Monthly Archives: April 2012

On the Sunnyside of the Street

17 Tuesday Apr 2012

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Tuesday 17th April 2012 ko 6.30pm

North Berkshire League Division One

BENSON AFC 1 (Ashman 73p)

LONG WITTENHAM 3 (Andy Taylor 10 Bowler 28 Sutherland 55)

Att 16 (h/c)

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

 

The small village of Benson lies roughly 1.5 miles from Wallingford, and since it’s on the north bank of the Thames, it’s always been in Oxfordshire, unlike many of its southerly neighbours, who only switched from Berkshire in 1974. The area is dominated by RAF Benson which is adjacent to here, and its there that the meteorological station is based. Maybe for some, an extreme temperature is the only reason that Benson is known! The airforce base did provide me with some Merlin helicopters to photograph, as it does with just about every ground near here!

The ground is right in the centre of the village neatly tucked away behind the impressive Parish Hall. Its flanked by roads on all 4 sides, but the most obvious is Sunnyside whose bend gives the pitch a border on 2 sides.  Yes, it’s very open, but the trees do break up the sight lines well, and it was good to see a girls team training on a smaller pitch behind the adults one. It was also fun to catch up with the Benson AFC committee, I hadn’t seen them since a NBFL clubs meeting over 18 months ago at Sutton Courtenay FC.

Of course you always get a cheery welcome from Long Wittenham. My one regret from my visit there last week was that I drove and so couldn’t try the real ale there! There will be other occasions I’m sure!

Now I did mention extreme temperatures earlier, and it was bleeding cold this evening! In the middle of April it did seem odd to see a substitute in a wooly hat, but it really was necessary! It didn’t detract from a good evening’s entertainment, which the visitors were to win because they were far more ruthless in front of goal. Andy Taylor’s fine volley in the 10th minute set them on their way, before a scramble saw Long Wittenham double their lead off Chris Bowler’s studs.

It wasn’t that Benson were outclassed, far from it, it was just that nothing they did seemed to result in anything concrete. When Andy Sutherland made it 3-0 before being almost immediately withdrawn, it looked harsh on the hosts, but Pete Ashman’s penalty gave a far fairer reflection on the game. Benson had a shout for another penalty late on. I’ve seen them given, but it would have made no difference in the scheme of things. My next game in this league is the War Memorial Cup Final at Wantage Town. Come and say hello, I’m easy to spot, I’m the fat bloke with the clipboard!

The Stadium Rocker

16 Monday Apr 2012

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Sunday 15th April 2012 at 9.30pm

Willie Nile

at “Tropic” Grosvenor Vale, Ruislip, West London

Yes, everyone I do think its time I did another “Non-Football” entry, but there is a football angle on this one….just!

Its been around 10 years since I last visited Grosvenor Vale, back then it was home to Isthmian League outfit Ruislip Manor. Since then, the stadium has been bought by Wealdstone FC and the Manor are now defunct after spending an unhappy spell at the former Viking Greenford ground, a mile or two down the A40.

The Social club’s blurb says that the clubhouse is “transformed” into the “Tropic club,” although the only change from normal that I could see was the banner behind the stage! I’d only decided to take my camera at the last minute, when I decided there was real potential in this gig.

For a start there’s the “Stadium Rock” play on words, there’s also the “Phoenix Nights” element to the whole place. The whole angle of this little project changed as soon as Willie Nile came on stage, he lit up the place. I got the impression he plays everywhere as if it were a huge stadium, such is his passion. And when you think that he has played Giants stadium, sharing the stage with the E Street band, you wonder what he must think when his changing room door has “Store Room” on it.

For this tour, on its last night, the guitarist was James Stevenson, formerly of Generation X, The Alarm and The Cult. I suspect though, that you’ll recognise his face more from the video for Kim Wilde’s “Kids In America,” although he didn’t play on the recording!

There was another bonus when former Sex Pistol Glenn Matlock turned up for an encore, he seemed to be hiding in the audience somewhere! All in all a quite wonderful gig from one of Rock & Roll’s under-appreciated talents. He’s now back in New York, but keep an eye out for when he’s next over here. You won’t be disappointed.

The Playoff for the Playoff

15 Sunday Apr 2012

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Saturday 14th April 2012 ko 3.00pm

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 0

GILLINGHAM 0

Att 7,322 (641 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc Ox Mail)

At the end of my last Oxford United match report, I pondered whether U’s keeper Ryan Clarke would have got to the lob that gave Torquay a point on Monday, if he hadn’t been injured. Wayne Brown’s first league appearance of the season tells me that he probably would. Such is football.

This game meant a lot to both sides, United to stay in the play-off zone as they were equal on points with Crewe who were away at relegation haunted Macclesfield. For Gillingham a win was necessary to maintain a realistic hope of sneaking into the 7th spot held by United.

Unsurprisingly for United, Harry Worley made way for Michael Duberry returning from suspension, and equally logically Scott Rendell replaced James Constable in the starting line-up. The enigma that is Dean Morgan kept his place, on the left side of attack in a 4-4-3 formation.

And virtually every OUFC attack in that first half came from through balls behind Gills left back Andy Frampton, clearly deemed slow enough for Cristano Montano to beat for pace. The trouble was OUFC’s Achilles heel was also very much on show, inability to put the ball away.  There were no lack of chances at either end as Liam Davis’ fine flying block prevented Danny Kedwell taking the lead for the visitors, while Gills keeper Paulo Gazzaniga’s spectacular save kept out Asa Hall’s volley. The rebound fell kindly to Morgan, but Connor Essam’s block was the equal of Davis’ before.

There was a exchange of bookings for Oxford’s Jake Wright and Kedwell as things got a little feisty, but at half time the score reflected the fact that neither side could get the upper hand.

Nothing tactical changed form the start of the second half. Again Hall was unlucky not to be on the score sheet, as his goal bound volley was somehow headed off the line by Matt Fish. Pace was replaced by pace as Montano was switched for Oli Johnson, and one target man for another with Rendell being replaced by James Constable. It was Constable’s cross for Johnson that saw the latter’s shot again headed off the line by Essam.

The final chance saw Johnson go down in the box under a stiff challenge. Was it a penalty? I’ve seen plenty like that given, but for me he went down a little too theatrically, which may be why linesman Robert Ellis did not flag, and Johnson was booked for diving.

A game that United on another day would have one with Asa Hall getting a brace, but with Crewe only getting a point too, is as you were Cedric. Next Saturday its Oxford’s turn to visit a relegation threatened side, Plymouth Argyle.

Oft in Short Supply

14 Saturday Apr 2012

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Friday 13th April 2012 ko 2.00pm

FA Premier Academy League Group C

LEICESTER CITY 2 (Paratore 37 Tambini 71)

WATFORD 0

Att 52 (h/c)

@ The Training Centre, Middlesex Road, Aylestone, Leicester

Entry FREE

No Programme/Team Sheet

Soup 80p

For a side in the second tier of adult football and the top one of U18’s the Leicester City Training facility is surprisingly low-key. There’s a large clubhouse which is out-of-bounds to spectators, 4 pitches, and a car park. The only clues to the money sloshing around in the top echelons of the game was the well-tended flower beds, and the helicopter parked at the far end. Perhaps that was there as an implication to the young players.

There were in fact two games taking place, both with Watford as the opposition. Lee and I parked behind the U16’s game which was annoying, as in the midst of a hail storm we’d have been perfectly happy to have watched from the car. Thankfully the weather soon abated and we strolled over to the U18’s pitch. It was simple enough to get the lineups and we settled down to watch the game.

As far as I know there are only two sides in the FA Premier Academy League never to have fielded a side in the adult Premier League, those being Crewe and the MK Dons. The first being recognition of Dario Gradi’s excellent Youth Policy at Gresty Road, the other being Dons, er, purchase of Wimbledon’s league position.

This fixture saw two Championship sides battle it out, and out first observation was the sheer number of foreign players on show. Surely the point of an academy side is to bring on HOME GROWN players? The second was how referee James Thornhill seemed to be controlling the game by a policy of passive aggression. Sadly it became all too clear why he was approaching the game in this manner. That’s because the players were hell-bent on contesting each and every decision. If ever a game was summed up by the phrase “Act like children and I’ll treat you like children,” this was it!

A nice interchange of passes between Rob Parratore and Matt Robinson saw the former do well to fire home to open the scoring, but the game soon got bogged down in dissent, and petty fouls. It would have stayed 1-0 but for an injury to visiting goalkeeper Daniel Wilks. With no specialist keeper on the bench he soldiered on to complete the fixture, but with an injured leg, he was powerless to prevent Louis Tambini’s scrambled effort from trickling over the line with three-quarters of the game gone.

Not great, and I did notice that former Northampton, Bristol Rovers and Oxford United manager Ian Atkins made his excuses and left at half time. He’d learned everything he needed to at that point. Sadly, so had everyone else, in a game where only one participant had shown any great common sense, the referee, who amazingly had managed to avoid booking anyone. Such things are oft in short supply.

One Stop From Home

14 Saturday Apr 2012

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Thursday 12th April 2012 ko 6.15pm

Stratford Alliance Nursing Home Cup Quarter-Final

WASHFORD LIONS 2 (Milbourne 39 Jovanovic 62)

ALVESTON 0

Att 13 (h/c)

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

The red sun was going down, way over the town of Redditch, famous for once being responsible for 90% of the world’s production of sewing needles. With the Halfords factory, dirty in the background, the three of us actually had a choice of games to watch. On the pitch nearer to the car park Redditch Reserves were taking on Kenilworth Town in another Stratford Alliance Cup competition. The choice of what to see proved to be an easy one when Lee carried on walking beyond Redditch’s pitch, and discovered a railed off pitch with dugouts.

It turned out that with that 100 metre walk we’d actually changed grounds, from Washford Lane to Washford Park, and stumbled upon Washford Lions’ OLD ground. They’re now using the 3G pitch at Studley FC just a short walk away, but that ground is only available on a Saturday, clearly 5-a-side takes precedence! So back home it was, and the issues with the venue became obvious very quickly. For one thing the pitch is rather bumpy, and the rail and dugouts have gaps, where presumably items have been stolen. The biggest issue though, is the sheer distance from the changing rooms, a good 300 metres, so no toilet facilities, and many parked their cars on the Studley road at the far side of the pitch and arrived already changed.

Washford have just won Division 2, so saw this fixture as a means getting an early test of the standard of play they’d encounter next season, as Alveston are still in the running to win the league. The trouble is, I’m not sure they got the test they thought they were getting. When I got the line-ups, Alveston admitted to fielding 3 youth team players, and writing this with the benefit of having their line-up for their league fixture on 23rd March vs Cubbington to hand, well there are 9 changes from that squad! Just forward Paul Nicholls and goalkeeper Alex Gretton played in both fixtures.

That may be why the game didn’t exactly catch fire, as Washford confident in their championship season always looked unlikely to lose. They had more ideas, and when Rory Milbourne gave them lead they looked utterly in control. Marc Jovanovic sealed the win mid-way into the second half it confirmed a straightforward victory.

We walked back to the car, passing the other game. That was still going with Kenilworth leading 4-2; it sounded a decent game, but I’ve no regrets for picking this game.

Paradise Lost

13 Friday Apr 2012

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Wednesday 11th April 2012 ko 6.25pm

Northants Combination Premier Division

HARPOLE 5 (Clarke 15 18 Markie 55 80 Inns 97)

MILTON 2 (Snooks 46 Cook 65) Billingham sent off 54 (2nd booking) Snooks missed penalty 84

Att 71 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No Programme

This small village in Northamptonshire is not to be confused with the Harpole in Suffolk, immortalised in “Viz,” that famously had Newcastle restaurateur Abdul Latif as its Lord of the Manor! This version is more sedate, there’s a scarecrow festival each September to raise funds for the local church! In the distance you can see the outskirts of Northampton itself.

The agrarian theme continues at the local playing fields, with farmland as their backdrop. There’s a well-appointed clubhouse, with fascinating memorabilia of the clubs highly successful past in the Northants League. There’s two pitches with a cricket square between them; our game took place on the pitch furthest from the clubhouse. Unlike its brother, it sports a skeleton dugout block, and  removable posts and rails. On a bright, if chilly evening it was a pleasant place to watch an excellent game.

With Harpole pushing for the title and Milton worrying near the bottom, it was surprising that Milton opted to play the first few minutes with 10 men, despite having a full complement of substitutes. Michael Betts soon arrived, but I had no other reason to note his name again as Harpole raced into a two goal lead. As if to add injury to insult, Milton keeper Piotr Hajemo took six studs to his ribs from his own defender as Stuart Clarke slid in to guide the ball home.

Callum Snooks pulled one back for Milton immediately after the restart, but Glenn Billingham’s red card for kicking an opponent cost his teammates any chance of a way back into the game. Not that at the time you’d have noticed, as Milton still found it within themselves to miss a penalty! There was an exchange of goals, but Harpole only made the advantage count when their visitors visibly tired. Shaun Markie collected his second, before fellow substitute Darren Inns’ thunderbolt half-volley provided a fitting coda.

One Clump or Two?

11 Wednesday Apr 2012

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Tuesday 10th April 2012 ko 6.30pm

North Berkshire League Division One

LONG WITTENHAM 3 (Osbourne 8 Cooper 56 Saunders 70)

CROWMARSH GIFFORD 0

Att 24 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No programme

Coffee-in-a-mug 50p

Mars Bar 50p

I wanted to visit the Bodkins Field for quite a while, I’m not completely sure why, but its probably due to the area’s topological feature, the Wittenham Clumps two hills clearly visible when you’re travelling from Didcot to Wallingford. It’s a delightful rural setting in my favourite local league, one that’s set up for its participants. That’s why I was so pleased that they did such a wonderful job in staging their first groundhop last September, and plans are afoot for this September’s spectacular!

Another reason to go was referee Les Addison. Les is former chairman of the league and was instrumental in getting the hop and running. He believed we could achieve something, and I hope we repaid his belief. He’s now retired from committee duties but remains a referee and a darned good one at that, so I knew the fixture was in good hands.

So what’s at Bodkins Field? The short answer for many hoppers is 2 brands of White Horse brewery bitter at £2 a pint. Remind me folks, when we take the NBFL hop to here, to schedule an early evening fixture! The club are up for it too,and we talked about how a farmer’s field next door could be utilised for parking. In terms of facitilies there’s a clubhouse, and that’s just about it. Mind you what do you expect of what is a rural participatory league?

I spotted a brass plaque in the clubhouse, stating that following a fire,the rebuilt clubhouse was opened by Oxford United’s Jeremy Charles in 1986. I asked about it, and smiled at the response. Apparently he arrived without any idea of why he was there, but perked up quite
considerably when he saw the girls…..

The game looked like an away banker with Crowmarsh top, and rivals Faringdon looking for an opening to push for elevation at the end of the season. I can’t accuse Crowmarsh of not wanting it enough, as I feel that Wittenham made them play the game their way.

Osbourne opened the scoring with a devastating header, direct from a corner, and always looked to have the upper hand as Crowmarsh looked devoid of ideas on a bumpy pitch. With a fair amount of dissent on display it needed a strong referee, and Les was equal to the task, only reaching for the cards when absolutely necessary.

For the second half Crowmarsh started far more brightly but were undone again when a glorious through ball put Cooper clean through and he made no mistake to double the lead. Saunders’ thumping volley, again direct from a corner made it 3-0 and was clearly the highlight of the match. Crowmarsh’s misery was complete when Studwick collected his second yellow for a studs-up challenge, and considering the first was for dissent he and his management will regard the inevitable suspension as entirely avoidable.

But that’s the beauty of this friendly,well organised league. No result can be completely guaranteed. Hopefully you’re all looking forward to visiting this peach of a league in September.

Questions….and a few answers!

11 Wednesday Apr 2012

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Monday 9th April 2012 ko 3.00pm

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Chapman 59 Montano 68)

TORQUAY UNITED 2 (Howe 17 Atieno 90) Morris sent off 77 (2nd booking)

Att 7,867 (746 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc Oxford Mail)

A few days on I’m still not sure what to make of this one. A draw against a side probably destined to gain promotion as runners-up is not to be sniffed at, and one I’d have settled for before the game. We did, after all managed to lose to struggling Northampton!

The first half performance by Oxford was sufficiently bad for me to have again, settled for a point. After a bright start, Harry Worley’s weak backpass that Rene Howe took full advantage of, to open the scoring signalled a listless performance neatly summed up by Oxford’s talisman James Constable. As hard working as ever, but utterly lacking in inspiration he was replaced at half time by Scott Rendell.

That changed the performance completely, although it was a fluke that got Oxford on level terms, Adam Chapman scoring direct from a corner! Has a player missing for a year due to a prison sentence ever been so popular? His return has felt like a bargain free transfer since the swindon game. Many failed to notice that it was his erudite pass that found Damian Batt on the right. His wonderful cross was powerfully met by Montano who headed home. The negotiations with West Ham for his continued services will be more keen as a result.

Which leaves us the other loanee forward, Dean Morgan. Egomaniac or integral? Chris Wilder seems to think the latter, but there seems to be little evidence that he can produce the goals, that are missing through Tom Craddock’s injuries. On the present showing I’d be amazed if better alternatives aren’t available on the free transfer market.

For all of that OUFC went into injury time 2-1 up, was and were playing 10 men. Morris’ dismssal was an easy decision for the referee, but would he have still seen red, if he hadn’t already been booked? Did the referee take the easy option and save him a further 2 game ban? My feeling is that’s exactly what happened.

Would Torquay’s equaliser had gone in if Ryan Clarke hadn’t injured his side a few minutes earlier? It looked like an uncharacteristically poor piece of goalkeeping from Clarke, but is Wilder inclined to throw in Wayne Brown who’s sole appearance this season resulted in a red card in a Football League Trophy game.

So many questions, and at one point I looked behind me and saw 5 potential first teamers in Darrell’s PA box, so many players but so few it seems capable of getting Oxford United into League 1. Who’d be a manager!

 

The Barnsley Chop

10 Tuesday Apr 2012

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Saturday 7th April 2012 ko 7.45pm

Northern Counties East League Division One

WORSBROUGH BRIDGE ATHLETIC 4 (Goff 52 Copping 67 Ruthven 72 Young 76)

ROSSINGTON MAIN 0

Att 273

Entry & Programme Hop Ticket

Badge £3

So, 8 games in, one to go, and quite honestly I was frazzled. Yes, I know I devised this year’s format, and I’ve no regrets, it helped generate good attendances for all the clubs and that makes for a good pay-day for them. But as the coach pulled into the outskirts of Barnsley I needed a lift. That I got as soon as I saw the Park Road ground. We parked at the other side of the bridge on the A61 and walked across, and …..wow! What a ground, with the stand with a girder cross beam, and the floodlights either side close together, to accommodate the cricket pitch beyond the far goal.

The club did a roaring trade in the kitchen, so much so that after the game the cook told me she’d had to despatch someone off to Asda to buy more chips, when they discovered that was closed, they had to go to the Tesco in Barnsley itself to get the much-needed supplies! Godfrey the bus driver by this stage had long since worked out that his ticket allowed him hospitality. I found him with a piece of cake and a cup of tea well before I got mine at half time. The club were mighty proud of the pork pie on offer, which reminded me of a visit to another local club, Stocksbridge Park Steels where I encountered exactly the same thing. Perhaps its a South Yorkshire tradition!

There was a huge array of programmes on sale and the club seemed to do well with a raffle, and once the crowd count was completed I was able to watch the second half from a raised point above the near goal. With Chris and I, were the two club’s officials and the NCEL committee. It was most gratifying that many hoppers came up to all of us and thanked us for our efforts. It was appreciated by all of us, and its was fun when the German contingent came for a chat and the Worsbrough secretary found it hard to believe that someone would travel all that way to visit his club!

His footballers didn’t let him down either, running in four second half goals to put their visitors to the sword. My only issue was that the goals were in the far goal and the numbers of the Worsbrough shirts were difficult to read. So if your scorers differ to mine then I apologise, but these do come from the League website!

With the game drawing to a close we thanked the clubs for their efforts. We also thanked Dave Morrall, Karl Blackburn and Brian Gould of the NCEL. I hope we gave you the hop you were looking for. After returning to the hotel I gave two hoppers a lift to another hotel, then set off back for Oxford on the M1, in utter silence, contemplating what had been achieved.

Gentlemen No Swearing Please

10 Tuesday Apr 2012

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Saturday 7th April 2012 ko 4.45pm

Northern Counties East Division One

HALLAM 1 (Getliff 88)

TEVERSAL 0

Att 212

Entry & Programme Hop Ticket

150 year brochure FREE

When we put this hop together there was one ground that loomed large, Hallam’s Sandygate, as it’s the oldest football ground in the world, and the club the second oldest behind Dronfield based Sheffield FC. On the coach we were a little nervous about how long we would need to cross Sheffield, but the traffic was kind and we reached S10 in plenty of time.

The first ever challenge match at Sandygate took place against Sheffield FC, on Boxing Day 1860. This is still believed to be the first ever inter-club game. The club also holds the Youdan Cup named after a local football enthusiast Thomas Youdan. This is believed to have been the first cup competition and the oldest football trophy in the world which remains the property of the club as it was won outright by Hallam in 1871. Although lost for a number years it was bought back from a Scottish antique dealer in 1997.

The club understandably trades on its “Oldest Ground status,” but the visit of the hop was also the start of something new for the club. Having been left a sizable bequest from a fan, the club have built an impressive new clubhouse, complete with some impressive signed shirts! This game was to be its opening bow. Although this was my second visit to the ground, the thing I’d forgotten was just how steep the slope is! So steep is it that our conversation soon turned to comparisons with the infamous slope at Chard. That slope for those who haven’t been, is far more acute than here, and is frankly jaw-dropping.

I’d got the impression from NCEL officials that the club might struggle with the hop crowd. I had to sort out getting a team sheet pinned up somewhere prominent, and the club were surprised that Chris and I would do the crowd count. Both were in the notes to clubs, but were easily sorted out. I was disappointed that the club quickly ran out of badges, but the 150 years brochure was a nice touch and made up for a poor programme. All in all, the club coped reasonably well with the crowd, and our coach driver Godfrey was pleased at the excellent hospitality he received.

I spoke to the Hallam officials prior to kick off and they didn’t seem at all confident at their team’s chances. Right from kick off in became obvious why. Hallam played with absolutely no confidence, and unfortunately for the neutrals, Teversal soon became sucked into the malaise. The game was the quintessential nil-nil bore draw until, with the hoppers beginning to move towards the exit, Craig Getliff rifled in from just outside the box. A stunning strike utterly out of step with the rest of the game, but a goal’s and goal and we continue.