Herts Senior County League

Division 1

Saturday 8th January 2022

Kick Off 15.00. On Time !

Oracle Components 2 Bovingdon Reserves 0, attendance 12

26’ 1-0

75’ 2-0

@ Richard Hale School, 3G Pitch

Peg’s Lane

Hertford

SG13 8EN

No Admission or Programme.

I’m not a fan of doing 3G grounds on a Saturday afternoon, or watching games with Reserve team opposition, but the late kick off at my earlier match left me with little option. At least it meant I would complete the top two divisions of the Herts Senior County League by finally getting this one done and it had the look of a decent game, as it was 3rd versus 5th in the league table. Unlike earlier, there was a spectator rail along almost three quarters of the near side, and with the opposite side and the far goal end being enclosed by wooden fencing panels, rather than the standard see through mesh fencing, meaning it didn’t really feel like a cage,(apart from the small sized goals all over the place) which is certainly a plus.

I was surprised at how good the football on show was, from both teams. It certainly seemed a better standard than other matches I have watched in this division (tier 2) over the years. The game was decided by a goal in each half for the hosts. A right wing cross was headed in at the far post for the opener, before another header, finding the top corner of the net from 10 yards, with fifteen minutes left, made the points safe.

The win sees Oracle Components leapfrog Hinton into second place in the table. They trail leaders Hertford Heath by eight points, but do have two games in hand, as well as hosting them here later in the season, so they are in with a great chance of taking the title.

Arthurian League

Junior League Cup 1st Round

Saturday 8th January 2022

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 12.02

Old Albanians S.A. 4 Old Johnians 4 (6-7 pens), attendance 2

9’ 1-0

19’ 2-0

20’ 2-1

45’ 3-1

47’ 3-2

82’ 3-3

90’ 4-3

90’+ 2, 4-4

@ St. Joan of Arc Catholic School, 3G Pitch

High Street

Rickmansworth

WD3 1HG

No Admission or Programme.

I came here for this fixture back on 11th December, but neither team turned up. Apparently it was postponed due to the visitors being unable to fulfil the early kick off slot. It was a pity that the F.A. Full Time website hadn’t been updated to show this. Today offered a second opportunity to see a game here, (it’s just a standard cage, with no spectator area, but no problem watching inside the fence) but not without the drama/farce of a double booking of the pitch, which finally saw the game kick off 62 minutes late!

The match was 3rd in Division 4 versus top of Division 2. Albanians took an early lead, before two cracking 25 yarders, sandwiched by Johnians pulling a goal back, saw the hosts lead 3-1 at the break. Johnians dominated the second half, but despite pulling a goal back within minutes of the restart, it wasn’t until eight minutes from time before they deservedly drew level at 3-3. Albanians went back in front as the clock hit ninety minutes, but were immediately down to ten men, as the scorer picked up a second yellow card in a matter of minutes, the first for a foul, then the second for taking his shirt off during the goal celebrations. There was still time for Johnians to make it 4-4, heading in a corner at the far post a couple of minutes into stoppage time.

It was straight to penalties. The first 12 kicks were scored, before Albanians missed the next one. Their ‘keeper never looked like getting near any of the penalties, diving when the ball was already past him (rather like Peter Shilton for England at Italia 90), so it was no surprise that Johnians won it with the next kick, taking the shootout 6-7. (wrongly shown as 4-5 on pens on F.A. Full Time)

The late kick off meant my planned double for today was now down to just two options. It was just a case of whether I chose the 15.00 or 16.00 kick off, both of which were 3G pitches.