TT No.41: Mike Latham - Saturday 2 January 2016: NCEL Division One: Hull United 2-1 Winterton Rangers; Attendance: 174; Admission: £4; Programme: £1; Raffle ticket: £1 |
There's no better way to start the New Year than
with a new ground and on another rainy Saturday East Yorkshire offered the best
opportunity of avoiding the worst of the elements. There are two new Level Six grounds in the city of
Kingston upon Hull for groundhoppers to enjoy visiting this season. Hall Road
Rangers now play at Haworth Park and Hull United, who formerly played at
Rangers' old Dene Park ground have, since November ground-shared at Hull
Kingston Rovers' Craven Park ground. Rovers moved here in 1989 after leaving their
atmospheric old ground on Holderness Road. Now renamed the KC Lightsteam
Stadium under a sponsorship deal it's far improved from the rather austere
ground it was when it opened and an impressive new seated stand at the north end
has given it a far more enclosed feel. Located in East Hull on Preston Road, just off the
Hedon Road the ground has plenty of parking, certainly for a game of this
nature and it is certainly an easy ground to visit for the car driver. The main stand with shallow paddock in front is
open for Hull United match days. The seated stand has an impressive rake and a
superb view of play from a lofty position and with 4,500 seats must be one of
the biggest in non league football. Looking east towards Withernsea and Hedon and south
towards the docks the views are spectacular on a clear day. But this afternoon
was drizzly and a chill wind blew in from the Humber. The pitch stood up
perfectly to the game. and with the new Super League season not due to start
for another month there were no rugby markings on the field, though the
presence of the rugby goal-posts just behind the portable goals gave a clear
indication this was a Rugby League ground first and foremost, the perimeter
track that once housed the Hull Vikings speedway team now demolished. It's an ambitious move for the Hull United club
that only entered the NCEL this season after finishing runners-up in the Hull
Premier League last season. With their roots in the old St Andrews Police Club
formed in 2005 the club was re-named in 2014. They have Curtis Woodhouse as
manager and another ex Hull City player Ian Ashbee as chairman and showed signs
of their ambitions by recently signing Gary Bradshaw, an accomplished non
league striker in these parts. It seemed strange to be watching a team playing in
black and white- the colours of Rovers' arch rivals Hull FC from across the
city as the 'home' team. United produce an excellent programme for only £1 and
the admission charges are also incredibly reasonable making this a good day out
for local football fans in pleasant surroundings. The first floor lounge of the
main stand was also open for food and drinks and some chose to watch the game
from this area, though most of the crowd were in the main stand looking across
to the empty large covered standing terrace that on rugby match days houses
Rovers' most vocal and passionate fans. Considering the excellent state of the surroundings
it seemed strange to be watching a game of no great quality. The visitors, deep
in relegation trouble looked set to deservedly return across the Humber Bridge
with a share of the spoils until Bradshaw supplied a rare shaft of quality late
in the game to net the winner, majestically sweeping home a right-wing cross. United are very much in contention for a second
successive promotion and had taken the lead in first half stoppage time as
their other striker, who lacks nothing in work-rate finished off a long punt
downfield from a suspiciously offside-looking position. But Winterton drew
level from a penalty when a home defender was red carded for denying a
goal-scoring opportunity. I enjoyed my visit here, especially as having seen
Rugby League here on many occasions it was good to experience the round ball
game. But realistically crowds of 174 are not going to make such an ambitious
ground-sharing move work in the long-term and Hull United have much work to do
to establish themselves in the highly competitive pyramid they have aspirations
to climb. They certainly have a good off-field organisation and an excellent
Twitter feed and I shall watch their progress with interest. I'd recommend a visit here, it's stress-free and
nice and relaxing at what must be one of the best appointed grounds in non
league football. Leaving the city west bound on the Clive Sullivan way I later
passed North Ferriby, a small village club who scaled the pyramid and who
attracted a gate of over 600 for their National League North game against
Gainsborough on the same afternoon. I wonder if Hull United will one day match
their climb through the divisions? |
contributed on 03/01/16 |