This was 4th versus 3rd in the league table, in what is the second tier of this league. The two teams met on Saturday, with Barwick & Stoford winning 1-0 leaving the two sides level on points going into tonight’s match.
It was a full blooded affair that was in the balance for the duration and a draw would probably been about right. The win sees Barwick & Stoford (played 10) go level on points with second placed Wyndham Athletic (played 8). Ashcott Reserves (payed 11) are seven points clear at the top of the table.
Following the restart of football after the COVID-19 lockdown, the Mid Sussex League decided to complete the season for the top two divisions by splitting the league table into a top and bottom half, with each team then playing each other once, then using a points per game average for the games played so far, which will be added together to determine promotion/relegation places.
With these two being in the top half, they can’t be relegated, but there would still be a promotion place up for grabs along with champions elect Southwick 1882, the league leaders having beaten both these teams 5-0 since the division split. Although Ridgewood are bottom, Reigate Priory certainly weren’t out of it, although the draw today certainly won’t help them.
The game never really got going, but Reigate Priory should have won it. Their No.9 trod on the ball when staring at an open goal from two yards out, when it looked impossible to miss, and they had the ball in the net twice in the final five minutes, but both were disallowed for offside by the home club linesman.
Convent Field is next to Lewes Priory and is accessed via a path from the car park behind the goal end entrance of The Dripping Pan, home of Lewes F.C.
Tysoe United 1 F.I.S.S.C. Reserves 1, attendance 29
26’ 0-1
83’ 1-1
@ Tysoe Playing Field
Main Street
Middle Tysoe
CV35 0FF
No Admission or Programme.
Everything got underway five minutes ahead of schedule, which is very impressive for a midweek match without floodlights, although it did catch a few out who missed kick off. The ground was very busy as there were two kids matches taking place as well, but it was well organised with each pitch being roped off to ensure there was no problem with social distancing.
The visitors, Farmers Insurance Sports & Social Club, to give them their full name, started the day second in the league table, but with two points dropped here, combined with losing points from their matches played against Evesham Eagles, whose results have been expunged from the records, meant they ended the night down in fourth place. Despite the late equaliser, scored with an angled shot into the far corner of the net, Tysoe remain in ninth place.
Knightwood United 1 Priory Rovers 2, attendance 31
10’ 1-0
25’ 1-1
76’ 1-2 (pen)
@ Cutbush Lane Playing Fields
Cutbush Lane
West End
Southampton
SO18 3HY
No Admission or Programme.
Although I have done a number of grounds in this league, this was the first time I have actually done a game in the Southampton League itself. I am always a bit concerned when the visiting team are bottom of the league table, especially tonight, as Priory Rovers arrived having lost all seven of their matches so far, although Knightwood United were only fourth from bottom themselves. I needn’t have worried though. Everyone was there nice and early and the visitors even had 5 substitutes.
The match itself was evenly balanced and Priory just about edged it, finally putting some points on the board at the eighth time of asking.
A.F.C. Fernhurst 0 Angmering Village Reserves 4 (abandoned 63 minutes due to snow/poor visibility), attendance 11
6’ 0-1
13’ 0-2
45’ 0-3
55’ 0-4
@ Highdown Field
Highdown Rise
off Littlehampton Road
Goring-by-Sea
BN12 6FB
No Admission or Programme.
The Brighton, Worthing & District League now has just one division, but it is in a healthy state as there are 16 teams. This match was 15th versus 7th in the league table and was not of the greatest quality. Angmering were coasting towards an easy victory when the weather took a turn for the worse. What started as very light snow soon turned much heavier. The Referee called a halt to proceedings, saying he couldn’t see what was going on. During discussion on his decision, the snow stopped and the players began to re-take their positions on the field, but before we could get back underway it again began to snow and with the pitch quickly turning white, that was it! The result has appeared on both the results page and in the league table on the league website as 0-4, so it looks like the result stands!
The ground is a large field that had two pitches marked out that run widthways in front of the car park, with tonight’s match taking place on the nearer of the two. A raised grassed area gave a decent view of the match.
The F.A. have now relented on their spectator ban, at least as far as games on public land go, which wasn’t really enforceable anyway, so the photos will return from tomorrow onwards.
Athletico Shrublands 1 Furnace Green United 6, attendance 47
12’ 0-1
28’ 0-2
49’ 0-3
61’ 0-4
79’ 1-4
90’+ 2, 1-5
90’+ 3, 1-6
@ Northgate Playing Field
Woodfield Road
Northgate
Crawley
RH10 8ES
No Admission or Programme.
This was easy to double up with the morning match as it was less than half an hours drive south from Merstham. Again no problem here, as it is an open playing field, with the pitch located in the far right corner if looking from the changing rooms/car park. It was a popular choice amongst the ground hopping fraternity, with in excess of 20 ‘hoppers present.
It was 5th versus 2nd as far as league positions went, although there was a real gulf in class between the two sides. Furnace Green were well in command throughout and another three points towards their promotion push were well deserved.
Once again it was a case of finding a match in a public park and this fitted the bill perfectly. When driving into Weldon Way you pass Merstham F.C. on the right hand side, with the Recreation Ground immediately beyond. There are a few smaller pitches and concrete basketball courts, then, separated by a hedge, three further pitches, the nearest of which was used today.
The match was second from bottom in the league table versus fourth, although at times it was hard to tell which team was the higher placed! The 4-1 score line flattered the hosts and it was a much closer game than it suggests.
So, after 104 days without a match due to COVID-19 restrictions, it was finally back to football. The F.A. were saying there was a ban on spectators at matches, but the government had brought in a ‘rule of 6’ for meeting up in public outdoor places, so any ground that was not enclosed, or was in a public park, would mean there was no way of preventing anyone from watching if they wanted to.
Caterham normally play at White Knobs Park, which is on the other side of town, but four of their remaining five matches are being staged here at Queen’s Park. It is not as bad as it sounds, with the pitch used today being pretty enclosed, with a hedge at one end that runs along Queen’s Park Road and a tree lined path along the near side. Despite a very unpleasant cold wind blowing throughout, other areas of the park were being well used, with numbers easily into three figures.
The match was 4th versus 6th in the league table. Rustiness was very evident in the first half, but once the opening goal had been scored it did improve. West Hoathly totally dominated the second half and the final winning margin could have been far greater.
Silver End United 1 Hedinghams United 0, attendance 57
43’ 1-0
@ Rear of Village Hall
Broadway
Silver End
CM8 3RQ
No Admission or Programme.
With our area being moved up from Tier 2, and in toTier 3, (from this morning) which were the toughest restrictions of what the Government believe will slow the increase in COVID-19 infections, it meant I had a more limited choice of matches today.
I plumped for what was 3rd versus 14th in the league table. Silver End are newly promoted into the Essex & Suffolk Border League this season. They were in the Mid-Essex League last season, where they were top of the Premier Division, undefeated after 12 matches (10 wins, 2 draws), when the season was brought to an end as the pandemic hit. I am not sure why they have by-passed Divisions 3 and 4, but they are certainly looking worthy of their place in Division 1.
The pitch was soft in places, which was not surprising after the heavy overnight rain, and it could do with the grass being cut. It certainly didn’t help either side, although it didn’t stop both teams creating plenty of chances. Silver End were guilty of wasting the vast majority of them, but at least they managed to convert what turned out to be the winning goal a couple of minutes before halftime. It must have been at least the fourth time a striker was played through with a clear run on goal, but this time the chance was finished with a left footed shot past the ‘keeper. The second goal never came, which meant the visitors were always in with a chance of nicking a point, but the hosts hung on to take all three points, which sees them move up to second place in the table.
Driving home I heard the news that our stay in Tier 3 was only lasting 24 hours and from midnight we would be heading to a newly made up Tier 4. The Government are stumbling along from day to day and seem more clueless with each move they make. If this virus is spreading as fast as they claim, then surely the entire country needs to be in Tier 4, or even a full lockdown if that’s what it takes, although the attempts so far show neither seem to work.
Whatever happens, my football spectating has come to a close as far as 2020 goes. It has been my lowest number of grounds I have visited in a calendar year since 1991. With two shutdowns, which meant five months (Apr-July, plus Nov) where I never got to see a game at all, I have only managed 90 newly visited grounds, spread across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.
There is a saying “it can’t get any worse”. Unfortunately, with this Government, it certainly can. Let’s hope they finally make a decision that leads us back to something more ‘normal’ next year….
It has been quite a wait for me to finally see a match under floodlights at Mundford. They have played plenty of midweek matches in that time, but always in August, April and May, when they can play without using them. I know from reading about other groundhoppers visits here, that the floodlight pylons were in place back in 2013, but that the bulbs were still to be added. The lights were obviously working some time after that, but I was living abroad by then, and as far as I can tell, they haven’t played a first team match under lights since November 2016, (might be the only one?) which was three months before I returned to the U.K.
This is actually my fourth attempt in planning to visit. The first time saw the game called off the day before, due to problems with the floodlights, eventually being played at the end of the season.. The second was versus Dereham Town, in the same competition as tonight, where the game was again postponed a day or two before being played. It was then rearranged and the tie was reversed and played at Dereham. The third was last month, when tonight’s match was originally scheduled for 3rd November, just before the second Covid-19 lockdown was due to start, but was then postponed due to concerns over people’s safety due to the pandemic. Tonight was the night I finally got here.
Both clubs are in the Anglian Combination League Premier Division. Mundford are currently in ninth place, whilst Blofield United are fourteenth. As expected, it was a pretty even match, at least during the first half. A penalty opened the scoring for the hosts, before a second was prodded in from close range to give them a 2-0 lead at halftime. I’m not sure if it was due to Covid-19 restrictions, or the fact that the changing rooms are 100 yards from the pitch, but everyone stayed on the pitch for the interval, which meant a turnaround of just eight minutes.
The next goal was going to be so important and when it went the way of Mundford, within five minutes of the restart, it was game over. They totally dominated the second half, but only managed to add a fourth goal with twelve minutes left, with a shot into the bottom corner of the net from just outside the 18 yard box. The visitors rounded off the scoring with an angled shot that seemed to deceive the ‘keeper as it found its way into the top corner.
Mundford now face a trip to Anglian Combination League Division 1 side Easton in the next round. They play in a 3G cage, which is floodlit, so hopefully it will be scheduled as a midweek fixture.
