An early morning start to get to Brackley for an under 8’s Cup semi-final. Travelling on the M1 early on a Saturday morning is always easy so an early arrival gave me a chance to look at the pitch next to the 3g pitch the game was to be played on. This was next doors Brackley Town’s Ground which looked very tidy and inviting and I have marked it down for a future visit.

Unfortunately the team I had gone to watch lost 3.2 to Brackley but there was more football to follow. Not Brackley’s home game to Hereford but Harborough Town at home to Corby. This match was all ticket, there having been problems with the away supporters at Harborough in a previous encounter. There was good parking here next to the Rugby ground and the local Sports Centre. A noticeable police presence and each ticket was marked off against a list as you entered. This hadn’t deterred the 812 who were there, the highest home or away league attendance to watch Harborough all season.

There is only 11 miles, a 19 minute drive, between Market Harborough and Corby, which meant its local derby billing added to the fact that Harborough are top of the League and pushing for promotion. Harborough Town’s run in to the seasons end looks difficult in that they now have 6 away games left and only 3 home.

The pitch here is artificial with other similar training and junior pitches next door. It is flat with two small seated stands on one side as well as a small covered terraced area. The other three sides are open, fully tarmacked, with the clubhouse and changing rooms set back from one end.

It felt colder than the 10 degrees which was due to the cold wind whipping down the ground from end to end. The skies were mainly grey but a few blue patches peeped through every now and then. We stood at one end and felt the cool air as segregation of the fans precluded us from walking round and finding somewhere more comfortable.

Harborough Town came about in 2007 with the merger of Harborough Town Juniors Harborough Spencers and Harborough Minis. Starting in the Northants Combination within 3 years they had progressed to the United Counties league and won the Southern Division in 2022 progressing to the Northern Premier League. This meteoritic rise has been matched with the new 3G (Class 1 Pitch) in 2018 and other supporter facilities.

Corby Town were founded in 1948 and have developed well since moving from local Leagues through the United Counties, Midland League, Southern League and now Northern Premier League (Midland Division) through promotions, relegations and F.A. reorganisations. Floodlights were added to their Rockingham Triangle ground in 1958 when they stepped up to the Southern League and their current modern stadium was opened in 2011.

Harborough Town 1 Corby Town 1

Saturday 16th March 15.00 pm kick off The Bees v The Steelmen 1st v 10th

Harborough Town Community Football Ground, Northampton Road, Market Harborough, LE16 9HF, Known locally as the Beehive.

Northern Premier league midland Division.

Harborough Town; all yellow kit. Corby Town; all royal blue kit.

The first thing we noticed was the size of the home defence, they towered over everyone and as the game progressed it was noticeable that they were mobile too. But it was Corby who pressured the Harborough goal with quick balls to the wing and fast overlaps to deliver crosses that caused concern. Corby also seemed to be playing to a plan of being aggressive in all aspects of the game and early on were lucky not to have a player sent off when it appeared to most in the ground that the Harborough fullback had been elbowed in the face after one encounter.

Harborough Town’s keeper was in fine form and looked majestic in his goal, stopping numerous shots. The Bee’s looked jaded in their attacks which were mainly high balls to the front line that were easily picked off by the steelmen. At 0.0 at half time there was all still to play for, after a first half that was shaded by Corby.

Corby duly took the lead with 18 minutes of the second half gone when Jordon O’Brien sent a penalty kick to Elliot Taylor’s right with the keeper just failing to keep it out.

This goal stung the bees into a response and with the game opening up both sides could have scored in quick succession, Harborough having a goal disallowed and Elliot Taylor making a great left handed save to deny Toby Hillard’s shot when he was clean through.

It was Harborough however who managed to score an equaliser on 84 minutes when a powerful shot from Connor Kennedy was not cleared and a Corby defender ended up in the net with the ball. Despite shaving the crossbar Harborough could not get a winner and the points were shared.

A fair result on the balance of play with Corby being the most pleased of the two teams. Harborough remain top of the league with a two point cushion from the chasing pack.

I was pleased to have visited this ground and seen the Harborough set up which has developed significantly on and off the field in the past few years.

The Chips, well, a 10 minute wait didn’t help, which was the result of the large crowd. They looked great, were hot, golden, crispy on the outside, but were limp and mushy on the inside and didn’t taste great. a poor score of 56.