im glad we got braintree now to be honest. during the summer i read on the non league forum from braintrees own fans as well as visiting supporters that braintree have a very poor pitch and cannot handle a bit of rain. they apparently get so many games postponed in the winter months that they get a fixture pile up playing 4 games in a week to catch up. also on several occassions a single visiting team to braintree could experience 3 or more postponements meaning that team also gets a fixture pile up. so im glad we get them out the way now before the pitch is too bad where we will get messed about postponement after postponement and get our own fixture pile up and may even get injuries when the game finally gets played due to a crap pitch! here is a handful of pics of their pitch after bad weather. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
A Gateshead Fans Review Of Cressing Road 1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground? That's simple - I'd never been to Cressing Road before! 2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking? Being a long journey (270 miles each way), it wasn't easy, but being properly prepared there were no problems. There was ample parking in the club car park, at only £2. The approach to the ground along Clockhouse Way looks a bit weird - have a look at the houses on Google Street View! 3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly? As we only got to Braintree around 1:30pm, I didn't get off the supporters' bus at the town centre, as I preferred to avoid the hassle of getting to the ground after the pub, and to take maximum opportunity of taking in a new stadium. My friends who made for Wetherspoons were narked to be told they couldn't buy a drink without ordering a meal! I never saw any evidence of unfriendliness between fans - this is a proper non-league ground, with supporters who don't only go there to shout insults at the away fans. 4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground. To be fair, Cressing Road doesn't do much more than meet Conference Premier standards, but credit to them for investing in their ground despite long-term plans to relocate. The Quag End was out of bounds as the addition of rows of terracing at the back was not quite complete. There was no segregation in place for this game, with the fans exchanging ends at half time in time-honoured non-league tradition. Well, as much as we could, with the Quag End closed. The Main Stand is decent, as is the small covered terrace opposite, but with both ends uncovered, anyone who likes to stand behind the goal could be disappointed if it's a wet day. 5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets etc.. It was an appalling game from a Gateshead point of view, with our lot going two down within six minutes, and not managing a shot on target until on the stroke of 90 minutes, with a cracking consolation goal. What an insult to fans who travelled for 540 miles and 11 hours to witness a total capitulation. There was a good atmosphere, and I don't even recall seeing a steward, but with two fairly civilised sets of fans, there was no need for them. Food was supplied by a mobile unit and was fairly ordinary (not too impressed with the chips), but the other features of the ground were what impressed me. The Club Shop is excellent, with a fantastic range of programmes and books incredibly well set out, as well as other stuff, there was a separate stall selling club-branded clothing, etc., and even a mobile sweet shop! And like the home fans, everyone was friendly. Just the way a football match should be. 6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game: No problems getting away from the ground, except that heading away from the Town Centre down Cressing Road to Galleys Corner for the A120, the roundabout was so busy that it was difficult for our driver to get out. 7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out Well, I'm glad the new ground (for me) was a delight, because the football wasn't! I'd recommend Cressing Road to anyone who enjoys a proper non-league experience, and especially to anyone who likes a programme shop as they used to be. The shop is one of the best I've seen in a long time, it's clearly a real labour of love. It's a shame that so many bigger clubs have lost sight of the value of a facility such as this....
I got this being a tight game but a 2-1 defeat. We are away from home so we will be crap like usual and also the pitch is a worry regards to injuriess so I can see players not giving 100% in fear they may get injured. Also Braintree will do exactly what Altrincham will do against us.
BRAINTREE GROUND GUIDE A look at the home of this weekend's opponents The Amlin Stadium (known to many as Cressing Road) Telephone: 01376 345617 Wesbite:www.braintreetownfc.org.uk Ticket information: This match is pay on the day, there are no tickets available in advance. Tickets in the open terrace are priced at £18 for adults, £11 for overs 65s, £6 for U16s and £4 for U11s. Capacity: 4,151 (553 Seats) How to get there: Leave the M11 at junction 8 and take the A120 towards Colchester. Follow the A120 for 16 miles until you reach the 'Galley's Corner' roundabout. Take the first exit into Cressing Road. After three quarters of a mile turn left into Clockhouse Way (signposted Braintree Town FC) and then first left again for the ground. There is a small car park at the ground which costs £2, otherwise street parking. SatNav: CM7 3RD Distance: 176 miles Duration: 2 hours 52 minutes Away Facilities: Segregation will be in place, and away fans will be housed in the Quag End. This terrace was redeveloped in 2012 with a new larger terrace, that has a capacity of 1,000. However, it is open to the elements. The club house at the ground is not available to away fans when segregation is in place. Away supporters are welcome at the Orange Tree Pub on Clockhouse Way. Disabled Facilities: For information on disabled facilities at the Amlin Stadium, click here Last visit: This will be Rovers' first visit to the Amlin Stadium.
It's easy to think isn't it that because our name is Bristol Rovers we should go to a place like Braintree Town and give them a right old walloping but unfortunately for the most of us we know that this is not going to happen. It's a shame really when you look at grounds like Braintree's and realise that this is the level to which our club has dropped, these were the sort of venues that we used to visit on the odd occasion for FAC 1st round ties, remember VS Rugby and Wisbech Town ! and they were always extremely tough encounters so I don't think Saturday's tie is going to be any different. Nevertheless I hope that the team and management would have learnt something from the Altrincham game and with the confidence and momentum hopefully gained from our previous three fixtures a positive result can come on Saturday. I'm hoping for a narrow win.
Nuneaton looked really poor and it took Braintree a long time to break them down. Over 600 people parted with their hard earned cash to watch it...
The weather forecast seems to be for dry warm weather before Saturday so the game could be played on a well rolled flat pitch. From the clip, Braintree played some tidy football on the ground, but struggled to find the target. I feel confident if the Gas turn up we should win this one. As a matter of interest. Good Luck to anyone travelling to support. I remember travelling to my RAF station near Ipswich at the weekends. It was a hell of a journey, of course that was in the days before the Motorway!!!
Manager on Saturday's game Bristol Rovers travel to Braintree Town this weekend for the first time, and the manager has made sure his team have not got carried away after picking up seven point from the last three games. He said: âThe players have not got carried away this week, we are ready to move onto the next game, against a very well organised and established Braintree. âThey were top 10 last season, and they beat a lot of the top teams last year, and they will be right up for it. We have got to match that, and hopefully our quality will shine through in the end. âWe came unstuck at Altrincham, and hopefully that was the wake up call that one or two of my players needed - there is no guarantee you are going to win any game.â And there is a busy schedule coming up for Rovers, with seven games in the next month. Darrell said: âWe have got seven games in September, so we have a heavy work load this month with seven games, but we look forward to them. âOn paper we have already played three of the top six, so we have had a tough opening. Picking up seven points last week has hopefully given the boys a bit more confidence. âPlayers want to play games, we donât want to look too far ahead, we take of Saturday and then move forward to the next game.â And the manager confirmed that he was very close to bringing in a new face on Monday, but he will not stop looking. He said: âI was very close to adding to the squad, but the terms were ridiculous. âThe window is only shut til Monday, when the loan window opens, and I will always be looking to improve the squad, not just in windows. âThe players have got to be at it and performing on a consistent basis. We need to get the right ones who fit into the fantastic team spirit we have here.â Matty Taylor and Mark McChrystal are both back in training following a sickness bug.
no new signing but i'm hoping we can nick a win!! these are the sorts of games where the lads need to dig deep and grind out a result.
Braintree Town skipper Kenny Davis says the pressure will be on Bristol Rovers when the two sides go head-to-head at Cressing Lane on Saturday. Rovers have been installed as favourites to extend their recent unbeaten run to four games by returning to Bristol with a three-point haul. “All the time we've been in this league we've competed with everyone,” said Davis. “It's a big thing if Braintree beat them but it isn't a shock if they beat us. “I think they'll be more worried about us then we will be about then. We take very game as it comes. Of course we'll be respectful and they will probably bring a few hundred fans but at the end of the day it's just 11 v 11. “Over the last few years I think we've earned a lot of respect in this division and people know it's a difficult place to come to. You get teams coming to us with five across the middle and they're happy if they can come away with a point.” Braintree, who finished just outside the play-offs last season, currently sit two places above Rovers in the Vanarama Conference table after collecting nine points from their opening six games. “It’s been an okay start for us,” Davis added. “It's not been the best but it's not been awful either and we’ve just had two wins and two clean sheets. “We've got around the same points as we had at this stage last season and I think we can do as well as we did last year.”
2 - 0 Rovers. I'm hoping we can kick on now after a few decent results - especially last week - and get up to the right end of the table. PLEASE !!! We can hope anyway !!
Team line up? Mildy Lockyer Parkes Trotman Browners Monkhouse Ollie Mansel Martins Cunningham Matty Unfortunatley for White I think he will be dropped which is sad to as the only way he'll be able to show he can do the business is by being on the pitch for 70 minutes +
Team. Mildenhall, Parkes, Lockyer, Trotman, Brown, Monkhouse, Mansell, Clarke, Martin, Cunnington, White Subs. Puddy, Sinclair, Taylor, Brunt, Wilson
