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WEST BRIDGFORD 4 GRAHAM ST PRIMS 0
EMCL @ REGATTA WAY
17 FEBRUARY 2018 --- 3PM

REFEREE DANIEL GHENT LEADS OUT TODAYS TEAMS

A comfortable victory in the end for West Bridgford in this bottom of the table battle but with half an hour gone there was nothing to pick between the two sides with the visitors probably having the upper hand but 3 goals in a fourteen minute period before half time settled the home side and ultimately secured the three points.
Shock horror two days without any rain gave way to hope of no phoning around although some clubs still managed to find their pitches waterlogged.  Todays visit would be a 'new one' but one of the small merry band of about five clubs relatively close to home that had not been visited so with the Comet a few minutes behind it was with a slight anxiousness that we set off.   Time caught up we dashed across the concourse at Derby bus station within 3 minutes we were aboard The Red Arrow to Nottingham departure at Upper Parliament St saw us with a four minute dash, not mile, to catch the Mainline service to West Bridgeford and we made it!

THE IMPRESSIVE HOLME PIERREPONT

Arrival in our destination found it raining, what...........   The area is certainly on the upper market side of Nottingham to 4 miles to the south of Nottingham we had of course passed Notts County FC and their neighbours Nottm Forrest and then the cricket ground at Trent Bridge.  After a brief look around we hopped on a further bus the five stops or so to the edge of Regatta Way and with half an hour or so in the tank we walked the mile or so to the purpose built Holme Pierrepont Water centre with a straight waterway for rowing, skiing, plus additional kayak facilities on the slalom area this is an impressive facility if slightly subdued today for the massive area that it of course takes up.  We had hoped to get a snack here but it wasn't to obvious where and with time pressing we walked the 3/4's of a mile back along the road that had seen us pass the football ground earlier on.

GROUND OVERVIEW AT REGATTA WAY

The first thing to say is that the site has a variety of football pitches and a couple of cricket grounds with a slightly off centre changing room social block that is smart but gives the 'village hall' feel to its facilities.  The building is situated towards the main pitch used by West Bridgford, the whole site appears to have been developed within an area of fields off the busy A52 situated in Gamston just outside the West Bridgford area.  General feel is that this is the south Nottingham version of Arnold Town's Eagle Valley set up but with far better public transport.

SMART MAIN STAND AT WEST BRIDGFORD

The ground descriptor is not too complicated the pitch is surrounded by the modern type tin building cladding offering a green uniformity and two sides are accessible behind the immediate goal and the near touchline, the far touchline houses the dugouts and along with the top goal these areas are still grassed.  Along the main touchline is a smart Atcost stand with corporate coloured black and red seats, the feel is of a tidy set up.  Most grounds offer some sort of back drop certainly from a photo point of view but Regatta Way doesn't and it of course leaves you to concentrate on the football.  Once again we have a club run by a small but dedicated band of helpers who have kept a tidy ground with an enthusiasm to keep non league football on the map in West Bridgford.  By this time Mick had got into conversation with a lady and gentleman from Shepshed and it was also good to catch up with the dad of Ryan Head playing left back for West Bridgford and previously of Nottingham Trent University FC in The NSL.

EARLY MATCH ACTION

A very small crowd of faithfuls had turned up for this battle at the wrong end of the EMCL and I did fear the first 0-0 game looking at both sides 'goals for' column but the conceded row gave encouragement.

PRIMS ON THE ATTACK

The opening exchanges were sharp but scrappy and it became clear that Graham St Prims were securing an upper hand without anything to show for it and of course as so often happens your opponents score.  Just over the half hour mark it was Jack Gray who reacted sharply to fire the home side into the lead and within four minutes the same player got away a close range shot that was going wide save for Bradley Scard turning the ball agonisingly into his own goal.  With a minute to go to half time the game had turned on its head with West Bridgford in total command when Joshua Kwadu broke through to score.

2-0

The second period went wrong for Graham St Prims as early as 54 minutes when Kwadu headed home from a William Heath cross.  The game over sign went up and although the visitors missed two guilt edged chances with enough time to make something of the closing stages it was to remain 4-0 when referee Ghent called time on proceedings.

JOSHUA KWADU MAKES IT 4-0

Never let us again complain about public transport timings again, we will of course, arrive at bus stop to be shipped away back to the city immediately, quick dash saw the Red Arrow arrive within 22 minutes and then a comfortable connection to The Comet saw base arrival at 7pm.