Monthly Archives: September 2012

Illuminate

26 Wednesday Sep 2012

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Tuesday 25th September 2012 ko 7.45pm
Hellenic League Floodlit Cup 2nd Round

CHINNOR 1 (Cattell 12og)

WANTAGE TOWN 2 (McMahon 23 Alder 28)

Att 93

Entry & Programme £2

The Oxfordshire village of Chinnor really does mark both a geographical and topographical boundary. The limestone escarpment slopes up from the village towards the Bledlow Ridge, and its that escarpment that marks the boundary with Buckinghamshire. Former weatherman Bill Giles lives here, and almost unbelievably, U2 bassist Adam Clayton was born in Chinnor before moving to the Irish Republic aged 5.

It’s been a long time since my last visit to Station Road, I think it was for a Hellenic Hop game against Oxford City’s Reserves, but that was on what’s now Chinnor’s second pitch, and that was just roped off. Ironically given the opposition, soon after they inherited the rail from Quarry Nomads’ Margaret Road home- Oxford City took over the Nomads to get their place in the Hellenic, and soon, the team was wearing City Blue and White, and there was no football at Margaret Road. With there now being no Hellenic hop, it was a straightforward decision to get the new pitch ticked. Judging by the sheer number of hoppers there I wasn’t the only one thinking along these lines!

The Nomads’ rail is still is situ but Chinnor have moved about 50 yards, and a right angle from the clubhouse, itself due to be demolished in favour of something more suitable. It all looks new, clean, and built with precious little thought. The pitch only just fits its footprint, I certainly wouldn’t want to see a goalkeeper at the clubhouse end fall backwards into the goal, he’d hit his head! Whoever decided it was a bright idea to put the two prefabricated stands behind the dugouts obviously hadn’t considered what the view would be like from them. I assume that in time some attempt will be made to enclose the ground, as my £2 entry was taken by me finding a small pile of programmes behind the bar and buying one.

Still, the club is justifiably proud of the progress its made, and Brian King, General Secretary of the League was beaming at being present at the club’s first ever home game under lights. It wasn’t long ago that the club was doing very little in the Oxfordshire Senior League on very little more than a park pitch. But that’s the rub for the club, floodlights aren’t cheap, and the Hellenic League Division One East has only 14 teams in it. It will be interesting to see how many times, save for the mandatory Saturday 3pm kick offs, that the lights actually get used!

It was an odd evening, with a ladies’ circuits class taking place in one corner, and a referee’s assessors’ course separating into gaggles of 5, spread around the pitch. It was one only a few occasions I’ve not looked out-of-place with my clip board.

As perhaps you’d expect, Wantage of the Hellenic Premier were too proficient for their lower-ranked opponents. They had a shock though, when Stuart Cattell attempted an interception, but watched horrified as it looped over Gareth Tucker to give Chinnor an unlikely lead. Wantage soon put that right, and two quick-fire finishes from John McMahon, and Paul Alder gave a more realistic view of the play.

What should have been a simple second half was made more difficult by Wantage easing off and failing to capitalise on they did create and were nearly forced into extra time when Wantage’s Brad Davies header produced a diving save from Tucker, his own keeper with 2 minutes left. That of course exhausted an obvious source of a floodlit game for Chinnor. I wonder when the next will be?

Dancing With The Stars

23 Sunday Sep 2012

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Saturday 22nd September 2012 ko 7.30pm

North Berkshire League Division 5

UFFINGTON UNITED 12 (Watson 2 20 33 43 59 70 82 87 Cousins 11 14 56 Glock 62)

APPLETON STARS 0

Att 188

Entry & Programme £4

Badge £3

Food: Meat and Veggie Chilli

Beer: White Horse Brewery

The final game of this year’s hop saw a trip to the pretty village of Uffington, best known for the 374 feet prehistoric “White Horse” carved into the chalk of the Berkshire Downs behind the village. It’s just about visible from the ground, but there’s more to the village than just that. Poet John Betjeman lived here during the 1930’s and Thomas Hughes, author of “Tom Brown’s Schooldays,” was born in the village.

Now if you thought a NBFL Division 3 game was trying something new, I’m not sure what the great hopping populace thought I was thinking planning this! I do what the Uffington committee thought, as they admitted to me at half-time; they thought I was absolutely stark raving mad when I presented my proposals at a club meeting at Tucker Park 2 years earlier!

The logic is simple, the ground at Fawler Road, has floodlights, and Uffington don’t seem to have played under them in living memory, With floodlit grounds at a premium in the NBFL this was an obvious closing game for the hop. That immediately raised another issue, that division 5 is primarily for reserve and “A” sides. Since hoppers by and large will not watch games involving reserve teams, my choice of opposition for Uffington was restricted to two, Challow and Appleton. Challow are new to the league this season, and so I knew nothing about them, but the Stars I know well.

The Stars re-entered the NBFL 3 seasons ago, and were placed in Division 4. They had a terrible season, and were relegated without registering a point. The next season they still finished bottom but at least registered 3 wins, but last season suffered from the league creating Divisions 4 East and West, and once again failed to register a point. With Uffington having finished next-to-bottom last season, I plumped to the Stars on the basis it might be competitive, and give the crowd some goals to view. I was correct on one count!

What surprised the visiting hoppers was just how well-appointed Fawler Road is. Apart from the fully railed off pitch, with dugouts and floodlights, there’s a second pitch (now there’s an idea!) and a clubhouse with ballroom. The latter proved to be handy as goalscorer Jamie Glock’s chilli sold like hot, well chilli. Common consensus was that it was delicious! NBFL media man Phil Annets went back for seconds, and he was not the only one!

I was worried about Appleton, and so were the NBFL committee. They’ve taken some real hidings over the last 3 seasons, and after a 15-0 drubbing at the hands of Benson Lions Reserves last Saturday we did have Challow on stand-by in case manageress Briony MacKellar decided this was a bridge too far for her team. I was wrong, and I should have known better, as I’ve seen Appleton a few times and they are a team in the purest sense of the word. They pull together, and even though they’ve taken some real beatings, including a 24-0 reverse, they play for each other and for fun. I had a brief chat with one of the players before the game, he admitted to me that the team was nervous so I found some hoppers and made sure they gave them a cheer.

I needn’t have bothered, as although Appleton shipped their first goal with less than 2 minutes on the watch, the crowd took to them as they gave the game a real go as they always do. And that’s where for me they avoided utter humiliation. Yes, Uffington are clearly a massive improvement on last season, but Appleton were not without attacking effort, forcing 3 corners and hitting the bar once. But you cannot be humiliated if you give it your best, and pull together. And that is what make me have a gigantic soft spot for the Stars.

Watching from the bench was Paul Nuckley. A veteran of Appleton’s previous stint in the NBFL, he was goalkeeper for most of the last 3 years, before opting to play for Stanford-in-the-Vale as he prefers to play left-wing. Nevertheless he decided to come along and support his former team-mates.

The difficulty he had as did everyone else there, was the floodlights were somewhat murky, perhaps I should have known as secretary Helen Wilkins did put in the excellent programme that the lights are, “Unique!” It ended up being a case of watch Uffington roll in yet another goal, and ask the bench who got it. The answer was ” Kieran, ” (Watson) a quite unbelievable 8 times! It made Ben Cousins’ hat-trick look positively tame! It broke all kinds of groundhop records, and after completing the crowd count, and saying thanks to the Uffington committee, I allowed myself the luxury of spending the second half on the Appleton bench, partly to check they were all right, and partly to indulge the part of me that is a fan.

And that concluded this year’s event. We produced an average attendance slightly up on last year, and tightened up on the little things that make a hop special. Two areas really pleased me; the clubs did excellent, varied catering, and I thought the 4 programmes were exceptional.

To finish I’d like to thank the NBFL committee, and especially Media Guru Phil Annets. Phil grasped the concept straightaway and his help makes my job so much easier. I’d also like to wish NBFL Chairman Leroy Paddock all the best as I know he’s going into hospital this coming week. I’d like to thank the clubs for their hard work, and at times indulging that bloke who kept sending them emails! The away clubs too, your time will come, as long as you want us there. Thanks also to everyone who attended any of the games, but especially to “Fast” Eddie McGeown who drove the other minibus. Lastly to Chris Berezai, normally I’m his deputy but for this one we swap places. We both know what sometimes you need a shoulder….

See you all next year, Benson Lions, Berinsfield, Long Wittenham and Didcot Casuals, you have a lot to live up to!

;

Respect To Me Choppers

23 Sunday Sep 2012

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Saturday 22nd September 2012 ko 16.30

North Berkshire League Division 3

STANFORD-IN-THE-VALE 1 (Gregory 85) Mayall sent off 81 (foul and abusive language)

BLEWBURY 1 (Mitchell 23)

Att 178

Entry & Programme £4

Badge £3

Food: Cream Teas/ barbeque

Beer: White Horse Brewery

So let’s go back to the drawing board. Start at Coleshill, and finish at Uffington, so Stanford really was an obvious choice based on the geography if nothing else! The trouble was I knew absolutely nothing about the place other than that the poet Pam Ayres (“I wish I’d looked after me teeth”) hails from here. So in April I decided to go and have a look, and I liked what I saw.

https://laurencereade.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/a-preview/

Generally when I meet a club and explain how a groundhop works and what’s involved I get one of two reactions. Either I get a look that says, “You are completely mad,” which isn’t necessarily incorrect, or the club representative’s eyes get progressively bigger as the blind panic sets in! When I met Stanford’s Simon “Taff” Blackshaw I definitely got the latter! Whatever he thought at the time he did two things that made my life easy, he asked loads of questions, and came up with good ideas too.

The club used a farmer’s field opposite Cottage Road for parking, and produced the greatest whiteboard for the line-ups that I’ve seen on a hop, it was huge! The cream teas went down well, but I do wonder what the players ate after the game as the barbeque earmarked for them looked to be doing a good trade amongst the travellers! There was also a fascinating display of some wonderful old club memorabilia, as well as the beer from the White Horse Brewery, based in the village. The club had done their advertising too, a hopper reported that the village had a poster up everywhere you looked!

So good were the club’s efforts I completely forgot this was a first, Chris and I had never attempted to organise a hop game at a club this far down football’s pecking order. That said, I’d been made aware that Blewbury had had difficulties in the previous few days, so I was more than pleased to see them arrive! I was pleased to see them for another reason, they are the first ground in the NBFL I’d visited around 10 years ago.

There was some confusion as to which team was which. Stanford decided to christen their natty new yellow and blue nets, but NBFL rules state that if there’s kit clash the HOME team changes, so it was Blewbury to got to wear the yellow and blue kit.

Stanford’s main man is forward Tyrun Mayall, and it was his turn and shot that provided the first chance after 8 minutes.  Stanford had the majority of the play early on, so it was a surprise when Blewbury took the lead, Liam Saunders cross being rifled into the net by Joe Lee Mitchell. And despite more or less continuous pressure Stanford couldn’t find a way through. The frustration told most obviously on Mayall himself as he swore at linesman Harry Moore, himself taking a break from Hellenic duties, and followed it up with a rigid digit in Moore’s direction leaving referee Charlie Bullock with no option but to dismiss him.

From there I thought that would be the end of Stanford’s challenge, but as usual I got that one completely wrong. The equaliser, when it came was beautiful in its simplicity, Sam Weeks played a slide-rule pass through the righ hand channel for Jamie Gregory to glide the ball home. Deserved, and Stanford could easily have won the game if Weeks’ finish after a mazey run had have shown a little more finesse.

The game finished soon afterwards, but by that stage the talk was already about the final game. That game of course, had its own benefits and pitfalls.

No Folly

23 Sunday Sep 2012

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Saurday 22nd September 2012 ko 1.30pm

North Berkshire League Division One

FARINGDON TOWN 1 (Pill 50)

WOOTTON & DRY SANDFORD 0

Att 181

Entry & Programme £4

Badge £3

Food: Ham or Cheese Ploughmans

Beer: Arkells

With the first game at Coleshill there really was only one choice for the second, a trip to Faringdon’s Tucker Park. But have you ever thought about how the ground got its name?

Prior to World War I there was a Thursday Faringdon team, reflecting early closing on that day of the week. After the war the players returned to discover that 6 of of them had lost their lives, and that half day closing was a thing of the past. The £30 left in the club’s kitty was enough to buy and re-badge a racing trophy, as the Faringdon Memorial Thursday Cup, and the Faringdon Town ground was named after one of the fallen 6 players, Michael Tucker. The clubhouse you see today is the result of the fundraising done by the Thursday cup competition, and the cup is still played for today.

In fact, the Memorial Cup was a reason to be nervous as organiser as a combination of a final where there’s always a programme, and the unusual day of the week that its played, meant that many of the more senior hoppers would have done the ground, and therefore would look elsewhere. I knew Faringdon are an ambitious club, with their aim being promotion back to the Hellenic, and are improving the ground accordingly. Fence posts have appeared since my last visit, and the club hope to get permission for floodlights in the future. They’re also at pains to explain they’re going about it the correct way; local players only, and not spending money they haven’t got.

It was a lovely touch that the town mayor Mike Wise was there to welcome each and every person to his town’s game, and I was pleased to see him tucking into a Ploughman’s lunch later on! Those lunches went down a treat, especially with the small, but significant vegetarian contingent. As one of them correctly pointed out, ” A meat eater doesn’t have to eat meat at every meal.” As I chose the cheese version, I’m a good example. The tombola was a good money spinner too, with some bemused hoppers (me included) leaving with teddy bears!

This day was in marked contrast to the famous town Folly clearly visible above the far goal. The visitors were proudly carrying a 100% record coming into this game, and it was clear that what the game lacked in goalmouth action it made up for in tension and quality. It was hard to see this as Step 7 action.

It was Matty Pill who broke the deadlock firing home from 10 yards after good work from Dan Hoskin. Ultimately Wootton were to have to answer to this stike despite a lot of pressure late on. Luke Ingram should have done far better when clean through, and how Sam Paterson’s header hit the crossbar I’ll never know.

The celebrations at the final whistle were a reflection on what the win meant for Faringdon, and their ambitions for progress. I also felt it was a cheer for hard work earning a fair reward, both on and off the field.

One Man (and what a man!)

23 Sunday Sep 2012

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Saturday 22md September 2012 ko 10.30am

North Berkshire League Division 2

COLESHILL UNITED 2 (Evans 30 47) Evans missed penalty 17 Rees sent off 55 (dangerous play)

ARDINGTON & LOCKINGE 5 (Little 23 25 J Clark 29 72 Eudell 76)

Att 171

Entry & Programme £4

Badge £3

Food: Bacon Rolls, and Sausages

Beer: Old Forge Brewery

It doesn’t seem like a month since we were running round Mid-Wales, but the NBFL hop is very much my baby, and it does have its own challenges. This was a first if only for being the first time the organiser has also driven a minibus. All in day’s hopping I suppose!

I’d approached the 4 clubs some time ago, and soon realised I wanted Coleshill to open the event. I do wonder whether any hoppers turned up erroneously in Warwickshire, as this Coleshill is just about in Oxfordshire! During World War II Coleshill House, on the estate, was the headquarters of the secret Auxiliary Units, who were to resist the expected occupation of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany. Continue reading →

No, we didn’t!

23 Sunday Sep 2012

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Friday 21st September 2012 ko 19.45

FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round

DIDCOT TOWN 3 (Clark 62 73p Osborn-Ricketts 77)

CLEVEDON TOWN 1 (Flurry 22)

Att 190

Entry £9

Programme £2

With the North Berkshire League hop the next day, this fixture couldn’t have been more convenient for those staying over the night before. Or in fact anyone who fancied a “warm-up” game. There were even 3 hoppers who’d watched Didcot Casuals, on Town’s training ground 2 years ago. I bet its unusual for the two grounds to be ticked off in that order! The convenience of the fixture lead to a rumour that Chris and I had got the fixture moved to attract hoppers. Not the case I’m afraid, we don’t carry that much clout, but Phil Annets media officer at the NBFL did get the club to put a full page advert for the hop in the excellent programme!

Loop Meadow Stadium is one of the better new-builds, replacing their Station Road (now a Sainsbury’s) home in 1999. The sight lines are good, and there’s now cover behind one goal, a condition of Southern League Premier football, now sadly a division above their current status.

Annoying for all concerned the draw gave Didcot the fixture that they would have had if neither side had made it through the 1st qualifying round, albeit with the away team at home. What the game proved, apart from that the Railwaymen have a nice little cup run going is that they should have little difficulty in collecting 3 points when the two sides meet again in the rearranged league fixture at The Hand Stadium next Tuesday.

It was a travesty that Clevedon were leading at the break. Joe Flurry’s stab home following ex Reading and Bristol City striker Scott Murray’s blocked shot, represented virtually the visitors’ only meaningful attack of the half. In contrast Didcot saw chance after chance go begging though a mixture of profligate finishing and the brilliance of Lee Matthews in the Clevedon goal.

The second half saw juctice prevail as Didcot made the pressure count. James Clark was put though by Sam Elkins to equalise. Didcot’s second was a little fortunate as Eliott Osborne-Ricketts powerful shot hit a Clevedon hand and a penalty was awarded on the linesman’s signal. Clark’s spot kick was emphatic to give Didcot the lead. 4 minutes later the tie was over as a spectacle as Osborne-Ricketts scored the goal of the game, skipping through two challenges before rifling home.

It was a highly statisfactory game to watch and the crowd was significantly higher than normal, so hopefully the experiment will be repeated. The statistic that no-one cold have predicted is how close 190 was to the crowds at the 4 NBFL games the next day!

Boats, Planes, and Automobiles

20 Thursday Sep 2012

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Tuesday 18th September 2012 ko 7.30pm

Wessex League Cup 2nd Round

HYTHE & DIBDEN 0

EAST COWES VICTORIA 1 (Barnes 77)

Att 37 (h/c)

The original idea was to meet Lee in Oxford then travel south to near Southampton to watch Blackfield & Langley. When I collected Lee, he’d just found out that a 30 foot boat travelling south of the A34 near Newbury had fallen off its trailer, so the carriageway was blocked. A little local knowledge is handy, so I diverted via Wantage down to the M4 and rejoined the A34, but it was too late to make kick-off at our planned fixture. But then Lee pointed out that Hythe is 5 miles closer, and with some creative driving we got there for the advertised 7.45pm kick-off. The trouble is that the game kicked off at 7.30 to allow the visitors to catch the last boat back to the Isle of Wight. You can’t win sometimes! Continue reading →

Dark Thoughts

16 Sunday Sep 2012

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Saturday 15th September 2012 ko 3.00pm

FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round

SEVENOAKS TOWN 3 (Akokhia 45 Curtis 71 106)  Bricknell missed penalty 10 Jones-Johnson sent off 101 (violent conduct)

CHESSINGTON & HOOK UNITED 2 (Hughes 86p 89) Greene sent off 107 (violent conduct)

Att 38

Entry £6

Programme £1

I’d set out with the intention of seeing Whitstable Town versus Eastbourne Town in the Isthmian League. After two mammoth hold-ups on firstly the M40, then the M25 I had to revise my plans. And to be honest I’d fancied a trip here for some time, as I do have a habit of wanting to visit clubs when I’ve seen their town on a road sign. You do see a lot of signs for Sevenoaks on the M25 too…..

Sevenoaks is a typical leafy suburban Kentish commuter town, with its Arts Centre and the wide open spaces of Knole Park, famous for being the location of two Beatles promotional films for “Strawberry Fields,” and “Penny Lane.” Writer HG Wells lived in Sevenoaks, and The Vine Cricket Ground in the town is the first place where cricket was played with a set of three stumps.

Greatness Park is close to Knole Park, and its clear that the club were once allocated a corner of it and have spent the time since since improving and enclosing it, as funds and planning restrictions have allowed. The bar is the only brick-built structure and is set away from the ground; within the fence the changing rooms, hospitality and catering are all provided via Portakabins. The covered area by the half-way line has been augmented by two prefabricated seated stands either side of it. It ticks the graders’ boxes but the best view of the action isn’t to be found in the ground.

Behind one goal, the land climbs steeply and some supporters actually pay to get in, then leave immediately and sit on the hill. Fine on a warm day, but a non-starter when its cold and wet. The only issue I had up there on a warm afternoon was the din of an outdoor dance class in Knole Park; it wasn’t the kind of game where you could ignore the music either.

The first issue for the fixture was the pitch. Tinder dry, and extremely bumpy, the club had tried to water it. The problem was that with the summer we’ve had the hose hadn’t seen use for months, and when it was rolled out it was perished! Not the pitch could be at all blamed for what went on on the pitch.

Let’s get one thing straight, the club on the outside of the pitch rail were a delight. From the ladies at the tea bar to secretary Andrew Gidley, they all made the kind of impression I hope for wherever I visit. What went on inside the rail was frankly sickening.

There was no clue as to what was going to happen as Jake Bricknell missed an early penalty for Sevenoaks, although Chessington’s encroachment was something to behold! As the game wore on the players became hell-bent on arguing each and every decision made by referee Freddie Collins. He had a good game, the assessor said as much, but when 10 players get booked, 9 of them for some form of unsporting conduct you question the intelligence of the players. When 1 gets booked for dissent, surely you take note. But 10? Words fail me. I should be fair to both sides, and comment that 8 of the bookings went to Chessington & Hook players.

Add to that 2 dismissals, both for violent conduct. Eschewing the straightforward punch-up, these two opted for the cowardly, sly kick-out after a challenge, perfected by David Beckham. I depaired then, and I despair now.

At least the better side won. Sevenoaks took the lead with virtually the last touch of the first half, Sam Akokhia’s fine glancing header gliding in at the back post. That lead was doubled by Ramone Curtis’ strike on 71 minutes, and that should have curtailed the unpleasantness after 90 minutes. But a sloppy penalty was conceded and converted, and when Mickey Hughes fired home an excellent shot for 2-2, I groaned, and I bet Mr Collins did too, this game didn’t need any more time added to it.

Jamie Jones-Johnson collected his marching orders for a nasty kick following a heavy challenge, before Curtis bagged his second, finishing with a thumping shot after beating the offside trap. There was enough time for Chessington’s Frank Greene to be sent off for an even dafter sly kick, he hadn’t even been fouled! The assessor shook his head in disbelief, and made a note that he wasn’t going to be making a quick getaway after the final whistle. I did, I’d more than had my fill.

As I drove away I felt pleased that no children had been watching, the players gave a dreadful example of what is meant to be sport. The visitors were the bigger sinners, but I pondered that if this fixture had been taped, and played to the participants, I hope their behaviour would make them hang their heads in shame.

Castling Banjos

16 Sunday Sep 2012

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Tuesday 11th September 2012 ko 7.45pm

Hampshire Senior Cup 1st Round

EVERSLEY & CALIFORNIA 4 (Baker 8 40 41 Day 13)

WHITCHURCH UNITED 3 (Jupp 4 Dallarda 64 Walker 81)

Att 22 (h/c)

Played at Cody Sports and Social Club, Old Ively Road, Farnborough

Entry & Programme £5

Coffee £1

I was a little surprised to be the only hopper at this game. Had everyone else been here when Farnborough North End were based here? Incidentally they’re now playing in the West Surrey League and are based at Southwood Fields. Eversley needed a floodlit ground, as this cup competition stipulates thus and the lights at their normal ground, Fox Lane aren’t expected to be ready until December.

The club used to be called Eversley FC, but merged with Wokingham-based youth outfit California FC for the start of this season. Eversley means “Wild Boar Clearing,” but this gives no clue as to the well-heeled nature of the village. Statistically speaking it forms part of the least deprived borough of the UK. There are 3 major stately homes, Firgrove Manor, Glaston Hill House and Warbrook House, and the local churchyard is where author Charles Kingsley is buried. For 35 years he was rector of the parish, and in that time wrote “The Water Babies, ” and “Westward Ho!”

The feeling of affluence leant itself well to their temporary home. Situated down a tree-lined lane, the Cody Sports and Social Club, started life as a club for the various companies in the aeronautical industry still evident in the area. Both the sport and social sides of the club survive, with archery and children’s football finishing up in the half-light when I arrived, and in the clubhouse, there was still more going on. In one room a chess club was in progress, and in another, set suitably away from the former,  a banjo club was plucking away. With a heavy cold in its early stages, I plonked myself in the plush clubhouse, bought myself a strong coffee, and read my programme alongside the ladies’ book club who were reading something altogether more highbrow.

Other than the location I was attracted to this fixture, because it pitted together sides from different leagues, E & C from the Combined Counties, and Whitchurch from the Wessex. It proved to be an entertaining evening’s entertainment as  E & C recovered from conceding an early goal, to find themselves 4-1 up at the break, due to no small part to a superb hat trick from Matt Baker. His first, a curling 25 yard free kick was out of the top drawer.

Eversley made two changes at half time, presumably to rest players for the weekend, and that was very nearly their undoing, with Whitchurch finding an outlet in George Dallarda. He scored, and set up Luke Walker for Whitchurch’s 3rd. But, despite constant pressure for the last few minutes, they couldn’t force extra-time. And with my cold making my head swim, I was grateful for that small mercy! I wonder though where Eversley will opt to play their home tie in the next round?

My £12 drainpipes

14 Friday Sep 2012

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Monday 10th September 2012 ko 6.00pm

Cheltenham Association Football League Third Division

PRESTBURY ROVERS 2 (Jones 25 Davis 77)

ANDOVERSFORD 3 (A Cleal 19 B Wright 24 70)

Att 3 (h/c)

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

So why this one? Well it was on, and I could get to it. The Cheltenham League played on a Monday for no reason anyone could fathom, so I simply picked the game nearest to work, and I’ve no regrets on that decision.

The Gloucestershire village of Prestbury sits on the outskirts of Cheltenham, and the Playing Fields are tucked away off of New Barn Mews. The village is best known for Prestbury Park, known also as Cheltenham Racecourse, and the Horse Racing festival there represents a major annual boost to the local economy. According to The Penguin Book of Ghosts: Haunted England, Prestbury is the most haunted village in England.

Ghosts however isn’t what I’ll remember Prestbury for, no that will be the rain. I usually wear hiking trousers for hopping, as they dry quickly if it rains. A few months ago I bought a pair of blue drainpipe trousers from a supermarket for £12. They’re comfortable, they fit well, but when they get wet, they stay wet. So which trousers was I wearing when I parked in the middle of a rainstorm. No prizes I’m afraid!

My lack of comfort excepted, this was a hugely enjoyable visit. Andoversford took the lead direct from Ashley Cleal’s inswinging corner. Prestbury failed to learn that lesson and were two down when another inswinging corner was headed home unopposed by Ben Wright. This roused Prestbury and a minute later Chris Jones’ lofted drive from 20 yards was worthy of a far grander stage. Sadly it was to be his last meaningful contribution as he soon limped off with a thigh strain.

At 2-1 the game was highly competitive, taking into account this is the 12th tier of the non-league pyramid, and the winner when it came was of the highest quality. Ben Wright found himself on the right-hand touchline 25 yards out, looked up and his scorching shot whistled past Sonny Martin into the top left corner. That’s nothing against Martin, it would have beaten a far better keeper.

Of course Prestbury had to make the last few minutes interesting so as to make me forget my cold wet legs, Luke Davis notching for 2-3, but that was to be mere consolation. Mention too for referee Keith Iles who officiated with both common sense and humour; he and both teams made for a great evening’s entertainment and I wish all concerned good luck for the rest of the season.

There was to be a postscript though. As I drove back through Cheltenham I wanted to get to Oxford as quickly as possible to dry out. That of course is when my phone rang; it turned out it was someone wanting information, and a ticket for the North Berkshire League Hop. I found a lay-by, pulled in and got the enquiry sorted out satisfactorily, and 20 minutes later still with my £12 blue drainpipes soaking wet, I headed for home.