VENUE #33 ACCRINGTON STANLEY The Crown Ground

N-POWER LEAGUE TWO

Accrington Stanley... 1
Bristol Rovers... 0

Saturday 27th October 2012

@ The Crown Ground, 
           Accrington
        Kick Off 15:00


     "Accrington Stanley, who are they", "EXACTLY"!!!  I think we all can remember those lines from the TV milk advert in response to one young chap saying to another, "If you don't drink your milk you'll only be good enough to play for Accrington Stanley".
     Stanley formed in 1891 from players who used to live in Stanley road, Accrington and played league football from 1921 to 1961 but sadly went out of business five years later in 1966.  They managed to reform in 1968 back playing non league football working their way up to reach the Conference premier league the English fifth tier finally regaining league status with promotion to the N-Power league two in 2006 an absence of 40 years and a fitting response to that embarrassing advert.
     Paul Cook was the Accrington manager until two days ago when he was snapped up by Chesterfield and so Stanley have opted to appoint Leam Richardson as caretaker manager of this game.  Richardson was Cook's assistant for the eight months he was boss here and makes no changes to the team picked by Cook that lost to the only goal here on Tuesday night.
     Mark McGhee manager of Bristol Rovers has made two changes to the side that lost 3-1 to Wimbledon in mid-week, Parkes and Virgo are out while Lee Brown and Fabian Broghammer take their places.
     I really thought I was going to encounter my first no score draw of my renewed campaign as the first half closed at this scoreline.  Accrington took the game to Rovers but looked very poor in the final third and unable to capitalise on their domination.

Padraig Amond goal saved the day

     The second half started in the same manner as the first and I could see that dreaded 0-0 like the shadowy eyes of the mysterons in a captain Scarlet episode descending upon me but then with onlyeleven minutes of normal time remaining Luke Joyce found Romuald Boco on the left and his cross was met by Padraig Amond who got in front of the Rovers defence to fire home from inside the six yard area to secure Stanley a win after losing their last four games.
     It wasn't the best of fixtures to have to sit through especially with that October cold chilling your bones and not much happening on the pitch to put warmth inside you.  Rovers did have their chances in the game with Tom Eaves bringing some fine saves from Dunbavin the Accrington goalkeeper.  Losing today has left Rovers looking very likely candidates for the drop at the end of the season, they're in the bottom four now and it will be very interesting to see how or if they can manage to get out of the situation.

     The First Store Stadium or as it is more commonly known the Crown ground as it has the Crown pub just yards from it's turnstiles, is a shabby looking venue but is set in an area of open fields and hills behind the Coppice terrace which is used by away fans and subsequently open to the elements.
     The Main stand and the Thwaites are two separate stands with a gap in the middle that run either side of the half way line on the same side of the pitch, both are covered and all seated.  Thwaites stand has less seats due to the slope of the pitch running up from the Coppice terrace to the Sophia Khan end.
     Opposite the Main and Thwaites is the Whinney Hill stand which is very small and built into a hill.  It used to be a terrace but had seats put in to meet with football league regulations.  The Coppice end part of this stand is also for away supporters.
     The Sophia Khan stand is another wired looking construction with rows of seats at the front
and terracing at the back, I think that this used to be a terrace but had seats put in for the same reason as the Whinney Hill stand.

Main Stand

     I was seated in the Main stand and because of reserved seats for season ticket holders I found myself in the very front row which is good for leg space but not so good for viewing the game as you're almost below pitch level and if it's raining you're going to get wet.  The people there are very friendly especially the ground staff and because the game was a little on the boring side I found myself talking to the chap sitting next to me but I think he didn't appreciate what I had to say about the game.  There was a young lady seated behind us who reminded me of the old lady that lived in a shoe for she had so many children that she also didn't know what to do or how to control them.

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