West Sussex League

Premier Division

Saturday 31st August 2024

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

Sussex Rangers 0 Watersfield 0, attendance 26

@ King George V Recreation Ground

Summerley Lane

Felpham

PO22 7HN

No Admission or Programme.

I picked today’s game for two reasons. Firstly, it was the only ground I hadn’t already visited in this division and secondly, it is not a ground that survives very often when it’s raining…..something that seems to be a problem all too frequently these days. Anyway, it was the season opener for both. Sussex Rangers were known as Felpham Colts last season, but changed their name during the summer. They’d finished second bottom, winning just twice in 22 games, but somehow managed to avoid relegation, whilst Watersfield had finished seventh. It was a bit concerning to see the last Tweet from Sussex Rangers, back on August 17th, stating that they had withdrawn their first team from the Premier Division for this season, although the fixture was showing on the league’s F.A. Full Time website. Neither club, or the league Twitter, bothered replying as to whether it was indeed going ahead okay. Thankfully, on arrival about an hour before kick off, it was all good! There’s not a lot here. Just a brick built changing room and a huge field, where there appeared to be four pitches. Today’s game was on the one in the far right corner, furthest from Summerley Lane. It was roped on one side. Just to give it a bit of a ‘Sunday League’ feel, the crossbars were bent downwards in the centre, particularly at one end and the home ‘keeper played in a yellow shirt with black sleeves, very similar to the Watersfield kit…..not that anyone (apart from me?) seemed to notice, or even care, for that matter.

Not much to say about the game. Sussex Rangers were poor and never looked like scoring. Watersfield tried, but just couldn’t create anything of any real quality. They really pushed hard in the last ten minutes or so and were unlucky not to have made the breakthrough, going close a few times, but kept out by last ditch blocks and tackles. The final whistle was greeted by much cheering and whooping from the home players, obviously very pleased with their afternoon’s work.

Cambridgeshire County League

Senior B Division

Wednesday 28th August 2024

Kick Off 18.15 Actual 18.12!

Fenstanton 1 Hartford Rangers 2, attendance 40

55’ 1-0

71’ 1-1

88’ 1-2

@ Hall Green Lane

Fenstanton

PE28 9JH

No Admission or Programme.

This was the opening round of fixtures tonight for these two. Fenstanton had finished third bottom in this division last season, whilst Hartford Rangers are newly promoted, having finished second in Division 1B. They were very evenly matched and they cancelled each other out for long periods, especially in the first half and it was no surprise to see it still goalless at halftime. Fenstanton broke the deadlock ten minutes into the second half, when a through ball was flagged as offside by the Linesman, but correctly overruled by the Referee, which saw the striker lob the ‘keeper from the angle of the 18 yard box, as the defence stood and watched. Hartford levelled with nineteen minutes left, when a diagonal free kick was finished with a stooping header at the far post and they won it late on, when a deflected shot fell perfectly for a player following in and he finished first time into the far corner.

Home to Fenstanton is Hall Green Lane, entering the small car park behind one goal, where there is a brick built changing room building to the right. The pitch runs lengthways away from here, enclosed by trees/bushes along the right hand touchline and far end, whilst a small sized pitch runs parallel to the left.

Peterborough & District League

Premier Division

Tuesday 27th August 2024

Kick Off 18.30 On Time!

Sawtry 2 Warboys Town 0, attendance 58

43’ 1-0

90’ + 1, 2-0

@ Academy Leisure, 3G Pitch

Green End Road

Sawtry

PE28 5UY

No Admission or Programme.

I’d only visited Sawtry two weeks ago, when they played at their Greenfield Sports Pavilion ground, but cracks in the pitch, which have yet to be remedied, meant that this game and all their current scheduled home fixtures, are being played at the brand new Academy Leisure 3G pitch, which is in the village itself, less than a mile west of their normal venue. It is a standard cage set up, with just over half of one side having a designated spectator area, with a pair of dugouts on the opposite side.

The match was 7th versus 2nd in the league table and was a game that could have gone either way, with the two teams very evenly matched. In the end it went the way of Sawtry, courtesy of a late goal in each half. The opener came following Warboys losing possession just outside their own 18 yard box, resulting in an easy finish one on one with the ‘keeper. The second came with almost the last kick of the match, by which time Warboys were down to ten men, having used all their available substitutes, when another player went off injured and they were caught with a ball over the top that was finished from six yards out, low into the bottom corner.

Even though the game kicked off on time and we only had an eight minute halftime, where everyone stayed out on the pitch, the floodlights were still turned on for the second half, even though there was ample light to have completed the game without them.

Essex & Suffolk Border League

Premier Division

Monday 26th August 2024

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

East Thurrock Community 2 Sudbury Sports 5, attendance 190

7’ 0-1

18’ 0-2

30’ 0-3

33’ 1-3

59’ 1-4

83’ 2-4

90’ + 4, 2-5

@ Wyldecrest Clubs Sports Country Club

Herd Lane

Corringham

SS17 9BJ

No Admission or Programme.

With Bank Holiday’s providing fewer and fewer options to get in a visit to a previously unvisited ground, becoming harder by the year, I was pleased to find a game just 45 miles from home, where league newcomers East Thurrock Community were hosting a team who’d finished third bottom in the Premier Division last season, narrowly avoiding relegation. They’ve had contrasting starts this time round. ETC were sitting third bottom, having lost their three opening games, whilst Sudbury Sports were three places higher, having picked up four points from four games.

ETC never looked like taking any points from this and were really given a footballing lesson by a very young visiting side. It was 0-3 after half an hour and pretty much game over. The hosts did pull it back to 1-3 before halftime, but Sudbury restored their three goal lead just before the hour mark, rounding the ‘keeper before finishing from a tight angle. With seven minutes left ETC scored a second goal, when a shot off the post was put in on the rebound, but deep in stoppage time Sudbury added a fifth, when a flick on saw the striker race clear to finish one on one with the ‘keeper.

ETC play at Wyldecrest Clubs Sports Country Club, in Corringham. There is plenty of parking and the pitch runs lengthways away from the clubhouse/changing rooms. Grass banking runs behind the near goal end and along the left hand side, where there’s a pair of dugouts, whilst the pitch is fully enclosed with multiple metal barriers. There are a number of other pitches here, all beyond the main one and I may require another visit, as it is also home to Essex Olympian League Division 2 side Pitsea Athletic, but only if they play on one of the outer pitches.

Wiltshire Senior League

Division 1

Saturday 24th August 2024

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.04

Stratton Juniors 1 Bratton 3, attendance 31

14’ 1-0

25’ 1-1

71’ 1-2

90’ + 2, 1-3

@ St. Luke’s Academy

Cricklade Road (A4311)

Penhill

Swindon

SN2 7AS

No Admission or Programme.

With the rain forecast to be heading eastwards, I went west, with the two clubs I hadn’t visited in the Wiltshire Senior League both being at home. I opted for Stratton Juniors (the other being Redhouse), who had finished bottom of the league last season, but avoided relegation. They haven’t started this season much better either, sitting 13th (out of 15) in the league table, having won one and lost four of their games so far and this was already their fifth home league game of the season! Bratton were 7th, looking to improve on last season, when they finished one place outside the promotion places, but came into this having picked up just seven points from their opening five games.

Stratton started the better of the two, going ahead after fourteen minutes. Having been awarded a penalty, the kick was saved, as was the initial follow up, before it was poked in at the third attempt. Bratton levelled midway through the half, when a defender was dispossessed on the edge of the D, resulting in a cool finish into the bottom corner. The visitors were far better second half and it was no surprise to see them go in front with nineteen minutes left, when a ball pulled back across the six yard box was slid in at the far post and they rounded off the scoring in stoppage time, finishing one on one with the ‘keeper, having been played through on goal.

I’d seen Stratton Juniors play at home previously, back in January 2020, when they were based at Meadowcroft Recreation Ground, but they now play at St. Luke’s Academy, on the right hand side of Cricklade Road when heading north out of the town. There is a decent sized car park and a changing room building/tea bar, whilst you go through a metal fence to an adjoining field to find the pitch, which is fully roped. There was one very heavy shower towards the end of the first half, which soon scattered the crowd, but certainly won’t have done the pitch any harm as it looked like it could do with a good watering.

Kent County League

Division 1 West

Wednesday 21st August 2024

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.37

South East Athletic 1 Long Lane 2, attendance 46

16’ 0-1

41’ 1-1

72’ 1-2

@ Kidbrooke Playing Fields, Pitch 3

Dursley Road

Kidbrooke

London

SE3 8PB

No Admission or Programme.

Tonight was an opportunity to see two ground sharers play each other. Unfortunately, due to re-seeding on the main pitch, this was played on Pitch 3. It is the furthest one from the changing rooms, beyond the 3G cage (visited in January 2022) running parallel with Pitch 1, but separated by a small sized pitch. Grass banking runs behind one end and continues along the far touchline. It’s just an open pitch and Long Lane brought their own chairs along to use as their bench!

South East Athletic had kicked off their season with a 2-4 defeat to Danson Sports , whilst Long Lane had opened up with a 7-1 win against Crayford Arrows. It was the visitors who took an early lead tonight, through a free kick over the wall and they almost doubled their lead ten minutes later, when a 20 yarder came back off the crossbar. South East Athletic equalised four minutes before halftime, when a diagonal free kick saw a defender slice the ball into his own net as he attempted to clear it from the six yard box. Long Lane got the winner with eighteen minutes left, when a ball pulled back from the left was put in from close range after the initial shot was blocked.

It was a windy and cool night and certainly felt like Summer was coming to an end. At least it remained dry and despite the game kicking off late, the light held out well and we were done and dusted by 20.17.

Wiltshire Senior League

Division 1

Tuesday 20th August 2024

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.29

Down Ampney 20 (Twenty) Purton 0, attendance 32

@ Broadleaze

The Butts

Down Ampney

GL7 5QX

No Admission or Programme.

Well, what can you say about this…before we’d even played half an hour it was already 7-0, which was too much for the Purton ‘keeper, who walked off the pitch, not to return. They’d already made two substitutions by then and continued playing with a man short, with their third substitute, another outfield player, taking over in goal. By halftime the dozen had been notched up and the half finished with a few questionable challenges and I feared the game may have been called to a halt. To their credit (sic) Purton came out for the second half and managed to complete the first six minutes without conceding, by which time a late arriving player then saw them back to the full compliment of eleven, but unfortunately goal number thirteen arrived within seconds of him joining the action. There was a brief respite, where they only conceded twice in the next fourteen minutes, but Down Ampney just never eased off. At 16-0 the hosts were awarded a penalty, but it was well saved by the stand-in ‘keeper, although a couple of minutes later it was indeed 17-0. Three goals in the last four minutes finally brought up the twenty….my record score, but sadly, a game that will only remain in the memory because of how farcical it all was, rather than a game of note to grace the occasion. Not sure if Purton will recover from this, after having lost their opening game 1-5….we will see.

Down Ampney are new in the Wiltshire Senior League this season, having finished mid table in the Swindon & District League Premier Division and had come into tonight’s game having won two of their first three games at the higher level. They play at ‘Broadleaze’, on the left hand side of the road heading north out of the village towards Poulton. There is a small car park and changing room building, whilst the pitch is through the hedge, (more parking around the perimeter) railed on three sides and backing onto open farmland behind the far goal end. There are a pair of dugouts with a very small section of cover adjacent (see below…can’t be many smaller than this?)

Hampshire Premier League

Division 1

Saturday 17th August 2024

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.01

Crofton Saints 5 Silchester Village 0, attendance 22

55’ 1-0

59’ 2-0

62’ 3-0

70’ 4-0

87’ 5-0

@ Seafield Park

Illustrious Road

Hill Head

PO14 2BN

No Admission or Programme.

Today’s game was between two of the newly promoted sides to this league. Crofton Saints had won the Southampton League Premier Division, losing just once all season, whilst Silchester Village had finished second in the Basingstoke & District League and were making a return to the higher level, a couple of years after being relegated and I’d visited them in 2020, before they added Village to their name. Crofton had started this season with two wins and a draw, whilst Silchester had lost the only game they’ve played so far.

It was not a great first half, with very little in the way of goal attempts, bar a Silchester header that was well saved. It certainly changed once Crofton broke the deadlock ten minutes into the second half. Two more in the next seven minutes made the game safe. Goal number four, a tap in after a cross wasn’t cleared came with twenty minutes left. Late on they saw a lobbed effort come back off the crossbar, followed by another shot that hit the crossbar following a corner, before finally making it 5-0 with three minutes left, finishing with a shot on the turn from the edge of the box.

Crofton play at Seafield Park in Hill Head, to the south west of Fareham and only a couple of hundred yards from the beach. Entering the ground off Illustrious Road, there is a car park and changing room building, with the main pitch at the far end, running widthways and roped on three sides.

Peterborough & District League

Premier Division

Wednesday 14th August 2024

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.36

Deeping United 0 Wittering Premiair 3, attendance 37

57’ 0-1

65’ 0-2

76’ 0-3

@ Werrington Leisure Centre (Extension)

Staniland Way

Werrington

PE4 6NA

No Admission or Programme.

I’ve always looked upon this league as one of the worst Step 7 leagues in the country and on the evidence of tonight, that opinion looks justified. I certainly can’t recall such a poor venue for this level and it is nowhere near meeting the minimal requirements. It is just a pitch in a large field. It’s not even roped off and even worse, there were no changing rooms! The players just got changed at the side of the pitch and left their bags in a heap next to where they set up their ‘benches’…not that there actually were any! To cap things off…both teams had near identical shirts. Luckily, the Referee was sensible and wanted to get the game played and the visitors wore orange bibs (at least two different shades) over their shirts, which, although not ideal, meant at least we had a game.

It was a match that looked destined to finish goalless, with Wittering having a penalty saved seven minutes before halftime and Deeping hitting the crossbar in stoppage time, followed by Wittering then hitting the post with the last kick of the half. The second half started in the same vein as the first, with Deeping sending a penalty high and wide only five minutes after the interval. Just before the hour mark Wittering broke the deadlock, when a ball pulled back from the left was finished with a downward header at the far post. Seven minutes later the same player scored his second, cutting in from the right before shooting left footed into the far corner and fourteen minutes from the end they made it 0-3, cutting inside to beat the ‘keeper low inside the near post. They almost added a fourth, when a speculative 25 yarder looped over the ‘keeper, but came back out off the post.

Peterborough & District League

Premier Division

Tuesday 13th August 2024

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.31

Sawtry 5 Chatteris Town 1, attendance 75

10’ 1-0

22’ 2-0

37’ 3-0

72’ 4-0

76’ 5-0

82’ 5-1

@ Greenfield Sports Pavilion

Straight Drove

off Old North Road (B1043)

Sawtry

PE28 5XN

No Admission or Programme.

I’d attempted to see a match here back in 2017 (7 years and 2 days ago to be precise), but despite both teams being there, the building was locked, there were no goal nets and the main pitch wasn’t even marked out (it got played on Pitch 2 in the end, apparently), so I bailed out and headed for Hedinghams United in the Cambridgeshire County League instead. No such problems tonight though. I arrived about an hour and a quarter before kick off, just in case I needed to divert elsewhere, but was pleased to see the nets up and corner flags out, as well as players starting to arrive.

The ground is to the east of the village, on the other side of the A1(M). The pitch, which is railed along one side and about 10 yards from the corners towards the goals, runs widthways in front of the changing room building, with a pair of dugouts on the halfway line at the same side. A tea bar was in operation throughout, selling hot and cold drinks and sweets and crisps.

Sawtry had lost their opening game 4-3 away at Stanground Cardea Sports on Saturday, whilst this was the first game of the season for Chatteris. It only took Sawtry ten minutes to break the deadlock, with a 20 yarder curled in off the far post and they added two more before halftime, both coming after beating an offside trap that the visitors still need to work on. In the last twenty minutes Sawtry added goals number four and five, heading in at the far post, before a one-two on the edge of the box was finished by rounding the ‘keeper and scoring from a tight angle. At least Chatteris rounded off the scoring for the night, when a ball in from the right was side footed in from close range.

It was a sweltering 28 degrees when I arrived at the ground, which meant a drinks break for the players in each half and it was still 21 degrees at the final whistle. At least the rain that was forecast to be heading east across the country never arrived.