Today’s match was 3rd versus 4th in the league table. Flitch United were 7 points behind the leaders Stanway Pegasus, but with two games in hand. Great Bentley were two points further adrift, but have an additional two games in hand, so they were both still very much in with a shout of winning the league.
Flitch United scored after just 30 seconds when a speculative shot found the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the box. It was 2-0 half an hour in, with a volleyed finish from twenty yards. Great Bentley had actually had the better chances, but it took them until just before the hour mark to make a breakthrough, when a cross from the right was chested down and guided into the bottom corner from 6 yards. They really pressed for an equaliser, which they finally got with eight minutes left, heading in from a corner. The inevitable winner followed four minutes later. The ball was hooked back across the six yard box and scrambled in at the far post.
It is quite rare to get a match outside the top two levels of Dutch football being played on a Friday night, so when this ‘Zeeland Derby’ was switched to a Friday evening, it was too good an opportunity to miss. Even better, it was less than two and a half hours drive (via the Terneuzen Tunnel Toll Road, which costs €5 each way)from the Eurotunnel terminal in France.
Hoek is only 22 miles south of Goes,(via the Terneuzen Tunnel) so a big crowd was anticipated. The visitors even laid on extra coaches to transport their fans to the match. Non Members were being charged €20 for the round trip of less than fifty miles. Perhaps a well known ground hop organisation from England were advising them on their pricing! G.O.E.S. were certainly geared up for their biggest crowd of the season, including additional car parking, the arrangements having been posted on their website a few days in advance. Even though we knew about this, we decided to drive as near to the ground as possible and take a chance on finding a parking place. Everything was barriered off, but the car parking steward took pity on us and allowed us to park in the area reserved for sponsors and officials. It saved us a ten minute walk after the game, which was invaluable, as it meant there would be no problem making our booked crossing on the way home.
Even though the club has the same name as the town, it is actually an abbreviation of their full title….Gezamenlijk Opwaarts Eendrachtig Sterk (English translation Together Upward United(ly) Strong). Back in 1911/12 they spent one season in the second level of Dutch football, whilst this season sees their return to the Derde Divisie, ( two divisions of equal standing, split between Saturday and Sunday clubs) which these days is level four of the pyramid, giving them a ‘rivalry’ with Hoek.
G.O.E.S. came into this 13th in the league table, but they have been a on a decent run of late, winning three and drawing one of their last five games. Hoek were in fifth place, but some 16 points adrift of table toppers Sparta Nijkerk. Despite the large crowd, which seemed to be split 60-40 in favour of the visitors, the atmosphere seemed rather subdued, although you wouldn’t have thought that would be the case from the welcome the Hoek fans gave the teams as they entered the pitch. They certainly took no notice of the plea on social media to refrain from using fireworks or flares!
Neither side looked to be getting on top for the first half hour, but the game turned the way of G.O.E.S. a few minutes later, when Hoek had a man red carded for a push inside the box and G.O.E.S. converted from the penalty spot to open the scoring. The all important second goal arrived seven minutes into the second half, with a ball pulled back across the six yard box easily side footed in at the far post. The 10 men never looked like getting back into it and G.O.E.S. easily held on for a comfortable 2-0 win.
It was once again a trouble free journey back to The Tunnel and we easily made it in time for our booked 00.20 return crossing. It was nice to be a part of history of sorts, as this would be the first Eurotunnel train to return to the U.K. following us leaving the European Union! As with our outbound train earlier in the day, it left six minutes late. At least the M20 was only closed from Junction 4 to 2, meaning our drive home took ten minutes longer than it should have.
Tiptree Engaine play their home matches at two different venues. Back in November I saw them play Alresford Colne Rangers at Burches Meadow, in Colne Engaine, where I witnessed a quite unbelievable match. Tiptree were 5-0 up after nineteen minutes, but conceded a goal four minutes into stoppage time, which resulted in the visitors winning the game 5-6!
Their other home ground is here at Thurstable School, where they normally play on a grass pitch. In an effort to catch up on their fixtures, they played this on the 3G Pitch, which is just a basic cage, having no designated spectator area, although there was no problem with spectators watching at pitch side.
The match was a real relegation battle, as third from bottom in the league table hosted second from bottom. Tiptree Engaine led 2-0 at the break, both goals courtesy of their No.14. It was 3-0 early in the second half, as the hosts began to get well on top. Their No.14 missed two great chances to complete his hat trick, but it wasn’t to be and an own goal saw Brantham pull it back to 3-1 late on.
£6 Admission, including Programme (they had run out, but still charged full price)
It is hard to believe that this 3G caged pitch meets the standard to play matches at Step 5. Stoneham moved into the ground a few weeks ago and surprisingly it is the sixth ground I have now visited in Stoneham Lane! There is just one Atcost seated stand and that is it. To use the toilets you would have to go back through the turnstiles, unless you didn’t need to use the facilities until after the players and officials left the pitch at halftime, when they finally opened the gate to the side.
The most ridiculous thing here is that you have to register to access the site in the first place. One rumour going round was that this is a requirement from the Hampshire F.A. (they paid for the development, which also has two other artificial pitches) so that they can monitor the demographic of users and how frequently they visit. Full personal details have to be given online in order to receive your ‘QR’ code, which is scanned just to get you into the reception area. It would be interesting to understand how this scheme complies with GDPR and how the personal data collected is managed. It is a pointless exercise though, as it is just as easy to just scan yourself in using someone else’s code as you can go in and out as many times as you want.
Every so often you visit a ground you wish you hadn’t bothered doing and this is one of them. You know how bland it will be before you go, but would expect far better for this level of football. The pitch even has other markings on it, which really shouldn’t be allowed so high up the pyramid. It makes matters worse when the club is not welcoming in the first place. They advertise admission which includes the programme, but having not produced enough, they still continue to charge full price to those outside the print run numbers. Having paid with a £10 note, I was given 2 x £1 and 2 x 20p coins as my change, which was apparently a genuine mistake by the gateman! It was soon rectified.
Despite this being 2nd versus 3rd in the league table, it was absolutely dreadful. These were two really poor sides and if they are this high up the table, just how bad are the teams below them. At least Horndean had a couple of shots, both early in the game. Stoneham were just awful.
K. Sporting F.C. Haren 1 K.F.C. Wezembeek-Oppem 4, attendance 28
24’ 0-1
44’ 1-1
53’ 1-2
74’ 1-3
90’ 1-4
@ Sporthalstraat 21
1130 Haren
No Admission or Programme.
In the end we made it in plenty of time for this one, arriving thirteen minutes before kick off and it kicked off three minutes late on top of that! Although it is a 3G Pitch, the surroundings look old, so it was probably a grass pitch originally.
The match was 12th versus 2nd in the league table. It wasn’t high on skill, which is what you’d expect at this level, but both teams had a go and there were plenty of chances at both ends. Wezembeek were in control, having gone ahead midway through the first half, but Haren levelled a minute before the break, when their winger cut inside and finished with a shot into the far corner. Wezembeek edged back in front early in the second half and deservedly added two more goals to run out comfortable 1-4 winners.
We were booked on the 21.36 Eurotunnel, which was the earliest available at the time of booking, due to planned engineering works. We knew we weren’t going to make it on time for check in due to watching the extra match, but rather than reschedule, we just took a chance and hoped for the best. We ended up being given the 2250, which wasn’t too bad, but made it onto the 22.42. This left seven minutes late, so we didn’t gain much, but it could have been worse. The M20 was once again closed between Junction 9 and 7 as we headed home and added to the fact that most of the M20 is restricted to a 50 mph limit from Ashford to the M26, then it meant arrival home was five minutes before midnight.
I had visited Bregel Sport on 12th September 2010, when they beat S.C. Zichen-Zussen-Bolder 2-0 in a Limburg Provincial 1 match. That game was played at their ‘Richter’ ground, but in 2013 (unknown to us until last season) they had moved to their new complex in Meistraat .
Today’s match was a mid table battle, as ninth hosted seventh. The first half was goalless, with neither team looking like making a breakthrough. The second half continued in the same vein, but it burst in to life when Bregel opened the scoring, when a free kick from just outside the box left the ‘keeper rooted to the spot as the ball flew into the top corner of the net. Achel levelled within two minutes, with a shot from 20 yards, that beat the ‘keeper into the bottom corner with the aid of a deflection.
Bregel got the winner through their No.9, who had come on as a second half substitute, when a cross from the left was headed in from 6 yards with eleven minutes left. They ended up playing the last eight minutes, plus almost four minutes of stoppage time, with 10 men, having had a defender red carded for dragging down an Achel striker as he tried to break clear. Achel pushed hard for an equaliser, but the Bregel defence stood firm.
We had been keeping an eye on the clock, hoping that the game wouldn’t finish too far past 16.15, as we had noticed that there was a 17.30 kick off in the north east of Brussels, and it was only a few miles off our route home. With a bit of luck we would make it, as according to SatNav it would take us just under an hour to drive the 58 miles. By 16.22 we were on our way……
This match was used to kill a bit of time for us and was less than fifteen minutes drive from our intended afternoon match. Having done a couple of games at this level on recent weekend trips, I wasn’t expecting too much. The two matches I have seen before were just too one sided. Today was far more competitive, although once Termien made the breakthrough they ran out comfortable winners.
The game was played on Pitch 2, which runs end on to the main stadium, being separated by the clubhouse/changing room building. I had seen the first team beat K. Daring Hugo Jeuk 3-1 in a Limburg Provincial 1 match back on 5th January 2014, but hadn’t paid any attention to the other pitches within the complex.
Having taken no photographs on my visit to the main stadium, I decided to do so today. The ground looks unchanged in the intervening six years. (See below).
K. Stormvogels Haasrode 1 V.C. Houtem-Oplinter 1, attendance 130
45’ 1-0
53’ 1-1
@ Kartuizerstraat 2
Haasrode
3052 Blanden
€7 Admission
No Programme.
We were staying overnight in Leuven, so we checked in at our hotel before heading off to our evening matches. The driver was heading for O.H.R. Huldenberg in Brabant Provincial 1, but I had visited there in November 2014, so I needed an alternative. Haasrode fitted the bill, as it was an easy drop off en route to Huldenburg, without going too far out of the way.
Haasrode started the game in twelfth place in the league table, whilst Houtem-Oplinter were second, two points adrift of the leaders Sportief Rotselaar. The first half was very dull. Neither team managed an effort on target until Haasrode opened the scoring in the dying seconds of the half, when a shot on the turn from the edge of the box went in off the inside of the post. Houtem-Oplinter went up a gear in the second half, levelling the score with a close range finish after Haasrode had failed to clear a corner. They were unlucky not to nick a winning goal as they were well on top for the last half an hour, twice hitting the crossbar. Haasrode nearly won it in stoppage time though, when they broke clear, but the ‘keeper saved well with his legs.
During the afternoon game it had been misty, but as we headed eastwards, it became more foggy. Although it swirled over the stands for much of the match, it never became bad enough for the game to be under threat of not lasting the full ninety minutes, although I believe that wasn’t the case down the road in Huldenberg!
At this time of year you can never guarantee everything going to plan. We were booked on the 09.20 Eurotunnel, but were loaded on the earlier 08.50 train, which left a minute early. We knew we would get at least three games in over the weekend, but things turned out better than expected.
Our day was starting in the bottom level of Oost Vlaanderen Provincial, where we would see fifth in the league table hosting fourth place. The game was lacking in skill, but was very entertaining. Neigem scored early on and could easily have been five or six goals ahead, but for some dreadful finishing. Winnik levelled in stoppage time, when a long range effort was spilled by the ‘keeper, with the ball volleyed in by a striker following in.
Winnik never really got going in the second half, despite kicking down the slope. The game could have gone either way, but as we approached the final ten minutes, a long ball was played over the top and as the Winnik ‘keeper game out to scoop the ball up, he misjudged the bounce, with the loose ball scrambled over the line to put Neigem 2-1 up. A third goal for the hosts finally made the game safe in the last minute. There was still time for a Neigem player to receive a yellow card, when he removed his shirt as he walked towards the bench as he was being substituted!
S.K. Munkzwalm 5 K. Standaard S.V. Denderleeuw 3, attendance 206
3’ 0-1
12’ 1-1
17’ 2-1 (pen)
49’ 3-1
59’ 3-2
70’ 3-3
82’ 4-3
85’ 5-3
@ Zwalmmeersch
Rekegemstraat 19/1
9630 Munkzwalm
€5 Admission
Team Sheet, free.
Today was the first trip to Belgium of the new year and indeed new decade. With the only Provincial 1 matches we hadn’t visited being too far east to risk the weather, we played safe and chose to stay west of Brussels, taking in the Oost Vlaanderen 2B runaway leaders S.K. Munkzwalm. With the 3G pitch here, our only problem would be snow, but it was a pleasant day in the end and quite warm when the sun broke through.
Munkzwalm saw their 13 point lead at the top temporarily cut back to 10 points, as second placed K.V.C. De Toekomst Borsbeke won 2-0 last night. Today’s visitors, Denderleeuw, came into this in sixth place in the league table, just 4 points off third place.
Denderleeuw opened the scoring with a curling shot into the top corner after just three minutes, but Munkzwalm had turned it round by the seventeenth minute, levelling it up with a close range finish, following a blocked shot, before converting a penalty, awarded for a trip, to make it 2-1, which was how it remained until halftime. It was 3-1 within minutes of the restart, but two goals for the visitors, both scored from the edge of the 18 yard box, pulled it back to 3-3 with twenty minutes left. Munkzwalm won it with two goals in the last eight minutes, capitalising on two defensive mistakes, when a sliced clearance from a defender was volleyed in from 6 yards for 4-3, before a misplaced pass was intercepted by the winger who scored with a shot off the inside of the post to make it 5-3. Denderleeuw had a man sent off in the last minute following his second yellow card.
The decade got off to a good start as far as The Tunnel was concerned. We were booked on the 09.20 outbound, but were in time to be boarded on the 08.50 instead, whilst we made our planned 19.20 return train without any problems. The train even left a minute early in both directions!
Above : Munkzwalm go 2-1 up from the penalty spot.
