I hadn't planned on being at a match on this Bank Holiday Monday but glancing through the fixtures in the Non League paper I noted that Roman Glass St George would be playing their last match at their Bell Hill ground, their home since 1894. Paul had recommended a visit here so after a bit of research I worked out that I could walk to the ground from Lawrence Hill railway station and decided to make the trip. After taking an early morning train up from Salisbury, I arrived at Bristol Temple Meads and waited on the platform for my connection - luckily a bit warmer than the wait earlier in the season for a train to Weston Super Mare.
The train didn't take too long to get to Lawrence Hill and I strolled up the main road and past a park before turning off and wandering up a hill towards the ground. I wasn't the only person looking for the ground as a car pulled up and the driver asked me if I knew where the ground was. After a quick conversation he offered me a lift as he was heading there to assess the referee. Using my memory of Google's street view, we found the gap between two houses that led to the ground and parked up after I had paid for my entry and programme.
I had a bit of time to spare as I built in some contingency so I went for a wander around the pitch, stopping off in the main stand to get some respite from the sun and the very strong wind that was blowing across the pitch. The ground backed on to a number of houses, with some trees on the far side and behind one of the goals. On the other side there was space for what appeared to be a cricket pitch. The pitch certainly had an end of season feel to it with areas around the corners quite bare. There looked to be a few other 'travellers' dotted around the ground who were here to see the last game, speaking to one of them it turned out that he had come down from Oldham for the match!
The strong wind was certainly a factor in the match and we saw the first goal kick from the Shepton keeper land deep in the Roman Glass half before bouncing over the crossbar. Conversely, the Roman Glass goal kicks were barely clearing the penalty area before circling back with the breeze. Shepton had the first 'normal' chance in the 2nd minute and took the lead with a header from a long throw beating the keeper. Roman Glass attacked from kick off and almost equalised, hitting the post with a shot.
Shepton made the most of the conditions and almost scored in the 5th minute, the ball hitting a Roman Glass leg that deflected it wide of the goalmouth. A free kick in the 13th minute was headed out for a corner and while that corner was cleared, the ball fell to a Shepton player who dribbled round two defenders to find a gap. He used this gap to run forward and place a shot past the keeper to give the visitors a 2.0. lead. The defence started an inquisition and there were a few choice words flying around.
The rest of the half didn't see another goal but there were some good attempts. Shepton Mallet were lucky to clear the ball in the 19th minute when the keeper dropped a cross. A Shepton attack in the 25th minute saw a good breakthrough the middle ruined by wasteful finishing as the ball was walloped out of the ground. Three minutes later and a better shot from Roman Glass following a good break down the left was saved by the Shepton keeper's legs, although appeared to be more by luck than judgement.
Roman Glass were getting back into the game. A header flew narrowly over from a corner on the half hour and three minutes later two on target headers from corners where headed off the line by Shepton defenders. Nothing seemed to be going for them and some of the players frustration boiled over just before the end of the half when a handball decision was given against them. Shepton somehow missed a golden chance in injury time when a player got on the end of a cross and knocked the ball past the starfish dive of the keeper only to see the ball go over the bar.
The two teams disappeared into the changing rooms on the whistle but it looked as if they were going into someone's house with the design matching the neighbouring properties. When the teams came back out it was poignant to think that this would be the last half of football the club would play at the ground before their move to Almondsbury.
Shepton Mallet were in no mood for nostalgia and came close to a third goal in the 48th minute, hitting the left post after a good run and shot. The home keeper had to be on his toes, making a couple of saves in close succession with help from a defender sliding across the line on one occasion to keep the ball out. At the other end, we were treated to a spectacular long range shot that dipped over the keeper with the wind but went just over the bar.
Roman Glass finally got the goal their second half play deserved in the 70th minute, a pass and move into the centre before a shot whizzed past the keeper from close range. A minute later and it should have been 2.2 - a pass into the box found it's target again only for the resulting shot to fizz narrowly wide of the post.
The home team continued to press for the equaliser - a cross was spilt by the Shepton keeper to a Roman Glass player but his toepoke went wide when he should have put it in. The last clear cut chance came with ten minutes to go, a quick corner led to a cross from a better angle that was caught in the wind and hit the bar before bouncing out.
The referee blew the whistle and brought the game to an end. As the spectators folded up their picnic chairs, I wandered round towards the bar and took some pictures of the groundsmen taking down the nets for the last time before taking a final shot looking towards the old stand.
I used the time waiting for a lift back to Bath station with the assessor to check on Salisbury's progress in the Southern Premier playoff and found that match had finished 1.1 and was about to go into extra time. By the time I got on the train at Bath, Hednesford had taken a 2.1 lead and the twitter updates indicated that this was likely to be the final score. Suddenly I got a text from Pete to let me know that Ben Adelsbury had scored a beauty in the final seconds to force a penalty shoot out. Twitter soon confirmed and so I found myself refreshing tweets and waiting for text updates on the shootout. I wouldn't recommend this method - refreshing after one tunnel took forever but eventually news came through from Pete that Tommy Smith had saved the final penalty and Salisbury were promoted back to the Conference South. A good ending to a great day out.
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