North Road, home of Royston Ring ‘O’ Bells FC who play in the Wakefield & District FA League and are based just outside of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. It sure is great to have Saturdays back!! Plenty to choose from today and eventually me and the Merry Miller decided on Royston Ring ‘O’ Bells being the destination and what a name for a team it is! Mrs Merry Miller would also be joining us today! Snydale Athletic are the visitors to Royston today.
A quick stroll around Barnsley town centre and then the 2pm bus to Royston. 25 minutes later and here we are. 2:30 Kick Off on the website and we’re cutting it close here! A quick stroll to ‘The Green’ and we made it just in time…
But there’s nobody here… OH NO!! Is our run of not missing games on Saturday coming to an end? The website says the game is played here but it isn’t, we need directions and fast!! The hashtag today should have been #toplissgettinglostinroyston!
Can the Ring O’ Bells bar help? One member of staff makes a phone call and directs us. Off we go! Let’s hope we get there quickly! The time is 3pm and we have made it with the game in play! Thank the lord for that!! A friendly spectator next to us, “How long has gone pal?” I asked. “It’s the second half pal, we kicked off at 2”. WHAT THE HELL!!!!!? It’s 1 hour into the game… “What’s the score mate?” I asked again. “It’s 0-0 and absolutely boring, nothing’s happened!”. The bad news just keeps on coming… Are you thinking what I’m thinking Jack and Hannah? Have we just wasted a Saturday? Let’s find out!
At first glance, the ground looks nice, better than The Green in my opinion, let’s hope the football picks up, 17 games without a 0-0 since Glossop North End, please don’t end here! 65 minutes of the game gone now and Royston come forward, number 11 for Royston has the ball down the right, he drives towards goal and plays it to number 8!! He’s put it over… He should’ve scored! It’s going to be 0-0 isn’t it?
2 minutes later and a foul just on the edge of the box by Snydale gives Royston a free kick just outside the box in a dangerous position. Number 8 lines it up, he shoots… OHHHHHHHH! WHAT A GOAL!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAA! Would you believe it!!!? We’ve been here 7 minutes and the bore draw that was coming has ended!! “We’ve missed 60 minutes and we’re bringing all the goals! We’re bringing all the goals! We’re bringing all the goals! They’re scoring OOOONNNEE! They’re scoring Two! They’re scoring THREEEE! They’re scoring Four!!” The run goes on and I have to say David Beckham himself would have been proud of that!!
Our moods have changed for the better now! We’ve seen a goal thankfully! Royston continuing to press and look likely to get a second rather than Snydale equalising. 80 minutes gone and Snydale have the ball on the left, number 10 drives in to the box from the left and shoots… Saved! But here is number 12 for the rebound… OH HE’S HIT THE POST!! He should’ve scored there! 3 minutes later and Royston with the ball again, a long ball over the top to number 11 who is onside and through on goal… It’s 2!!! Great finish!!
Royston dominating possession now with Snydale giving no answer. 88 minutes and number 10 for Royston is played through, he’s got one last defender to beat… Brilliant skill… And the finish!!! Fantastic from number 10 to seal the game for Royston!! 3-0!! Royston continued to dominate but the score remained 3-0!! “We’ve missed 60 minutes and we’re bring all the goals! We’re bringing all the goals! We’re bringing all the goals! They’re scoring OOOONNNEE! They’re scoring Two! They’re scoring THREEEE! But not Four…”
How about that? A bore draw and then we show up and we see three goals!! Me and the Merry Miller sure do pick good games to go to! We still haven’t seen a 0-0 together and today we’ve missed 2/3 of a game! We all walked back to the Ring O’ Bells bar for a beer in the beer garden before going home and celebrated!! Wasted Saturday? WAS IT HECK!!!!!
FT: Royston Ring ‘O’ Bells 3-0 Snydale Athletic
Ratings
- Atmosphere: 1/10 – No one else in attendance apart from us today hardly, and no noise.
- The Ground: 5/10 – It’s not got a stand, but it does have a fantastic backdrop!! This felt like a Hope Valley League ground in many respects and I have to say, I thought this was better than their supposed home ground! They should play here instead of the Green in my opinion!
- Expense: 8/10 – Free entry today again but I can’t give it full marks as I didn’t see a whole game, but I did still see goals thankfully!
- Overall Experience: 8/10 – This score has doubled due to the goals we saw, if it had finished 0-0 after all that fuss trying to get to the ground it would have been a wasted Saturday, but getting there and seeing 3 goals made my day and given me a story to tell!!
22/40