Trail of the Lion King

The pre-season rounds of fixtures are well underway, and I’d picked a match just on the other side of the Tyne-Tunnel at Killingworth. Again, I’d not been up to very much before the game as the dog is still recovering from his ACL op, but he’s happy enough in the garden, particularly if I’ve got him a bone from Blackwell’s. Hopefully the surgery will fix his knee, but I can’t help but think about the former Boro player, Matty Bates, who snapped his cruciate ligament five times. No doubt from jumping up on the settee when he wasn’t supposed to.

Killingworth, of the 12^th tier Northern Alliance Division One, were hosting Bedlington Terriers who were one step above them in the 11^th tier Premier Division of the same league. Bedlington were demoted last year from the Northern League for failing to meet ground requirements. I was at a game at their Dr Pit Welfare ground a couple of years ago and it seemed ok to me, but I understand that it might have been the floodlights that were the issue.

There wasn’t anyone collecting gate money, so I wandered into the clubhouse and spent it on a very good bacon sandwich instead. There were a lot of people in there watching the Lionesses on the telly and many of them moved outside as kick-off approached to see some live football.

It would have been a good game to have brough Henry along to if he had been fit. There were a couple of staffies, three labs, a greyhound and a scottie dog. Highlight though, was a dog that had the shape and curly hair of a Bedlington Terrier, but was around three times the size. It was as if it had been crossed with a polar bear.

Bedlington struggled in the first half. It’s not surprising really as they had only managed to retain three of their Northern League team from last year. Their keeper kept them in the game but they went in at the break three one behind.

The visitors gelled a bit more in the second half and had the best of the chances. They pulled a goal back at the death, but Killingworth hung on for a three-two win.

Tags: bacon sandwich, Crossing a bear with a dog, Dodgy dog knees, Matty Bates

This entry was posted on July 10, 2025 at 3:15 pm and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.