Basford United 3-2 Bamber Bridge (Northern Premier League)
I was at the Nottingham Robin Hood beer & cider festival at Trent Bridge on Friday, a bit worse for wear today I’m keeping things local, setting off later and driving a little less further than usual for a Saturday as I opt for a home match for Basford United which is just up the ring road from my house.
I’ve the beauty of leaving for half past one as I get in the car and make way to Greenwich Avenue, a venue by now which I’ve seen plenty of, over the years.
Bamber Bridge I last watched at Ilkeston Town last season and although I’m not too familiar with their work, like Basford, I know they sit middle of the table in the Northern Premier League premier division and are a competitive North-West based side from just south of Preston managed by former Everton midfielder Jamie Milligan.
The Venue
I’ve pulled onto Greenwich Avenue and parked up as the Bamber Bridge team coach reverses up the road into the car park of the ground, a little later than usual it’s a quarter to two, still delicate I’m getting in early and am going to have a bite to eat today, the sun is out but there’s a chill in the air so I’m well wrapped up for any further temperature drop.
It’s eerily quiet as I walk over the car park and through the turnstile, I stop off for a pee before saying hello to the old boy sitting outside a portacabin which says club shop, before I wander over to the opposite corner of the ground where there’s another portacabin standing alone, this one stinks of chip fat as I order a tea, and ask for pie, chips and gravy.
It’s not pukka but it’s decent is the pie, very steaky I could have had peas thrown in for the same price but although I’m from Nottingham I’m not one for mushy stuff, after all, Goose Fair was last weekend, time to move on from that tradition.
Fed and oiled I take the scenic route behind the goal to a seated area which is adjacent with half way, I’m sat down as an old Basford fan hops over some seats to park next to me, he talks pop music and is apparently a Taylor Swift fan, it’s the country stuff he liked, before she got famous, but a bloke from Bulwell in his seventies with a beard and Basford bobble hat, I would never have had him down as a ‘Swifty’.
The Game
The sun is out as the two teams enter the field to a bit of light applause, it’s not hugely busy today, a couple of hundred or more, it feels very low key as the game gets underway and two teams play at a slow tempo.
Despite the slow start, Basford have a couple of big early opportunities, Ash Chambers has the ball in the net but is offside, he’s then given the ball by the Bamber Bridge goalkeeper who passes it straight to him, slightly shocked by the plated opportunity Chambers side foots wide from inside the area when he should have given United the lead.
There’s a couple more chances for Chambers who hits one wide before scuffing an opportunity one-on-one with the goalkeeper who stands tall, I say to the fella next to me “they could regret missing these” but although Bamber Bridge have a lot of the ball, defensively they are loose as Kacy Butterfield breaks their ropey offside trap to run from midfield, he homes in on goal and lays to Chambers who this time can’t miss, and doesn’t.
The Score
At half time it’s 1-0 as the old boy next to me sods off to get a brew, I’m watching the second half alone but I’m in with the Basford fans who are all in agreement it’s United’s to lose.
But they don’t look like losing, potent in attack, Prince Mancinelli has picked up the ball on halfway and runs powerfully down the right wing before crossing for Chambers to head home, the former Coalville striker diving in like Keith Houchen at the back post to put Basford two up. Delightful football.
There’s an injury for Chambers on the hour which slightly changes the complexion of the game, he comes off for young Mansfield Town loanee McKeal Abdullah who sloppily gives the ball away on 74, Bamber Bridge break away, Lucas Weaver slips Henri Wilder and shoots low and hard at Saul Deeney’s near post, the ball cannoning off the keepers hands into the roof of the goal and suddenly the away sides peckers are up.
The games gone scrappy, Bamber Bridge are chasing an equaliser and Basford are suddenly clinging on, it looks more likely the away side will get something and when Weaver finds space on 84, he shoots hard and low to level despite some desperate defending on the line, the writing was on the wall as Basford have hardly laid glove since scoring on 51, it now looks like only one side will win it.
Both teams make changes and in the dying minutes Bamber Bridge blaze over a chance which bobbles around inside the Basford box, but United soon go up the other end, Kane Richards who is excellent, dribbles into the box, drills low, and Bamber Bridge defender Will Squires can only slide into his own net.
An unlikely winner following an unlikely route back into the game for Bamber Bridge, an avoidable ending in a game filled with drama, which went the way of Basford.
The Stars
Kane Richards down the right was a constant threat and deservedly received the post-match accolade as man of the match, direct and speedy he’s now 30 but looks an even better version of himself than the player I first saw ten or twelve years ago at Ilkeston.
Other impressive performances from Basford came in defence where on loan Mansfield Town right back Taylor Anderson shown physicality, guts and presence which are needed if the 19-year-old is to forge a career in the game, equally solid was Victor Nirenhold at centre half who defended without nonsense although the shape of Basford’s attacking 3-1-4-2 formation often left him exposed. The tall and leggy Prince Mancinelli in the sitting midfield role is a player I like, as is Kacy Butterfield, equally as tall further advanced in midfield, whilst Matt Thornhill often caressed chipped passes around the place like he owns it, now aged 36 he’s Mr Basford having been at the club since 2017.
For Bamber Bridge they had their own inventive midfielder of experience getting on the ball and looking to make things happen, Michael Potts now 32 is a player that started his career at Manchester United, whilst Lucas Weaver aged 22, at the other end of his career, is a player in form having signed on loan from Altrincham in the summer.
The Verdict
Bamber Bridge play some nice football but defensively they play a high line with a barrel-chested centre half Alex Kenyon often exposed in having to run back against pace, which he simply did not have, that area of their side is certainly their Achilles heel, but perhaps so is Basford’s who never look like keeping a clean sheet.
Both teams are probably where they are at, United do have something about them this season which I like, if only they can tighten up a little at the back, both should well avoid any potential trouble from relegation, both will probably be happy if they finish where they already are, come what May.
Basford United: Saul Deeney, Taylor Anderson, Henri Wilder, Prince Mancinelli, Victor Nirenhold (Nelson Aideyan 90), Rev James (Josh Barnes 40), Kane Richards, Kacy Butterfield, Tyrell Waite (Tyler Dacres 90), Matt Thornhill, Ashley Chambers (McKeal Abdullah 60).
Bamber Bridge: Jame Pradic, Finlay Wallbank (Chris Churchman 74), Liam Brockbank, Macauley Wilson (Will Squires 74), Alex Kenyon, Adam Dodd (Lewis Hey 58), Danny Edwards (Billy Hasler-Cregg 78), Michael Potts, Simon Grand, Lucas Weaver, Jack Baxter.
3:00pm Kick Off. Saturday 12th October 2024, Greenwich Avenue, Nottingham (att 256).
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