Brian Hope Memorial Match

Thursday 9th July 2026

Kick Off 18.30 On Time!

Hawick Waverley 2 Langholm Legion 7, attendance 66

13’ 0-1

16’ 1-1

22’ 1-2

23’ 1-3

44’ 1-4

60’ 2-4

62’ 2-5

89’ 2-6

90’ 2-7

@ Wilton Lodge Park

Wilton Park Road

Hawick

TD9 7JL

No Admission or Programme.

A trip north of the border started in The Borders with a memorial match between two teams from the Border Amateur F.A. The game was at Wilton Lodge Park, in the southwest of Hawick, on the banks of the River Teviot. It is home to a number of clubs in this league, with at least three separate changing room buildings and/or equipment huts bearing club signage. The match was played on a pitch which was the middle of three and wasn’t even roped off, with each team setting up their ‘bench’ on opposite sides of the pitch.

Although it was a friendly, it was played with full commitment throughout, with goal scoring chances coming with almost every attack. Langholm took an early lead, but were pegged back three minutes later, both goals aided by hesitant ‘keeper’s not clearing through balls. Two goals in a minute, midway through the half, saw the visitors go 1-3 up, before an angled shot, in off the far post, saw them go in 1-4 up at the break. A 20 yarder, which went straight under the ‘keeper, saw Hawick pull it back to 2-4 on the hour mark, but that was as near as any comeback was to come though, as they went 2-5 down a couple of minutes later. Two more goals in the last two minutes, the first a far post header from a corner, followed by a neat finish that was set up by a cheeky back healed pass, rounded off a resounding 2-7 win for the visitors.

Friendly

Tuesday 7th July 2026

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.49

Horley Town 2 Godalming Town 3, attendance 12

53’ 0-1

55’ 0-2

58’ 1-2

60’ 1-3

65’ 2-3

@ Oasis Academy Shirley Park, 3G Pitch

Shirley Road

Addiscombe

CR9 7AL

No Admission or Programme.

This was Isthmian League Division 1 South East (Step 4) versus Combined Counties League Premier Division South (Step 5), played at the neutral venue of Oasis Academy Shirley Park. It’s just a caged pitch and although there’s no designated spectator area, there was no problem watching from inside the fence.

It was played at a very good pace throughout, probably helped by both sides changing almost their entire teams at halftime and with them having gone in goalless, the second half soon burst into life, with all five goals coming in the first twenty minutes after the restart. Godalming took the lead, beating the offside trap and scoring at the second attempt after an initial save. They doubled their lead two minutes later, lobbing in from 30 yards after the ‘keeper was beaten in a race to a through ball as he raced out to try and clear. A corner was touched in from close range to pull it back to 1-2, but Godalming quickly restored their two goal lead, with a twenty yarder that beat the ‘keeper low at his near post. Horley then made it 2-3 five minutes later, when a defender failed to cut out a cross, diverting it into his own net from a couple of yards out. Surprisingly, that was the last goal of the game, despite plenty more chances at each end.

The journey north to the outskirts of Croydon saw SatNav choose the winding back roads via Warlingham on the outbound leg, which took 54 minutes. The more direct A23 coming back took twenty minutes off that.

Friendly

Saturday 4th July 2026

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 13.59

Storeys 0 Lancaster City 8, attendance 325

4’ 0-1, 20’ 0-2, 27’ 0-3 (pen), 31’ 0-4, 33’ 0-5

49’ 0-6, 51’ 0-7, 85’ 0-8

@ York Road

Bowerham

Lancaster

LA1 4DN

No Admission or Programme.

With a ticket purchased for the Rugby League Magic Weekend at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium tomorrow, I needed a game in the north somewhere today and this game was perfect. Although the ground is called York Road (there is a narrow pedestrian alleyway leading off here), the car park and main entrance are actually off Wellington Road. The changing room building is first, with a small sided pitch in front and the main pitch fifty yards beyond, running widthways. It’s fully railed, with a mesh infil and has a pair of dugouts on the far side. Hot food and drink was available from a mobile catering van, which seemed to cope okay, as there were over four hundred here if you added in the kids who weren’t there to actually watch the game, but just run around annoying those that were.

The match was West Lancashire League Division 2 (Step 9) versus Northern Premier League Premier Division (Step 3). As expected, it was an easy win for the visitors. They opened the scoring after four minutes and doubled their lead after twenty. After the now obligatory drinks break, they scored a penalty two minutes later and a fourth goal minutes later. Quickly followed by a tap in to make it 0-5 after thirty three minutes, which surprisingly remained the halftime score. Lancaster changed their entire team at halftime and two goals in the opening six minutes of the second half saw them make it 0-7. They didn’t get goal number eight until five minutes from the end, with a header flicked on at the near post, that should really have been cleared by a defender stood on the far post, but he failed to make any contact.

Friendly

Thursday 2nd July 2026

Kick Off 19.15 Actual 19.16

Witham Town 2 Brantham Athletic 2, attendance 101

37’ 0-1

54’ 1-1

68’ 2-1

84’ 2-2

@ Lift New Rickstones, 3G Pitch

Conrad Road

Witham

CM8 2SD

No Admission or Programme.

So, another season is underway, with a pre-season friendly where Isthmian League Division 1 North (Step 4) hosted Eastern Counties League Premier Division (Step 5), played at the neutral venue of Lift New Rickstones, in the north of Witham, where there’s a standard 3G cage set up, with a spectator area along three quarters of one side. It was a game popular with ‘hoppers as they made up a quarter of the crowd.

Witham hit the post early on, but it was Brantham who took the lead after thirty seven minutes, breaking quickly down the left before crossing for an easy finish at the near post. In the dying seconds of the first half, a flare up near the centre circle saw both teams have a man sent off, but the second half started with both teams back at full strength, with the two red card recipients having been replaced. Witham equalised nine minutes into the second half, when a corner was partially cleared but played back in for a tap in at the far post. Witham had a goal disallowed for offside four minutes later, before going ahead with twenty two minutes left, cutting in from the right before beating the ‘keeper low inside the near post. Brantham made it 2-2 six minutes from the end, breaking from defending their own box and finishing with a low angled shot into the far corner from just inside the 18 yard box.

Despite it being a new season, some things never change, especially here in the Southeast. The 70 mile drive to Essex took just shy of two and a half hours, not helped by a ten mile queue approaching the Dartford Crossing, meaning SatNav diverted me off the M25 and via the back lanes instead. No hold ups whatsoever coming back.

League of Ireland

Premier Division

Monday 22nd June 2026

Kick Off 20.00 On Time!

Shamrock Rovers 1 Derry City 1, attendance 3,726

25’ 0-1

83’ 1-1

@ Tallaght Stadium

Whitetown Way

Tallaght

Dublin

D24 FNK6

€20 Admission + €1.50 booking fee.

€5 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.

It was a two and three quarter hour drive east to Dublin for tonight’s action and a chance to complete the League of Ireland Premier Division for the first time. I’d seen Shamrock Rovers play home games at three grounds already…. Royal Dublin Society Showground (Oct 1994), Tolka Park, whilst sharing at Shelbourne (Mar 1997) and Morton Stadium (Sep 1999). So, this was venue number four, Tallaght Stadium. It was opened in 2009 and has been gradually expanded into a now 10,547 capacity all seated stadium, with the club having moved in with just one side, the main stand, being in place, with the other three sides constructed in the intervening years. It’s very much in the style of the newer lower league grounds in England, with four completely separate stand alone stands. There is a tram stop nearby, but no idea what it would be like if arriving by car, as we were in a hotel no more than ten minutes walk away, so left the car there.

Tonight’s game was the reverse fixture of the match I’d seen these two play when Derry used Celtic Park, the Gaelic Athletic Association ground, for a handful of games back in April. That was a very poor game and this was little better. Derry were also poor away at Galway on Friday night too, so I wasn’t expecting a great spectacle here either. Derry were sixth in the league table, whilst Shamrock were top, five points clear of second placed St. Patrick’s Athletic, but having played a game more. It was the visitors who had the better of the early exchanges, smashing a 20 yarder off the underside of the crossbar two minutes in and taking the lead after twenty five minutes, when a ball dinked into the box by James McClean was met with a stooping header from ten yards by Liam Boyce that found the top corner. Much huffing and puffing, along with plenty of time wasting, especially by Derry, cost them dearly, when Rovers substitute Aaron Greene cut in from the left and fired a low shot into the far corner with seven minutes left. Shamrock pushed hard for a winner, but were unable to break down a stubborn defence, who held on for a point with some last ditch blocking of shots in the dying minutes.

So, that brought down the curtain on an excellent trip, with all six intended games achieved. With the Premier Division now complete, it just leaves Athlone Town and Kerry to do in Division 1, although that will increase next season, when the re-structuring of the league will see a new third tier added. Tuesday morning/early afternoon spent on the beach at Portmarnock, north of Dublin, before our 16.25 Ryanair flight from Dublin back to London Gatwick, which left seventeen minutes late.

F.A. Ireland Junior Cup

6th Round

Sunday 21st June 2026

Kick Off 14.00 On Time!

Castlebar Celtic 4 Parkvilla 1, attendance 195

25’ 1-0

32’ 2-0

47’ 3-0

55’ 4-0

74’ 4-1

@ Celtic Park

Pavillion Road

Castlebar

F23 PF62

€5 Admission

No Programme.

The two mile drive from Snugboro to Celtic Park took just eight minutes, where game two of the day was taking place. There’s a large car park adjacent to the ground, which has free parking on Sundays, with the pitch running lengthways away from here. Four steps of open terrace run along the left hand touchline, with the clubhouse/changing room building at the top, with the steps continuing around behind the far goal. The dugouts are opposite the clubhouse, with this side and the entrance goal end consisting of flat standing.

The match pitted Mayo League Super League against North East League Premier Division, with a place in the quarter final awaiting the winner. Very little happened in the opening twenty four minutes, but within a minute of the now almost obligatory drinks break, Castlebar broke the deadlock, cutting in from the right and curling a shot left footed into the far corner. They doubled their lead seven minutes later, when a back pass towards the ‘keeper fell short and the striker just got there first, poking the ball round him before rolling it into the empty net. When they made it 3-0 just two minutes into the second half, with another goal gifted to them following a fluffed clearance from the ‘keeper, it was pretty much game over. Eight minutes later they added a fourth goal with a 20 yarder that skimmed across the pitch into the bottom corner. The visitors did get a consolation goal with sixteen minutes left, when a powerful run from the centre circle saw two defenders beaten before finishing with a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the D.

Republic of Ireland

Mayo League

Premier Division

Sunday 21st June 2026

Kick Off 11.00 On Time!

Snugboro 5 Westport United ‘B’ 1, attendance 19

9’ 0-1 (pen)

11’ 1-1 (pen)

43’ 2-1

46’ 3-1

54’ 4-1

72’ 5-1

@ Edward Conway Memorial Park

Boradruma

Snugborough

F23 ED90

No Admission or Programme.

This match was the only morning game today that involved a first team as hosts, so was my only option of visiting somewhere new. The village of Snugborough (no idea why the football club are shortened to Snugboro) is two or three miles northwest of Castlebar. It’s a decent set up, out in the middle of nowhere. There’s plenty of parking and a two storey clubhouse/changing room building, with the pitch set on a plateau above, running widthways in front of the building. It’s enclosed on three sides by a double barred concrete fence, painted in the club colours of yellow and blue, with just the left hand goal end missing and there’s a pair of dugouts on the far side and a small sized 3G pitch beyond.

The match was 8th versus 6th, in a ten team division. The visitors got off to a quick start, scoring with a penalty after just nine minutes, awarded for a handball. Snugboro equalised two minutes later though, with a penalty of their own, following a foul just inside the angle of the 18 yard box. Five minutes before halftime Westport saw a bicycle kick come back off the crossbar and four minutes later fell behind, when a shot driven in from the left was saved by the ‘keeper, but followed in from close range. A minute into the second half another close range finish saw Snugboro go 3-1 up and they added a fourth goal eight minutes later, pulling the ball back across the box for an unmarked tap in from six yards out. Goal number five arrived with eighteen minutes left, when a defence splitting pass was finished with a first time shot into the bottom corner. As with all games seen on this trip, we had a drinks break in each half. It seemed more logical today than for the other games, as it was noticeably warmer.

Above : Westport open the scoring with a penalty.