Cambridge University 2 University East Anglia 2, attendance 9
32’ 1-0
42’ 1-1
50’ 1-2
84’ 2-2 (pen)
@ King’s College & Selwyn College Sports Ground
Fulbrooke Road
Cambridge
CB3 9EE
No Admission or Programme.
U.E.A. were the better side in the first half, but it was Cambridge who went in front, a through ball finished one on one with the ‘keeper. Just before halftime U.E.A. drew level with a shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. When they went in front five minutes into the second half, it looked like they would comfortably go on to win it, but they only had a couple of half chances after the goal. Cambridge pressed hard for an equaliser. They had a penalty saved, with nineteen minutes left, but when they were awarded a second one late on, they made no mistake this time, levelling it up at 2-2.
Boston United 2 York City 1, attendance 2,018 (220 in awayend)
10’ 1-0 (pen)
17’ 1-1
83’ 2-1 (pen)
@ The Jakemans Community Stadium
Pilgrim Way
Wyberton
PE21 7NE
£14 Admission (contactless card payment at turnstile)
Programme available, didn’t bother buying as £3 is scandalous for tier 2 non-League.
When it comes to non-League grounds, as far as I’m concerned, there will never be one to beat Boston United’s former York Street home. It was (still is, as it’s still there, currently used by a Sunday league team) superb, right down to the four corner floodlights. I first went there on 13th January 1990, seeing them draw 0-0 versus fellow Conference club Macclesfield Town, in an F.A. Trophy 1st Round match in front of 1,924 spectators. By the time I made my second visit, on 19th March 2003, they were a Football League Division 3 (4th level) club. They beat Darlington 1-0 that night in front of a 2,186 crowd.
This season has seen them move into their new stadium, built to the south of Boston, just off the A16, in the village of Wyberton. It is very impressive for a club playing at the second level of the football pyramid, but will look better once they build a stand at the south end of the stadium, as the ground is currently three sided. Tickets were on sale at the stadium, where it was cash sales only in the club shop, or the much more convenient contactless card payment at the turnstiles. Car parking is not available on site to the casual visitor, but there is free parking in the new housing estate on the other side of the A16 from the stadium, maybe a five minute walk away. The whole feel to the night had ‘Football League’ written all over it. It helped that York City are also an ex-League club. They also have a new ground this season, so a trip there beckons.
The two clubs came into this separated only by goal difference, as 8th hosted 7th in the league table, the visitors occupying the final place for the promotion play offs. Boston went ahead with a penalty after ten minutes, but York were level seven minutes later, a long throw flicked on and volleyed in at the far post. It was still 1-1 at the break. It looked more likely that if there was to be a winner, then it would be the visitors that would get it, as they made the better chances in the second half. Having created very little, against the run of play, Boston won it when they scored their second penalty of the night late on.
Tonight’s crowd was the biggest so far at the new stadium, but with tonight’s win lifting them up to fifth in the table, it won’t be long before that figure is beaten.
I had seen Radnor Valley play at home before, which was also a Radnorshire Cup 2nd Round match played on a Sunday, when they beat Presteigne St. Andrews 3-1 (AET) back on 10th November 2002. In those days they played at a ground in School Lane, but having lost the use of it, they have now moved to a new ground to the north of the A44, about half a mile east of the village. In a very short space of time they have turned it from being a field growing crops, into a somewhat typical ground found in Mid Wales at this level. It is still a work in progress. The new changing rooms are not completed yet, so the players get changed at the old ground, then drive in full kit to the new one.
Radnor Valley are in the Mid Wales League East Division (Tier 4 in Wales), currently in fifth (out of 15) place in the league table, following a 2-1 win away at Llansantffraid Village yesterday. Brecon play one level lower, in the Mid Wales League (South). They are third in the table, having won all three of their matches so far, including a 2-1 win this weekend away at Presteigne St. Andrews, which was moved to Friday night, to enable them to have a recovery day before playing today’s match.
The first half was a reasonable contest, with Radnor Valley looking the better of the two teams. They opened the scoring midway through the half, when a cross from the left was finished off with a diving header at the far post. On the half hour mark they added a second, finishing from close range, after a free kick into the box wasn’t cleared. A side foot finish at the far post saw them increase their lead ten minutes into the second half, but a quick reply from Brecon pulled it back to 3-1. The next goal would be decisive, and when it went the way of the hosts, it was game over. The last twenty minutes was one way traffic. Brecon gave up and 4-1 soon became 8-1. Radnor Valley didn’t even bother celebrating the goals. They certainly didn’t have to work for them.
It was a late decision to head to this match. I left home without being able to confirm the game was definitely going ahead. The home club did reply via Twitter that everything was okay, but I was already 100 miles into the journey by then! The SatNav took me two different routes. It was M40, M42, Droitwich, Tenbury Wells and Presteigne going, then back via the shorter route of Hereford, Gloucester, Swindon, M4, then Bracknell and onto the M3 coming back.
It wasn’t until I was adding my weekend matches to my spreadsheet that I realised that this was my 400th ground I’ve seen a match on in Wales.
A.V.A. are newly promoted into the Premier Division. They are a team made up entirely of Romanian players and take their name from the initials of the coach who founded them.
It was 8th versus 15th (bottom) in the league table and was a really good game to watch. It was A.V.A. who went in front, with a dipping shot from 25 yards that found it’s way into the bottom corner of the net. Stonewall levelled it up at 1-1 within three minutes, the ‘keeper fumbling the ball which was then put in from a tight angle. The second half saw both teams going for the win and it was the visitors who took all three points when they grabbed the winner with six minutes left. A cross from the left wasn’t cleared, and it fell nicely for their winger, who hit a first time shot that was deflected into the opposite side of the goal to which he was aiming, giving the ‘keeper no chance.
Overall, a draw would probably have been a fair result, but Stonewall have now won two games on the trot, and having started the day propping up the table, they have now climbed up five places with this win.
Old Millhillians 4 Old Merchant Taylors’ II 0, attendance 2
11’ 1-0 (pen)
12’ 2-0
41’ 3-0
82’ 4-0
@ Whitmore High School, 3G Pitch
Porlock Avenue
Harrow
HA2 0AD
No Admission or Programme.
Today’s match was only a couple of hundred yards from The Philathletic Ground which I had visited last Saturday morning. At least here there could be no confusion as to which match was being watched, even for the less intelligent of ‘hoppers amongst us, as this is the only pitch here! It is just a caged pitch, with no spectator area, but there was no problem standing inside the fence to watch. It also has the wires across the pitch, used to hold the netting to divide the area into smaller sections. Unusually, at no time did the ball hit either of them, which is not normally the case.
Old Millhillians have only restarted their team this season and have made a decent start, coming into this third in the league table, one place above the visitors. Two goals in the first twelve minutes had them well in command and it was quite obvious that they were going to win this comfortably. By halftime it was 3-0. During the match they also hit the post three times, as well as having another effort disallowed for offside. The goal of the game came eight minutes from time, making it 4-0, with an unstoppable 25 yarder into the top corner. The win now sees them go top of the table.
With the game done and dusted by 12.39 there was ample time to get to a second match. The other spectator was heading to Milton Keynes, but I was staying more local, ticking off another of the new clubs in the Premier Division of the Middlesex County League.
Llanrumney United 2 Blaenrhondda 1, attendance 94 (official 125)
24’ 1-0
59’ 2-0
90’+ 4, 2-1
@ Cardiff University Sports Field, 3G Pitch
Mendip Road
Llanrumney
CF3 4JN
No Admission or Programme.
I had visited Llanrumney United on 17th August 2017, when they beat Cardiff Cosmopolitan 3-1 in a South Wales Alliance League Division 2 match. That game was played at Riverside Park, but this season they have moved to the 3G Pitch at the Cardiff University Sports Field, over the hedge from their previous ground and where the visitors that day also play their matches.
I’d been to the university ground before, having seen Newport County U18 lose 1-2 to Plymouth Argyle U18 in a Football League Youth Alliance match on 29th January 2005, but that was played on a grass pitch, parallel to the 3G cage, but separated by a rugby pitch and still in use for football. Tonight’s match was brought forward to Friday night to enable a number of the back room team at Llanrumney to attend a scattering of ashes ceremony tomorrow afternoon.
The match was a mid table clash, with 10th hosting 8th. Llanrumney led 1-0 at the break, a cross from the left headed in from 6 yards. Just short of the hour mark it was 2-0. The winger turned the right back inside out, before rifling a left foot shot high into the net at the near post. The visitors scrambled one in from close range, to make it 2-1, but it was too late, the Referee blowing the full time whistle as soon as the game restarted.
London Tigers U19 0 Eastleigh Yellows U19 15, attendance 8
@ Spikes Bridge Park, 3G Pitch
West Avenue
Southall
UB1 2AR
No Admission or Programme.
This game was so typical of what you get in this league and is a reminder why I don’t bother with it very much. The only attraction today was that I wouldn’t have to waste a Saturday afternoon coming here to do a Middlesex County League match in a cage and the noon kick off meant the battle with traffic on the M25 coming home should be a little easier than if it was the normal 2 o’clock start.
Typically there was the late kick off. They couldn’t get a Ref, so it was refereed by one of the London Tigers officials, and the home team only had 10 players at the start and their ‘keeper looked like he had never played in goal before. He was probably injured as well, as not one of his kicks from out of his hands managed to reach the centre circle in the entire match. Needless to say, we ended up with the obligatory mismatch. It is hard to see what Eastleigh would have got out of this apart from a place in the next round of the cup, but they were ruthless and didn’t even get out of second gear.
Surprisingly, after 40 minutes it was only 0-4 and Tigers even played the last few minutes of the half with a full compliment of eleven, a late arrival making up the numbers. By the hour mark it was 0-6 and Tigers were shortly back down to 10 men when they lost a player to injury. Double figures was hit with ten minutes left, before a further five goals came in the last eight minutes. Not a great watch, but at least the rain stayed away. Despite there being no official spectator area it was no problem standing inside the cage to watch.
Wimborne Town 0 Weston-super-Mare 3, attendance 250 est (abandoned 39 minutes, waterlogged)
18’ 0-1
28’ 0-2
32’ 0-3
@ New Cuthbury
Ainsley Road
Wimborne Minster
BH21 2FU
£12 Admission
£2.50 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.
£1 Car Park. It is free to park in the road and no parking restrictions.
The ground here was far better than I was expecting. As well as the two seated kit stands, both ends are fully covered, with the end to the right when looking from the clubhouse having stepped terracing as well. The other end is smaller and flat standing only. It is an improvement on their old Cuthbury ground, at least as far as facilities go, but the pitch may become an issue for them. Yes, it was raining, but it wasn’t very heavy. It looked worse due to the wind, but there was already standing water on the pitch at kick off and it hadn’t started raining until after six o’clock. It soon became obvious that the game would struggle to finish and sadly, that turned out to be the case.
What action there was, before the Referee brought things to a premature halt, was pretty much one way traffic. Wimborne were very poor and WsM were by far the better side. The first goal came courtesy of a deflection, but goals two and three were real quality finishes. It wasn’t too long after the visitors made it 0-3 that the game was brought to an end. Apparently, there was an area of concern just outside the six yard box, at the end Wimborne were defending, where the ball was starting to hold up. It wouldn’t have been a problem in the second half, especially if Wimborne had continued the same way as they had so far, as they wouldn’t have got the ball that far forward anyway!
What was baffling about the decision to call it off though, was that at no time did anyone make an effort to do anything about it. No forks or brooms appeared, but then again, at 0-3 down, the hosts were hardly going to do anything that might see the match continue. If they had continued playing until halftime, they could then have worked on it during the break and the Referee could have made a decision then. Things would probably have been different if the home team had been in front.
At the end of the day, both Wimborne Town and the Referee would still get their money tonight, so it wont have bothered them in the slightest that the game was called off. WsM not only lost out on three points, but now face another trip here, which is an extra expense they will have to pay for themselves. Hopefully, when the game is finally played, WsM will get the three points and some justice will be done. Maybe Wimborne Town could donate the gate receipts to cover the transport costs….
I notice from my records that I went to the old ground on 27th August 1994, for a 2-2 draw versus Horndean in a Wessex League match and having come here tonight, I thought my visits to Wimborne Minster would be over. I’m in no hurry to return. It’s not as if they’re going anywhere soon.
Larkspur Rovers 4 Pitshanger Dynamo 2, attendance 12
5’ 1-0
9’ 1-1
11’ 1-2
48’ 2-2
63’ 3-2
87’ 4-2 (pen)
@ Lord Halsbury Memorial Playing Fields
Priors Farm Lane
Northolt
UB5 5FE
No Admission or Programme.
Second game of the day saw 5th place in the league table host 7th. It was a match that was in the balance throughout and could have gone either way. The game actually kicked off ten minutes late, as neither team, nor the Referee, seemed interested in getting the game started and we also had a minutes silence before kick off as well.
Larkspur went in front within five minutes of the start, but it was 1-1 just four minutes later. The blistering start continued and two minutes later Pitshanger edged in front, with what turned out to be the goal of the game. A diagonal cross field ball was chested down on the corner of the 18 yard box and hammered high into the top corner of the net, giving the ‘keeper no chance at his near post. It was a goal worthy of a far higher standard of football than Step 7. It was quite surprising that there were no more goals in the first half, as both teams attacked at every opportunity.
Larkspur were out of the blocks quickly in the second half as well, levelling it up at 2-2 within three minutes, with a clever lob from just inside the box. Just after the hour mark it was 3-2, when an angled shot found the far corner of the net and the game was finally killed off when a penalty made it 4-2 in the dying minutes. I thought Pitshanger were well worth a draw.
I suppose it was going to happen one day. I finally did a match on a Saturday where I was the only spectator (it’s happened before at a midweek University match I think?). Apart from the Old Wykehamists ‘manager’, that was it, although oddly, there is a post on the Non League Matters forum by someone claiming that they were also at the match. Even the III’s had a ‘crowd’ of 2 for their game versus Old Shirburnians, played on a pitch the other side of the trees, down on a lower plateau to the main pitch. One of them did have the look of a ‘hopper, watching from behind the far goal on the III’s pitch, about 70 yards away. Perhaps it was him? (Edit ; Yes it was him. He has since posted a photo of the III,s match that he watched, plus one of the 1sts match, which was taken from the position where he watched the other game from. In a huge sports field like that, with just three spectators present, it is not hard to work out who is watching which match. Perhaps it takes a little more intelligence to work out which match is being played on which pitch?)
Anyway, as for the match, it was 10th (bottom) versus 3rd in the league table. Old Harrovians had lost all four of their matches so far, failing to score, whilst conceding twenty four goals. Old Wykehamists had two wins and two draws from their four matches.
Despite going behind, Old Harrovians soon levelled the score and were competing very well and were making a real game of it. They were unfortunate to trail 1-2 at the break, but Old Wykehamists had gone close on numerous times in the half, so it perhaps wasn’t too surprising. Eight minutes into the second half it was 1-3, with the OW No.7 completing his hat trick. Ten minutes later he added a fourth to make it 1-4. Twelve minutes from time OW lost a player to injury and with the substitute having already come off injured, had to continue with 10 men. Six minutes later they picked up another injury, which left them with just nine players. It didn’t affect them too much though. Their No.7 broke clear to curl in his fifth goal of the day to make it 1-5 in the first minute of stoppage time. Old Harrovians then volleyed in from a corner to pull it back to 2-5 and there was still time for OW to make it 2-6 in the fourth minute of stoppage time. No prizes for guessing who scored it. Yes, the No.7 to complete his double hat trick. He could easily have scored ten, as he also forced a number of saves from the home ‘keeper and had hit the crossbar with an effort in the first half.
With the game over at 12.45 it left ample time to head off for a second match.
