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Image by Riley Somerville (@EastYorkSomer)
Words by Riley Somerville (@EastYorkSomer)
On Tuesday night, I visited the NCEL’s most recent addition in Sherwood Colliery for their Third Round League Cup victory over Handsworth.
I oversaw a 4-0 victory for the Wood as Sherwood comfortably progressed to the Quarter-Finals via goals by Ryan Ingram, Charlie Taylor, Lewis Belgrave and Gareth Curtis.
Debdale Park couldn’t be in a better location for those travelling by train, like myself. The entrance to the ground is located right outside Mansfield Woodhouse railway station so that gave me lots of time to test the facilities of the Premier Division Side.
Sherwood Colliery’s clubhouse is located outside the ground. They offered several bottled and draught alcoholic drinks and I went for a Newcastle Brown at £3.60 which I’d say is average for the grounds I’ve visited.
Hot food was also offered outside the ground just before the stairs to the turnstiles. Most of your non-league standards were available and I went for burger and chips which came to £6. This seemed quite high for food from a step 5 ground especially since the entry was £5. However, I’m no Gordon Ramsey but I enjoyed both despite the pricing.
The ground itself had a unique look even in the dark of a midweek fixture. The ground is surrounded by hills and forest with a 4G pitch behind one of the goals. There are two stands with wooden seating on one length of the pitch and the covered standing of the Mick Clarey stand on the other side.
I’m always a fan of any club that still issues a physical programme as more clubs move towards distributing an e-programme. Sherwood offered a 24 page full-colour issue at £2 and was well worth the price with loads of content included with manager notes, player interviews and match reports. A bargain at a couple of quid.
As it was a League Cup fixture, the crowd wasn’t at its usual number with 73 people turning up with a few fans from Handsworth scattered around compared to Sherwood’s league average of 137 this season.
I was impressed with the quality on show by the home side as they dominated the game from start to finish with two goals scored in both halves. Sherwood looked dangerous on the counter and it’s no surprise they are 4th in the NCEL Premier Division.
Overall, I’d recommend Debdale Park and Sherwood Colliery to any nearby groundhoppers or those like me who have found themselves in the East Midlands and wanted a game to visit. The location, price of entry, programme and quality of team on offer were second to none so I will definitely have to visit again for a weekend fixture.
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