The 5 Mile Drive

19 Sunday Feb 2012

Tags

AFC, Football, Francis Mapplethorpe, groundhopping, Jericho, Kamen Matthews, KIngs Arms, Luke Cuff, Oxford University Press, red light district, Shaun Jacob, Upper Thames Valley, Wheatley

Sunday 19th February 2012 ko 10.30am

Upper Thames Valley League Devenney Cup Quarter Final

AFC JERICHO 1 (Matthews 65)

KINGS ARMS WHEATLEY 3 (S Jacob 38 Mapplethorpe 54 L Cuff 78)

Att 20 (h/c)

@ Oxford University Press Ground, Jordan Hill

Entry FREE

Nothing for Sale

The groundhopping purists would probably reckon I should have ticked this one off for OUP, who are the Saturday side here, playing in the top division of the Oxfordshire Senior League. Well, I hadn’t managed to do it in over 10 years of serious hopping so I decided to do the Sunday team instead.

Jericho is a suburb in the north of Oxford. Its started life as a poorly drained slum, became briefly a red light district, and now is one of the most sought after areas in the city. It retains, however a decidedly bohemian feel, with cafes and the historic Castlemill boatyard. The Jericho Tavern has seen performances by bands such as Radiohead and Supergrass before they became famous.

Jordan Hill is in Cutteslowe, on the northernmost tip of the city, about a mile north of Jericho. It is so obviously a works ground, and is beautifully maintained. For me it was a 5 mile drive to get there, and a nearby street to the ground is would you believe, Five Mile Drive!

I was pleasantly surprised at the facilties on offer. From the cricket benches, the wooden dugouts to the post and roped off pitch, it was a pleasure to take in a game that when the weak sun managed to peak through the clouds, the scene was bucolic.

The game pitched Premier Division Kings Arms against their Division One hosts. When jotting down the lineups, I found myself recognising many of the visitors’ team. Just the eleven of them, but it transpired that they are on a Saturday, Headington Amateurs first XI! It did give an interesting measuring stick as to the quality that was on show.

The first half consisted of more or less continous home pressure, with Jericho missing chance after chance. They were made to pay when a neat move allowed Shaun Jacob to fire home on 38 minutes. It was Wheatley’s first meaningful attack and the home bench couldn’t believe it. It set the tone for the second half with Wheatley coming more and more into the game, as Jericho tired, and ran out of ideas. A glorious through ball put Francis Mapplethorpe in on goal and he made no mistake for 0-2.

The goal of the game was undoubtedly Kamen Matthews’ 25 yard free kick which sailed into the top right corner but this was to be mere consolation as the ever dangerous Luke Cuff pounced on a defensive howler to finish the game as a spectacle.

: Kamen Matthews consolation free kick

Daddy’s Scored!!!

19 Sunday Feb 2012

Posted by laurencereade in H

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

5th Round, Barnes Wallis, bob holness, FA Vase, Football, groundhopping, Herne Bay, Larkhall Athletic, Winch's Field

Saturday 18th February 2012 ko 3.00pm

FA Vase 5th Round

HERNE BAY 1 (Campbell 86)

LARKHALL ATHLETIC 0

Att 612

Entry £7

Programme (reissue from last week’s postponement) £2

Badge £2

I have a soft spot for this competition, for sides 5 or more promotions from the Football League. There’s a Wembley Final, and unlike its bigger brothers, the Cup and Trophy, all the participants take it totally seriously, to the point that some refuse promotion so they can continue to enter!

The Kent town of Herne Bay lies close to Whitstable, on the south bank of the Thames Estuary. TV game show host Bob Holness hailed from the town, but the place is most famous for Sir Barnes Neville Wallis whose invention, the bouncing bomb, was developed and tested at nearby Reculver. The bomb was most famously used in World War II to destroy the Möhne Dam, as immortalised in the film “The Dambusters.”

Winch’s Field is set in a residential area, well away from the coast. It really is an Isthmian League ground in waiting with cover on all 4 sides, a club shop, and a spacious bar, There’s even a community radio station! The clubhouse sees service during the week as “Kiddies Corner” kindergarten, which probably explains the little garden along one perimeter fence! The real oddity though is the block containing the changing rooms, executive seating and the dugouts, I’ve never seen something like that before. However I’m not quite sure what the plastic deer on the grass back opposite are there to achieve!

The game was a high quality passing affair that at times was incredibly frustrating as neither side could find the killer pass to create a gilt-edged chance. Bay were clearly the better side but they made life difficult for themselves on 29 minutes when they had Tom Parker sent off. Herne Bay’s Michael Turner’s studs up challenge on Ross Beazer saw him lucky to stay on the pitch. A 20 man melee ensued and Parker received his marching orders for a punch on Larkhall’s Gary Thorne.

For the second half I decided to place myself behind the near goal, and a few minutes in, a young lady and her children arrived. She asked what the score was, and pointed out “Daddy,” James Campbell to her children.

The game looked like it was heading towards extra-time then a replay, when Michael Jenner drove a free-kick from the left into the penalty area. The ball evaded Larkhall keeper Chris Snoddy, and Campbell ghosted in at the far post to tap into an empty net. Amid wild celebrations “Mrs Campbell” turned to her young son, ” Daddy’s scored!” The reply was “Oh, can we go home then?”

Larkhall threw everything they had into the few minutes left. Substitute Tom Welch’s 35-yard free kick forced Eason to dive full-length to his left, but the ball bounced off the top of the crossbar and clear. With seconds left Welch again was on target, this time Eason dived low at the bottom corner to paw the ball round the post.

The final whistle sparked wild celebrations, but there was a nasty moment which the referee failed to spot. Amid the celebrations Tom Parker had made his way back on to the pitch and started to bait Gary Thorne, who had pensively squatted down. Fortunately Thorne showed restraint, and Parker was removed from the scene by a fellow player.

When I’d walked through the turnstiles around 2 hours earlier I’d looked at this fixture as being for the right to lose to Whitley Bay at some point. With the other Bay now knocked out, the competition looks wide open.

: The Barnes Wallis statue is just off the Herne Bay seafront. He gets a good view of the estuary though!!

Cat, Mouse and Roger

19 Sunday Feb 2012

Posted by laurencereade in O

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Football, groundhopping, Iffley Road, Oxford Brookes University, oxford united., Oxford University, oxford university sports centre, Roger Bannister, Varsity

Friday 17th February 2012 ko 7.45pm

“Varsity” Friendly

OXFORD UNIVERSITY BLUES 2 (Austin 16 75)

OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY 0

Att 400 (officially speaking)

@ Oxford University Sports Centre, Iffley Road, Oxford

Entry £5 (if ticket bought!)

No programme

Catering available

You may wonder, dear reader why on earth I’d be interested in a student game, and a friendly at that! Well, apart from referring to the title of this blog, I’d mention the the history of the stadium, and the history of the fixture.

To us locals, the stadium will always be known as the Iffley Road Running Track, and where in 1954 Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four minute mile, watched incidentally by the world’s least sporting person, my Mother! I first visited as a child in the early 80’s for the taping of the BBC’s “Superstars,” won that day by Welsh long jumper Lynn Davies. Since then I’ve seen Oxford University play there, and Oxford United’s youth team too.

For what in essence is a warm-up for the Oxford vs Cambridge varsity game, this fixture has real bite. The game has been played behind closed doors before, in 2010, after the discovery of a Facebook group suggesting that large numbers of Brookes fans would inundate the ground. The Brookes students simply scaled a fence and watched from there.

And that, I suspect, was the start of my problems. For when I arrived I discovered that not only was the game all-ticket, and limited to 400 tickets, it was sold out. Moreover around 20 stewards had been hired from Oxford United to maintain security. Normally I’d have simply turned round and headed for home, but I was just a little irked. This was because the fixture had been widely advertised on the OUAFC website and others, and there’d been no mention of it being all-ticket. With no opportunity to buy a ticket, I reasoned, and this being the first ever floodlit game at the venue I decided to see if there was another vantage point.

Which of course there was, on the far side where the athletics footprint meets the historic rugby union ground. There was a convenient grass bank in the corner, so I quietly sat down to watch the action. And I would have got away with it completely if 4 students hadn’t had exactly the same idea, but sat in full view of the stewards. At half time we all got moved on, “No ticket, no watch.” The students gave up, I waited until they’d gone, and quietly retook my position!

The game was worth the effort, as in front of a rowdy crowd the Blues were good value for their win. Whilst Brookes huffed and puffed, their hosts never looked like losing control of the fixture. Julian Austin was in predatory form, smashing in twice from decent crosses from the right to win the game.

Perhaps inevitably, there was a streaker, unfortunately for me, male, but with all the stewards present, he was allowed to stay on the pitch for a couple of minutes, while play continued. Eventually he gave up and surrendered to the authorities. Mind you, he was a bit of a pathetic streaker, he kept his shoes on!

I wonder whether in subsequent years this fixture will be moved to a larger venue to accomodate the obvious demand. The groundhopper in me would love it to be the wonderful rugby ground next door, although I’d expect the more likely choice would be Oxford City’s Court Place Farm. Watch this space.