their sixth penalty putting Southend into the next round.

Result: Southend United 1-1 Waltham Forest (Southend United win 6-5 on penalties)
Competition: Essex Senior Cup
Attendance: 131