Wife and daughter away, non-league will play. After kicking off my season Friday evening at Wellingborough, I was back on the road the following morning. A visit to my Mum, drop the dog off with her and then the short trip up the M6 to Stafford for my Saturday game, the North West Counties Division 1 South opener between Brocton and Maine Road. This would be the first time I had seen Brocton play and, obviously, my first trip to their home stadium, Silkmore Lane. I had, however, already seen Maine Road in action. I saw them go down narrowly, by 3-2, at Eccleshall in January (Eccy Thump).

The Ground
Silkmore Lane is the connecting road between the districts of Moss Pit and Queensville, just to the South of Stafford town centre. Brocton FC's ground is accessed via a long straight service road off Silkmore Lane. Entrance payment is taken on the gate to the club and parking is directed by a couple of helpful stewards who are there to make the most of the parking space around the edge of the pitch and behind the two main stands. There are two pitches at Silkmore Lane, both at 90 degrees to the entrance. The main pitch is the one nearest the entrance. To the left as you enter, and further back, more in line with the second pitch, there is a club house and tea/snack bar. Alongside these are the changing facilities and toilets. There are two stands on the entrance side of the main pitch. Identical in most aspects, except one is for covered standing and the other for seating. Dugouts are opposite the stands, between the two pitches. The playing surface looked to be in excellent condition, with no visible slope.
The whole ground has a community feel to it. There's Badgers signage around the ground and numerous people wearing club gear, presumably committee / club members. My first impression was that it was was a lovely, welcoming place to watch football. An impression that was not changed throughout my visit. If you've not been, I recommend Brocton FC highly.

​The Programme
The Badgers programme is also excellent value, at just a pound for a 40 page glossy colour magazine. There are plenty of statistics and articles to browse through during half-time. As this was the first one of the new season, much of the statistics and match reports were from the latter end of last season. The match report being from Brocton's play-off semi-final defeat to Sandbach United.
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​The Game
In a relatively even opening ten minutes, it was the visitors who manufactured the first real clear cut chance. Yousuf Abdullahi was played in on goal but Tom Vaughan managed to do just enough to put the striker off, forcing him to put his effort just wide of the mark. Despite that opportunity for Maine Road, it was Brocton who began to play the more attractive football, getting themselves into a number of good positions without managing to get any shots off to trouble Ryan Livesey in the visitor's goal. Of course, no sooner had I tweeted this than Brocton went ahead. In the 14th minute a hopeful ball into the Maine Road box found two Brocton strikers beyond the defensive back line, but onside. As the ball dropped and Livesey went towards it, the ball was hooked sideways by Regan Smith for Morgan Payne, in front of an unguarded net, to tap the ball in and give the Badgers a 1-0 lead.
Brocton continued to put together some useful passages of play but again, struggled to call Livesey into further action. At the other end, however, it was a different matter. Maine Road were not creating as much as their hosts but when they did, they caused problems for the home defence. Just past the halfway mark in the first period, a delightful through ball from Abdullahi found Alex Rimmer in on goal but Vitor Pinheiro was very quickly off his line to smother the effort.
Just past the half hour mark, Regan Smith tried his luck with a free-kick from just outside the box which went sailing well over. A minute after that, the home side were made to pay when Maine Road equalised. Daniel Lewis latched onto a through ball, getting their just before Pinheiro and slipping i past the keeper into the corner of the net. 1-1
Both sides created a couple of further chances. Goal scorer Payne put one just wide of the post whilst, at the other end, Louis Edwards, on the stretch, headed wide from a free-kick.

HT Brocton 1 Maine Road 1. All to play for at the break. A competitive half edged on possession by the home side. Maine Road, however, made the most of their chances and looked sharper in the final third.

​A fast start from Brocton was rewarded 8 minutes into the second period when Lucas Green-Birch was felled inside the Maine Road area. Penalty Brocton and no real complaints from the visitors. Captain Connor Haddaway stepped up but Ryan Livesey guessed right, making a good save high to his right-hand side. Not the best placed penalty but a good save nevertheless. The save prompted a bit of baiting from Livesey who clearly likes to get under the skin of his opponents at every given opportunity. The stopper then quickly picked up a yellow card.
Just past the hour mark, with Brocton still having the lion's share of possession, they were awarded another penalty. Green-Birch was again the player fouled, this time being tugged back when about to get a shot off. There's plenty of calls for a red card for the Maine Road defender, but nothing doing from the officials. Haddaway once again took responsibility and, this time, made no mistake, driving the ball low past Livesey. 2-1. The home players waste no time in giving Livesey some reminders of his baiting after the save, The keeper appears to throw the ball into the face of a Brocton player, not the wisest thing to do when already on a yellow. Luckily the Brocton player made little of it and the referee either didn't see it or chose to ignore it.

​Brocton took control of the game at this point and looked to be fairly comfortable. In fact, on 73 minutes, they should have gone further ahead when Declan Arber had a golden opportunity but couldn't beat Livesey. Credit to the Maine Road keeper for a good save.
That miss looked even more glaring a minute later when, completely out of the blue, the Brocton defence had a lapse of concentration, presenting the ball to the feet of substitute Yasir Salim inside the 18 yard box. The Maine Road player couldn't believe his luck as he slid the ball under Pinheiro to equalise. 2-2.
Brocton continued to push for a winner that their possession probably deserved. With five minutes remaining they were extremely unlucky twice within the space of 30 seconds. First of all a deep Matt Bestall cross was headed back across goal by substitute Cameron Osbourne, who could only watch as his effort came back off Livesey's bar with the keeper beaten. Then the ball was recycled and met by the head of Regan Smith, looking to get his customary goal against this opposition, but he also saw his header clip the bar, going over for a goal kick. Two minutes later the green shirts were again raiding the Maine Road penalty area and this time it was William Whieldon on the end of the cross but his effort deflected off a defender and went wide.
Great effort by Brocton towards the end of the game, throwing all they had at the visitors in search of a winner. However, you have to give credit to Maine Road who dug in well and were happy to put bodies on the line to protect their point.

FT Brocton 2 Maine Road 2. The home side will, no doubt, be disappointed with the final result. On the balance of play they certainly has more of the ball and, in the second period especially, had many chances to win the game. Maine Road defender well and when they did get an opportunity, they were clinical in their finishing. Two teams well worth a watch this season. If you do want to catch them in action, be quick for Maine Road. They are back on the pitch tonight (Monday) as they welcome Cammel Laird to Brantigham Road. The sides have met 12 times in the league before, both have won four with four drawn. 52 goals have been scored between them in the twelve meetings, over four per game.
Brocton, meanwhile, make the journey to Winsford United's Barton Stadium on Tuesday evening. They have not met in the league before but they were drawn against each other in the League Challenge Cup in 2022. That game took place at Silkmore Lane and, after a 1-1 draw, was won by Brocton by 4-2 from the penalty spot.

Brocton: Pinheiro, A.Weldon, Bestall, H.Smith, Vaughan, Whieldon, Payne, Green-Birch, R.Smith, C.Haddaway(c), Arber. Subs: Devoir, J.Weldon, B.Haddaway, Osbourne, Curtis
Maine Road: Livesey, Sulemain, Clegg, Edwards, Eiselt(c), Perry, Oseni, Addow, Lewis, Rimmer, Abdullahi. Subs: Smith, Lomas, Hacking, Yousif, Salim

Ground Number: 367
Att: 130
Entrance: £6.00
Programme: £1.00

Friday night and BotP was back on the road for the start of the new season. My chosen game was something a local derby, Wellingborough Town taking on Daventry Town in the United Counties Premier League South. This was a good chance to re-visit a ground that I visited many years ago, seven to be exact. On that visit, a Saturday, the home side went on to beat Huntingdon Town by 7-3 in a highly entertaining game (Goals Galore. Only 60p Each).

The Ground
The Dog and Duck Stadium, so called because of it's proximity to the Dog & Duck Inn (now a Beefeater attached to a Premier Inn), is situated just to the South-East of Wellingborough town centre, in the shadows of the Whitworth Bros. mill. The ground is also within a long throw of near neighbours Wellingborough Whitworth FC. There have been rumours of the ground closing over the past few years, possibly because of the ever-growing retail parks close by, which was another reason for my re-visit. Parking is limited at the ground but I was told that parking in the adjacent retail park was allowed. 
Entry to the ground is through a single gate. At £9.00 it is certainly at the top end of the Step 5 entrance fees, but still a reasonable amount to pay to watch 90 minutes of football. Upon entering you find yourself behind one of the goals, the opposite one having the backdrop of the flour mill just beyond the River Nene. Immediately to your right is the club house and player facilities block. Just in front of the club house, raised above pitch level, there is also a burger/snack bar. The main stand, formerly the Peter Ebdon Stand (not sure if that is still the case), is to your left. A reasonable large covered seating stand that effectively separates the ground from the corner of Whitworth's pitch (it's that close). There's no other cover for spectators.
The pitch looked to be in very good condition, as you would expect for the first match of a new season.

​The Programme
The Doughboys programme is  a 32-page full colour glossy magazine. Again, at £2.50, like the entrance fee, it is very much at the higher end of the price list. Having said that, it is packed full of interesting articles and statistics. A very professional looking programme, well worth purchasing.

The Background
This season opener was also something of a local derby with just over 25 miles and the town of Northampton separating the clubs. Both teams have played a step higher than their current league in the past, Daventry with the most recent sojourn into the Southern and Northern leagues, only dropping down at the end of last season after finishing second from bottom of the Northern premier League Midlands Division. Consequently, it's a been a few years since the sides last faced each other in the league, the last time being the 2018-19 United Counties Premier League season when Daventry too the title for the second time. The Purple Army hold sway in recent times, winning six and drawing one of the last eight league outings against the Doughboys, including three out of the last four at the Dog & Duck. They have also outscored this evening's hosts by 20 goals to 7 over the same period. So, recent history looked to be on the side of the visitors but Wellingborough, I believe, were coming into the game with confidence having not lost during the pre-season (as far as I could see).

​The Game
Both sides started the game at a good pace, but it was the visitors who were first to pose a threat when Charlie Kille's drive was turned away by a flying save from Ashley Bodycoate after just two minutes. However, six minutes later Wellingborough conjured up an even better opportunity when a cross from the right found Lloyd Buckby unmarked on the six yard line. The striker was stretching and off balance when he put his volley wide but really should have at least worked the goalkeeper.
That being said, the Doughboys didn't have to wait too long before they did get their noses in front. The goal was made by captain Jack O'Connor, stepping in swiftly to cut out a long Daventry through ball, he then spotted a gap down on the right side of the Daventry defence. His precision ball fouind that gap, allowing Jessi Obeng to run onto the ball, round goalkeeper Jude O'Connor and slot into an empty goal. 1-0
The goal signalled a ten minute spell when it looked as if Daventry's evening was beginning to spiral out of control. Already a goal down, in the 19th minute a 50-50 challenge in front of the dugouts ended with Ryan Bell's crunching challenge leaving a Wellingborough player in a heap. The referee had no hesitation in pulling out the red card, much to the disbelief of the visitor's players and bench. I'll be honest, from my viewpoint on the opposite side of the pitch, it looked like an honest challenge, with both players flying into the tackle. However, the referee was much closer to the action that I was. Clearly the Daventry coaching team were of the same opinion as me and, as their player trudged off, the referee appeared to also dismiss one of their coaches.
The incident left the visitors reeling a little and it took them a fair amount of time to re-shuffle their formation. Their ire with the officials was not helped when a nasty looking tackle from a home player was met with nothing more than a quick word from the referee. However, the home side were not able to take immediate advantage of the extra player and, as the half wore on, you could see Daventry visibly growing into the game and regaining confidence.
With eight minutes to go until the break only a combined effort of home defenders and goalkeeper kept out Zac Allen after a Daventry raid down their left.
Tehn, just when it looked as if the hoem team woudl go into the break ahead, four minutes into added time Daventry struck back. The ball was fed into the Leon Lobjoit in the heart of the hoem penalty area. Teh striker, signed from Leighton Town in the Summer, managed to keep himself onside, collected the pass and slipped a neat finish past Bodycoate to level it up. 1-1. On the balance of play over the closing ten minutes, it was a deserved reward for Daventry.

HT Wellingborough Town 1 Daventry Town 1. No shortage of action or controversy in the first half. Wellingborough taking the lead early on and the visitors being reduced to 10 men. However, to their credit, Daventry worked very hard to get back into the game and grabbed a deserved goal on the stroke of half-time.

​Clearly buoyed by the late goal, the ten men of Daventry came flying out of the blocks in the second half. For the first fifteen minutes of the second period you would have been forgiven for thinking it was the team in yellow and blue who were a man light. Daventry were knocking the ball around with some zeal and, when they did lose it, were hunting the ball down and snapping into tackles. Their work-rate was excellent, but I did wonder of they could maintain the tempo throughout the half.
It was just past the hour mark when The Doughboys finally put some pressure on O'Connor's goal. Once again it was the lively goal scorer Jessi Obeng who provided the spark, driving in from the left, jinking past a defender and unleashing a curling shot just past the goalkeeper's left-hand post. Despite this effort giving Wellingborough a toe-hold back in the game their second goal, when it came, was completely out of the blue. So much so that I only just about caught the action. There looked to be very little danger for Daventry when Paddy Chicozs got the ball some 30 yards out. However, the midfielder had spotted O'Connor just off his line and unleashed a superb dipping drive that left the keeper helpless. 2-1 and, as The Wycombe Wanderer tweeted, a potential goal of the season contender already.
Daventry, despite their numerical disadvantage, were not giving up the ghost and, as the minutes ticked by they began to press Wellingborough, looking for another equaliser. The home side had the defensive organisation of their captain to thank for keeping the the visitors at bay. However, the game still had an incident to throw our way and it was quite a strange one. In the 89th minute, after another Daventry raid ended with a defensive free-kick, there was clearly some words between Daventry captain Leon Lobjoit and the referee. This culminated in the referee producing a yellow card, sin-binning the striker. More words mist have been uttered as Lobjoit left the field because the referee immediately followed up the yellow with a red, leaving the visitors to play with 9 for the remaining few minutes. Of course, with so little time left and two players down, there was no way back for Daventry at this point.

FT Wellingborough Town 2 Daventry Town 1. A hard-earned three points for the home side but they were made to work very hard by a Daventry side who played with a man down for much of the game.
Both sides are back in action on Tuesday evening. Wellingborough make the short journey over to Vase finalists Newport Pagnell Town who lost 1-0 at March Town United on Saturday. Meanwhile, Daventry will be looking to get their season firing when they welcome Aylestone Park to Elderstubbs. The Leicestershire side came from 2-1 down at half-time to beat Histon 3-2.

Wellingborough Town: Bodycoate, Bates, Alexander, Henson, O'Connor(c), Solkon, John, Buckby, Noel, Cichozs, Obeng
Daventry Town: O'Connor, Osei-Bonsu, Marshall, Jackson, Bird, Archer, Bell, Tcacik, Allen, Lobjoit(c), Kille. Subs: Cerga, Print, Farrell, Campbell, Lyons

Ground Number: Re-visit
Att: 280
Entrance: £9.00
Programme: £2.50