As most readers of this know I’ve had a tendency to have months of plenty of goals. January was one, 49 in 10. This month had been above average, 45 in 10. I picked this fixture a couple of weeks ago when compiling my April fixtures purely on the basis it was a priority ground that was very easy to get to. I had avoided it for being too easy; with 8 Manchester League Premier Division grounds to do I could not be picky.
During Tuesday I had contemplated not bothering with Dukinfield and going elsewhere, my view of Ducky wasn’t a good one. See January 23rd when I ticked off an outside pitch, the walk from Newton for Hyde station left me a little shocked as I saw it as a rough area. I had vowed in that post not to return ‘for a very long time’; ha here I was 94 days after, hardly a long time some may say.
During my afternoon off after three tough lessons I decided to definitely go for it as it would be a very cheap evening. I did not have to get into Stockport until 5pm and at latest 5:30, however I did not want to waste such time so aimed for 5pm. I left 6th form at 4:25 and walked into the centre of Marple for a bus into Stockport. There was one there on arrival, I bought a Day Rider and the bus set off.
The traffic into the centre of town was horrendous and made the journey absolutely unbearable. By the time the bus got into Stockport bus station it was 5:05, I quickly went to bus stand U and jumped on the standing bus. The ride up to Ducky was supposed to take around 40 minutes going via Woodley and Hyde, an 8 mile trip taking that long? What? It actually took 45 minutes as I alighted at Boyds Walk just before 6pm.
My walk along this road backed up why I said I’d not return for a long time, the houses looked ok but it just felt like a bad area. I took a right at the end into Birch Lane with the rugby club appearing on the right after a few hundred yards. Instead of an outside pitch I was to see a game on the main pitch as I entered I found this was by far one of the better Manchester League grounds. Like Prestwich Heys it is fully railed with full 4 sides of hard standing, a rarity it must be said!
I stood on the near side next to some broken glass and waited a good 20 minutes for the game to commence. The home side wore white & green hoops, Elton Vale in usual blue & black stripes. It was fair to say neither side was in form, Elton Vale with 4 points from their last 7 and Dukinfield with just 3 from their last 7. Something had to give.
Dukinfield took the lead after just three minutes; a low cross from the right was taken inside and smashed in from 6 yards. Vale had to win in order to give themselves a chance of stopping up and made it hard for Town for a while. The out of form home club took a 2-0 lead though on 25 minutes, a close range effort finding the bottom middle of the goal. They didn’t stop either and could have gone three goals to the good not long after.
The Fold pulled one back on 36 minutes with a very fine strike, the striker cutting in the from the left wing before unleashing a wonderful right foot effort into the bottom right hand corner that sent Elton Vale’s 6 fans mental. Just as it looked as if the away side may go into the break with a half chance of pinching an equaliser they conceded a free-kick 25 yards out, 3 went up hitting it over the wall and in off the bar, unstoppable and a quality goal.
I had a walk round onto the far side for my photos, I’m afraid to say this ground isn’t the greatest for taking pics of. It is fairly bland, a grey wall on two sides, housing on another and a 2nd hand dealership car behind the near goal. I stood near the halfway line and was expecting a slower half with a lot less goals.
The first half hadn’t exactly been chance infested yet it was still an interesting spectacle. Dukinfield proceeded to stick the game out of reach as 6 lifted a bouncing ball over the keeper from 12 yards on 56, 4-1 Dukinfield. The game descended into a tiny bit of lifelessness, as I did a head-count I wondered how many of them would have expected what happened next.
It got to 66 minutes, Dukinfield hit a shot from over 25 yards out clipped the bar, it would have been one of the ultimate goals of my season. Elton Vale went up the other end and 7 went one on one with the Ducky keeper, sticking it over him and in, 4-2 and game on. Elton Vale looked determined to get back into it but were soon out of it! 72 minutes in and Dukinfield Town’s 6 headed a long cross over the keeper, 5-2. 2 minutes after, 6-2! A long ball found 3 who took almost all day to walk in from the touchline and curl a right foot shot into the far corner. Vale looked dead and buried 6-2 after 74 minutes. Game over, surely?
They didn’t come back and have a flurry, they took it to the home side from the kick off and when 8 hit a uncleared corner through a crowd of players it was now a goal-fest, 6-3. It remained 6-3 for 90 seconds, another full back scoring. 2 of Vale took the ball down the line saw nothing on and proceeded to cut in and curl an unbelievable 25 yard shot into the far corner left footed, 6-4. 5 goals in 11 minutes! I was speechless. This game was 6-4 and hadn’t had a lot of shots at goal. For the first time this season I was actually stunned beyond belief.
I asked the linesman whether I’d got mad and was seeing things, he was equally shocked and I had my answer, it was happening. At this point I realised I had 1 more goal to beat the 10 I’d seen at Stoconians 24 days ago. I walked behind the far goal and onto the near side where I saw a game fading out and ANOTHER GOAL! Dukinfield Town 7 Elton Vale 4! A wonderful move that lead to a well placed shot inside the box, I didn’t scream with joy although I felt like it!
The final whistle went at 20:13; I had 23 minutes to make it back to the bus stop. This season had officially got to brilliant mode. I got the 330 bus from the centre of Ducky and the journey took 36 minutes back leaving me with 20 minutes until the 21:30 bus home. I could not stop grinning from ear to ear, it is rare I see 6 goals in a half but 6 in 21 minutes? Mad.
The 21:30 got to Stockport late and I paid an inflation busting £3.60 to get home, a price rise of 50p on not so long back!
I write this on a Saturday evening still wondering how this result happened. This was a fluke, I will not see another 7-4 for many years but I will take it.
I got in at 22:20 and decided to eat for an hour afterwards. The hunger for goals may have gone but you can’t not eat for more than 12 hours!
Tom
