Wessex Wanderers 0 North Bristol United 7, attendance 8
14’ 0-1
24’ 0-2
30’ 0-3
35’ 0-4 (pen)
40’ 0-5
62’ 0-6
79’ 0-7
@ South Bristol Sports Centre, 3G Pitch
West Town Lane
Knowle
Bristol
BS14 9EA
No Admission or Programme.
An early kick off here meant plenty of afternoon options to get a double in. The match was 6th versus 2nd in the league table, with ‘Premier 2’ being the second level of this league.
The match started off very evenly, but once North Bristol United went ahead, through a close range header, the game became very one sided. It was 0-5 at the break and the second half was a real non event, although the goal of the game, a 25 yarder into the top corner, rounded off a resounding win for the visitors, who now go top of the league, having won their opening four matches. I think the Referee felt sorry for Wessex, as he blew the full time whistle a couple of minutes early and we were done and dusted by 13.35, which meant I had even more time to make it to my second match, not that I needed it…….
Above : North Bristol United make it 0-4 from the penalty spot.
I had visited Badshot Lea back on 11th December 2004, when I saw them beat Kingsbury Rangers 2-1 in a Hellenic League Division 1 East match in front of 49 spectators. In those days they played at The Green, which was in the village of Badshot Lea itself, which is north east of Farnham. Nowadays, they are at their new facility in Wrecclesham, which is to the south west of Farnham.
The club had tweeted earlier in the day that the new pitch and drainage had stood up to the vast amount of rain over the last few days and that the game was going ahead without any problems. It was a bit concerning driving through torrential rain en route to the match and it was still raining heavily on arrival at the ground, but their confidence in the pitch was justified and at the end it was still in as good condition as when the game started.
The Premier Challenge Cup involves all Premier Division and Division 1 clubs, bar Jersey Bulls, as far as I can tell. This was an all Premier Division clash, seeing 13th place in the league table hosting 18th place. Badshot Lea wasted an absolute hatful of chances and should have won this with ease. It was 1-1 at halftime and remained so at 90 minutes. A cracking 25 yarder saw Badshot Lea regain the lead in the first period of extra time and they finally made it safe when they netted a third goal with six minutes of extra time left. Redhill could have easily won it with a bit more luck, as they struck the post twice and crossbar once, which could have swung the tie their way if any of those efforts had gone in.
The ground is typical of most new builds these days, although quite what the point is of putting their covered standing area where it is, is baffling. Set well back from the action and a blind spot view of the pitch in one corner due to the shabby looking ‘players tunnel’ blocking your view. As a ‘smoking area’ for those that require shelter whilst enjoying their filthy habit though, it’s just the job!
Above : Badshot Lea No.11 (obscured by the net) opens the scoring from a tight angle.
The three photos below show the shabby looking ‘players tunnel’, the blind spot view from the covered area and the awful choice of location for positioning it.
Today’s match would be between the only two clubs I haven’t visited in Brabant Provincial 1. Kester-Gooik have only been promoted this season and having played a few matches here at Wolvenstraat last season, it has now become their full time home. The ground originally had a grass pitch, but the area was flattened and the pitch was turned through ninety degrees and relaid as a 3G. The ground looks to have been built with little or no thought going into it. The seated area is uncovered and the viewing area outside the clubhouse is open to the elements as well, if you want a decent view of the game, as the cover that is available is set well back from the rail and totally useless.
Kester-Gooik came into this third from bottom in the league table, having taken just two points from their first four games. Diest, on the other hand, are third, with two wins and two draws from their opening four games. Diest were just too good for the hosts and once they opened the scoring it was a stroll in the park for them. They could have won by a much bigger margin, but they seemed content with just the three goals and never had to get out of second gear. It was nice to see they had a good away following, which was around one third of the crowd.
We were booked on the 09.20 outbound crossing on Eurotunnel, but actually travelled on the earlier 08.50 train. Our return also saw us leave ahead of our booked time, making the 19.36, rather than the 20.06 we should have been on. Have Eurotunnel finally worked out how to run to a timetable ?……probably not.
Above : The Diest No.9 sweeps in the opening goal.
Bromley Heath United are new additions to the Gloucestershire County League, having been promoted as champions of the Bristol & Suburban League Premier Division.
They have had a poor start to the season, having lost their opening five matches, which sees them one off the foot of the league table, courtesy of a better goal difference than bottom club Hardwicke. Wick arrived here as league leaders, having won five of their first six games, so this looked like it might be a predictable outcome, but that was not the case.
It was a pretty even first half, which saw both clubs have chances to go in front. A speculative shot, from the corner of the 18 yard box, was spilled by the Wick ‘keeper and was poked in from close range to give Bromley Heath the lead five minutes before the break. Wick piled on the pressure in the second half, but were not able to break down a very resolute home defence and the hosts hung on to gain their first win of the season, which sees them climb another place in the league table. The defeat sees Wick drop down to third.
This was a chance to see two of the new clubs that have joined the newly formed Division 2 of the Leicestershire Senior League. Northfield Emeralds finished third in the Leicestershire & District League Premier Division last season, whilst Sutton Bonington finished bottom of the North Leicestershire League Premier Division.
They have had contrasting starts to life playing at a higher level. Northfield Emeralds had won their opening six league matches, scoring 49 goals in the process and sit top of the league table. Sutton Bonington, on the other hand, had won just one of their four games, which was a 10-0 away win, which shows just how weak this new division is.
As a contest it was all over after ten minutes when Emeralds were already 2-0 up. Sutton Bonington did settle into the game though and actually created a few chances of their own, but it was 3-0 by halftime and Emeralds had also missed a penalty, which was well saved. The second half was one way traffic and Emeralds should have scored at least double the amount of goals they actually managed. Their No.9 managed to get himself booked twice in a minute with six minutes left on the clock, before Sutton Bonington scored a consolation goal with the last kick of the match.
Emeralds now top the league by six points and have a very impressive +51 goal difference. Lewis Turland scored four of their goals tonight, which if the stats on the F.A. Full Time website are correct, was the ninth hat trick by one of their players in the league this season, (by 6 different players) and the fourth time one have them have scored four goals, in a game (there has also been a 5 and 6 haul). Oddly enough, Nathan Kew-Moss has managed 4, 5 and 6 goals in games this season, but didn’t even get on the score sheet tonight!
As grounds go, this is probably the best one in this division by some distance. It does look a bit strange to see the pitch marooned somewhat in a large railed off area, but apparently this is due to the ground hosting Gaelic sports as well.
The drive from Ardingly saw me arrive twenty minutes before the scheduled kick off. It is always a pleasing sight when you are aiming for a double, to see the teams warming up on the pitch when you arrive, as there is always a possibility that they may have kicked off early if the earlier scheduled match at the ground hasn’t taken place for some reason.
Nutley are second from bottom in the league table of the Championship (level 2 of the league) having taken one point from their first four matches. Eastbourne Rangers are in the Premier Division, sitting third from bottom, also having just a single point, but from five games.
It was evident from the start that Eastbourne Rangers were from a higher division. They were ahead after just three minutes and by halftime it was 0-3 and they were coasting. A defender diverted a cross into his own net to make it 0-4 in favour of the visitors and that looked to be it. Nutley did reduce the arrears within two minutes, heading in from a corner, before a fine solo run and finish from midfield saw it pulled back to 2-4 with twenty five minutes left. Nutley never looked like scoring again though, even when Eastbourne Rangers had a player sin binned for the last ten minutes of the match.
There were double opportunities today in the Mid Sussex League as a number of 4 o’clock matches were scheduled. Rather than risk a cup match, with the possibility of games going to a penalty shoot out and possibly finishing too late to enable making it to a second match, I decided to play safe and do a league match for the first game.
Division 1 in this league is actually the third level (Premier Division, then Championship being the top two levels). These two had started the season losing their opening match, Ardingly going down 0-3 at home, whilst Lindfield II had been thrashed 10-0 at Holland Sports. Had I checked last weeks results beforehand, I probably wouldn’t have risked Lindfield II as the opposition today!
This was pretty much one way traffic from the off. Lindfield II were 0-3 up by halftime and also had 3 shots that hit the post with the ‘keeper nowhere near saving them. They added another couple in the first twenty minutes of the second half to make it 0-5. Ardingly played the last 21 minutes of the match with only 10 players, as they had already used all their substitutions when another player left the field with a head injury. Lindfield II seemed to take pity on them and the last quarter of an hour really dragged.
It seemed strange to be at a match this late in September where there were drinks breaks due to the warm weather. There was one midway through the first half, before two more followed in the second.
R. Union Saint-Ghislain Tertre-Hautrage 1 R. Leopold F.C. 1, attendance 127
13’ 1-0
84’ 1-1
@ Stade Saint Lo
Rue du Moulin 68
7330 Saint-Ghislain
€8 Admission
No Programme.
Having won Hainaut Provincial 1 last season, R. Union Saint-Ghislain Tertre-Hautrage have moved from their Stade Achille Bavier ground in Tertre, to this athletics stadium in Saint-Ghislain on their return to the Belgian League. It is quite distinctive, with its unusual blue running track, but oddly enough, the visitors also play at an athletics stadium that has a blue running track as well.
I only noticed this fixture had changed to a Friday night at around 17.30 on Thursday evening, and within half an hour it became apparent that they had indeed moved ground this season, so it was no problem filling the car for the trip across The Channel. We were booked on the 14.20 outbound crossing on The Tunnel, but having had a clear run down through Kent, we actually made it onto the 13.50, which left a minute early.
A quick look at the league table suggested this might not be the best of matches. Saint-Ghislain sat bottom, having lost all four of their matches, whilst Leopold were just two places above them, having picked up just two points from their first four games. Saint-Ghislain went ahead within a quarter of an hour with an angled shot across the ‘’keeper and Leopold had quite a few chances, some of them which looked harder to miss than score, but we reached the interval with it still 1-0. Leopold again had the better of the second half chances and they were finally rewarded with an equaliser, when a cross from the right was headed in from close range with six minutes left.
With the second half getting started nine minutes behind schedule, due to the Referee keeping both teams waiting on the pitch for a good five minutes before he reappeared, it meant we would be tight for our check in time for our 00.20 train home. We made it though and we actually left on time. Unfortunately, having arrived in Folkestone, a car ahead of us broke down, causing a fifteen minute delay to unloading, then a closure on the M20 meant we lost another 15 minutes on the diversion route.
Pontarddulais Town 6 Loughor Rovers 4, attendance 85
13’ 1-0
16’ 1-1
49’ 1-2
68’ 1-3
71’ 2-3 (pen)
74’ 2-4
84’ 3-4
86’ 4-4
90’+ 2, 5-4
90’+ 4, 6-4
@ Coed Bach Park
Gwynfryn Road
Pontarddulais
SA4 8LG
No Admission (they did do a raffle) or Programme.
When you drive into Coed Bach Park, the first thing you notice is the metal entrance gates to the smart ground on the right hand side of the car park. It is fully enclosed, floodlit and has cover on each side of the pitch. However, if you look a little to the right, you see a brick building and an open pitch. This is the football ground. The other, of course, is home to Pontarddulais R.U.F.C. who, as is normally the case in these parts, are the ones with all the facilities!
I rounded off my midweek ‘early kick offs’ (that’s it now until the end of March when the clocks go forward) with an absolutely cracking match here. Pontarddulais started the night tenth in the league table, whilst Loughor sat in sixth place. The first half was good, but it was only 1-1 at the break. The second half was superb. Loughor were 1-2 in front within minutes of the restart and then a substitute volleyed in to make it 1-3, with his first touch of the ball, as we approached the final twenty minutes. Pontarddulais replied with a penalty, before the same substitute scored again to put the visitors 2-4 ahead with sixteen minutes left and surely wrap up the points…….
Six minutes to go and Pontarddulais headed in from a corner. Two minutes later a long throw in was glanced past the ‘keeper to level it up at 4-4. Loughor had a great chance to regain the lead, but a couple of minutes into stoppage time Pontarddulais completed an incredible turnaround, with a cut in from the right that was finished with a low shot into the far corner. There was still time for them to add another goal, with a mirror image of the last one being well finished from the left. So, 6-4, but it could easily have been 10-10. What a game!
Both teams were on the pitch warming up at 17.30 and the Referee very sensibly got the match underway three minutes early at 17.57. We had two minutes of added time in the first half, six minutes for halftime, then a further four minutes of stoppages at the end of the match, but were still all done for 19.39. It wasn’t properly dark until I reached Port Talbot on the long trek home.
If you want a game without floodlights during this midweek, the only place you will still find games scheduled are in West Wales. There was a full programme of matches in the Swansea Senior League Divisions 1 and 2 tonight, so I went for the top division match that was 7th versus 11th (2nd bottom) in the league table.
Underhill Park is the main sporting hub in the town, hosting football, cricket and rugby. Mumbles Rangers play on Pitch 1 here, which is directly outside the changing rooms. It was roped along a section of each side, oddly done with each club roping off the side where they had their ‘bench’. What was more surprising was that they had a tea bar up and running from around half an hour before kick off.
Mumbles, who had won two of their opening five matches, took an early lead. As Brynawel had drawn three and lost three of their first six games, I expected this game was heading only one way, an easy win for the hosts, but it soon turned round. Brynawel levelled, then tore the hosts apart, and a three goal burst just before halftime sewed the game up. They added one more during the second half, but it could have been far worse for Mumbles and they should be thankful it was only 1-5 in the end.
Despite kicking off seven minutes late, there was an eight minute halftime, where Mumbles even went back into the changing rooms. Even when we finished at 19.47 the light was pretty reasonable.
Above : Mumbles head off for their halftime cuppa.
