F.C. Khalsa G.A.D. 4 Glenfield United 1, attendance 17
37’ 1-0
56’ 2-0 (pen)
69’ 2-1
77’ 3-1
79’ 4-1
@ Judgemeadow Community College
Marydene Drive
Evington
Leicester
LE5 6HP
No Admission or Programme.
This was 11th versus 3rd in the league table and it completed the top division for me. An awful pitch, which was in real need of a cut, didn’t help either team and dragged down the quality of football on offer. Khalsa got the only goal of the first half, finishing left footed after beating a poor attempt at a tackle from a defender. A penalty early in the second half saw them double their lead and despite Glenfield pulling it back to 2-1 with just over twenty minutes left, they never really looked like getting anything from the game. It was 3-1 with thirteen minutes left when a free kick seemed to totally deceive the ‘keeper and the scoring was rounded off two minutes later when Khalsa added a fourth goal, again from a free kick, this time going straight over the ‘keeper into the far corner from the angle of the 18 yard box.
Programme available from original September 10th match date, didn’t bother buying.
This game had twice been postponed when scheduled to take place as part of the Yeovil League ‘Hop, the first time due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, back in September, then the more recent game a few weeks back that was off due to a waterlogged pitch. There seemed to be some confusion as to whether tonight’s game was played on the ‘normal’ pitch or not. It took place on the pitch in the far right corner if looking from the clubhouse. It was very narrow and could certainly do with being cut. The other pitch in question is away to the left, but there were two groups of youth players training on that one, so not really sure which pitch is correct one.
Anyway, it didn’t really matter, as I hadn’t seen a game on either of them. The match was 5th versus 3rd in the league table and was a decent contest throughout, although it has to be said, neither side’s ’keeper gave any impression of being very good. Ilchester opened the scoring with a free kick into the bottom corner, from just outside the angle of the 18 yard box, which the ‘keeper didn’t even make an attempt to save. The second goal came midway through the half, when a long range effort went in. Again the ‘keeper should have done better. Manor pulled one back before halftime, when an angled shot went straight through the ‘keeper’s hands. Both sides had chances, but Ilchester made the game safe with sixteen minutes left, when a ball in from the left was headed in unmarked from 6 yards.
Above : The Manor ‘keeper watches helplessly as the opening goal free kick finds the bottom corner.
The 33 mile drive from Dulwich to Chatham took 1 hour 4 minutes, not helped by roadworks on the A205 South Circular. Once on the A2 and M2 it was plain sailing. I hadn’t got much choice for an afternoon game, especially at higher levels and wasn’t exactly enthused by two visits to synthetic pitches (this was the standard three quarters of one side spectator viewing area and the annoying overhead pitch dividing wire that was hit endless times during the match) but I really fancied this game, as it had a lot riding on it. If Rochester lost, then they were relegated (a draw or win could see them stay up, depending on what Guru Nanak and K. Sports Reserves did in their last games) whereas Cuxton were third in the table, twelve points behind leaders Ashford, but with four games in hand and four points behind second placed Snodland Town Reserves, who they have three games in hand on. Only the top two are promoted.
Rochester went ahead, scoring from a rebound after a penalty was saved, but Cuxton soon levelled. Rochester edged back in front, scoring at the second attempt after a cross from the right. It was soon 2-2 as Cuxton volleyed in from close range. The second half saw Cuxton have a man sin binned, during which time they scrambled one in, after a shot had rebounded off the post, to make it 2-3. Rochester levelled it up at 3-3 seven minutes later, when the ‘keeper punched the ball into his own net when trying to defend a near post corner. Within five minutes Cuxton headed in from a corner to lead 3-4 and this seemed to finally break the resistance of the hosts. The final two goals came on the last eight minutes and Cuxton also headed an easy chance against the crossbar in stoppage time.
So, the defeat sees Rochester relegated. Cuxton remain very much in the promotion race and are still in the running for the title.
Midway through the second half there was an unusual occurrence, when the Referee told the home club linesman to put the flag down and that he would continue without him, following yet another ridiculous attempt to flag for an ‘offside’ that was nothing of the sort!
A look back at my records shows that I have seen a 3-6 score line eleven times before today, but certainly never in back to back games.
King’s College School Old Boys 3 Old Alleynians 6, attendance 13
7’ 0-1
13’ 0-2
15’ 1-2 (pen)
30’ 1-3
49’ 1-4
62’ 1-5
65’ 2-5
66’ 2-6
76’ 3-6
@ Dulwich College, 3G Pitch
Dulwich Common
London
SE21 7LD
No Admission or Programme.
This game was played on the recently installed 3G pitch at Dulwich College. The area wasn’t even under construction when I came here for an Independent Schools F.A. Cup match in October 2018, which was played on a grass pitch in front of the changing room building. The new pitch is at the southernmost tip of the college grounds, running parallel to the railway line and backing on to Hunts Slip Road. Unlike most synthetic pitches, there are no floodlights, or the awful high green mesh fences that surround the all too familiar cage set ups. There is actually hard standing as well, not to mention dugouts. It felt so much better than being caged in and the match experience was all the better for it.
The match itself was 3rd versus 5th in the league table and was great to watch as a neutral. Every attack looked like it would produce a goal. Alleynians led 0-2 early on, before a penalty for K.C.S. made it 1-2 after just fifteen minutes and by halftime it was 1-3. By midway through the second half it was 1-6, but an instant reply saw K.C.S. pull one back and ten minutes later they got it back to 3-6, but the damage had already been done.
No parking restrictions on a Saturday in the surrounding roads, although it was possible to park inside the college itself.
Above : KCS pull it back to 1-2 from the penalty spot.
Neither club bothered to reply on Twitter to confirm where the game was being played, or whether it was actually still on, so I took a chance that the information on the F.A. Full-Time website was correct. The journey east along the M25 was eventful to say the least, going through a massive hailstorm near Clacket Lane Services, where the temperature dropped 8.5 degrees and visibility was very poor, even at 30 m.p.h. with the hail filling in the tracks of the vehicles in front within seconds and I doubted there was any hope of the game going ahead. Thankfully, a few miles on, the skies were blue and the roads were dry.
On arriving at the ground it was good to see players arriving. It wasn’t so good to see no goal posts set up on the railed pitch that runs widthways about 50 yards in front of the clubhouse. Instead, the game was played on a pitch away to the left, parallel to a rugby pitch. It looks at one time if this area may have been separated from the rest of the ground by a hedge, which has since been removed. Not sure if they ever use the railed pitch, or not, but at least the game was on.
It was a vital game for both clubs, as 3rd hosted 4th in the league table, with only the top two getting promoted. Fleetdown United Reserves started the day in second place on 31 points, but have completed their fixtures, whilst the unbeaten leaders Falconwood are a further three points clear at the top and still have four games left. Parkwood Rangers were on 30 points ( 4 games left) with Orpington on 25 points (5 games left), so still all to play for.
It was hardly a surprise that it was still goalless at halftime. There hadn’t really been much of note happening at either end. Within a minute of the restart though, the visitors went in front, beating the goalkeeper at his near post with a shot from the edge of the box. It looked like it would be enough to take the three points, but a minute into stoppage time Parkwood equalised, scoring from close range after the ‘keeper fumbled a ball in from the left. Seconds later the Orpington ‘keeper made up for his mistake, making a great save from a one on one chance, but five minutes into stoppage time the hosts did grab a winner, when a free kick was cleared, but the taker controlled the clearance before cutting inside to drill an unstoppable shot in at the near post.
Once again the weather forecast was absolutely dreadful, but with three potential games within relatively easy reach of each other, this area looked worth taking a chance on. It was certainly worth it for the game, as 2nd hosted 1st in the league table, with Harlington starting the night six points behind, but with three games in hand. Bedford S.A. are also very much in the running for the title too, being a further three points back, but also having three games in hand on Westoning.
The match itself was really good and was played in front of a decent crowd for this level, helped by the fact that the clubs are only five miles apart. A wayward back pass was intercepted and finished into the bottom corner to give Harlington the lead just five minutes in. Westoning levelled fifteen minutes later with a long range effort that the ‘keeper should really have kept out. Westoning looked the more likely to win it, but the nearest they came to adding a second goal was when they hit the crossbar early in the second half. Harlington grabbed the winner with twenty minutes left, scoring from close range when a corner from the left was only half cleared.
The weather didn’t turn out too badly in the end and was only light drizzle when it finally arrived. It was really cold though. The club play behind the village hall. The pitch has a fair side to side slope and is situated beyond the cricket square, in the far right corner from the changing rooms. It looked like it had been cut recently and freshly marked and was in good condition considering the amount of rain recently.
Wilbrahams United 1 Ashdon United 1, attendance 31
25’ 0-1
77’ 1-1 (pen)
@ Great Wilbraham Recreation Ground
Angle End
Great Wilbraham
CB21 5JG
No Admission or Programme.
After the mess up yesterday, at Imperial in the Somerset County League, where the game was called off due to a waterlogged pitch (it wasn’t, but the home club probably didn’t fancy playing the unbeaten league leaders), I chose to head to an area where I had a few choices that were relatively close to each other. I chose this game as it was 4th versus 1st, with Wilbrahams trailing Ashdon by five points, having played a game more, but they are only four points behind the teams in second and third place and have games in hand on both, so are well in the hunt for the promotion places.
Ashdon were far superior throughout and will kick themselves for not taking all three points here. They led from midway through the first half, finishing left footed into the bottom corner, but just couldn’t get a second goal. They were made to pay when Wilbrahams levelled with a penalty thirteen minutes from the end.
Thankfully, the heavy rain that had been forecast from around 7 o’clock never materialised, although it did drizzle for most of the game. The drive home was pretty unpleasant though, especially on the M11 and the M25 around to the Dartford Crossing, where it absolutely hammered it down.
St. Breward 1 Bude Town Reserves 1 (4-2 pens), attendance 46
37’ 1-0
52’ 1-1
@ Brake Parc
Penvorder Lane
St. Breward
PL30 4NY
No Admission or Programme.
So, for the second successive day, I visited a ground in a league I’d not seen a match in before. The Launceston Knock Out Cup is entered by way of invitation and is contested by clubs within a 25 mile radius of the town. Today’s match was between two clubs who play in the Duchy League as 4th in the Premier Division hosted 3rd in Division 2.
Despite Bude being two divisions lower, this was a keenly contested game, where there was little between the two sides and was a really good game to watch from a neutral point of view. Bude started brightly and looked the better side early on, but it was St. Breward who created the better chances. They hit the post with a 20 yarder midway through the first half, before breaking the deadlock eight minutes before the break, when a 35-40 yard punt into the box was fumbled by the ‘keeper and squirmed in at the near post. Things got worse for the visitors when they had a man sin binned shortly afterwards, but they managed to keep the score down to the one goal deficit during this time.
The second half started with a flurry of chances, as first St. Breward missed a one on one chance, before Bude saw an effort well saved by the ‘keeper, Seven minutes in, Bude got the equaliser, when a ball in from the left was controlled and finished first time into the bottom corner. Both sides pushed for a winner, but the nearest we came to getting it was a shot that hit the post for the visitors.
There were no further goals, so it was straight to penalties at the end of ninety minutes. Bude went first and saw their first kick saved, whilst St. Breward scored their first three. Bude did score their next two kicks, but when their fourth one was once again saved, it was left to the hosts to maintain their 100 % tally to take the shootout 4-2.
When I decided on this game at the start of the week, which would be my debut in the Trelawny League, there were still three teams in with a shout of the title and this was 1st versus 3rd. Unfortunately, West Cornwall lost away to Illogan RBL Reserves on Wednesday night, which meant they could only now finish second, but a Troon win would see them finish the season on 42 points, which would be five points clear of second placed Ludgvan, who had two away games to play, both of which looked winnable. However, at some stage between Friday evening and kick off, Troon had been awarded three points from a game they had lost 1-5 at home to Camborne School of Mines (4th in table) on March 4th, due to an ineligible player being used, so Troon had already been crowned champions.
It was disappointing, but I only became aware of the situation a couple of minutes before kick off, so it was too late to go elsewhere. The game was really poor. With neither team having anything left to play for it was pretty turgid stuff. Troon certainly didn’t look like a team that had won the league and it was an easy win for West Cornwall. Hard to judge whether this is a decent league or not on this showing. It was certainly not something I would bother with again if I had an alternative option.
West Cornwall opened the scoring midway through the first half, hooking in from 6 yards after a corner wasn’t cleared and they doubled their lead ten minutes before halftime, when a long ball was fumbled by the home ‘keeper, leaving an easy tap in for the striker. The ‘keeper was lucky to still be on the pitch at this stage, as he only got booked for a handball outside his box, when he stopped a West Cornwall player from making a pass across the box for a tap in and then chased the goal scorer of the second goal back to the centre circle, before shoving him in the back, right in front of the Referee.
The second half deteriorated badly. The only thing of note was when West Cornwall saw a header towards the top corner brilliantly tipped over. The match was very disappointing, but the ground more than made up for it. It is probably one of the better grounds in this league, perhaps testament to the days Troon spent playing in the Cornwall Combination League, a level that they haven’t been at since 2015.
With no games at grounds I hadn’t previously visited scheduled for this afternoon, I decided on a re-visit to Falmouth Town. As we were based in Falmouth, I had to drive back there anyway and I last came to a game here back in August 1998, so didn’t really appreciate just how good a ground Bickland Park was, or still is, for that matter.
Today’s match was 8th versus 18th (out of 19) and a bit of an odd one for a Bank Holiday as Cadbury Heath to Falmouth is just over 190 miles and not a journey you’d relish down the M5 and A30 on one of the busiest days of the year as far as traffic congestion goes. Not surprisingly, there were only a handful of away supporters and considering Falmouth are not really challenging at the top of the table, it was pretty impressive to pull in a crowd just shy of 500.
Falmouth dominated the early exchanges, opening the scoring after twenty six minutes, heading down and in off the far post following a cross from the left. Cadbury Heath made a real game of it and deservedly levelled in the final minute of the first half, with a cross/shot from a tight angle that struck the far post on its way in. Two minutes into stoppage time Falmouth went back in front, when a miss hit back pass was intercepted and finished in to the bottom corner. Falmouth made it 3-1 just after the hour mark and in between a lovely chipped finish, which made it 4-1 with ten minutes left, the visitors had hit the crossbar and seen their ‘keeper save a Falmouth penalty. Cadbury Heath had a goal disallowed for offside, before a through ball was slotted home into the bottom corner to make it 5-1 as we entered the last five minutes.
