This was unusual for a pre-season game, as both teams will play in Spartan South Midlands League Division 1 (Step 6) this season. It was played at the neutral venue of Northampton School for Boys, which is more or less opposite O.N Chenecks normal home venue, where I saw them draw 1-1 versus Higham Town in a United Counties League Division 1 match on 1st September 1995 and adjacent to St. Andrews Hospital, where I had seen Northampton Town U18 host West Bromwich Albion U18 in a Midland Youth League match on 17th February 1996.
Chenecks opened the scoring after eight minutes, with a 25 yard shot into the bottom corner, but two goals in five minutes saw Lutterworth turn it round midway through the half. The lead only lasted five minutes, before a cross from the right was finished with a header at the far post, which looped over the ‘keeper to make it 2-2. The winner came sixteen minutes from time, when a Lutterworth defender blindly played a ball back to his ’keeper, who was well out of position on the edge of the 18 yard box and the ball rolled past him into the empty net, to win it for the hosts.
A nice easy 15 mile drive kicked off the new season for me, as Southern Combination League Premier Division (Step 5) hosted Southern Counties East League Division 1 (Step 6), played at the neutral venue of Edenbridge Rugby Club, some four miles east of Lingfield.
Lingfield started the better of the two and it was no surprise that they broke the deadlock midway through the first half. Croydon levelled in stoppage time, tapping in from close range, after the ’keeper had saved an angled shot, to make it 1-1 at the break. The winner came eight minutes from time, with a cross from the right headed down into the bottom corner of the net at the near post.
A decent game, made all the better by a lack of what seem continual substitutions that normally occur in the early run outs during pre-season. At least a quarter of the crowd was made up of ground hoppers.
I was originally planning to do this game as part of a driving trip, which would be a ’day return’, aiming to return during the early hours, but when the numbers involved became five, rather than the normal four, I decided to drop out, as a 600 mile trip in cramped conditions didn’t appeal. Rather than miss out, I looked at driving it myself, but with Eurotunnel charging a ridiculous £194, plus 12 gallons of petrol to cover the trip, this was not a sensible option. In the end, I decided to fly. A return from London City Airport to Luxembourg City came in at £76, flying out with Luxair and returning with British Airways. The only downside would be travelling in and out of London on the train, which surprisingly took only 1 hour 17 minutes, including a couple of changes, having arrived into London Bridge, before taking the Jubilee Line and Docklands Light Railway to complete the journey. Wouldn’t it be nice if the railways were this reliable all the time.
My 1135 flight left 21 minutes late and lost another ten minutes once we landed, as we had to wait for the steps to arrive before we could disembark, but I had seven hours to play with before kick off, so not a problem. From the airport, bus number 29 takes just under 25 minutes to reach Gare Centrale, the main railway station, from where it was a five minute walk to my hotel. Unbelievably, all public transport in Luxembourg is free. Not just in Luxembourg City, but the entire country! It covers all buses, trains and the relatively new tram system. I hadn’t been to a match in Luxembourg since visiting C.S. Grevenmacher for a National League game on 10th August 2015, when I drove down from Brussels. In those days petrol was only €0.89 a litre in Luxembourg (usually 10-15 cents cheaper than in Belgium at the time), but I noticed it was €2.09 yesterday!
The Stade de Luxembourg is situated to the south of the city, just beyond the A6 motorway. Bus number 18 runs from Gare Centrale, taking nine minutes, dropping off right outside the stadium. Luxembourg played their first game here on 1st September 2021, when they hosted Azerbaijan in a World Cup Qualifier. The capacity is 9,386, which is perfectly adequate for the crowds they get and has been built to replace the soon to be demolished Stade Josy Barthel. I had seen Luxembourg beat Northern Ireland 3-2 there, in a World Cup Qualifying match back on 10th September 2013, which was their first win in that competition in 41 years!
Unlike some of the so called bigger nations, these two were taking the match very seriously. It is countries at the lower end of the ranking system that benefit most from the U.E.F.A. Nations League, as it gives them an opportunity to regularly win competitive matches and can only benefit them in future. This four team group is headed by Turkey, or should that now be Turkiye, whilst Luxembourg are second, with Faroe Islands third and Lithuania propping up the table. The reverse fixture last week saw Luxembourg come away with a 1-0 win, courtesy of a Rodrigues penalty and it was the same player who opened the scoring tonight, once again converting from the penalty spot, after he had been fouled by the ’keeper when put through on goal.
Both teams attacked at every opportunity, in what was a very entertaining game, but neither side were able to add any further goals before halftime. As the one minute of added time was announced at the end of the half, it signalled the arrival of the ‘M Block Fanatics’ (according to the banner on display), who were obviously demonstrating some sort of grievance by not taking up their seats during the first half. They certainly added to the atmosphere and were very vociferous for the remainder of the game.
When a cross from the left was volleyed in to make it 2-0 four minutes into the second half, it looked like Luxembourg might have gone on to win comfortably, but two goals by Bjartalio, the first a cracking left footed shot into the bottom corner, swiftly followed by a deflected shot that gave the ’keeper no chance, saw the Faroe Islands draw level at 2-2 just before the hour mark. Both teams had chances to win it and Luxembourg will probably be the more disappointed of the two to have come out of this with just one point. Brilliant game to watch as a neutral though.
After the match, despite my seat being at the furthest point possible from the bus stop, I still managed to make it onto the ’extra’ number 18 bus that was parked outside, rather than having to wait for the scheduled 23.03 I was intending to get. It ran direct to Gare Centrale and dropped off back in town just 18 minutes after the final whistle!
My return flight the next morning with British Airways, back to London City Airport, left a couple of minutes ahead of the advertised 10.55 departure and good tube connections, and just a thirteen minute wait for a train from London Bridge, meant back home just before 12.30. Excellent trip.
Above : Rodrigues is fouled by the Faroe Islands ’keeper and Below : The penalty is put away to make it 1-0.
