Essex & Suffolk Border League

Premier Division

Tuesday 14th August 2018

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.34

Tiptree Heath 3 Hatfield Peverel 4,  attendance 37

9’ 0-1

11’ 1-1

31’ 1-2

45’ + 3, 1-3

47’ 2-3

73’ 2-4

90’ + 4, 3-4

@ Tolleshunt Knights Village Hall

Top Road

Tolleshunt Knights

CM9 8EU

No Admission or Programme.

Courtesy of big wins on Saturday, this was 2nd versus 1st in the league table, albeit only one match into the season. Tiptree had won Division 2 last season, winning 21 of their 22 matches, but have some how by-passed Division 1 and are straight into the Premier Division. Peverel finished last season in mid table.

Both teams were intent on attacking at every opportunity, so it was no surprise to see seven goals in this. The late goal for Tiptree made it look closer than it actually was and Peverel were deserved winners.

Below photo : Hatfield Peverel go 1-2 up with a goal from a free kick.

Kent County League

Premier Division

Saturday 11th August 2018

Kick Off 14.45 Actual 14.47

Hawkinge Town 2 Tudor Sports 3,  attendance 34

27’ 1-0

38’ 1-1

61’ 1-2

79’ 1-3

81’ 2-3

@ Hawkinge Community Football Sports Trust

Pavilion Road

Hawkinge

CT18 7AW

No Admission or Programme*

I decided to make the trip down the M20 today, to see newly promoted Hawkinge Town entertain Tudor Sports, who finished fifth in the league last season. It was a game of good quality and was very hard fought and perhaps a draw may have been a fair result.

* The club tweeted a photo of the programme for today’s match, but there was no evidence of there being one and there was no attempt to sell any, so I assume it didn’t exist.

Below photo : Hawkinge open the scoring with a free kick curled into the top corner of the net from 20 yards.

Keith Lenton Memorial Cup

Semi Final

Wednesday 8th August 2018

Kick Off 18.45 Actual 18.51

Wimblington 6 Benwick Athletic 1,  attendance 41

2’ 1-0

14’ 2-0

19’ 2-1

42’ 3-1

58’ 4-1

67’ 5-1

89’ 6-1

@ Parkfield Sports Club, Pitch 2

Chapel Road

Wimblington

PE15 0DX

No Admission or Programme.

Both these clubs play in the Cambridgeshire County League, the hosts in Division 2B, with Benwick one level lower, in 3B. Wimblington took an early lead and were on top for large periods of the match, even when they were reduced to ten men when one of their players was ‘sin binned’ for 10 minutes during the first half, this being the first time I have been at a match where the sin bin rule is in operation.

The goal of the night came in the last minute, when a 25 yarder was curled past the visitors ‘keeper with the outside of the boot by home player Dale Richardson. The only disappointment on the night was that the match was played on the second pitch, which is the far side of the cricket square from the clubhouse.

Stratford-upon-Avon Alliance League

Stratford Hospital Cup 1st Round

Tuesday 7th August 2018

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.26

Ilmington United Colts 0 Claverdon 10,  attendance 7

17’ 0-1

31’ 0-2

34’ 0-3

47’ 0-4

48’ 0-5

56’ 0-6

61’ 0-7

68’ 0-8

73’ 0-9

78’ 0-10

@ Ilmington Playing Fields

Mickleton Road

Ilmington

CV36 4JQ

No Admission or Programme.

Well, this was certainly a bit of a waste of an evening, although I suppose at least it was a match that was completed, but from a spectators point of view, it was rubbish.

Ilmington are new into the league this season, but are a total embarrassment. They only had 7 players for the duration and only played the match due to the league telling them they would be fined £75 if they failed to do so. They claimed that the rest of the squad were on holiday, although a check on the F.A. Full Time website shows that they only have 12 players registered anyway. They are certainly a club I will avoid at all costs in the future, although I only watch matches in this league during the first midweek of the season, so it won’t cause much of a problem.

Had we known earlier (it was about 3 minutes before kick off that we found out they were going to play with just 7 players) we could have gone to see South Redditch Athletic versus Inkberrow ‘A’ instead, (the only other ground the three of us in the car hadn’t visited) which was being played at Henley in Arden College, not the normal home club venue. That finished 16-2 !

Belgium

Brabant Provincial Cup

Group A

Sunday 5th August 2018

Kick Off 16.00 Actual 16.01

R. Racing Club Etterbeek 5 Maccabi Brussels 1,  attendance 59

10’ 1-0 (pen)

33’ 2-0

44’ 3-0

46’ 4-0

82’ 5-0

84’ 5-1

@ Stade Guy Thys

Rue Baron Dhanis 6

1040 Etterbeek

No Admission or Programme.

When I lived in Brussels this was my nearest ground, but despite living no more than fifteen minutes walk away, I never got round to seeing a match here. Today was the ideal opportunity to rectify that as the driver was heading for a match at R. Ixelles S.C. which is under ten minutes away by car, so perfect for a drop off.

Etterbeek are newly promoted into Provincial 1, whilst Maccabi are in Provincial 2. This was easily the best match of the weekend, with both sides putting in a real effort for the entire game. Etterbeek were just too strong. Maccabi missed a penalty, but it was already 4-0 by then, so it wouldn’t have made much difference to the final outcome if it had been scored.

Back at The Tunnel they were again failing to run to any sort of timetable. We left on a train at 21.18 that was certainly not on the schedule.

Belgium

Belgian F.A. Cup 2nd Round

Saturday 4th August 2018

Kick Off 20.00 Actual 19.59

K. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen 3 K. Kontich F.C. 0,  attendance 241

16’ 1-0

48’ 2-0

75’ 3-0

@ Sportpark Patro Eisden

Kolenmijn Limburg- Maasland 2

3630 Maasmechelen

No Admission

Team Sheet, free.

There was plenty of time en route from Schoonbeek to check in at our overnight accommodation in Lanaken. I was then being dropped here in Maasmechelen, with the driver heading for a Limburg Provincial Cup match at Park Houthalen, where I had already visited.

Patro are now in Division 2 Amateurs, which is level 4 of the Belgian League, having been relegated from the third level at the end of last season. Kontich are in Antwerp Provincial 1. Despite the two level difference, there wasn’t much to choose between these two, although Patro were more clinical going forward. It may have been a different story if Kontich hadn’t missed a penalty, which was saved, when the score was only 2-0.

Having been dropped at the ground at 18.50 it was odd to find the ticket booths closed, but the gates were open, so it was a free night. According to the notices on the windows, it was normally €13 to get in. The ground has covered seating along both sides, with flat open standing at each end. The seats were absolutely filthy and looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in years, so most of the crowd opted to stand !

Below photo : Patro smash in the second goal, beating the ‘keeper at his near post.

Belgium

Limburg Provincial Cup

Region Zuid Oost

Saturday 4th August 2018

Kick Off 16.00 Actual 15.59

K. Eendracht White Star Schoonbeek-Beverst 2 V. C. Kesselt 5,  attendance 43

26’ 0-1

35’ 0-2

54’ 1-2

56’ 1-3

60’ 1-4

77’ 1-5

78’ 2-5

@ Hereveld, 3G Pitch

Hereveld

Schoonbeek

3740 Bilzen

€5 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

Originally, the plan today was to visit K.F.C. Pulle for their Antwerp Provincial Cup match at 3pm, but with this match being an hour later kicking off and the fact it meant far less driving for our intended evening matches, we switched our attention to this instead.

We had been here previously, where we had seen K. Eendracht F.C. Schoonbeek lose 0-1 to K.S.K. Meeuwen in a Limburg Provincial 1 match back in January 2010. It is a ground I am unlikely to forget, as it was the first time I had seen a match played on a snow covered pitch. It was a good 2” deep, with just the main pitch markings cleared, but everyone just got on with it and there seemed little doubt that the game would go ahead !

The following month, the club merged with White Star Beverst, taking on the current name and playing home games in Schoonbeek. Last season they began playing matches on their newly installed 3G Pitch, which has now become the ‘main’ ground. The new clubhouse/changing room block is now built, but is yet to be fitted out, so the old clubhouse is still in use, as are the old changing rooms.

The weather couldn’t have been more of a contrast from our last visit, as the temperature hit 36 degrees. Despite Kesselt being in Provincial 3, one level below the hosts, this was a comfortable win for them. Schoonbeek fielded a very young side, with Kesselt containing a number of ‘old heads’ and it was very much a case of ‘men against boys’.

Below : photos of the old ground, sadly now nearing its end.

Belgium

Limburg Provincial Cup

Region Noord West

Friday 3rd August 2018

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.33

K. Hechtel F.C. 3 K.V.V. Heusden-Zolder 5,  attendance 46

26’ 1-0

37’ 1-1

45’ + 1, 1-2

47’ 1-3

54’ 2-3

67’ 2-4

76’ 3-4

79’ 3-5

@ Duinenstadion

Hoefstraat

3940 Hechtel

€6 Admission

No Programme.

This was the first match of a long weekend in Belgium. Unbelievably, The Tunnel ran just a couple of minutes late on our outbound journey, so despite very heavy traffic around Antwerp, we were at our overnight accommodation in Peer by late afternoon.

Our match tonight was between two clubs who play in Limburg Provincial 3A. The visitors should have scored at least double the goals they managed, such was their dominance, but some of their finishing was woeful. Both teams tired towards the end as the 32 degree heat took its toll.

Belgium

West Vlaanderen Provincial Cup

Group F

Wednesday 1st August 2018

Kick Off 19.00. On Time !

Sporting Keiem 4 K.S.K. Vlamertinge 5,  attendance 66

8’ 1-0

21’ 2-0

23’ 2-1

25’ 2-2

37’ 2-3

70’ 3-3

79’ 3-4

89’ 4-4

90’ 4-5

@ Tervaete Campus Keiem

Tervaetstraat

8600 Keiem

No Admission

Team Sheet, free.

Last season, these two were playing at a different level than they are this season. Keiem have been promoted from West Vlaanderen Provincial 3B into the second tier, whilst Vlamertinge were in the Belgian League, but now find themselves back in Provincial 1.

Keiem started off well, but seemed to be thrown out of their stride when a water break was taken immediately after they had gone 2-0 up. Within four minutes of the restart it was 2-2, before the visitors went in front before the break. When Keiem levelled it at 4-4 with a minute left they looked like they had grabbed an unlikely looking draw, but Vlamertinge just had enough time to nick the winner.

Once again The Tunnel were unable to run to a timetable, with delays of at least an hour outbound. With Keiem being under an hours drive from Calais, we easily made the 22.20 return, which still managed to leave seven minutes late, even though there were very few vehicles around. We then had to contend with the M20 being closed from Junction 9 to 8, which wasn’t helped with the alternate route on the A20 having two-way traffic lights for more roadworks. How do these people who plan these works manage to keep themselves in employment ?

Pre Season Friendly

Tuesday 31st July 2018

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.47

Potters Bar Town 2 Heybridge Swifts 3,  attendance 26

2’ 0-1

36’ 1-1

43’ 1-2

64’ 2-2

81’ 2-3

@ Middlesex County F.A. Ground, 3G Pitch No. 2

Rectory Park

Ruislip Road

Northolt

UX5 6DE

No Admission or Programme.

Rectory Park is the new headquarters of the Middlesex F.A. It consists of the administrative offices and two 3G pitches. The main pitch has two sections of seating, with the second pitch just railed down the full length of the side backing on to the other pitch.

The main pitch was hosting Egham Town v Harrow Borough, which I had originally intended to watch, but this was too good an opportunity to pick up a game on the second pitch. After all, I’m more likely to return to see a game on the main pitch than I would the other pitch and that is likely to host more games anyway, or so I hope.

Potters Bar are in the Isthmian League Premier Division, whilst Heybridge are one level below in Division 1 North. This was pretty even throughout and could have gone either way. With the M25 closed between Junction 22 and 21, it meant Heybridge struggled to make it, hence the late kick off and apparently a bit of a disruption to their team selection.

When the ground opened a couple of weeks ago, a number of vehicles were broken into in the car park. Thankfully, no such problems tonight, with the area now using cameras and staff to police the area. Hopefully, the local low life will get the message that there are no longer any easy pickings for them here.