France

Ligue De Football Des Hautes De France

Coupe De La Ligue Seniors Quarter Final

Wednesday 8th May 2019

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

Lille Olympique Sportive Fives 2 Itancourt Neuville 3, attendance 102

12’ 0-1

19’ 1-1 (pen)

27’ 1-2

67’ 2-2

84’ 2-3 (pen)

@ Stade Marcel Duhoo

80 Rue Du Long Pot

59000 Lille

€3 Admission

No Programme.

With it being a Public Holiday in France, it was a perfect opportunity to make another day trip across The Channel. As we were heading to Belgium (where it wasn’t a Public Holiday) for an evening match anyway, then this fitted in perfectly and was no more than five minutes off route, so it took no persuasion of the fellow passengers to add this to our itinerary. It was raining for the entire journey down through Kent and it was no better once we reached France, but as we got within half an hour of Lille, it stopped, and the weather improved as the day went on and it was warm and sunny for the second half of the game.

It was a shame the two matches weren’t the opposite way round, as it is always nicer to do the furthest away first and work your way back towards home, but it doesn’t always fall like that. As it turned out, I was glad we were doing the game here during the afternoon, as the suburb of Fives is not the nicest area of Lille and parking was at a premium. We parked in the street that runs parallel to the ground, where there was broken glass from car break ins and another car with a smashed window that was taped up. Just for good measure, it looked like a vehicle had been set alight, judging by the burn marks on the road!

Lille O.S. Fives are top of Regional 3 Poule E, eight points clear of the team in second place, with four games left to play. Itancourt Neuville play two levels higher, where they are in fifth place in Regional 1 Poule A.

As is often the case with French football, it was played at a very slow tempo, but somehow, we actually got a match with plenty of goal mouth action. Neuville should have won it far more comfortably than they did, especially after Lille had a man red carded after 38 minutes, with the score 1-2 at the time.

Bournemouth League

Premier Division

Tuesday 7th May 2019

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.19

Bournemouth Manor 7 Westover Bournemouth 0, attendance 54

12’ 1-0

23’ 2-0

36’ 3-0

45’ 4-0 (pen)

45’+1, 5-0

53’ 6-0

64’ 7-0

@ Kinson Manor

The Broadway

Northbourne

Bournemouth

BH10 7EY

No Admission or Programme.

It was nice to once again get a game with something on it. This was third versus fourth in the league table, with Bournemouth Manor needing to win their final two matches, both at home, by a minimum of a combined four goals, which would see them pip Bournemouth Electric to the title on goal difference.

Both teams and the Referee were out warming up at 17.45, but for some reason the game managed to kick off 19 minutes late. The game started off at a very high pace and the tackles were flying in. Manor looked very impressive and were 2-0 ahead after twenty three minutes. Westover were awarded a penalty after half an hour, but it was well saved and it was the turning point, as Manor totally dominated from here on. By halftime, they had got the goals needed to boost their goal difference and they added another couple in the second half and but for a number of good saves by the Westover ‘keeper, it could have been double figures.

It looks like the title is now in the bag. In the Bournemouth League, if a team fails to turn up for a match, the opposition are awarded the 3 points, but no goals are awarded in the win. The opinion of many of the locals present was that A.F.C. Burton will not fulfill the fixture on Saturday, therefore Manor will get the 3 points they need for the title without having to kick a ball. Sadly, this is a now an all too common occurrence in football. If the likes of Bolton Wanderers can’t be bothered to turn up for matches in the Football League, then what hope is there at non-League level.

Somerset County League

Division 3

Monday 6th May 2019

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.04

Hutton 3 Somerton Town Reserves 2, attendance 37

42’ 1-0

53’ 1-1

79’ 2-1

90’+1, 2-2

90’+4, 3-2 (pen)

@ Springwood

Springwood Gardens

Hutton

Weston-super-Mare

BS24 9SJ

No Admission or Programme.

I can’t remember an early May Bank Holiday where I have struggled so much to find an unvisited ground. In the end, I plumped for the nearest one, which was the only ground I needed today apart from lower level matches in Devon or Yorkshire.

As it turned out, at least there was something on the game, as Hutton are fighting it out with Cheddar Reserves for second place in the league and with it promotion to Division 2. Somerton certainly made them work hard for it and it was only a deflection when attempting to block a cross that beat the ‘keeper at his near post to give Hutton a 1-0 lead at the break. It was 1-1 early into the second half and as time was running out it looked like Hutton had grabbed the 3 points when they went in front with eleven minutes left. It looked like their effort had been for nothing though, as they conceded an equaliser a minute into stoppage time, but as we entered the fifth minute of added time, Hutton were awarded a penalty, for handball, which was coolly slotted into the bottom corner of the net for the winning goal.

With one game each left to play, Cheddar Reserves lead Hutton by three points, but Hutton have a far superior goal difference.

Perry Street & District League

Division 1

Saturday 4th May 2019

Kick Off 16.30 Actual 16.29

Netherbury 3 Crewkerne Rangers 3, attendance 15

1’ 0-1

34’ 1-1

38’ 2-1

54’ 3-1

60’ 3-2

86’ 3-3

@ Netherbury Playing Fields

St. James Road

Netherbury

DT6 5LL

No Admission or Programme.

From Misterton, which is in Somerset, it was just under fifteen minutes drive south, across the border into Dorset, for the second match of the day. The reason for the late kick off here was due to Waytown Hounds, who share the ground, also being scheduled to play at home today, having played their match at 2 o’clock.

This was never going to be a match of great quality, as it was bottom of the league table versus fourth from bottom. Netherbury have only won once this season and it wasn’t a good start for them as they conceded a goal less than 20 seconds into the game. They somehow managed to turn it round and led 2-1 at the interval. When they made it 3-1, with a header from a corner, nine minutes into the second half, it looked like they would double their total of matches won, but it wasn’t to be. An own goal pulled it back to 3-2, before they conceded a penalty with four minutes left to play. The ‘keeper saved the kick, but it was followed in and smashed into the top corner of the net to level it up at 3-3.

Perry Street & District League

Premier Division

Saturday 4th May 2019

Kick Off 14.00. On Time !

Misterton 1 South Petherton 2, attendance 26

16’ 0-1 (pen)

29’ 1-1 (pen)

82’ 1-2 (pen)

@ Misterton Recreation Field

Unity Lane

Misterton

TA18 8NA

No Admission or Programme.

This was 4th versus 1st in the league table and although South Petherton have already been crowned champions, there was certainly no end of season feel to this one. All three goals came from the penalty spot. The opener was given away by the home ‘keeper when he brought down the striker who was trying to take the ball around him. The leveller for Misterton was awarded for a handball and the late winner for the visitors was given for a trip from behind as the striker was attempting to shoot. Just before halftime South Petherton had a man red carded, but Misterton failed to take advantage of the extra man when they too were reduced to 10 men six minutes into the second half. It got a bit nasty for a spell around the hour mark when three consecutive fouls resulted in pushing and shoving between 12-15 players and it looked at one stage that the game might not make it to the full 90 minutes, but it settled down with no further problems.

Even with four minutes of stoppage time at the end of the second half, it was all over by 15.42, which left ample time to make my second part of today’s intended double……

Belgium

Luxembourg Provincial 1

Wednesday 1st May 2019

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.04

R.F.C. Saint-Hubert 0 R. Etoile Sportive Champlonaise 1, attendance 154

20’ 0-1

@ Rue Des Pres

6870 Saint-Hubert

€6 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

With it being a Bank Holiday in Belgium it meant it was our destination for today’s match. Even better, it meant it would be an afternoon kick off, so we chose to do one of the longer trips and make use of the good weather, as we headed to the northern fringes of The Ardennes.

The match was 3rd versus 13th (second bottom) in the league table. Saint-Hubert were looking to cement their place in the play offs, whilst Champlon needed to win if they were to have any chance of avoiding relegation.

Anyone who was unaware of which of these two were in which position in the league table would have thought it was the opposite way round to what it actually is. Champlon were much the better team and they deservedly went ahead when a shot came back off the post for an easy tap in and they had chances to increase their lead before halftime. The second half was a different story though and was basically one way traffic, with it becoming a personal duel between the home Number 9 and the visiting ‘keeper. Twice the ‘keeper tipped the strikers headers onto the crossbar and he also made a last ditch save to claw away an effort that was destined for the top corner of the net. Even when he was finally beaten, there was a defender on the line to head the ball clear.

The result had little effect on the top of the table, as Saint-Hubert still qualified for the play offs, but with other results going against them, Champlon finish the season second from bottom, so will play in Provincial 2 next season.

As it was not a Bank Holiday in the U.K. it meant The Tunnel was eerily quiet and nice to see that we left two minutes earlier than scheduled on our outbound journey. The roads in Belgium and France were also very quiet, so the three and a quarter hour drive back for our scheduled 20.50 return was trouble free and with very few cars around at the Border Control, we were processed quickly and managed to make it onto the 20.20 crossing instead, as there were no queues whatsoever as we headed towards the boarding lanes.