VENUE #49 LUTON TOWN Kenilworth Road

SKRILL PREMIER

Luton Town... 2
Braintree Town... 3

Saturday 12th April 2014

@ Kenilworth Road                   Stadium, Luton


     Had a near disaster on the way to the game today, my train left Birmingham New Street from platform 7, the problem being so did two other trains and the train to Stansted, which was the one I had to catch was supposed to be the one in the middle but as I arrived on the platform there were only two trains there.  I looked at the electronic boards on the platform and the one by the first train said Stansted Airport and the board by the train at the bottom of the platform said Hereford and so I got on the Stansted one.  There was lots of confusion as people kept coming aboard the train and asking where it was going and I told them Stansted , to my knowledge.  This one chap came on  though and said is this the train to Hereford and I said no, I believe that train is at the bottom of the platform and so he took off.  He came back five minutes later and got in the same carriage to find me and said, "This is the Hereford train mate the Stansted one is down there".  I looked at the time and I had one minute to race down to the bottom train before it left the station and as I rose to leave the Hereford train so did a number of other people and we all made for the door.  Seeing I was the oldest out of all of them, and some were quite a lot younger than me I still managed to beat them all to the Stansted train which was about five minutes late leaving the station anyway.

Oak Road with gate entrances built between houses

     Going into this game Luton only need three more points to be promoted to Sky Bet league two.  Braintree on the other hand are hoping to get one of the play-off places.  Luton are ten points clear of second place Cambridge United so just one more win or a defeat for the U's will take them up.
     Luton make two changes to the starting line up that beat Tamworth 2-0 here at Kenilworth road on Tuesday night, Alex Lawless takes the place of Luke Rooney and Mark Cullen is in for Andre Gray.  Braintree make one change to the side that lost at home to Macclesfield 1-0 in mid-week, Ryan Peters in for Kenny Davis.
     The Brains are considered a bit of a bogey side by Town winning three of the previous five meetings between the clubs and they started this game as though they were going to keep their reputation.  With only sixteen minutes on the clock Dean Wells rose to meet a Daniel Sparkes cross from the left to head Braintree in front.  Five minutes later it was 2-0 when Bret Holman crossed also from the left hand side to find James Mulley who pushed the ball beyond Mark Tyler in goal for Luton and into the back of the net.
     But in the 30th minute Braintree's luck changed when Paul Benson rounded the Iron's keeper to be left with an open goal only to be scythed down by the keeper Nik Hamman.  The referee produced a straight red card even though there was a Braintree defender level with Benson at the time.  The Brains striker Dan Holman was made the sacrificial lamb being brought off for Nathan McDonald to replace the unfortunate Hamman in goal  The free kick was hit straight at the wall and came to nothing.

Main Stand entrance

     Although Luton were two down and didn't have a shot on target until the 44th minute when Matt Robinson's volley brought a comfortable save from the Iron's substitute keeper, as they left the pitch for the half time break the ten thousand plus crowd, their biggest for twenty years all stood up and applauded whilst cheering them off the field.
     After the break it seemed like Luton might get back into the game as they pushed forward and piled on the pressure to ten man Braintree and came very close to reducing the deficit in the 50th minute when Paul Benson latched on to a Matt Robinson cross but his shot was pushed onto the bar by McDonald.
     Six minutes later and things got considerably worse for the Hatters getting caught on the counter attack as they pressed forward and left themselves exposed at the back when a long ball found Chez Isaac one on one with Tyler and the Iron's midfielder slotted the ball home for Braintree's third.
   

Pillar obscuring view of Kenilworth road goal

      Luton manager John Still looked to the bench for the answer and brought on Alex Wall for Luke Rooney who himself came on for the injured Alex Lawless in the 13th minute and Pelly Ruddock came on for Cameron McGeehan and it worked, two minutes after the switch Ryan Peters handled the ball in his own penalty area and Jake Howells spot kick sent the keeper the wrong way.  Two minutes later and it was 2-3 when Howells raced on to the ball losing control but managing to find substitute Wall who saw the keeper off his line and lobbed the ball over him and into the net.
     Town had several good chances afterwards one of them hitting the post again with a shot by Cullen as Wall broke through the Braintree defence to set him up.
     In the later stages Luton started to run out of steam and although the fans were electric with their support they couldn't lift Luton enough to get anything out of the game.

     Kenilworth road is a 10,226 all seated stadium but from what I could see they desperately need re-housing.  It's as though someone has dropped a football ground at the end of a terraced housing estate and sort of intermingled it amongst the houses.  Oak Road as ground entrances built in between houses and it looks very strange indeed.

Players changing ends for kick off

     I watched the game from the main stand, the seats are old and uncomfortable and if you're taller than 5 foot 6  then you're going to have your knees stuck up under your chin for the course of the game, I was lucky, I asked for a aisle seat and sat with my legs sticking out in the aisle.  The view from the stand is not good for there are several pillars which obscure your vision pending on where you sit and where I was sitting the Kenilworth road goal was blocked by one of these pillars.
     Across the field from the main stand is the executive area which is filled with executive boxes and has netting above it to stop the ball going over and into the gardens of the houses.
     Behind the goal to the right of the main stand is the Kenilworth Road stand and is for home supporters usually but if the opposing team have a vast fan base then it has been known to be used for away fans.  At the other end is Oak road and this is the usual away fans stand, well, to the right of the goal as you look at it.

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VENUE #48 BURTON ALBION The Pirelli Stadium

SKY BET LEAGUE TWO

Burton Albion... 1

Plymouth Argyle... 0

Saturday 5th April 2014

@ The Pirelli Stadium

       Burton-On-Trent

     My son Ross picked out Burton's Pirelli ground for a visit last season but I'd already been to see a league two game and so decided to go the short distance into Derbyshire this time around.  They have there advantages these short trips, not costing much money is one and being home for half past six is another.

   

Front of the main stand

 It's a fare old walk to the ground from the railway station, a good twenty five minutes give or take a couple.  I passed a few pubs on route and was very tempted to pop in and try some of the famous Burton ale everyone raves about but resisted the temptation like a good little boy, I'm sure the Wife will be pleased to hear.  A female motorist pulled over and called to me as I was hurtling along my merry way, I out-stretched my arms in a manner to suggest that it's no use asking me directions as I'm new to this area also, but then she said, "Do you know the way to the railway station?" and I said, "Ah yes, I've just come from there", but whether she understood my directions of not is another thing, she did look more bewildered than before she asked me, poor sole.

Players lining up before shaking hands

     Burton go into this game lying in 5th place in the league table and looking to consolidate their play-off place with a win today.  Manager Gary Rowett makes two changes to the side that took a goalless point from York City last weekend, Jimmy Phillips steps in for Phil Edwards and Gary Alexander partners Billy Kee up front instead of Adam McGurk.

     This is Plymouth's first game in eleven days when they were defeated 2-1 at Home park by near neighbours and relegation strugglers Exeter City and that makes it three games without a win now for the Pilgrims.  Argyle are currently 9th in league two and desperately need a win today to keep any hopes alive of reaching the play-off's.  John Sheridan makes three changes to his team, Paul Wotton, Matthew Parsons and Tope Obadeyi who returned to Bury after his loan spell ended, are replaced by Durrell Berry, Ben Purrington and Enoch Showumni who makes his debut after being loaned out by Notts County for the rest of the season.

     It was a tentative start and Burton seemed obsessed with keeping the ball in the air and playing to Argyle's strengths as the Devonshire side have a number of tall players but they did get their act together after ten minutes and started to keep the ball on the floor and play some wonderful football especially in the midfield.  They almost made it pay when a shot on the turn by Billy Kee was tipped onto the top of the net by the Argyle keeper Jake Cole. 

     Cole was busy again minutes later when he finger tipped a fierce shot from Jimmy Phillips onto the post and stopped an almost certain opening goal for the home side.  Burton were starting to dominate while Plymouth were showing cracks in their armour and it was defensive frailties of the Pilgrims that gave the Brewers the opportunity to score the goal, Neal Trotman made a pass to Luke Young but the Argyle midfielder fell over and the ball was pounced upon by Matty Palmer who's shot was blocked by Trotman but rebounded outside the Argyle penalty area to Callum McFadzean to drill past Cole into the bottom corner in the 27th minute.

      Six minutes later and it was nearly 2-0 when Trotman committed a foul about 30 yards outside the Argyle penalty area and the free kick was blasted goalwards by Damien McCrory but the ball was pushed onto the bar by the busy Jake Cole who also denied Cole in the dying minutes of the half.

     In the second half Burton sat back and defended their narrow 1-0 lead, Plymouth came close a few times to levelling the game but couldn't find that golden final touch that was needed.  It's no wonder that Burton have won 1-0 so many times this season, they must have rode their luck on many occasions.

West stand.  Part of the concrete shell

     The Pirelli Stadium as a 6,912 capacity with just over 2,000 seated.  It was built in 2005 to replace their Eton Park ground which had been their home for 47 years.  The main stand looks quite impressive and is where I watched the game from, with it's black coloured plastic seats with some painted yellow to form the words Burton Albion, it looks clean and new as you would expect from a ground that's only nine years old.  The other parts of the ground are covered terracing that looks a bit like a plain concrete shell.  There is the Popular terrace that is opposite the main stand and the two ends behind the goal are the West and the East terraces.  The East terrace is to the left of the main stand as you look at it and houses the away fans as does the left quarter of the main stand. 

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