Spartan South Midlands League

Division 2

Saturday 8th December 2018

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 14.59

Berkhamsted Raiders C.F.C. 2 The 61 F.C. (Luton) 1,  attendance 17

4’ 1-0

16’ 2-0 (pen)

85’ 2-1 (pen)

@ BerkoAstro

Ashlyns School

Chesham Road

Berkhamsted

HP4 3AH

No Admission or Programme.

With this being a 3G Pitch it was a ground I didn’t want to waste a Saturday on. However, despite having floodlights, Raiders have never played a midweek match here, probably due to the small amount of teams in the league, and the fixture scheduling meant they had played all their home games last season quite early on. The same has happened this time round. After today, they only have 2 more home matches to play, with one of them being before Christmas, so the opportunity to tick off this ground is nearly over for another season. With the 12.30 kick off at Old Wykehamists, this was the perfect time to bite the bullet and get this one out of the way.

The journey from Acton was trouble free and I was parked up here by 14.52. To be fair, despite my trepidation, the ground wasn’t as bad as I had feared. Okay, it is in a cage, with spectator access limited to a small section of one side, but it does have a good sized seated stand and with such a small crowd the view from here was fine. There were two temporary dugouts on the far side, but these were soon dismantled, as they were being battered by the wind and becoming a safety issue.

Raiders started the day in third place in the league table, whilst the visitors were eleventh. A blistering start from the hosts saw them score two early goals, but the game seemed to go off the boil from then on. The 61 F.C. came into it more during the second half and had they scored their goal a little bit earlier, then they might have got a draw. With seven minutes of added time at the end of the second half, this didn’t finish until 16.54.

This now leaves Division 1 and 2 of this league complete. Just Crawley Green to do in the top division, which although it is another 3G, at least it is a proper ground, where there was originally a grass pitch, when it was home to Isthmian League club, Vauxhall Motors, who vacated the ground back in 1991.

Arthurian League

Premier Division

Saturday 8th December 2018

Kick Off 12.30. On Time !

Old Wykehamists 2 Old Bradfieldians 0,  attendance 7

50’ 1-0 (pen)

77’ 2-0

@ Club Des Sports, 3G Pitch

The Park Club

East Acton Lane

Acton

London

W3 7HB

No Admission or Programme.

It is nice to see that not all venues that have 3G Pitches installed have to have them inside soulless cages, with little or no spectator access. In fact, if it wasn’t for the spare sets of goal posts dotted around the inside of the rail, you could watch this match without really noticing that it wasn’t being played on grass. The only downside here, is the fact that you have to pay to park your car inside the barriered car park, at a cost of £1.50 per hour, with payment only possible by bank card. As I only arrived at 12.20, at least I was only charged for 2 hours parking.

The game, which was 7th versus 2nd in the league table, didn’t go the way the league positions might have suggested. Old Bradfieldians offered very little, but Old Wykehamists (they are from Winchester College) didn’t look capable of actually winning the game themselves, as they were limited to a few long range efforts that never looked like ever going in. When they went ahead, with a penalty, it gave them something to hold on to, but they were never really put under any pressure and they wrapped it up with an angled shot into the far corner of the net with thirteen minutes left on the clock.

As this finished at 14.07, it meant I was able to head off to my first choice match for my afternoon entertainment. I had the back up of Lampton Park, who play at the Middlesex F.A. Ground, in Northolt, but as my preferred game was well within reach due to the prompt finish here, then it would be a hopefully traffic free journey out of London on the A40, before heading clockwise round the M25……

British Universities & Colleges Sport

Midlands 3B

Wednesday 5th December 2018

Kick Off 13.30 Actual 13.31

Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge) 3 East Anglia University 2nds 2,  attendance 7

15’ 1-0

19’ 1-1

61’ 2-1

73’ 3-1

81’ 3-2

@ Girton Recreation Ground

Cambridge Road

Girton

CB3 0FH

No Admission or Programme.

Girton Recreation Ground is where Girton United play their home matches in the Cambridgeshire County League. There is a plaque on the wall of the changing room building that commemorates the life of Victor ‘Vic’ Watson, who played for West Ham United, Southampton and England, who was ‘Girton’s Greatest Footballer’. I had never heard of him, but a quick check tells me he still holds the record for the most goals scored for West Ham United, having amassed 326 goals from 505 appearances, as well as 4 more for England, in 5 appearances. He also scored fourteen goals in 36 matches for Southampton.

As for the match, Ruskin were second bottom in the league table, whilst East Anglia were top and unbeaten before today. It was an excellent match, where both teams played an open game, attacking at every opportunity. The highlight of the match was the second goal for Ruskin, which was as near to a ‘Trevor Sinclair’ volleyed goal you are ever likely to see (it was for Q.P.R. v Barnsley in the F.A. Cup in 1997, which won BBC’s ‘Goal of the Season’ award). If only the television cameras had been here today………

Anglian Combination League

Premier Division

Saturday 1st December 2018

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.02

Hellesdon 2 Mattishall 2,  attendance 17

12’ 1-0

60’ 1-1

64’ 2-1 (pen)

88’ 2-2 (pen)

@ Hellesdon Community Centre

Woodview Road

Hellesdon

NR6 5QB

Admission, by donation box collection.

Programme, free (cover price £1.50), 28 pages.

Earlier in the week I had planned to stop over after the match at Stalham, with this being my intended choice for today, as the club are rumoured to be moving from Hellesdon Community Centre some time in the near future. However, the weather forecast for this area was dreadful for Saturday, so upon leaving home, I had given up on the intended stopover, but as the day went on, the forecast was improving, so I made a late decision to stop after all and hope that my first choice match would survive the elements. As it turned out, the heavy rain that was forecast never materialised and although there was light rain in the hour leading up to kick off, there was only drizzle to contend with during the match.

Hellesdon came into this in 15th place in the league table (second from bottom), whilst the visitors were ninth. It was a pretty feisty affair and somewhat surprising that it finished with both teams having their full eleven on the pitch at the end, as there were quite a few dodgy tackles going in.

Hellesdon scored early, but were unable to add to it. Mattishall had a man ‘sin binned’ early in the second half, but it was during this time that they scored an equaliser. Within a minute of the player returning, they conceded a penalty, to go 2-1 behind. With time running out, Hellesdon threw away the 3 points when they gave away a penalty themselves and Mattishall duly converted the spot kick to take a share of the points. As at Caister last week, it was very gloomy when the final whistle went at 15.51.

As the ground is not enclosed, the club can’t charge admission, but they do come round with a collection box at the start of the second half, giving a copy of the matchday programme to those who donate, although the price on the cover says they are  £1.50. It always amazes me how people are prepared to stand in the rain for a couple of hours, but are not prepared to help the club by making a small donation towards the cost of putting the match on.

Anglian Combination League

Division 1

Friday 30th November 2018

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.32

Stalham Town 1 Reepham Town 3 (Abandoned 59 minutes due to player injury). attendance 59

8’ 0-1

29’ 1-1

42’ 1-2

53’ 1-3

@ The Football Development Centre @ Flegg High School 

Somerton Road

Martham

NR29 4QD

No Admission or Programme.

This match was switched here due to a Stalham Town player winning a competition whereby his team got to play a home match at the new 3G Pitch at Flegg High School. Not much of a prize really, as it is just a standard caged pitch, although there is spectator access along half of one side. Unfortunately, due to a serious injury to a Stalham player, the match was abandoned just short of the hour mark. At least it only took the Referee eleven minutes from the time of the injury, until abandoning the game, rather than dragging things out unnecessarily.

It was disappointing for Reepham, because they were well worth the 1-3 lead that they had built up when the match was brought to a halt, which would have been only their second league win of the season, but this leaves them rooted to the bottom of the league table.

British Universities & Colleges Sport

South Eastern 1A

Wednesday 28th November 2018

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.08

East London University 8 Reading University 0,  attendance 20

2’ 1-0

18’ 2-0

36’ 3-0

58’ 4-0

73’ 5-0

86’ 6-0

90’ 7-0

90’ + 3, 8-0

@ Mabley Green 3G Pitch No.2

Mabley Green Park

Lee Conservancy Road

Hackney

London

E9 5HW

No Admission or Programme.

Here at Mabley Green Park there are two 3G Pitches. Running parallel with the road, is Pitch No.1, which has a couple of steps of terracing as well as a spectator rail along one side. Next to this, is Pitch 2, which is a newer addition to the complex, but there are no spectator facilities with this pitch, although as there is a 10 yards gap between the touch line and fence, viewing from inside the cage was no problem.

This looks like a real freak result, especially considering that league  leaders Reading were undefeated in their first six matches, winning five of them. However, in the end, they were lucky the score wasn’t double this, and even if they hadn’t missed a penalty, awarded when the score was already 4-0, they still took a real hammering and if you’re going to lose your unbeaten record, then you might as well do it in style !

The win leaves East London in third place in the league table, level on points with Chichester and just three points behind Reading, having a game in hand over both. Crucially, the game in hand is against bottom team Surrey.

It was a very gloomy day, but at least it remained dry, although it was very windy at times. The floodlights finally came on with just three minutes of normal time left on the clock, but they could have done with being put on 15-20 minutes earlier.

Below photo : East London make it 3-0 with a free kick that went under the wall.

Anglian Combination League

Premier Division

Saturday 24th November 2018

Kick Off 14.00. On Time !

Caister 2 Sheringham 5,  attendance 39

15’ 1-0

41’ 1-1

58’ 2-1

62’ 2-2

76’ 2-3 (pen)

81’ 2-4

90’ + 2, 2-5

@ Caister Playing Field

Allendale Road

Caister-on-Sea

NR30 5ES

No Admission or Programme.

With the east of the country being forecast to be rain free, which indeed it was, it seemed the best area to head for today. The choice of match was quite easy, with the league leaders at home to sixth place in the table. The ground here only has changing rooms, with the club headquarters being elsewhere in the town. At least they made an effort with serving hot drinks at halftime though, which were well received on a cool afternoon.

Caister were the better side for the majority of the first half, but only went in level at 1-1. When they regained the lead with a shot that went in off the underside of the crossbar, just before the hour mark, I thought they would go on to win the game comfortably, but a neat one-two on the edge of the box saw a shot into the far corner of the net level it up at 2-2 less than five minutes later. The game hinged on a red card for the Caister No.5 after seventy six minutes, when he made a superb save on the line, with his ‘keeper well beaten. Sheringham duly dispatched the penalty and made the extra man advantage count by adding a couple of late goals to give them a resounding win. Despite the defeat, Caister remain top of the league table, with Sheringham moving up to fifth place.

On these last few Saturdays leading up to Christmas, over here in the east, two o’clock is really too late to be kicking off without floodlights. When the match finished at 15.49, the light was really poor and more akin to a midweek match in September, when leagues try and cram an extra round of fixtures in, when there really isn’t enough daylight available.

Liverpool F.A. Senior Cup

1st Round

Wednesday 21st November 2018

Kick Off 20.00 Actual 20.02

Lower Breck 2 Skelmersdale United 0,  attendance 261

35’ 1-0

66’ 2-0

@ Anfield Sports & Community Centre, 3G Pitch

Breckside Park

Lower Breck Road

Liverpool

L6 0AG

£3 Admission

£1.50 Programme, 28 pages, plus free team sheet.

On first impressions, the programme looks decent and you are issued a match specific ticket when you pay your admission money at the reception area to the building, but……..you then notice the wrong date on both the programme cover and the ticket. Opening the programme and reading the first page of text and it gets worse….twice they use ‘there’, instead of ‘their’……I couldn’t be bothered to read on, but I wouldn’t imagine it got any better.

I have been to many Hellenic League grounds over the years, which are possibly the worst standard Step 6 grounds you could possibly come across, but these dreadful 3G caged grounds make those seem far better than they were. I would probably put this ground top of the list of ‘worst ground of the current Step 6 set up’. It is just accessible down one side and behind one goal. As for the tiny atcost stand that is plonked in one corner, well what a waste of time that is, but as we all know, the F.A. will say it ‘ticks all the boxes’.

On the pitch however, Lower Breck are really impressive. They are currently in fourth place in the North West Counties League, Division 1 North, whilst tonight’s visitors are two levels higher, in the Northern Premier League, West Division, although they are propping up the table. The opening goal came against the run of play, but they dominated the second half and once they scored the second goal it was game over. It was an excellent crowd ( I only counted 234, but still very good) swelled by a good away following, despite it being a really cold night in such an exposed ground. At least it was dry.

The journey home wasn’t as bad as it could have been, considering the M6 was closed from Junction 15-14 and the M25 was closed from Junction 11-10, but I still made it home for 02.10.

British Universities & Colleges Sport

Northern Conference Cup 3rd Round

Wednesday 21st November 2018

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.01

Bangor University 3 Newcastle University 2nds 4,  attendance 16

2’ 0-1

36’ 0-2

53’ 1-2

75’ 2-2

77’ 2-3

83’ 2-4

90’+2, 3-4

@ Nantporth 3G Pitch

Holyhead Road

Bangor

LL57 2HQ

No Admission or Programme.

After staying overnight in Bangor, this was my obvious choice for this afternoon. The 3G Pitch here is next door to the stadium of Bangor City, which is behind the left hand goal, down in a hollow and running in the opposite direction. It is also where the teams got changed for today’s match.

The five hour journey for Newcastle will have felt all the better having progressed into the quarter finals with this win. They were coasting at halftime, but a free kick early in the second half lifted the spirits of Bangor and they drew level with a shot from a tight angle that went through the ‘keeper’s legs with fifteen minutes left on the clock. However, within two minutes, Newcastle were back in front and when they made it 2-4 with seven minutes left, it looked all over. Bangor pulled it back to 3-4 in stoppage time, but despite playing an additional seven minutes, they were unable to force an equaliser.

Welsh Alliance

Division 2

Tuesday 20th November 2018

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.31

Pwllheli 3 Amlwch Town 0,  attendance 37

49’ 1-0

56’ 2-0

64’ 3-0

@ Treborth Playing Fields

Treborth Road

Bangor

LL57 2RQ

No Admission or Programme.

Having had a successful run in the cup matches this season, Pwllheli have fallen behind in their league matches, having only played 4 games so far, which leaves them second from bottom in the league table. Amlwch are propping up the table, coming into this having lost all ten of their games.

Their own ground doesn’t have floodlights, so in an effort to catch up their fixture backlog, Pwllheli hired the floodlit ground at Treborth Playing Fields, (belonging to Bangor University) which is Pitch 4 according to the map of the complex that was on the changing room building wall.

Amlwch battled well, although they did ride their luck at times, but when Pwllheli broke the deadlock early in the second half, then added another two soon after, it was game over. With a three goal lead, they took their foot off the pedal and coasted to a comfortable three points. The win lifted them three places up the league table, and if they were to win their games in hand, they could go up to second place, just two points behind leaders Blaenau Amateurs. Despite kicking off a minute late, this was a very prompt finish. The players stayed on the pitch at halftime, rather than trek the 200 yards back to the changing rooms, so we were done and dusted by 21.09.

I know the Welsh have their own language, but didn’t realise they also have a different way of counting numbers. According to the league website, the official attendance tonight was 70. It wouldn’t have reached that total even if you included the players !