Essex & Suffolk Border League

Premier Division

Monday 26th August 2024

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

East Thurrock Community 2 Sudbury Sports 5, attendance 190

7’ 0-1

18’ 0-2

30’ 0-3

33’ 1-3

59’ 1-4

83’ 2-4

90’ + 4, 2-5

@ Wyldecrest Clubs Sports Country Club

Herd Lane

Corringham

SS17 9BJ

No Admission or Programme.

With Bank Holiday’s providing fewer and fewer options to get in a visit to a previously unvisited ground, becoming harder by the year, I was pleased to find a game just 45 miles from home, where league newcomers East Thurrock Community were hosting a team who’d finished third bottom in the Premier Division last season, narrowly avoiding relegation. They’ve had contrasting starts this time round. ETC were sitting third bottom, having lost their three opening games, whilst Sudbury Sports were three places higher, having picked up four points from four games.

ETC never looked like taking any points from this and were really given a footballing lesson by a very young visiting side. It was 0-3 after half an hour and pretty much game over. The hosts did pull it back to 1-3 before halftime, but Sudbury restored their three goal lead just before the hour mark, rounding the ‘keeper before finishing from a tight angle. With seven minutes left ETC scored a second goal, when a shot off the post was put in on the rebound, but deep in stoppage time Sudbury added a fifth, when a flick on saw the striker race clear to finish one on one with the ‘keeper.

ETC play at Wyldecrest Clubs Sports Country Club, in Corringham. There is plenty of parking and the pitch runs lengthways away from the clubhouse/changing rooms. Grass banking runs behind the near goal end and along the left hand side, where there’s a pair of dugouts, whilst the pitch is fully enclosed with multiple metal barriers. There are a number of other pitches here, all beyond the main one and I may require another visit, as it is also home to Essex Olympian League Division 2 side Pitsea Athletic, but only if they play on one of the outer pitches.

Wiltshire Senior League

Division 1

Saturday 24th August 2024

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.04

Stratton Juniors 1 Bratton 3, attendance 31

14’ 1-0

25’ 1-1

71’ 1-2

90’ + 2, 1-3

@ St. Luke’s Academy

Cricklade Road (A4311)

Penhill

Swindon

SN2 7AS

No Admission or Programme.

With the rain forecast to be heading eastwards, I went west, with the two clubs I hadn’t visited in the Wiltshire Senior League both being at home. I opted for Stratton Juniors (the other being Redhouse), who had finished bottom of the league last season, but avoided relegation. They haven’t started this season much better either, sitting 13th (out of 15) in the league table, having won one and lost four of their games so far and this was already their fifth home league game of the season! Bratton were 7th, looking to improve on last season, when they finished one place outside the promotion places, but came into this having picked up just seven points from their opening five games.

Stratton started the better of the two, going ahead after fourteen minutes. Having been awarded a penalty, the kick was saved, as was the initial follow up, before it was poked in at the third attempt. Bratton levelled midway through the half, when a defender was dispossessed on the edge of the D, resulting in a cool finish into the bottom corner. The visitors were far better second half and it was no surprise to see them go in front with nineteen minutes left, when a ball pulled back across the six yard box was slid in at the far post and they rounded off the scoring in stoppage time, finishing one on one with the ‘keeper, having been played through on goal.

I’d seen Stratton Juniors play at home previously, back in January 2020, when they were based at Meadowcroft Recreation Ground, but they now play at St. Luke’s Academy, on the right hand side of Cricklade Road when heading north out of the town. There is a decent sized car park and a changing room building/tea bar, whilst you go through a metal fence to an adjoining field to find the pitch, which is fully roped. There was one very heavy shower towards the end of the first half, which soon scattered the crowd, but certainly won’t have done the pitch any harm as it looked like it could do with a good watering.

Kent County League

Division 1 West

Wednesday 21st August 2024

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.37

South East Athletic 1 Long Lane 2, attendance 46

16’ 0-1

41’ 1-1

72’ 1-2

@ Kidbrooke Playing Fields, Pitch 3

Dursley Road

Kidbrooke

London

SE3 8PB

No Admission or Programme.

Tonight was an opportunity to see two ground sharers play each other. Unfortunately, due to re-seeding on the main pitch, this was played on Pitch 3. It is the furthest one from the changing rooms, beyond the 3G cage (visited in January 2022) running parallel with Pitch 1, but separated by a small sized pitch. Grass banking runs behind one end and continues along the far touchline. It’s just an open pitch and Long Lane brought their own chairs along to use as their bench!

South East Athletic had kicked off their season with a 2-4 defeat to Danson Sports , whilst Long Lane had opened up with a 7-1 win against Crayford Arrows. It was the visitors who took an early lead tonight, through a free kick over the wall and they almost doubled their lead ten minutes later, when a 20 yarder came back off the crossbar. South East Athletic equalised four minutes before halftime, when a diagonal free kick saw a defender slice the ball into his own net as he attempted to clear it from the six yard box. Long Lane got the winner with eighteen minutes left, when a ball pulled back from the left was put in from close range after the initial shot was blocked.

It was a windy and cool night and certainly felt like Summer was coming to an end. At least it remained dry and despite the game kicking off late, the light held out well and we were done and dusted by 20.17.

Wiltshire Senior League

Division 1

Tuesday 20th August 2024

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.29

Down Ampney 20 (Twenty) Purton 0, attendance 32

@ Broadleaze

The Butts

Down Ampney

GL7 5QX

No Admission or Programme.

Well, what can you say about this…before we’d even played half an hour it was already 7-0, which was too much for the Purton ‘keeper, who walked off the pitch, not to return. They’d already made two substitutions by then and continued playing with a man short, with their third substitute, another outfield player, taking over in goal. By halftime the dozen had been notched up and the half finished with a few questionable challenges and I feared the game may have been called to a halt. To their credit (sic) Purton came out for the second half and managed to complete the first six minutes without conceding, by which time a late arriving player then saw them back to the full compliment of eleven, but unfortunately goal number thirteen arrived within seconds of him joining the action. There was a brief respite, where they only conceded twice in the next fourteen minutes, but Down Ampney just never eased off. At 16-0 the hosts were awarded a penalty, but it was well saved by the stand-in ‘keeper, although a couple of minutes later it was indeed 17-0. Three goals in the last four minutes finally brought up the twenty….my record score, but sadly, a game that will only remain in the memory because of how farcical it all was, rather than a game of note to grace the occasion. Not sure if Purton will recover from this, after having lost their opening game 1-5….we will see.

Down Ampney are new in the Wiltshire Senior League this season, having finished mid table in the Swindon & District League Premier Division and had come into tonight’s game having won two of their first three games at the higher level. They play at ‘Broadleaze’, on the left hand side of the road heading north out of the village towards Poulton. There is a small car park and changing room building, whilst the pitch is through the hedge, (more parking around the perimeter) railed on three sides and backing onto open farmland behind the far goal end. There are a pair of dugouts with a very small section of cover adjacent (see below…can’t be many smaller than this?)

Hampshire Premier League

Division 1

Saturday 17th August 2024

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.01

Crofton Saints 5 Silchester Village 0, attendance 22

55’ 1-0

59’ 2-0

62’ 3-0

70’ 4-0

87’ 5-0

@ Seafield Park

Illustrious Road

Hill Head

PO14 2BN

No Admission or Programme.

Today’s game was between two of the newly promoted sides to this league. Crofton Saints had won the Southampton League Premier Division, losing just once all season, whilst Silchester Village had finished second in the Basingstoke & District League and were making a return to the higher level, a couple of years after being relegated and I’d visited them in 2020, before they added Village to their name. Crofton had started this season with two wins and a draw, whilst Silchester had lost the only game they’ve played so far.

It was not a great first half, with very little in the way of goal attempts, bar a Silchester header that was well saved. It certainly changed once Crofton broke the deadlock ten minutes into the second half. Two more in the next seven minutes made the game safe. Goal number four, a tap in after a cross wasn’t cleared came with twenty minutes left. Late on they saw a lobbed effort come back off the crossbar, followed by another shot that hit the crossbar following a corner, before finally making it 5-0 with three minutes left, finishing with a shot on the turn from the edge of the box.

Crofton play at Seafield Park in Hill Head, to the south west of Fareham and only a couple of hundred yards from the beach. Entering the ground off Illustrious Road, there is a car park and changing room building, with the main pitch at the far end, running widthways and roped on three sides.

Peterborough & District League

Premier Division

Wednesday 14th August 2024

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.36

Deeping United 0 Wittering Premiair 3, attendance 37

57’ 0-1

65’ 0-2

76’ 0-3

@ Werrington Leisure Centre (Extension)

Staniland Way

Werrington

PE4 6NA

No Admission or Programme.

I’ve always looked upon this league as one of the worst Step 7 leagues in the country and on the evidence of tonight, that opinion looks justified. I certainly can’t recall such a poor venue for this level and it is nowhere near meeting the minimal requirements. It is just a pitch in a large field. It’s not even roped off and even worse, there were no changing rooms! The players just got changed at the side of the pitch and left their bags in a heap next to where they set up their ‘benches’…not that there actually were any! To cap things off…both teams had near identical shirts. Luckily, the Referee was sensible and wanted to get the game played and the visitors wore orange bibs (at least two different shades) over their shirts, which, although not ideal, meant at least we had a game.

It was a match that looked destined to finish goalless, with Wittering having a penalty saved seven minutes before halftime and Deeping hitting the crossbar in stoppage time, followed by Wittering then hitting the post with the last kick of the half. The second half started in the same vein as the first, with Deeping sending a penalty high and wide only five minutes after the interval. Just before the hour mark Wittering broke the deadlock, when a ball pulled back from the left was finished with a downward header at the far post. Seven minutes later the same player scored his second, cutting in from the right before shooting left footed into the far corner and fourteen minutes from the end they made it 0-3, cutting inside to beat the ‘keeper low inside the near post. They almost added a fourth, when a speculative 25 yarder looped over the ‘keeper, but came back out off the post.

Peterborough & District League

Premier Division

Tuesday 13th August 2024

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.31

Sawtry 5 Chatteris Town 1, attendance 75

10’ 1-0

22’ 2-0

37’ 3-0

72’ 4-0

76’ 5-0

82’ 5-1

@ Greenfield Sports Pavilion

Straight Drove

off Old North Road (B1043)

Sawtry

PE28 5XN

No Admission or Programme.

I’d attempted to see a match here back in 2017 (7 years and 2 days ago to be precise), but despite both teams being there, the building was locked, there were no goal nets and the main pitch wasn’t even marked out (it got played on Pitch 2 in the end, apparently), so I bailed out and headed for Hedinghams United in the Cambridgeshire County League instead. No such problems tonight though. I arrived about an hour and a quarter before kick off, just in case I needed to divert elsewhere, but was pleased to see the nets up and corner flags out, as well as players starting to arrive.

The ground is to the east of the village, on the other side of the A1(M). The pitch, which is railed along one side and about 10 yards from the corners towards the goals, runs widthways in front of the changing room building, with a pair of dugouts on the halfway line at the same side. A tea bar was in operation throughout, selling hot and cold drinks and sweets and crisps.

Sawtry had lost their opening game 4-3 away at Stanground Cardea Sports on Saturday, whilst this was the first game of the season for Chatteris. It only took Sawtry ten minutes to break the deadlock, with a 20 yarder curled in off the far post and they added two more before halftime, both coming after beating an offside trap that the visitors still need to work on. In the last twenty minutes Sawtry added goals number four and five, heading in at the far post, before a one-two on the edge of the box was finished by rounding the ‘keeper and scoring from a tight angle. At least Chatteris rounded off the scoring for the night, when a ball in from the right was side footed in from close range.

It was a sweltering 28 degrees when I arrived at the ground, which meant a drinks break for the players in each half and it was still 21 degrees at the final whistle. At least the rain that was forecast to be heading east across the country never arrived.

West of Scotland League

Premier Division

Saturday 10th August 2024

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.01

Johnstone Burgh 3 Troon 0, attendance 350

52’ 1-0

77’ 2-0

85’ 3-0

@ Keanie Park

56 Auchenlodment Road

Johnstone

PA5 9PE

£9 Admission

No Programme.

I rounded off the two week trip north, by visiting the last of the traditional big old skool grounds of the Scottish Juniors I’d never seen a game at, Keanie Park, home of Johnstone Burgh, twice winners of the Scottish F.A. Junior Cup back in the 1960’s, during which a record attendance at the ground saw a reported 13,000 for a game versus Greenock. The ground is still impressive today. It is set in a bowl, with grass banking around the sides. There is an old covered stand on the far side, oddly offset from centre, whilst a small ‘homemade’ cover is on the changing room side, where there is also a small section of concrete terrace on the corner nearest the entrance. As with most grounds at this level, a tea bar selling hot pies and drinks doing a brisk trade. Even the old ‘gents’ is still in use….a wall that you go behind to do your business! The warm weather will have helped with a good sized crowd, including a small group of Burgh ultras, complete with flags and drum and the occasional chanting. No doubt pleased to meet up with their mates during the school holidays.

The game was 7th versus 4th in the league table, both teams having played three games so far, Burgh with a win and two draws and Troon two wins and one loss. A very disappointing first half, with little of note at either end, not surprisingly finished goalless. Burgh broke the deadlock seven minutes into the second half, when a cross in from the left was met with a stooping header that found the bottom corner from eight yards. They had a first time shot come back off the crossbar, before finally getting their second goal with thirteen minutes left, when a cut back from the right was controlled and finished into the bottom corner and they rounded off the scoring when they curled one in off the far post with five minutes left.

So, another successful trip north was complete. As well as the two English grounds visited during the first couple of days, another dozen were managed in Scotland. The new season is well and truly under way……As you can tell by the number of photos taken, I liked this ground! Even better, the 438 mile drive back from Renfrewshire was trouble free (apart from a diversion off the M25 between J11 and J10) arriving home just before 11pm.

Club Academy Scotland

U18 Elite League

Friday 9th August 2024

Kick Off 15.00 On Time!

Queen’s Park U18 3 Motherwell U18 1, attendance 68

26’ 1-0 (pen)

49’ 1-1

75’ 2-1

89’ 3-1

@ Lochinch Sports Pavilion, 3G Pitch

Pollok Country Park

Dumbreck Road

Bellahouston

Glasgow

G41 4SN

No Admission or Programme.

The Lochinch Sports Pavilion, a former police sports ground, is a new training base for Queen’s Park, located within Pollok Country Park. Today’s game was played on the 3G pitch immediately in front of the clubhouse/changing room building (there are also grass pitches here). It is fully railed off and unusually, has three dugouts (24 seats ) situated either side of the halfway line. In front of the clubhouse are some raised steps, but the view is slightly obscured from here. Although there is access around the full pitch, all spectators remained on the clubhouse side. A phone call to the home club this morning confirmed venue and kick off time and no problem gaining access to watch.

It was very windy, which didn’t help the game as a spectacle, as the pitch is very exposed to the elements and having started off in under blue skies, the rain finally arrived with about five minutes left. The only goal of the first half was a penalty for the hosts. Motherwell levelled four minutes into the second half, riding two tackles before beating the ‘keeper with a shot into the far corner. Queen’s Park went back in front with fifteen minutes left, when a ball pulled back across the box was finished into the roof of the net from six yards and they made the game safe in the dying minutes, finishing with a first time shot into the bottom corner after a misplaced back pass was intercepted on the edge of the D.

Friendly

Thursday 8th August 2024

Kick Off 18.45 Actual 18.51

Bridge of Earn A.F.C. 3 Luncarty A.F.C. 2, attendance 45

18’ 1-0

31’ 1-1

67’ 2-1

81’ 2-2

86’ 3-2

@ Victory Park

Main Street (A912)

Bridge of Earn

PH2 9PL

No Admission or Programme.

Tonight’s friendly was Kingdom of Fife F.A. League versus Perthshire Amateur F.A. League. It had rained quite hard in the hour up to kick off and there was light drizzle for the majority of the match, but the pitch here at Victory Park was in superb condition. It is located on the left hand side of Main Street, as you enter the village on the A912, when coming off Junction 9 of the M90. It is just an open pitch, but enclosed on all four sides and there’s a brick changing room building on the Main Street side of the ground.

Bridge of Earn opened the scoring courtesy of an own goal, but Luncarty levelled it at 1-1 scoring at the second attempt after a corner wasn’t cleared. Midway through the second half Bridge of Earn went back in front, when a free kick to the far side of the box was controlled and finished with a shot that took a slight deflection. Luncarty made it 2-2 with nine minutes left, finishing from just inside the box, but there was still time for Bridge of Earn to grab a late winner, when a free kick on the angle of the 18 yard box sailed over the ‘keeper and found it’s way in off the far post.