Belgium
Division 2 Amateurs V.F.V. A
Sunday 4th November 2018
Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02
K.F.C. Mandel United Izegem-Ingelmunster 1 K. Olympia Sportkring Club Wijgmaal 0, attendance 259
90’ + 4, 1-0
@ Gemeentelijk Sportstadion
Bollewerpstraat 92B
8770 Ingelmunster
€12 Admission
Team Sheet, free.
Today, I was offered the chance to be dropped off in Ingelmunster, as the driver was heading off to watch Division 3 Amateur club K.F.C. Merelbeke, who are playing this season at the ground of Oost Vlaanderen Provincial club J.V. De Pinte. I had already visited that ground, but as my choice of match was en route, then it made perfect sense to be dropped here, especially as the ground here is supposed to be being vacated in the near future. With the match in Merelbeke kicking off half an hour earlier than ours, it meant the three of us being left here had plenty of time to stroll around the town (not that there is much to see !) then on to the stadium. Arriving here early meant we were in the clubhouse before the admission was being taken on the gate, and unusually for games in Belgium, they didn’t come round to collect any money from anyone already in the ground.
K.F.C. Mandel United Izegem-Ingelmunster is the result of a merger in 2017, between K.F.C. Izegem and Olympic Molen Sport Ingelmunster, with the first team playing matches here in Ingelmunster. Luckily, I had managed a visit to the ground of K.F.C. Izegem, when I saw them lose 1-2 to K. Racing Club Gent Zeehaven, in a Belgian League Division 3A match on 11th September 2013.
In Belgium, they have a system of qualifying for the end of season promotion play offs, by splitting the season into ‘periods’, where whoever finishes top of each set of 10 league matches advances to the play offs, along with the actual league champions. The system is not perfect, but it does mean clubs can be rewarded for going on a bit of a winning streak at various stages of the season.
It was all to play for in this match, with four teams still being in with a chance of finishing the day on top of the league table. K. Sint-Eloois-Winkel Sport were leading the way with 19 points, ahead of today’s visitors K. Olympia S.C. Wijgmaal, who were on the same points. K.F.C. Sparta Petegem were third, on 18 points, one above today’s hosts.
This was a pretty cagey match, with very few clear cut chances being created in the first half. For some reason, Ingelmunster came out for the second half having had a change of kit. The red shirts and black shorts were replaced by white shirt and shorts. The second half had more energy and the hosts began to build more pressure. They certainly stepped it up during the last quarter of an hour and were helped when Wijgmaal were reduced to ten men on 83 minutes, with a straight red card for a foul. Deep into stoppage time, a cut back on the right was diverted past his own ‘keeper by a defender attempting to block the cross. Judging by their desperation to get the goal, Ingelmunster must have known that St-Eloois-Winkel had lost 1-3 at home and Sparta Petegem had drawn 0-0 away. If they had kept a clean sheet, it would have been Wijgmaal that topped the table, but as it was, it was Ingelmunster who booked their ticket for the end of season play offs.
The driver was already waiting for us after the match and we were checked in at The Tunnel by 18.27, which was ample time for our booked 19.20 return. Unfortunately, Eurotunnel were once again providing their regular joke service, and for the second time in four days, it was their customers who would suffer their incompetence. They claimed that a train was broken down in the tunnel and their answer was just to suspend all trains, rather than moving the obstacle hastily……it is not like they haven’t faced the problem before, as it happens most days !
Again, we had continual lies of possible departures shown on the screens, with them adding half hour at a time to the expected delays. We eventually departed at 22.34…….3 hours 14 minutes late !!!!!!!
The delays in Calais also meant we would have the possible closure of the M20 to deal with as well. And yes, sure enough we did. It was closed from Junction 9 to Junction 7, which is pretty much the longest section you get on here. I finally got home at 23.50, which is unbelievable for a match that is only 158 miles away.
