This was between two teams from the Central & South Norfolk League, as Division 1 hosted Division 2. The league feeds into the Anglian Combination League and sits at what is notionally Step 13.
It had been dry all day, but it started raining fifteen minutes before kick off, quite heavy at times, which continued until just before halftime. Both teams created plenty of chances, Yaxham edging in front just before the break, when a cross was volleyed in at the near post, before they doubled their lead just after the hour mark. When Hockering pulled a goal back, with a shot on the turn into the bottom corner of the net, there was only going to be one winner. The equaliser arrived courtesy of a bullet header from 6 yards, before a stray pass towards the ‘keeper was intercepted and the ball was smashed in to win it 3-2 for the hosts.
Brickfield Rangers 0 Saltney Town 3, attendance 32
17’ 0-1
32’ 0-2
53’ 0-3
@ Clywedog Park
Homestead Lane
Wrexham
LL14 4HE
£2 Admission, including Programme, 20 pages. (Wrong date on cover)
I had seen Brickfield Rangers play home games twice before, both times for matches in the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Premier Division and both games ended in 1-2 defeats. On 23rd May 2001 I saw them play Penycae at New Broughton Recreation Ground, before seeing them host Brymbo Broughton on 1st May 2003, where the match was played at Court Road, Wrexham. They are now playing here at Clywedog Park, which is off the A525 when entering Wrexham from the A483 by-pass.
I was a bit concerned that I hadn’t noticed the Referee around twenty five minutes before kick off, but was told that he had phoned to say that he was running late, but would be here by twenty to two. He wasn’t, but he arrived at 14.01 and had the game underway just three minutes later. If he hadn’t turned up, we would have been ok, as both the No.10 and No.12 of Saltney Town could have done the job, as each combined the role of playing and refereeing for the entire 90 minutes!
As far as the game went, it wasn’t really a contest, despite both clubs playing in Ardal League North West (Tier 3). Saltney dominated from the off, scoring early with a shot into the top corner of the net from 12 yards, before adding a second just after the half hour mark, when the ‘keeper spilled a free kick and the rebound was tapped in from close range.Eight minutes into the second half it was 0-3, when a shot on the turn found the bottom corner and the game was safe. Saltney pushed forward at will and deserved a couple more goals, such was their dominance, whilst Brickfield just never looked like scoring.
There was just the one passenger today. He had already been to Brickfield, so I dropped him off a couple of miles away at F.C. Queens Park, who play at The Dunks, a ground I had already visited some years ago. It was nice to have a trouble free drive to Wales for a change, with traffic very light in both directions.
Merthyr Saints 0 Penydarren Boys & Girls Club 3, attendance 443
7’ 0-1 (pen)
32’ 0-2
53’ 0-3
@ I.C.I. Rifle Fields
Bryniau Road
Pant
Merthyr Tydfil
CF48 2SR
£3 Admission
£1 Programme, 28 pages (2 blank). Very poor and a waste of money.
Back on 24th August 2002 I saw Merthyr Saints lose 1-3 to Bridgend Town in a Welsh League Division 2 match. When looking from the clubhouse/changing room building, the pitch used that day was to the right (Still there, the two photos below taken tonight). During the last year or so, the pitch 50 yards to the left has been developed, now being fully railed off and floodlit, as well as having a seated stand on the far side.
Tonight’s match was a local derby, as South Wales Alliance League Premier Division (Tier 4) hosted Ardal League South West (Tier 3). The visitors took the lead with a penalty after seven minutes, but it looked like they would really have to work hard to hold on, after they had a man red carded just 24 minutes in, but they still led 0-1 at the break. Six minutes into the second half they doubled their lead, the home ‘keeper spilling a free kick which was tapped in from close range, then two minutes later it was 0-3, this time the ‘keeper being beaten by a shot at his near post. Saints never looked like ever getting back into it, even with the extra man and they were easily beaten by a team who outfought them in all departments.
As with last Friday, the traffic on the trip down to Wales was horrendous. I left home at 12.30, taking an hour and a half to drive to the meeting point in Slough. It then took just seven minutes short of four hours to cover the 148 miles from there to Merthyr Tydfil.
@ The College of Haringey, Enfield & North East London (Enfield), 3G Pitch
73 Hertford Road
(enter via The Ride)
Enfield
EN3 5HA
No Admission or Programme.
This was my second visit here, having been previously on 23rd June 2019, when I saw Enfield Borough 2 Rising Ballers 4, in a friendly, but that match was played on the grass pitch that is beyond the 3G cage used tonight, running parallel.
Tonight’s match was Essex Senior League (Step 5) versus Isthmian League North (Step 4). The game could have done without the constant whinging at every decision, with both sides equally guilty and we got the inevitable free for all half an hour in, which had been brewing from the start. It was a shame, as it was a really good game when they concentrated on the football.
Romford raced into a two goal lead inside ten minutes, striker Christian Adu Gyamfi scoring both, the first from the penalty spot. They had the better of the exchanges, with both sides hitting the post, and going close a number of times, but no more goals followed in the first half. It wasn’t until sixteen minutes from time that Romford went 0-3 up, when Gyamfi completed his hattrick. Clapton netted a consolation goal in stoppage time.
This is the nearest ground from home in the North Wales Coast East League, but it is still a round trip of 480 miles! At least I didn’t have to drive, apart from getting to the meet up point, which was made more awkward than it needed to be, following the refusal of the other passenger to get himself to where the driver was starting from, even though he lives 20 minutes drive east of where we were meeting!
Cerrigydrudion is twenty miles west of Llangollen, on the A5, and although the ground is very basic, it is certainly up there with the best as far as scenery goes and you get to see the sun setting over Snowdonia as well.
Caer Clywd started well and it was against the run of play when Cerrigydrudion took the lead from the penalty spot. By halftime it was 2-0, but the visitors were still well in the game. The second half was one way traffic, helped by the fact that Caer Clwyd gave up once the score line was 6-0 and they deserved the double figure hammering they got. Goal of the match was the fifth, which was curled into the corner of the net from 20 yards.
The win sees Cerrigydrudion go top of the league table, ahead of second placed Llandudno Amateurs on goal difference. Caer Clwyd are fourth bottom, having taken just two points from their first four matches. The bottom three clubs have yet to pick up a point.
Above : Cerrigydrudion open the scoring from the penalty spot.
The Graham Edwards Memorial Trophy is named after the former Weston Rhyn and Gobowen player, who died from leukaemia when he was just 21 years old. It was first played for in 1975, with all matches played at Gobowen Playing Field, home to Shropshire County League side Gobowen Celtic. There are two groups of 4 teams, who play each other once, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi finals.
These two had both lost their opening matches, Four Crosses 0-5 versus Gobowen Celtic and Ellesmere United 0-4 to Morda United, so it was vital to pick up a win today, if they were to have any chance of staying in the competition. The skill level wasn’t great, but both sides gave it their all and it made for decent entertainment as a neutral. It can’t have been much fun playing in that heat, so fair play to them. Ellesmere took an early lead, but by halftime they trailed 4-1 and looked out of it. They recovered well in the second half and pulled it back to 4-3 with eleven minutes left, but were unable to nick an equaliser, before Four Crosses made the game safe, with a penalty three minutes from time to give them a 5-3 win.
The original plan had been to stay for the second match, between Gobowen Celtic and Morda United, but with the kick off being put back by half an hour to 15.30, we decided to give it a miss as the 30 degree heat was unbearable, especially with so little shade. As it turned out, we were leaving Warwick Services, on the M40, just as the game would be about to start, so it felt like we’d made the right decision.
It was back down to Wales for today’s match, but at least it was as a passenger. The match was Neath & District League Premier Division (Tier 5) versus West Wales Premier League (Tier 4). Unlike the previous three matches I’ve been to this season in Wales, where there were no checks whatsoever, this match was subject to the COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Welsh F.A. This meant a 100 crowd limit, manual Track and Trace (no QR code available) and temperature check, although these were done by the bloke on the gate, so not sure how accurate they are (the driver showed 33.4 degrees Celsius on the first attempt. 36.1 to 37.2 is generally the norm), if at all. It was far easier to enforce it here, as there was just the one entrance and it wasn’t possible to view from outside the ground either.
The two teams were very evenly matched and put on a decent show considering the searing heat. They were so well matched, that it looked like neither side were going to be able to make the breakthrough. With twenty minutes left, a speculative shot was totally misjudged by the visiting ‘keeper and the ball somehow evaded him and trickled over the line to give Bryn the lead. Giants Grave pushed hard for an equaliser, and it came seven minutes from time, when a header came back off the crossbar and the rebound was smashed into the net from six yards.
We headed straight to penalties at the end of the ninety minutes. Giants Grave won the shootout 7-6 (18 penalties taken). Yet again, as with last night, the Welsh F.A. and media appear unable to report the correct score. The Cymru App gives it as Bryn Rovers 7 Giants Grave 8, whilst All Wales Sports has it as Bryn Rovers 3 Giants Grave 3 (4-5 pens). I know rugby is the main sport here, but come on………
Above : Giants Grave score their final penalty to win the shootout.
This was my only option for a competitive match tonight, which meant taking a gamble that it would go ahead. Games in Wales have been called off at a high rate in the last week, due to players/officials having to self isolate, (the ‘guilty’ clubs then forfeit the tie) having been contacted by the N.H.S. Track and Trace COVID-19 app. With this in mind, I decided to travel on my own, rather than have the hassle of having to cancel or abort the trip at short notice. As it turned out, if I had taken passengers, then I wouldn’t have made it to the game anyway. The M25 was queuing from Junction 9 clockwise and even by taking the short cut via the M3 didn’t help, as it took me an hour and a half just to get to Bracknell. The M4 was then closed between Junction 14 and 15, due to a lorry fire, so I only arrived 23 minutes before kick off, with the 155 mile journey taking 4 hours 47 minutes! The return journey was only two and a half hours.
The game itself was a local derby, the two clubs being just three miles apart. On the field there was a three level gap, with Trinant being in the Gwent Premier League Division 2,(Tier 6 in Wales) whilst Treowen Stars are in Ardal League South East (Tier 3). The early goal for the visitors set the tone, but they only managed to add one more goal before halftime, to take a 0-2 lead into the break. They comfortably doubled their lead in the second half, before a three goal burst late on gave a final score of 0-7, which was a bit harsh on Trinant. For some reason, both the new Cymru App and All Wales Sport have the score as 0-8, but it was definitely only seven!
At the start of the 2018/19 season, Benfleet made the move up to Step 6, having gained promotion to the Eastern Counties League Division 1 South, despite playing in the Essex Olympian League Division 2 (Step 9) the previous season. In doing so, it meant moving to ground share at Canvey Island F.C. in order to meet the ground grading requirements. Their traditional home ground is now only used by the Reserves and Youth teams, so tonight was a chance to see the first team here, as they still use the ground for hosting friendly matches. The pitch used tonight (the only one currently marked out) runs parallel to what was the old first team pitch (brick dugout bases still in place) and is beyond the former, furthest from the changing rooms. There is room for a third pitch, which is to the left, running the opposite way.
As expected, it was a comfortable win for Benfleet, against their Essex Olympian League Premier Division opponents. They dominated for the majority of the game, but actually had very little end product, despite scoring three goals. Having missed a penalty at the end of the first half, that smashed against the crossbar, Rayleigh Town did head in a consolation goal late on, to make the score 3-1.
Originally, Bagshot were supposed to be the opposition tonight, but they pulled out of the game yesterday evening. Thankfully, due to the magic of Twitter, within an hour of the call off, Dial Square had stepped in to take their place. They are the club formed by Arsenal fans (Dial Square was their original name when they were formed) disgruntled at the way their club was being run by the American owners.
Knaphill Athletic had finished last season in bottom place of the Surrey County Intermediate League (Western), whilst Dial Square sat second bottom of the Guildford & Woking Alliance League Premier Division (North) when their season was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Considering the poor condition of the pitch, with sunken areas in the six yard boxes and grass that was far too long for football, the two teams put on an excellent show. Dial Square, who only officially begin their pre-season preparations next week, raced into a 0-3 lead, which they held until early in the second half and looked a really good side. The longer the game went on, the more they tired, and having pulled it back to 2-3, courtesy of a couple of penalties, it was no surprise that Knaphill Athletic levelled it up at 3-3 with sixteen minutes left. It looked like only one team was going to win it from here, but Dial Square responded with two late goals to win it 3-5.
Former Arsenal player Ian Selley (substitute in both the 1993 F.A. Cup Final Replay and League Cup Final versus Sheffield Wednesday, as well as playing in the Cup Winners’ Cup Final win against Parma in Copenhagen the following year), who is now 47, made an appearance for Dial Square tonight. Still looked good on the ball.
