Torridgeside - Donnacroft

Torridgeside FC

Donnacroft

11 Hatchmoor Road

Great Torrington 

Devon 

EX38 7HU

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Ground Number: 1287
Friday 29th April 2024
Torridgeside 0-3 Okehampton Argyle
South West Peninsula East

TORRIDGESIDE FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club is a fairly new one, having been established in 1989. They played in local leagues up until 2003 when they joined the North Devon League. They spent two seasons in Division 2 before being crowned champions in 2005. The following season they finished 3rd behind the reserve sides of Northam Lions and Torridgeside in Division 1 to earn promotion to the Senior Division. Two seasons were spent here before in 2008, a runners-up spot behind Ilfracombe Town Reserves was good enough for promotion to the Premier Division. Torridgeside were league champions in 2013 but lacked the facilities to progress to semi-pro football. In 2016, they finished as runners-up behind Braunton, moving up to the South West Peninsula Division 1 East, still at step 7. In 2019, the league was restructured and with the appropriate ground grading in place, Torridgeside were admitted to the South West Peninsula East. They've been a steady but unspectacular side at this level, their best season coming in 2020/21 which was abandoned due to the pandemic.

Torridgeside entered the FA Vase for the first time this season but would have been cheesed off with the 4-1 defeat at Cheddar in the 1st Qualifying Round. They were 2019 Devon Premier Cup finalists, beaten 5–4 by Bovey Tracey after extra time. The club is based in Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, a market town in Devon, England. Parts of it are sited on high ground with steep drops down to the River Torridge below, with the lower-lying parts of the town prone to occasional flooding. Torrington is in the centre of Tarka Country, a landscape captured by Henry Williamson in his novel Tarka the Otter in 1927. The population is just under 6.000. The branch line from Barnstaple to Bideford was extended to Great Torrington in July 1872 by the London and South Western Railway, which built a railway station and locomotive depot in the town. The station was always named 'Torrington', not 'Great Torrington'. The locomotive depot was closed in 1959 and the line was closed to passenger traffic as part of the Beeching Axe. It was closed to goods traffic in 1984.

MY VISIT

When the South West Peninsula Hop was announced, I was delighted. It's an area I have barely touched in terms of groundhopping compared to the rest of the country. I had given up my Wycombe Wanderers season ticket and so that was one issue off of the table as I was always reluctant to not use it for the Easter game given the cost. It was a wise decision, as usual, the EFL scheduling did not work in my favour and I saved my money and had a better time by not getting one. The other problem was work who were not fans of people taking holiday over Easter due to the 'needs of the business'. For me, my morale and enjoyment of life come way above the corporate shilling and so between departments and knowing that a manager was on his last day in the job, got him to approve it so I could go ahead with the trip.

From the game at Torrington, it was 20 minutes walk to the ground. It was drizzly at first, then it perked up as we got in the ground. I went back to my car on the way, getting my laptop out. This was a waste of time as the battery let me down again. I paid £6 to get in and £2.50 for some chilli and cheese nachos which were great. The rain once more returned but there was plenty of cover. I decided against a cider as they only did Somersby and other sugary stuff.

Torridgeside sat in 15th place. They'd lost their last three, the last game being a 6-2 defeat at Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police last Saturday. They were winless in six and so would be up against it against 6th place Okehampton Argyle who had won 3-2 against Bridport on Tuesday and were unbeaten in fifteen games having been the last step six club standing in the FA Cup this season and a nice club to visit. It was an even start to the game. Okehampton took the lead on 7 minutes, capitalising on some sloppy defending. On 11 minutes a quick break down the right saw them add a second with a low shot from just inside the area. A decent long-range effort on 22 minutes made it 3-0. They continued to have the better of the game until halftime. The second half saw Torridgeside have the better of the game but not really threaten.

THE GROUND

DONNACROFT is a smart and tidy venue around 20 minutes walk from Torrington. There's plenty of parking and a decent bar with food and drink. There's seating for around 50 and covered standing for 150 although hard standing is only on one side.