On getting back from Sweden, I’d planned for a busy weekend with a game, a gig and a walk. The travelling had tired me out though and so we only managed the first two activities.
The gig was Martin Stephenson at the Waiting Room in Eaglescliffe on the Sunday night. We’d seen him there last year as part of a three piece. This time they had added a drummer who was the grandson of a Daintees drummer from the eighties. It all went very well. Although I had a stiff neck from looking upwards from my seat just a few inches from the stage.
On the Saturday I’d thought about going across to Blackburn to see the Boro as tickets were available on the gate. It’s a ground that I’ve been to a few times before though, including a game towards the back end of last season.
I decided to stay local instead and so Jen and I headed through the Tyne Tunnel for a game at Northburn Sports and Community Centre in Cramlington. We arrived early and got the final parking space.
It was three quid each to get in and we handed over the change for a couple of blind card entries. There wasn’t any food available other than crisps, so we limited ourselves to a coffee each. The eleventh tier Northern Alliance Premier Division fixture had attracted around eighty spectators, with a lot of them likely friends and family of the players.
There weren’t any seats other than a single memorial chair. Maybe the guy wasn’t popular enough to warrant a bench. Jen settled into the chair and I took up various positions on the perimeter fence. The grass was long and missing from patches in the goalmouths.
It was a niggly contest with both teams giving the ref stick. He wasn’t the best, but if he were, then he wouldn’t have been spending his afternoon overseeing an eleventh-tier fixture. I sometimes wonder whether players at this level genuinely believe that the officials should all be FIFA standard.
Cramlington went a goal up in the first minute when a Burradon defender diverted a cross into his own net. The hosts doubled their lead in the second half when some playing out from the back went tits up leaving the home striker an easy finish.
What had seemed like an easy victory for Cramlington was put at risk six minutes from time when Burradon pulled one back. I missed it hitting the back of the net as I was checking on the Boro score.
Matters got interesting with a minute remaining when the home keeper was sent off for wiping out a Burradon striker on the edge of the box. That spurred the visitors on and with four minutes of added time played, they equalized from a quickly taken corner. It was an unexpected comeback but, on reflection, a fair result overall.
Tags: Northern Alliance League, Martin Stephenson, memorial chair
Trail of the Lion King 
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