Anglian Combination League

Premier Division

Saturday 1st December 2018

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.02

Hellesdon 2 Mattishall 2,  attendance 17

12’ 1-0

60’ 1-1

64’ 2-1 (pen)

88’ 2-2 (pen)

@ Hellesdon Community Centre

Woodview Road

Hellesdon

NR6 5QB

Admission, by donation box collection.

Programme, free (cover price £1.50), 28 pages.

Earlier in the week I had planned to stop over after the match at Stalham, with this being my intended choice for today, as the club are rumoured to be moving from Hellesdon Community Centre some time in the near future. However, the weather forecast for this area was dreadful for Saturday, so upon leaving home, I had given up on the intended stopover, but as the day went on, the forecast was improving, so I made a late decision to stop after all and hope that my first choice match would survive the elements. As it turned out, the heavy rain that was forecast never materialised and although there was light rain in the hour leading up to kick off, there was only drizzle to contend with during the match.

Hellesdon came into this in 15th place in the league table (second from bottom), whilst the visitors were ninth. It was a pretty feisty affair and somewhat surprising that it finished with both teams having their full eleven on the pitch at the end, as there were quite a few dodgy tackles going in.

Hellesdon scored early, but were unable to add to it. Mattishall had a man ‘sin binned’ early in the second half, but it was during this time that they scored an equaliser. Within a minute of the player returning, they conceded a penalty, to go 2-1 behind. With time running out, Hellesdon threw away the 3 points when they gave away a penalty themselves and Mattishall duly converted the spot kick to take a share of the points. As at Caister last week, it was very gloomy when the final whistle went at 15.51.

As the ground is not enclosed, the club can’t charge admission, but they do come round with a collection box at the start of the second half, giving a copy of the matchday programme to those who donate, although the price on the cover says they are  £1.50. It always amazes me how people are prepared to stand in the rain for a couple of hours, but are not prepared to help the club by making a small donation towards the cost of putting the match on.