Witney & District League

Division 2

Saturday 18th September 2021

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 10.59

Cassington Rangers 0 Ducklington 0, attendance 133 (official)

@ Cassington Recreation Ground

Elms Road

Cassington

OX29 4DR

£4 Admission, including programme, whether you wanted it or not.(I never want or will buy a programme at any event organised by Groundhop U.K)

If there was anything good that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the fact that it brought a halt to the organised ground hops, but it was only a matter of time before they returned. I’m old enough to remember when ‘hops were all about the clubs, back in the days when Mike Amos (North East) and Phil Hiscox (South West) ran absolutely superb weekends, the like of which we haven’t seen since. On the plus side, the low level of the leagues that are staging the events these days, means it usually gives me an opportunity to pick up a few new grounds. The standard of football can’t drop much lower than this and it certainly puts things into perspective when you are charged £4 for the privilege, at grounds that would never charge admission for any other game. It’s even more ridiculous when you consider that it is just £10 to watch Premier League Brentford at their new ground, when they host Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night in the League Cup.

It was also rare on an organised event for programmes to run out, but there is always a risk of that happening when people are forced into buying one, whether they want it or not. Mine was deposited in the nearest bin, but I was surprised by the number of people who hadn’t got one. Allegedly, one programme less hopper even paid £5 for a copy! The mind boggles.

Anyway, on to the match. The standard of football was abysmal. Despite the lack of skill, the game produced endless goalmouth chances. Ducklington even hit the post and crossbar, but the breakthrough never came. Quite how it remained goalless is a mystery.