(Teesdale Park) EBAC DIVISION 2
A brief history (Quite literally!)
Thornaby fc was founded in 2000 having formerly been known as Stockton from the 1980’s playing there football in the Wearside League. They then played football in the northern division 1, however in the 2005-06 season despite finishing 17th they were relegated due to poor quality of the ground. Since then the ground (Teesdale park formerly a cricket field) had been refurbished with a new clubhouse , security fencing all funded by a national lottery scheme and Stockton council will fund a new community room. Thanks to the upgrades Teesdale park is home to Middlesbrough ladies’ team. Thornaby's best season in division 2 has been In the 2015/16 season where they finished 7th and reached the semi final of the North Riding Cup.
Match preview
Thornaby FC are high flyers in the league this season and are placed in 7th place. In their last 6 games they've managed to accumulate 12 Points however mainly all have been picked up on their travels with thornaby’s last home win coming in early January against Easington colliery.
Despite being placed in 15th place in the table West allotment’s recent form has been respectable picking up 7 points in the last 6 and two wins on the trot, one away to fellow strugglers Darlington RA (2-3) and the other a comfortable 5-0 win over Brandon united.
In the reverse fixture west Allotment came out vicorious with a 3-1 win showing on the day they are capable of causing a upset however I still believe thornaby will edge this game.
Prediction: Thornaby 2-1 West Allotment
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| Thornaby FC |
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| West Allotment Celtic |
Matchday :
Thornaby 5-1 West Alotment Celtic
Att:71
Price: £5 ticket, £3 food, programme N/A
Star man: Kallum Hannah
A GAME OF TWO HALVES
I woke up feeling pessimistic that the game would be on as hail and rain was pelting down. However to my surprise and delight the sun came out and it became quite a pleasant day.
We reach the ground having walked down the long pot hole filled road (if you don't know where the ground is like I do it could be a struggle to find) we arrived just as the referee blew his whistle so we quickly found a seat in the main stand. The pitch was very heavy and cut up quite easily making the game a very scrappy one. There was little to talk about in the first half the most fiery action happening between the two managers on the sidelines. The biggest and probably the only chance off the first half was West Allotment's no.9 Dean Watson who had a fierce shot from the edge of the box that beat the keeper but skimmed the post and went wide.
That was it the first half was over (let's hope the second half is just a little bit better) meaning it was time to have a walk around the ground and see what it had to offer, I liked it yes rustic in places but thats what I like about it the main stand was placed on the halfway line and behind one goal was another mini stand behind the other an unusual stand with rundown sofas in there. The food to offer was ok nothing special A burger for me!
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| Entrance |
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| Teamsheet |
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| Action shot |
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| Mini stand |
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| Rundown stand |
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| Entrance |
This half was well worth the trip 6 goals and a Red card!!. It started pretty much from kick off thornaby gifted the ball straight to Celtic who broke away and John Watson from the edge off the box beautifully struck it into the bottom left corner the keeper couldn't reach it. After the goal Celtic looked on top however that was until substitute Colin McKenzie was shown a second yellow a first for squaring up to the referee swearing at him and the other for a rash challenge much to the amusement of the thornaby fans who cheered you fat b#@#@#d. A silly moment meant a lifeline for thornaby and they certainly took it, they earned themselves a free kick just outside the box that the captain Kallum Hannah perfectly put it into the top corner. This was the start of thornaby dominating the game the floodgates had opened. As soon after Graham put a lovely ball into the box only for Morrison to head into the keepers hands. However minutes later brilliant hold up play by Hannah led to him teeing up Murphy on the edge who smashed it into the net 2-1. Thornaby fell asleep and Dean Watson put he' shot just wide a great chance to get back in the game. Its 3-1 a penalty converted by Hannah for his second cooly put in the corner. A goal was then disallowed for thornaby's Posthill having marginally strayed offside. It was then 4-1 a lovely precise driven shot by Chapman into bottom right. At this point Allotment had given up and it was 5-1 James tapped home after a scramble in the box.
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| A feisty affair |
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| Goal thornaby fc |
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| View for the second half |
