WALSALL WOOD GET 'MAX' POINTS THANKS TO A LATE WINNER

WALSALL WOOD 2 V COVENTRY SPHINX 1
MIDLAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE PREMIER @ THE ML SAFETY STADIUM - OAK PK
19 MARCH 2016 --- 3PM

WALSALL WOOD FC

LOUIS HARRIS WALSALL WOODS OPENING SCORER

A goal five minutes from time from substitute Max Black secured all three points for the 'Wood' in a close fought encounter with Sphinx who had looked likely to take a point back to Coventry as the clock wound down.  The game had entered the break at 1-1 with the home side scoring first through Louis Harris before an equaliser for the visitors from Zuhayb Abdirahman shortly afterwards.
As ever more on the game later but first a little look at the day and the journey.  Thankfully the weather seems to be allowing football to be played again but its still difficult to select a game from a long list and going into Friday night there we were down to five fixtures to select from.  The blog tracked all clubs Twitter feeds and surprisingly none of the clubs were advertising their clubs home game by the end of the evening.  A bit of research had followed on a few clubs and by this stage the favourite was coming out as Walsall Wood a club we had seen last season play in the FA Vase against Shaw Lane at a neutral venue, Sandy Lane in Worksop and fellow travel guru Mick had engaged some Walsall Wood players in conversation at Khalsa a few weeks ago.  There was also the chance to see Coventry Sphinx a club I had last seen in an FA Vase game at Teversal quite a few years ago at Carnarfon St.
The decision was taken to make this public transport journey a little more complicated, why? [I know], and come to Walsall Wood from the north and not travel into Birmingham and out through Walsall.  Here we go then start from base station was fairly standard wedging ourselves in the doorway as far as Derby who were at home against local rivals Nottm Forest with a 1230 kick off.  Our next train for Tamworth came in from Nottingham and was of course rammed to the gills with Forest fans and a selection of alcoholic beverages who were disembarking.  As we departed Derby the train manager started his announcement with a sigh and 'aaah normal service can now resume'.  With a table seat gained we were soon up and on the move again at Tamworth getting ourselves to the lower level station for the next train to Lichfield Trent Valley and thankfully a prompt arrival gave us 25 minutes for the fair old stretch to the bus station were within a few minutes of our arrival we departed on the number 35 Arriva Bus to Walsall which would serve the 'wood' first.  One annoying point here is Arriva operating buses with hopper fare collectors so as long as you pay the fare if you do not have the correct money you can pay anything above the fare which they happily keep.  One poor chap in front of us paid £5 for a £2.80 fare!  In todays customer service savvy world this can not be good for any company indeed on the return journey I managed to put a £2 coin in by mistake and proceeded to overpay by £1.40.

FORMER KENNING CAR AND VAN RENTAL BRANCH

We departed at the Chester Rd crossroads and here dear blog reader you may have to indulge me for a minute for here is the site of the former Kenning Car & Van Rental branch a company based in the blogs home town.  The branch was unique in that it had a double listing in its tariff as both Walsall Wood and Brownhills, being on the border of both.  While researching this visit I found a Walsall Woods programme for an FA Cup game v Raunds Town were the then manager of Kennings Mr Robin Warley had sponsored the match ball.
Ok back to normal service and as we walked towards the ground about half a mile away we passed the local educational establishment Shire Oak Academy with its principal Mr Beech, 'tremendous'!  Just short of the ground we had a decision to make with two hours to kick off would we eat at the KFC or the Chippy.  Having taken a look at the latter entitled Aldridge Chippy 2 it won 2 votes and in we went for sustenance, interestingly the KFC is situated to the front of the ground and the leisure centre and opposite a private gym, so you can pile it on and then work it all off next door!
Food devoured we made a walk towards the High St in Walsall Wood with a little while still until kick off.  We observed the site of the former Walsall Wood railway station were the cutting for the line can clearly be seen the station sadly closed way back in 1930 and after the pit closed in 1964 the line was lost altogether.  To the top end of the cutting is a monument to the pit which opened in 1874 and this structure can clearly be seen from the ground.

COPPICE RD CROSSROADS STREET FURNITURE

At the Coppice Road cross roads the first of three iron street structures featuring characters from old are on show this first one is the most impressive with a group of people all emblazoned with their stories of tales of old Walsall Wood.

NOT SURE HOW MANY THE DUCKS DRUNK

As we meandered past the local shops there was time for a picture of the beautifully named pub The Drunken Duck!  Onwards to the bridge which took the road over the Daw End canal we viewed a further iron structure a fisherman high up on a pole bas fishing in the canal and telling his story too.

JUST MISSING A NARROW BOAT ON THE CANAL

Turning back to walk to the ground the final local 'iron' we encountered was the miner with his greyhound dog.  Passing St Johns Church we were soon at the perimeter of the ground passing by the chapel that gave the football club its first working title 'Walsall Wood Ebenezer Primitive Methodists FC'.
Oak Park or to give it its new commercial title ML Safety Stadium is neatly sided by the leisure centre and we are offered a warm welcome from Rex who is operating the turnstile today.  Its always good to get a friendly greeting and we had a chat about the club and of course some of the things we had seen on our mini tour, Rex promised a local historian would be here later and would be of much interest.

Time then to do the tour and to the left hard standing behind the goal was immediately fenced by 'Herres' fencing which provided a separation for players and officials cars.  This fencing continued onto the far touchline and separated much of the extra waste ground from the main stadium area.  The feature of the far side is the 1930's built stand which bares the name of Geoff Woodward which contains a deep set of benched seats with the dugouts well apart either side of the stand.

WALSALL WOOD PIT MONUMENT OVERSEES THE MATCH ACTION

Moving towards the far end goal the pit monument is clearly in view and behind this goal is hard standing with a grassed area to the rear.  There is no access to complete a full circle and indeed in the near touchline as you entered access is to just short of the half way line with the changing rooms beyond being part of the clubhouse which is a modern and light affair.  Immediately before the clubhouse is a portable snack wagon from which the ladies kept us supplied with hot beverages through this increasingly cold afternoon.

DAVID EVANS CAPTURES A FEW PICTURES FOR
HISTORICAL PURPOSES

As I completed the tour via a crafty walk back up the touchline Rex was waving me over because David Evans had arrived and it was a pleasure to meet this informative gentleman who told me many a interesting story about the town and the football club including his claim to fame that the fisherman statue was modelled on him.  We discussed the pit, the station, the unusual statues and the appearance of the stand at the ground and how bricks just appeared in those early days!  A very interesting chat was enjoyed by the blog and I thank David for his time.
After our recent games featuring a glut of goals there was a concern that a 0-0 game would not be far away but this was not to be today, thankfully, when Walsall Wood opened the scoring after 21 minutes.

HAND, ARM, SHOULDER SPHINX DISCUSS IT WITH REFEREE FAUNCH

Sphinx disputed the free kick awarded for handball midway into their half on the left and they felt more aggrieved when Woods captain Harry Harris, great name, floated in the kick for Louis Harris to head home from 8 yards.

LOUIS HARRIS OPENS THE SCORING FOR WALSAL WOOD

The game was all square though and with Garfield Robinson posing a threat down the right for the visitors the home side had to be alert but they made a defensive slip on 33 minutes which allowed Abdirahman to nip in and coolly fire pass Adam Jenkins in the home goal.
Half time had seen Mick visit the snack van to secure another beverage which got us through the interval and the teams were soon returning to the pitch for an intriguing second half.

The game was generally breaking down on the edge of the visitors box as Walsall Wood had much possession but the visitors remained resolute in defence.  So often in games like this the team defending hare up to the other end and score well barring a fantastic last gasp clearance off the line from Ricardo Ricketts from a Mitch Thomson clip round the keeper on 77 minutes that's just what Sphinx would have done.
Great last gasp clearance at one end saw home substitute Black slot home at the far post on 85 minutes to give high flying Wood the lead and ultimately all three point in what had been a close encounter.

A game of few chances but one that was always in the balance until Black popped up to secure the three points.
A short dash back towards the bus stop for the number 35 back to Lichfield was secured in good time only to find out on the journey back that our train from Lichfield had been cancelled and with a 1 hour wait for the next service we managed to locate an express bus service to Tamworth.  With only £2.50 in change panic was heightened that this might mean entering a fiver into the 'hopper'.  Thankfully this Arriva bus gave change and the fare was £2.50, result.
A sharp walk through Tamworth saw arrival at the town station with a 20 minute wait for a direct train to base which was arrived at just after 7pm with a seat secured on a X Country train, a further result.
A cracking little day out always interesting to visit new clubs and towns with some enthralling subjects of historical interest in Walsall Wood.  The blog has visited many a town but this one was up their with its industrial heritage and a football match as well to add to the entertainment.

A MATCH VIEW FROM THE HOME TECHNICAL AREA