Spartan South Midlands League

Premier Division

Saturday 2nd April 2023

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.01

Dunstable Town 1 Biggleswade United 1, attendance 165

22’ 1-0

37’ 1-1

@ Creasey Park Community Football Centre, 3G Pitch No.2

Creasey Park Drive

off Brewers Hill Road

Dunstable

LU6 1BB

Admission : Pay what you like

£2 Programme, 52 pages.

This game came on the radar after Dunstable had tweeted that the game was switched from the stadium pitch (I had seen them beat Braintree Town in a Southern League Southern Division match there on 3rd January 1994) to the 3G pitch (agreed by the league and the visitors) here at the complex, due to a waterlogged pitch on the former. Google Maps shows a 3G pitch adjacent to the stadium, but this was played on a second one, not shown on there yet, which is about 100 yards away, which has a spectator area along about three quarters of one side, with dugouts on the opposite side.

The match pitted 5th against 7th in the league table and despite very few real goal scoring opportunities, it produced a decent contest. Dunstable opened the scoring midway through the first half, powering a header in from close range, after a cross from the left reached the back post. Biggleswade levelled eight minutes before halftime, when a cross from the left was fumbled by the ‘keeper and smashed in from close range. The nearest we came to a winner was when Dunstable hit the post early in the second half.

A decent turnout of at least 13 ‘hoppers in a reasonable crowd, perhaps helped by the club offering a ‘pay what you like’ deal, due to the game not being in the stadium (normally £8). Not as high as the 218 that the club claimed on Twitter though. Even including both teams and the three match officials would have still seen the total well short of that!

Arthurian League

Premier Division

Saturday 1st April 2023

Kick Off 11.30 Actual 11.20

Old Cholmeleians 2 Old Brentwoods 1, attendance 8

53’ 1-0

86’ 1-1

88’ 2-1

@ Maccabi London Sports Ground, 3G Pitch

Rowley Lane

Arkley

EN5 3HW

No Admission or Programme.

With the continuous rain of the last few weeks causing the Yeovil & District League Hop to be called off once again, it was the wet weather that gave me this option, as Old Cholmeleians switched their game to the 3G pitch here at Maccabi Lions Sports Ground, due to their own ground being waterlogged. I had done the main stadium pitch here back in 2005. The 3G runs parallel, but is down on a lower level. It is a standard cage set up, with no spectator area, although no problem watching from inside the fence. There is a small area of cover perched at the top of the grass banking on one side, backing onto the stand of the main ground, which just about gives a view over the top of the fence.

The match was 8th versus 6th in the league table. Neither side looked like scoring, so it was a relief when Cholmeleians broke the deadlock eight minutes into the second half, breaking down the right before a cross was finished off with a first time shot into the bottom corner. It looked like this would be enough to win it, as the only real chance apart from this saw Brentwoods head over a chance at the near post with twenty minutes left. Out of nothing the visitors levelled it up at 1-1 with four minutes left, chesting down and volleying in from 6 yards. A draw would have been a fair result, but the hosts grabbed the winner, when a shot deflected off a defender and squirmed through the ‘keepers legs a couple of minutes later.