Match Information
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Beverley Town 1-3 Horbury Town
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When: Easter Saturday 8th April 2023
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Kick-off: 3pm
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Where: Norwood Park, Recreation Lane, Norwood, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire HU17 9HW
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Competition: Northern Counties East League Division One
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Attendance: 455 (record crowd)
I went to see the corresponding fixture - Horbury Town versus Beverley Town - back in November during the middle of global World Cup coverage.
Horbury won 3-2 that day and it was one of the best games I have seen for ages. So I jumped at the opportunity to watch the two teams play each other again on Easter Saturday.
Both are newcomers at Step 6 of the national Non-League Pyramid in the Northern Counties East League Division One courtesy of promotion - Beverley from the Humber Premier League Premier Division and Horbury rising via the West Yorkshire Association Football League Premier Division.
As for the pleasant market town of Beverley, it houses 29,000 residents and lies 10 miles north-west of Hull.
With these aspects in mind, I set off on my 340 mile round trip predominantly driving on the A1, followed by the A46 and over the Humber Bridge. I then passed right next to Beverley Racecourse to ultimately reach the football club.
Ground Description
I had read a previous report about Beverley Town’s ground which suggested not much sheltered spectator accommodation was in place. So I decided to leave my visit for a non-rainy day.
But actually I didn’t need to worry because the club had fastidiously added to their facilities.
I therefore discovered a 60 seater grandstand (‘The Ivan Usher Stand’) plus three sections of covered standing along one side of the pitch.
Floodlights were installed last summer. This venue is part of an overall recreation club incorporating amenities for cricket, squash, racketball, tennis and bowls as well as the football. There is a decent function room containing bar facilities too.
Programme Details
On sale at £1.50p from the entry hut comprising 20 glossy pages.
Lots of interesting reading material including the manager’s notes, statistics, line-ups, histories of both teams and an end of season message from the home club committee.
Impressive work from Beverley Town’s young programme editor Riley Somerville who was recently shortlisted for the prestigious Football Writers’ Association Hugh McIlvanney Student Football Writer of the Year Award.
The Match
I was pleased to be part of a record Beverley Town crowd of 455. Indeed, I noticed a vibrant buzz around the place and long queues formed at the entrance from half an hour prior to kick-off.
Admission was only £3.50 for adults which I reckon is the cheapest in the entire six tiers of the National League System offering great value for money. Plenty of club stewards were on hand to ensure everything ran smoothly.
I am painfully aware the area of Hull has become a perennial graveyard for Non-League clubs where several smaller teams struggled to survive due to the widespread local popularity of Hull City in the EFL Championship.
But I firmly believe Beverley Town are just far enough away from Hull to establish their own identity and support base having been founded quite recently in the year 2000. They can reflect on a good first NCEL campaign reaching mid-table.
Additionally, this was an important fixture for Horbury Town pushing for the Play-Offs. The atmosphere was enhanced by a noisy coachload of travelling Horbury fans.
I relished the rip-roaring start which produced three goals within the opening 10 minutes.
Horbury forged ahead through a Lawrence Heward own goal (4 minutes), before Scott Phillips (6 mins) equalised for Beverley and Luke Playford subsequently put the visitors back in front two minutes later.
Things settled down beyond that until Jak Kelly (54 minutes) eventually contributed Horbury’s third. Nevertheless, the home supporters kept up their passionate cries of “Into them Bev!” all afternoon alongside the spirited efforts of an energetic drummer.
The People
I spent the game chatting to a couple of enthusiastic members of Beverley Town’s media team.
Adam Rushton runs their excellent Twitter account, having originally taken up the post after spotting it advertised on line when he was journeying in to work one day!
Meanwhile, George Bidder furnished me an array of pertinent matchday statistics and was the first person to point out the newly created ground record attendance.
*Credit for photos in this article belongs to @TonyIncenzo*
