NO JOKE AS DAWSON KEEPS BLIDWORTH WINNING STREAK GOING

BLIDWORTH WELFARE 1 LINBY COLLIERY WELFARE 0
CMFL SOUTH @ THE WELFARE
6 OCTOBER 2018 --- 3PM

THE WELFARE GROUND BLIDWORTH

A header from Jason Dawson after 52 minutes proved to be the winner and extended the winning run to seven for Blidworth and sent the home sides confidence high ahead of their first round proper FA Vase jaunt to Aylestone Park next Saturday.
Following the lovely return to the wet stuff which in the football season normally occurs on a Friday night or Saturday as we all know, there was an obsessional watch of the weather forecast with 4g games at the ready.  Travelling far afield was again put out with Northern rail strikes, Derby station coming to its last weekend of engineering upgrades and East Midland Trains warning people not to travel on the Liverpool services due to the 'giants' weekend. 
However all of this served a purpose with, finally, the resolve to take in a game at Blidworth a village visited and travelled through on many occasions but never having seen 90 minutes of the beautiful game.  The ground as many people mentioned during the afternoon is hidden away slightly from the road but of course with those modern day maps you can easily locate this hidden gem.

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD UNIQUE ENTRANCE TO PITCH SIDE

Connecting services at Alfreton and Mansfield, a place I have been to recently too much for my own good, saw me travel through Rainworth and to the far end of Blidworth departing at the Parish Church were todays history/myth starts.  Of course the village and areas modern day history is very much linked into the coal mining industry as are so many of the local sports clubs but in days gone by the socially aware Robin Hood roamed these wooded areas robbing the rich to give to the poor.  Within the graveyard of St Mary's is the gravestone, marked by a former stone apex from the church, of Will Scarlet one of Robins merry men and the Blidworth connection doesn't stop there with Maid Marian also reputed to have been born in the villages boundaries.

THE ROCKING CRADLE IN THE CENTRE OF BLIDWORTH

Time to leave the church and wander past the impressive war memorial back to the centre of modern day Blidworth were another interesting story lies outside the modern day Tesco Express.  The rocking cradle designed by local craftsman Morris Reddington marks the continuation of tradition that ties in with the baptism of the baby boy born nearest Christmas day which takes place in February and the infant is rocked in a wooden cradle during the service, Blidworth is the last remaining area to keep this observation in place.
The mornings rain had just about abated now and on the short climb through the village shops that mainly sit on one side of the main Road through the village we soon reached the northern edge and the new Blidworth Welfare which was smart and with some interesting historical pictures of the village and pit on display is worth a look.  As with former colliery sports grounds football, cricket and bowls were prominent, although it wasn't clear if the latter survives.  The entrance to the ground is accessed by the side of the brass band rooms and to the left takes you around the boundary of the cricket club to a smart set of changing rooms to the right and hospitality and snack bar window to the left.

FIRST HALF BLIDWORTH ATTACK AS CAMERMAN SHIELDS FROM THE RAIN

With admission gained and a 50p programme that did all it needed to do alongside some handy round ups of local leagues there was time to catch up with a few people including secretary Scott and the small band of helpers offered a pleasant welcome.
The birds eye view at the entrance point sees you surveying all before you down the steps to pitch side and straight on leads you past the half way line and a covered terrace with bench seating at the rear that runs the bottom half of the pitch.  The far end has hard standing as does the touchline to the other side apart from the bottom end which appears to have either never had hard standing or crumbled away.  The dugouts are also on this side and although the half of terracing towards the main entrance has its concrete disappearing its more than a pleasure to have a four sided ground again.  So we return to the entrance goal and the star of the show a five row seated stand in 4 sections seating originally 150 now down to I reckon 149, statto[!] after a seat as fallen by the wayside.

ALL WATCHING AS LINBY LOOK TO CONTROL PLAY

Being one of the grounds I had not visited and expected not to be too interesting many people urged me to go saying it would be an enjoyable experience and yes you were right I did find the visit more than encouraging.  The team of volunteers here also thanks to the secretary display the teams on a wipe board and with pre match photos taken there was time for a soup from, once again, the pleasant lady in the catering facility.
Blidworth, formerly Oak House Old Boys, would be without top scorer Aiden Harris who has a remarkable 14 goals in all competitions, sadly today out injured and with the clubs first choice keeper out for the last few weeks with broken knuckles 16 year old Adam Gell would perform admirably between the sticks with credit to him and the club for taking their opportunity.  For Linby its all been about games away from their Church Lane home while pitch improvements and movement plus clubhouse upgrades are made, thankfully their first home game is next Saturday when Swanwick Pentrich Road are the visitors.

REFEREE JONES HAS A QUIET WORD

The closest of local derbies then would see an inconsistent visitors take on Blidworth who were looking to continues their recent wining form.
The first half was an industrious affair with little in the way of chances and sadly by the time we approached the twentieth minute the sharp rain had started and the afternoon turned even colder.  As the half wore on the home side created the better chances with Josh Asuman hitting the bar and then just before the break visiting keeper pulled off a sharp save from Ben Smith from the same players deflected 25 yard effort.

BLIDWORTH SET OFF ON A SECOND HALF ATTACK

Another warming soup was trialled at half time as the rain lashed down and continued until the last quarter of an hour when finally it relented, thankfully.  This didn't stop Blidworth taking their chance and with it the three points it was Callum Pursglove who supplied the corner from the right for Dawson to rise to head home.

DERBYSHIRE REF HARRY JONES A GOOD AFTERNOON IN CONTROL

The effort was there from both sides but a classic it was not in the closing stages Joshua Henry saw his 20 yard effort come back off the bar after visiting number one had saved in the build up.
A vital three points for Blidworth as they march towards the top of the table and a confidence booster ahead of next weeks FA Vase first round in Leicester where they can take a lot of self belief having done so well recently in FA competitions.
A fairly comfortable get away by the same reverse route allowed probably the worse public transport journey of the season, so far, from Mansfield to Alfreton with a whole array of disruptive fellow passengers.
A Good local afternoon it had taken me a while to visit The Welfare Ground but it was a welcome trip on a miserable weather afternoon and hopefully one I will make again soon and would recommend.