@ South Gloucestershire & Stroud College, WISE Campus 3G Pitch
New Road
Stoke Gifford
BS34 8LP
£3.30 Admission (minimum car park charge)*
£1 Programme (apparently available in the changing rooms, but no effort to come round and sell them).
* I knew that car parking was enforced by ANPRC cameras here, as I had visited twice before, with the minimum charge of £3.30 required to cover the match duration. In September 2011 I saw Bristol Academy beat Thornbury Town 2-1 in a Gloucestershire County League match, which was played on the pitch inside the athletics track, then in October 2018 I saw Bristol City U18 beat Coventry City U18 5-1 in a Professional Development League match, which was played on a grass pitch to the south of tonight’s game. Bristol City U16 actually played on the 3G that day. A seated kit stand has now been added, along the only side accessible to spectators, whilst there are dugouts on the far side.
The match itself was 4th versus 13th in the league table and up until the first goal was evenly matched. A left footed effort into the far corner ten minutes before halftime signalled the total collapse of the visitors. By halftime it was 4-0 and the second half was a bit of a non-event, even though the hosts added three more goals to coast to an easy 7-0 win.
Had the usual shenanigans on the way home. M4 closed from J14-J13 and M25 closed from J11-J9.
Whitehill & Bordon 0 Colden Common 3, attendance 68
9’ 0-1
73’ 0-2
87’ 0-3
@ Bordon & Oakhanger Sports Club
Bolley Avenue
Bordon
GU35 9HG
No Admission or Programme.
Apparently, Whitehill & Bordon were given special dispensation from the league to use this ground following their promotion this season. I’m not sure why it doesn’t meet the criteria to host games here though, as it is a far better set up than many grounds at this level. Anyway, they have only got a handful of home games left here this season, so it seemed as good a day as any to visit. It also helped that the visitors were top of the league, defending the title they had won last season, whilst the hosts were sitting in seventh place.
It nearly didn’t happen though. I arrived just under an hour before kick off and shortly afterwards the two teams came out and began their warm ups. Ten minutes before kick off it became apparent that the referee hadn’t arrived. Quite why it took until this time for the home club to do anything about this is beyond me. Frantic phone calls were made, but he/she were unable to be contacted. Sensibly, in the end it was decided that a home ‘club official’ would do the game, although Colden Common didn’t seem happy about it, reluctantly agreeing that the game could go ahead. To be fair to the stand in, he was excellent and anyone arriving for the game would never have known he wasn’t the official appointment. Watching from a neutral perspective, I thought he did superbly and told him so at halftime.
Colden Common opened the scoring inside ten minutes, finishing a cross from the right with a stooping header at the far post. It was a very even contest throughout, but the visitors were just too strong. The killer second goal came seventeen minutes from time, when another cross from the right was finished with a tap in at the far post. The scoring was rounded off when they added a third in the dying minutes, when what looked to be a mishit attempt at pulling the ball back across the box, beat the ‘keeper at his near post.
The win sees Colden Common remain three points clear, with a game in hand, over second in the table Locks Heath. This completes the top division for me now, leaving just Division 1 side Hook for the full set.
Heacham are very much a club on the up, having only been promoted from the North West Norfolk League in to Division 5 North of the Anglian Combination League for the 2016/17 season, where successive promotions now sees them make their debut at Step 6. Their stay here may be a short one. They currently sit top of the table (P25 W18 D3 L4) on 57 points, having played a game fewer than Framingham Town (56 pts) and Harwich & Parkeston (53 pts). Even fourth placed Downham Town are still very much in with a shout of promotion, only five points behind Heacham, but with a game in hand.
Tonight was the first game under the newly installed floodlights. The ground is very much a work in progress, with two sides still to have hard standing laid, but it is progressing nicely. Unfortunately, as nice as the seated stand looks, it is totally useless, as it is set well back from the pitch and there is no restriction to prevent people standing along the rail in front, so the view from it is dreadful. There is also an angled area of cover in front of the clubhouse. Organisation for their big day was very good though. Plenty of helpers directing the car parking, ample programmes and a mobile food wagon in place. The crowd was only a couple short of 300, which included a fair number of ‘hoppers dotted about.
Swaffham Town came in to this 17th (out of 19) in the league table, but they certainly made the leaders work hard for the 3 points. It was quite a surprise that it was the visitors who went in front just six minutes in, smashing one high into the net after a corner wasn’t cleared. Heacham pressed for an equaliser, but it didn’t arrive until four minutes before halftime, when an angled cross into the box seemed to deceive the ‘keeper, sailing over his head and dropping into the far corner. It didn’t take long before they turned things round and they edged in front right on halftime, when a poor kick by the ‘keeper, coupled with a slip by a defender attempting a tackle, saw the striker control the ball and finish with a shot into the far corner. The second half kept the interest, but neither team really threatened to add to the scoring.
The journey both ways was littered with delays, adding 90 minutes to the drive time. The SatNav diverted me via the Blackwall Tunnel going, due to an accident on the opposite carriageway near the Dartford Crossing that caused big tailbacks. The return saw closures of the M11 just south of the A11, followed by the M25 being closed between J2 and J3. Just for good measure the exit at J8 was also closed, which meant exiting at J6 and taking the countryside route home. Oh the joys of hopping midweek games.
Above : The stand……Below : the awful view from it!
Grupo Desportivo Chaves 2 Sporting Clube Portugal 3, attendance 4,981
8’ 0-1 (pen)
54’ 1-1
61’ 1-2
70’ 1-3
90’ + 6, 2-3
@ Estadio Municipal Engenheiro Manuel Branco Teixeira
Avenida Estadio 103
5400-265 Chaves
€35 Admission
No Programme.
Today we left Spain and headed back in to Portugal for the final game of our trip. The 254 miles from Burgos to Chaves took 3 hours 40 minutes, but we gained an hour back as we crossed the border about 10 miles before reaching our destination, due to the time difference between the two countries. Of all the games we were planning on watching, this was the one we thought may be problematic, as far as getting tickets went. The club never replied to an e-mail, although a work colleague (speaks Spanish, but understands Portuguese) of the driver had spoken to the club by phone and had been assured there would be no problem buying tickets on the day, which was finally confirmed on the ticket page of the club website, but not until after we had booked our flights! We drove straight to the ground, having timed it perfectly (closed for lunch from 13.00-14.00) to catch the office open. Unlike yesterday, all went to plan and within two minutes of pulling in to the car park, we had our tickets.
Chaves are not one of the big clubs in Portugal. Their only honours since their formation in 1949 are two Segunda Liga titles (2008/09 and 2012/13) and they were also runners-up in the Taça de Portugal in 2010, having lost 2-1 to Porto in the final. Sporting Clube, on the other hand, are very much one of the ‘big 3’ here, behind Benfica and Porto. They have won the Primeira Liga 19 times, the Portuguese Cup 17 times, as well as 4 League Cup wins. Their sole European trophy was a U.E.F.A. Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1964.
The Estadio Municipal Engenheiro Manuel Branco Teixeira, famous as being the ground where Cristiano Ronaldo made his international debut for Portugal, is a mixture of old and new. The capacity nowadays is 8,396 which might have been tested if Sporting Clube weren’t having such an indifferent season, down in fourth place in the league table, way off Benfica and Porto and even trailing third placed Braga by 11 points coming into this. They still had a decent following though, with supporters dotted about the ground, despite having a designated away section behind the goal at the far end.
Chaves came into this in eleventh place in the table and should comfortably avoid being dragged in to any relegation battle. They didn’t get off to the best of starts here though, conceding a penalty after just eight minutes. Sporting nearly doubled their lead, but a cross from the left was smashed against the crossbar from close range, then before the half hour mark they had a chance to draw level, but the one on one chance ended with the Sporting ‘keeper saving the shot with his legs. The equaliser came just minutes later when a speculative effort from the corner of the 18 yard box seemed to deceive the ‘keeper and went in at the far post. It looked like the hosts had gone in front right on halftime, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
The second half was much more comfortable for the visitors. They had a goal disallowed for offside themselves, but soon regained the lead with a cracking effort curled into the far corner from 20 yards. It was soon 1-3, when a cross from the right beat the ‘keeper at his near post via a possible deflection. It could have been 1-4, but having been awarded a second penalty, Sporting this time missed, when it was saved by the Chaves ‘keeper. Six minutes into stoppage time Chaves pulled it back to 2-3, heading a cross back across the ‘keeper for a header that went in off the far post, but the final whistle went immediately after the restart.
We had covered 842 miles on our tour of Iberia. The return flight from Porto back to London Gatwick on Tuesday lunchtime left dead on time and back in Blighty for 14.20. Another successful trip!
The 110 mile drive east from León took around 1 hour 40 minutes, so we were parked up very close to the stadium shortly after 15.30. We already knew the ticket office didn’t open until 5 o’clock, so headed off into the town for food. When we arrived back at the ticket office a small queue had formed, so we joined it about twenty or so from the front. The window shutters opened and people began to move. Then a lad appeared from inside the exit gate adjacent to the booth and pinned a notice up. It wasn’t good news. Apparently the game was sold out! There had been no indication of this on their website and when checking beforehand we had no concerns whatsoever. Why would we? The ground holds 12,194 and their average gate is only around 6,500-7,000. It wasn’t as if it was a local derby (Albacete is 300 miles away) or even a top of the table clash, as it was 7th versus 6th in the league table.
Anyway, we were suddenly faced with a problem, as we certainly couldn’t get to any other game now. We spoke to the lad, who confirmed all tickets had gone. Apparently there had been some sort of ‘promotion’ and all tickets were sold out on Monday. What about getting a ticket in the away section? He informed us that if we came back at six o’clock there may be a possibility of getting a ticket then, but no guarantee. Was this just a way to get rid of us? We went to the club shop. No intention of speaking to us, let alone helping us out. We tried the VIP entrance, where a girl had a huge pile of tickets in her hand, but no chance, even if people didn’t turn up. We even offered her cash for a ticket, but not a chance!
We returned to the ticket office about ten to six. There was one person at the window, being served by the lad we had spoken to. He glanced up, nodded to us and smiled. Was this good news? Yes….we could indeed buy a ticket in the away end, but only by bank card. No cash. Not a problem. We were sorted. Despite him helping us out, it gave me a reason to hope Burgos lost the game. We were in with the visitors anyway, so why not?
Again, the game was nothing to write home about. The view wasn’t great, but better than no view at all. There wasn’t that much action to see anyway. Burgos looked to have had a man red carded midway through the first half, but it was overturned by V.A.R. Albacete had a great chance to open the scoring in the last minute of the half, but it was cleared off the line by a defender. In stoppage time a red card was shown to someone on each bench following a bout of pushing on the touchline. Albacete looked to have won it when they opened the scoring with twelve minutes left, chesting down a diagonal cross from the left, before smashing it past the ‘keeper from 6 yards. Three minutes into stoppage time Burgos got the equaliser. A ball in from the right was finished with a thunderbolt into the far corner from just inside the angle of the 18 yard box.
We got chatting to the lad sat next to us. It turned out he was Austrian and was in Spain for work. He had been behind us in the queue and had heard our conversation about the tickets and decided to shadow our movements as we seemed ‘to know what we were doing’. Thankfully, we did! And, as for the game being sold out, I suppose you could say it was, if you ignore the fact that there were still 1,362 empty seats!
Cultural y Desportiva Leonesa 0 Algeciras C.F. 1, attendance 3,508
47’ 0-1
@ Estadio Municipal Reino de Leon
Avenida Del Ingeniero Sáenz de Meira
24009 Leon
€15 Admission
No Programme.
From our overnight stay in Lugo we headed further east into Spain today, for what we hoped would be the first of two games, starting with a level three match. The 138 mile drive took around two and a half hours, the early part of which was in foggy conditions with temperatures only a few degrees above freezing. The Galician Massif mountain range offered a very scenic backdrop, with it’s snow covered peaks, but as we got nearer to León the temperature was rising nicely and it was glorious sunshine by the time we parked up a couple of hundred yards from the stadium, which is on the left hand side as you exit from the motorway and head towards the town.
The Estadio Municipal Reino de Leon was opened in 2001 and has an all seated capacity of 13,451. They never get crowds anywhere near filling it these days, although their record crowd here is actually 105 more than the current limit, for a visit of Barcelona ‘B’ back in May 2017 and Spain have also hosted three international games here. Despite being a newish build it does have traditional pylon style floodlights. To say they are magnificent, is doing them an injustice. For those of us who like these sort of things, they are up there with the very best and not just in Spain!
We headed straight for the ticket office and purchased two seats behind the goal, with the ground segregated into four sections. Although the seats were allocated, there would have no problem in sitting wherever you wanted and you were free to wander around at will. The match was 8th versus 15th in the league table, with neither side having been in the greatest of form coming into this. Goal scoring opportunities were at a premium, especially from the home side, who were really poor. The only goal came two minutes into the second half, when a cross from the right was met with a downward header at the far post to win it for the visitors. There was no obvious sign of any visiting fans to greet the goal, but perhaps not surprising for a noon kick off some 530 miles from home, as Algeciras borders Gibraltar, on the southern tip of Spain. Ten minutes later they nearly added a second, but having broken clear they were unable to convert a one on one chance with the ‘keeper. I don’t recall Leonesa troubling the visiting ‘keeper once as they never created anything remotely describable as an attempt on goal.
We were back on the motorway less than ten minutes after the final whistle, heading further east for a second tier match in Burgos.
Club Deportivo Lugo 0 Sociedad Deportiva Eibar 2, attendance 2,786
40’ 0-1 (pen)
90’ + 2, 0-2
@ Estadio Anxo Carro
Avenida dos Deportes
27004 Lugo
€20 Admission
No Programme.
We could have done a couple of second level Portuguese games today and maybe even added a third level one, if games finished promptly. However, as I wouldn’t be contributing towards the driving, we went with just one game instead, heading north east across the border into Spain and it would certainly make for a more relaxing drive on Sunday, where we had a planned brace of matches even further east. It was just over 3 hours drive to cover the 170 miles from Barcelos to Lugo, not helped by a section of motorway being closed for roadworks, which meant a diversion on local roads for a small section. Spain is also one hour ahead of Portugal as far as time goes, but we had already factored that into our journey time, arriving in Lugo around two hours before kick off. Again the weather was glorious, hitting 25 degrees as we parked up in the near deserted car park at the foot of the hill leading up to the stadium. There was a Lugo youth team (looked about 14 or 15 years old) game going ahead on the 3G ground adjacent to the main stadium, which judging by the signage, was, or is, home to a local non-league club. We watched about ten minutes of this, in which time the visiting team scored three goals, before heading to the ticket office to purchase our tickets.
The Estadio Anxo Carro has an all seated capacity of 7,114 which includes a temporary looking stand at one end. Considering they have such a small ground, which they struggle to fill, they have managed to maintain their position in the second tier of Spanish football since they gained promotion at the end of the 2011/12 season, although that run could be coming to an end, as they came into this second bottom in the table. Eibar were fifth, just three points behind league leaders Las Palmas and very much in the battle for the championship.
Despite a mishit cross clipping the top of the crossbar, as well as missing an open goal following a corner to the far post, Lugo offered little to suggest they can avoid the drop at the end of the season. When Eibar went in front from the penalty spot five minutes before halftime, it looked to be an all too familiar situation for them. Following the goal, Eibar had an effort that hit the post, followed by one off the underside of the crossbar, but Lugo were thrown a lifeline when Eibar had a man red carded in stoppage time, dismissed following a V.A.R. review. Despite playing with an extra man for the entire second half, Lugo never looked like getting back into it. The visitors finally made the points safe when they doubled their lead two minutes into stoppage time, cutting in from the left, before smashing an unstoppable shot into the far corner.
Today signalled my return to flying, following my cardiac arrest back in July. We were on the 09.35 easyJet flight out of London Gatwick, bound for Porto, on what was a planned weekend of Iberian football. As expected, the flight was late (51 minutes), but we only had a 34 mile drive north to Barcelos for our first game, so no problem, even though it took almost an hour to collect our hire car due to it being unexpectedly busy. We headed to the ground first, where it was a glorious 22 degrees. Tickets were duly sorted and we were soon checked in at our hotel, which was a little over twenty minutes walk back for the match later on.
Gil Vicente, who are named after the Portuguese playwright, will celebrate their centenary next year. They’re not one of the ‘big boys’ of Portuguese football, but they have won 2 Segunda League titles (1999 and 2011) and were runners-up in the Taça da Liga in 2012, having lost 2-1 to Benfica in the final. They have been playing at the 12,046 capacity Estadio Cidade de Barcelos, which belongs to the local municipality, since the 2004/05 season, having previously been based at the Estadio Adelino Ribeiro Novo, which now hosts their youth team matches.
Tonight’s game was 14th versus 10th in the league table. It has to be said, it wasn’t the greatest of games, with the second half a vast improvement on the first, although that is hardly surprising. Apart from the hosts hitting the crossbar with a curling shot just before the half hour mark, it was pretty sterile stuff. The halftime pep talk certainly changed things. Within three minutes of the restart Gil Vicente were awarded a penalty, but a poorly hit effort was easily saved. It only took another seven minutes for them to break the deadlock though, when a cross from the right was knocked down and a deflected shot gave the ‘keeper no chance. They almost doubled their lead when a 30 yard free kick went narrowly wide, but they paid the price for not killing off the game with a second goal, when Vizela deservedly levelled four minutes from time, when a free kick was played across the box and finished at the far post, much to the delight of the 250 or so away fans housed at that end. There was still time for Gil Vicente to have a man red carded as we headed into stoppage time, but both teams appeared to have already settled for a point by this stage.
Dearne & District 3 Dinnington Town 0, attendance 115
13’ 1-0
58’ 2-0
82’ 3-0
@ Kingsmark Way
Goldthorpe
S63 9GW
£3 Admission
Programme available online only.
With Dearne & District rumoured to be leaving this ground at the end of the season, it was high on my list of ‘need to visit soon’ grounds. On paper it looked like a reasonable choice of game too, as 3rd hosted 4th in the league table, although it never really lived up to expectations.
Dearne had an early effort disallowed for offside, before breaking the deadlock after thirteen minutes, firing into the bottom corner from 20 yards. Little of note happened in the remainder of the half, until Dinnington had a man sin binned minutes before the break. The second goal arrived just before the hour mark, when a cross from the right was missed by a defender and finished with a stooping header from 6 yards. A minute later, the Dinnington No.9, having only returned from his sin bin a few minutes earlier, was then sent off. This was immediately followed by another Dinnington player being sin binned for a comment said to the Referee, so the visitors were now down to nine players briefly. It was a surprise that it took Dearne until eight minutes from time to add a third goal, after a long ball that should have been gathered easily by the ‘keeper, somehow wasn’t and it left an easy finish for a striker following in.
The win sees Dearne leapfrog Thorne Colliery into second place in the table, although the title looks well beyond them, as despite having two games in hand on the unbeaten leaders Retford United, they still trail them by 17 points.
Old Southendian 1 Catholic United 2, attendance 108
11’ 0-1
14’ 0-2
77’ 1-2
@ Garon Park, 3G Pitch
Eastern Avenue
Southend-on-Sea
SS2 4FA
No Admission or Programme.
I had visited Old Southendian back on 26th October 2019, when they beat Canning Town 2-1 in an Essex Olympian League Premier Division match in front of 27 spectators. That game was played on a grass pitch that runs parallel to the 3G cage (it was partly constructed during that visit, so I knew that there would definitely be no overlap) which they now use for their home games.
It is a standard cage set up, with spectator access along two thirds of one side. The match was 2nd (P16 Pts 25) v 3rd (P11 Pts 24) in the league table, both some way behind unbeaten leaders Hutton, who already have 40 points (Won 13 Drawn 1) and attracted an excellent crowd.
The visitors were two goals up inside fifteen minutes. They opened the scoring after scrambling in from close range following a corner from the right, before a cracking 25 yarder doubled their lead just three minutes later. Old Southendian never really looked like getting back in it, but they did pull one back with thirteen minutes left, which made for an interesting finish to the game, but the visitors were deserving winners. They now move up to second in the table, still 13 points adrift of the leaders, but they do have two games in hand.
