Friendly

Saturday 8th July 2023

Kick Off 12.00 Actual 12.03

A.F.C. Rangers 2 Cuxton ‘91 4, attendance 23

8’ 0-1

20’ 0-2

24’ 0-3

30’ 1-3 (pen)

47’ 2-3

52’ 2-4

@ Watling Park Football Centre, 3G Pitch

The Anchorians Club

Darland Avenue

Gillingham

ME7 3AN

No Admission or Programme.

The early kick off here meant this was the first of two games today. It was a clash between two teams who play in the Kent County League as Division 1 Central & East (Step 8) hosted Premier Division (Step 7). The game was at The Anchorians Club, which also hosts hockey (artificial) and rugby (grass) on their own separate pitches, whilst the caged football pitch has spectator access along three quarters of one side.

Cuxton raced into a 0-3 lead inside twenty five minutes, but a penalty for Rangers saw it pulled back to 1-3 after half an hour. Two minutes into the second half Rangers scored again to make it 2-3, but Cuxton restored their two goal lead within five minutes to make it 2-4. Both sides were fully committed throughout and Cuxton ran out comfortable winners in the end.

Friendly

Thursday 6th July 2023

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.29

Blandford United 0 Portland United 4, attendance 90

3’ 0-1

7’ 0-2

12’ 0-3

25’ 0-4

@ The Blandford School, 3G Pitch

Milldown Road

Blandford Forum

DT11 7SQ

No Admission or Programme.

This was Dorset Premier League (Step 7) versus Wessex League Premier Division (Step 5). Portland came flying out of the blocks, scoring three times in the opening twelve minutes. They could have added a couple more too, before making it 0-4 after twenty five minutes. Blandford weathered the storm and credit to them for not totally collapsing. They even had a few chances late on, but Portland had made a number of changes by then.

The game was played at The Blandford School. The usual 3G set up with spectator access along three quarters of one side.

Friendly

Wednesday 5th July 2023

Kick Off 18.30 On Time!

Sporting Weston 2 Wrington Redhill 1, attendance 42

29’ 1-0

42’ 1-1

45’ 2-1

@ Kewstoke Village Hall

Crookes Lane

Kewstoke

BS22 9XB

No Admission or Programme.

This was between two teams in the Somerset County League. Sporting Weston are new into Division 3, having finished second in Division 1 of the Weston-super-Mare & District League last season, whilst Wrington Redhill are in the Premier Division, having also been promoted, following their runners up place in Division 1 behind Uphill Castle.

Sporting Weston actually play their home league games at King George V Playing Field, Meeting House Lane, Cleeve, where I had seen Yatton & Cleeve United play a home game in April last year. The attraction tonight was that this match was being played at Kewstoke Village Hall, which I never got to when Kewstoke Lions played here in the Somerset County League before dropping out at the end of the 2017/18 season.

Sporting opened the scoring just before the half hour mark, with a close range header following a corner on the left. Wrington levelled three minutes before halftime, shooting past the ‘keeper into the far corner after a neat through ball, but Sporting edged back in front with the last kick of the half to lead 2-1 at the break. Plenty of chances in the second half, but neither side able to convert.

Above : Sporting Weston No.2 heads in the opening goal.

Friendly

Tuesday 4th July 2023

Kick Off 19.15 Actual 19.16

Overton United 0 Tadley Calleva 13, attendance 30

0-1 (2), 0-2 (21), 0-3 (22), 0-4 (26), 0-5 (39), 0-6 (40), 0-7 (46), 0-8 (50),

0-9 (59), 0-10 (62), 0-11 (66), 0-12 (76), 0-13 (78)

@ Berrydown Sports Ground

London Road (B3400)

Overton

RG25 3BT

No Admission or Programme.

This was Hampshire Premier League Division 1 (Step 8) versus Combined Counties League Premier Division South (Step 5), played at Berrydown Sports Ground, rather than Overtons normal home venue in Bridge Street. The football pitch is furthest from the changing rooms, on the far side of the cricket pitch.

The game itself turned out to be a total mismatch as Tadley were relentless and never eased off, totally outplaying their lower level hosts. 0-6 by halftime and it should have been at least twenty by the end, but it finished with just the thirteen! Three of the goals were quality free kicks. Two from 25 yards right into the top corner and the other from 20 yards into the bottom corner.

Friendly

Monday 3rd July 2023

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.33

Chagos Islands 4 Falkland Islands 0, attendance 377

6’ 1-0

34’ 2-0

66’ 3-0

72’ 4-0

@ South Park Reigate F.C.

Whitehall Lane

Reigate

RH2 8LG

£3 Admission

Programme available, didn’t bother buying.

The Chagos Islands have two communities in the U.K. one in Manchester and the other in Crawley, hence the choice of Reigate to stage this friendly. The Falkland Islands are from the South Atlantic and had undertaken an 18 hour flight to get here, having driven through snow to reach the airport and then waiting for their plane to be de-iced! They are not here just for this game though. They were using it as a warm up for the up coming Island Games that commence this coming weekend in Guernsey.

The game attracted a very good crowd, albeit with free admission for children. How South Park would love to attract this sort of support. Unsurprisingly, there are no changes to the ground since my last visit here on Boxing Day. It is still soulless. I can’t see that ever changing…

The game was decent to watch. Chagos Islands went ahead early, when a pull back from the right was put in at the near post. Their lead was doubled ten minutes before halftime, when a shot squirmed past the ‘keeper with the aid of a deflection. Two goals in a six minute spell, midway through the second half, rounded off the scoring. A corner on the left was finished with a shot on the turn that went just inside the far post, whilst a long ball was flicked on before being fired across the ‘keeper into the far corner to make it 4-0.

I’m not a lucky charm for the Falkland Islands team. This is the fourth time I’ve now seen them play. The previous three games saw them lose 6-0 twice and 6-1. At least they’re improving!

Friendly

Saturday 1st July 2023

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

Bournemouth 3 Wincanton Town 1, attendance 47

23’ 1-0

32’ 1-1

46’ 2-1

52’ 3-1

@ Slades Park, 3G Pitch

Ensbury Avenue

Bournemouth

BH10 4HG

No Admission or Programme.

This was a Step 5 versus Step 6 clash as Wessex League Premier Division (not Wessex Premier League as stated on the club Twitter! It always amazes me how many clubs don’t actually know the name of the league they play in!) hosted Western League Division 1. Again, a standard cage set up with three quarters of one side available for spectator viewing. The changing rooms are at the cricket pavilion, which is a good 350-400 yards away.

Bournemouth went ahead midway through the first half, when a back pass was miss controlled by the ‘keeper, resulting in the ball being rolled into an empty net. Wincanton levelled nine minutes later, with a brilliantly curled shot from 20 yards finding the top corner. It took Bournemouth a matter of seconds into the second half to regain the lead, when a long ball over the top saw the ball poked past the ‘keeper and seven minutes later they made it 3-1, when the ball was cut in from the left hand side and finished unmarked from ten yards.

Friendly

Friday 30th June 2023

Kick Off 20.00 Actual 20.08

Bishops Cannings 3 Ludgershall Sports 5, attendance 43

5’ 1-0

20’ 1-1

22’ 2-1

37’ 2-2

42’ 2-3

72’ 2-4

76’ 3-4

90’ 3-5

@ Green Lane Playing Fields, 3G Pitch

Green Lane

Devizes

SN10 5EP

No Admission or Programme.

Considering that there are supposed to be no matches played in June, due to the ‘Close Season’ enforced by the F.A. this was an unusual one as Green Lane is not only home to Bishops Cannings, but also the headquarters of the Wiltshire F.A.! It is a standard cage, with viewing along three quarters of one side. Rather annoyingly for a newish set up, there was a partition wire across the pitch, although the ball only hit it once during the match.

The game was between two sides in the Wiltshire Senior League, Bishops Cannings being new into Division 1, whilst Ludgershall are in the Premier Division, having been promoted at the end of last season. If you had turned up to watch, without knowing it was a friendly, you would have been surprised, as it was played very competitively throughout and I will see a fair number of matches in the coming season that won’t be anywhere near as good as this was to watch.

Bishops Cannings twice led in the first half, but still found themselves 2-3 down at the break. It was 2-4 midway through the second half, but a quick reply brought it back to 3-4 and it wasn’t until the final kick of the match that Ludgershall made it 3-5. A very enjoyable game to watch and worth the effort of battling the usual nightmare Friday traffic, which thankfully eased once clear of the M25.

Friendly

Saturday 24th June 2023

Kick Off 13.00 Actual 13.19

Estudiantes London 6 Redbridge U23 2, attendance 22

16’ 1-0

22’ 2-0

30’ 3-0

44’ 4-0

53’ 5-0

63’ 6-0

72’ 6-1

86’ 6-2

@ The Latymer School, 3G Pitch

Haslebury Road

Edmonton

London

N9 9TN

No Admission or Programme.

I had a few options for today, all on neutral venue 3G pitches, but with it being during the official F.A. ‘Close Season’, I decided to play it safe and head for this one, as Middlesex County League side Estudiantes are very active on Twitter, so no problem confirming kick off time or venue. It was also the nearest one, so at least if it was called off at short notice, I wouldn’t have wasted too much time driving. The set up here is a typical cage with spectator viewing along three quarters of one side.

The game itself was much closer than the scoreline suggests. The difference was that nearly all the chances for Estudiantes finished with goals being scored. Redbridge could easily have scored six goals themselves, but at least with the two late ones they did manage to give the final score some sort of respectability.