Bedfordshire County League

Premier Division

Wednesday 13th April 2022

Kick Off 18.15 Actual 18.13

Stevington 3 Sharnbrook 3, attendance 43

16’ 0-1

31’ 1-1

36’ 1-2

77’ 1-3

80’ 2-3

89’ 3-3 (pen)

@ Pavenham Village Hall & Playing Field

Bedford Road

Pavenham

MK43 7PH

No Admission or Programme.

Tonight’s match was 9th versus 1st in the league table. Sharnbrook are going for back to back titles, having won Division 1 ‘B’ last season, where they were undefeated in their 22 league matches, winning 17 of them.

Stevington matched them early on, but Sharnbrook gradually got on top, going ahead with a shot that seemed to deceive the ’keeper as he was left flat footed as the shot flew into the corner. Stevington levelled with their only shot on target in the first half, half an hour in, with an angled shot beating the ’keeper at the near post. A header from a corner saw Sharnbrook edge back in front before halftime and the points looked safe when a lob from inside the box put them 1-3 up with thirteen minutes left. A short back pass saw a Stevington substitute lift the ball over the ’keeper with his first touch of the ball since coming on, to make it 2-3 just three minutes later and out of nothing they made it 3-3 with a minute left, when they dispatched a penalty, awarded for a push in the back, which was hotly disputed by the visitors, but looked the correct decision to me. No sooner had they levelled, they had a player sin binned and Sharnbrook should have won it in stoppage time, but a great chance was blazed over the bar, when it looked easier to score.

National League U19 Alliance

Division E

Wednesday 13th April 2022

Kick Off 14.15 Actual 14.19

Aldershot Town London U19 1 Worthing U19 13, attendance 9

@ Bannister Sports Centre, 3G Pitch

Uxbridge Road

Harrow

HA3 6SW

No Admission or Programme.

This afternoon’s match was an opportunity to visit a ground that is also home to Middlesex County League Premier Division team F.C. Soma. It is a standard cage set up, with a spectator area along one side, bar a few sections of high fencing. It was also en route, sort of, for my intended evening match in Bedfordshire.

Unfortunately, this league can throw up some absolutely farcical scores, this being one of them, although at least there was an excuse of sorts for Aldershot. Facing a fixture backlog, for some reason they decided it would be a good idea to play a ’double header’ today, using just a squad of 16 or 17 players. They played Carshalton Athletic at 11.15, going down 2-5, before having just over an hours rest, before taking on Worthing. The fact they were playing the team second in the league table, followed by the league leaders, just seems ridiculous and gives a poor impression of how things are run at Aldershot.

It was 0-3 after just nineteen minutes, before Aldershot pulled one back on thirty minutes with the goal of the game, an absolute thunderbolt into the top corner from the edge of the box. It was 1-6 by halftime and the goals kept flowing after the break, as Worthing ran in seven more with very little resistance. The Aldershot ’keeper actually pulled off a fair number of saves and couldn’t be blamed for any of the goals. As for Worthing, they actually used three different ’keepers. The original one went off injured, before two different outfield players had a spell between the sticks. They could have played without a ’keeper and would still have won easily.

Suffolk & Ipswich League

Senior Division

Tursday 12th April 2022

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.06

Bildeston Rangers 1 Capel Plough 2, attendance 28

4’ 0-1

79’ 1-1

90’+ 4, 1-2

@ Bildeston Sportsfield

Consent Lane

Bildeston

IP7 7SB

No Admission or Programme.

Tonight’s match was 9th versus 16th (bottom) in the league table. Capel broke the deadlock just four minutes in, heading in off the post, from a corner on the left. They certainly didn’t play like a team propping up the table and were very effective on the break. The game was back and forth throughout, with neither side looking very good at the back. There were plenty of chances at both ends, with Capel looking the more likely to add to the scoring, but it remained 0-1 at the break.

It looked like the one goal was going to be enough for the visitors, but having hit the angle of crossbar and post with an effort that looked harder to miss than score, Bildeston finally levelled with eleven minutes left. A long angled ball into the box from the halfway line, saw the striker get his head to it as the ’keeper tried to punch clear and the ball looped over the line. Bildeston lost their ’keeper to injury in the 89th minute, replaced by an outfield player, and it was his inexperience, trying to use his feet to clear a free kick, rather than his hands , that saw the attempted clearance followed in from close range, to win if for Capel in stoppage time.

The win sees Capel close the gap on second bottom Leiston St. Margarets to a point, with a game in hand, whilst third bottom Achilles are on the same points, but having played three games more. Only the bottom two are relegated from this division and as Capel have by far the better goal difference of the three, they have a good chance of avoiding the drop, especially if they can put in a few more performances like this.

Cheltenham League

Division 3

Monday 11th April 2022

Kick Off 18.15 Actual 18.23

A.F.C. Kempsey 8 Newton 1, attendance 29

4’ 1-0

20’ 2-0

33’ 3-0

46’ 4-0

51’ 5-0

66’ 5-1 (pen)

78’ 6-1

82’ 7-1

87’ 8-1

@ Plovers Rise Playing Field

Plovers Rise

Kempsey

WR5 3SA

No Admission or Programme.

The game finally kicked off eight minutes late, with the visitors having just the bare eleven players. The match was played on a pitch as far from the changing rooms as it could possibly be, on what was a very poor surface, not that it would have made much difference here, as it was a dreadful standard of football, even allowing for the low level the bottom division of this league sits at.

It was 4th versus 10th in the league table. As a contest, it was all over after ten minutes, when Newton lost a player through injury, already trailing 1-0 to a fourth minute opener. Their ten men were never going to make a game of it and by halftime it was 3-0. Oddly, their ’Linesman’ came on at the start of the second half, bringing them back up to the full compliment of eleven (no idea why they never used him straight away) but two goals in the opening six minutes saw Kempsey cruise into a 5-0 lead. Newton rallied briefly, hitting the crossbar with an overhead kick, then heading the rebound against the post, before pulling it back to 5-1 with a goal from the penalty spot. Kempsey added three more goals as the visitors tired and if it wasn’t for a number of good saves by the Newton ’keeper, the final score would have been well into double figures.

This win sees Kempsey rise to second in the table, four points behind leaders Bishops Cleeve Development, but with five games in hand. Montpellier (Cheltenham) are third, level on points with Kempsey, but with a game in hand, whilst Relics are a further point back, having played one game more.

East Sussex League

Division 1

Saturday 9th April 2022

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 14.58

The Junior Club Tackleway 2 S.C. Pass+Move Arrows 0, attendance 57

37’ 1-0

78’ 2-0

@ The Dave Brown Memorial Playing Fields

Barley Lane

Hastings

TN35 5DX

No Admission or Programme.

This was 4th versus 5th in the league table, with both still in with a shout of taking one of the two promotion places, whilst Tackleway could still pip leaders Bexhill A.A.C. to the title. The fact that second in the table Sidley United Reserves were hosting third placed Rye Town, meant it was all to play for, with just three points separating second and fifth in the table.

It was a very tight game, played on a dreadful pitch, that was rock hard and bobbly and certainly not conducive to playing good football. Arrows started brighter and could easily have been ahead by a couple of goals. Tackleway came back into it, breaking the deadlock eight minutes before halftime, when a looping shot from the edge of the box saw a defender duck underneath it, giving the ’keeper no chance to react as the ball flew past him. The game could have gone either way, but twelve minutes from time, a ball over the top saw the striker race clear and finish emphatically to make it 2-0.

The top three, who all have one game to play, are locked together on 34 points. Bexhill A.A.C. have the best goal difference, of +36, with Rye Town +20 and Tackleway +17. With just two promotion places, it will certainly be a very exciting finish to the season.

Stratford-upon-Avon Alliance League

Division 2

Thursday 7th April 2022

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.20

Meadow Park 3 A.F.C. Stratford 0, attendance 44

59’ 1-0

73’ 2-0

80’ 3-0 (pen)

@ LG Harris

Hanbury Road

Stoke Prior

B60 4AE

No Admission or Programme.

Tonight’s match was 4th versus 2nd in the league table, with Meadow Park trying to chase down league leaders F.I.S.S.C. Reserves, who they drew 0-0 away to on Tuesday. They came into this trailing them by 16 points, but with six games in hand, the title was still in their own hands. The two meet here at the end of the month in a game that could well decide it. There had been a bit of confusion over what time kick off was tonight, with 18.00 and 18.30 being advertised. We played it safe by arriving for the earlier time, but in the end we got underway at 18.20.

It wasn’t much of a game and looked set to finish goalless, until Stratford had a man sent off after 58 minutes for picking up a second yellow card. A minute later Meadow Park opened the scoring, a shot on the turn finding the top corner. A near post header, from a cross out on the left, made it 2-0, before a ’Panenka’ penalty saw James Ward complete his hat trick with ten minutes left.

East Berkshire League

League Trophy Group B

Wednesday 6th April 2022

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.03

Iver Heath 5 Stoke Poges Saints 5, attendance 19

2’ 1-0

7’ 1-1

12’ 2-1

24’ 3-1

41’ 3-2 (pen)

42’ 3-3

45’ 3-4

51’ 4-4

70’ 4-5

71’ 5-5

@ Iver Heath Recreation Ground

Church Road

Iver Heath

SL0 0RW

No Admission or Programme.

I had been unable to confirm this match, as neither club are up to date on social media, and the F.A. Find a Club website had no contact numbers listed for either club. As I approached the village, it was absolutely hammering it down with rain and there were vast amounts of standing water on the roads, as well as it going very dark, so I was relieved to see players warming up outside the changing rooms. Thankfully, the rain stopped about ten minutes before kick off and the skies cleared to give a pleasant evening in the end and the pitch was in excellent condition.

These two are the top two, in what is a four team group, both playing in the Premier Division, with this being 5th versus 8th, as far as league positions go. It was an absolute cracker. Iver Heath led 3-1 midway through the first half, but three goals in the final five minutes, saw Saints turn it round to lead 3-4 at the break. By the 71st minute it was 5-5 and I thought my highest ever drawn match seen, which is 6-6, was under serious threat, but the scoring was over for the night. I had to settle for my fifth ever 5-5 draw instead. Brilliant entertainment.

Portugal

Liga Revelacao U23

Tuesday 5th April 2022

Kick Off 16.00 Actual 16.02

Sporting Clube Braga U23 1 Sport Lisboa Benfica U23 5, attendance 380

25’ 0-1 (pen)

44’ 0-2

65’ 0-3

66’ 0-4

72’ 0-5

77’ 1-5

@ Cidade Desportiva do Sporting Clube Braga, Pitch 1

Rua de Cabanas

4700-048 Braga

€5 Admission

Team Sheet available.

We should have been back home today, but EasyJet informed us by text message at 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon, that they had cancelled our flight. We managed to re-book onto an alternate flight at 07.00 tomorrow morning, but it meant we had an extra day to fill. Luckily, we managed to find a game to watch and even better it was being played at a ground neither of us had visited. Mind you, it wasn’t easy finding out exactly where the match was. Once again, we had the ineptitude of dealing with Braga. According to their website, the game was being played at Estadio Municipal de Braga, where we had seen the first team on Friday evening, but other sources suggested it was at their training complex. It didn’t help that there was no answer on any of the phone numbers on their website, despite trying for over an hour. They didn’t bother replying to an e-mail either. In the end it was a phone call to Benfica that confirmed the venue.

We decided that going by bus would be the easiest option. Rather than taking the metro into Porto, we headed into the airport and noted there was a direct bus from here to Braga, which only dropped at the bus station. It was €14 return and took less than 40 minutes. Although we had plenty of time, at least on the way, we opted to take a taxi, rather than walk to the ground, which cost €6 each way. After first taking us to the player’s entrance, then to the main stadium, believing we wanted to do the tour, we finally got dropped outside the public entrance to the training complex, where the ticket office opened 45 minutes before kick off and there was no problem buying tickets. The two main pitches here have seated stands, Pitch 1 has around 800 seats, whilst Pitch 2 looked to have a couple of hundred fewer.

As for the match, it wasn’t one to get too excited about. It was just not a contest and we got the feeling that Braga would offer little resistance once it became 0-2, and so it turned out. There was no atmosphere, bar a few polite hand claps. Perhaps it might have been different if Braga had contributed a little more. Benfica strolled into a 0-5 lead, before Braga finally scored a consolation goal with thirteen minutes left and in the closing minutes, one of their substitutes twice hit the woodwork, with the ’keeper nowhere near either of the efforts.

Our taxi arrived about ten minutes after the final whistle and we comfortably made if onto the last bus back to the airport at 18.45. It had been an eventful weekend, where we managed eight matches, albeit staying one day longer than we’d planned. We left on time at 07.00 for our flight back to London Gatwick. Oddly, the flight was nowhere near full, which seemed strange considering the flight on Tuesday had been cancelled. We’ve just got to battle EasyJet now, to try and obtain the extra outlay on hotel, food and drink costs. I don’t hold out too much hope!

Portugal

Liga 2

Monday 4th April 2022

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.04

Varzim Sport Club 2 F.C. Porto ’B’ 1, attendance 2,697

22’ 0-1

25’ 1-1

83’ 2-1

@ Estadio do Varzim Sport Club

Rua Varzim Sport Club

4490-475 Povoa de Varzim

€15 Admission

No Programme.

The first job today was to return the hire car, as tonight’s match was doable by public transport and we were on a flight home first thing in the morning. Povoa de Varzim is to the north of Porto and the last stop on Line B (red) of the metro system. We were staying at an airport hotel, so caught the train from Verdes,(2 stops from the airport on Line E (purple) but easier to walk due to poor connection times) where a 35 minute ride (17 stops) takes you to the delightful seaside resort of Povoa de Varzim, with the stadium a further 15-20 minutes walk from here. The fare was a very reasonable €1.60 each way, plus an additional €0.60 for the rechargeable card, when paying for your first journey. It was good to note that four stops before the end of the line, at Vila do Conde, you are only a few hundred yards from the ground of current Liga 2 leaders Rio Ave F.C. We had planned on going there on Saturday, until they changed the kick off time at short notice, but it looks easier to do on public transport anyway, rather than using a hire car, so no great loss.

We bought tickets from the club shop, paying €15 to sit along the side, with the option of going behind the goal for €10 also available. The ground has a capacity of 11,000 although it only has three sides in use at present, with the large covered end currently shut, so probably a couple of thousand fewer. With F.C. Porto being the live game on Portuguese television tonight, kicking off less than half an hour after this game finished, we didn’t expect a great following for their ’B’ team, and we were right. Their number totalled just 10 (3 were women) which was a one to one ratio with the police in the away section!

Tonight’s game was 17th (second bottom) versus 13th in the league table. Porto ’B’ opened the scoring on twenty two minutes, an angled shot finding the far corner of the net from just inside the 18 yard box. Varzim levelled three minutes later, a free kick was spilled by the ’keeper and followed in from close range. The game kept the interest throughout, as both teams went for the winner, which came seven minutes from time and went the way of Varzim, when a corner from the left was headed down powerfully into the bottom corner. It was a vital win, as it lifted them out of the bottom two, above Sporting Clube Covilha on goal difference.

Portugal

Primeira Liga

Sunday 3rd April 2022

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.01

Moreirense F.C. 0 Vitoria Sport Clube Guimaraes 1, attendance 3,486

62’ 0-1

@ Parque Desportive Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas

Avenida Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas

4870-270 Moreira de Congres

€20 Admission

No Programme.

As with Braga, Moreirense were the other club who gave us misinformation concerning buying tickets on the night for our chosen match. We were told it would be no problem, but once again, the club website said different, when they finally released the information a few days beforehand. I phoned them again, but was told that it was members only and that there were no tickets left and that it was a sell out. Not giving up that easily, I decided to phone Guimaraes on Thursday afternoon, as on their website it stated that they had been allocated 1,200 tickets, although they were for members only. The woman I spoke to said there were indeed tickets left, but she couldn’t guarantee that would still be the case tomorrow, but if we could call in before 18.00, then yes, they would sell us two tickets, but we may need to join as members. As we were already going via Famalicao to pick up tickets, on our way to Braga, then it was no more than twenty minutes further to go to Guimaraes as well, so no problem. Sure enough, there were tickets left and we managed to buy them without membership. At least we could relax now!

The journey back north from our game in Coimbra was a shade over 100 miles and took just over an hour and a half, with plenty of time to book in at our hotel en route. Arriving at the ground early meant we grabbed a good parking spot overlooking the stadium, around 250-300 yards away. There were plentiful bars around to get food/drink before heading into the stadium. After a few minutes, we began to notice a very high proportion of those around us were wearing green and white colours, those of Moreirense, rather then the black and white of Guimaraes. It soon became apparent we were actually in the home section! Quite how we managed to buy tickets for the home section, but from the away club, for what was allegedly a sold out game is a mystery. It certainly wasn’t a sell out. The crowd was well below the 6,100 capacity, despite the away end looking pretty much full.

Moreirense had been dumped bottom of the league table last night, when Belenenses won, to lift them above tonight’s hosts. Guimaraes came into this in sixth place, hoping to close the gap on Gil Vicente, who currently occupy the final position for Europa League qualification. It was another tight match, which always had the feel of whoever scores first, will win, which is how it panned out. Guimaraes got the all important goal just after the hour mark, scoring when Moreirense failed to clear a cross from the right and the ball was put back across the six yard box and into the far corner of the net.