Monthly Archives: January 2012

Phoenix from the Flames. Twice.

29 Sunday Jan 2012

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Saturday 28th January 2012 ko 2.00pm

Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division Two

MORETON RANGERS 3 (Wallace 10 31 61)

SOUDLEY 0 Adams missed penalty 73

Att 19 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No Programme

Tea/Coffee 60p

Kitkat 60p

The pretty Gloucestershire town lies in the heart of the Cotswolds, and is in fact very close to being in any one of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, or Oxfordshire. For me it represented an interesting ground to visit, on a day when I needed to be back in Oxford early.

The London Road ground has hosted a far higher level of football than the nominal step 9 it does now. Moreton Town staged Hellenic Premier football until the club were bankrupted mid-way through the 1994/95 season amid accusations that player-manager Mark Lawrenson was being paid £300 a week, on a ground owned by the National Playing Fields Association. That last fact points to a big issue for the former club, and one for the future of any club using the ground, in that NPFA rules prohibit charging for entry.

The current club was founded as an under-8’s team in 1997, and since the Moreton Town name was unavailable due to monies owed, the suffix Rangers was adopted. In 2004 adult football once again came to London Road, with a team being entered in the second division of the Cheltenham League. In 2009 the club were 20 points clear in the division one when disaster struck. An arson attack left the changing rooms gutted, and to gain entry to the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League, the club had to get something built, and quickly. Amazingly the club and local residents raised £72,000 and the impressive block was built.

There is a little piece of Welsh football history too. The ground was used for the first (1988/89) season of the reformed Newport AFC (now renamed County)  as a means of avoiding the FAW’s attempts to get the new club to enter the Welsh pyramid.

The history is there for all to see when you enter. The remains of the old changing room block are still there and the floodlights look functional, until you’re told that the junction box went up in the blaze. Some benches have been constructed in the stand and a tea urn is placed at the back. The hot drinks and chocolate were most welcome on a chilly winter’s day.

These days the side is managed is managed by former Oxford United, Fulham, Huddersfield, and Leyton Orient player Gary Barnett. Barnett’s managerial career includes a spell as Jan Molby’s assistant at Kidderminster. As player-manager of Barry Town he won the League of Wales 5 times, and led the club into Europe 3 times, including an appearance in the UEFA Cup First Round Proper, losing to Aberdeen. These days, he runs a fitness business, and manages for fun. Molby incidentally, was due to appear at a fund-raiser for the club that evening.

The fixture looked on paper like a tough mid-table battle. On grass it was a mismatch as soon as a quickly taken corner was squared to Dougie Wallace who fired into the top left hand corner. The Soudley manager thought his full back should have headed clear, I thought few players have a telescopic neck. It set a tone for the entire game, constant Moreton pressure, and very few ideas from the visitors. Wallace got his second just after the half-hour, blasting home from just inside the box. It was clear that Wallace had it well within his capabilities to complete his hat trick, and he did so in style, holding off his marker and spinning round to shoot home. Soudley had just the one notable attack in the second half, their attacker being hauled down just inside the box. It summed up their afternoon neatly that Robert Adams’ penalty was turned round the box by McAteer for a corner. It was to be the only one they were to force all afternoon.

You wonder how far this Moreton incarnation can progress. There are plans to resurrect the floodlights and convert part of the stand to a clubhouse. The club see the future as being in the Gloucestershire County League, two promotions from here, but there are no ambitions to go any further, the difficulties in taking a gate being cited. Certainly the ownership by the NPFA has left Rangers with a ground far better than their current needs, and with a real sense of history. I hope they’ve seen the back of the bad luck that’s bedevilled football in this part of the world.

Quitting the Evil Weed

26 Thursday Jan 2012

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Wednesday 24th January 2012 ko 7.45pm

Wessex League Premier Division

TOTTON & ELING 2 (Feeney 34 Anderson 83)

CHRISTCHURCH 1 (Crutchley 90)

Att 59 (h/c)

Entry £6

Programme £1 (reissue from 29/11/11)

Tea 80p

Cheeseburger £1.50

This was my third choice game, but with both Banstead Athletic and AFC Totton falling victim to waterlogged pitches, I plumbed for the Millers Park. What made the choice remarkable is that Totton and Eling’s ground in Little Testwood Park is adjacent to AFC Totton’s! Still, no complaints here, and a tick’s a tick! Continue reading →

Name, Rank, and Number

25 Wednesday Jan 2012

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Monday 23rd January 2012 ko 7.30pm

British Army FA Woolwich Cup Semi-Final

ROYAL ENGINEERS 2 (Sapper Williams 36 Corporal Cottam 89)

ROYAL ARTILLERY 2 (Gunner Tidy 24 Gunner Molyneux 76)

AET Engineers won 4-2 on penalties

Played at Aldershot Military Stadium, Queens Avenue

Att 49 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No programme

It’s a little known fact that the British Army FA is treated as a county like any other by the English FA. So when both Woolwich Cup semi-finals were scheduled to within 100 yards of each other on a Monday night, it attracted quite a few hoppers. Those with the big numbers watched the other semi-final on a caged 3G pitch, while 3 of us watched this encounter in the main stadium.

Being within the Garrison I’d wondered whether there’d be any issues with gaining entry, but there was none whatsoever. I parked in the adjacent Rugby Ground, and taking these pictures was unrestricted. Getting the lineups was straightforward too, although the teamsheets consisted of Name, Rank and Number, as well as shirt number. It did give a certain piquancy to reporting the scorers!! It’s just a shame there was no Private “Don’t tell him,” Pike!

But the ground, or rather that stand. The stadium is primarily an athletics one, but the pitched roofed stand built in 1955 and refurbished by Norwest Holst recently, is a real gem. It stretches all of the length of the track, the seats don’t go call the way back for no good reason, but the rake makes up for the 9 lanes of running track in between. I liked the notices at each block banning smoking, apart from the block containing the Directors’/Officers’ box!

I’d wondered what to expect from a regimental cup, in fact I’d braced myself for a truly dreadful game, but the standard was very good, we reckoned around Southern League lower division level. That said, a decent skill level doesn’t doesn’t necessarily make for good entertainment, but this was a cracking game. Artillery shot (I know!) themselves into the lead when a through ball found Bakary clean through, but Tidy was standing in an offside position when the ball was played. Active? Inactive? Well he was a few seconds later when Bakary squared to him to score.

It didn’t matter so much on 36 minutes when Mike Williams equalised for Engineers with a thumping shot, but by this time we were beginning to worry about extra time, as with Lee West and I, such things are rather too likely given past experience. Normally it happens when you are far from home, and if I can get extra time in Osaka, 7500 miles from home, I can certainly get it a mere 65 miles away!

And of course so it happened. Bakary went down in instalments for the penalty, and as the three of us were praying to every god we could think of, Andrew Cottam slotted home with 90 seconds remaining. Of course, the extra 30 minutes produced nothing so with the usual delays the shoot-out was organised with the Artillery missing their first two kicks to give a winning advantage to the Engineers.

By the looks of things, the final is often played at Warminster Town FC; that’s worth a thought just for the standard of play alone.

The Perfect Hat-Trick

22 Sunday Jan 2012

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Saturday 21st January 2012 ko 3.00pm

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Pittman 12 Duberry 68)

HEREFORD UNITED 2 (Duberry 32og 85og)

Att 6,630 (397 away)

 

Entry S/T

Programme (inc Oxford Mail) £3

On arrival at the ground the talk was of one thing and one thing only. Talismanic striker James Constable had been the subject of repeated bids from arch-rivals Swindon Town during the week. A fee had been agreed between the two clubs but then Constable refused to speak to Swindon. In the eyes of Oxford United fans players can do pretty much whatever they like, but the hard and fast rule is simple. You don’t play for Swindon. The local paper ran the headline “Beanomania” and Constable was set to be the talking point of the day. But as usual it didn’t work out that way.

It didn’t take a genius that Hereford would come for a point. Struggling to avoid relegation, it was obvious that they’d metaphorically park the bus in front of the goal.  So, when Pittman’s 25 yard strike opened the scoring, you thought that Hereford would be forced out and more goals would come. Constable was straining every sinew to cap an amazing week with a goal, but a mixture of brilliant goalkeeping from Adam Bartlett and a little profligacy kept the score at 1-0. As time drifted on the more nervous the supporters got, and this seemed to infect the team. Things got worse on 32 minutes when a fizzing cross from Joe Colbeck on the right struck Michael Duberry on the left foot and the ball trickled in past a horrified Ryan Clarke.

Debutant forward Oli Johnson was introduced as Oxford went on the attack to find the elusive winner. In a game where they had the vast majority of the possession, on 85 minutes they found themselves chasing an equaliser. Again it was a Colbeck cross, and again it found Duberry. Under pressure at the back post the ball glanced off his head and in.

It’s the mark of a professional and the mark of the man, that for the remainder of the game Duberry was a man on a mission and he didn’t have long to wait for redemption. Substitute Tom Craddock crossed from the right, and supplementary striker Duberry was there to stroke home with his right foot, completing the most unusual hat-trick you’ll ever see. He later pointed out it was the perfect three-timer too. Left foot, right foot and header, just not quite how he’d have wanted to achieve the feat!

There was still time for Constable for stretch to head one last chance, but it was not to be his day, as the ball spun wide. It was almost as he wanted it too much. That I feel could be summary for the whole match, not just the big-hearted striker.

 

If Cornered Will Fight

21 Saturday Jan 2012

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Saturday 21st January 2011 ko 10.30am

Oxfordshire FA U14 Girls County Cup Quarter Final

TOWER HILL VIXENS 0

CARTERTON FC 2 (42 54)

Att 21 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No Programme

Refreshments Available

Since I let it be known that I would be attending this game, I’d had a few calls commenting that it shouldn’t count towards my records. I pondered that one, and came to the conclusion that its a game of football, so it counts. But why was I there at all?  That was down to Ali Haining, my boss many years ago, and manager of the Tower Hill side. We hadn’t had a chat since seeing each other at a funeral in 2004.  So there you go, these days I’m available for weddings, bar mitzvahs and U14 football matches!

The West Witney Sports Ground is to be found by the B4027 Burford Road, if you’ve ever visited Witney Town’s Downs Road Ground, chances are that you’ve passed here.

On a horrible wet cold, and windy morning the place was packed. I had to park on the grass verge outside, as a multipicity of games were taking place on the ground, on various sizes of pitches. I recognised the referee from my 10-10 at Islip a few months ago. https://laurencereade.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/the-i-was-there-game/

Tower Hill have no Saturday male team, that’s the job of West Witney of the Witney and District League. They have a reserve team, but every other team falls under the Tower Hill banner. I was reminded of my visit to SanFrecce Hiroshima back in the summer. Not for the stadium, or the conditions, but for the field outside where hundreds of children were learning about the game by playing and having fun.  Any snobbery I could have felt disappeared with that thought. https://laurencereade.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/the-big-day-at-the-big-arch/

The game saw the Vixens pitted against their counterparts from Hellenic League Carterton FC. I’d looked up “Vixen” for some inspiration before setting out. Obviously its a female fox, but I was rather taken with the comment, “Will fight if cornered.” It turned out to be  positive metaphor for the game, as the two sides worked extremely hard to both master the conditions and the opposition.

When watching the womens’ game you have to accept that the pace is slower, but once I got used to that, the game ebbed and flowed nicely. I thought an error would settle the contest, and as usual I was wrong. A corner was floated in and a forward was able to bundle the ball in. Soon after, a through ball found a Carterton forward; her shot cannoned off the defender’s foot to wrong foot the keeper for 2-0.

A little harsh on the hosts I thought, although Carterton had enjoyed marginally more possession. For all of that this was football in its purest form in some respects, played for the enjoyment only.

The Amiable Side of the Avon

19 Thursday Jan 2012

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Wednesday 18th January 2012 ko 7.45pm

Wessex League Division One

AMESBURY TOWN 2 (Brockway 74 Jones 83)

BROCKENHURST 2 (Morse 23 Barker 56)

 

Att 63

Entry & Programme £5

Tea 70p

The Wiltshire town is of course most famous for Stonehenge, the prehistoric landmark that lies within the parish around 2 miles from the town centre. I of course managed to drive in and out of Amesbury without seeing it!

There’s so much to like about the Bonneymead Ground. It’s set on common land close to the River Avon, which makes it rather prone to waterlogging. If quirks make a football then Bonnymead is up there with the best of them. There’s the clubhouse and verandah with the comfy chairs. Add to that, the signpost showing the right of way across the ground, and the temporary fence due to the dual use with cricket, and you get my drift.

The welcome was fulsome too, with the offer of the lineups much appreciated, as well as the offer of 3 old programmes. A polypin of Stonehenge bitter at the bar was popular too! Yes, folks I actually felt well-disposed to a team from Wiltshire!

That sentiment looked to be completely wasted for the first three-quarters of the game, as even the Amesbury committee admitted that Brockenhurst were well worthy of their 2 goal lead. Richard Morse found himself on the end of a curling free kick to open the scoring and a counterattack after the break put Mark Barker through to double the lead. It looked game over at that point, and to be honest, I don’t know quite how Amesbury hauled themselves back into contention. Was it Brockenhurst trying to sit on a lead or was it the inspired introduction of Toni Camilleri? We’ll never know, but within a minute of his introduction, he found Nathan Jones, whose cross from the left, positively invited Tyler Broadway to score. The 17-year-old made no mistake. On 82 minutes Amesbury completed an unlikely comeback when Gareth Horner’s free kick, found substitute Darren Crook. He dummied his header leaving the ball to run through to Jones who rammed the ball home to equalise. Amesbury nearly completed a remarkable victory when the suddenly omnipresent Jones fired in a free kick that Darren Crook got his head to, but Brockenhurst keeper Callum Maher was able to make a good save to maintain parity.

A point that Amesbury barely deserved on the balance of play, but it was hard to begrudge them a point when the whole evening was so enjoyable.

Any Port In A Freeze

19 Thursday Jan 2012

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Tuesday 17th January 2012 ko 7.45

Wessex League Division One

AFC PORTCHESTER 5 (Woods 30 38 61 Pottage 70p Boam 89)

UNITED SERVICES PORTSMOUTH 0 Cook sent off 90 (foul & abusive language)

Att 92

Entry £4

Programme £1

To clock up a serious number of grounds its important for a hopper to have a circle of support. This evening’s game was a case in point. The original idea was to leave work in Banbury at 5 and head north to Stafford Town FC. Stafford resident Chris Bedford sent me a text telling me firstly that it was -5C and later that the game was off. A phone call from Fareham based Splodge told me to head to Portchester, ” Don’t worry, they’re the other side of the creek, it’ll be on!” He was right, on a night when many games were postponed and others abandoned, including poor Splodge’s at Oxford City.

Portchester is a suburb of Fareham, about 6 miles from Portsmouth. Visible from the Wicor Recreation Ground are the Spinnaker Tower and Portchester Castle, a fine example of a Roman Fort, now enclosed by a Norman Keep. The name Portchester is of partly Roman origin, from Latin portus (a harbour) and Old English ceaster (Roman town or castle).

There’s enough about the ground to keep the hopper happy, with a the quirky signpost, and the clubhouse sporting a pool table in club colours. They’re a friendly bunch too, showing me where the teamsheets are pinned up. It gave the impression of a club going places. That impression was confirmed as soon as the game kicked off.

It wasn’t that US Portsmouth were bad, its just that Portchester were irresistable. Tormentor-in-chief was Simon Woods whose superbly taken hat trick won the game at a canter against a team who’s major flaw was a poor offside trap. Kev Pottage scored a penalty after being tripped by Bob Booker right on the edge of the box. The coup-de-grace was Blu Boam’s winner, deftly measured shot from 18 yards, with just enough elevation to clear the keeper.

As if to add insult to injury there was a red card to follow although it was completely self inflicted. Substitute Jamie Cook went in studs up, and was called over to be booked, but instead decided to call referee Steve Wade a “F*****g idiot” A quick change of cards and off he went, repeating the insult two more times!!!

It was a disappointing end to a highly entertaining game, on a night when just a few hours earlier I fully expected to be glumly sat at home watching a televised game. As it was I got a game, and some excellent news on the Welsh hop-up.

All change at Crewe

14 Saturday Jan 2012

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Saturday 14th January 2012 ko 3.00pm

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 0

CREWE ALEXANDRA 1 (Pearson 89)

Att 7, 052 (313 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 including Oxford Mail

I remember the first time I watched Crewe. Oxford had just been relegated into what’s now called League 1 and we were playing them that Saturday. I sniffed that this should be an easy win, and was rapidly educated about the Alex manager Dario Gradi and all that he’d achieved on absolutely no budget. Oxford did win that day but the beautiful passing game Crewe played marked my card.

Gradi did get Crewe to the second tier, until a mixture of the Bosman ruling and budgetary restrictions saw the Alex return to the bottom divsion. Dario’s now retired after a 24 year stint as manager, and is now involved at the club’s academy. Its worth noting that Crewe are the only club to participate in the FA Premier Youth League, whose adults have never played in the Premier League.

With Gradi upstairs, its fallen to former Oxford United player, and Nantwich Town manager Steve Davis, to revive the Alex’s fortunes. Judging by the start Oxford made, Davis looked to have his work cut out. Oxford, as befits a team 6 games unbeaten, looked sharp, and James Constable had a goal disallowed for a push in the build-up. Soon after Constable’s goal bound shot was deflected over the bar and at that point you felt that if Oxford had have scored, they’d have won the game at a canter.

The fact they didn’t gave Crewe heart, and as the game progressed, a change of formation allowed them to stifle play, and gradually Oxford’s passing got longer as the space available decreased. It certainly wasn’t reminiscent of the Gradi years, but for the 313 away fans it worked a treat. A Crewe corner was headed wide by Adam Dugdale when he really should have hit the target, but Pittman’s front play for Oxford was still causing the away defence problems, full of feints and mis-moves.

The second half was notably more dull as Crewe were more than happy to settle for a point. But with Oxford frustrated the visitors looked more and more confident. Byron Moore was put through following a clever flick and only a sliding challenge from Michael Duberry prevented a shot on goal. Nick Powell then saw his 25 yard shot just go over the Oxford bar.

From a point early on where Oxford looked like easy winners, the 89th minute saw Crewe take the win. A series of one-twos on the left eventually found Powell. His cross found late subsitute Gregg Pearson, and the on-loan Burton forward touched home.

Peter Leven had a late free kick to gain some sort of salvation for Oxford, but his shot, like his forwards, hit a wall….. For Crewe a welcome away win, but I’ve never seen a Crewe side pass so badly. Maybe with Dario’s retirement, the style will change, but I hope the production line of talent never will.

Test Match

14 Saturday Jan 2012

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Friday 13th January 2012 ko 7.45pm

Wessex League Division One

TEAM SOLENT 3 (Kinge 20 Churms 30 Edwards 74) Edwards missed penalty 74

PETERSFIELD TOWN 1 (Coker 70)

Att 148

Entry & Programme £4

Tea 50p

Pot Noodle £1.50

Test Park, is the Sports Ground of Southampton Solent University, and is to be found on Lower Brownhill Lane, just off Junction 1 of the M271. It’s a modern set-up with some real quirks. The car park is small and the lane narrow, so its well worth arriving early to get a parking spot. There doesn’t appear to be good public transport links either. The team are attached to the University, and seem to attract players doing courses after being released by other football clubs.

The facilities have the feel of a leisure centre, rather than a Step 6 football team. You buy your match ticket at reception, and there’s a large lounge area. Its got ESPN tv, but the bar facilities haven’t been installed yet, so there’s a hot water urn, and sweets for sale. It does the job for now. The ground reflects the fact that its Team Solent’s first season in the Wessex League. The rails and floodlights are in place, as is the turnstile block, but the “Meccano” stand won’t arrive for another few weeks. The ground will have been massively improved, fulfil all ground grading issues, but be almost totally lacking in character. That, I suppose will come with age.

Another improvement with time will be how the club copes with 1. a crowd, and 2. the needs of groundhoppers. The procedure of selling tickets at reception at least meant the queue at the turnstile moved slightly quicker, but the real issue was that each ticket issued was having “Adult” and a message allowing free entry to their next home game written on the back of it. It may work when the attendance is 40 or so, on this occasion it produced a massive queue that meant many missed kick-off. I ended up getting the teamsheets photocopied, and the manager admitted that a lot of hoppers had asked for the lineups, and he’d told them to look in the programme. I’ve long since known that clubs don’t understand hoppers, and vice-versa! Mind you the club took heed of the number of phone-calls they’d received, and printed 150 programmes; I would imagine that’s around 6 times more than the normal print run!

One area thought the club has got right though is the playing side. On a bitterly cold evening they had far too much for their visitors. They raced into a two goal lead, before being pegged back before half time. They continued to dominate in the second period, and the winner came when Declan Edwards’ penalty was well saved by John Burnett but the rebound fell kindly to Edwards and he was able to tap home.

Correctly Team Solent are planing for Wessex Premier football. Whilst the hopper-fest tested them closely, they’ll have learned from the experience and I expect they’ll be far better able to cope next time they get a big crowd.

Dog of Five Head

12 Thursday Jan 2012

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Tuesday 10th January 2012 ko 7.45pm

Wessex League Premier Division

HORNDEAN 0

WINCHESTER CITY 1 (Mills 89p) White missed penalty 56

Att 70

Entry £5

Programme FREE

Tea £1

Bacon Cheeseburger £2

Horndean is a small village around 8 miles north of Portsmouth. Its claim to fame is it’s where Gales Ales used to be produced, before the brewery was bought by Fullers and closed.

5 Heads Park is to be found the north of the village, a nearby pub, The Colonial, is the site of the village’s long since closed workhouse. On entering the ground I immediately felt a sense of Oxford United’s former home, The Manor Ground, the pitch slopes in exactly the same way, from bottom left to top right! I was given a programme, or rather a shell, for free as the match inserts hadn’t turned up. A few days later, I’m now in possession of the missing insert, Continue reading →