Belgium

Liege Provincial 2A

Wednesday 1st November 2017

Kick Off 17.30 Actual 17.34

R. Entente Hesbignonne Braives 5 R. Couthuin Sports 1,  attendance 153

10’ 1-0

12’ 2-0

21’ 3-0

24’ 3-1

29’ 4-1

52’ 5-1

@ Rue de Brivioulle

4260 Braives

No Admission * or Programme.

This fixture was a late change from the standard afternoon kick off time. We only spotted it on Tuesday afternoon and a quick look at the map told us it would give us a nice easy double. It was less than 50 minutes drive from Warsage and a diversion of less than 10 miles off our route home, so perfect.

*There is no pay gate at the entrance, but when grounds are like this, they normally come round during the match to collect the admission money, but I never saw this happen.

Braives are top of the league, having won 9 of their first 10 league games before tonight, whilst Couthuin were 8th. The game was over as a contest after 20 minutes, although the visitors did score the goal of the game, a 25 yard overhead kick following a challenge with the ‘keeper just outside the box.

It was a long day out, but worth it to get two games in. We had left on the 07.50 from Folkestone and having had a good run back to Calais, managed to get the 22.19 return, rather than the 22.50 we were booked on. Unfortunately, the M20 was closed on the way home, meaning a large portion of the gained time was lost with a diversion through Maidstone Town Centre.

Belgium

Liege Provincial 1

Wednesday 1st November 2017

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.32

F.C. Warsage 0 Union Clubs Espagnols Liège 3,  attendance 121

31’ 0-1

57’ 0-2

64’ 0-3

@ Stade Roger Claessen

Rue Thier Saive (entrance via Crucifix Bouillon)

4608 Dalhem

€6 Admission

No Programme.

Today was All Saints Day, which meant that some provinces of Belgium would be scheduling fixtures. Even better, they would be afternoon kick offs.

It was 14th v 9th in the league table, with both these clubs being promoted into Provincial 1 for this season. From the off, there only looked like being one winner here, which is how it turned out. Warsage only looked like scoring when it was 0-3, but their good spell never lasted long enough to give them hope of an unexpected comeback.

The ground is named after Roger Claessen, who was born in Warsage and voted the all time greatest player ever to represent R. Standard Liège, in a poll of their supporters. The pitch here has a huge end to end slope and is lacking in any cover if it rains. On the right, when approaching the ground entrance, there is a railed off 3G pitch, with floodlights, but perhaps more crucially, a small section of covered terrace. It wouldn’t be a great surprise if Warsage move their first team fixtures onto this pitch at some time in the future.