Arthurian League

Division 1

Saturday 20th November 2021

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 11.11

Old Cholmeleians 3 Old Rugbeians 2, attendance 3

2’ 0-1

43’ 0-2

71’ 1-2

75’ 2-2

85’ 3-2

@ Old Cholmeleians Sports Ground

Hendon Wood Lane

Highwood Hill

London

NW7 4HR

No Admission or Programme.

Today’s match was 2nd versus 5th in the league table, which kicked off eleven minutes late due to Rugbeians stalling for time as their players arrived in dribs and drabs, four of them getting there after the scheduled start time. It didn’t affect them too badly though, as they were ahead just two minutes in, when a shot from the edge of the box went in off the post. They had a chance to double their lead a couple of minutes later, but spent the rest of the half hanging on desperately to their advantage as Cholmeleians were controlling the game. Out of nothing Rugbeians broke away to go 0-2 up just before halftime.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first, Cholmeleians attacking at will and Rugbeians defence standing firm. The hosts finally made the breakthrough with nineteen minutes left and when they headed in an equaliser four minutes later, it was just a matter of time until they got the winner, which came five minutes from time.

North Riding F.A. Senior Cup

2nd Round

Wednesday 17th November 2021

Kick Off 19.30. On Time !

Kader 3 Redcar Athletic 3 (1-4 pens), attendance 73 (official 75)

28’ 0-1

41’ 0-2 (pen)

45’+ 2, 1-2

69’ 2-2

73’ 2-3 (pen)

78’ 3-3

@ Outwood Academy Acklam, 3G Pitch

Hall Drive

Acklam

Middlesbrough

TS5 7JY

£6 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

I had been here before, when it was known as Hall Garth School, seeing Whinney Banks lose 1-3 versus North Ormesby in a Teesside League Division 2 match, which kicked off at 11 o’clock, on 13th December 2003. The game was played on a grass pitch, which is still there, but building work has gone on, as well as a renaming of the facility, since then. Kader have their own clubhouse and cafe here, but the walk from the buildings/changing rooms to the pitch is a good 150 yards. At least the cage had a designated spectator area, the centre section of the near side, with the dugouts opposite.

Kader are struggling this season, sitting second bottom of the North Riding League Premier Division table (Step 7). Redcar Athletic are thirteenth in Northern League Division 1 (Step 5), coming into this having suffered four consecutive defeats.

Redcar went in front just before the half hour mark, when a quick free kick from 30 yards sailed into the corner of the net, with the ‘keeper stood at the opposite side of the goal, still setting up the defensive wall. When they made it 0-2 from the penalty spot just before halftime, it looked all over, but Kader scored in stoppage time to make it 1-2 at the break and set it up nicely for the second half.

Halfway through the second half it was 2-2, when a long throw was flicked on and the ball was hooked in with an overhead kick. Four minutes later though, Redcar were back in front, when Matthew Bell converted his second penalty of the match, completing his hat trick in the process. Not to be outdone, Charlie Paterson made it 3-3 with twelve minutes left, scuffing a shot into the far corner to also complete his hat trick. With no further goals, it was straight to penalties to decide the tie.

Redcar took the first kick (Bell scoring his third penalty of the night) and having scored their first three, they found themselves in with a chance of winning it with their fourth one, as Kader had missed their first two, before dispatching their third. Redcar duly scored their next one, winning the shootout 4-1.

British Universities & Colleges Sport

Premier North

Wednesday 17th November 2021

Kick Off 13.00. On Time !

Loughborough University 0 University Stirling 2, attendance 32

57’ 0-1

78’ 0-2

@ Holywell Park, Pitch 7

Holywell Way

Loughborough

LE11 3QF

No Admission or Programme.

This was the third time I’ve been to Loughborough University for a game. On my first visit, back on 9th March 2005, I saw them beat M.M.U. Cheshire 5-0 in a Championship Play Off Quarter Final, which was played on Cayley No.1 pitch, which was on a part of the Haslegrave Cricket Ground, in the extreme east of the campus. My next visit was for the stadium pitch, where I saw them beat Dunkirk 3-1 in a Midland Alliance League Cup 2nd Round match on 6th November 2012. Then today it was for Pitch 7 on Holywell Park, which is on the extreme westerly edge of the campus. You can’t get any further apart than today’s pitch and the one I did at Cayley and it is a good 700-800 yards from the stadium pitch.

These two teams play at a reasonable level of football on a Saturday, as well as the top level of the University leagues. Loughborough are in the United Counties League Premier Division North, which is Step 5, whilst Stirling are in the Lowland League, which is level 5 in Scotland, one level below the Scottish Professional League.

As for today’s match it was 4th (out of 6) versus 2nd. Stirling looked to have the edge, but it took them nearly an hour to make the breakthrough, when a shot was curled into the top corner from the angle of the 18 yard box. The second goal came twelve minutes from time, finished from close range after Loughborough failed to clear a corner.

The game was over by 14.44, so ample time to head north east for my second game of the day.

Surrey F.A. Intermediate Cup

2nd Round

Saturday 13th November 2021

Kick Off 13.30Actual 13.32

Knaphill Athletic 1 Lyne 5, attendance 21

12’ 1-0

56’ 1-1

60’ 1-2

68’ 1-3

74’ 1-4

90’ 1-5

@ Waterers Park

Barley Mow Lane

Knaphill

GU21 2HX

No Admission or Programme.

This was 11th in the Surrey County Intermediate League (Western), which is Step 8, versus 8th in the Surrey Premier County League, which is Step 7, so the perfect ingredient for a cup tie.

It looked like there was a chance of an upset when Knaphill went ahead after twelve minutes, the ball being cut back from the right and swept in off the far post. They rode their luck as Lyne had efforts that hit both post and crossbar and their job looked even harder when their captain was sin binned in stoppage time at the end of the first half. Lyne then had a goal ruled out for offside with the last effort of the half, but it remained 1-0 at the break.

Having survived the opening eight minutes of the second half a man short, their resistance was broken just three minutes after they were back to full strength, a cracking 20 yarder curled into the top corner to make it 1-1. Four minutes later it was 1-2, this time a cross headed in from close range. Lyne dominated from here, scoring two more in the next quarter of an hour, before making it 1-5 in the dying seconds. It was a little harsh on Knaphill as they played their part in a really entertaining game.

Arthurian League

Division 4

Saturday 13th November 2021

Kick Off 10.00 Actual 10.04

Old King’s Scholars 1 Old Ardinians 4, attendance 2

12’ 0-1

26’ 0-2

74’ 0-3 (pen)

75’ 1-3

84’ 1-4

@ King’s House Sports Ground

Riverside Drive

Chiswick

London

W4 2SP

No Admission or Programme.

I had done a game here at King’s House Sports Ground before, when I saw Old Carthusians beat Old Salopians 3-2 in an Arthurian League Premier Division match on 11th May 2017, which was played on the 3G pitch. Today’s match was on grass. Looking from the clubhouse, the 3G is to the right, with a rugby pitch running widthways in front of you. The pitch used today is beyond this, offset at an angle to the rugby, due to it being bordered by three cricket squares. I will hopefully return here for a third time, as Civil Service have their own designated pitch within the complex, which has a seated stand. It is in the far right hand corner of the complex, beyond a floodlit training area.

Today’s match was between two teams with contrasting form. King’s had only picked up one point from their opening six matches, whilst Ardinians had a 100% winning start from their three games played. When Ardinians went ahead after just twelve minutes, it looked like this might be a comfortable away win, but the scorer injured his hamstring as he put the ball in. With no substitutes available, it meant they would have to play the remainder of the game with ten men. It didn’t make any difference to the eventual outcome, but it certainly made the game more of a contest. The turning point came early in the second half, when King’s had a penalty saved when it was 0-2. If it had gone in things could have been so different. Ardinians were far too strong, even with a man short, and were well deserved winners.

It was finished by 12.38, so plenty of time to get to a second match.

British Universities & Colleges Sport

Northern Conference Cup 2nd Round

Wednesday 10th November 2021

Kick Off 13.00 Actual 13.34

Leeds Trinity University 3 University Hull 1 (AET), attendance 22

23’ 0-1

81’ 1-1

93’ 2-1

113’ 3-1

@ Leeds Trinity University, 3G Pitch

Brownberrie Lane

Horsforth

Leeds

LS18 5HD

No Admission or Programme.

I had done a game here before, when I saw Trinity & All Saints College (now named Leeds Trinity University) beat University Huddersfield 3-0 on 26th October 2005, a game which was played on the pitch inside the old cinder running track, which is still there.

I chose this match today for two reasons. Firstly, it was an early kick off and secondly, if the game finished promptly, there was a chance of making it to a second game, as University Derby were kicking off at 17.00. Any chance of doubling up soon disappeared and it looked like the game here might not take place, so Derby was looking like it might become the only game today……

Hull only arrived at 12.46, but that was good compared to the Referee. He turned up at 13.19 and following a lot of faffing about, plus a minutes silence for Armistice Day, meant we finally kicked off thirty four minutes late!

The game was Tier 2 versus Tier 3, but both were evenly matched. Hull went ahead midway through the first half, against the run of play, and decided to just sit back and hope their luck would hold out. It nearly did, but the inevitable late equaliser for the home side came nine minutes from time, but rather than push for a winner, they settled for extra time. As is so often the case, a goal arrived early, when Trinity went 2-1 up just three minutes into the first period of extra time and they finally killed the game off with a third goal midway through the second period.

Three minutes into stoppage time a bad challenge by a Hull defender led to a huge melee on the touch line, which also included another of the Trinity teams who were due to have kicked off at 16.00 following this game. It ended up with two red cards for Hull and one for Trinity. The match finally finished at 16.15 and had taken 2 hours 41 minutes to reach it’s conclusion. Just the second period of extra time lasted a ridiculous 29 minutes!

The photo below shows the pitch Trinity played on back in 2005, pretty much unchanged.

Northern League

Division 1

Tuesday 9th November 2021

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.31

West Allotment Celtic 1 Sunderland Ryhope Community Association 0, attendance 137 (official 125)

70’ 1-0

@ East Palmersville Sports Pavilion

Palm Court

off Great Lime Road

Palmersville

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE12 9HW

£6 Admission

£1 Programme, 20 pages.

I first visited West Allotment Celtic back on 30th October 2002, when I saw them lose 1-2 to Blyth Spartans in a Northumberland F.A. Senior Cup 1st Round match, which was played at the Blue Flames Sports Ground at Whitley Park in Benton. This is now the Northumberland F.A. ground. They left here and played at The Wheatsheaf Sports Ground in Woolsington, which I had already visited for Newcastle Blue Star 2 Chester-le-Street-Town 4, in a Northern League Division 1 match on 25th September 2001. This ground is now known as Druid Park and has had a 3G pitch installed. They have now moved here to East Palmersville Sports Pavilion, where they share the ground with Forest Hall Celtic of the Northern Alliance League.

West Allotment Celtic had been rooted to the bottom of the league table, but having won three of their last four games, they have climbed above Penrith and Bishop Auckland to now sit third bottom and tonight they were looking to win a third consecutive match. Sunderland R.C.A. came into this in tenth place.

The best way to describe this is that it was a tight affair. Neither side really got on top and it had 0-0 written all over it. The only goal of the game came twenty minutes from time, when a shot across the ‘keeper was blocked, but was followed in to finish from close range. A minute later, Celtic had a shot that came back off the inside of the post, with the ‘keeper well beaten, but that was as close as we came to getting another goal.

The win now sees Celtic move up another place in the table and having played fewer games than everyone else, a climb to mid table is well within their reach.

East Sussex League

Premier Division

Saturday 6th November 2021

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 13.57

Hawkhurst United 2 Crowhurst 7, attendance 31

6’ 0-1

28’ 1-1

31’ 1-2

40’ 2-2

43’ 2-3

49’ 2-4

63’ 2-5

64’ 2-6

90’ 2-7

@ King George V Playing Fields

The Moor

Hawkhurst

TN18 4QB

No Admission or Programme.

This was 7th versus 2nd in the league table and the last ground I hadn’t visited in the Premier Division. Crowhurst played some really good football, which was of far higher standard than you’d expect for Step 8 football. They went ahead three times in the first half to lead 2-3 at the break, in a half where Hawkhurst only had three chances, converting two of them, the second goal coming direct from a corner, in off the far post.

An early second half goal saw the visitors go 2-4 up, before they scored twice in a minute, just after the hour mark, to race into a 2-6 lead. They coasted for the rest of the game, adding a seventh goal in the last minute to round things off, a 20 yarder that gave the ‘keeper no chance.

Arthurian League

Premier Division

Saturday 6th November 2021

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 11.02

Old Tonbridgians 4 Old Carthusians 2, attendance 11

18’ 1-0 (pen)

29’ 2-0

32’ 3-0

50’ 4-0

78’ 4-1

84’ 4-2

@ Tonbridge School Centre

London Road

Tonbridge

TN10 3AD

No Admission or Programme.

I had previously seen Old Tonbridgians play a home game at the 3G pitch at Wrotham School, where they beat Old Salopians 1-0 in an Arthur Dunn Cup match, back on 24th February 2018. This season they are playing home matches at Tonbridge School Centre. I had seen Tonbridge School at home in an Independent Schools F.A. Cup match in 2011, which was also played here, but it was in a different part of the complex, a few hundred yards from the pitch used by Old Tonbridgians.

Today’s match was 4th versus 1st in the league table, Carthusians having a 100% winning start from their six matches played. When Tonbridgians went ahead from the penalty spot after eighteen minutes, it set the game up perfectly for the neutral. However, when they added two more goals with little more than half an hour on the clock, it was certainly not going to form. When they made it 4-0 five minutes into the second half, there was to be no comeback for the visitors, although they gave it a good go, scoring twice in the last twelve minutes, but they had left themselves with too much to do.

Essex Senior League

Friday 5th November 2021

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.49

Woodford Town 1 Little Oakley 2, attendance 242 (official)

27’ 0-1

33’ 1-1

66’ 1-2

@ Ashton Stadium

598 Chigwell Road

Woodford Green

IG8 8AA

£7 Admission

£2 Programme, 24 pages.

I came to a friendly at Ashton Playing Fields (a 2-2 draw between Epping Town and Jolof Sports), which is behind the stadium pitch, back on 1st August 2020, which was the first day back for non-League football following the first COVID-19 shutdown. I walked across the pitch in the middle of the athletics track and couldn’t believe how poor a state it was in and it is remarkable how good it looked tonight. The only addition here since then is the kit stand, which is set back and too low to give a decent view. It is particularly bad here though, as apart from the 8 lane track, there are also the long/triple jump pits to look across as well.

It was hard to enjoy the match, as you are too far away from the action and it feels like you’re not really a part of it and it doesn’t help that you can’t really hear the shout of the players. There is no atmosphere, unless you count the annoying gaggle with a drum, who took over one end of the stand. It was interesting to see on Twitter that they were hoping to get a 500 crowd tonight! They actually announced there were 242 there, but there were no more than 180 present.

Little Oakley went in front just before the half hour mark, with a lob over the ‘keeper from well outside the box. Woodford levelled six minutes later with an effort into the bottom corner from twenty yards. The winner came for the visitors midway through the second half, the player cutting in from the left before shooting low into the bottom corner.