WORSBROUGH BRIDGE ATHLETIC 3 V ILKEY TOWN AFC 0 NORTHERN COUNTIES EAST DIVISION ONE 1st NOVEMBER 2025

 

My 8th game of the season and a trip out to Park Road the home of Worsborough bridge athletic fc, situated on the south side outskirts of Barnsley next to the  Dam and country park the ground also hosts Cricket in the summer, On this cold winters day i parked next door in the car park of the country park (pay at the machine) just to note for any future visitors that the gates are shut at 6pm in the winter time so just check the machine if you pay a visit. usual £6 entrance at the small gatehouse, don't think there's Programmes or badges available here, i nipped in the clubhouse to use the toilets as I'm not sure if there's any around the ground, there's a small catering van selling burgers and chips and if i remember correctly you can buy cans of beer which due to it being a bit on the nippy side i didn't bother with as i knew I'd be wanting the toilet.

smallish crowd today around 100 as stated on the NCEL match report but maybe quite generous with that figure, a seated stand on one side of the pitch and another sheltered standing over the other side, Worsborough were going into this game off the back of 4 straight wins and sat near the top of the table, kicking towards the road end Bridge played some really good football passing the ball around nicely and putting some good moves together coming close a few times in the half but ilkey stood firm and defended well but at times didn't have any outlet to stop the ball coming back at them. At halftime both teams went in at 0-0 with Bridge wondering how they were not at 2-0 up.

2nd half and  a more determined Ilkey took the game to Bridge for the first ten minutes of the half but bridge  gained possession and slowed the game down by keeping the ball and knocking it around which earned them a goal just after the hour mark, constant pressure and a 2nd came another ten minutes later, town not to be outdone came close twice with a couple of minutes and kept the pressure up on the bridge with plenty of  goalmouth action hitting the bar which rebounded out to a bridge player who played the ball upfield  and bridge added a third goal just before the final whistle.

At times Worsborough played some really neat attacking football and knew when to hold on to the ball and when to attack, nothing was rushed and they used the full width of the pitch to switch play at times, they gained promotion through a play off final against Wakefield AFC to the premier division in front of a huge crowd of 1600 which surprised me as there crowds havnt been big compared to some of the other teams in the division.