Kent County League
Division 1 West
Saturday 4th January 2025
Kick Off 14.00 Actual 13.59!
Parkwood Rangers 1 Equinoccial 5, attendance 29
11’ 0-1
27’ 0-2
64’ 0-3
71’ 1-3
79’ 1-4
90’ + 4, 1-5
@ Bexley Park Sports & Social Club, 3G Pitch
Calvert Drive
Bexley
DA2 7GA
No Admission or Programme.
With all my first choice games falling to waterlogged/frozen pitches, it soon became obvious that the only safe bet today was to go for a 3G pitch option. I’d only been to watch Parkwood Rangers here at Bexley Park Sports & Social Club as recently as April 2023, when rather than playing on the main pitch, they used one adjacent to the rugby pitch here instead, in an area that would have once been separated from the main complex by a hedge. There was very early evidence on that visit of work taking place in preparation for the installation of a 3G pitch, which would be between the current main pitch and the temporary one being used on my visit.
Whilst waiting for a reply from the home club as to whether the game was still on and, more importantly to me, definitely on the new 3G, I managed to contact the away team. It was two hours before kick off, but the Equinoccial contact number on the KCL website confirmed game on and yes, on the 3G……unbelievably, they had already arrived at the ground! Minutes later I received a reply via text from the home club confirming the same. Forty five minutes later I was at the ground myself. Two teams were beginning their warm up and setting up the goals and nets on the grass pitch! However, this was the reserves, who were at home in a Bromley & South London League match. Incredible that a game at this level was taking place on grass, when so many at higher levels were off. Despite being bitterly cold, which meant the Referee in our game was in full tracksuit as well as gloves and a hat, it remained dry and the forecast snow didn’t arrive until later in the evening.
The set up here is as you’d expect. Spectator access along three quarters of one side of the cage, with a pair of dugouts on the far side. It is a good 200 yards from the clubhouse, accessed by a tarmac walkway around the perimeter of the cricket pitch/grass football pitch. The match was 10th versus 4th in the league table. Equinoccial took an early lead and were well on top and their job certainly became easier when Parkwood had their ‘keeper sent off after twenty six minutes, rushing from his area and fouling a visiting player on the edge of the D. Equinoccial scored from the resulting free kick, which went in off the post and there looked to be no way back for Parkwood, which was how it turned out. It took until after the hour mark for the visitors to make it 0-3, with a 25 yarder into the bottom corner and although Parkwood scored next, with a deflected shot in off the post, it was little more than a consolation. Equinoccial restored their three goal lead with ten minutes left and added a fifth goal deep into stoppage time to round off a resounding 1-5 win.
Below photo shows the pitch layout here….
1 = 1st visit in April 2023, whilst red indicates the part railed grass pitch used by the reserves today, with the now in use 3G sandwiched between the two.
