Considering that there are supposed to be no matches played in June, due to the ‘Close Season’ enforced by the F.A. this was an unusual one as Green Lane is not only home to Bishops Cannings, but also the headquarters of the Wiltshire F.A.! It is a standard cage, with viewing along three quarters of one side. Rather annoyingly for a newish set up, there was a partition wire across the pitch, although the ball only hit it once during the match.
The game was between two sides in the Wiltshire Senior League, Bishops Cannings being new into Division 1, whilst Ludgershall are in the Premier Division, having been promoted at the end of last season. If you had turned up to watch, without knowing it was a friendly, you would have been surprised, as it was played very competitively throughout and I will see a fair number of matches in the coming season that won’t be anywhere near as good as this was to watch.
Bishops Cannings twice led in the first half, but still found themselves 2-3 down at the break. It was 2-4 midway through the second half, but a quick reply brought it back to 3-4 and it wasn’t until the final kick of the match that Ludgershall made it 3-5. A very enjoyable game to watch and worth the effort of battling the usual nightmare Friday traffic, which thankfully eased once clear of the M25.
North Wales Crusaders 20 Hunslet 30, attendance 314
@ Chester R.U.F.C.
Hare Lane
Littleton
CH3 7DB
£15 Admission
No Programme.
I was living abroad when North Wales Crusaders played a couple of games here at Chester R.U.F.C. back in 2016, so with their next three home games scheduled to be played here (whilst they await the completion of the 3G pitch installation at their normal venue Eiras Park in Colwyn Bay) I took the first opportunity to make a visit.
The match was 6th versus 4th in the league table and Crusaders came into it on the back of four consecutive wins. Crusaders went 6-0 up early on, but Hunslet quickly replied to make it 6-6. Tries by Kieran Taylor and Pat Rainford saw Crusaders edge back in front to lead 16-6 at halftime. They were unable to add to this though, as Hunslet hit them with 24 unanswered points in the second half, including tries from Sam Hallas (2) Josh Jordan-Roberts and Jimmy Watson to comfortably lead 16-30. Crusaders did manage the last score of the match though, despite being down to 12 following a sin bin, when Josh Lynch sprinted clear to score his second try of the game as we reached the final minute, but they were unable to convert.
Estudiantes London 6 Redbridge U23 2, attendance 22
16’ 1-0
22’ 2-0
30’ 3-0
44’ 4-0
53’ 5-0
63’ 6-0
72’ 6-1
86’ 6-2
@ The Latymer School, 3G Pitch
Haslebury Road
Edmonton
London
N9 9TN
No Admission or Programme.
I had a few options for today, all on neutral venue 3G pitches, but with it being during the official F.A. ‘Close Season’, I decided to play it safe and head for this one, as Middlesex County League side Estudiantes are very active on Twitter, so no problem confirming kick off time or venue. It was also the nearest one, so at least if it was called off at short notice, I wouldn’t have wasted too much time driving. The set up here is a typical cage with spectator viewing along three quarters of one side.
The game itself was much closer than the scoreline suggests. The difference was that nearly all the chances for Estudiantes finished with goals being scored. Redbridge could easily have scored six goals themselves, but at least with the two late ones they did manage to give the final score some sort of respectability.
North Wales Crusaders 62 Midlands Hurricanes 24, attendance 235
@ Nant Conwy R.U.F.C.
Pant Y Carw (B5106)
Llanrwst
LL26 0PW
£15 Admission
No Programme.
An overnight stay in the North West meant an easy drive into North Wales for this game. Crusaders normal home venue at Eirias Stadium in Colwyn Bay, which I have yet to visit, was unavailable due to delays in the laying of a new 3G pitch, so today’s game was moved to here in Llanrwst.
The game was 7th versus 8th in the league table and went very much the way of the hosts, as expected, as they made it four wins on the trot, having beaten the bottom three clubs in consecutive matches (London Skolars, Cornwall and today’s visitors in the reverse fixture) coming into this. It was never really a contest. Crusaders already led 30-0 before Hurricanes managed a try of their own. By halftime it was 34-6.
An early second half try made it 38-6, before Hurricanes ran in three unanswered tries, all converted, to pull it back to 38-24, but it was just too far a deficit to pull back. Crusaders stepped it up again from here and ran in four more tries to take a comfortable 62-24 win.
Luckily, the heavy rain and thunderstorms didn’t arrive until late in the game. The last ten minutes saw puddles start to form on the pitch, but no problem with getting the game finished. The stand offered protection from the rain, but not too sure how safe it was sitting in a metal stand with lightning flashing overhead.
The homeward journey was a 5 hour slog, via A470, A5, M54, M6, M42, M40 and M25. Crusaders are at home for the next two matches as well, with venue yet to be confirmed, so I could be doing it all again sooner than expected, if they play somewhere I’ve yet to see a game at….fingers crossed!
According to the league table on the BBC website, this was 10th versus 2nd in the league table, but the programme indicated that bottom club Featherstone Lions, who Oulton have beaten twice this season, have withdrawn from the competition and accordingly the subsequent table adjustments mean that Oulton have now dropped to sixth place.
It turned out to be a cracking game. Oulton scored a try after three minutes, but failed to convert and three minutes later Pilks drew level, before adding the kick to lead 6-4. Surprisingly, there were no more points added in the remainder of the half.
The second half remained in the balance and with twelve minutes left Oulton scored their second try of the game and added the two point conversion to lead 6-10. Unfortunately for them, they then had a man sin binned and with a man short were unable to prevent Pilks from finally drawing level two minutes from the end when they scored close to the posts to level it up at 10-10. Somehow a relatively easy conversion was sent wide of the target and we ended up all square.
Home to Pilks is Ruskin Drive Sports Ground, which was very busy today as bowls and a cricket match were also taking place. I had been here twice before to watch football. In December 2000 I saw Pilkington beat Barnton 4-1 in a Mid Cheshire League match, which was played on a grass pitch now partially covered by today’s pitch, whilst in August 2017 I had seen the 0-0 draw between St. Helens Town and Abbey Hulton United (on the other 3G ground that runs in the opposite direction at the near end of the rugby ground) where the game was infamously abandoned seven minutes into stoppage time, due to the floodlights going off just as Abbey Hulton were about to take a penalty, with what would have been the final kick of the match.
Kulture Club 2 Estudiantes London 6, attendance 17
1’ 0-1
9’ 0-2
19’ 0-3
29’ 0-4
43’ 0-5 (pen)
57’ 1-5
65’ 2-5
82’ 2-6
@ Lea Valley Academy, 3G Pitch
Bullsmoor Lane
Enfield
EN3 6TW
No Admission or Programme.
This was a game between two sides who had played in Division 1 (Central & East) of the Middlesex County League in the season just finished. Estudiantes were excellent on Twitter in confirming both the venue and kick off time for this game. It attracted 12 hoppers, with the main debate appearing to be whether this game counts in season 2022/23 or 2023/24! It is neither for me, as I keep a running total by calendar year!
Estudiantes dominated early on and comfortably built up a five goal lead. Kulture Klub only started with the bare eleven, but a number of additional players arrived during the early stages and the second half was probably a truer reflection of the strength of each side.
It is a standard cage set up, with no problem watching from inside the fence, as there is a solid pathway running around the pitch perimeter which is edged by ‘kickboards’ along the sides.
Having stopped overnight at Winwick, just north of Junction 9 of the M62, it was an easy half hour drive to do the 25 miles to Castleton, just south west of Rochdale. As with last night, it was a ground I had already visited for football. It was previously the home of Castleton Gabriels F.C. who I had seen draw 2-2 versus Chadderton in a North West Counties League Division 2 match here back on 26th October 1999. In those days it was known as Butterworth Park. It is a cracking old ground, that oozes character and was a very pleasant place to spend an afternoon in baking sun, overlooking the moors on the far side of the ground. Good to see a crowd in excess of 400 too, as second in the table Rochdale Mayfield (won 9 lost 1) hosted sixth placed Thatto Heath Crusaders (won 5 lost 6).
It was a comfortable win for Mayfield. They led 12-0 before Thatto Heath scored their first points of the day with a try that pulled it back to 12-4, but by halftime Mayfield had increased their lead to 28-4. The second half was much more even and actually finished 22-22, but the damage had already been done and Mayfield deservedly held on for the win. They remain second in the league table, behind leaders Hunslet on points difference, but they do have a game in hand on the leaders.
The journey back south was uneventful, with traffic surprisingly light.
St. Helens 34 Wigan Warriors 16, attendance 17,088
@ Totally Wicked Stadium
McManus Drive
Peasley Cross Lane
St. Helens
WA9 3AL
£30 Admission, e-ticket
Programme? Never saw any.
I had already been here for football. I hadn’t realised it was as far back as March 2012 that I saw Liverpool U19 lose 0-6 to Ajax U19 in the Nextgen Cup semi final in front of a 6,000 crowd. The ground was named Langtree Park when it opened that year, but took on the sponsor name of Totally Wicked Stadium in 2017. The stadium has a capacity of 18,000 and is seated along the sides, but has terracing behind each goal. It is a far cry from their previous home at Knowsley Road, where I had seen them beat Leigh 12-6 in a Division 1 game on 25th March 1990 in front of 9,189 spectators, which was only my third ever rugby league ground attended at the time (I subsequently visited for football, seeing Liverpool Reserves play 4 games there between December 1999 and February 2000).
The Saints-Wigan derby is probably the biggest rivalry in the northern hemisphere, so I was surprised that tickets were still available to book online the day before the game, albeit only odd seats here and there. Rather oddly the attendance was announced as 16,272 at the game, but this was increased to 17,088 according to the official club Twitter the following morning. No idea how they can come up with two different figures in this day and age. Either way, it was short of the ground record of 17,980 that this fixture attracted in both the 2012 and 2014 meetings. Perhaps a major contributor was the fact that both teams are having relatively poor seasons by their normal high standards, as it was only 6th versus 4th as far as the league table was concerned, both at least two wins adrift of top two Warrington Wolves and Catalan Dragons.
It only took Saints four minutes to go ahead, when Joe Batchelor scored from close to the line and Tommy Makinson converted to make it 6-0. Wigan levelled at 6-6 when Harry Smith chipped over the top for Jai Field to cross the line, with the kick converted by Smith. Makinson then went over in the corner and converted his own try to make it 12-6, but Wigan pulled it back to 12-10 with a try from Bevan French. Right on halftime Saints made it 18-10, when Jack Welsby collected his own kick to score near the posts, which was converted by Makinson to give the hosts an eight point lead at the break.
Saints started the better in the second half, as a close range try by Agnatius Paasi was converted by Makinson to make it 24-10, before Welsby went over, again converted by Makinson, to stretch the lead to 30-10. Makinson scored in the corner, but couldn’t convert, to make it 34-10. A try by Abbas Miski, converted by Smith, did reduce the arrears for Wigan in the dying minutes, but Saints were well worth their 34-16 win.
The journey up to the North West was painfully slow, as expected, taking five and a half hours to drive the 230 miles. I was stopping overnight, so didn’t have to worry about endless lane closures on the return journey.
Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio 5 Associazione Calcio Monza 2, attendance 19,389
12’ 1-0
45’ + 1, 2-0
51’ 2-1
74’ 3-1
78’ 4-1
81’ 4-2
90’ + 2, 5-2
@ Gewiss Stadium
Viale Giulio Cesare 18
24124 Bergamo
€40 Admission + €2.20 booking fee, Print at Home Ticket
2 different Programmes available, both free. A 36 page full colour Magazine and a 40 page Newspaper.
My first trip to see football in Italy was back in November 1994, when I flew out on a day trip to see A.C. Milan draw 1-1 with Internazionale in the Milan derby, played at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, more commonly known as the San Siro, which is actually the area of Milan it is in, rather than the name of the stadium. Further trips to Italy saw a 2-1 win for Lazio versus Internazionale (Dec 2003), followed by Torino v Empoli (at the now demolished Stadio delle Alpi (Apr 2005) and the following day Novarra v A.C. Pisa. A month later a trip to Florence resulted in my third consecutive 0-0 draw in Italy, when Fiorentina hosted Atalanta. The lack of goals and what always seemed to be problems sorting out tickets in advance, meant I had pretty much given up with football trips to Italy.
However, a wedding invitation to a ceremony to be held near Milan, meant there was a possibility of perhaps combining the trip to fit in a football match as well. Being late in the season didn’t throw up too many opportunities though. Not knowing exactly what time the wedding reception would finish, meant both Cremonese and Parma would not be possible on the Saturday evening, due to ticket sales ending on the night before the match. This removed the option of making a late decision to head there. Luckily though, there was still a chance to get a game in on the Sunday, in nearby Bergamo. It was only 1 hour 8 minutes by train and cost just €5.80 single….not a return, but more of that later. These days obtaining tickets for games in Italy is far less problematic. All done online and the club website confirmed tickets were available for general sale and that a foreign passport was okay for use as identification. It would also help to confirm we weren’t from Monza!
The Gewiss Stadium is part way through modernisation, with just the Curva Sud now looking out of place compared to the rest of the ground, although they could do with extending the roof along the side, as we got absolutely soaked during the second half, which isn’t great when you are charged €40 for the pleasure! Capacity here is 21,300 and the club were advertising the match as a sell out (I think Monza had sold all bar 145 of their allocation) although there were empty seats dotted about and the official attendance certainly didn’t suggest this.
This was the last match of the season. Monza were safe in tenth place and had nothing to play for. Atalanta, on the other hand, started the day 5th in the table on 61 points. They were in a three way fight with Roma (60 pts) and Juventus (59 pts) to see which two would get the Europa League places and who would end up in the Europa Conference League. All three games involving them would start simultaneously…or at least that was the plan. The game here started a couple of minutes late as the Referee had to wait for the smoke to clear the pitch after flares left thick clouds of smoke swirling across the pitch as we were about to kick off. Security are red hot on stopping you take bottles of water into the ground and there is no way you are allowed to keep the top on any drink purchased once inside, but it seems you can take in as many flares as you like, as well as 4-5 foot long flag poles, which of course, could never be used as a weapon….
As expected, it was a great atmosphere. The home fans in the lower sections of seating behind the goal at the north end of the ground boycotted the opening five minutes or so, not happy in how they perceived they were being treated, but soon filtered into their seats. The noise certainly went up a notch or two as they joined the party. Dutch striker Teun Koopmeiners headed Atalanta in front after twelve minutes and he made it 2-0 in stoppage time at the end of the first half, following in after an initial save by the ‘keeper. A cracking 20 yarder into the top corner saw Monza pull it back to 2-1 early in the second half, but their hopes of getting anything from the match were dealt a blow, when their Brazilian player Marlon received a red card in the seventieth minute, just 60 seconds after coming on as a substitute! Hojlund (assisted by Koopmeiners) made it 3-1, before Koopmeiners completed his hattrick with twelve minutes left to put the hosts 4-1 up. Monza immediately got one back to make it 4-2, before Atalanta added a fifth goal in the second, of what turned out to be ten minutes of stoppage time, rounding off the scoring. So Atalanta had scored the same amount of goals tonight as my previous five games here in Italy had produced in total!
The win saw Atalanta finish fifth and wins for Roma and Juventus meant we finished the night as we started, as far as European qualification went. The 21.00 kick off meant that the last train back to Milan would be long gone, so we had pre-booked a car to pick us up near the ground at 23.15, rather than mess about getting back to Bergamo Airport, from where a shuttle bus runs to Milan Central Station at very regular intervals throughout the night. Another taxi would then have been required from there. No change out of €100, but back in our Milan hotel before midnight, so certainly the correct decision.
