Central Wales League

Southern Division

Monday 7th April 2025

Kick Off 18.15 Actual 18.16

Ffostrasol Wanderers 4 Aberystwyth University 0, attendance 39

15’ 1-0

34’ 2-0

78’ 3-0

89’ 4-0

@ Troed-y-Rhiw Parc

A486 North

Ffostrasol

SA44 4TQ

£3 Admission

No Programme.

So, the start of a new week and another trip to Wales, hopefully for games at two of the three grounds I’ve yet to visit in this league. The village of Ffostrasol is about six miles north of Newcastle Emlyn, with the ground on the right hand side of the A486 as you head north towards New Quay and Aberaeron. Entering behind the goal, there is a small car park, with the changing rooms/clubhouse/tea bar in the corner. The pitch is railed at this end and along the right hand touchline down as far as the seated stand, which has four rows of bench seating and is flanked by a pair of dugouts. There is spectator access allowed on all four sides and it is when looking across towards the stand, that you realise just how much the pitch slopes, from the car park end down to the far goal.

Ffostrasol came into this sitting second in the league table, a massive 25 points behind leaders Knighton Town, who are still unbeaten after 29 games, winning 25 of them and scoring 144 goals in the process. Ffostrasol have only lost three games themselves and are in a battle with the next five or six clubs in the table who are vying for the runners up place. Aberystwyth University are thirteenth, five places off the bottom and safe from relegation

Ffostrasol easily saw off a limited University side, who although they battled right to the end, lacked any potency and only created a couple of chances in the entire game. The hosts opened the scoring after fifteen minutes, breaking quickly down the left before finishing with an angled shot into the far corner. They doubled their lead ten minutes before halftime, shooting first time from the angle of the 18 yard box, which gave the ‘keeper no chance as it found the far corner. It took them until twelve minutes from the end to make it 3-0, cutting in from the right before curling a left footed shot into the far corner, which the ‘keeper got a hand to, but couldn’t keep out and they rounded off the scoring a minute from time, when a cut back from the right was volleyed into the far corner from six yards.

There was certainly no problem with getting this finished in daylight and visibility was still good when I arrived back at my overnight base in Newcastle Emlyn.

East Gwent League

Harry Fishwick Cup Final

Saturday 5th April 2025

Kick Off 17.00 Actual 16.56!

Tintern Abbey 0 Severn Tunnel Non Political Club 1, attendance 220

90’ 0-1

@ Sudbrook Cricket Club F.C.

Mill Lane

Caldicot

NP26 5DD

£3 Admission, including 4 page Programme (with wrong spelling on cover!)

The journey back east from Croesyceilliog to Caldicot took twenty seven minutes, arriving in plenty of time for kick off, despite the game starting four minutes earlier than scheduled. There’s plenty of parking and admission was taken at the entrance to the cricket ground, with the pitch away to the left, running widthways and railed on three and a bit sides, with the area overlapping the cricket outfield being roped, whilst there’s a pair of dugouts on the far side. The clubhouse was open and doing a good trade both before and during the game.

The Harry Fishwick Cup is played for by teams in Division 2 of the league, which is the lowest level. Tintern Abbey are fourth in the league table, whilst Severn Tunnel are top, thirteen points clear of second placed Rockfield Rovers, having only lost one league game so far, so came into this as favourites. It wasn’t a great game and produced very little in the way of goal scoring opportunities. Severn Tunnel did have an early goal disallowed for offside and had a second half effort hit the crossbar. They did look the more likely to grab a winner and it came in the final minute, breaking clear from the halfway line before finishing into the bottom corner.

At least the early finish for an evening kick off meant the journey home was completed before the inevitable road work closures kicked in.

Newport & District League

Premier Division X

Saturday 5th April 2025

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.31

Croesyceilliog Athletic 1 Risca Town 6, attendance 30

1’ 0-1

7’ 0-2

8’ 1-2

40’ 1-3

59’ 1-4

65’ 1-5

77’ 1-6

@ The Dyke

Raglan Court

off Cardigan Crescent

Croesyceilliog

NP44 2QR

No Admission or Programme.

With the intention to do a second game at 5 o’clock, this game fitted the bill perfectly. It looked to be a good game too, with second in the league table hosting third. They were both on 44 points coming into this, trailing league leaders Pill Reserves by two points. In fact, Croesyceilliog had been top themselves until losing 0-2 at home to Pill in their last home game.

I’d never done a game in this league before, so wasn’t sure what to expect in either standard of football, or ground, but was pleasantly surprised by how good both were. Google maps just showed an open pitch, but it is fully railed off and has a couple of dugouts too, which although have a roof, are still lacking in any back or sides to them. The only thing that may hinder them in progressing up the pyramid is how narrow the pitch is, being no more than 5 yards from the edge of the 18 yard box to the touchline.

Risca got off to a great start, scoring in the opening ten seconds, following it up with a second goal after seven minutes, heading in at the near post from a corner on the right. A minute later Croesyceilliog pulled it back to 1-2, heading in from a cross that the ‘keeper should really have got to first and they thought they’d levelled the scores five minutes later, but the goal was ruled out for offside. A corner, that was only half cleared, was volleyed into the top corner to see Risca restore their two goal lead five minutes before halftime and by the time they made it 1-4 just before the hour mark, the points were safe. The goal of the game, a curler into the far corner from the angle of the 18 yard box saw them make it 1-5 with twenty minutes left. Shortly afterwards, Croesyceilliog lost their ‘keeper to injury, being replaced by an outfield player and five minutes later he was beaten by a shot on the turn, following a knock down from a long throw in, to round off a resounding 1-6 win for Risca, who now move up to second in the table.

Neath & District League

Premier Division

Thursday 3rd April 2025

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.05

Resolven A.F.C. 2 Glynneath Town 4, attendance 120

43’ 0-1

45’ 0-2

45’ + 1, 1-2

55’ 1-3

71’ 2-3

84’ 2-4

@ Resolven Park

Vaughan Avenue

Resolven

SA11 4HW

No Admission or Programme.

With very slim pickings tonight, I opted for this game in the top division of the Neath & District League, between two teams separated by five miles along the A465. Resolven came into this bottom of the league table, having won just one of their seventeen games so far, but only trail next to bottom Cilfrew Rovers by a single point and third bottom Ynysmeudwy by another four, so still in with a chance of climbing a couple of places. Glynneath are third, which is the best they can really hope to finish, as they trail second placed Llandarcy by 13 points and leaders Brynoch by another two.

The match was far closer than I’d been expecting and on this showing, it is hard to believe that Resolven have only managed to win one game so far this season. It was a game that was in the balance throughout and an excellent advert for the league. There were few goal scoring opportunities until the dying minutes of the first half, when the game burst into life. Glynneath broke the deadlock a couple of minutes before the break, when a corner from the right was volleyed in at the near post. They doubled their lead two minutes later, when a long throw in was headed in at the far post, with Resolven hooking one in from close range, a minute into stoppage time, to pull it back to 1-2.

Ten minutes into the second half Glynneath restored their two goal lead, when what looked more like an attempted cross, rather than shot, beat the ‘keeper at his near post. Resolven hit back again, with another close range finish to make it 2-3, but the visitors made the game safe when they added a fourth goal with six minutes left, dispossessing the ‘keeper in the six yard box before forcing the ball in from a tight angle.

Resolven Park is very basic. It’s just an open pitch, with the changing rooms hidden out of site at the back of the bowls club. Good to see a three figure crowd here, despite light rain falling for the majority of the match and even better to have had a trouble free journey each way, apart from a closure of the M4 at J11 on the return.

Southampton League

Junior Division 3

Wednesday 2nd April 2025

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.02

CDC 4 Shield 1, attendance 26

27’ 0-1

31’ 1-1

38’ 2-1

50’ 3-1

83’ 4-1

@ Hunts Farm Sports Ground, Pitch 1

Stockbridge Road (A3057)

Timsbury

SO51 0ND

No Admission or Programme.

It was very slim pickings tonight, so I did only my second ever game in the Southampton League, for a match in Junior Division 3, the lowest of the four divisions that make up the league. It was played at Hunts Farm Sports Ground in Timsbury, which as the name suggests, is set up on former farm land. There’s a very smart changing room building and plenty of parking. It’s a huge field with six football pitches, four which were full sized and also hosts cricket. At least this was played on Pitch 1 (not that there’s anything to distinguish it from the others), in the near right hand corner from the car park, the pitch running lengthways away from here, to the right of the first cricket square.

The match was 5th versus 7th (out of 11), with CDC still having a chance of grabbing the second promotion place behind the unbeaten leaders Sarisbury Sparks, who are two points clear at the top and second placed Clarendon, who are two points adrift, but have played three games more. CDC trailed Sarisbury by eight points coming into this, with this being the first of their five games in hand, so they’re very much in with a chance of going up.

Shield started the better of the two, hitting the crossbar with a header early on, before taking the lead after twenty seven minutes with a 30 yard free kick that was spilled by the ‘keeper and bounced across the line. CDC levelled with a free kick of their own just four minutes later, when a 25 yarder found the bottom corner. They went in front seven minutes before halftime, when a corner from the right went straight in at the near post, with Shield having an effort hit the post just before the break. Five minutes into the second half CDC went 3-1 up, when a shot from the edge of the box went in off the post and they rounded off the scoring with seven minutes left, when a long ball over the top saw the ball taken round the ‘keeper and put in from a tight angle.

It was a glorious sunny evening, but did go rather cool as the sun dropped. We’d got underway just a couple of minutes late and with halftime taken out on the pitch, were finished for 19.46, so no problems with the light.

Perry Street & District League

Division 1

Tuesday 1st April 2025

Kick Off 18.15 Actual 18.17

Crewkerne Rangers 0 West & Middle Chinnock 2, attendance 38

52’ 0-1

54’ 0-2

@ Henhayes Recreation Ground

Bryants Row/Henhayes Lane

Crewkerne

TA18 8ER

No Admission or Programme.

Tonight was the start of ‘silly season’, where clubs without floodlights are able to play midweek matches in order to catch up on their fixtures backlogs. There were a number of reasons behind this match being my choice. Firstly, it was the nearest ground I hadn’t yet visited,who were hosting a game on grass tonight. Secondly, it was a venue that has staged Somerset Senior/Somerset County League matches in the past (1999-2007), in the days before ground grading was far more relaxed and thirdly, it looked like it would be a decent game, as 4th were hosting 1st in the league table. Even better, a win for the visitors would see them clinch the title, with four games to spare.

It was very even early on, but W&MC gradually got on top. They did everything bar score in the first half, hitting the crossbar three times in a seven minute spell midway through the half. Firstly, with a miss hit cross, then with a header and finally a cracking 25 yarder. It only took them seven minutes of the second half to finally make the breakthrough, when a long ball was flicked on and finished with a first time shot that went in off the post. Two minutes later they doubled their lead, when a free kick from inside their own half was met with a glancing header from 10 yards that found the bottom corner of the net. They had another goal ruled out for offside and hit the post late on as well, comfortably picking up the three points they needed to finish top of the table and maintained their unbeaten record too, having now won 16 and drawn 2 of their eighteen played.

The ground is shared with rugby and cricket. It’s just a pitch, with quite a side to side slope, but has an enclosed feel, bar the side that runs alongside the cricket square. It was nice and sunny at the start of the game, but did drop a fair few degrees as the sun went down behind the buildings behind the goal. Although we kicked off a couple of minutes late, a short halftime, where both teams stayed out on the pitch, meant we were done and dusted by 19.52 and no problem whatsoever as far as the light went. Trouble free journey in both directions too!

Cup Winners Shield

Group Match

Saturday 29th March 2025

Kick Off 14.00 On Time!

Lochar Thistle 2 Whitburn 4, attendance 152

9’ 0-1

29’ 0-2

43’ 1-2

76’ 1-3

89’ 1-4

90’ + 4, 2-4

@ Wilson Park

Tinwald Downs Road

Heathall

DG1 3UB

£5 Admission

No Programme (did an online one though).

After staying overnight in Carlisle, it was an easy 32 mile drive northwest into Dumfries & Galloway, to the village of Heathall, a couple of miles east of Dumfries, for the final round robin game in the Cup Winners Shield (East, South and West of Scotland Cup winners taking part) with the group winners gaining entry onto next seasons Scottish F.A. Cup. This was the final group match, with St. Cadoc’s (West) having played their two matches, with Lochar (South) needing to win today (any winning score other than 1-0 would be good enough), whilst a draw was all that Whitburn (East) required.

Wilson Park is on an industrial estate, adjacent to Dumfries & Galloway Aviation Museum. The car park was only for players and club officials, but plenty of parking in the road outside. The pitch is part railed, with spectators restricted to half of one side, where there is raised grass banking and behind the goal nearest the entrance. There’s just a changing room building, which also housed toilets and a tea bar, which offered the traditional Scottish fayre, all very reasonably priced and a dugout on each side of the pitch, one minus a roof. The forecast was for heavy rain for a couple of hours from 2 o’clock, but although it did rain, it wasn’t as heavy as feared, but combined with a strong wind, made for unpleasant viewing at times and I was glad to be one of just seven people to have an umbrella. The rest of the crowd just seemed to accept they’d get a soaking.

Lochar are going well in the South of Scotland League and despite only being sixth in the table at present, are favourites to take the title. They’re nine points adrift of current leaders Dalbeattie Star, but have six games in hand and having won 12 of the 14 they’ve played so far, it’s a deficit that looks well within their reach. Whitburn are sixth in the East of Scotland League Premier Division, but a fourth placed finish is the best they can really hope to achieve.

It only took Whitburn nine minutes to break the deadlock, when a cross from the right was met with a glancing header into the bottom corner of the net. They made it 0-2 just before the half hour mark, when another cross in from the right was put away from six yards out. Lochar gave themselves hope of getting back into it just before halftime, when a cross totally deceived the ‘keeper and nestled in the far corner. Whitburn were well in command and it was a surprise that it took them until fourteen minutes from the end to finally make it 1-3, when a long clearance from their own half saw their centre forward race clear and finish with a 30 yard lob over the stranded ‘keeper. They made it 1-4 with a minute left, when another right wing cross beat the ‘keeper and was nodded in at the far post and they almost grabbed a fifth when another effort was cleared off the line. In stoppage time, Lochar saw a free kick come back off the crossbar and seconds later, from more or less the exact same position, another free kick struck the crossbar again, but this time it fell more kindly for them and the follow up was headed in from close range. Too late to alter the game though, as the final whistle went as soon as the game restarted.

Having completed the Scottish Football League for the first time in 1995, followed by the Highland League a few years later, the South of Scotland League was the next one done and was kept up to date during my time living in the Northwest. However, there have been a number of new grounds/clubs since then, but at least I’m down to needing just two grounds to complete the set again, the 3G cage at King Edward Park in Lockerbie (I’ve already done the grass pitch here) that’s shared by Mid Annandale/Upper Annandale and the Whitehill Park home of Lochmaben.

The journey back south saw some horrendous driving conditions from Carlisle to just south of Penrith, with strong winds and heavy rain. No traffic problems until reaching J10 on the M25, where the motorway was once again closed in both directions between here and J9, which added twenty minutes on to the journey, but still home for 22.25.

Border Amateur F.A.

Colin Campbell Cup Final

Friday 28th March 2025

Kick Off 19.30 On Time!

Duns Amateurs 4 Chirnside United 0, attendance 210

14’ 1-0

42’ 2-0

45’ 3-0

79’ 4-0

@ Volunteer Park Stadium

Buccleuch Road

Hawick

TD9 0EG

No Admission or Programme.

There was plenty of time after leaving this afternoon’s game to head north to my overnight hotel in Carlisle, before making the onward drive up the A7 to Hawick, in the Scottish Borders, for the Colin Campbell Cup Final, contested by two teams from the top division of the Border Amateur League. It wasn’t exactly local for the two finalists. Duns had travelled forty miles and Chirnside is another six miles to the east of there and both teams arrived by coach. The attraction for me was the fact that the game was being staged at Volunteer Park Stadium, which is not a regular football venue for any club side and primarily home to Hawick Linden R.U.F.C. It has a 3G pitch, with spectator access on three sides (the left hand goal end is out of bounds) and a large stand, with wooden bench seating, roughly half a pitch length, slightly offset from the halfway line. Considering it was a cup final, there was no admission charge, nor catering and there was only one available toilet, in one of the portacabin changing rooms, that was for use of everyone, regardless of gender.

This was my first game I’d attended in this league and the standard was far better than I’d been expecting. It went to form, as second in the league table Duns beat the team four places below them. The opening goal came after fourteen minutes, cutting in from the left before finishing into the far corner. Chirnside saw a 25 yard free kick hit the post, with their best effort of the early exchanges, but Duns doubled their lead three minutes before halftime, finishing into the bottom corner after being played clear with a diagonal pass that split the defence wide open. The killer third goal came right on halftime, with a shot on the turn from twelve yards and there would be no way back for Chirnside from there. They never gave up, but never really threatened. Duns rounded off the scoring with eleven minutes left, when a free kick from near the centre circle was launched into the box and hooked in from eight yards.

National League U19 Alliance

North Division

Friday 28th March 2025

Kick Off 13.00 Actual 13.02

A.F.C. Fylde U19 3 York City U19 2, attendance 13

19’ 1-0

21’ 2-0

34’ 2-1

82’ 2-2

90’ + 1, 3-2

@ Mill Farm Sports Village, 3G Pitch

Coronation Way

off Fleetwood Road

Wesham

PR4 3JZ

No Admission or Programme.

As I was already planning on doing a game in Scotland in the evening, this fitted in perfectly and even better, it was less than ten miles off route! The Mill Farm Sports Village is adjacent to the main stadium of A.F.C. Fylde and as well as being home to Fylde Hockey Club, who have their own pitch, complete with stand, there is also a 3G football pitch. Spectator access is along the whole of one side, with viewing also behind the goal end that backs on to the two storey clubhouse/changing room building, although you’re looking through mesh if you choose that option. No problem getting in. You simply register at the reception and the clubhouse was open for the duration.

The match was 7th versus 4th in the league table in what is the top level of the league. York are still in with a chance of taking the title, coming into this six points adrift of leaders Farsley Celtic, but with a game in hand. They didn’t get off to a great start though, going behind after nineteen minutes, when a cross from the right was touched in at the near post and they conceded a second within minutes, seeing an attempted pass across the face of the 18 yard box intercepted and easily finished from 15 yards. Just after the half hour mark they pulled it back to 2-1, finishing with an angled shot into the far corner, following a quick break down the right. With eight minutes left they deservedly levelled it up at 2-2, finishing one on one after a long ball over the top. They pushed hard for a winner, but lost out to a stoppage time winner for Fylde, when a cross from the right was fumbled by the ‘keeper and smashed into the net from 10 yards. There was still time for them to waste a glorious chance to grab a point, but somehow they managed to head over the crossbar with the goal gaping.