This was 6th versus 3rd in the league table and was much closer than the score line suggests. Egremont were missing a few regulars, but they were the better side early on, as both teams struggled to handle the ball as quite a heavy shower passed overhead and they were unlucky to go in at halftime with the score 16-4 to the hosts. Crusaders scored two more converted tries as we headed into the last twenty minutes of the match, before Egremont reduced the arrears to 28-10 as we entered the final five minutes. Crusaders finished things off with a try and conversion with the last play of the game.
Athletic Club Amiens II 2 Union Sportive Choisy-Au-Bac 3, attendance 361
25’ 0-1
27’ 1-1
57’ 1-2
79’ 2-2 (pen)
87’ 2-3
@ Stade Moulonguet
122 Rue Louis Thuillier
(entrance via Boulevard De Saint-Quentin)
80000 Amiens
€5 Admission
No Programme
As far as regular season matches are concerned, this wraps things up for me for 2018/19. I had started the season with a Coupe De France match at Jeunesse Sportive Cambron back on 17th June and was rounding off the season just 35 miles south east of there, in the town of Amiens. The real added bonus of this match was that it was being played at Stade Moulonguet, which has hosted matches in the French League, as high as Ligue 2, when it was home to Amiens Sporting Club before they moved to their new ground, Stade de la Licorne, back in 1999.
Athletic Club Amiens II had finished in sixth place in Seniors Regional 2B, whilst Choisy-Au-Bac had finished second from bottom in Seniors Regional 1A, so the game was evenly balanced. Choisy-Au-Bac took the lead somewhat against the run of play, but their lead only lasted for a couple of minutes. It remained level until just short of the hour mark. Despite having a player stretchered off a few minutes earlier, Choisy-Au-Bac responded well and a brilliant individual run, when beating two defenders, saw a shot into the far corner of the net to put them 1-2 up. It looked like they would hold out for the win, but a very harsh looking penalty decision saw them concede an equaliser eleven minutes from time and it looked like we would be heading to extra time. With just three minutes left, a speculative shot from the edge of the 18 yard box was deflected wide of the ‘keeper and what had been a disappointing season for Choisy-Au-Bac had at least finished on a high note as they nicked a 2-3 win.
We had arrived at Folkestone this morning to once again find Eurotunnel running late, this time, according to a member of staff, due to an inspection of the track, as something had fallen off a train earlier in the morning and a check had to be made to ensure it wasn’t causing an obstruction. Despite our 12.20 booking being re-timed to 12.40, we were actually still loaded onto the 12.20 train, but it departed nine minutes late. With the match kicking off at 17.30, due to it being yet another Bank Holiday in France, it meant we were able to book the 22.20 return crossing. Having checked in at 21.25, we were offered the earlier 21.50 instead (would have cost £7 more if we had actually booked for this, but no extra charge tonight) which left a minute early and rounded off a good day out.
Above : The Choisy-Au-Bac ‘ultras’ welcome the two teams.Above : Choisy-Au-Bac open the scoring.
West Wales Raiders 12 Workington Town 58, attendance 100
@ Stebonheath Park
Penallt Road
Llanelli
SA15 1EY
£10 Admission
£2 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.
I was surprised it was as far back as 24th November 2000 that I had first visited Stebonheath Park, for football, when I saw Llanelli 1 Barry Town 6 in a League Of Wales fixture. These days it is also home to the top rugby league club of South Wales, who were re branded as West Wales Raiders when they moved here. I don’t know how, or why, these clubs from outside the traditional heartland of rugby league bother though. A crowd of just 100 is pathetic for a national level three match and not all will have paid. It doesn’t help when the team are rubbish. They had lost all 9 games coming into this and the only reason that they are not bottom of the league table is due to Keighley Cougars starting with a minus points penalty, although having won five games already, the gap is now just a point between them and Raiders.
I thought today might be a game that Raiders had a chance of winning, as Workington had only won 4 of their 9 matches so far. It wasn’t even close. When former New Zealand and Tonga international Fui Fui Moi Moi went over for the visitors second try after eleven minutes it was already game over. By halftime it was 0-28. Workington converted another try, before Raiders converted a try of their own to make it 6-34 twelve minutes into the second half. Three more converted tries from the visitors made it 6-52, before Raiders scored again, but almost immediately Workington restored the gap to round it off for an easy 12-58 win.
Apparently, it had taken Workington nine hours to make the trip from Cumbria, having left on Friday and having had an overnight stop en route. According to their twitter account, the team coach arrived back at Derwent Park at 02.26 on Sunday morning!
Club Deportivo Furia Espanola 1 Association Sportive Pommeroeul-Ville ‘B’ 0, attendance 102
57’ 1-0
@ Rue D’ Hautrage 12C
7331 Baudour
€3 Admission
Team Sheet, free.
I thought my trips to Belgium were over for the season, but this one last fixture, which is the last game that will be played in the Belgian Pyramid this season, appeared on Monday. Due to short notice, plus perhaps the low level of the game, it meant only 3 of us made the trip.
Although it was a Promotion Play Off, it was more of a ‘next in line’ decider, rather than a direct game to go up to Provincial 3. It is now a case of wait and see what mergers or clubs dropping out occur, before Espanola will know whether this win will be enough for them to gain promotion or not.
As you would expect, the game was not high on quality, but there was plenty of effort and a hatful of chances, but the only goal of the game came just before the hour mark, when a shot from the left was pushed out by the ‘keeper, but was followed in by the right winger who smashed the ball into the far corner of the net.
With the attendance just making it into three figures, it surprised us that no ‘gate’ had been taken, but they finally came round and took some money as we entered the final ten minutes of the game, as if done as an afterthought. In keeping with their ‘lateness’, just as the Referee blew his whistle for full time, the floodlights were turned on!
Surprisingly, The Tunnel ran smoothly in each direction, although there were very few vehicles on either leg. Our 23.50 return even left a minute early.
This was the last round of matches for the season and Stade Portelois came into it a point ahead of second in the league table Sporting Club Hazebrouck, so knew a win here would see them crowned champions. Loon- Plage were in tenth place and had nothing to play for, but they certainly made the visitors work hard for the win.
A report in the local newspaper said that around 200 visiting supporters were expected for the match, but over half the 642 crowd were cheering on the champions elect, easily spotted as they were all wearing special edition t-shirts that were produced for the occasion. When they scored with an angled shot into the bottom corner of the net after just ten minutes, all looked to be going well. Two minutes later the hosts were level, courtesy of a penalty, but within a minute of drawing level, Loon-Plage had a man sent off for a ‘last man’ foul, and the game turned in favour of the visitors. A glancing header saw Stade Portelois go 1-2 ahead just after the half hour mark, before they added the killer third goal midway through the second half to make it 1-3. Two near identical goals, on the break, saw their lead increase to 1-5 inside the last ten minutes, before a home player and the visiting ‘keeper were both shown red cards, for an altercation following a challenge on the edge of the 18 yard box.
We had booked the 11.20 outbound train from Folkestone, but were offered the earlier 11.06 instead, which we took. As Loon-Plage is just under half an hours drive back to The Tunnel, we were checked in by 17.32 for our booked 18.36 return crossing. Unfortunately, as this is the end of the school half term holiday, it meant Eurotunnel were struggling once again to keep to the timetable. We were re-timed to 18.42, then 18.47, but eventually left at 18.59. The fact that they managed to only delay us 23 minutes is quite an improvement on some of the 3-4 hours that we have suffered in the past on the so called busy periods. Still room for improvement though.
Above : One of these tiny pieces of cover were in each corner of the ground on the opposite side to the main stand.Above : Loon-Plage make it 1-1 from the penalty spot.Above : A glancing header puts Stade Portelois 1-2 up.
With the football season in England now over, it was a chance to watch some Rugby League. I hadn’t watched a game at this level for quite a number of years. The main problem at this level is that it is not the greatest quality and it is very unreliable as to whether the match will actually take place, or indeed, where it will actually be played. No such problems today though, as both clubs had tweeted about the fixture and as neither had lost yet this season, then there was a very good chance that I’d get a game in.
Oxford dominated the first half, going into the break 26-0 up. When they increased the lead to 32-0 ten minutes into the second half it looked like it might become a bit of a procession, but Cheltenham scored the next two tries to make more of a game of it. Oxford went over for two more tries, before Cheltenham added two more themselves to pull it back to 44-22, before one more converted try for the hosts rounded off the scoring in the final minute.
Above : Oxford fail to convert a first half try. Below : They open the second half scoring.
