"I wasn't flagging, I was fixing my hair!" Tier Hopping: Smiths Barometrics v Whaddon United
- Non-League Glos
- Dec 22, 2024
- 4 min read
While waiting for Cheltenham Town's game to appear on the Sky Sports+ listings I thought to myself that "watching football on TV is just boring compared to in person" and considering I hadn't made the trip to Gillingham, TV was what I had to settle for...until I remembered that there's another football ground nearby. A quick look on Full Time at 19:00 showed that Smiths Barometrics were hosting Whaddon United in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division One at Kayte Lane so I put on my shoes and off I went.
The Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division One runs alongside Hellenic Division Two at tier 12 with promotion to the Gloucestershire County League and relegation to the GNSL Division One. Why have two leagues in one place at one level? Well if you know your local football then you'll know that Baros play at the home of Bishops Cleeve FC whose Development side also play in tier 12, albeit in Division Two West of the Hellenic League. The reason for this is that the Hellenic's league is made up of reserve and development teams for clubs ranging from Hellenic Division One to the Southern League and provides them a place to play against each other while allowing them to enter at a reasonable stage (rather than have to work their way up like in the GNSL) and still allow progression up the pyramid (through application only in Hellenic Two).
This keeps all the second strings away from everyone else and allows the Northern Senior League to retain a normal setup within the pyramid that sees the champions promoted and the bottom three relegated (no one's relegated from Division Two West) and keeps it more in line with the pyramid as a whole. If you're going through the system from top to bottom then this is likely your path, and this is what has led Friday night's two teams to where they were. (Thought Longlevens do have a reserves side in this league).
Whaddon find themselves towards the top of the table while Baros are nearer the bottom with three points a huge prospect for both sides. Kayte Lane is a ground I've been to many times and it's probably the best in this league due to it being a Southern League ground. Two stands, dugouts, changing rooms, a bar, a scoreboard, and even a kebab van. Luxury. I was, admittedly, two minutes late but thankfully I didn't miss anything (as far as I know) although my immediate reaction upon entering was one of "hmmmm" with Baros wearing dark blue and black and Whaddon wearing darker blue with less black. A bit of a clash but oh well.
A lot happened in the Baros box in the opening 20 minutes with a well worked short corner forcing a decent save, followed by a spooned side-footed effort that saw the ball fly over the goal from just seven yards. I had a feeling that a goal was coming when the visitors were given a freekick on the halfway line with a set piece set up on the edge of the box, the Baros keeper had been quick off his line so far meaning that a well-placed ball and looping header would open the scoring. Lo and behold, I was right, thankfully I filmed it too!
It was just before this that Baros had launched an attack of their own, getting forward well but seeing it eventually fizzle out with one player having a go at the lino for putting his flag up, to which the lino responded: "I wasn't flagging, I was fixing my hair". It was one of three proper non-league quotes I heard this game, with "there's two teams ref" an absolute classic and "big second half" also in with a shout for the greatest hits. Speaking of the second half, we went into it with still only the single goal so it really was all to play for.
The second half had the potential to turn the game on its head with the home side taking control of the ball and the tempo with former Bishops Cleeve Development man Callum Debonis subbed on and rallying the troops to get Baros back to their best. They took control of the midfield and through this the game but they proved somewhat ineffective up front which meant that their efforts were mostly in vain. They were the better side until the 70th minute when a slightly contentious corner, which was disagreed upon by the referee and his assistant, was converted by Whaddon to put them 2-0 up and end any fightback that Baros may have hoped for. I would have recorded this as it's one of those that absolutely screams goal but I was unfortunately watching a video of Luke Young's goal at Gillingham on my phone. Rookie error, I know.
Whaddon then had the chance to make it three when the Baros keeper rushed out to meet a through ball but mistimed his smother and took only the man. The penalty was converted and the game was over. Baros did later have their best chance of the game when a free header at the far post was missed from close range with the full-time whistle blowing and a 3-0 win for Whaddon United confirmed.
This result leaves Whaddon United second in the league, three points behind leaders Tewkesbury Town who have beaten them twice already this season, once in the league and once in the cup. Baros are currently 14th in the last of the three relegation places, level on points with Rodborough Old Boys above them although with five more games played.
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