VENUE #57 THE NEW SAINTS The Venue at Park Hall

 WELSH PREMIER

The New Saints... 6
Port Talbot Town... 0

Saturday 31st January
            2015

@ The Venue, Park Hall
            Oswestry


     The weather didn't look very promising as I looked out of the window at half past three in the morning.  A thin layer of snow coated the street and the pavements and I feared that the game would be called off again.  I tried to visit the Venue at Park Hall two weeks earlier to see TNS take on Carmarthen Town but the game was postponed due to frost on the pitch despite the all weather playing surface, and the forecast for today was to be be much colder than my previous visit.
     I decided to take the risk although every thing seemed to suggest that it was a bad idea.  I checked on the Nation Rail website and found that there was a signal failure between Wellington and Shrewsbury and that a bus service between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury could be in forced or at the very least there could be delays.  But gamble I did and it paid off for a change, there was a slight delay when the train had problems at Shrewsbury but I had plenty of time to kill and so really it did me a favour rather than upset any of my plans for the day.

   

Mascot Spot the Dog with TNS players in unusual home kit

 TNS are running away with the league as usual and buried any chances of Carmarthen reaching the top six at the cut-off point by beating them 3-0 last Wednesday night in the re-arranged fixture of the game I went to see originally.  Manager Craig Harrison makes two changes for today's game leaving out Sam Finley and Adrian Cieslewicz and replacing them with Philip Baker and Greg Draper.  The Steelmen left it until the last day to secure their top six spot with a 4-3 home win over Bala Town.  Bernard McNally also makes two changes, goalkeeper Steven Cann makes way for Connor McFenton and defender Corey Thomas is left out and replaced by Rhys Griffiths.
     You may find this a strange statement to make but I found the game to be disappointing for as the scoreline suggests it was a very one sided affair with Port Talbot just content with turning up.  It was as though they thought the result was a foregone conclusion and so lacked any spirit, passion or desire to contribute anything to the game.
     Greg Draper opened and closed the scoring for the Saints in the 7th and 90th minutes with Scott Quigley netting the first of the brace's before half time after 18 and 36 minutes.  The next goal didn't emerge until the 79th minute, TNS made it into a bit of an expedition match which did nothing to reduce the wind chill factor around Park Hall, I now know why they're dancing in the streets of TNS, "TO KEEP BLOODY WARM".  Connell Rawlinson restarted the scoring spree with Jamie Mullan adding to the total two minutes later with a well executed goal.

Pitch side view of the Venue function room 

     I'd really love to see TNS give up their total dominance of the Welsh premier league and play in their own country, say, at Conference Premier level and see how they would get on having to battle through matches every week, no more guaranteed wins and a lot less total demolition jobs as in the game today but then again, I'm surprised how they keep their heads above water as the crowd today was reported as being 201 but I think the total was much less than that, more like 70 to 80 paying customers with quite a few of them kids and OAP's paying concessional prices.
     Another disappointing aspect of the afternoon was the fact that the Saints didn't wear their traditional green and white hooped shirts, instead they wore their second strip top which was almost a clash with their opponents.  The reason may be because their kit man forgot to wash them after the Carmarthen game or maybe he did wash them and hung them outside to dry and they didn't thaw out in time for kick off and that could have been the reason the game was fifteen minutes late to start.

   

Sign at Gobowen railway station

The ground is basically situated in the middle of nowhere with the nearest railway station 1 and a half miles away in Gobowen.  The capacity is supposed to be 2,000 with 1,000 of that being seated.  You can walk around the whole perimeter of the pitch watching the game while standing at most places,which is why I think it resembles a works league ground.  There are seating areas at the Burma road end which is where the away support usually congregate behind the goal, if any, and is partially covered.
     There is a small seating area joining onto the Burma road stand on the Venue side of the ground, it is covered but not the best by any circumstances.  The venue side is where the toilets are in a very nice function room which is accessible by a flight of stairs leading up to the doors which are manned by stewards to stop non paying people from watching the game.  The room has a bar, snack counter and a large TV and plenty of tables to sit and chill away from the football if you so wish.  It has a creche which is a ball park area where the kids can enjoy themselves while the parents are off doing other things.
     The journey home went very quickly as I met a fellow ground hopper Martin at the game and he had to catch the same train as me as far as Birmingham.  We discussed the game and past experiences and it was great to chat with someone who has the same interests for a change.

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