Godmanchester Rovers 1-2 U's: Red card at night
What's in a name? I remember there being a team called Cottenham Hotspur a decade or two ago, who must have had trouble getting Arsenal fans to play for them. So how tempting must it have been to form a club called Godmanchester United? Manchester United were reigning Football League champions when Godmanchester Rovers were formed in 1911, although there is no connection between the two settlements other than a similarity in name; the Cambridgeshire town's name comes from the Anglo-Saxon Godmundceaster, meaning a "town or Roman buildings associated with a man called Godmund". But there does not appear to have been any temptation to saddle the town's football club with a similar name to what was even then one of the giants of the game.
Rovers remained strictly a local league setup until 2002, when they graduated from the Cambs County League to the Eastern Counties League, whose Division One they have remained in ever since. Their greatest claim to fame is that local boy Darren Bent came through their youth system before graduating to the big league and being overlooked for major tournaments by England managers.
Their present home at Bearscroft Lane, tucked away up a single-track lane in the countryside a mile or so from the town, is a pleasant, well-tended little venue which boasts cosy portakabins for a bar and a separate snack bar (nice chips!) with a clean toilet block in between, plus a marquee marked 'VIP guests and players only' which went unused on Monday night when the U's came to town.
Unusually, the gently sloping pitch is raised at a higher level than the portakabins up a grassy bank. The car park soon began to fill up, after which excess vehicles were directed up a slope to park along one side of the pitch, which must be convenient when it is cold and wet in the winter as long as you as you don't mind a collision with the odd flying ball, in front of an adjoining practice pitch.
The game was billed as a charity match, although with no programme it was unclear as to who was benefiting, and around 130 football lovers turned up on a mild, breezeless evening, continuing to arrive and park alongside the action until midway through the first half. There was seating for 50 in a new, tidy little stand on the opposite side, plus covered standing in case of need further along. Large nets along both ends were erected to keep stray shots from flying off into the surrounding undergrowth, although there were some impressive ball-sized holes in them; someone must have had one hell of a kick in their shooting boots.
Rovers are managed by Karly Hurst and the club seems to be something of a family affair with three Hursts in their starting line-up and advertising boards from two lots of them dotted around the ground. Paul Carden and John Schofield were in attendance, joined later on by Martin Ling after his stint on local radio, but what was effectively the CRC team was directed from the dugout by Jez George and Nolan Keeley.
Starting line-up: Davies; Bevan, Hughes, Hudson, Coakley; Eades, Allen, Berry, Brighton; Patrick, Ingrey.
With Jonathan Thorpe required for first team duty, Alex Bevan was moved to right-back and Liam Hughes pressed into service at centre-half, while Jordan Patrick was partnered up front by new boy Ryan Ingrey.
The pitch was reasonably well grassed, if somewhat bumpy and uneven and sloped from one side to the other towards the bar area. A good, competitive game soon began to take shape, with Godmanchester number 9 James Hall their danger man, having an early close range chance smothered by Martin Davies then firing just wide of the far post when sent clear down the right channel.
Luke Berry ran the show for the U's, ably supported by Luke Allen and the energetic James Brighton, and Ingrey showed impressive movement and hold-up skills. There was precious little, though, for either keeper to do other than pluck the occasional cross out of the air.
United took the lead on 21 when Berry strode forward from midfield and slipped a nice little through ball down the left channel for Patrick to scamper onto and slide past the Rovers number one from ten yards. 1-0.
It remained a hard-fought contest, with the twin towers of Hughes and Hudson standing up well at the back, but the young U's seemed unwilling to shoot from any distance, usually opting instead for another pass or trying to beat one man too many, the old 'walk it into the net' syndrome to which the first team also seems prone.
Allen, however, had an impressive twenty-yarder well tipped over on 40 as it headed for the top left corner, and just before the break a Jack Eades cross found Brighton at the far post but he seemed surprised that it had reached him and he snatched a hurried volley wide.
Half-time was notable for a seemingly endless raffle draw, during which six numbers were drawn as they tried to track down the winners and almost ran over time into the restart. The floodlights sputtered slowly to life and just about illuminated the proceedings, although the goalmouths looked murkier than the corners.
An industrious duel continued in much the same vein after the break, Chris Tonks having replaced Eades who had taken a knock, and the hosts were rewarded for their work ethic with an equaliser on 65: a through ball was inadvertently helped on by Hughes' head and Hall galloped in on goal unchallenged, Davies reacted smartly to block his first shot, but he latched onto the rebound to ram home. 1-1.
United almost took back their lead within a minute, Brighton getting clear down the left and firing straight at the keeper, but on 70 they were back in front when a Tonks cross caused chaos in the six-yard box, Patrick latched onto a ricochet and rifled coolly into the top left corner on the turn from near the penalty spot. 2-1.
Five minutes later there were strong shouts for a corner when Hall fired a shot over, denied by the ref, and Rovers skipper Paul Bass seemed to take particular umbrage. He said something out of turn to the man in black that was deemed so offensive he was shown a straight red card, highly unusual for a friendly, much less a charity match.
Bass seemed fairly philosophical about the whole thing, having got that off his chest, and trudged off, but his bench was rather less impressed and the ref was obliged to go over a have a word with them twice before they calmed down. A subsequent appeal to be allowed to bring on a sub without taking a man off fell, predictably, on unsympathetic ears.
United finished the game comfortably on top, Berry and Brighton flashing decent shots just wide, and saw out a keenly contested win in what turned out to be somewhat unusual circumstances. It had been a useful runout for the youngsters and serious injury had been avoided as well as funds raised for charity… whichever one it was. But hey, what's in a name…?
Statto Corner
A sending-off in a friendly is not without precedent in a match involving the U's. On 23rd July 2003 United were 3-1 up at Soham just before half-time, with goals from Justin Walker, Dave Kitson and Luke Guttridge, when yours truly reported the following:
'Terry Fleming fouled Peter Hinde on halfway in his customary over-enthusiastic and under-accurate way, Hinde retaliated while the Terrier's back was turned, and the United turned round sharply, arms raised, and caught Hinde in the face, bloodying his nose. All very silly and unnecessary, but surely Terry did not mean to hit Hinde in the face like that and the incident was over almost as soon as it had begun.
But not for our friend Mr McPherson.
On a night when Mark Viduka was substituted at ref Alan Kaye's insistence for a normally punishable offence, McPherson ignored the conventions of friendly matches and flashed his red card at first Fleming, then Hinde once he had got up.'
The Cambs FA were less than happy at my subsequent criticism of ref Mike McPherson, which led directly to the disclaimer which you now see at the end of every report! United ran out 4-1 winners as Kitson added another in the second half.
Monday night was not the first time that a U's side has met a team from Godmanchester. They met Godmanchester Town three times in the 1920s, in three different cup competitions, and in one they recorded what is still the club's highest score in one match, thrashing them 14-1 in the second round of the Chatteris Engineering Works Cup on 11th February 1928. Those historic goalscorers were George Chapman (5), Joe Livermore (3), George Alsop (2), Harold 'Darley' Watson, Wally Wilson and two own goals. And they achieved the win by playing 75 minutes with ten men, Dick Camps having left the field when the U's were 1-0 up in those pre-substitute days.
Abbey United went on to win the Cup that year, defeating Cottenham United 2-1 in the semi-final and Ramsey Town in the final, which was played at Chatteris on the afternoon of Saturday 5th May. After winning 3-0, the U's stayed on and, remarkably, played their final league match against Chatteris Town that same evening (6.30pm kickoff), going down to a battling 5-4 defeat.
Player Ratings
Davies 7. Safe hands, unlucky for the goal.
Bevan 6. Not his best position, but knuckled down well.
Hughes 7. Very capable in one of his many positions.
Hudson 6. Seemed a little distracted on occasion, perhaps mindful of avoiding injury.
Coakley 7. Solid defensively and offered decent support getting forward.
Eades 6. Decent job in the first half.
Berry 8. The man in charge.
Allen 7. Busy and creative.
Brighton 7. Energetic and dangerous.
Patrick 7. Two well-taken goals, although not really a natural central striker.
Ingrey 7. Very promising front man.
Tonks 6. Slotted in well.
Match Summary
The youngsters saw out a deserved win over hard-working opponents in a charity game that turned out to be slightly more competitive and slightly less charitable than perhaps some might have expected.
Man of the Match
Luke Berry. Ready to step up.
Ref Watch
A. Notherbloke 7. Unusual to send someone off in such a game but stuck to his principles.
Soundtrack of the Day
Matthew Dear "Soil to Seed"
Andrew's previous match reports
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