So, with all the non-league successes of last week’s FA Cup first round we've decided to pop along to the lowest ranked side in the second round of the cup based on their Current league position in the Southern League Premier Central with Kettering sitting top.
So, we hotfooted it over to Leicestershire and to Market Harborough famous for the mustering point of King James 1 royalist Army in 1645 before the defining Civil War Battle of Naseby, and now in 2024 Harborough Towns yellow army are mustering for their battle in the cup at League 1 Reading, let us hope the outcome is better than that of King James 1.
On arriving at the Beehive home of Harborough Town you are met with a nice big carpark which is always a plus, which leads out to a very large clubhouse complex.
On entering the ground admission for an adult was £12, £6 for concessions and £2 for under 16s.
Once through the turnstiles the complex itself is excellent but the actual stadium is an ongoing project as the club in recent years have jumped from step 6 to step 3, everything feels very new and would indicate the recent success in the last few years. The club are working hard to achieve the level of facilities required for step 3.
The ground has one small terrace stand and two seated stands along one side of the pitch and there is very little in the way of covered areas for supporters, framework of a new stand covering the length one side of the pitch is a good sign of progress and will vastly improve the stadium faculties, there is also plenty of room behind each goal for further development of the stadium, but once again the overall facilities are excellent.
The pitch at the beehive is a 3G/4G pitch. I’m very much 50-50 on these pitches, I can see the pros but also see the cons, I think I sway more towards the traditional grass pitch, however in the financial climate a lot of clubs find themselves in these pitch’s can be a lifeline.
The day before my visit to the club, a massive sign of intent was the signing of the retired Brazilian international Sandro who also plied his trade with Spurs, WBA and QPR, he was not available to play this weekend but was at the club and I have to say he was inundated with requests for photos and he obliged everybody, a really nice guy!
So to the game, the visitors to the Beehive for today’s Southern Premier Central League Clash were Royston town with both clubs needing the points as sitting in 16th and 18th respectively, this encounter was going to be an edgy affair which it proved to be as well as quite a colourful affair with Harborough in all yellow and Royston in all purple and I was in need of sunglasses with the Royston goalkeeper in luminous Orange!
After an implacably observed minutes silence for remembrance weekend, the game was afoot , Harborough coming out the traps early and dominating the first 15 minutes of the game and taking a one nil lead with a very strange goal not quite sure how It went in from an overhead kick but you can judge that for yourselves below, but in it went In, 1-0 Harborough!
From here on in up until half time Royston come very much back into the game with some really good quality ball distribution as you will see from the goal that they scored bringing the teams level at 1-1.
The second half did not produce any goals and both sides had their chances to win the game, a healthy crowd of 477 were in attendance and I suspect most having their eye on the end of the month clash at Reading for a club such as Harborough Town the FA Cup has brought a good level of finances into a club finding their feet in the higher levels of the football pyramid and I’m sure will help go along way for the club to build for the future as for the fans and the local community in general, this is a great boost and just proves how important the FA Cup still is.
I wish the very best of luck to both teams for the rest of the season and the very best of luck to Harborough Town when they meet League 1 Reading in a few weeks.