North Bucks & District League

Division 1

Monday 30th April 2018

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.40

Steeple Claydon 1 M.K. Wanderers 2,  attendance 13

34’ 0-1

36’ 1-1

87’ 1-2

@ Steeple Claydon Recreation Ground

North End Road

Steeple Claydon

MK18 2PG

No Admission or Programme.

This was 6th versus 5th in the league table, the visitors having played at a higher level in the past, having been in the Spartan South Midlands League when I visited their ground back on 3rd May 2010.

Both teams were warming up at 18.10, so I don’t know why we got started ten minutes late. There was certainly nothing end of season about this match, which was pretty even throughout. MK took the lead with a 25 yard free kick, which seemed to deceive the ‘keeper, who was not helped by looking into the sun, before Claydon scrambled an equaliser within a couple of minutes. MK looked the most likely to win it, which they did, when a ball was cut back for a low shot past the ‘keeper from 12 yards, three minutes from the end.

Welsh Alliance League

Division 2

Saturday 28th April 2018

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.32

Prestatyn Sports 3 Y Felinheli 1,  attendance 32

28’ 1-0

45’ 2-0

53’ 2-1

76’ 3-1

@ The Recreation Ground

Nant-y-Gro

Gronant

LL19 9YP

No Admission

£1 Programme, 16 pages.

This was 2nd versus 5th in the league table. Glan Conwy were top on 59 points from 27 games (out of 28), with Prestatyn Sports on 57 points (22 /28) in second place and the only other title contender being third placed Bodedern Athletic on 55 points (22/28)

If you like watching your football where one team continually moan at every decision and constantly berate the officials with the worst foul and abusive language imaginable, then Prestatyn Sports fit the bill perfectly. It is a shame, because they actually play some very good football and it is easy to see how they are challenging for the league title.

With the match still scoreless, Felinheli were awarded a penalty. This sparked a torrent of abuse from the Prestatyn Manager, which saw him red carded and he continued to shout obscenities at the top of his voice as he walked behind the goal on his way to the changing rooms. The ‘keeper and one of the centre backs should really have joined him, but the Referee seemed to ignore the abuse he received from the pair of them a matter of inches from his face. All totally unnecessary, and, as is so often the case, the penalty was missed, the ‘keeper pushing the ball against the post, before it was scrambled clear.

Seven minutes later Prestatyn headed in the opener, then as halftime approached Felinheli had a man sent off for a second yellow card offence, (the Referee couldn’t find his red card, so had to borrow one from his Assistant, to show to the recipient) before the second goal of the match for the hosts put them 2-0 up in the dying seconds of the half. Felinheli pulled one back early in the second half, but with ten men, were unable to add to it. Prestatyn inevitability added their third goal to make it safe.

In readiness for their expected promotion, the pitch has been railed off and new dugouts have been built, in order to meet the criteria for Division 1. There was more good news for them in the title race, as Bodedern Athletic were beaten 4-3 at Blaenau Ffestiniog, meaning they now trail Prestatyn by 5 points, both clubs having 5 matches to play.

Below photo : Y Felinheli see their penalty saved by the Prestatyn ‘keeper.

Surrey County Intermediate League (Western)

Premier Division

Thursday 26th April 2018

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.29

Worplesdon Phoenix 1 University of Surrey 2,  attendance 11

6’ 0-1

14’ 1-1 (pen)

18’ 1-2

@ Worplesdon Memorial Ground

Perry Hill

Worplesdon

GU3 3RF

No Admission or Programme.

This was 9th versus 6th in the league table, although University would have been in fourth place if it wasn’t for a 3 point deduction. The match started at a whirlwind pace, but settled down into a really even contest. Worplesdon had their ‘keeper sent off after 57 minutes, when he ran from his goal and got involved in a bit of pushing inside the centre circle. Despite being a man light, it was Phoenix who looked more likely to get the next goal, but it never came. University never even forced the stand in ‘keeper into making a single save in his 33 minutes between the posts.

This now completes visits to all the grounds in this division.

Below photo : Worplesdon ‘keeper beaten at his near post for the opening goal of the match.

Below photo : Worplesdon score from the penalty spot.

Midland League

Division 3

Wednesday 25th April 2018

Kick Off 18.45 Actual 18.50

Leamington Hibernian 0 C.T. Shush 4,  attendance 24

37’ 0-1

45’ 0-2

55’ 0-3

83’ 0-4

@ Cubbington Playing Fields

Stonehouse Close

Cubbington

CV32 7LR

No Admission or Programme.

This was the third ground I have now seen Leamington Hibernian play home matches at, following Campion School & Community College (2-2 v Tipton Town Reserves, Midland Combination Division 3, 3rd May 1999) and Bishops Tatchbrook Sports & Social Club (1-2 v Austrey Rangers, Midland League Division  3, 20th December 2014).

We arrived at the ground at around 17.15 to see the pitch set up ready for play and confirmed the match was all set to go ahead. However, as we headed into the village to get food,it started to rain, but instead of a brief shower, which is what we had endured for most of the day, this was a heavier downpour which lasted a good 15 minutes. On returning to the ground, we were told that the Referee was not happy with one area of the pitch, but a decision would be made in around 15 minutes time as to whether the game would be able to go ahead. Thankfully, with the Groundsman managing to fork away a couple of small puddles, with the rest of the pitch being pretty firm under foot, the pitch was given the go ahead. By this time it was only 35 minutes until kick off, so there would have been no chance of reaching any alternative match at a ground the three of us hadn’t already visited, so we had a lucky escape.

The visitors, formed in 2014, have a bit of an unusual name. The ‘C.T.’ stands for Chelmsley Town, which is where they are from (although they also use the old Chelmsley Town F.C. ground, they are not connected to them), whilst the ‘Shush’ comes from Shush UK Ltd.

Hibs have struggled badly this season, only managing to win one of their 26 league matches so far this season, with just three draws on top of that, so it is no great surprise that they are bottom of the table. With the visitors only being fifth from bottom themselves, this was a rare match where the hosts had a realistic chance of getting some more points. There was little between the two sides, but Shush opened the scoring with a 30 yard shot that went in off the post, before adding the second in the dying seconds of the first half. When the third goal went in early in the second half there was no way back for Hibs.

One thing that is certainly worth a mention here, is the hard work put in by husband and wife duo Jim and Joy Barry, who have run the club for the last 44 years !

Midland League

Division 3

Tuesday 24th April 2018

Kick Off 18.45 Actual 18.50

Coventrians 6 Central Ajax 2,  attendance 10

8’ 1-0

12’ 1-1

18’ 2-1

22’ 3-1

25’ 4-1

45’ + 2, 5-1

65’ 5-2

89’ 6-2

@ Holbrooks Park

Holbrook Lane

Coventry

CV6 4BY

No Admission or Programme.

This was another ground on the ‘to do’ list, as Coventrians will be playing elsewhere next season. I arrived at 17.30 to see a couple of sets of goalposts being put up, then in the next twenty minutes or so we had corner flags, dugouts and a rope along one side of the pitch appear, making it feel a little bit better than ‘just a pitch in a large field’, although it wasn’t helped by being a couple of hundred yards from the changing room building. The only thing lacking was a bit of cover, which would have been very welcome on a night when it started raining at around 17.45 and continued well into the second half.

The match itself was 9th versus 6th in the league table, with Coventrians totally dominating the first half, then Central Ajax being the better side in the second, but never looking likely to turn things round. Unusually, for a non floodlit match in midweek, the Referee allowed everyone to go back to the changing rooms at halftime, which due to the distance involved meant a 13 minute interval. Coupled with the fact that we also kicked off late, meant the light was fading rapidly when the final whistle blew at 20.37.

Cambridgeshire County League

Division 1A

Monday 23rd April 2018

Kick Off 18.15 Actual 18.46

Steeple Morden 1 Clare Town 1,  attendance 9

41’ 0-1

57’ 1-1

@ Steeple Morden Recreation Ground

Hay Street

Steeple Morden

SG8 0PD

No Admission or Programme.

With the F.A. Find a Club website not working, plus neither club posting any information on their Twitter or Facebook pages, it was very difficult to confirm if this match was definitely on. I telephoned the contact number for the league, at the Cambridgeshire F.A., in an attempt to obtain a number for the home club, which was a total waste of time, as the number I was given was not recognised !

In case of having to divert elsewhere, I left home early and having encountered no hold ups on the M25, ended up arriving at the ground at 17.00, where it was totally deserted. At 17.37, what turned out to be an away player arrived, shortly followed by the first of the home players. The distance of 40 miles for Clare to have to travel for an 18.15 kick off is ridiculous, so I wasn’t expecting them to arrive en masse, but in dribs and drabs.

Five minutes before the scheduled start, the home team headed for the pitch, but no sign of the away side, although I had seen at least 10 of them park up and head for the changing rooms. Apparently, they had no kit, but it duly arrived at 18.22, so at least we would have a match. We finally got started 31 minutes late, with the Referee deciding to play two 40 minute halves because of this.

The two teams were very evenly matched, not surprisingly, as it was 7th versus 6th in the league table. It was actually a really good game considering that the pitch was rock hard and very bobbly. Clare took the lead in the opening minute of the second half, with the hosts levelling when a penalty was saved, but another striker followed in to dispatch the rebound into the far corner of the net from a tight angle.

Nottinghamshire Senior League

Premier Division

Saturday 21st April 2018

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

Bingham Town 1 Bilborough Town 0,  attendance 42

90’ 1-0

@ Butt Field

Moorbridge Road

Bingham

NG13 8GG

No Admission

50p Programme, 16 pages.

The match at F.C. Cavaliers had not finished until 14.12, but I was still parked up at the ground in Bingham at 14.42. The match here was 4th versus 17th (second from bottom) in the league table, Bingham still having a chance of finishing second, behind champions Newark Flowserve, due to games in hand over the teams currently placed second and third.

Yet again, another awful game, with both teams being totally inept in front of goal. Just when it looked like finishing goalless, Bingham snatched it with a close range finish as the ninety minute mark was reached.

Nottinghamshire Senior League

Premier Division

Saturday 21st April 2018

Kick Off 12.15 Actual 12.20

F.C. Cavaliers 1 A.F.C. Dunkirk 0,  attendance 38

35’ 1-0

@ The Forest Sports Zone, 3G Pitch

Gregory Boulevard

Nottingham

NG7 6LB

£2 Admission, including Programme, 12 pages.

The early kick off here gave the opportunity for an extra match today and it also meant a special journey wouldn’t have to be made just to visit yet another 3G cage with limited spectator access. This was 2nd versus 13th in the league table, which suggested that the home team would be a decent side, but this wasn’t the case. A really poor match ensued and it was a bit of a surprise that there was actually a goal scored, as these two teams were dreadful.

The matchday programme here was also really poor and would not be worth bothering with if it wasn’t included in the admission price. It didn’t help that it was poorly printed, both in quality and presentation, with the even numbered pages being printed correctly, but all the odd ones were upside down !

Belgium

Brabant Provincial 1 A.C.F.F.

Thursday 19th April 2018

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.32

R. Union Lasne Ohain 1 R. Cercle Sportif Brainois 1,  attendance 176

2’ 0-1

25’ 1-1

@ Route De Genval 20A

1380 Ohain

€7 Admission

No Programme.

Despite the current ground and stand/clubhouse being very modern, football has actually been staged here since 1941, being the former home of R.C.S. Ohain up until 2015.

Tonights match was third in the league table versus the league leaders. The hosts can still finish second, whilst Brainois cannot be caught at the top, so they should be promoted into the Belgian League next season.

The match had been developing into a really good contest, but was spoiled by a very ‘card happy’ Referee. Brainois had a man red carded on 38 minutes for swearing at the Linesman, following an incident involving whether a shot had crossed the line before the ‘keeper scrambled the ball away….it looked  like it crossed the line from where I was stood, less than 5 yards away. They then had a second man sent off, ten minutes into the second half, for two yellow cards. In between this, their Manager was also sent off. The hosts then had a man sent off in stoppage time, once again for two yellow card offences.

The Tunnel was a mixture of good and bad today. Our outbound train ran 14 minutes late, then on the return, due to an earlier cancellation, the 23.50 that we were booked on, was re-timed to 23.58. We had only made it to check in at 11.27, so for once, their failure to run on time worked in our favour. If it had been running to timetable, we would have had to take the 01.22 train instead…….

East Sussex League

Hastings F.A. Intermediate Cup Semi Final

Wednesday 18th April 2018

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.34

Battle Baptist 0 Hollington United 1,  attendance 79

23’ 0-1

@ Battle Recreation Ground

North Trade Road

Battle

TN33 0HB

No Admission or Programme.

This looked like it might be a really good match to watch, as going on league positions in the East Sussex League Premier Division, it was 2nd v 1st. Both teams have five matches to play, with unbeaten Hollington on 41 points, whilst Battle have 40 points, their only defeat being a 1-3 home loss to tonight’s visitors. They meet again at Hollington on 5th May, in a match that will surely decide the title.

The match tonight just never kicked into life, as the two teams cancelled each other out. It was just too stop, start, not helped by a very fussy Referee who just never let the game flow. Even the winning goal came from a deflected shot that gave the ‘keeper no chance. Battle had a man red carded on 72 minutes, which was the signal for Hollington to run the clock down at every opportunity, which killed the game from a neutral spectators point.