TT No.227: Stephen Harris - Tuesday 17 April 2007; Spartan Prem; Colney Heath 1-1 Haringey Borough.            Att: c.58; Admission: £4; Programme issued; FGIF Match rating: 3* 


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I had read some rather disparaging comments about Colney Heath’s Recreation Ground home recently, so it was good to find that this is actually a very pleasant venue to visit on a mild spring evening.  And the cold drinks and ham rolls available in the spacious clubhouse were very welcome after a brisk and long-ish walk from St. Albans station.  

The club play on a small sports ground at the edge of the village which is also home to St. Albans Crusaders Rugby League Club (on a separate pitch), a tennis court and a children’s playground.  The football pitch is fully surrounded by a white rail and there is hard standing at both ends and along one side.  The side bordering the rugby pitch offers only grass standing.  The main facility is the aforementioned clubhouse, which has a low wooden roof fixed along its full frontage.  Beneath this are two rows of green plastic seats, perhaps 100 in total, with standing room behind. Unfortunately the seats are very low on a concrete base and the rear row is not raised above the front row.  In the unlikely event of a full house you might not get much of a view – but last night they offered a good perch to rest up our weary legs in the second half before the slog back to the station.  Elsewhere around the ground are a couple of fixed benches facing the pitch.

Neither side has had a great season and Haringey in particular were desperate for points in an attempt to stave off relegation.  They started great guns in the first half and attacked throughout.  Colney had their goalkeeper to thank for the 0-0 half-time scoreline, in particular for a good save from a penalty kick.  The second half was more even as Colney perhaps remembered that they too needed at least a point to kill off their own lingering relegation fears.  Indeed it was Colney Heath who eventually took the lead before Borough deservedly equalised right at the death.  An enjoyable game but perhaps not enough to save Haringey and there were long faces amongst the travelling support at the final whistle.

A functional, statistics-led, match programme sold for £1 on entry.

 

contributed on 18/04/07