Church

I'd been planning a trip up to Northallerton Town, but that match was called off yesterday so I cast around for an alternative. There were plenty of games on locally but Saturday afternoons present an opportunity to travel a bit further than is usually feasible in mid-week and the prospect of a new ground is alluring.

Penistone Church had been on my list for a while. I've seen them a few times over the past fifteen months, but never at their own place and a visit there also gave a chance for a rare excursion down the Penistone Line, a scenic route through the hills between Huddersfield and Sheffield.

Penistone are in the NCEL Premier Division, and today's opponents, Sheffield FC are one tier up in the NPLD1S. Sheffield are also the oldest football club in the world, having been founded in 1857.

The pitch was dry and looked bone hard but that didn't seem to effect the teams too much in what proved to be fairly competitive game for a pre-season friendly. Sheffield took the lead with a fine long range effort from Andrew Gascgoine. Penistone were creating some chances and  secured an equaliser with fifteen minutes to go, but Sheffield responded with the winner shortly after.

Earlier, a nice Holly Blue on my way down to the station. My first of the summer brood.