Suffolk & Ipswich League

Senior Division

Saturday 29th April 2017

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.33

Henley Athletic 1 Bramford United 2,  attendance 116

24′ 0-1

50′ 1-1

67′ 1-2

@ Henley Community Centre

Church Meadows

Henley

IP6 0RP

No Admission

Programme, by donation, 12 pages.

This was 1st v 4th and a win today would have seen Henley crowned as champions in their first season in the top division of the Suffolk & Ipswich League. They came into the game 5 points clear of second placed Achilles, both teams having two games to play, but Achilles with the far superior goal difference.

Henley came into this on the back of 18 consecutive league wins, which is even more remarkable considering this was their first home game for nine weeks !

They really struggled today and never looked like winning, although they came out in the second half and really gave it a go, but when Bramford went in front for the second time, courtesy of a cracking 30 yard shot that dipped over the ‘keeper, it was pretty much game over.

The title is really up for grabs now, as Henley entertain third placed Crane Sports next Saturday, where they will probably need all 3 points to pip Achilles, as they have two winnable games to play. They visit third bottom Wenhaston United on Wednesday evening, then host tenth placed Haughley United on the Saturday.

Oxfordshire Senior League

Premier Division

Thursday 27th April 2017

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.40

Mansfield Road 3 Freeland 6,  attendance 6

8′ 0-1

12′ 0-2

18′ 0-3

35′ 0-4

53′ 1-4

60′ 1-5

69′ 1-6

75′ 2-6

78′ 3-6

@ The University Club

11, Mansfield Road

Oxford

OX1 3PS

No admission or programme.

Arrived here at 1750 to find it totally deserted, although the football pitch was marked out and there were goal nets up, but no corner flags. I rang the home club Secretary to make sure the venue had not been switched at late notice, but having confirmed everything was ok, I was then pleased to see two cars arrive a couple of minutes later, with half a dozen players in red and black track suits emerging. At least the visitors were starting to arrive……so it was now time to pay for the parking. With Oxford being inundated with tourists, and the ground being very close to the city centre, it meant no free parking, even in the streets. In fact, unlike so many cities, parking here is charged up until 22.00, so no way of avoiding the £3 charge. Not sure if the parking charge puts off spectators, but half a dozen for a game at this level is pathetic, especially as three of those present were ground hoppers !

As for the match, it was excellent, as you would expect with it being 4th v 2nd in the league table. Prior to the games on Tuesday evening, these two still had a chance of the title, but Mansfield Road can’t win it now and Freeland can only take it on goal difference. It now looks to be between leaders Heyford Athletic and third placed Adderbury Park, who are 6 points behind, but with 3 games in hand. They meet at Adderbury on 2nd May,  in what will be Heyfords last game, then Adderbury have two more to play after that.

West Sussex League

Premier Division

Tuesday 25th April 2017

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.03

Henfield 4 West Chiltington 1,  attendance 21

14′ 0-1

48′ 1-1

56′ 2-1

78′ 3-1

89′ 4-1

@ Henfield Sports Centre

Northcroft

BN5 9QB

No admission or programme.

6th v 5th and both still had the chance to finish above Newtown Villa who are currently third in the league table. Arriving at 17.35 it was nice to see both teams already going through their warm ups and a Referee who was keen to get the game started as near to the scheduled kick off time as possible.

Henfield had a man sent off after thirteen minutes and then conceded the opening goal a minute later. It must have been a pretty good halftime team talk though, as they totally dominated the second half and this could easily have been won by a larger margin.

Hellenic League

Division 2 East

Monday 24th April 2017

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.37

Lynch Pin 5 Stokenchurch 2,  attendance 23

26′ 1-0

46′ 2-0

53′ 3-0

68′ 4-0

70′ 5-0

71′ 5-1

80′ 5-2

@ Farnham Park

Beaconsfield Road

Farnham Royal

SL2 3BP

No admission or programme.

So, 5th v 9th, the hosts still able to finish third, whilst Stokenchurch will remain in their current position, whatever the other results are. It was a bit concerning to see that Stokenchurch had lost 0-9 at home on Saturday, but eventually they arrived in drips and drabs and we were underway seven minutes late. The Referee had decided that we would only play 2 x 40 minute halves because of this, but as is normally the case, there would have been no problem getting in the extra ten minutes, especially as the teams stayed out on the pitch for the halftime break.

Apparently, this is not the ‘normal’ pitch (although it will have staged their last 4 home games this season). That is the one that runs at right angles to this one, with the changing rooms behind the goal.

Belgium

Liege Provincial 1

Sunday 23rd April 2017

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

A.C. Milanello Milmort 2 R.S.C. Beaufays 0,  attendance 106

69′ 1-0

76′ 2-0

@ Rue de L ‘Escousett, 91

4040 Milmort

€7 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

This was 9th v 5th, with no bearing on promotion or relegation issues, but was the chosen game as it was rumoured that Milanello would be dropping out of the league at the end of the current season, a fact that was confirmed by the home club officials. They do have one more game to play, but this was to be the last home match.

The match itself was pretty poor. Neither side looked liked they would ever score, especially after Beaufays had a penalty saved after 61 minutes, before the hosts somehow managed to edge in front shortly afterwards.

The ground was the original home of R. Milmort F.C. who went bust in 2010. It lay idle until 2013, when Milanello moved in, under their previous name of A.C. Milanello Herstal, before changing to the Milmort suffix a couple of years later.

Milmort, just to the north of Liege, is 190 miles from the Tunnel, and despite Passport Control doing their best to delay everyone, with a queue of over half an hour,  we still made our scheduled 2036 return on time.

Somerset County League

Division 1 West

Saturday 22nd April 2017

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.14

Burnham United 4 Uphill Castle 1,  attendance 61

23′ 1-0

42′ 2-0

49′ 2-1

66′ 3-1

82′ 4-1

@ Cassis Close

Burnham-on Sea

TA8 1NN

No admission or programme.

I decided to double up with the early kick off and head a further half hour drive down the M5 for my second game of the day.

It was 9th v 6th, but the visitors still had a chance of finishing third. After this though, they are just one place above Burnham and out of the running for third place.

Five minutes before kick off, the Referee appeared with four others, carrying a bucket of sand. The next ten minutes were spent filling in various holes in the corners of the pitch, which should surely have been done earlier than this. It then took him another nine minutes to lecture the club linesmen and captains, before we finally got started. I can’t remember going to two games in a day, where both matches kicked off 14 minutes late. To add to matters, he then played six minutes stoppage time at the end of the first half and eleven minutes at the end of the second !

Somerset County League

Premier Division

Saturday 22nd April 2017

Kick Off 12.00 Actual 12.14

Clevedon United 4 Staplegrove 2,  attendance 55

2′ 1-0

19′ 2-0

44′ 3-0

66′ 4-0

73′ 4-1

88′ 4-2

@ Coleridge Vale

Southey Road

BS21 6NS

No admission or programme.

This was 15th (3rd bottom) v 6th in the final game of the season for both these teams. Despite the win, Clevedon are not out of the bottom three, with the two teams either side of them in the league table also picking up points. A win for Berrow, in either of their two remaining matches, would leave Clevedon second from bottom.

There was a bit of confusion regarding the kick off for this one. The league website had said 12.30, but the Football Traveller magazine had it as 12.00, which was what the home club Secretary also said it had been agreed upon.

Surrey County Intermediate League (Western)

Premier Division

Wednesday 19th April 2017

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.34

Windlesham & Lightwater 2 Chobham Burymead 2,  attendance 27

26′ 1-0

28′ 1-1

43′ 1-2

59′ 2-2 (pen)

@ Windlesham Field of Remembrance

Updown Hill

Windlesham

GU20 6DT

No admission or programme.

This was 11th (3rd bottom) v 7th. A win for the hosts would have guaranteed them finishing 4th bottom, but this result means they might only finish one from bottom, so still in danger of being relegated.

West Sussex League

Premier Division

Tuesday 18th April 2017

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.18

Wisborough Green 3 West Chiltington 4,  attendance 37

30′ 1-0

50′ 1-1

55′ 1-2

57′ 1-3

66′ 1-4

76′ 2-4

78′ 3-4

@ The Village Green

Wyatt Close

Wisborough Green

RH14 0BU

No admission or programme.

I arrived here at 17.30 to find the away team starting their warm up. The pitch was being roped off by a club official and the only three home players there were starting to put up the nets. At the scheduled kick off time there were only three home players kitted out, with the ‘keeper on ‘dog mess duty’, shovel in hand scanning the pitch. Even when it did finally kick off, some eighteen minutes late, the home team started with only 10 players, but were up to strength a couple of minutes in and even had a couple of substitutes as the game went on.

There was certainly nothing ‘end of season’ about this game, despite it being a 7th v 5th mid table match. Despite the late start there was never going to be a problem with the light, especially when halftime was taken as just four minutes, both teams staying out on the pitch.

Eastern Counties League

Division 1

Monday 17th April 2017

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 14.59

Haverhill Borough 13 Leiston Reserves 0,  attendance 143

19′ 1-0

35′ 2-0

43′ 3-0

49′ 4-0

53′ 5-0

57′ 6-0

59′ 7-0

77′ 8-0 (pen)

78′ 9-0

80′ 10-0

84′ 11-0

90′ 12-0

90′ + 3, 13-0

@ The New Croft 3G Pitch

Chalkstone Way

CB9 0BW

£5 Admission

£1 Programme, 32 pages.

I normally save grounds with floodlights for midweek night matches, but with very little in the way of double opportunities today, I decided to do it with a little diversion on the way home from Norfolk. It was also handy in saving another £5 in toll charges on the Dartford Crossing, although I would probably return outside the hours of the ‘congestion’ charge if I had done this ground for an evening kick off, but a saving nevertheless.

If ever there was proof needed that reserve teams should not play in the same league as proper first teams, then this was it. Leiston turned up with just the bare eleven players and had no one at all on the bench…..including a manager or coach !

With Haverhill second in the league and Leiston bottom, then it was no surprise that it was a home win, but the performance, or lack of, put in by Leiston, was pathetic.  They even had a man red carded on 86 minutes for punching a Borough player. Perhaps they needed to show a bit more ‘fight’ in other areas. The win means the hosts have finished in a promotion position, although they will probably have to upgrade the ground to achieve this, unless they move onto the main stadium instead, as they play a fair number of games on there already, despite the 3G being their supposed home venue. It’s a pity they are allowed to play on a ‘ground’ as poor as this and worse still, at a higher level next season. It just doesn’t seem right that a team can play at Step 5/6 of the non league level on a pitch that has other markings in various colours on it.

The programme today was a double issue with their match versus Braintree Town Reserves on 12th April, although apart from the front cover and a squad list on the back cover, Braintree are not mentioned anywhere else, whereas Leiston are covered over 2 pages of text, but this is all about their first team, with a single paragraph at the end being the only mention of the reserves.

I used to enjoy visiting grounds in the Eastern Counties League, but that was before the introduction of the reserve teams that have blighted so many leagues these days. Thankfully, this completes visits to the current crop.