Pre Season Friendly

Tuesday 31st July 2018

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.47

Potters Bar Town 2 Heybridge Swifts 3,  attendance 26

2’ 0-1

36’ 1-1

43’ 1-2

64’ 2-2

81’ 2-3

@ Middlesex County F.A. Ground, 3G Pitch No. 2

Rectory Park

Ruislip Road

Northolt

UX5 6DE

No Admission or Programme.

Rectory Park is the new headquarters of the Middlesex F.A. It consists of the administrative offices and two 3G pitches. The main pitch has two sections of seating, with the second pitch just railed down the full length of the side backing on to the other pitch.

The main pitch was hosting Egham Town v Harrow Borough, which I had originally intended to watch, but this was too good an opportunity to pick up a game on the second pitch. After all, I’m more likely to return to see a game on the main pitch than I would the other pitch and that is likely to host more games anyway, or so I hope.

Potters Bar are in the Isthmian League Premier Division, whilst Heybridge are one level below in Division 1 North. This was pretty even throughout and could have gone either way. With the M25 closed between Junction 22 and 21, it meant Heybridge struggled to make it, hence the late kick off and apparently a bit of a disruption to their team selection.

When the ground opened a couple of weeks ago, a number of vehicles were broken into in the car park. Thankfully, no such problems tonight, with the area now using cameras and staff to police the area. Hopefully, the local low life will get the message that there are no longer any easy pickings for them here.

Peterborough & District League

Division 2

Sunday 29th July 2018

Kick Off 17.00. On Time !

Stilton United 4 Cardea 2,  attendance 304

38’ 1-0

50’ 2-0

55’ 2-1

60’ 2-2

63’ 3-2

79’ 4-2

@ Stilton Pavilion

Village Playing Field

High Street

Stilton

PE7 3RA

£4 Admission

Programme available, but I won’t buy one at any event organised by Groundhop UK.

Having already visited the two Wellingborough clubs that were hosting the first two matches today, the trip to Stilton would be the only game seen today. If it wasn’t scheduled so late, it may have been worth stopping over last night, but with three of us once again making the trip, it was much cheaper to drive back up and it saved wasting a day hanging around waiting for kick off.

Considering the poor condition of the pitch, which seemed to have drainage channels where the grass had failed to grow, the teams put on a good show, even if it did lack in skill at times.

This was the first time Stilton had played in their own village for 15 years and they had turned the occasion in to a fun day. The locals turned out in force, but the number of hoppers was noticeably down, mainly due to the late schedule of the kick off as a lot had already visited the two earlier grounds of the day, so gave this a miss altogether.

It was a shame to see a box of at least 200 programmes left unsold (I’m obviously not the only one who couldn’t be bothered to buy one), but considering they normally get barely a dozen watching, then it seems strange that they produced so many in the first place.

Peterborough & District League

Premier Division

Saturday 28th July 2018

Kick Off 16.30 Actual 16.29

Sutton Bridge United 5 Peterborough Polonia 3,  attendance 337

20’ 1-0

35’ 1-1

43’ 1-2

56’ 2-2

67’ 3-2 (pen)

69’ 4-2 (pen)

74’ 5-2

90’ + 3, 5-3

@ Sutton Bridge Memorial Park

Bridge Road

Sutton Bridge

PE12 9SA

£4 Admission

Programme available, but I won’t buy one at any event organised by Groundhop UK.

This was just 6 miles drive from Tydd St. Giles and was the last game of the day for me as I had already visited the evening match at Sleaford Town which was where the Hop was heading next.

It is rare to see proper away supporters at this level of the game, but Polonia had a fair number with them, decked out in the club shirts and scarves. One of them also had a drum, to which a couple of women ‘supporting’ Sutton Bridge took exception to. The older woman was soon mouthing off at him, before the younger one wrestled it from him and following a bit of a scuffle, managed to puncture the skin. This sort of thing doesn’t reflect well on the home club at all, not that they seemed to care.

On the field, it was certainly the game of the day. It was finely balanced at 2-2, when all hell broke loose. There was a very heavy downpour, sending the majority of the crowd looking for shelter under the surrounding trees, during which Sutton Bridge scored two penalties, the second seeing the Polonia ‘keeper dismissed for the foul, then adding a fifth goal to lead 5-2, in little more than a seven minute spell. The 10 men scored a stoppage time goal to round off the scoring.

Below photo : Sutton Bridge open the scoring from a 20 yard free kick.

Peterborough & District League

Premier Division

Saturday 28th July 2018

Kick Off 13.30 Actual 13.27

Tydd 2 Moulton Harrox 3,  attendance 342

28’ 0-1

51’ 0-2

58’ 0-3

59’ 1-3

90’ + 3, 2-3

@ Broad Drove East

Tydd St. Giles

PE13 5LN

£4 Admission

Programme available, but I won’t buy one at any event organised by Groundhop UK.

Just eleven miles from the first match and we were in the village of Tydd St. Giles, to see the club who were previously named Tydd St. Mary (the village where they were based), but are now just plain ‘Tydd F.C.’ following their ‘move’ here. Well, they are apparently going to be moving here, but perhaps not until next season, playing matches at Wisbech F.C. for the time being, so this was something of a one off venue.

Tydd are newly promoted and looked up for it early on, but Harrox got on top and it never looked like being anything other than an away win. The final score line really flattered the hosts.

Peterborough & District League

Division 2

Saturday 28th July 2018

Kick Off 10.45 Actual 10.47

Whaplode Drove 1 Rippingale & Folkingham 3,  attendance 227

34’ 1-0

50’ 1-1

73’ 1-2

76’ 1-3 (pen)

@ Parsons Lane

Whaplode Drove

PE12 0GB

£4 Admission

Programme available, but I won’t buy one at any event organised by Groundhop UK.

So, the first competitive games of the season for me in England, taking in the first 3 matches today of this years United Counties League/Peterborough & District League Groundhop, well, the Peterborough League ones, as I have already seen matches at the four grounds that are to be visited in the United Counties League.

This is one of the hops not run by the league themselves, so I always make a point of ‘paying on the gate’, ensuring that the admission cost (matches at this level are normally free) goes to the club. After all, it is supposed to be about helping them raise much needed funds and I can’t see why leagues and clubs can’t/won’t set things up themselves, therefore maximising their profits.

I was surprised how poor the standard of football was in this league, after the rubbish I witnessed last year, but, although the first half today was dire, the second half was a vast improvement. Playing competitive matches in July doesn’t really do the players any favours at all, but at least the weather is more favourable for spectators, with the majority of the grounds being nothing more than roped off pitches.

Below photo : The visitors make it 1-3 from the penalty spot.

Pre Season Friendly

Tuesday 24th July 2018

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.36

Marlow United 3 Thatcham Town U18 1,  attendance 31

1’ 1-0

7’ 2-0

50’ 2-1 (pen)

63’ 3-1

@ Cox Green Leisure Centre, 3G Pitch

Highfield Lane

Cox Green

Maidenhead

SL6 3AX

No Admission or Programme.

Marlow United, of the Thames Valley Premier League Premier Division, started at a blistering pace and it looked like this would be a total mismatch. Thatcham then settled into it and it turned out to be a decent contest in the end.

Pre Season Friendly

Saturday 21st July 2018

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.04

Sutton Common Rovers 2 Arundel 1,  attendance 25

53’ 1-0

59’ 2-0

75’ 2-1

@ Roundshaw Playing Field

Hannibal Way

Wallington

Croydon

CR0 4RW

No Admission or Programme.

This was a rare opportunity to see a match at the ground which hosts the youth teams of SCR. It was also good to see a game played on grass, which actually didn’t look too bad considering the lack of rain in the last two months.

This was played in a very competitive way and was certainly not lacking in commitment. It was very even throughout, which is perhaps to be expected from two teams at Step 5, as Combined Counties League Premier Division took on Southern Combination League Premier Division.

Pre Season Friendly

Saturday 14th July 2018

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.37

Thame United 3 Brackley Town Saints 0,  attendance 25

13’ 1-0

61’ 2-0

79’ 3-0

@ Waddesdon Church of England School, 3G Pitch

School Lane

Waddesdon

HP18 0LQ

No Admission or Programme.

Thame are in the Southern League South East Division, whilst Brackley Town Saints are in the Hellenic League Premier Division. There are many people who won’t watch pre season friendlies, saying they are nothing more than glorified training sessions. Watching this, it would hard to make a case otherwise. Unbelievably, it was played as a 3 x 35 minute match, apparently at the request of the coaches, according to the Referee.

Pre Season Friendly

Saturday 14th July 2018

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 11.03

Berkhamsted Raiders C.F.C 1 Tring Athletic 2,  attendance 27

16’ 0-1

56’ 0-2 (pen)

60’ 1-2

@ The Hemel Hempstead School, 3G Pitch

Heath Lane (vehicle access via Anchor Lane)

Hemel Hempstead

HP1 1TX

No Admission or Programme.

These two are both in the Spartan South Midlands League, Raiders in Division 2 and Tring in the Premier Division. It was a reasonable game, but both sets of forwards need to improve on their shooting.

Pre Season Friendly

Thursday 12th July 2018

Kick Off 19.00 Actual 19.05

Sandridge Rovers 3 Codicote 3,  attendance 16

31’ 1-0

69’ 2-0 (pen)

75’ 2-1

81’ 3-1

84’ 3-2

86’ 3-3

@ Redbourn Leisure Centre

75 Dunstable Road

Redbourn

St. Albans

AL3 7PP

No Admission or Programme.

This was Herts Senior County League Premier Division versus Spartan South Midlands League Division 1. What started off as a slow burner turned out to be a reasonable game in the end. The only downside of the night was that it was played as 3 x 30 minutes.