Amateur Football Combination
Premier Division
Saturday 16th November 2024
Kick Off 13.00 Actual 13.03
Honourable Artillery Company 3 Old Ignatian 0, attendance 20
22’ 1-0
70’ 2-0
90’ + 1, 3-0
@ Honourable Artillery Company Grounds
Armoury House
City Road
London
EC1Y 2BQ
No Admission or Programme.
I wouldn’t normally target this league as a single game option on a Saturday, but this isn’t your normal run of the mill ground. Yes, it’s just a pitch, which is part roped off, but it’s the setting that really sets this apart. HAC play the majority of their home games elsewhere, but occasionally play at their ‘real home’, here at Armoury House, very close to the centre of London. I would have visited here three weeks ago, when l’d done a morning game in North London, but I missed the deadline for registering interest in order to gain access. No problem though, as they tweeted on Thursday that today’s game would also be here and by replying to their tweet, you got ‘added to the list’. Production of my driving licence for identification purposes at the gate, confirmed all was good and I was in. I’d actually been here before, but that was for rugby league, back in 2010, when I saw Harlequins R.L. thrash London Skolars 56-0 in the ‘Capital Challenge’ (glorified name for a friendly). That was played on the rugby pitch here, which today hosted a rugby union match, with a far bigger crowd than the football attracted. Both that, and the parallel pitch to it (where the game was played three weeks ago that I missed and today covered by a huge marquee) are the other side of the cricket square from the ‘front pitch’ that hosted our game today, which has the backdrop of Armoury House and is lined intermittently by trees and mobile guns/cannons. Plenty of ‘marching practice’ going on today too, on the parade area between the building and the pitch.
On paper, this looked like being a comfortable home win. HAC were unbeaten coming into this (W4 D1) sitting third in the league table. Ignatian were second bottom, having lost all four of their games so far. It turned out to be a really good contest and a three goal winning margin certainly flattered the hosts. Ignatian hit the post, before HAC grabbed the lead midway through the first half. Late in the half Ignatian saw a couple of good chances saved by the home ‘keeper and also hit the post again, before HAC had a goal ruled off for handball. HAC finally got the all important second goal with twenty minutes left, finishing a diagonal ball into the box with a stooping header at the far post and added number three in stoppage time, with another far post header, this time coming from a corner.
I was slumming it today, going by train to London Bridge, then taking the tube two stops north to Moorgate on the Northern Line, culminating in the last few hundred yards on foot along City Road, with the ground on the left. £19.70 return and although the outbound went okay, the return reminded me just why I’d rather drive. Got back to Redhill, but the next train to Reigate wasn’t for another 27 minutes. Not worth waiting, so I walked home from Redhill, which took half an hour. I’d have had a fifteen minute walk from Reigate Station anyway, so still got home earlier than expected. Thankfully, it will be back in the car for the next game.
