Essex & Suffolk Border League

Premier Division

Saturday 9th November 2019

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.03

Tiptree Engaine 5 Alresford Colne Rangers 6, attendance 14

6’ 1-0

9’ 2-0

13’ 3-0

17’ 4-0

19’ 5-0

20’ 5-1

22’ 5-2

51’ 5-3

63’ 5-4

87’ 5-5

90’ + 4, 5-6

@ Burches Meadow

Pebmarsh Road

Colne Engaine

CO5 2HD

No Admission or Programme.

Back during my time living in Belgium, I saw what I thought was the most remarkable comeback I would ever witness at a ‘live’ match. On 23rd January 2014, at a Brabant Provincial 3B match between F.C. Limelette and Union Sportive D’ Ophain, I saw the visitors race into a 0-5 lead after 37 minutes. Somehow, Limelette clawed their way back, levelling it up at 5-5 with sixteen minutes left and they nearly pulled off an incredible turnaround when they hit the crossbar with the last kick of the match.

As we approach six years since that unbelievable night, I was to see a five goal deficit actually turned round again, but this time it went one better, as it finished with a winner. Tiptree Engaine came into this match in twelfth place in the league table, in what is their first season in the Premier Division, having only been formed in 2013. Alresford Colne Rangers were third and could even end the day in second place if other results went their way.

When Tiptree scored an early opener, I thought “at least it makes a game of it”. A second goal, a superb volley from the edge of the 18 yard box, soon followed. Four minutes later it was 3-0, then 4-0 and very quickly 5-0, and we had only been playing nineteen minutes!

Surely the game was out of reach for Alresford. Within three minutes though, it was 5-2, and we had already seen seven goals in the opening twenty two minutes. Tiptree missed two absolute sitters and had an effort hit the crossbar, but somehow we reached halftime with no further goals scored.

A header was glanced in to pull it back to 5-3 early in the second half. Could the comeback really be on. Just after the hour mark it was 5-4 and there was plenty of time for an equaliser. Both teams were still going all out for goals, which was the best tactic, as neither defence looked like they were capable of holding out. Tiptree were visibly tiring, playing on the break, whilst Alresford really began to build the pressure. Tiptree missed three or four great chances, which at least forced the ‘keeper to make a save each time and then hit the crossbar with an effort that would have surely sewn the game up. Alresford finally got the goal their second half performance deserved, to make it 5-5 after 87 minutes. They weren’t satisfied with that though. Four minutes into stoppage time they were awarded a free kick ten yards into the Tiptree half of the pitch, but wide on the left touch line. The ball was played high into the box and a combination of strikers, defenders, and the home ‘keeper challenged for the dropping ball and somehow it managed to fall perfectly for Alresford to force the ball over the line for an unbelievable winner.

It would be nice to think I will see a better game than this as the season progresses, but somehow, I don’t think I will. Just brilliant!

British Universities & Colleges Sport

South Eastern Conference Cup 1st Round

Wednesday 6th November 2019

Kick Off 18.45 Actual 18.49

Middlesex University 5 Queen Mary University 2nds (Barts) 2, attendance 2

6’ 0-1

30’ 0-2

32’ 1-2

51’ 2-2

68’ 3-2

71’ 4-2 (pen)

76’ 5-2

@ St. James’ Catholic High School, 3G Pitch

Grahame Park Way

Colindale

London

NW9 5PE

No Admission or Programme.

It was only 50 miles from Cambridge, but the journey took just short of two hours to drive. The pitch here has only recently opened and although it only has spectator access along one side, it doesn’t feel like a normal caged pitch as there is plenty of room between the barrier and perimeter fence, but it probably couldn’t be used to stage ‘non league’ matches as the spare goals for 5-a-side football stay inside the barrier and are no more than a foot from the touch line, so it would fail on safety grounds.

Barts went 0-2 up, having dominated the opening half hour, with Middlesex struggling to contain them, but an absolute thunderbolt free kick from 30 yards pulled it back to 1-2 and the game completely changed. When Middlesex levelled it up at 2-2 early in the second half, there was only going to be one winner, and they added three more goals to ease to a comfortable 5-2 win, which certainly didn’t look likely following the opening stages of the match.

British Universities & Colleges Sport

Midlands 1A

Wednesday 6th November 2019

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.09

Cambridge University 2 University East Anglia 0, attendance 8

45’ 1-0

66’ 2-0 (pen)

@ Clare College Sports Ground

Bentley Road

Cambridge

CB2 8AW

No Admission or Programme.

Clare College Sports Ground is a multi sport complex with 2 tennis courts, a central cricket square and 4 football pitches around this. Today’s match was played on the pitch in the near left corner, (when looking from the clubhouse) running lengthways away from the tennis courts that are behind the end nearest the car park.

This was evenly contested throughout, although Cambridge always looked the better side. It was hard to see where a goal would come from, but we finally got a breakthrough right on halftime, when a long ball over the top saw the big No.9 outmuscle a defender and fire home a shot off the inside of the far post. The second half saw the game become stretched and Cambridge made sure of the points when they converted a penalty, that was awarded for a handball.

Essex F.A. Premier Cup

2nd Round

Saturday 2nd November 2019

Kick Off 13.30. On Time !

Runwell Sports 2 Clapton Community 1, attendance 112

46’ 1-0

54’ 1-1 (pen)

73’ 2-1

@ Runwell Sports & Social Club

St. Luke’s Way

St. Luke’s Park

Runwell

SS11 7QA

No Admission or Programme.

I had my eye on this match when it was originally played a couple of weeks ago. Clapton Community won 2-1, but it came to light afterwards that roll on/roll off substitutions were used, which is not permitted in this competition, so the match had to be replayed.

Runwell Sports (they were formerly named Runwell Hospital, which you would still think is the case, with all the signage around the ground still having ‘Hospital’ displayed) play in the Essex Olympian League, sitting third from bottom of Division 1 (level 2) with just one win from six matches played. Clapton Community, despite being an Essex club, play in the Middlesex County League, Premier Division, which is one level higher than Runwell. They are currently twelfth in the league table, but have played the least number of matches of all the clubs and are ten points behind the leaders, but do have three games in hand.

Clapton Community are a break away club from the original Clapton F.C. and are fan owned. They get very big home crowds and certainly have a large away support, that many clubs higher up the pyramid can only dream of. They had at least three quarters of the crowd today, which included a very loud contingent of ‘ultras’ who sang for the entire match, although very few of the songs were in English. Today’s crowd was a very impressive 112, although well short of the 157 that were reported to have been at the first game.

With the overnight rain causing many postponements, I thought I might have to resort to watching a game on a 3G pitch, but Clapton Community tweeted at 11.15 saying that Runwell were reporting no problems pitch wise, so I headed off to Essex. The rain was torrential as I joined the M25 and there was loads of surface water for the first ten miles or so. As I approached the Dartford Crossing the rain was down to just drizzle and as I headed east along the A13 it had stopped and patches of blue sky were appearing. I arrived at the ground in plenty of time, just in case I needed to head off elsewhere, but was pleased to follow two coaches into the car park, which were the away team and a supporters coach, so it was looking good. The pitch was perfect and both teams even did their warm ups on it, rather than on one of the handful of side pitches here.

The first half was absolutely dire. It came to life four minutes before halftime, when a bit of a scuffle, initiated by Clapton, saw each team having a man sent off. From the resulting free kick, Clapton saw a header rebound off the crossbar in what was the only effort on goal from either side in the half. Runwell opened the scoring within seconds of the restart and we finally had a game on. Clapton levelled from the penalty spot following a foul by the home ‘keeper and both teams went for a winner. Runwell went 2-1 in front when a free kick on the left hand touch line was played into the box for an unmarked header from six yards. Clapton pressed for an equaliser, but just couldn’t find the finishing touch to a number of good chances. The final whistle saw a pitch invasion from the home supporters, many having clearly been in the clubhouse enjoying a beer or two whilst watching England in the ‘kick and clap’ World Cup Final earlier in the day. We even had a streaker during the second half, running around in nothing but a pair of boxing gloves!

Belgium

West Vlaanderen Provincial Cup 1/8 Final

Friday 1st November 2019

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.05

K.F.C. Eendracht Hooglede 2 K. White Star Lauwe 2 (4-5 pens), attendance 89

13’ 1-0

26’ 1-1

52’ 1-2

84’ 2-2

@ Oude Rozebekestraat 55A

8830 Hooglede

€5 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

It was All Saints Day in Belgium, which meant teams without floodlights could play their match during the afternoon, which was perfect for us. We had two options today, here, or an all Provincial 3 tie at K.S.V. Kortrijk. Hooglede are also in the third level of West Vlaanderen football, lying in 11th place in 3C, but the visitors, from Lauwe, are sixth in Provincial 1, so this looked the more interesting tie.

Hooglede went in front with an effort that just about crossed the line, according to the Linesman. A combination of an injury to a defender and a repair to the back station of the goal, that was dislodged during the attempt to clear the ball, meant a delay of five minutes before we got back underway. White Star were level before the half hour mark, but it remained 1-1 at the break. They edged in front early in the second half when the Hooglede ‘keeper made a save, only to see the ball hit a defender running back towards goal and the ball rebounded off him into the net. It looked like this might be enough for them, but following a late spell of pressure, Hooglede deservedly equalised, with a free kick that the ‘keeper should really have saved at his near post. No extra time here, so straight to penalties to decide the winner. The first eight kicks were scored, before Hooglede sent their fifth kick sailing high and wide and Lauwe netted their final kick to go through to the Quarter Finals, thereby qualifying for next seasons Belgian F.A. Cup in the process.

For once, Eurotunnel actually ran to time. If only this could become the norm. Having had a clear run down to Folkestone we arrived in plenty of time for our booked 09.20 crossing, so were offered a place on the 08.50 instead, which left two minutes early. The return was much the same. Instead of our booked 18.50 train back, we were offered the earlier 18.20, which left four minutes early. Even the M20, M26 and M25 were clear for the drive home.

Belgium

West Vlaanderen Provincial Cup 1/8 Final

Wednesday 30th October 2019

Kick Off 20.00 Actual 20.02

K. Sporting Club Blankenberge 5 K.S.V. Moorsele 1, attendance 64

24’ 1-0

30’ 2-0

35’ 3-0

38’ 3-1

79’ 4-1

83’ 5-1 (pen)

@ Sport Vlaanderen Blankenberge

Koning Boudewijnlaan 15/B

8370 Blankenberge

€7 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

This tie was originally scheduled to be played on Pitch 2, which is a 3G, and was to be played on Friday afternoon (which is a Bank Holiday in Belgium) when I have other options of matches, but thankfully, it was rescheduled to be played tonight, and even better, it was being played on the main stadium.

K.S.C. Blankenberge are ninth in Provincial 1, with K.S.V. Moorsele currently sitting top of the league table in 3C. Moorsele did play some very nice football and it is easy to see why they are top of their division, but the gap of playing two levels lower than Blankenberge was just too much for them to overcome. When Blankenberge went 3-0 up ten minutes before halftime, it looked all over, but Moorsele pulled it back to 3-1 within minutes to keep them in the game. Moorsele were reduced to 10 men late in the second half, when they lost a player to injury, having already used all of their substitutions. Blankenberge took full advantage and added two more goals, rounding off a resounding 5-1 win, scoring the final goal of the evening from the penalty spot. This now completes visits to all the West Vlaanderen Provincial 1 grounds for me.

A trip on The Tunnel just wouldn’t be the same without Eurotunnel showing their total incompetence in running to a timetable. We were booked on the 14.20 outbound train, but this was retimed to 14.30, which then left twelve minutes late at 14.42. Our return was also late, although we were actually ahead of schedule. We were booked on the 01.22 back, as we had to allow for the possibility of extra time and penalties. With the game decided in ninety minutes, it meant we made it back to The Tunnel in time to be offered the earlier 23.50 crossing, which is what we were really hoping would be the case. Despite this being retimed to 00.05 (actually left at 00.10) we still departed France 1 hour 12 minutes earlier than we were booked for. We did lose time on the drive from Folkestone, when the M20 was closed from Junction 6 to Junction 4.

Essex Olympian League

Premier Division

Saturday 26th October 2019

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.32

Old Southendian 2 Canning Town 1, attendance 27

45’ 1-0

52’ 1-1

71’ 2-1

@ Garon Park

Eastern Avenue

Southend-on-Sea

SS2 4FA

No Admission or Programme.

With rain forecast to be sweeping across the country from the west, I decided to head east, as it was not going to arrive here until around 3 o’clock. As it turned out, it was just after 4 o’clock when the rain started, so I only had twenty minutes or so to contend with it. A bigger problem, as far as affecting the game went, was the very strong wind that was blowing diagonally across the pitch, which both teams really struggled with.

The match was between two of the lower placed teams in the league. Old Southendian were second from bottom in the table, with Canning Town just two places above them. Old Southendian broke the deadlock in the last minute of the first half, but Canning Town levelled it up early in the second half, when their striker closed down an attempted clearance from a defender and the tackle saw the ball rebound over the ‘keeper from 30 yards out. What turned out to be the winning goal came on 71 minutes, with a shot on the turn from just outside the 18 yard box. The win lifts the hosts three places up the league table, leapfrogging Canning Town in the process.

The match was played on a section of the park that has three pitches. The players get changed in a pavilion which is part of Old Southendian & Southchurch Cricket Club, then walk the 50 yards or so to a gap in the perimeter fence, with the main pitch running widthways in front of you. Behind the left hand goal, running the opposite way, is what will be a new 3G Pitch, which according to the Essex Olympian League website is where games are being played at present! Perhaps when construction is completed, it may well be the case, but not yet.

Belgium

West Vlaanderen Provincial 4B

Wednesday 23rd October 2019

Kick Off 20.00 Actual 20.02

V.C. Vamos Zandvoorde 3 V.V. Eendracht Brugge 2, attendance 64

33’ 1-0

45’ 2-0

52’ 2-1

57’ 2-2 (pen)

85’ 3-2

@ Stationstraat 111

8400 Zandvoorde

€5 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

At the start of the 2018/19 season, Zandvoorde decided to change the name of the club, (having just suffered relegation to the lowest level of the Belgian pyramid at the end of the previous season) rebranding themselves as Vamos Zandvoorde instead of the original Union Zandvoorde title.There are still quite a few references to Union dotted around the ground, most notably the sign at the entrance to the car park.

On Sunday Zandvoorde travelled to the league leaders K.V.V. Artijke and came away with a 3-2 win, meaning if they won their game in hand, tonight, it would put them top of the table. They were well on top for the majority of the first half and having taken just over half an hour to edge in front, they deservedly added a second goal in the final minute of the half to take a comfortable 2-0 lead into the break. Brugge, who are ninth in the league table, must have had a good talking to at halftime, as they started the second period looking like a totally different team. A close range tap in saw them pull it back to 2-1 early in the second half and it was level at 2-2 just five minutes later, when a penalty was emphatically dispatched following a foul by the ‘keeper. Brugge looked very dangerous on the break, but it was Zandvoorde who nicked the winner, when a shot on the turn was smashed past the ‘keeper with five minutes left to send them top of the table.

We had travelled out on the 14.50 Eurotunnel, which according to the information screens would be running 30 minutes late, due to earlier ‘problems’, but it did in fact run as scheduled, although it departed three minutes late. The journey back to The Tunnel saw us arrive at 23.00 for our booked 23.50 return, which thankfully only left a minute late. With the M20 being closed between Junctions 9 and 8, it meant the drive home took fifteen minutes longer than normal.

Isthmian League

Premier Division

Tuesday 22nd October 2019

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.48

Horsham 1 Cray Wanderers 1, attendance 481 (official)

35’ 1-0

37’ 1-1

@ Hop Oast

Worthing Road

Horsham

RH13 0AX

£11 Admission

Programme available, but didn’t bother (Not when charged £11 to get in)

I had visited Horsham’s old Queen Street ground on 14th February 2004, where they beat Hampton & Richmond Borough 3-1 in an Isthmian League Division 1 South match, in front of 246 spectators. Having lost the use of the ground before their new home was built, they ended up in a ground share at Horsham Y.M.C.A. and I saw them draw 1-1 there, versus Maidstone United, again in an Isthmian League Division 1 South match, on 8th January 2013, but with a larger crowd of 275 in attendance.

This season they have moved into their new Hop Oast ground, which for the sake of sponsorship money, is currently known as The Camping World Community Stadium. The car park is too small to allow spectator use, but luckily the Horsham Park and Ride site is more or less opposite the ground, so no problem coping with the large crowds they are attracting. There is the very busy B2237 Worthing Road to cross, which would be far safer leaving people to their own devices, rather than rely on the ‘Lollipop Lady’ who seemed to make if far worse! Having negotiated that, you just have the driveway to the stadium to contend with, which is very poorly lit and it is only a matter of time before someone ‘slips’ as winter approaches and the ‘claim society’ we live in have a nice cash bonus heading their way. Even the Stewards, in their high visibility jackets, were carrying torches!

The ground is just as boring as all the other new builds, but on a slightly larger scale, but at least the club now have a ground of their own once more and they are attracting very good crowds. Tonight’s 481 was pretty impressive for a midweek match versus a club with no away support and I only spotted a handful of ground hoppers as many have already visited as they have played a number of floodlit fixtures in the last month or so.

The two clubs were promoted together from the Isthmian League South East Division at the end of last season. They were evenly matched, even down to the constant moaning and crowding of the match officials after every decision, which is something I come to expect at this level. Horsham opened the scoring with a stooping header from just inside the 18 yard box, but Cray were level within two minutes when Horsham failed to clear a cross and the ball was played back across the six yard box and headed in at the far post. Both teams had good chances to win it, but a draw was a fair result

Belgium

Division 2 Amateur V.F.V. A

Sunday 20th October 2019

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

F.C. Gullegem 0 K.S.V. Oudenaarde 4, attendance 323

16’ 0-1

33’ 0-2

44’ 0-3

67’ 0-4

@ Poezelhoek 12

Gullegem

8560 Wevelgem

€10 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

Today was another one off the list as I try to complete the ‘152’, or Belgian League, if you prefer. Division 2 Amateur is level 4 of the league and is split into three divisions, two Flemish (Dutch speaking) and one Walloon (French). The match was 7th versus 6th in the league table, with the visitors looking to climb back into Division 1 Amateur, having been relegated via a play off at the end of last season. The clubs are only 23 miles apart, so this meant there was a good away following, which was probably close on three figures and unlike the game at K.F.C. Witgoor Sport last week, there was no need for segregation.

The match was played at a good pace throughout. Oudenaarde were far too clinical, taking their chances, where Gullegem failed to make the most of theirs. The opener came after sixteen minutes, the ball rolled in from a tight angle, leaving the ‘keeper stranded, before the second was added just after the half hour mark. A neat finish from 18 yards saw the game effectively sewn up in the last minute of the half. Gullegem never looked capable of pulling back the 0-3 deficit and Oudenaarde missed a hatful of chances, before making it 0-4 with another goal finished from a tight angle, having rounded the ‘keeper once more, just like the opening goal.

We were on the outbound 09.20 Eurotunnel this morning, which departed three minutes late. We were back at The Tunnel by 18.15, in plenty of time for our scheduled 19.20 return, but this was retimed to 19.24, then still left two minutes late!