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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
North Wales Crusaders 20 Hunslet 30, attendance 314
@ Chester R.U.F.C.
Hare Lane
Littleton
CH3 7DB
£15 Admission
No Programme.
I was living abroad when North Wales Crusaders played a couple of games here at Chester R.U.F.C. back in 2016, so with their next three home games scheduled to be played here (whilst they await the completion of the 3G pitch installation at their normal venue Eiras Park in Colwyn Bay) I took the first opportunity to make a visit.
The match was 6th versus 4th in the league table and Crusaders came into it on the back of four consecutive wins. Crusaders went 6-0 up early on, but Hunslet quickly replied to make it 6-6. Tries by Kieran Taylor and Pat Rainford saw Crusaders edge back in front to lead 16-6 at halftime. They were unable to add to this though, as Hunslet hit them with 24 unanswered points in the second half, including tries from Sam Hallas (2) Josh Jordan-Roberts and Jimmy Watson to comfortably lead 16-30. Crusaders did manage the last score of the match though, despite being down to 12 following a sin bin, when Josh Lynch sprinted clear to score his second try of the game as we reached the final minute, but they were unable to convert.
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.
North Wales Crusaders 62 Midlands Hurricanes 24, attendance 235
@ Nant Conwy R.U.F.C.
Pant Y Carw (B5106)
Llanrwst
LL26 0PW
£15 Admission
No Programme.
An overnight stay in the North West meant an easy drive into North Wales for this game. Crusaders normal home venue at Eirias Stadium in Colwyn Bay, which I have yet to visit, was unavailable due to delays in the laying of a new 3G pitch, so today’s game was moved to here in Llanrwst.
The game was 7th versus 8th in the league table and went very much the way of the hosts, as expected, as they made it four wins on the trot, having beaten the bottom three clubs in consecutive matches (London Skolars, Cornwall and today’s visitors in the reverse fixture) coming into this. It was never really a contest. Crusaders already led 30-0 before Hurricanes managed a try of their own. By halftime it was 34-6.
An early second half try made it 38-6, before Hurricanes ran in three unanswered tries, all converted, to pull it back to 38-24, but it was just too far a deficit to pull back. Crusaders stepped it up again from here and ran in four more tries to take a comfortable 62-24 win.
Luckily, the heavy rain and thunderstorms didn’t arrive until late in the game. The last ten minutes saw puddles start to form on the pitch, but no problem with getting the game finished. The stand offered protection from the rain, but not too sure how safe it was sitting in a metal stand with lightning flashing overhead.
The homeward journey was a 5 hour slog, via A470, A5, M54, M6, M42, M40 and M25. Crusaders are at home for the next two matches as well, with venue yet to be confirmed, so I could be doing it all again sooner than expected, if they play somewhere I’ve yet to see a game at….fingers crossed!
According to the league table on the BBC website, this was 10th versus 2nd in the league table, but the programme indicated that bottom club Featherstone Lions, who Oulton have beaten twice this season, have withdrawn from the competition and accordingly the subsequent table adjustments mean that Oulton have now dropped to sixth place.
It turned out to be a cracking game. Oulton scored a try after three minutes, but failed to convert and three minutes later Pilks drew level, before adding the kick to lead 6-4. Surprisingly, there were no more points added in the remainder of the half.
The second half remained in the balance and with twelve minutes left Oulton scored their second try of the game and added the two point conversion to lead 6-10. Unfortunately for them, they then had a man sin binned and with a man short were unable to prevent Pilks from finally drawing level two minutes from the end when they scored close to the posts to level it up at 10-10. Somehow a relatively easy conversion was sent wide of the target and we ended up all square.
Home to Pilks is Ruskin Drive Sports Ground, which was very busy today as bowls and a cricket match were also taking place. I had been here twice before to watch football. In December 2000 I saw Pilkington beat Barnton 4-1 in a Mid Cheshire League match, which was played on a grass pitch now partially covered by today’s pitch, whilst in August 2017 I had seen the 0-0 draw between St. Helens Town and Abbey Hulton United (on the other 3G ground that runs in the opposite direction at the near end of the rugby ground) where the game was infamously abandoned seven minutes into stoppage time, due to the floodlights going off just as Abbey Hulton were about to take a penalty, with what would have been the final kick of the match.
