Guilty Pleasures

 

Dove Holes - Double Winners

Sometimes this great sport of ours can make you feel that you’re a user, no great friend to anyone, a bit of a football slut if you like. A visit to the Hope Valley League can make you feel like that.

That’s with no disrespect intended to the HVL. You see, watching your side regularly, reduces the chances to visit the local amateur leagues. When your side is away there’s always another game to go to, check up on your clubs rivals perhaps, whilst keeping an eye on the important game involving your club. There’s always something else more pressing, visiting one of the local pro or semi-pro clubs in other leagues, or worse, attending a family event.

That is, until the end of the season when most football is done and all that’s left is the amateur leagues that you’ve neglected for so long. So, here I am making my first visit to Baslow, just 15 miles away.

 

Baslow Sports Field

Despite the league being so close this is only my 2^nd game at this level. The previous game was just after lockdown was lifted slightly and only amateur football could be visited. I felt very dirty that day, goodness knows how bad the people from Leeds and Manchester felt, coming all the way to Ashover.

This Friday evening encounter in Baslow was the Dore Shield Final between Dronfield Woodhouse and Dove Holes. Woodhouse finished next to the bottom and were relegated from the Premier Division while Dove Holes are champions.

The venue was intended to be Buxton’s Silverlands ground but, with money tight, Baslow was chosen to host the final. The pitch was in very good nick considering the wet winter and spring we’ve had and the cafe in the pavilion was staying open till 9:00. It was doing well too as the majority of the estimated 105 crowd made use of the food and drink on offer.

 

Some of the 100+ crowd with the Chatsworth Pavilion behind.

The Baslow Sports Field is run by a trust and cricket, bowls and football is staged here providing a great facility for the locals. There’s also tennis courts and a floodlit multi use games area, which was in use during the main game.

The Cavendish Pavillion is the only spectator facility at the ground, as well as the previously mentioned cafe there’s a small overhang at the front to help keep the rain off. Not that it was much use today, given the amount of people lining the pitch and blocking the view on what gradually became a very rainy evening.

The overhang on the pavilion at Baslow.

The pavilion was refurbished about 5 years ago. With the changing rooms and cafe on the ground floor and the first floor improved as well, the trust hire out the rooms and provide a local sports venue which other areas can only dream of.

The advertised kick off was 7pm but with Baslow not having floodlights, concerns over the light fading on such a cloudy night, it was brought forward to 6:45. Should it end in a draw then it would have gone to penalties so no concerns about extra time as well.

 

The ref.

Dove Holes were on the attack straight away. A shot was cleared from under the bar by a defenders header but soon after they were 2-0 ahead. 

A Dove Holes effort is cleared off the line.

The first a lovely diving header in the penalty area went in the bottom left corner. The 2^nd a shot from inside the box into the right of the goal with the keepers view being blocked by his defenders. It was felt amongst the people around me that Dove Holes would win easily and it could be a rout, I agreed. Years of watching football and how games can ebb and flow have taught me nothing.

 

Joel Donnelly heads home the first goal.

Joel Donnelly is congratulated.

Dronfield didn’t panic and just kept probing at the champions defence. From the 2^nd goal going in they had the majority of the possession up to half time. A few speculative shots had been a warning to Dove Holes but no-one expected the goal that Woodhouse scored. A free kick on the edge of the penalty area, slightly to the left of the “D” was kicked over the wall and looked to be much too high and going over until it dipped and went into the top corner. A goal deserved of endless TV replays enjoyed on a dark evening by a gathering of just over 100, it was superb. I can’t even say it was worth the entrance fee as no gate was taken.

 

Joel Donnelly gets his 2nd.

Joel Donnelly's shot is in the net, 2-0.

The second half saw Dove Holes manage the game well, adding 2 late goals to give a large bucket of gloss to the score and an undeserved scoreline for Woodhouse. Celebrations started for the league’s double winners and it was nice to see them awarded the championship trophy and Dore Shield after the game.

 I should mention Dronfield's keeper, James Roffey, who had a great game despite conceding 4. He made numerous saves, including a double save when it was still 2-0.

James Roffey - Dronfield Woodhouse.

James Roffey keeps another shot out.

The match officials, Mark George, Mark Davies, Neil Rigby.

The crowd on an Autumnal night in April.

Dove Holes captain receives the Hope Valley League championship trophy.

Dronfield Woodhouse also received a very nice cup as runners up and as we all went our separate ways I got chatting to one of the losing teams players who had the said cup. I told him, though they’d lost, they actually had the nicest trophy of the evening. He laughed and agreed and I went back home, feeling guilty after using the Hope Valley League to get my footy fix.