S.J.F.A. East Region

Midlands League

Saturday 19th March 2022

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.31

Arbroath Victoria 9 Scone Thistle 2, attendance 40

8’ 1-0

16’ 2-0 (pen)

26’ 3-0

29’ 4-0

34’ 4-1

35’ 5-1

39’ 6-1

61’ 7-1

69’ 8-1

79’ 8-2 (pen)

87’ 9-2

@ Ogilvy Park

Kirkton Road

Arbroath

DD11 4DS

£6 Admission

No Programme.

Having already visited all four grounds on the Scottish ’Hop today, it meant I would be doing a game on public transport, whilst the others headed off on the organised schedule. I had been kindly offered a lift, but the most convenient pick up point for the driver was Perth. Not a problem, as it was only 29 miles north (30 minutes by car) of my overnight accommodation in Dunfermline. However, this was 1 hour 19 minutes by train, which included a change in Inverkeithing. It also meant having to wear a face covering for the entirety, as Mrs Krankie hasn’t lowered the Covid-19 restrictions up in Scotland yet. It cost a whopping £14.50 (about £4 by car) and was a reminder why I only use public transport as a last resort.

Pick up was dead on time and we arrived at Ogilvy Park around 25 minutes before kick off. It has been home to Arbroath Victoria since 1951 and takes it’s name from Lord Ogilvy, who owned land in the area. It is a somewhat typical ’Junior’ ground and has far more character than the dreadful caged pitches that are sadly becoming all too common these days.

I had been expecting a home win, as it was 8th versus 19th in the league table, but didn’t think it would be by such a margin, although Scone Thistle were propping up the table, with a goal difference of -129 coming into this, so perhaps it wasn’t a surprise. It was 6-1 by halftime, where every chance Vics created seemed to end with a goal. Scone competed well, but the game was out of sight, having found themselves four down within half an hour. The goals tailed off in the second half, perhaps due to Vics having already made sure of the points. It was a very enjoyable game, even if it was a bit one sided, and 9-2 is not a score you see too often.

The return journey to Dunfermline involved less faffing about, as the driver was also staying there tonight.

Lowland League

Friday 18th March 2022

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.46

Caledonian Braves 1 Edinburgh University 1, attendance 219

73’ 0-1

90’+ 2, 1-1

@ Alliance Park

Strathclyde Country Park

Hamilton Road

Bothwell

ML1 3RB

£6 Admission

Programme available, but I won’t buy one at any event organised by Groundhop U.K.

Considering the Lowland League is level 5 in Scotland, feeding the Scottish Football League, this is a dreadful ground, but as far as 3G cages go, at least it has a couple of kit stands, but it is not good when one end is not accessible to spectators. This was the first of six matches on the ’Scottish Groundhop’ this weekend. There were only two grounds out of the six that I hadn’t already visited, which were here and the Sunday game at Oakley United, so at least I wouldn’t have to suffer the fanfare that surrounds these events for the entire weekend. To be honest, if I hadn’t been offered a lift up here, I wouldn’t have bothered coming.

There had been rumours that the organisers were going to make this game all ticket, as the ground apparently has a 500 capacity limit. As it turned out, the crowd was a pathetic 219, which, although probably ten times the normal home attendance, was very poor for an official ’hop at this level and shows just how ridiculous it was that there was even talk of it needing to be all ticket. It never ceases to amaze me that clubs and leagues at this level are incapable of organising a ground hop themselves, without giving away a chunk of their profits to a third party. Pandering to a coach load of ’hoppers, incapable of doing anything for themselves, does seem odd. There may even be a few amongst them who could actually manage to get there without having their hand held, so although the numbers would be down slightly, the clubs/leagues would get to keep all of the money for themselves, so end up actually making more from their ’big day’. Looking from the outside in, it seems a no brainer. At the end of the day, if the games are there, people will turn up.

The whole thing had a very underwhelming feel to it. The fanfare had rolled into town, but with few locals there, it was very low key. It didn’t help that the game had nothing on it I suppose, as 9th hosted 16th (out of 18) in the league table, with neither side in the promotion or relegation battles. The game wasn’t great. Not for the lack of chances, but some dreadful finishing, from both sides, meant it looked like we would be lucky to get a goal at all, especially when Braves hit the post in the first half, from a chance that looked impossible to miss.. Edinburgh University broke the deadlock with seventeen minutes left, a deflected free kick finding the top corner, before Braves headed in from a corner to make it 1-1 in stoppage time.

National League U19 Alliance

Academy South

Wednesday 16th March 2022

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.02

Maidenhead United U19 4 Oxford City U19 2, attendance 11

26’ 0-1

31’ 1-1

34’ 2-1

48’ 3-1

50’ 3-2

58’ 4-2

@ Berkshire College of Agriculture

Hall Place

Burchett’s Green Road

Burchett’s Green

SL6 6QR

No Admission or Programme.

It started raining shortly after I left home, gradually becoming heavier as the afternoon wore on. Midway through the first half I had doubts as to whether the game would reach it’s conclusion, especially when the game on the next pitch was abandoned due to water logging about half an hour in. To be fair, there had already been a game played on that pitch, which meant it deteriorated far more than ours, but full credit has to be given to all involved for seeing this one through. At no time was there any question that either team, or their coaches, wanted the game called off and it was refreshing to see a Referee who was looking to get the game finished. Sadly, there are far too many match officials these days who arrive at games with the attitude of ’can I find a reason to not play the game’ rather than looking at any positives.

The game was an absolute cracker. Oxford City certainly didn’t play like a team bottom of the table and were unlucky not to come away with a share of the points. Both teams attacked at every opportunity and this could have finished with both teams scoring double figures, such were the amount of chances created. The stand out player was the home No.9, who finished with a hat trick and gave the Oxford defence a torrid time, with his powerful running and strength in the air.

The set up here has two football pitches, running parallel, both roped off through wooden posts. The main pitch, the nearer to the buildings, which our game was on, has two dugouts, with the other having just one, on the far side.

Kent County League

Les Leckie Cup Eastern Section

Semi Final

Saturday 12th March 2022

Kick Off 14.15 On Time !

Cinque Ports 0 Hildenborough Athletic 1, attendance 48

47’ 0-1

@ Marke Wood Recreation Ground

Dover Road

Walmer

CT14 7JG

No Admission

£1 Programme, 40 pages.

It was a fair slog from Sevenoaks down to Walmer, just south of Deal, on the east coast of Kent. In fact, I only arrived twelve minutes before kick off and was pleased to see the game was going ahead. Neither club had bothered to reply on Twitter as to whether the game was definitely on and a text message to the home club secretary was also ignored. I suppose this can be expected at this level (Step 9), but it is still a poor reflection on both clubs.

The cup tie pitted two teams from Division 2 Central & East, as 7th hosted 1st in the league table. Hildenborough were well on top from the off and Cinque Ports rode their luck as they faced a constant wave of attack from the visitors. Despite being outplayed, Cinque Ports should have scored twice in the first half, a lob over the ’keeper hit a post and an unmarked header should really have been put away. As it was, it remained goalless at halftime.

Two minutes into the second half Hildenborough broke the deadlock, when a through ball was finished with a lob over the on rushing ’keeper. They went close to doubling their lead, but an effort came back off the post and Cinque Ports then saw a block tackle result in the ball spinning up onto the crossbar, as they pushed for an equaliser. It felt like the Referee had forgotten to restart his watch at some point, as despite a couple of stoppages, there were nowhere near the amount he added on. Eleven minutes had been added, when the hosts were awarded a penalty for a handball, but a poor spot kick was easily saved by the visitor’s ’keeper. Two more minutes passed, before a corner on the right for Cinque Ports was headed towards the far corner of the net, but the ‘keeper somehow got a hand to it, sending it wide of the post and seconds later the final whistle blew.

Arthurian League

Division 2

Saturday 12th March 2022

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 11.01

Old Sennockians 1 Old Radleians 1, attendance 4

14’ 0-1

29’ 1-1

@ Sevenoaks School (Sennocke Centre)

Duke’s Meadow Playing Fields

High Street

Sevenoaks

TN13 1HU

No Admission or Programme.

This was a game that could have gone either way, as 4th hosted 7th in the league table. Radleians broke the deadlock with a one on one finish, after the striker was played through on goal, but Sennockians levelled just before the half hour mark, when a one-two on the edge of the box was finished with a shot under the ’keeper.

The game was over by 12.40, which certainly helped me, as the preferred destination for my afternoon game was the east coast of Kent.

British Universities & Colleges Sport

National Championship

Semi Final

Wednesday 9th March 2022

Kick Off 16.00 Actual 16.05

Newcastle University 1 Nottingham Trent University 3, attendance 90

8’ 0-1

10’ 1-1

19’ 1-2

51’ 1-3

@ Cochrane Park Sports Ground, 3G Pitch 3

Etherstone Avenue

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE7 7JX

No Admission or Programme.

I first saw Newcastle University play here at Cochrane Park Sports Ground on 8th February 2006, when they beat Bradford University 1-0. The game was played on the grass pitch in the far right corner of the complex, which was where they played their games when their Saturday team was in the Northern Alliance League (they have since moved following promotion to the Northern League). It was fully railed, but although the pitch is still there, only the rail on the far side still remains. I also saw them beat Leeds University 6-2 on 24th October 2018, which was played on the 3G pitch at Longbenton Sports Ground, in Coach Lane, which was used as a home base whilst the new hub was built here at Cochrane Park.

Nottingham Trent were well in control of this and I doubt too many teams have had a more comfortable game to reach a final. A long ball was flicked on, and finished with a neat finish over the ’keeper, to give them an early lead. Although Newcastle levelled it up just two minutes later, they never really had another chance for the remainder of the game. A shot that came back off the post was smashed in on the rebound to put Nottingham Trent back in front after nineteen minutes and it was game over six minutes into the second half, when the Newcastle ’keeper failed to clear a cross and the ball was put in, following a scramble, to make it 1-3.

Newcastle University Intramural League

Division 1

Wednesday 9th March 2022

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.04

BusSoc 3 Barca-Law-Na 3, attendance 5

5’ 1-0

11’ 2-0

13’ 2-1

21’ 2-2

32’ 3-2

69’ 3-3

@ Cochrane Park Sports Ground, 3G Pitch 2

Etherstone Avenue

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE7 7JX

No Admission or Programme.

This certainly wasn’t what I had planned this afternoon. I had originally intended to watch the South Shields versus Frickley Athletic game in the National League U19 Alliance, which was scheduled to be played at Wallsend Boys Club. However, on arrival, there was a game already in progress, but it was a Colleges F.A. game. Apparently, the South Shields game had been moved to the Washington Football Hub, although the F.A. Full Time website didn’t show the change and even still has the venue as Wallsend Boys Club on their results page!

My main choice for today was to see Newcastle University host Nottingham Trent University in the B.U.C.S. National Championship Semi Final, which was kicking off at 4 o’clock. I wouldn’t have made it from Washington anyway, unlike Wallsend, which was only a six minute drive. I arrived back at Cochrane Park (I called in there on the way to Wallsend Boys Club, to suss out the parking situation in case I was cutting it fine between matches) expecting a long wait for my game. There are three 3G pitches here. Pitch 1, next to the impressive pavilion and having a rail along part of that side, which was hosting back to back rugby union matches and Pitch 2 and 3, which run the opposite way to Pitch 1 and are parallel cages with no spectator areas, although it was no problem to stand inside the fence. There were two matches scheduled for 2 o’clock. One had already started, but the other was running a few minutes late. Luckily, for me at least, it was the game on Pitch 2 that was about to start, as the Newcastle University game was going to be on Pitch 3, so it offered a chance of a double after all.

The Newcastle University Intramural League has three divisions, with 8 teams in each, this game being in the top division. It was 4th versus 5th in the league table and was ’Business v Law’ as far as who the teams represent. It was a far better standard than I was expecting and although it isn’t something I would plan on watching again, it was certainly better than not getting a game.

National League North

Tuesday 8th March 2022

Kick Off 19.45 On Time !

York City 3 Darlington 1, attendance 3,579 (616 away)

69’ 1-0

70’ 2-0

79’ 3-0 (pen)

90’+ 3, 3-1

@ L.N.E.R. Community Stadium

Kathryn Avenue

Huntington

YO32 9AF

£20 Admission

£5 Car Parking

Programme ? Never saw any on sale or anybody with one.

York City moved into their new 8,500 capacity L.N.E.R. Community Stadium (shared with York City Knights R.L.F.C.) during last season, when games were played behind closed doors, or with limited capacity, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is typically bland and cheap looking for a new build, rather like a giant ’Meccano’ ground and consists of four all seated stands, with random seat colouring, which offers no clue that it is home to The Minstermen. It is built on the former site of Ryedale Stadium, where I had seen Ryedale-York R.L.F.C. lose 6-13 to Sheffield Eagles in a Regal Trophy 1st Round match on 17th November 1991, in front of a crowd of just 1,138.

I had visited City’s former home, the much more characterful Bootham Crescent, for a Football League Division 4 match on 4th November 1989, when a crowd of 2,496 witnessed a 1-1 draw versus Torquay United. I also managed to see rugby league here as well, when I saw York City Knights lose16-18 to Whitehaven on 18th June 2017.

Tonight’s match had the feel of a Football League match, rather than Step 2 of non-League, helped by the fact that both clubs are ex-League, York having been relegated in 2016 and Darlington in 2010, although the club have been re-formed since then. Charging £20 admission at tier two is ridiculous and if you arrive by car, you are more or less forced to pay £5 on top of this to park, as there are parking restrictions around the entire ground. The visitors had an impressive 616 fans in the North Stand, and probably a fair number dotted around in the ’home’ sections. I opted for a seat in the West Stand, in Block B, which is unallocated seating, or at least it was supposed to be. I had to move twice, as I was sat in a Season Ticket holder’s seat! I did tweet about this and received a reply from York City, who told me there was no unallocated seating in the West Stand, although the match ticket clearly states otherwise! Perhaps they need to pay a little more attention to detail.

Despite this being 7th (the final play off place) versus 11th in the league table, it wasn’t good to watch. The first hour or so had been dreadful. Apart from a couple of efforts hit straight at the ’keeper, it never looked like producing a goal. Then, out of nothing, York broke the deadlock. Cutting in from the left, a shot/cross was fired into the 6 yard box and the bounce seemed to deceive the ’keeper and the ball found it’s way into the far corner of the net. Within a minute it was 2-0, the striker played through to finish one on one, with offside appeals from the Darlington defenders waved away. An emphatic finish from the penalty spot made it 3-0 nine minutes later. Darlington grabbed a consolation goal in the final minute of stoppage time.

Anglian Combination League

Division 2

Saturday 5th March 2022

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.31

Beccles Caxton 4 Norwich C.E.Y.M.S. Reserves 4, attendance 23

15’ 0-1

33’ 1-1

34’ 1-2

68’ 1-3

72’ 2-3

78’ 3-3

82’ 3-4

87’ 4-4

@ Caxton Meadow

Ken Markland Way

Off Common Lane

Beccles

NR34 9BU

No Admission or Programme.

A weekend break in Southwold dictated today’s choice of match. In fact, this one wasn’t even considered, until teams who couldn’t be bothered to play games, along with heavy overnight rain, saw matches disappear at an alarming rate. First choice was Division 4 leaders Mutford & Wrentham versus Hemsby, but the visitors requested a call off, despite the F.A. Full Time website showing them having 83 registered players! This is absolutely pathetic and really reflects badly on the league, let alone the club. Top division games at Norwich C.E.Y.M.S. and Blofield United fell victim to waterlogged pitches, but my other choice at Stalham Town, in Division 1, was still on. The visiting team had tweeted they had been told it was ”still on at the minute. Fingers crossed”. I didn’t fancy taking a chance of a late call off and by the time I had spoken to someone at the home club, my SatNav was giving me an arrival time of just four minutes before kick off. I set off, but had only driven a few hundred yards, when the very helpful Beccles Caxton Secretary returned my call. He confirmed their game was on. It was only 25 minutes drive to Beccles, so no pressure. The only reason I had dismissed this was because it was against reserve opposition, but it turned out to be a cracker.

Every so often, you come across a real gem of a ground and it was certainly the case here. There can’t be too many grounds better than this at Step 9. It certainly made a change from standing in a field! Apart from wooden fencing, on almost three full sides of the pitch, there were dugouts, a stand and even a tea bar. A really good set up. Parking is at the College Meadow ground of Beccles Town F.C. and a walk along the dirt track between that ground and the cricket pitch (to the right), sees Caxton Meadow appear in front of you to the left, beyond a small astro training area that has been converted from some old tennis courts. There is also access from Beccles Station, via a footbridge.

It was 10th versus 12th (out of 14) in the league table. Norwich C.E.Y.M.S. started the brighter and opened the scoring fifteen minutes in. Caxton levelled just after the half hour mark, but within a minute C.E.Y.M.S. were back in front and it remained 1-2 at halftime. When it went 1-3 midway through the second half, it looked all over. Caxton pulled one back, when a scuffed shot totally deceived the ’keeper, before a ball clipped into the box was slid in, on the volley, to make it 3-3 with twelve minutes left. Having fought hard to draw level, Caxton went behind again, a break down the right saw a first time cross, put in at the far post to make it 3-4. Three minutes from time it was 4-4, when a C.E.Y.M.S. defender trying to cut out a cross, diverted the ball past his own ’keeper to see the points shared. Caxton had a man sent off in the last minute, picking up a second yellow card, and despite both teams having a chance to win it in stoppage time, a draw was a fair result.

British Universities & Colleges Sport

Midlands 4A

Wednesday 2nd March 2022

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.04

University Wolverhampton 0 Brooksby Melton College 1, attendance 6

87’ 0-1

@ University of Wolverhampton, Walsall Campus, 3G Pitch

Broadway (A4148)

Walsall

WS1 3TA

No Admission or Programme.

As with last Wednesday’s visit to University of Bath, this was another complex where I was returning to see a game played on a third different pitch. On 11th March 2009 I saw Wolverhampton lose 3-4 to Aston University, on a pitch immediately to the left of the driveway as you enter off Broadway. That pitch is now partially covered by additional car parking. Then on 9th June 2018 I saw Singh Brothers Derby beat A.F.C. Coventry Lions 3-1 in a Khalsa Football Federation Tournament match, which was played on a pitch adjacent to the former pitch, beyond a line of trees and sandwiched between these and the boundary fence of Walsall Rugby Club. Although the pitch is still there, it looks like it is no longer in use and hasn’t had the grass cut in months.

Today’s game was on the 3G pitch, a standard cage with spectator access along three quarters of one side. The match was 4th versus 3rd in the league table. It wasn’t high on quality and saw very few clear cut chances created. Wolverhampton were the better side for long periods, but just didn’t capitalise. BMC came on strong in the closing stages and nicked the win in the dying minutes. A through ball found their No.9 and he held off two defenders, before firing low into the far corner from the edge of the box.