Northampton Sileby Rangers v AFC Rushden & Diamonds
Tuesday 26th February 2013 – 7:45pm
ChromaSport & Trophies United Counties League Division One
Fernie Fields Sportsground, Talavera Way, Moulton Park, Northampton NN3 7BD
AFC Rushden & Diamonds make their only scheduled midweek / evening away trip on the season on Tuesday evening when they make the short trip to Northampton to face Northampton Sileby Rangers in the ChromaSport & Trophies United Counties League Division One (Kick Off 7:45pm). Rangers have been top of the UCL Division One table all season, and with the Diamonds still to face them home or away it will be the biggest test of their inaugural season.
With both teams having won their five games so far in February, if either side wins the game they should ensure that their manager is awarded the Manager of the Month award.
Rangers have posted information for travelling fans on their website here. Any fans who plan to park away from the ground should bear in mind that Talavera Way is a Ring Road, not designed for pedestrians, and as a pedestrian they should consider accessing the ground via Moulton Way and Fernie Field Road.
Details of any issues with respect to the weather / pitch conditions etc will be here or on Twitter (@AFCRD).
Our Opponents
Northampton Sileby Rangers FC was formed in 1968 as the works team of the Sileby Engineering Company, and after a period as a Sunday team joined the Northampton Town league before winning promotion to the UCL Division One in 1993. For a while they were known as Vanaid. Although they have won the UCL1 title several times, they have yet to play in the UCL Premier.
The club website is here. They are currently managed by Glen Botterill who took Long Buckby AFC to the UCL Premier title last season. There are a number of familiar faces on the books at Sileby, most notably their coach Tim Wooding, but also Darren Watts and Kevin Slinn. Their club colours are Red and Black.
Glen Botterill has brought in several of the team who won the UCL Premier Division Title last season, and who would have been expecting to play Level 4 rather than Level 6 football this season, including Rob Foster, Darren Watts, Mark Hewitt, David Glass, Stuart Smeathers, Greg Ling and Tom O’Brien with Michael Byrne also joining more recently after spells elsewhere. He has also recruited a number of players who have played in the UCL Premier in recent months including Dan Spaughton, Dan Chilton, Mark Redding, Danny Marlow, Phil Cassidy, Wayne Richardson, Michael Keall, Shaun Goodall and Michael Cirelli. Jake Newman was also at Fernie Fields at the start of the season.
Rangers strike partnership is Michael Byrne, who scored 32 goals last season for Long Buckby and Stewarts and Lloyds, and Rob Foster who netted 16 times for Long Buckby (as did Greg Ling). This season Byrne has scored 7 times in his first 5 starts for Rangers, in addition to his 14 goals for Desborough and Deeping Rangers, with Foster recording 17 goals in 19 starts.
On Tuesday evening all the Diamonds promotion rivals have fixtures scheduled, with Eynesbury Rovers at Potton, Oadby Town hosting Rushden & Higham Utd and Bugbrooke SM travelling to Northampton Spencer.
Getting There
For directions for the 9 mile trip from the Dog and Duck to Fernie Fields Sportsground, Talavera Way, Moulton Park, Northampton NN3 7BD see here. Those using a SatNav to find the ground should note that the postcode relates to a local estate some distance from the car park entrance, so it is better to check the route on a map – such as here – or use the following directions from the A45 – take the A43 exit to the ring road/Kettering/Corby (Lumbertubs Way). Go straight over first roundabout to a large roundabout with traffic lights and take A5076 Talavera Way exit signposted to Market Harborough, Moulton Park and Kingsthorpe. The Entrance to the ground is a quarter of a mile on the left – here. There is a car park at the ground as shown on that link.
Note that the Google Maps picture was taken before recent ground improvements which have included covered standing and seated areas as well as extensive landscaping. Note also that the Sileby club website quotes a different postcode which no longer seems local to the ground on most maps. On their website, Rangers have posted some more information for travelling fans – here.
Any fans who plan to park away from the ground should bear in mind that Talavera Way is a Ring Road, not designed for pedestrians, and as a pedestrian they should consider accessing the ground via Moulton Way and Fernie Field Road.
Note that on the above map Moulton Way goes under Talavera Way, and does not intersect with it.
With the game being an evening kick-off, using Public Transport is not really an option, but those who can arrange a lift home after the game could reach the ground earlier in the evening using a bus from Northampton (Bus 2 takes you to Boothville, Lumbertubs which is a short walk from the ground), or Kettering (Bus 38 or 39 to Boothville).
Other Info
Individual player profiles for the squad are available here, with a summary list of player and management profiles here. Summary stats for the season to date are here, including appearances, goalscoring details, form guide and attendance summary. The current league table is also here.
There are details on how to become a member of AFC R&D here, as well as information on Multiple Game Tickets and related prices here.
A full directory of UCL clubs, including links to websites, ground details etc, along with club links including Twitter details and some general UCL links is here.