Professional Development League

Saturday 27th October 2018

Kick Off 11.30 Actual 11.33

Bristol City U18 5 Coventry City U18 1,  attendance 40

53’ 1-0

56’ 2-0

60’ 3-0

73’ 3-1

76’ 4-1

79’ 5-1

@ SGS College, WISE Campus, Pitch 6

New Road

Stoke Gifford

Bristol

BS34 8LP

No Admission

Team Sheet, free.

The full title for this venue is South Gloucestershire & Stroud College, West of England Institute of Special Education. I had been here before, when I saw Bristol Academy beat Thornbury Town 2-1 in a Gloucestershire County League match on 26th September 2011, with the game being played on the ‘Show Pitch’, which is the one inside the running track, which is now home to Bristol City ladies team, who were going through a training session on it this morning.

Bristol City have used a number of home venues in the past, with this being the fourth ground I have seen them play on…..  1) 6.3.99 at Clifton College Sports Ground, U19 won 3-2 v Everton  2) 24.11.01 at Watson Pavilion, Clifton College Sports Ground, U19 lost 0-2 v Chelsea  3) 5.9.09 at Q.E.H. Sports Ground, U18 lost 0-1 v Chelsea.

With Bristol City playing the majority of their matches with a kick off time later than the standard 11am of most other clubs, it limits the opportunity of doubling up with an afternoon match, especially if planning a later match that is not floodlit, so with today being the last chance to get a 3pm kick off in before the clocks go back an hour, this was as good a day as any to come here.

There is no problem with access to watch games here and team sheets are available from inside the changing room building. The only real problem is being ripped off to park your car. With many matches today kicking off late and taking an age to finish, you have a choice between paying for 2 or 3 hours to park, but having arrived at 11.05, then I had to pay the latter, which was £3 and the match didn’t finish until 13.26.

The match was played on Pitch 6, with the U16’s, also playing Coventry, being on the adjacent Pitch 7, which meant all too frequent stray balls going onto the other pitch and vice versa. Having seen Coventry a few weeks ago, I knew what to expect…..dull, uninspiring football and no intention of crossing the halfway line. Their tactic worked for a while, but once Bristol City opened the scoring the floodgates opened and Coventry got the thrashing they deserved. Having scored with their first shot of the match, after 73 minutes, they did manage two more efforts, but by that time the hosts were totally in control and just went up an extra gear by adding two more goals.

This was the first cold day of the season, with a biting wind, not helped by rain arriving for the last ten minutes of the match.

As with all youth venues, it is awkward taking photographs, but I did manage to take a few….

North Riding F.A. Senior Cup

Preliminary Round

Wednesday 24th October 2018

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.37

Boro Rangers 3 Richmond Town 2,  attendance 62

45’ 1-0

51’ 1-1

53’ 2-1

54’ 2-2

70’ 3-2

@ Middlesbrough F.C. Foundation, Pitch 1

Normanby Road

Eston

Middlesbrough

TS6 9AE

No Admission or Programme.

If you think of the worst area near where you live, then go up a couple of rungs, then you have Middlesbrough. Driving from the A66, then heading south through South Bank, it really is grim and a bit of a concern as to whether the car would still be there after the match !

The Middlesbrough F.C. Foundation is a bit run down. The indoor pitch is closed for renovation, the cafe was closed and both drinks machines were out of order. As for the toilets…………

Anyway, on to the match. Tonight, there were two matches being played here, both in the North Riding F.A. Senior Cup, Preliminary Round. St. Mary’s 1947 versus Grangetown Boys Club was on Pitch 2, which was hired for the night, whilst Boro Rangers were hosting Richmond Town on Pitch 1, which is their normal home ground, so I opted for this.

Boro  won four trophies last season, including beating Richmond 7-0 in this competition (before losing 2-1 to York City in a later round) and are currently in second place in the North Riding League, Premier Division. Richmond are in seventh place in the Wearside League, which is at the same level of the Pyramid, Step 7.

Boro intimidated the officials at every opportunity, which was totally unnecessary, as they are a really good footballing side. This seemed to be a bit of a grudge match, probably due to the meeting they had in this cup last season. Boro were well on top, but struggled to make the breakthrough, finally edging in front right on halftime. Richmond looked a different team after the break, coming from behind twice, but were unable to do it a third time.

Thankfully, the car was still there afterwards and even though the match didn’t finish until 21.32 (ridiculous for a 19.30 kick off ! ) a relatively trouble free journey saw me arrive home at 02.15. Apart from about half a dozen stretches of 50 mph and single lane sections, which actually never caused any queueing traffic, the only problem I encountered was when the M25 was closed just one junction from home !

Below photo : Pitch 2 on the left, with Boro Rangers v Richmond Town on Pitch 1, to the right.

British Universities & Colleges Sport

Northern 1A

Wednesday 24th October 2018

Kick Off 13.30 Actual 13.32

Newcastle University 6 Leeds Trinity University 2,  attendance 10

5’ 0-1

18’ 1-1

20’ 2-1

29’ 2-2

31’ 3-2 (pen)

49’ 4-2

62’ 5-2

70’ 6-2

@ Longbenton Sports Ground, 3G Pitch

Coach Lane

Newcastle Upon Tyne

NE12 8AD

No Admission or Programme.

To guarantee making it round the M25 and through the roadworks north of Junction 13 of the M1, it meant a ridiculous 6am start for this one. At least once I was clear of that, it left plenty of time for breakfast at Loughborough Truck Stop, just off Junction 23 of the M1 and arrival at the ground just after noon.

Newcastle are using this ground whilst their normal home ground at Cochrane Park is undergoing renovation. Their team that play in the Northern Alliance on a Saturday, have also played here in the past.

Newcastle came into this top of the league table, having won their opening two matches. Despite being 3-2 at halftime, it was actually a very one sided match, with Newcastle well on top. The early goal in the second half killed the game off as far as a Trinity comeback was concerned. As well as scoring half a dozen goals, Newcastle also hit the crossbar four times and the post twice, so this could have ended up as a real thrashing.

Montgomeryshire Challenge Cup

2nd Round

Sunday 21st October 2018

Kick Off 14.30. On Time !

Llanymynech 1 Llanfair United 6,  attendance 37

19’ 0-1

24’ 0-2

48’ 1-2 (pen)

53’ 1-3

55’ 1-4

67’ 1-5

74’ 1-6

@ King George V Playing Field

Station Road

Llanymynech

SY22 6EE

No Admission

£1 Programme, 4 pages.

Llanymynech is a border town, split down the middle by the A483 Oswestry to Welshpool road. The west of the town is in Wales, whilst the east is in England, in the county of Shropshire. The football ground is in the English side, although the club play their football in the Montgomeryshire Amateur League Division 2, which is part of the Welsh Pyramid.

The match went totally to form. Llanfair play three levels higher, currently sitting in sixth place in the Mid Wales League Division 1 and had won 3-2 away at Hawarden Rangers in the Welsh F.A. Cup yesterday, with Llanymynech having had a day off as they had no scheduled fixture. When the hosts pulled it back to 1-2 , with a penalty early in the second half,  it was little more than a consolation goal. Despite hitting the woodwork with a couple of long range strikes, they never really looked capable of pulling off an upset.

Southern Combination League

Division 2

Saturday 20th October 2018

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.01

Worthing Town 0 Rustington 2,  attendance 28

38’ 0-1

74’ 0-2

@ Palatine Park Football Centre

Palatine Road

Worthing

BN12 6JN

No Admission

£2 Programme, 8 pages.

This is a club that you need to visit on a nice day, when there are no weather issues, or when the away team have a twitter account that is updated. Speaking to others who have been here, the last thing you want to do is contact the home club Secretary, who by all accounts is far from helpful and very abrupt and miserable when answering any enquiries about matches……what a great first impression of the club !

Anyway, Rustington tweeted early on that the game was on and with hardly a cloud in the sky, a trip to the south coast beckoned. The match was 6th versus 3rd in the league table, but it was a pretty dull match to watch as a neutral. There was very little quality on show, the unbeaten visitors going ahead when the home ‘keeper spilled a shot for an easy tap in and once the second goal came, it was game over.

When Worthing first entered this league, they played on a pitch as far from the clubhouse building as possible, which is now a couple of small sized pitches. They now play right outside the building, which is Pitch B, according to a plan of the complex that is on the outside of the building.

This now completes visits to all the grounds currently used in this league, although Broadbridge Heath are hoping to move into their new ground in the next month or so.

British Universities & Colleges Sport

Midlands 3B

Wednesday 17th October 2018

Kick Off 13.00 Actual 13.08

Bedfordshire University 1 De Montfort University 3,  attendance 7

35’ 0-1

65’ 1-1

73’ 1-2

79’ 1-3

@ Alexander Sports Centre

Sidney Road

Bedford

MK40 2BQ

No Admission or Programme.

For the first six minutes of this match both teams played in near identical kits, but DMU had a white lining on the inside of their shirts, so played the remainder of the game with them turned inside out.

It was a good even contest, which I thought might end up goalless, as neither side managed a shot on target until DMU opened the scoring with a tap in after a save from the ‘keeper after 35 minutes. Bedfordshire had one very useful weapon, in the form of a ‘long throw expert’, who could deliver throw ins right into the six yard box, even from the halfway line and it was from one of these that they headed an equaliser.

DMU went back in front with a superb break from their own half, when a defender intercepted a pass on the edge of his own box and a one-two in the centre circle then saw him race through to round the ‘keeper and slot the ball in from a tight angle. They added a third goal before a mass brawl took place, resulting in both teams having a couple of players sent off.

South West Peninsula League

Division 1 East

Tuesday 16th October 2018

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.33

Axminster Town 3 Crediton United 1,  attendance 94

5’ 1-0

18’ 1-1

60’ 2-1

63’ 3-1

@ Tiger Way

Axminster

EX13 5HN

£4 Admission, including Programme, 20 pages.

I last saw a match at Axminster Town back on 7th December 2003, when they beat Dowlish Wake 7-0 in an Axminster Hospital Cup 2nd Round game. In those days they played in Sector Lane, but they moved to their new ground, here in Tiger Way, back in 2015.

Despite looking very impressive, it does suffer like so many new builds, where the seated stand and cover in front of the clubhouse are set too far back from the pitch, therefore giving an awful view, especially when 90% of the crowd stand pitchside against the rail.

There can be no complaints as far as the programme goes though, as it is a really good effort and great value when included in the admission price. It certainly puts many clubs to shame who charge £2 for a pathetic 4 or 8 page token effort that is nothing but a waste of both, their time producing it, and the punters money when buying it. Nice to see a club who don’t hoodwink everyone by inflating the attendance figure either. The official figure was only four less than I had counted.

The match itself was 8th versus 13th in the league table and was a really enjoyable game to watch, as both teams played some nice football. The two goals in a four minute spell just after the hour mark finally killed off the visitors.

It was nice to attend a game that kicked off at the ‘old’ time of 19.30, albeit a few minutes late. Done and dusted by 21.20 and in the house for midnight.

Belgium

Brabant Provincial 1  A.C.F.F.

Sunday 14th October 2018

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.04

Stade Everois Racing Club 3 R. Racing Club Boitsfort 1,  attendance 108

9’ 1-0

21’ 2-0

29’ 2-1

45’ + 8, 3-1

@ Parc St. Vincent

Rue Stroobants 75

1140 Evere

€7 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

The journey from our overnight stay was less than an hours drive west for this Brussels derby. The driver was doing Bertem Leefdal, also in Brabant Provincial, but having already been there, I chose to be dropped off at another one of the clubs I never visited that were local to me when I lived in Brussels, this being the third nearest at the time.

The match was 6th versus 2nd in the league table, with Everois putting the game out of reach by halftime. Boitsfort missed a penalty early in the second half and never looked likely to get back in the game from that point. The win lifts Everois to third place, with Boitsfort dropping to fourth.

With the game kicking off four minutes late, plus a drinks break in each half, due to the mid 20 degree heat, as well as an injury to a Boitsfort player late in the first half, we had no more than five minutes wait after the game before being picked up. Easy journey back to Calais and on the 19.50 crossing back to Folkestone.

Belgium

Limburg Provincial 1

Saturday 13th October 2018

Kick Off 20.00 Actual 19.58

K.F.C. Alken 0 Zonhoven V.V. 1,  attendance 315

52’ 0-1

@ Langveld

Langveldstraat

3570 Alken

€8 Admission

No Programme.

It was 105 miles south from Lienden, across the border to Alken, which saw us arrive around 40 minutes before kick off.

There had been a number of youth matches going on here beforehand, which meant a very large crowd. Also, it meant there would be hot food available, in the form of a mobile catering wagon, which is a real rarity at a Belgian match.

Alken are newly promoted into Provincial 1 this season, currently sitting in 11th place in the league table. Zonhoven are top and they won this with a close range shot early in the second half to maintain their position.

It has to be said that the floodlights here are absolutely shocking and are nowhere near good enough to be hosting night matches in the top level of the Belgian non league game. They certainly don’t help with taking photos !

Netherlands

Tweede Divisie

Saturday 13th October 2018

Kick Off 15.30. On Time !

F.C. Lienden 3 Rijnsburgse Boys 1,  attendance 700

35’ 1-0

51’ 2-0

69’ 3-0

73’ 3-1

@ Sportpark De Abdijhof

Molenstraat 18

4033 AV

Lienden

€10 Admission

€1 Programme, 8 pages

Team Sheet, free.

Season Magazine, free, 44 pages.

Today, we headed 65 miles south east from Zaandijk to the town of Lienden, where we would take in a match in the third tier of Dutch football. It was 16th (3rd bottom) versus 3rd in the league table, but the performance on the pitch looked more like these two were in opposite positions.

Rijnsburgse Boys had won all their away matches this season, whilst Lienden had only won once in their opening seven matches, so this was a surprise result. In the end Lienden should have won more comfortably, as they also hit the post twice during the first half as well as missing a couple of sitters. Having gone 2-0 up, they then lost the scorer of the goal through injury, which he sustained during the celebrations !

After the match we were heading south into Belgium for our second match of the day.