The Motson of Nailsworth hill

At 11 o’clock on Tuesday morning, I was in a state of panic. I had an assessment for my Broadcast Journalism degree due in three hours time – to present a piece of commentary on a sporting event (football for me of course), and, after a disastrous button incident at the Cheltenham-Bristol Rovers derby the night before, a commentary was yet to be recorded.

So it was down to the student advisor’s office to beg for an extension. She explained that the best she could offer was 48 hours, unless there were mitigating circumstances, e.g. if my gerbil had died or if I was gravely ill. However I wasn’t, so I had two days to save myself. I like to see myself as someone who can get his way out of anything, and again, the Gods were on my side.

A quick look at the fixture list showed that Forest Green were playing York City at home that evening. Perfect. A game of football would be good for me. Forest Green didn’t give me a straight answer regarding use of the press box, so armed with a minidisk recorder (which the technician assured me wouldn’t run out of batteries, as the old brick of a portadisk did), and having booked a taxi to the station after the game so I wouldn’t be stuck in Nailsworth overnight, I set off on the long trek to the New Lawn.

Anyone who’s visited the New Lawn will know that the ground is at the top of a hill. A very tall hill. The sort that’s so tall, you feel as though you’re physically climbing it, rather than walking it. On Saturday games, the bus will take you up this hill and right outside the ground. On midweek games, it won’t. This was slightly handy though as I needed to pop into Tesco to get a pen to make notes with.

My main worry was using the recording device without being spotted. Football grounds are instantly suspicious of recording devices, presumably in case you’re a spy, or recording a scandal-inducing radio show. Fortunately these minidisks are small, so to the fans I probably just looked like an arrogant teenager listening to his ipod. With the microphone tucked into my coat pocket, and having found a space as isolated as possible, I began my commentary.
I wasn’t helped by the fact that police had joined the stewards today – presumably the York fans have a bit of a repuatation. Every time a policeman walked past I held my breath…

The game itself was rather scrappy. York began with a 5-3-2 formation, from what I could decipher, with a player up front, Richard Brodie who’d signed from Newcastle Benfield at the start of the season. Who says you can’t make the step up! Forest Green’s tactic meanwhile was for goalkeeper Ryan Robinson to launch the ball towards Rigoglioso, who would then head on for Fleetwood to chase.

Sixteen minutes in Forest Green gave away a free kick about 25 yards out, just to the right of the ‘D’, as I described it in my commentary. York’s Nicky Wroe stepped up, and fired the ball into the bottom right hand corner, just past the diving Robinson. The keeper’s day got worse 40 minutes in, as he spilled Simon Rusk’s shot into the path of York left back Mark Robinson, who gleefully slotted the ball home.

Forest Green improved slightly in the second half, and deserved their goal back, Rigoglioso firing low into the corner after the York defence failed to clear the ball. Rovers then had a penalty turned down, which got me rather excited "The fans are furious. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS!" I shouted, trying not to be too biased. Then a few minutes later Fleetwood put the ball in the net, but the referee judged that he was offside.

Ultimately York deserved their win, they came with a game plan, and stuck to it. The result leaves Rovers needing a miracle to get to the play offs. York are in a similar position, but will have renewed hope at a sensational push towards the top five.

JAMES LEWIS