Ramsbottom United - H.W Riverside Stadium

I have been planning a trip to Ramsbottom for quite a while now and when I saw that Ramsbottom were playing Mossley at home I jumped on the chance to join my friends on the quest to Rammsbottom.

Getting there was supposed to be pretty easy and it was when we eventually found transport! Tom's (one of my friends) mum was supposed to take us but sadly on Friday he broke his ankle so after a couple of complicated phone calls I arranged my'n and Jack's trip.

Due to bad traffic we arrived at the game only 5 minutes before kick off, (there were no programmes left) so i had no real time to absorb the ground but I describe best I can. When you walk through the turnstile to the right of you is home to the Tea/Pie room (we’ll talk more about that later). If you walk further forward to the right of you then is what I am going to call the Railway Terrace, simply because of the fact its a small terrace with a railway behind it. In front of you there is two separated seating stands which do offer some good views of the pitch, later I learnt that the seats in both the stands came from Manchester City's old ground Maine Road! Finally, to the left you will find a small covered standing area witch was the temporary home to the Mossley Ultra's! One last thing, The HW Stadium is surrounded by some on the most beautiful scenery it really is a fantastic Non League stadium!

As for the first half of the game its self. Me and jack decided to go behind the goal which Rammy was attacking and in this case it was the Railway End/Terrace. The first goal came on 2 minutes when a through ball from a creative Mossley winger caused the Rammy back four to freeze and apeal offside resulted in a goal for Mossley, cue over the top celebrations from the "Mossley Ultras". After the Mossley goal Ramsbotom piled on the pressure searching for the all important equaliser with some attractive football which would not look out of place in the premier league! And on 26 minutes Rammy got their equaliser from John Robinson, the faithful fans of Ramsbottom United cheered in enjoyment (along with me and Jack). Ramsbottom again pilled on more pressure to get the lead but just seven minutes after the Rams equalised disaster struck and Mossley took the lead.

Half time means Pie time and thats exactly what we did, bought a pie. And I have to say, despite the long queue the pie was gorgeous! The pastry was soft and chewy and the insides just seem to melt in your mouth, excellent!

Second half, me and jack had a change of location. We swapped ends to join the battle of the "Rammy Ultras" and the "Mossley Ultras". Ramsbottom attacked and attacked and attacked trying to get that all important equaliser. To bring the game back to life the "Mossley Ultras" decided to set a flare off. With Ramsbottom failing to find that illusive equaliser the game finished Ramsbottom (5th) 1-2 Mossley (1st)!

I was really impressed with the atmosphere at Ramsbottom it was very similar to most League 1/2 clubs. The football on show was also excellent and for the bargain price of £3.50 its well worth going!