Ground #258 - The Mill

Date: 30th March 2018
Ground: The Mill
Location: Torpoint, Cornwall

My sixth new ground of 2018 was on Friday 30th March at The Mill in Torpoint, Cornwall. The match was Torpoint Athletic vs. Saltash United in the South West Peninsula League Premier Division.

The Mill is in the south of Torpoint adjacent to one of the town's marinas. This marina is to the south-east of the complex with the rest of the eastern and northern sides sitting near housing. The remainder of the southern side and the whole of the western end see additional grass areas beyond the football field. The town does not have a railway station with the quickest transport link via the ferry across the River Tamar into Devon with Plymouth being the most convenient station some three miles east of the ground. The venue has been home to the club since 1971 when they left Defiance Field after an eleven year spell.

The southern side of The Mill has the main stand, known as the Les Cardew Stand, by the half-way line. This structure has 74 seats across four rows and the two dugouts are either side of it. Towards the eastern end is the Reg Devonshire Stand which is a covered area consisting of four seats flanked by two wooden benches. The rest of this side is uncovered standing and there is an additional building called the Corner Flag Caterer in the south-east corner.

The eastern end of the ground has the car park, a clubhouse and a demountable which serves as the player and officials dressing rooms. There is then a large grass area leading up a strip of hard standing behind the goal which runs for the whole of this end. The northern end of the venue has the only other pitch side structure - a covered standing area takes up the middle third of this section staddling the half-way line. The rest of this side and the entirety of the western end are uncovered standing.

With the visitors unbeaten since early November they went into the local derby with high hopes against a Torpoint side with just one win in their previous seven league games. The game went to form early on as Saltash grabbed the lead in the 3rd minute. Sam Leary knocked the ball out wide to Paul Heveran in acres of space on the right wing. Heveran had plenty of time to pick out a cross into the six-yard box and Richard Maddison nipped in front of the keeper to poke the ball in. The away side should have scored again in the 17th minute when Sam Hughes' well-time run beat the offside line but with just the goalie to beat he dragged his shot wide. A few minutes later Lee Phillips had a similar chance but his shot was straight at the keeper. The post denied Saltash just before the half-hour mark as Callum O'Brien met a corner with a downward header which came back off the post. The hosts then had a good spell and equalised in the 37th minute when a corner found Darren Hicks at the back post and he headed in from a couple of yards out. Into the second half and Saltash couldn't believe their luck in the 62nd minute when Sam Farrant's free-kick came back off the post, rebounded to Richard Maddison and he managed to hit the other post. The game was a really decent end-to-end encounter now but was getting increasingly tetchy. In the 83rd minute Torpoint's Lance Bailey came in with a late tackle on the half-way line and while everyone was expecting the referee to produce a yellow card, the colour was in fact red. A couple of minutes after this Saltash hit the woodwork for the fourth time on the day as Callum O'Brien's headed hit the crossbar. In the 95th minute the away side were reduced to ten men when a dreadful late challenge by Henry Wilson saw him deservedly get his marching orders. The drama wasn't over just yet though as eight minutes into stoppage time Lewis Edwards' cross from the right found Danny Lewis in the six-yard area and his point blank saved was acrobatically saved by the Torpoint shotstopper to rescue a point for his side in what had been an entertaining match.

Result: Torpoint Athletic 1-1 Saltash United
Division: South West Peninsula League Premier Division
Attendance: 133

Ground #255 - Field Mill

Date: 10th March 2018
Ground: Field Mill
Location: Mansfield, Nottinghamshire

My third new ground of 2018 was on Saturday 10th March at Field Mill in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The match was Mansfield Town vs. Colchester United in Football League Two.

Field Mill is in the south of Mansfield less than a mile from the town centre. The stadium complex is mostly bordered by a retail park though half of the eastern side has housing running up to it. As part of the site there is an additional full-size pitch and couple of mini pitches adjacent to the west stand. The venue is half a mile south of the town's railway station and though it has been home to the club since they 1920 it is known that football has been played at the ground since at least 1861 making it the oldest in the Football League.

Field Mill was extensively renovated in the late 1990s/early 2000s with three of the four sides up to a modern standard. The stadium is dominated by the West Stand which renamed the Ian Greaves Stand in 2010. This two-tier structure has a capacity of 5,500 and is the most popular amongst home fans. The tiers are similar in nature with the only exceptions being a media section separated off in the top tier and a couple of areas for disabled fans in the lower tier. The club's hospitality boxes are located at the back of the bottom tier while the bottom of the stand also hosts the Sandy Pate Sports Bar as well as a merchandise outlet outside the building leading into the car park.

The other two stands in use are behind the goals and look near-identical. These both have a capacity of just under 2,000 with the northern end given over to away fans. The obvious differences are that the southern end has a police box in the top-west corner and sitting next to the stand is the players tunnel which leads from a changing room building at the back of the stand. The eastern side of the ground is currently unused. The Bishop Street Stand is largely an uncovered concrete terrace with an all-seater stand built atop the terracing in the middle. This stand is boarded up with advertising hoardings and has been closed for a few years due to safety concerns. Its current use is for a TV gantry to sit atop it to film the matches. There is a very large LED screen in the northern corner displaying the score and any relevant information the club wish to broadcast.

The first part of the game saw a couple of wayward efforts from the visitors through Brennan Dickinson and Drey Wright. The hosts then had a good spell in the middle of the half and took the lead in the 22nd minute. It was a route one goal with Conrad Logan's long goal kick bouncing thirty yards from goal and as Colchester keeper Sam Walker and defender Tom Eastman waited for each other to react Kane Hemmings nipped in to lob the ball into the net. This poor goal was the catalyst for a 10 minute spell where Mansfield laid into a rattled Colchester. Danny Rose's volleyed effort went close and the U's displayed some dire passing that really should have been punished by the hosts. The visitors had their best chance on the stroke of half-time as Sammie Szmodics through ball unleashed Kurtis Guthrie and his effort was heading in until covering defender Malvind Benning cleared off the line. The decent end to the half for Colchester continued into the second period and the equaliser came in the 50th minute. Brandon Comley picked up the ball on the right-hand side before heading into the area, fending off a challenge and striking across goal into the bottom corner from 10 yards out. The rest of the second half was an entertaining one with Colchester having the upper hand though either side could've won it. Paul Digby's looping header in the 69th minute came back off the Colchester crossbar while a great double save by Sam Walker just before time denied Malvind Benning first and then Jacob Mellis on the follow-up. Meanwhile at the other end the visitors had a succession of corners and shots on goal that could've seen Colchester pick up all three points on another day.

Result: Mansfield Town 1-1 Colchester United
Division: Football League Two
Attendance: 4,050

Ground #172 - Mill Field

Date: 6th April 2015
Ground: Mill Field
Location: Aveley, Essex

My seventh new ground of 2015 was on Monday 6th April at Mill Field in Aveley, Essex. The match was Aveley vs. Thamesmead Town in Isthmian League Division One North.

Mill Field was close to the centre of Aveley and just over 2 miles from the nearest railway station at Purfleet. The ground was home to Aveley between 1927 and 2017 when the club moved to a new venue at Parkside to the north of the village. During my visit the ground was bordered by housing on three sides and the demolition of the ground made way for the rest of the site to be converted to housing as well.

The west side of the ground was the most significant part of the venue. There was a 400 seat wooden stand level with the half-way line - this structure was built in the 1950s and had a few supporting columns at the front of it to hold up the roof. In front of this was a large amount of uncovered concrete terracing which ran for the length of the pitch. The clubhouse, dressing rooms and dugouts were also on this side of Mill Field.

The east side housed the Pepper Stand until it was damaged in a storm in 2009 - when I visited there was just a small bit of covered concrete terracing with a tarpaulin back to it. Because of the curve of the ground this sat a way back from the pitch. Behind the northern goal there was a covered metal terrace which was added in recent years. The rest of the venue was uncovered hard standing.

The visitors were on top in the early going though it took until the 28th minute for them to take the lead. Tyrus Gordon-Young played a slick pass in behind the defence which allowed Michael Uwezu time to slide the ball past James Marrable in the Aveley goal. In the 34th minute Thamesmead doubled the lead when a dangerous cross into the area saw Spencer Harrison divert the ball into his own net. It looked like the away side were on for an easy win but in the 41st minute Aveley grabbed a lifeline when Steve Willis beat the offside trap and having drawn the goalkeeper then squared for  Liam Nash to stoke into the empty net. Thamesmead restored the two goal lead in the 54th minute in real route 1 fashion - a long goal kick up field was nodded on for Michael Uwezu to slam past the goalie. This lead went back down to a single goal in the 72nd minute as Petrit Elbi held off the attentions of a couple of defenders on the edge of the area before shooting in the bottom corner. This was the catalyst for a costly few minutes for Thamemead - firstly Derek Duncan was sent off for hitting Luke Stanley and straight after this they conceded a third when a nice passing move culminated in Arian Retkoceri curling a shot in off the post from 20 yards out. The hosts were well on top for the rest of the game but couldn't quite get a winner. In the 93rd minute Thamesmead were reduced to nine men as Michael Spencer was given his marching orders for a second booking but there wasn't enough time for Aveley to take advantage of this.

Result: Aveley 3-3 Thamesmead Town
Division: Isthmian League Division One North
Attendance: 76