F.A. Wales Amateur Trophy

2nd Round

Saturday 30th September 2023

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 13.59

Glynneath Town 2 Afan United 5, attendance 67

7’ 0-1

14’ 0-2

19’ 1-2

29’ 1-3

36’ 2-3

47’ 2-4

79’ 2-5

@ Welfare Park

Addoldy Road

Glynneath

SA11 5DU

No Admission

£2 Programme, 16 pages.

I Hadn’t planned on coming here, but the offer of a lift swayed me, even if it meant missing out on a double elsewhere! The match pitted 5th in Neath & District League Premier Division (Step 5) versus 9th in South Wales Alliance Division 1 West (Step 6). Home to Glynneath is at Welfare Park, nothing more than a changing room building with two pitches. One for rugby, with very rusty posts and the other for football. On arrival there were just four corner flags in place, but the goals were wheeled into place and then the pitch was roped down each touchline and it actually began to feel like a ground. No admission charge, but the club did issue a limited number of match day programmes. 16 pages costing £2. Not worth bothering with really, as it was very poor, but it is their only way of taking any money, so good luck to them. All six ‘hoppers in attendance bought one, but very few locals appeared to have one.

Despite being a step below the hosts in the Welsh football pyramid, the visitors took charge early on. They were two goals up inside fifteen minutes and looked like it would be an easy afternoon for them. Glynneath pulled it back to 1-2, but Afan soon restored their two goal advantage. Another goal for Glynneath made it 2-3 nine minutes before halftime, setting up the second half perfectly, but when Afan made it 2-4 within minutes of the restart, thundering in a free kick off the underside of the crossbar, it seemed to knock the stuffing out of the hosts. Plenty of chances, at both ends, but only one more goal, which again went to the visitors, coolly lobbing over the ‘keeper from wide left of the 18 yard box with eleven minutes left.

On arrival into the town, just up the road from the ground, at the end of the high street, there was quite a crowd gathering, probably a couple of hundred. It turned out to be for the unveiling of a bronze statue for local celebrity Max Boyce, a big name in the 1970’s. He’s now 80, but was present for the occasion.

United Counties League

Division 1

Wednesday 27th September 2023

Kick Off 19.45 On Time!

Southwell City 5 Sandiacre Town 3, attendance 70

15’ 0-1

21’ 1-1

24’ 2-1

31’ 2-2

40’ 3-2

49’ 4-2

60’ 5-2

79’ 5-3

@ Centenary Sports Ground

Fiskerton Road

Brinkley

NT25 0TH

£5 Admission

Programme free, 24 pages.

I was pleased to have ignored the weather forecast, where heavy rain and high winds were forecast and decided to head for Southwell, which would see the completion of the United Counties League for me once again. I arrived to see a huge puddle at the car park entrance, but it looked more down to the poor quality of the surface, rather than a water logging problem and it was good to see the pitch was in superb condition. The clubhouse, which is in the near left hand corner of the ground as you enter, was open early and did hot food and drinks. The pitch runs lengthways away from here. A small section of covered standing is on the left hand side, as are the dugouts, whilst the standard seated kit stand is opposite. The pitch is neatly fenced, with plenty of advert boards and about half the ground has hard standing.

The league positions certainly didn’t suggest this would be a great watch, as it was 19th versus 20th, with only Selston keeping these two off the bottom. Both teams had only managed two wins apiece coming into this, but tonight’s game was really entertaining, both teams contributing to a good open game. Sandiacre opened the scoring, but two goals in four minutes saw Southwell turn it round midway through the half, but Sandiacre soon hit back to make it 2-2. Five minutes before halftime Southwell regained the lead, squeezing in a shot at the near post from a tight angle to go in 3-2 ahead. They added a fourth four minutes into the second half, beating the ‘keeper at the near post again, before adding goal number five on the hour to make it 5-2. At least Sandiacre managed to get a late consolation, firing high into the roof of the net after a cross was only half cleared.

As for the weather, there was a brief shower during the first half and the wind never affected the game any worse than at any match played at this time of year. Totally trouble free journey up to Nottinghamshire. The return saw the M25 closed between J15 and J13.

Hellenic League

Division 1

Tuesday 26th September 2023

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.44

Sporting Club Inkberrow 6 Moreton Rangers 1, attendance 106

5’ 1-0, 29’ 1-1, 38’ 2-1, 61’ 3-1, 63’ 4-1, 71’ 5-1, 84’ 6-1

@ Inkberrow Recreation Ground

Sands Road

Inkberrow

WR7 4HH

£5 Admission

No Programme.

Back in October 2003 I saw Inkberrow lose 2-4 (AET) at home to Tenbury United in a Worcestershire F.A. Junior Cup match here at Sands Road. The game that day was played on a pitch to the left when looking from the village hall. That pitch is still there, effectively in a different field. Since then a whole new area has been developed to the right as you enter from Sands Road, a good 200-250 yards from the former. A new car park (well organised with club helpers organising parking from about a hour before kick off) leads to the entrance where there are two parallel pitches, around 20 yards apart. There is even an old synthetic cricket wicket between the two and the cricket square was roped off as if it’s still in use. The pitch to the right is used by Inkberrow, who play in Midland League Division 2, whilst the one to the left, neatly fenced and floodlit, is home to Sporting Club Inkberrow. The clubhouse/changing rooms are behind the near goal end, with a couple of kit stands, one with seats, on the the left hand side, as are the dugouts. Quite a bit of hard standing in place too. Plenty of hot food/drinks available and apparently the club also do a proper printed programme sometimes. Not tonight, though.

Sporting Club Inkberrow are new into Step 6 this season, having been promoted from the Herefordshire League as champions. Tonight’s game was 6th versus 18th (out of 19) in the league table. These two had met on the opening day, where Moreton had won 1-0, which is hard to believe, such was the huge gulf between the two on tonight’s showing. Sporting were excellent and played football that was easy on the eye. Moreton did pull it back to 1-1 just before the half hour mark, having gone behind after just five minutes. Sporting edged back in front before just before halftime and a quick fire double just after the hour mark made it 4-1 and it was game over. Plenty more chances, but only two more goals and it could easily have been more than the 6-1 scoreline that we ended with.

So, the Hellenic League is once again complete. Good journey each way too, despite diverting via M4/A404 both ways, to avoid congestion on the M25 outbound and closure of the M40 at High Wycombe on the way back.

West Wales Premier League

Sunday 24th September 2023

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.29

Cwm Wanderers 1 Clydach 4, attendance 280

28’ 0-1

63’ 0-2

68’ 1-2

72’ 1-3

90’ 1-4

@ Parc Afon Twrch

Bethel Road

Cwm-Twrch Isaf

SA9 2PT

£5 Admission* (normal price £3, but forced increase by Groundhop U.K.) included programme, whether you wanted one or not!

This game was moved to a Sunday afternoon as it was part of the West Wales Premier League ‘hop. The only grounds of the six on offer this weekend I hadn’t been to were the two afternoon games. No point wasting a Saturday afternoon visiting C.K.S.V. on a day with all the razzmatazz surrounding a hop, but this afternoon certainly made sense. The drive down took 3 hours 7 minutes, with no hold ups whatsoever, although the return journey took ninety minutes longer, with the usual Sunday evening chaos on the M25 not helped by having to divert off the motorway at J11 and back on at J9.

The West Wales Premier League is Tier 4 in Wales and you don’t need much to play at this level. If the likes of Evans & Williams are allowed in, playing in a 3G cage that allows no spectators inside the mesh fencing, then that tells you all you need to know. Cwm, however, play at a proper ground. It is two and a bit sided as far as spectator viewing is concerned, railed along the sides, with the near goal end having mesh fencing backing onto the car park, whilst the other end was railed from the goal to the far corner. There is a kit stand on the near side, whilst the dugouts are opposite. There was a decent sized clubhouse and the club had also made a proper effort with the catering, making the most of their big payday. I note from other’s visits here that their ‘normal’ home crowd is only sixty odd. The club were charging a fiver today, having been told to do so by the organisers. It didn’t matter if you wanted a programme or not. I was told ‘’you’re being charged for it regardless, as you’re part of ‘the groundhoppers club’ (never knew such a thing existed). I assume it was the English accent that gave me away?…..

Luckily, the rain stayed away during the match, although it had obviously passed through earlier. The pitch was pretty wet, but didn’t cut up too badly. It certainly didn’t affect the game as a spectacle. Both teams went at it full throttle from start to finish as 10th hosted 4th in the league table. Clydach got the only goal of the first half, finishing after being played through one on one with the ‘keeper. Just after the hour it was 0-2, shooting into the top corner from the edge of the box. Cwm hit back within five minutes though, when a deflected free kick wrong footed the ‘keeper, but Clydach restored their two goal lead almost immediately, following in after an initial shot had been saved and they added their fourth goal right on ninety minutes. Not sure how many ‘hoppers will have seen this one though, as a number were already seen creeping away in an effort to get a quick getaway. Pathetic, but it is something that is the norm on these ‘events’.

Middlesex County League

Premier Division Cup 2nd Round

Saturday 23rd September 2023

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.03

Feltham 4 London Tigers 2, attendance 40

4’ 1-0

20’ 1-1 (pen)

35’ 1-2

37’ 2-2

64’ 3-2

84’ 4-2

@ Spelthorne Sports Club, Pitch 2

296 Staines Road West

Ashford Common

Sunbury-on-Thames

TW15 1RY

No Admission

Programme free, 12 pages.

It was way back in 1995 that I saw Feltham beat Reading Town 8-2 in a Combined Counties League match at the Feltham Arena, complete with one of the original dreadful ‘plastic’ pitches. After a number of mergers, the ‘Feltham FC’ name has now been resurrected, firstly as a youth set up, but now back as an adult team and today was the first game at their new home here at Spelthorne Sports Club and it would also complete visits to all the current Middlesex County League top division grounds for me. I had been here before, having seen Spelthorne Sports lose 1-3 to Virginia Water in a Surrey Elite Intermediate League match on a Bank Holiday morning fixture in December 2010. That game was played on the main stadium, to the right as you enter the car park off the A308, but today’s game was on Pitch 2, which is to the left, behind the clubhouse and running widthways, on the far side beyond the cricket square. It is part roped along the near side, where the majority of the crowd watched from and tightly hemmed in on the other three sides by bushes and hedges. The substitutes and coaches were stationed on the far side.

Neither side have had a great start to the season. As far as league positions go, it was bottom versus third bottom. Both have managed just one win each. Oddly, both achieved against Cricklewood Wanderers, who are mid table. At least they could forget about league points today as a place in the next round of the cup was up for grabs.

Feltham went ahead early, closing down a back pass to the ‘keeper, before squeezing in a shot from a tight angle. London Tigers levelled from the penalty spot, awarded for an handball and went in front shortly afterwards, although the goal looked well offside on the final pass to the scorer. Feltham hit back immediately, flicking in following a free kick that was headed back across the box. Just after the hour mark Feltham went 3-2 up, following a cool finish when played clear and six minutes from the end they made the game safe, when they added a fourth, when a long ball forward was controlled, before shooting on the turn, sending it looping over the ‘keeper from the edge of the box.

Arthurian League

Division 5

Saturday 23rd September 2023

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 11.16

Old Canfordians 2 Old Cheltonians 2, attendance 8

44’ 0-1

61’ 0-2

70’ 1-2

81’ 2-2

@ Gunnersbury Park Sports Hub, South Grass Pitches

Popes Lane

Acton

London

W3 8LQ

No Admission or Programme.

My only previous visit here was back in December 2021, when I saw a game on Pitch 1 of what are two parallel 3G pitches here, but todays game was on one of the ‘South Grass Pitches’. It was in the far left corner of the complex when looking from the main hub building, as far from the car park as it could possibly be, with the left hand touchline flanked by a rugby pitch and the far goal end bordered by trees that separate the field from Lionel Road North beyond the mesh perimeter fencing.

Division 5 is the lowest level of the Arthurian League (it starts from Premier Division downwards) and today was a rare opportunity to see a game this far down that was involving two first teams. Even better, it was 2nd versus 1st in the table, although that perhaps says more about how poor the others are, rather than this being the cream of the crop!

As is customary in this league, the kick off time was not adhered to, finally getting underway sixteen minutes late, with quite a few Cheltonians players getting changed pitch side. It certainly took a while for the game to come to life. There were a couple of near misses, but it took until the last minute of the first half for the deadlock to be broken, when a 25 yarder dipped over the ‘keeper to give Cheltonians the lead. Just after the hour they added a second, scoring at the far post following a cross not being cleared. Canfordians pulled one back when a miss hit clearance was intercepted and finished with a first time shot and they levelled it up at 2-2 with nine minutes left, heading in at the far post from a corner on the right. They nearly won it when a free kick came back off the crossbar, hit the ‘keeper on the back of the head and rebounded inches over the top of the goal.

Anyone intending coming here by car should be aware that parking is free for thirty minutes only. Otherwise it’s £1 an hour and not payable by cash.

Leicestershire Senior League

Premier Division

Saturday 16th September 2023

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 14.59

Sileby Town 3 Ashby Ivanhoe Knights 2, attendance 32

18’ 0-1 (pen)

33’ 0-2

41’ 1-2

62’ 2-2

64’ 3-2

@ Sileby Sports Club

Southfield Avenue

Sileby

LE12 7WL

£3 Admission, including raffle ticket

No Programme.

When I last saw Sileby Town play at home, back in March 1995, they beat Loughborough Dynamo 4-1 in a Leicestershire Senior League Division 1 match, played at Memorial Park, in the town centre. Nowadays, they play at Sileby Sports Club, on the north east fringes of the town. There is a modern clubhouse/changing room building (tea bar inside, with various filled rolls available) and a ground that is developing into a very good Step 7 venue. There is a seated kit stand on the entrance side and the pitch is fully railed. Hard standing only needs to be completed behind the right hand goal and on the far side from the dugouts to the corner at that same end. It has to be said, the pitch looked excellent too! There were at least a dozen who watched through the mesh fencing from outside the ground, all of whom managed to find their way inside once once the pay hut had closed!

The match was 9th versus 16th (bottom) in the league table. I wouldn’t normally chose a game where the away team are bottom of the table, but despite having lost all six games this season, Ashby have only been losing narrowly. Four of those games have only been by a one goal margin, so they aren’t doing too much wrong. Today was another narrow defeat, but if they keep competing like this their first win won’t be too far away. They deservedly built up a 0-2 lead, opening the scoring with a penalty, before a header back across the six yard box was swept in to double their advantage. Sileby were given a lifeline when a shot on the turn went in off the far post to pull it back to 1-2 four minutes before halftime. The second half saw Sileby push hard for an equaliser and it duly came just after the hour mark and two minutes later they got what turned out to be the winner, when a cross from the right was touched in at the near post.

Today’s visit now sees the top division of this league completed.

Above : Ashby open the scoring from the penalty spot.

Independent Schools F.A. Cup

Preliminary Round

Wednesday 13th September 2023

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 14.51

Reigate Grammar School 9 Kew House School 1, attendance 6

6’ 1-0 (pen), 17’ 2-0, 18’ 3-0, 19’ 3-1, 37’ 4-1, 49’ 5-1, 69’ 6-1

71’ 7-1, 75’ 8-1, 79’ 9-1

@ Hartswood Sports Ground

160 Dovers Green Road

Dovers Green

Reigate

RH2 8BY

No Admission or Programme.

Reigate Grammar School is in Reigate itself, on the A25 heading east towards Redhill, but their Hartswood Sports Ground is a couple of miles away, on the right hand side of the A217 heading south out of the town towards Gatwick/Horley and as it is nowhere near the school, there was no problem gaining access to watch. The pitch is to the right as you enter the complex, running lengthways away from the car park.

Kew House were a real rag bag outfit. Two outfield players had a slightly different style shirt to the others and unbelievably the same as their ‘keeper wore! Another outfield player wore a plain green shirt, despite the substitutes wearing the correct tops! Just to round things off, no shirt numbers either!

The match itself was never really a contest. Reigate led 4-1 at halftime and managed to add another five in the second half. Kew House never gave up, but that is little consolation and I can’t really see that Reigate will progress too much further in the competition either, but at least they’re safely through to the next round, where they’ll host Tonbridge School.

East Gwent League

Division 1

Tuesday 12th September 2023

Kick Off 18.00 On Time!

Underwood 3 Rockfield Rovers 1, attendance 37

10’ 0-1

21’ 1-1

22’ 2-1

41’ 3-1

@ Bishton Playing Fields

Larch Grove

off Waltwood Road

Underwood

NP18 2EW

No Admission or Programme.

This was the first game I’ve watched in the East Gwent League and wasn’t a bad one to start off with, between two ex-Gwent County League (now Gwent Premier League) clubs, currently 2nd versus 3rd in the league table. Having hosted higher level football, the pitch remains fully railed and has a couple of dugouts, one each side of the pitch and a changing room building near the entrance. Oddly, it is known as Bishton Playing Fields, after a village which is a couple of miles south of Underwood itself. It is adjacent to East Gwent Cycle Speedway track, which was very busy tonight and they were operating a tea bar, in the far corner between pitch and track, which was also doing hot food and drinks that was also available to spectators at the football.

The visitors took an early lead, scoring directly from a free kick just outside the 18 yard box, that the ‘keeper got a hand to, but couldn’t keep out. Underwood levelled with a cool side foot finish from 30 yards after the ‘keeper made a hash of an attempted clearance and within a minute it was 2-1, when a cross from the left was headed in at the far post. Four minutes before half-time Underwood made it 3-1 when a diagonal cross from the right was finished with a looping header over the ‘keeper. Surprisingly, that was it for the night as far as any more goals went, but it wasn’t for the lack of trying from both teams.

Nice to have a game that kicked off on time and good to see both teams warming up on the pitch a good 20-25 minutes before the scheduled start time. Halftime only lasted four minutes and we were done and dusted by 19.34. I was even back in England before it got dark!

Ardal North League Cup

1st Round

Saturday 9th September 2023

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.32

Llanuwchllyn 3 Llansantffraid Village 1, attendance 45

40’ 0-1 (pen)

48’ 1-1

49’ 2-1

54’ 3-1

@ Cae Llan

Llanuwchllyn Village Hall

Church Street

Llanuwchllyn

LL23 7TY

£4 Admission, including Programme, 8 pages.

Following an overnight stay in Shropshire, it was a pretty straightforward drive into Wales this afternoon. Llanuwchllyn is a couple of miles south west of Bala. My route from leaving the A5 near Knockin, took me via a very spectacular and scenic route through the mountains as I entered Snowdonia National Park, taking me past Lake Tegid (Bala Lake), which was absolutely heaving with people, on another glorious day weather wise, although far too hot for football.

The two clubs play in the Ardal North East League, with this being 4th versus 3rd in the league table. As expected, they were evenly matched and that, along with the searing heat, meant goal chances were at a premium. It certainly doesn’t help when drinks breaks (one in each half) disrupt the game either. Llanuwchllyn did hit the post early on, but the only goal of the half arrived five minutes before the break, going the way of the visitors, converting from the penalty spot. Three minutes into the second half Llanuwchllyn drew level, nicking the ball from a defender before shooting high into the top corner at the near post. A minute later they were in front, chesting down a cross from the right before volleying an unstoppable shot over the ‘keeper and within five minutes it was 3-1, when a 50/50 challenge saw the ball break perfectly for a player following in and he finished low into the bottom corner. Llansantffraid did hit the post late on, but they never really looked like rescuing the game.

The match day programme was certainly one not worth bothering with, perhaps why it’s given away free. Apart from the front cover, where the visiting team spelling is missing a T, there were only two pages that weren’t adverts and I note that the official attendance given on the Cymru App is 23 higher than my headcount at the game!

The ground here, situated behind the village hall, on the left hand side as you enter the village on the B4403 when coming from Bala, is developing into a tidy little set up. A seated stand, another small section of cover in one corner and hard standing along one side and behind the near goal. There are dugouts on the far side and although you can watch from that side, it is just long grass underfoot, whilst the far goal end is out of bounds. There is also a tea bar. Oh, and the scenic views are superb! From the ground entrance you can even see Bala Lake beyond the far goal. After today I’m just left with Llannefydd, in Ardal North West, to complete the top three levels in Wales.