New Bradwell St Peter 7 Sport London e Benfica 2
Molten Spartan South Midlands Football League Division 1
At: Bradwell Road Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 3-00 pm
Admission: donation; Programme: £1 (24 pages)
Attendance: 42
Weather: sunny spells
Duration: first-half: 45:58; second-half: 47:29
How would a team respond after losing their previous game 18-1? There was only one was to find out – head to New Bradwell St Peters where the seemingly luckless Sport London e Benfica were the visitors. I’d picked out this fixture earlier in the week. Honestly. Diana and Sarah needed no second invitation for shopping trip to Milton Keynes – their first there for exactly a year – and New Bradwell’s home game fitted in perfectly, being played a couple of miles north of the retail heart. News of Sport London’s defeat just made me more determined to get us to the city.New Bradwell St Peter FC, affectionally known as ‘the Peters’, is a long established club founded in 1902. The name ‘New Bradwell St Peters’ was, according to the club history, adopted in 1946/47 when Stantonbury St Peters FC merged with New Bradwell St James FC.
Driving to the ground along Bradwell Road, I noticed that most of the houses pre-dated the mass construction of the city of Milton Keynes and, indeed, New Bradwell was once a village in its own right. Close to the ground is a railway bridge crossing the now disused Wolverton to Newport Pagnall railway line with the former Bradwell station down below. The impressive and prominent windmill, next to the ground, gave the area a rural feel. According to the information board, it was erected around 1805 by a Samuel Holman at a cost of more than £500, which was not cheap by the standards of that time. Over the next 70 years, the mill, a ‘tower mill’ with a rotating cap, had a several owners until it became uneconomical to run by 1876.
The Bradwell Road Recreation Ground, where the Peters play their home games, is a large playing field that caters for both football and cricket. There is a clubhouse and a concrete walkway leads alongside the cricket pitch to the changing rooms block, with hard-standing in front next to the pitch and a few individual chairs. The changing rooms were opened in November 2009 by Mark Lancaster MP with league and county representatives in attendance. Opposite on the far touchline is a covered terrace, flanked by the dugouts, with a couple of metal benches at the front. The football pitch was railed off with plenty of pitch perimeter hand-standing, except for the roped off corner which overlaps with the cricket outfield. Interestingly, there were four floodlight pylons on the far side but only two on the nearside, so as not to interfere with.
Before kick-off, I had a look at the windmill and, after picking up a tea from the tea bar in the clubhouse, got talking to an official who turned out to be Hon. Secretary Ian Rollins. He gave some background information about the club and about the centenary celebrations in 2002 which they erected a marquee and enjoyed a hog roast. The late John Booden, who was a much-loved and valued man at the club for many years, penned a history to coincide with the milestone. Programmes were to be brought round by the chairman, John Haynes, before kick-off and duly were, sold for £1 each.
New Bradwell went into the game in 15th position with an even 14 points from 14 games. They played their first seven league games away from home and picked up just three points – a 4-2 win at Sport London e Benfica. It was not an ideal start for new player-manager Gary Flinn but since then they have moved up the table picking up points from predominantly home games.
Visitors Sport London e Benfica occupied 22nd and bottom position in the Division 1 table with just three points – a home win over Amersham Town – and conceding 79 goals in just14 games.
The Peters (wearing maroon shirts with sky blue sleeves, maroon shorts and socks) chose to attack up the slope in the first half towards the Bradwell Road end and created no serious chances until Danny Nicholls fired against the woodwork. Eventually, the Peters found the net in the 28th minute when central defender James Fletcher fired home after Adam Castagnetti’s free-kick into the area was flicked on. There were no more goals before the interval and it was clear that Sport London were not going to be a side to concede double figures again. One local was not impressed and hoped that ‘they get it sorted out for the second half’.
Because there are multiple entry points to the recreation ground, there was a no specific admission charge so I was more than happy to drop something into the ‘Attendance Donation’ box at the tea bar hatch.
Sort it out they did at half-time as the Peters dominated the early exchanges of the second half. An own goal scored by Chel Hayden made it 2-0 (52nd minute) and a superb low drive from leading scorer Stephane Kemoagna (66th minute) made it 3-0. The goals kept on coming. Castagnetti’s shot took a deflection off the again unfortunate Hayden on its way into the net (76th minute, goal officially given to Castagnetti), Nicholls fired home the fifth (80th minute) and Fletcher powered home a header (81st minute) to score his second and Peters’ sixth goal.
As full-time approached, I got chatting to a local fan called Alan, and we saw Sport London mount a late rally. The visitors were awarded a penalty for a foul on Michael Ludia and after Amir Kani-Zabihi saw his spot kick saved by Ben Donaldson, Martin Irungu smashed home the loose ball (88th minute). They pulled another goal back in stoppage time (90+2 minutes) through unmarked Rui Kaliton. That looked like being the end of the scoring but Castagnetti raced down the left, crossed low into the area where Nicholls fired home his side’s seventh goal (90+3 minutes).
New Bradwell St Peter (maroon with sky blue sleeves / maroon / maroon): 1. Ben Donaldson, 2. Mimir Patel, 3. Gary Ridgway, 4. Jack Leadbetter, 5. James Fletcher, 6. Matt Clinch, 7. Barry Bellhouse, 8. Mike Ward (capt), 9. Stephane Kemoagna, 10. Danny Nicholls, 11. Adam Castagnetti. Subs: 12. Duane Bashin (not used), 14. Gary Flynn (not used), 15. Chris Gunn (not used), 16. Ben Hill (for Ridgway, 81), 17. Greg Tite (not used).
Sport London e Benfica (white/white/red): 1. Sebastian Nddwbe, 2. Martin Irungu, 3. Darius McKenzie, 4. Peter Owen, 5. Chel Hayden, 6. Michael Ludia, 7. Amir Kani-Zabihi (capt), 8. Ismail Zakari, 9. Artur Stata, 10. Anton Frederick, 11. Abdul Abukar. Subs: 14. Milton Gomes (for Frederick, 54), 15. Nun Dos Santos (not used), 16. Rui Martins (not used), 17. Radoslaw Kaliton (for McKenzie, 71).
Referee: R. Morris.
Assistant Referees: R. Turner and T. Durnford.
Goals
1-0 James Fletcher (28)
2-0 Chel Hayden (52 og)
3-0 Stephane Kemoagna (66)
4-0 Adam Castagnetti (76)
5-0 Danny Nicholls (80)
6-0 James Fletcher (81)
6-1 Martin Irungu (88)
6-2 Rui Kaliton (90+2)
7-2 Danny Nicholls (90+3)
Cards:
New Bradwell: none
Sporting: Michael Ludia (YC, 24), Peter Owen (YC, 36), Milton Gomez (YC, 84)
