Hebburn Town v West Auckland Town

Hosts: Hebburn Town FC

LOCATION REPORT

Venue: The EnergyCheck Sports Ground (Hebburn Sports Club), South Drive (off A185 Victoria Road West), Hebburn, Tyne & Wear NE31 1UN

SatNav: NE31 1UN

Parking: onsite carpark for c.50; adjoining residential streets
Public transport: choice of buses on Victoria Road West (eg 9 Hebburn-Sunderland City Centre-Murton)

Entry: adults £6, concessions £4, kids £1
Programmes: £2

Refreshments: Hot Food counter (eg £1 coffee, £3.50 for pie/chips/gravy)
Licensed bars x 2: 'The Sportsy' main clubhouse/venue; pitchside marquee bar
Toilets: clubhouse
PA system: yes (barely audible, possibly due to weather?)

Covered stands/terraces:
(N) main stand = estd 150 on tiered blocks
(E) covered terrace = c.60 standing
Open viewing:
(all sides) hardstanding + lean-on barriers all round
(S) grassed standing
(W) 3 x picnic tables (near food hatch)

Floodlights: 4 (corners)

MATCH REPORT

Kickoff: 3:00pm Saturday 9 February 2019
Competition: Buildbase FA Vase Fifth Round
Weather: very blustery winds, chilly, dry, winter sunshine, mostly cloudless

Team colours:
Hebburn Town = yellow/black shirts (with stripe effect), black shorts, yellow socks
West Auckland Town = all white

Official crowd: 1310 (league season average = 200)

Final [h/t] score:
0 [0] Hebburn Town
2 [1] West Auckland Town

Sent Off: 0

Official League Report

Mike Snowdon's A Life of Pie blog

NORVENMUNKI's COMMENTS

Hebburn shivered in the spiralling gusts that tore into the brittle winter air.

The frenzied flags strained at their poles; the gulls soared high, tossed on the buffeting breeze, their calls sucked away towards the river; loose cables clinked against their posts, like metal wires against a ship's mast out on the salty sea. This impatient gale ushered the local masses in, whilst heaving their visitors across the miles from West Auckland.

Aye... it was windy, like.

Although my Step 5 Quest wasn't intended to start for a couple of weeks yet, the recent snowy weather and resulting postponements had played havoc with my schedule. Hence, this trip to much-lauded Hebburn Town, aka the Hornets, has come around sooner than expected, but all the better for it.
Although these sides currently sit alongside each other in Northern League Division One, today's game is actually a fifth round tie of the nationwide FA Vase competition, with the tantalising prospect of a Wembley appearance in three victories' time.



The visitors, West Auckland Town, have themselves twice been losing finalists in the recent years, so for them this route is well-trod and charged with a hunger for going one better.
So it's a big game and a big crowd is expected.



The local streets are busy. I park outside a friend's house nearby, as random other cars are parking around us, some proudly sporting away team colours.
A large new housing estate is emerging towards the riverside: families making homes here, generations of potential future Hornets maybe?
Much like its neighbourhood, the club itself is also a story of regeneration and endeavour. Judging by the ever-growing crowds and membership, hopefully it will prove sustainable in the longer-term.

The site has been heavily re-imagined and improved over the last few years, and work is continuing apace. Everywhere seems clean and freshly-painted; locals joke that if you stand still long enough, someone may come and paint you yellow!



Despite the chilly winds, there's a busy happy crowd enjoying the banter and a steady supply of cold beers in and out of The Sportsy, Hebburn's clubhouse and a popular entertainment venue for the growing community (and my guides commend it highly!).

We enter via South Drive, the car park end; there are also two entrances on North Drive, with men shivering in draughty gate huts.



The recently-built stand on the north side is packed today with people huddling together creating a warm force against the chill wintery gusts.

Meeting up with further friends, we choose to settle on the south side, which has no wind protection but at least we don't have the sun in our eyes (and we're betting that the conditions mean the ball is likely to be aloft a lot!).

Currently, this patch is open grass, where the cricket pitches used to be but have now relocated elsewhere, but I'm told that, apparently, the plan is to build another stand on this flank too in the coming seasons. For now, the perimeter hardstanding is gradually being refreshed, section by section, so those leaning against the barriers do so from effectively standing in an ankle-deep pit.

The area adjacent to us is dominated by a massive white-curtained marquee, hosting a crowded bar and providing a windbreak for the rows of supporters sheltering beside it. Amongst these are a loyal vocal contingent of away fans, addressing their heroes by name as the teams wrap up some final pre-match warm-ups. Above them, looms an elevated camera-point, on scaffolding, its occupants brutally exposed to the biting winds.

Wembley talk is everywhere; including a couple of curious factoids: the feel of that hallowed turf beneath your studs is nothing new for Hebburn's Paul Chow, who boasts a trio of Vase winner's medals from his Whitley Bay days; and is Wembley connection also includes once holding the record for the fastest ever goal scored there: 21 seconds. A talisman maybe?

The teams are out. Handshakes. Game on.

Almost immediately, the weather announces itself as the game's most influential player. Incessant swirling gusts are not going to help the flow of the match, and most people are quickly resigned to expect a game that won't showcase the ball-playing talents of either side.

After 19 minutes, the deadlock is broken. Misfortune for the Hornets' centre-back, who lashes at a cross whipped in on the wind from the right and scuffs it past his keeper. The elements were always going to play a part today: 0-1.

Several reckless swings at the ball, defensively and apparent shots, see the disappearance of various balls over the ground fence and into the gardens of adjoining houses or else into the busy A185 that runs alongside the ground. With a single bounce, one wonders if some have come to rest in the cemetery across the road?



Peckish, and keen to perform my customary hot-food comparison, I wander over to the "Hot Food" serving hatch with seven minutes still to go to the break. It's understandably popular today, but the queue simply isn't moving; yet, irrespective of its length (and on such a busy day, it's long enough to trail out of the patio area and down the pitchside), the ones at the front are not moving either. Dozens of hungry people around me are extremely patient but frankly this is genuinely the slowest queue I've ever seen.

Half-time. The whistle blows and the teams disappear inside.

The PA crackles, but from this spot is inaudible; I heard something muttered from inside the bar. I've no idea if it is usually so unclear, maybe it's the effects of the weather? Or maybe they don't use it much?
I can't tell you what happened during the break, if anything, nor of any banter shared by the inter-mingling crowd, as I was still queuing.

The players re-emerge. The game  recommences.
Six minutes into the second half, I finally get served. As a reward to myself for endurance, I decide to make it massive... and fair play, it was certainly an impressive hot tasty heap of pleasure! So, absolute top marks for quality, just a shame about the wait though!



Stuffing my face, I return to my previous spec just in time to see some white-shirted arms aloft in celebration of a second West Auckland goal.
I'm informed it was a mazy run and cool finish: 0-2. The locals are less sanguine now, more resigned. The visitors have certainly played the conditions better, and Hebburn need to find another gear to get back into this now.
Twenty-seven minutes into the second half and I finally polish off my pile of food! That was indeed a truly hearty serving!



With no more than ten minutes still to play, the floodlights come on. The late afternoon gloom is punctuated by the soft whiteness of the bulbs, high on towering stands tossed in the wind.

Game over. The big crowd disperses. I find out later that the crowd was 1310! Considering the average home crowd so far this league season has been exactly 200, that is quite remarkable! So the venue has proved it's elasticity and the redevelopments are justifiable. It might also explain why the hot food ran out?

Walking back against the wind, our friend's hat blows off whilst crossing the street.
My local guide apologies for the result, but no need... I came here to experience the atmosphere and the friendliness of Hebburn Town, and can certainly confirm that it was abundant; deeply warm and fulfilling on this shivery day.