LYE TOWN (Stourbridge Road)

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than a good old midlands derby in the cup. It was either this or work! Lye Town of the West Midlands Regional League were taking on Southam United of the Midland Combination, both leagues are classed as step six, five levels below the conference. To be honest this game never even registered with me as it was announced very late on that it was to be taking place on a Sunday. This is because The Stourbridge Road Sports Ground, where Lye play is also home to the cricket team and they have priority over the grounds use. So armed with my trusty non-league directory it was to the outskirts of Stourbridge I headed.

The ground turned out to be very easy to find as it is on the main A458 Stourbridge to Birmingham road and it is impossible to miss coming from Stourbridge. After parking up and having a quick (non-alcoholic) drink in the social club I entered the theatre of dreams. It cost £4 to get in and a further pound for a, quite frankly, crap programme. It was just 12 pages of filler, nothing to read as such. I can’t complain too much as at least I got one. There were many disappointed hoppers present who did not acquire a programme and the club seemed reluctant to print any more.

As you can imagine with a cricket field on one touchline, the ground was only three sided. Behind one goal there was a grass bank (which gave the best view of the ground) a covered stand, which had terracing at the side down the other touchline and behind the other goal a covered terrace, which had a curved roof, which looked different to your usual covering.

As mentioned before lots of hoppers were present and swelled the attendance to 133, which is treble the normal gate. A few of the faces I recognised so there was ample opportunity for a chat and a general catch up. The game itself was a scrappy affair with neither side creating any clear chances. Lye had the better of the opening exchanges and took the lead just before half-time when Francis Allen headed home.

Southam came out in the second half and quickly levelled through a Danny Adams header. The game seemed to spark to life, with both teams playing better football. However it was Southam who were to get the advantage when they took lead through substitute Jim Graham on 66 minutes and this was more or less the end of the contest. The game reverted to the scrappy play of the first half, with neither team looking like scoring, though Lye were denied a penalty in the dying moments. Southam held on to go through to the next round and a home tie with Gornal Athletic and my spectacular weekend double-header of cup football was at its conclusion.

Sunday 31st August

FA Cup Preliminary Round

Lye Town 1-2 Southam United

Attendance: 133