Combined Counties League

Premier Challenge Cup 1st Round

Tuesday 1st October 2019

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.50

Badshot Lea 3 Redhill 1 (AET), attendance 48 (38 official)

6’ 1-0

34’ 1-1

102’ 2-1

114’ 3-1

@ Westfield Lane

Entrance via Riverdale

Wrecclesham

GU10 4PF

£7 Admission

£2 Programme, 28 pages.

I had visited Badshot Lea back on 11th December 2004, when I saw them beat Kingsbury Rangers 2-1 in a Hellenic League Division 1 East match in front of 49 spectators. In those days they played at The Green, which was in the village of Badshot Lea itself, which is north east of Farnham. Nowadays, they are at their new facility in Wrecclesham, which is to the south west of Farnham.

The club had tweeted earlier in the day that the new pitch and drainage had stood up to the vast amount of rain over the last few days and that the game was going ahead without any problems. It was a bit concerning driving through torrential rain en route to the match and it was still raining heavily on arrival at the ground, but their confidence in the pitch was justified and at the end it was still in as good condition as when the game started.

The Premier Challenge Cup involves all Premier Division and Division 1 clubs, bar Jersey Bulls, as far as I can tell. This was an all Premier Division clash, seeing 13th place in the league table hosting 18th place. Badshot Lea wasted an absolute hatful of chances and should have won this with ease. It was 1-1 at halftime and remained so at 90 minutes. A cracking 25 yarder saw Badshot Lea regain the lead in the first period of extra time and they finally made it safe when they netted a third goal with six minutes of extra time left. Redhill could have easily won it with a bit more luck, as they struck the post twice and crossbar once, which could have swung the tie their way if any of those efforts had gone in.

The ground is typical of most new builds these days, although quite what the point is of putting their covered standing area where it is, is baffling. Set well back from the action and a blind spot view of the pitch in one corner due to the shabby looking ‘players tunnel’ blocking your view. As a ‘smoking area’ for those that require shelter whilst enjoying their filthy habit though, it’s just the job!

The three photos below show the shabby looking ‘players tunnel’, the blind spot view from the covered area and the awful choice of location for positioning it.