TT No.136: Richard Panter - Tues 4th December 2007; North Leigh v Kidlington; Hellenic League Floodlight Cup;  Result: 1 - 2 AET; Att: 38; Entry: £4 inc. 56 pp programme; Match rating 3 stars.

A few years ago 'Dave the Van' told me a tale of a football pitch in the grounds of a stately home, subsquently I have heard tales similar in nature from others. These almost folkelorish stories were consigned to the darkest  most inaccessible edges of my increasingly addled brain and all but forgotten, until last night. Well, to be more accurate the fixture pages of last Sunday's Non League Paper tripped the relevant memory switch. A week's holiday was the ideal opportunity to travel the 80 odd miles and plunge into deepest North Oxfordshire to have a look myself.  Whoever said it is better to travel in hope than arrive in disappointment clearly couldn't have been to North Leigh FC. I actually travelled in my trusty red Fiesta and arrived in a rural idyl, even on a dark December evening. Some fantastic place.   The village of North Leigh lies on the A4095. Arriving from the north the floodlights pop into view on your immediate left and the logical entry lane was taken and we were confronted with the baronial splendour of Eynsham Hall. A 180 degree turn saw us heading back toward the floodlight glare with a sharp right back down the A4095 before taking a right at the now revealed entrance sign. A tree lined track leads to the car park located next to a couple of wooden buildings. The first being the club bar. Adjacent to this is a nineteenth century cricket pavillion which looks out onto a...football pitch. Appropriately this turns into a cricket pitch in the summer as was common practice in Victorian times. This elegant green structure has a preservation order on it as do many of the venerable Oak trees which bound much of the playing areas. A brisk walk around the edge of the cricket pitch delivers the spectators to the enclosed first team's football ground.   £4 was handed over and a 52 page programme was part of the bargain. Admittedly it was heavy on advertising but it covered all the relevant topics and was up to date. We clicked one of the two turnstiles and were in. Hard standing, in Cotwswold coloured slabs, lies on four sides and the pitch is railed off as required, two perspex dugouts adorn the western side. The southern end has a low wire fence which offers a fine view of Eynsham Hall across a field of dozing sheep (head count 52!). The far side has a new 'Arena' type stand, larger than most of this type of structure, it has four long rows of green seats. When viewed directly from the opposite side you are made aware of a very steep downward slope to the pitch. A small covered terrace, refreshment bar, toilets, PA and changing facilities are all skilfully incorporated into a green and white painted wooden bungalow behind the northern goal. Throw in four efficient double floodlight pylons on each side, a mild dry evening, a well tended playing surface and a continual flurry of brown oak leaves being shaken from their hosts and you had a magnificent night for football. Eynsham Park is truly a venue which would have Vaughn-Williams reaching for his music chart.   The home side took the game to their visitors and kept the pressure on for much of the opening half. A    spectacular twenty-yard thunderbolt was all they had to show for their herculean efforts. Kidlington,   appropriately clad in green, must have been subjected to some harsh language during the interval and were like men possessed in the second half. Sadly, a solitary strike at the end of a mazy run was all they had to show for their efforts. Kidlington were able to take a place in the semi-finals after scoring the winner in the 106th minute when a short back pass was intercepted and duly despatched. All three goals were scored in the far net, at the sloping end. This was a well contested match with little back chat or bad tackles and in all fairness could have gone either way.   We had a chat to some most welcoming club officials who were almost blase about their surroundings, however, their pride in North Leigh FC shone through. The only disappointment on the night was the darkness, specifically the ability to capture the venue for posterity with my trusty Canon A700. I must now decide when to return in daylight, either early Autumn or Spring. The obvious answer is to go during both seasons and in the summer and on a crisp clear winter's day. To quote the govenor of California 'I'll be back'.

contributed on 05/12/07