A STRANGE DAY IN NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

ROTHWELL CORINTHIANS 1 KIRBY MUXLOE 2
UCL PREM @ SERGEANTS LAWN
2 MARCH 2019 ---3PM

EARLY ROTHWELL CORINTHIAN PRESSURE

When the day ended in the neighbouring town of Kettering at a famous High Street fast food restaurant with the information that there was no ice cream it just about summed up a peculiar day in North Northamptonshire for the ultimate finish to this establishments meal for me is one of their famous delicacies!
My melancholic mood was fed by the events of the day and left an obscure feel around the experience and probably the main event.  It started in the normally but recently unusual manor of standing to Leicester and then again on the connecting service to Kettering.  It would be the first time I had departed the front of this station and walked the pavements of the town centre having previously visited the delightful old lady that was Rockingham Road home of Kettering FC a fair few years ago.  The ground is now demolished and The Poppies find themselves way out of town at Burton Latimer a great shame to all football fans although upon leaving in the evening a station conversation struck up with a fan informed me the club have now purchased land on the edge of town, but this will be a long term project.
Kettering Town FC had a exciting cup pedigree but were a club that never quite made it you feel and on todays visit the town centre felt very much the same.  With Scunthorpe topping the table for a town with no redeeming features todays expedition around the Northamptonshire town had them well up in the play off zone to challenge the leaders. 
I guess it was a mirror image of failing high streets with the loss of its M & S, same corporate id's of the local spoons and Stagecoach that added to the air of melancholy, which was probably down to my developing mood who knows.  The one thing that cheered me up as I left on the Desborough bound bus was the sandwich shop entitled 'butter me up' yea a smile had briefly approached my face.

THE UNIQUE MARKET HOUSE IN ROTHWELL

Arriving in Rothwell by the busy A14, something which would constantly challenge your senses while in the small town centre, we were soon departing and on Bridge St.  It was all fairly familiar territory even though only having visited once previously its a small centre with some very interesting historical buildings.  The impressive highlight is marked by The Market House which now has a charity shop within its confines, the Parish Church offers a smart walkway around and sitting by the side is the former Jesus Hospital and Alms-houses and the quaint row of stone terraces that make up Hospital Hill. 
Having waited in the local chippy the order arrived with meat item I had not ordered on it surprisingly for the second time this week at different establishments of course, while in there a conversation was struck up with a chap who had Sammy Lee as a cousin, his mum had dated Gordon Banks and Trevor Francis was also connected to his family, it was an obscure day.  So I decided to take a short walk to Cecil St the reason for my last visit.
Approaching two decades ago a visit to the ground of Rothwell Town for an FA Cup game found a side that had graced The Southern Premier League and a lovely little ground with a cracking stand and inappropriately placed floodlight right at the front of it.  However I remember an enjoyable afternoon spent there, the field of former glories now has a housing estate on it and sadly forlorn and friendless on one of the houses front garden was a football, my levels of melancholy rose again did the owners even know they were somewhere approaching the penalty box?
From the stand the day of my previous visited you could view the distant ground of  Rothwell Corinthians at the time the smaller neighbour in The United Counties League and now the only club representing this small town.

ONE OF THE TWO SEATED STANDS AT SERGEANTS LAWN

Reading the local notice board the library proudly announced it was 'open for now' with the sad state of things in the county many are closing or are being farmed out to volunteers as Northamptonshire County Council looks to sort out its budget difficulties, the irony wasn't lost on me that The Conservative Club was its very close neighbour.  These establishments are the hub of communities like Rothwell and looking at some of the activities and events that are still being staged at these worrying times within its walls lets hope the volunteers and supporters can keep the library operational.
There was though humour along the way mainly supplied by the rail network which surpassed itself with todays announcements starting with the train from Leicester to Kettering which had no catering facility.  The corporate declaration was "we apologise there is no catering today...this is due to Rail Gourmet being unable to provide a host", this was probably bettered by the pre-programmed call for the 1845 Kettering departure to Corby "this train is made up of five coaches.  This train has four coaches".  When it came to the 1900 service I required the dreaded "This train is reported as full and standing" normally a sign that the third class roof seats are required but amazingly they must have all got off at Bedford because on arrival it was probably the emptiest train of the day.

NO GOAL LINE TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED HERE AS KIRBY CLEAR THEIR LINE

Rothwell Corinthians are based on the Desborough Road just to the top side of the cricket club and entrance to the ground is by the quaintest of footpaths to the pay box.  Small stands on both sides with the near side having a small additional covered terrace, there has been some upgrades done and everything is functional with the far goal being out of bounds three sides remain accessible.  The clubhouse is a small dark affair but remains comfortable for the small crowd today and offers basic snack and bar facilities.  Both clubs are very infrequent visitors to their social media accounts and I have often wondered about the correlation between low attendances and a lack of publicity.
The relegation charged affair was just that full of effort and when Corinthians led at half time through a nice finish from the number 8, who upon checking the team sheet had been replaced by a number 17 so who knows but I can only guess at Ryan Clark, you could not see them losing.
However the second period found Kirby Muxloe in a different mood, non melancholic probably, and they equalised with twenty minutes remaining thanks to Aaron Love who hit a sweet 25 yard free kick into the Rothwell net and then just nine minutes later Mark Tinsley stretched to turn the ball home to secure a vital three points for the Leicestershire side who even missed a penalty on 89 minutes when Adam Parry scuffed the spot kick well wide.
Did I mention melancholy?  It was a strange day.