France

Coupe de France 1st Round

Sunday 17th June 2018

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

Jeunesse Sportive Cambron 3 L’ Auxiloise 2,  attendance 61

20’ 1-0

26’ 1-1

43’ 2-1

45’ 2-2

73’ 3-2

@ Stade Municipal

Rue Du Stade

80132 Cambron

€3 Admission

No Programme.

Nowadays, I record my matches seen by calendar year, (watching football worldwide means too many overlaps in when a season will start/end) rather than by which season they are in, but if I was indeed doing it by traditional dates for seasons, then this would be my earliest start for a competitive match.

Cambron is in the Haut-De-France region of the country, being around 70 miles south of Calais. Although it is little more than an hours drive from The Tunnel, it means taking the toll road for the last 50 miles of the journey, from Boulogne down to Abbeville, which costs €8.20 each way, but it probably cuts the journey time by half.

As for the match, Cambron took the lead against the run of play, but probably just about shaded it in the end. It may have been a different story if Auxiloise had managed to get themselves in front, but it wasn’t to be.

As usual, The Tunnel was in chaos. Our booked 09.48 departure left 17 minutes late, despite being very quiet at the terminal. We had booked the 19.50 for our return, just in case there was extra time and penalties at the match, but having arrived back at check-in at 18.05 we were offered a place on the 19.20 crossing…..which didn’t leave until 19.31 !

Below photo : Cambron open the scoring.

Khalsa Football Federation

Birmingham Tournament

Premier Division Semi Final

Sunday 10th June 2018

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 11.02

Singh Brothers Derby 5 Azaad Sports 0,  attendance 65

11’ 1-0

15’ 2-0

56’ 3-0

60’ 4-0

71’ 5-0

@ Aston University Recreation Centre, Pitch 6

Birmingham Road

Walsall

B43 7AJ

No Admission

Tournament Programme, free, 28 pages.

Having arrived for the 09.00 start of today’s action, I was lucky to be able to ‘tick off’ the two pitches that I required from those that were being used, for matches that would follow in the scheduling, so there would be no hanging around.

For the third time, I would end up watching the very impressive Singh Brothers Derby, as they easily swept aside the challenge of Azaad Sports. Things could have been so different though. At 2-0, Azaad had a penalty, but the ‘effort’ was pathetically put wide of the posts and from the restart, Singh Brothers went straight down the other end and made it 3-0 and game over.

Khalsa Football Federation

Birmingham Tournament

Division 1 Semi Final

Sunday 10th June 2018

Kick Off 09.00 Actual 09.04

Sikh Hunters 4 Nuneaton 1,  attendance 25

22’ 1-0

35’ 2-0

42’ 3-0

64’ 4-0

68’ 4-1

@ Aston University Recreation Centre, Pitch 1

Birmingham Road

Walsall

B43 7AJ

No Admission

Tournament Programme, free, 28 pages.

For the matches yesterday, it was easier to plan the choice of matches, as the schedule for the first couple of rounds were posted on the tournament website on Friday evening. Today, it would be a case of turn up and hope for the best, as there was no update, although I did know matches were scheduled for 09.00, 11.00, 13.30 and 15.30, but just wouldn’t know who would play who, or which pitches they would be on. As I still needed Pitch Nos 1,2 and 6 at Aston University and Pitch 7 (the 3G Pitch) at the Wolverhampton University Walsall Campus, I decided to make the trip north again and aim to arrive in time for the 09.00 start and see how it went.

As it turned out, the Youth Tournament  was held on Pitches 2-5 at Aston University, with the Over 35’s Veterans playing on the two pitches at the Wolverhampton University Walsall Campus. So, this left Pitch 1 and 6 here at Aston University to host the conclusion of the main tournament and luckily, for me, I hadn’t watched a match on either of these yesterday!

This was very familiar territory for Sikh Hunters, as this is the pitch that they have played on this season in winning Division 2 of the West Midlands (Regional) League. They coasted through to the final, wrapping the game up by halftime.

Khalsa Football Federation

Birmingham Tournament

Premier Division Quarter Final

Saturday 9th June 2018

Kick Off 16.45 Actual 16.53

Singh Brothers Derby 2 Punjab United Wolves 0,  attendance 40

37’ 1-0

62’ 2-0

@ Aston University Recreation Centre, Pitch 3

Birmingham Road

Walsall

B43 7AJ

No Admission

Tournament Programme, free, 28 pages.

I had been impressed by Singh Brothers earlier in the day, so decided on this match from the Premier Division Quarter Finals for my fourth and final match of the day.

The quality was still there, but both teams looked tired, which is pretty much to be expected with this being their second match in a matter of hours. Singh Brothers edged in front late in the first half before a superb free kick was curled in from 25 yards to seal it for them.

Khalsa Football Federation

Birmingham Tournament

Division 2 Semi Final

Saturday 9th June 2018

Kick Off 14.45 Actual 14.48

Guru Ravidass 3 A.F.C. Southall 2,  attendance 20

5’ 1-0

9’ 1-1

59’ 2-1

71’ 3-1

76’ 3-2

@ Aston University Recreation Centre, Pitch 5

Birmingham Road

Walsall

B43 7AJ

No Admission

Tournament Programme, free, 28 pages.

I returned to Aston University for my third game of the day and decided to take in a Division 2 fixture, which was a semi final, so that I would have seen a match in all three levels of the competition.

I wasn’t expecting great things in the way of quality, but was surprised at how good this was, with both teams having a couple of real stand out players. Ravidass probably just about deserved the win although Southall had a great chance of an equaliser with the last kick of the match, but the shot was blazed high and wide.

Khalsa Football Federation

Birmingham Tournament

Premier Division 1st Round

Saturday 9th June 2018

Kick Off 12.30 Actual 12.42

Singh Brothers Derby 3 A.F.C. Coventry Lions 1,  attendance 18

45’ 1-0

49’ 2-0 (pen)

78’ 3-0

82’ 3-1

@ Wolverhampton University Walsall Campus, Pitch 8

Broadway (A4148)

Walsall

WS1 3TA

No Admission

Tournament Programme, free, 28 pages.

I had been here to watch Wolverhampton University back on 11th March 2009, but the pitch used that day is currently not in use and is overgrown with the grass a couple of feet high.

Having seen a Division 1 match earlier, it was certainly a step up in quality for this game in the Premier Division of the competition. Singh Brothers were the better team throughout and looked to be coasting to a comfortable win before conceding a late goal that seemed to send them into panic mode.

Khalsa Football Federation

Birmingham Tournament

Division 1, 1st Round

Saturday 9th June 2018

Kick Off 10.45 Actual 10.52

Shere Punjab Wolves 6 Eccleshill Bradford 0,  attendance 9

18’ 1-0

24’ 2-0

26’ 3-0

38’ 4-0

40’ 5-0 (pen)

64’ 6-0

@ Aston University Recreation Centre, Pitch 4

Birmingham Road

Walsall

B43 7AJ

No Admission

Tournament Programme, free, 28 pages.

This was day one of the Khalsa Football Federation Tournament in Birmingham and my first match I had attended in this competition. The tournament was being staged on two venues, no more than 5 minutes apart by car. Pitches 1-6 were here at Aston University, (I had seen Walsall Youth Team Play a game here on 17th October 1998, which was played on a pitch beyond those in use today and is no longer a part of Aston University, but of the new training facility of West Bromwich Albion F.C.) Pitches 7 and 8 at Wolverhampton University’s Walsall Campus.

The match was all over as a contest by halftime, with the second half played at a very pedestrian pace and hard to tell if Punjab were really that good, or Eccleshill were just poor.

Cheshire League

Division 1

Wednesday 30th May 2018

Kick Off 19.00 Actual 19.04

Windle Labour 2 Middlewich Town 3,  attendance 61

2’ 0-1

16’ 1-1 (pen)

22’ 2-1

31’ 2-2

78’ 2-3

@ St. Helens College Sports Academy

Bobbies Lane

Eccleston

St. Helens

WA10 5AL

No Admission

£1 Programme, 8 pages.

For what looks like being my last match of the season in the English Pyramid, it was another horrendous journey up the M6 to finish things off. The last midweek trip to St. Helens, when visiting St. Helens Town F.C. had taken 7 hours, so the fact that it only took 6 hours 7 minutes tonight makes it look so much less stressful !

At least the match tonight still had something riding on it. With a reorganisation of things in the leagues above for next season, it meant that 5 teams would be promoted from this division, so Middlewich would need a draw to make it into fifth place.

After a superb first half, where it was difficult to tell just which one of these two was the one going for promotion, they went in all square at 2-2, with both teams having been ahead at one point. The second half never really sparked into life, but Middlewich wrapped things up with the winning goal twelve minutes from the end, which saw them finish off the season in third place in the league table. Windle remained seventh.

North Bucks & District League

Premier Division

Tuesday 29th May 2018

Kick Off 18.45 Actual 18.44

Stewkley 1 Potterspury 8,  attendance 64

6’ 0-1

14’ 0-2

19’ 1-2

25’1-3

65’ 1-4

74’ 1-5

75’ 1-6

85’ 1-7

90’ 1-8

@ Stewkley Recreation Ground

Soulbury Road

Stewkley

LU7 0HN

No Admission or Programme.

So, the relentless pursuit of Towcester Town at the top of the league table is over. Potterspury had three games left once Towcester had completed their fixtures and knew they would have to win all three to take the title by a point. Having seen all three of the matches, it certainly can’t be said that it was an easy task and there was certainly no point where their opposition rolled over for them.

The two early goals tonight looked like it would be over very early on, but Stewkley pulled one back and despite conceding again to go in at the interval 1-3 down, they certainly weren’t out of it. When goal number four went in for the visitors that was it and Potterspury have now won the league for the fourth consecutive season and the fifth time in the last six years !