Our first ever visit to the Shilo Recreation Ground, home of Awsworth Villa, and although this is a basic set up, we were impressed with how well the Rec has been tended. Decent gravel walkway, park benches if you need to have a sit down - and although there is no cover if it rains, you can always watch from the comfort of the car.....
The raised bank on one side of the pitch offers a great view of proceedings, but is so open that the bitingly cold wind finds those special places you don't really want it to find!!
The ground is so easy to find, we wondered why we haven't visited before ... after all, we live only a 15-20 minute car ride away.
After the usual handshakes, the teams lined up to pay their respects to Magdala Life President Alan Gilmour who passed away on Saturday morning. Alan was a well respected figure in non-league circles and all NSL teams have been instructed to pay their respects prior to kick-off.
We seldom take in NSL games, because at times the skill level can sometimes leave a lot to be desired. On this occasion we were treated to a decent enough game, with both teams showing enough to keep me and the Daftlad happy......
Not many notes taken - after all the nice weather we've enjoyed recently, this was back to almost winter temperatures......bloody frozzen again, and I kept my hands, for a lot of the game, resting warmly in my pockets!!
Awsworth lined up in their red/white halved shirts and red shorts, while Magdala sported amber shirts and black shorts. Not knowing most of the players names also restricted the amount of notes, but I did manage to work out who scored the goals.
The first goal was scored in the 8th minute, a smart finish from LUKE DAVIS after he was picked out by the lively Kieron Saxton. H-T 1-0
We had a potter into the woods at half-time ...someone had also made a good job of keeping this neat and tidy as well - although my presence added little to the scenery!!!!
The Villa lead was doubled on 64 when skipper DANNY TOWLE's free-kick from the right ended up in the back of the net.
At first it was thought that Danny Chambers had headed the ball home, but he admitted to Towle that he hadn't made any contact. Probably as well really - Chambers looked to be in a slightly offside position.....
Awsworth had a great chance to add to the score after 70 minutes had been played, but the Magdala keeper blocked well when confronted one on one..
To be fair to Dala, they kept trying to reduce their arrears, but had little bite up top. Their chances were reduced even more so when they lost a player to a bad head injury having played all three subs. F-T 2-0
Enjoyed our afternoon at the Shilo - and Kev was again on the mark with his pics.... excellent job, feller!!
Admission - no
Programme - no
Head count was a bit tricky - this is a public park. I reckon over 30 were at pitch side for the duration of the game.
