Devon FA Ground
Coach Road
Newton Abbot
Devon
TQ12 1EJ
01626 332077 (Devon FA)
Ground Number: 1292
Sunday 31st March 2022
Sunday 31st March 2022
Torquay United WFC 2-3 Maidenhead United WFC
WNL D1 South West
WNL D1 South West
TORQUAY UNITED WOMEN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
I see no clear formation date for Torquay United Women but their Twitter dates back to 2013. That season they played in the South West Regional Womens Football League West Division, winning the title in their first season. This sits at step 6 of the womens pyramid and as a result of their success, they were promoted to the Premier Division. They finished a credible 3rd in their first season at the higher level. In 2018, they repeated that feat but in 2020 & 2021 they had bad seasons, finishing bottom of the table on each occasion however due to Covid, the results were declared null and void. They recovered to finish 4th in 2022 and then last season they lost just once all season, winning the title and with t promotion to the step 4 WNL Division 1 South West. They play at the Devon FA in Coach Road, Newton Abbot. This is also home of Plymouth Argyle Women who play at step 3 of the pyramid. It also hosts other local sides and cup finals.
MY VISIT
A visit to this ground was mooted in the week leading up to the game although it was initially shelved due to Plymouth Argyle Women, the usual team who play at this ground, being away. It completed one of the Women's Leagues for me. Due to always working Sundays, I didn't place as much importance on this as I would a league in the pyramid. However, Newton Abbot was a pretty pleasant place and so when further investigation found that Torquay United Women were playing at the ground, I was interested. It saved an overnight drive and so I broached the subject to fellow hopper Colin. He was happy to pay for his half of a hotel room in Torquay and with me being able to tick the town's Wetherspoons, I was happy to do it too. We only booked everything on Friday afternoon and £40 at a poorly reviewed hotel was worth the gamble.
I awoke on the morning of the game having had a reasonable night's sleep. The clocks did not help though going forward and with the daft checkout time of 10, it was all a bit of a rush. Especially with the cleaner tapping on the doorstep to hurry us up. We strolled to the car to drop our bags and walked for a look around Torquay United. Four pleasant visits for me, the last one of which saw Wycombe Wanderers stay up on goal difference. It was always a nice away day and it's sad to see their decline. After a further walk, we made our way to Newton Abbot, parking up at the ground. It was 15 minutes walk to the town centre and Wetherspoons, a revisit for me. I treated myself to a steak meal with scampi and a bottle of Aspalls. It was on the pricier side at nearly £19 but I'd been looking forward to it for a while. From there, we walked back to the ground, arriving 40 minutes before kickoff and paid £5 to get in. I was thwarted updating my blogs by a flat laptop battery so just chatted to various hoppers which made up the majority of the crowd.
Torquay United sat in 11th place in the league, in the relegation zone but with a good chance of catching Portishead Town & Southampton Women if they got the desired results. Maidenhead United were in 8th and well clear of the relegation places. The hosts were in mixed form having won one, drawn one and lost one of their last three, their last result a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Southampton. Maidenhead United were in similar inconsistency but had defeated Portishead Town 4-0 in their last game. The opening period was fairly equal, perhaps with Torquay edging it. It was Maidenhead United that took the lead on 24 minutes, a Torquay United player turning the cross into her own net. On 33 minutes, the hosts were level, a low shot from Kate McKane just inside the area. Just before half time, it was 2-1 to the hosts, a brilliant 25-yard strike from Tee Kaptein giving them a deserved lead. The second half was more of a damp squib but Maidenhead raised their game in the closing stages. On 84 minutes Jade Hockey levelled the scores from a 30-yard free kick that was fairly central but it looped over the home keepers' head. A minute later, a well-worked move and a composed finish gave the visitors all three points.
I was pleased for Maidenhead United as we had sat chatting to their friendly official all game and he told us it was a record points haul in a season for his side. For me, two significant landmarks had been passed. Firstly, I'd seen 32 games in a month, beating my previous record of 26. It was also my 30th league completed on the Futbology app. It was a decent end to a nice weekend as we left at around 4. It was a decent trip home and I dropped Colin off at 7.30. I was home myself 15 minutes later and had a few drinks whilst catching up on my blogs. I had seriously fallen behind but managed to get all of Saturday's up before bed. Over the weekend I had driven 527 miles in 11.45 hours. When working out the costs, I found that I'd charged Colin £17 less than what it had cost me for the whole trip but that's life. I had another trip on Monday up to Nottingham to see a couple of games and normally I'd have liked to have done some research beforehand but opted for a decent night's sleep over this.
THE GROUND
The DEVON FA COUNTY GROUND is located around a 15-minute walk from the centre of Newton Abbot. It has good public transport links and paid parking, £1.20 for Sunday games. It has recently seen a revamp with 3G pitch and 200 seats in a newly-renovated stand. This is the only cover although the rest of the ground is well-kept. The food and drink facilities are very decent with a wide range available at fair prices. Some of the pictures below are from my visit in 2019 before the refurb was made.
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