Yearly Archives: 2013

Kim’s Miners’ Welfare

24 Wednesday Apr 2013

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Saturday 20th April 2013 ko 18.15

Notts Senior League Senior League Senior Division

KIMBERLEY MINERS WELFARE 7 (Chaplin 14 Fisher 22 26 50 Baker 54 Beecham 63 Wilmott 90)

KEYWORTH UNITED 0

Att 369

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

The Nottinghamshire town of Kimberley was known as Chinemarelie in Domesday Book. With the accession of William to the throne Kimberley came into the possession of William de Peveril, and over the centuries the estate changed hands with the turning of each political tide, eventually being sold piecemeal in the 19th century. The town became a centre for coal mining, brewing and hosiery manufacturing, but one by one these closed, the final one, the brewery closing in 2006, after being bought out by Greene King.

When organising these events it is always handy to have an ace up your sleeve, something that will attract the stragglers. Potentially this was Kimberley MW’s last first XI game at Digby Street, as they have taken on the Stag Ground, the home of the now defunct Kimberley Town. That ground needs work to get it fit for use, so the move may be delayed, but I reckon it may well have concentrated a few minds!

Near to here, in 1817, the last attempted English Revolution took place. The Pentrich Revolution started in the village of Pentrich, north of Derby, where they discussed an uprising and a proposed march on London.  It was badly supported and ill-fated, and an agent provocateur infiltrated their ranks, and this ultimately led to their capture and execution. The 9th June 1817 was to be the start of a national uprising that was to include men from Huddersfield, Wakefield, Leeds and Nottingham. Their forces were to meet at Nottingham and then march to London to overthrow the government. Despite the promise of a wider national uprising it was only the men of Pentrich who marched that night. They reached Kimberley, were met by government troops and fled. The ringleaders Jeremiah Brandreth, William Turner and Issac Ludlam were all found guilty of High Treason and were hanged then beheaded on 7th November 1817.

The issue for footballers playing at Digby Street over the years was where to get changed! The players have at various times changed in a local kitchen and in the basement of the local bowling alley. There’s a lot to like here and congratulations to MW for putting a club history in the programme, I’m sure I’m not the only one who likes reading them. The ground lies next door to where the Digby Colliery once stood. The light industrial units, and the railway waggons on the nearby roundabout are the only clue of the coal mining that once took place here. The issue was dealt with once and for all in 1995 when the changing rooms were bought from Calverton Cricket Club!

The club had thought intelligently about how to host their game. Many clubs do barbeques, to the point that when I organise a groundhop I generally advise against them- there is burger overkill after a while! MW’s was an honourable exception to the rule, the queues spoke volumes for its success.

In the clubhouse a printer was set up, allowing up-to-date teamsheets to be produced, but it was the merchandise stall that intrigued me. Kim Hedwall from Stockholm, Sweden is a good mate of mine, we organise a groundhop in Sweden each year, and one of the MW’s shirts caught my eye. It transpires MW’s change kit is yellow and blue, Swedish national colours, and with the shirt having IKEA as the sponsor, well it was a match made in…..well Kimberley!

It set things up nicely for the final game of the hop which looked unlikely to be anything other than a home win. Keyworth needed a win to escape from the bottom two relegation spots, but their resistance lasted a mere 15 minutes. MW rolled in 7 and in all honesty could have made double figures had it not been for some poor finishing. The plaudits should go to Jake Fisher for his hat trick, but this was an excellent team performance from a friendly club, who did themselves and their town proud in the time quite literally in the sun.

The other person they did proud was organiser Rob Hornby. I’ve been there myself, you give clubs an opportunity and an idea, what they do with it is up to them. I’m sure when Rob finished his drop-offs, and the coach was back in the garage and him back home in Mansfield, he looked back on his hard work on the first NSL hop, and feel quietly satisfied. The rest of the hopping world will be grateful he still does it. Thanks mate!

The Forty Bridges

23 Tuesday Apr 2013

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Saturday 20th April 2013 ko 15.30

Notts Senior League Senior Division

AWSWORTH VILLA 3 (Saxton 20 90 Board 57)

COTGRAVE FC 0

Att 266

Entry £3

Programme £1

You really don’t need to look too hard to find evidence of coal mining in this part of the world, although in this part of east Nottinghamshire there was no pit wheel, the mine was open-cast.

Coal mining started here in the 16th century and Huckerby’s Pit seemed to be staffed by 90 or so children with a predictably high level of deaths and injuries. The pit closed in 1899 but the site was re-opened in the 1970’s, again for open cast mining. When that finished for good, the site became the Shilo recreation ground, where the village’s football team now play.

The area was also a centre for glassmaking, and the area behind what’s now the clubhouse was where the factory once stood, suitably close to the coal mine for fuel. Passing both factory and mine was the railway following the route of what’s now the path on top of the grass bank by the pitch side. That branch line curved away northwards to Pinxton. It crossed the Awsworth Viaduct, almost half a mile in length across the Giltbrook valley, but in the local area the span was known as the “Forty Bridges,” though the actual combined number of arches and girder spans was 43!  This viaduct is no more being demolished to make way for the by-pass, but the smaller Bennerley Viaduct is still in place. Unusually the line closed first to freight traffic, in 1943, and to passenger traffic in 1964.

The ground has a peaceful vista over the Erewash valley. One visitor, Kim Hedwall, from Sweden enjoyed in particular enjoyed it in particular, if only because of the huge IKEA superstore in his sights. ” The Swedish Embassy,” he explained.

The grass bank was a popular place for the crowd to sit, eat the delicious stew and dumplings, and watch the game. Awsworth were my choice for best hospitality, the catering was excellent, they had enough merchandise, which Rob Hornby helped sell, and their team sheet was accurate. It set the tone for an excellent home performance against a Cotgrave side who lacked punch up front. In fact it was only the excellence of Jonathan Garton in the visitor’s goal that prevented a rout.

Eventually the Cotgrave defence had to crumble and a reverse pass found Kieran Saxton who fired home from the edge of the box. The goal of game, if not the entire hop doubled the lead, Josh Board’s curling effort finding the top corner in spectacular fashion. That would have been more than enough for Awsworth to win the game but they added a third in stoppage time, Saxton getting his brace from 12 yards out.

As the game wound down I spotted the hoppers quietly checking their phones, and it took a second or two to work out why. You do tend to lose track of what time it is on these events. They were checking their teams’ results, but for those of us on the hop, we’d already had 3 to ponder, and there was another to go!

 

Under Notts Wood

21 Sunday Apr 2013

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Saturday 20th April 2013 ko 12.45

Notts Senior League Division One

UNDERWOOD VILLA 2 (Townsend 45 Tring 45)

WEST BRIDGFORD 2 (S Prince 5 Charlesworth 10)

Att 341

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge (last one!) £3

Thanks for the excellence of Selston’s traffic operation we were in the village of Underwood in plenty of time. Like our previous location this is a hilltop village with views over the Erewash valley, towards the southern outcrops of the Pennines. It’s a former colliery village, but seemingly has escaped from the deprivation often seen in former mining towns.

The mining heritage is reflected in the club badge with a mine headstock together with a football, bracken, St Michaels church & the crest of the Chaworth-Musters family. Bracken Park is on land owned by the Chaworth-Musters, and they have allowed the club to expand their operations to an area of 5 acres! The current project is a new pavilion which sadly wasn’t quite completed for our visit, but the kitchen part was, so the club made a good profit selling that Midlands footballing staple- Pie and Peas, except that on this occasion there was a choice of 3 types of pie!

Once again the team sheets were inaccurate, and I’m indebted to ace-blogger Peter Miles for giving me the correct line-ups. There wasn’t a moment to be wasted either as the visitors made a flying start. A poor clearance from a corner fell to Sam Prince who volleyed home in spectacular fashion.

Now there is one sure fire way of guaranteeing a goal in a groundhop game is to get Chris Berezai to either visit the toilet or go and buy some food. I’d wondered whether it only worked at events we’re organising, but many thanks Underwood, you proved that his talent is without restriction. Off he went to buy Pie and Peas, and that’s when Jurgen Charlesworth’s stunning, curling volley rocketed into the top right corner!

It set a pattern for the half, with the visitors dominating but all that changed in the final, mad minute of first half stoppage time. Firstly captain Ian Townsend blasted home from more or less the half-way line, then a few seconds later some appalling defending allowed him to round the on-rushing keeper Liam Johnson and slide the ball towards the goal. Did the ball cross the line before Sam Tring applied the final touch? Hard to tell, but if I was Townsend I wouldn’t be very impressed with his team-mate!

The second half couldn’t possibly have lived up to the standards of the first. The sides huffed and puffed but little of note happened. But then Chris didn’t need feeding or anything else. For that I take full responsibility.

 

The Naked Brewer

21 Sunday Apr 2013

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Saturday 20th April 2013 ko 10.10

Notts Senior League Senior Division

SELSTON 2 (Barnes 4 Moore 90)

WOLLATON 2 (Ranson 47  Ranshaw 82)

Att 358

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

I’d stayed overnight in Long Eaton, so a 10.10am kick-off held no fears for me, particularly as my responsibilities added up to nothing more than turning up and watching the game!

The Ashfield-based village of Selston lies to the east of Nottinghamshire, and its leafy hilltop location was in contrast to our urban environs the previous evening. The local St Helen’s Church dates back to 1150 AD. An older Saxon church is thought to have occupied the site, the monolith in the church yard is evidence of this, and that may well have been of ceremonial importance for pre-Christian pagans in the area.

The football club play behind the Parish Hall, and I was impressed at the way the parking was organised as the street outside is narrow and the potential for a bottleneck both before and after the game was massive. Nevertheless the traffic management was excellent, and there were no delays even when leaving the ground.

The club clearly had decided on a tilt for organiser Rob Hornby’s hospitality award; a marquee had been erected and a local brewery had been invited to sell their wares. That proved to be interesting as the brewer Sarah Webster aka The Naked Brewer uses 13.5-tog duvets to warm her containers in her 5-barrel custom-insulated plant attached to her pub, the Corner Pin in Westwood.

Merchandise was sold and the bacon rolls were fantastic! Where the club fell down slightly was the vexed question of line-ups. Many hoppers, me included, like to jot down the line-ups before the game and the normal method of dealing with this is to get the club to use a flip-chart to record the information. For this hop the modus operandi was team sheets, but Selston printed theirs the night before, and they were inaccurate, negating the whole point of producing them. Still I found referee Andy Rolph enjoying a big cigar, and recorded the line-ups direct from the official paperwork and passed the information on to those interested.

It didn’t detract from a superb morning’s entertainment, with Wollaton hitting the bar after a mere 20 seconds! It didn’t take long for Selston to take command, and Richard Barnes slotted home from a good cross from the left. The trouble was that Selston failed to capitalise and the game got rather mired in ugly tackles and still uglier back-chat. In the final analysis Mr Rolph did well to keep 22 men on the field.

Of course if you don’t take your chances you end up paying, and Dave Ranson’s low finish after a good passing move was a real shock to Selston’s system. It got worse for them as Rich Ranshaw’s superb strike gave Wollaton a lead that looked barely credible 45 minutes earlier. And if Wollaton had carried on pressing, they surely would have won the game. Instead they tried to defend the last few minutes, and paid the price.

The Selston keeper Luke Wigley went up for a free kick from the right, and it was his scuffed header that Tim Moore managed to back-heel in to equalise. It was the last kick of the game. A choker for Wollaton, and a game that the hosts could have won, but fantastic entertainment for the bumper crowd.

 

The Mission

21 Sunday Apr 2013

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Friday 17th April 2013 ko 18.30

Notts Senior League Senior Division

MAGDALA AMATEURS 2 (Sutton 10 48)

BILBOROUGH TOWN 1 (Lucas 22og)

Att 245

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badges sold out

If there’s one thing I like more than a groundhop weekend, its a groundhop I’m not involved in organising! Rob Hornby, apart from being a good friend, is a wizard of organising events in and around his home in Mansfield. He organised the sadly finished Central Midlands League Groundhops, but has now switched to the parallel status Notts Senior League for his annual Bonanza. The format was one game on the Friday, followed by 4 on the Saturday, and with none of the clubs having floodlights it was set to be a busy weekend!

My mistake, in retrospect was not taking half a day off work; Friday night traffic meant I missed the first few minutes of the game, that apparently kicked off a touch early. Never mind, that’s my fault, especially as the Stuart Clarke influence in me likes to get to a ground early and soak the place up.

The club play behind the ROKO Health Club, in West Bridgford, in South Nottingham, and their unusual name takes a little explanation! They were formed in 1895 by the Rev. Gwynne as the side of the St Emmanuel Sunday School based on Magdala Road nearby. They took the name as Notts Magdala, but when a reserve side was added they promptly broke away and became the Magdala Amateurs of today! The first XI carried on, and eventually changed their name to Nottinghamshire FC and also play in the Notts Senior League, just north of the city.

For a club less than 2 miles from a major city’s centre, the ROKO centre’s pitch is quite arboreal in location! It made for an attractive meeting point, in the setting sun, although I did feel sorry for the owner of the car wash in the car park, who must have thought his Christmases had come at once as 10 times Magdala’s attendance arrived only to drive straight past him!

Rob had clearly got the club working along the correct lines, as everyone looked busy. The catering was contracted out to a local sandwich bar, and the merchandise stall did a roaring trade. I found Rob, and donated a bag of programmes towards his charity stall. Then I actually managed to relax and watch the game!

It didn’t take long to work out that Magdala were clearly the stronger team, and they took the lead through Lee Sutton. Only poor finishing and the woodwork stopped them adding to the score and the profligacy was punished when Bilborough equalised when a cross spun off Magdala defender Richard Lucas for a bizarre own goal.

Sutton doubled his tally just after the break and that was to be the end of the scoring, although both sides had chances, the majority falling to Magdala. I watched Rob as the final whistle blew. The first game is always the most nerve-wracking as organiser but his smile spoke volumes. I gave another hopper a lift into the centre of Nottingham, then disappeared into the night.

Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker

18 Thursday Apr 2013

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Wednesday 17th April 2013 ko 18.30

Oxon Senior League Division One

NORTHWAY 3 (Welby 37 Simpson 62 Albin 66)

YARNTON 4 (Steele 4 Marsh 17 Webb 25 83) Marsh missed penalty 34

Att 17

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

The Parish of New Marston, in Oxford used to be part of Headington, and the cottages and stone fronts of Old Headington soon give way to the red brick and concrete of the newer estate as you head down the hill on Dunstan Road. The vast majority of the estate was built in the  20th century, when the County Borough of Oxford developed estates of council houses around Marston Road and north of Headley Way. The County Borough had built 138 council houses at New Marston by 1938 and added another 70 after 1950. More recently the influx of Eastern Europeans saw the local church in Ferry Road become Russian Orthodox and be restyled Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. A small gold cupola has been added too!

In the middle of it all is the Northway estate, and the huge Plowman Tower which dominates what is in all but name, a village green surrounded on three sides by roads. The Northway club is a community centre and social club here with the shops and buses leaving city centre bound from opposite the club. It’s nothing if not convenient if you want to watch a game, especially if you happen to live in the first few floors of the tower! As convenient as it all is, Northway cannot progress further than Oxon Senior League football here, assuming they’d want to. There is no hard standing, its barely enclosed, and there’s no cover save for the odd tree. But then again, do they really need more?

And if the delights of the Oxon Senior League aren’t to your taste, the floodlights of Court Place Farm, home to Oxford City are clearly visible a couple of hundred yards away. In fact my only regret in attending this game was that one of the shops wasn’t a Fish and Chips Shop. Sometimes on a windy night, only a bag of chips will do!

Not that there was anything wrong with the entertainment on offer, with two contrasting sides on view. Yarnton are former Hellenic Leaguers and the well-to-do village has been inhabited since Bronze Age times. They looked highly organised with no lack of trainers and looked smart in their club tracksuits. In contrast Northway’s manager did everything, and had clearly arrived straight from work.

Maybe that was why Yarnton made such as good start, they scored 3 in 25 minutes, and missed a penalty 10 minutes after that. What was noticeable was that the Northway heads didn’t drop, and the manager was positive throughout. The comeback started with Lewis Welby’s fine strike before half time, and they managed to keep the momentum going after the break.

I wondered when Yarnton would fine their feet again, but Northway kept piling on the pressure. Anthony Simpson mugged the keeper for the second and when Nick Albin nodded home from a corner there looked to be only one winner, but when a game is this good, there’s sting in the tail.

The Yarnton bench castigated striker John Webb for not tracking back, and clearly stung by the criticism, he let fly from 20 yards, and the ball fairly whistled in! Cruel on Northway, who had nothing left with which to respond. Breathless stuff on a windy night, with 2 friendly sides whose company I enjoyed. I feel a trip to Yarnton coming on!

Mobility

17 Wednesday Apr 2013

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Tuesday 16th April 2013 ko 19.45

Wessex League Division One

FLEET SPURS 0

BROCKENHURST 3 (Ritchie 46 Spinney 53 Kenna 72p)

Att 23

Entry £4

Programme £1

I hate the fact the only reason I did this game is because Fleet Spurs have resigned from the Wessex League. It is the lot of the groundhopper that the end of the season is spent at least in part doing clubs and grounds that may not be there the next time round.

The Southwood Pavilion, in Kennels Lane, lies more or less equidistant between Fleet and Farnborough on former MOD land. At one end is the soon-to-be vacated Nokia building, the other woodlands leading to the Cody Sports and Social Club the former home of Farnborough North End. Therein lies the problem, the facility is nowhere near any population, so the most relevant statistic above is the attendance. They didn’t even cover the cost of the referee and linesmen this evening.

With financial facts of life stacked against you, a change is clearly necessary, but what that actually is isn’t known as yet. The club like would a sideways move to the Combined Counties, thereby reducing travelling costs, but a drop in status to the Hampshire League is possible, as is no move at all. It’s all down to the committees and darkened rooms of the FA to decide next month, or maybe the month after, the club simply doesn’t know. That can’t be easy for the players, not knowing even the level you’ll be playing next season.

And to be honest it showed, as promotion-chasing Brockenhurst dominated. They contrived to miss a string of chances during the first half. Over an excellent burger and cup of tea, the Fleet faithful feared the worst if the visitors found their shooting boots. Which they did with much of the crowd (such as it was) still in the pavilion, Dan Ritchie blasting home from 25 yards. Fleet worked hard, but offered little up front but it took something fortuitous for Brockenhurst to double their lead. The ball was worked well from the left but Mike Spinney’s shot was scuffed. A clean shot would have been easily blocked by keeper Ryan Bone, but instead it spun up and over the wrong-footed glovesman and looped in.

A silly penalty will no doubt help Brockenhurst’s goal-difference, it is extremely tight at the top after all, that was easily dispatched by Warren Kenna, the brother of former Southampton professional Jeff, for a rather harsh scoreline for Fleet.

Maybe I was the mood I was in, but I found myself warming to the small band of volunteers trying to keep Fleet Spurs going despite almost insurmountable odds. I wish them well whatever the FA decides.

Vista

14 Sunday Apr 2013

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Saturday 13th April 2013 ko 14.30

Wearside League

RICHMOND TOWN 0

WILLINGTON 1 (Marshall 78) White sent off (2nd booking)

Att 94 (h/c)

Entry £2

Programme £1

Tea 80p

Apparently Richmond is the UK’s most replicated place name with 57 instances so for the avoidance of any doubt, this beautiful place is in North Yorkshire! The Georgian Theatre here, is reckoned to be the most complete anywhere in the world. Its a town of narrow, cobbled streets, and seemingly is unchanged much since it was founded in 1071 by the Breton Alan Rufus, on lands granted to him by William the Conqueror. The name Richmond is an anglicised version of the Norman Richemont, meaning Strong Hill, there’s still a town of that name in Haute-Normandie. Richmond Castle, completed in 1086, consisted of a keep with walls encompassing the area now known as the Market Place.

The castle still dominates the scene, built at least in part as a response to the 1069 rebellion at York which was followed by his “harrying of the North” – an act of ethnic cleansing which depopulated large areas. As a further punishment he divided up the lands of North Yorkshire among his most loyal followers. Alain Le Roux de Ponthievre of Brittany received the borough of Richmond and began constructing the castle to defend against further rebellions and to establish a personal power base.

The castle was finished as a defence by the 15th century but remained as a tourist attraction and occasional military base, Robert Baden-Powell the founder of the Scout movement ran the barracks here from 1908-10, and during World War I as the base of the Non-Combatant Corps made up of conscientious objectors. It was also used to imprison some of those objectors who refused to accept army discipline and participate in the war in any way. These included The Richmond 16 who were taken to France from the castle, charged under Field Regulations and then sentenced to death, those death sentences eventually being commuted to ten years’ hard labour.

The Earl’s Orchard Playing Field gives the most spectacular view of the south side of the castle situated as it is just over the River Swale from castle walls. It used to be a jousting field and if you look to the right side of the castle walls you can still see the holes where a balcony was fixed so the Earl of Richmond and his retinue could watch the action!

Behind the near goal the Culloden Tower is clearly visible. It was built in 1746 by John Yorke, a Richmond MP and the architect is thought to have been Daniel Garrett. It was originally called the Cumberland Temple and was built to celebrate the victory of the Duke of Cumberland’s army over Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonny Prince Charlie) at Culloden Moor in April of that year.

All of the history means that the football club’s scope for improving facilities is more or less nil. The pavilion was opened by Jack Charlton in 1975, but the both the pitch rails and dugouts and removable. The club won the Teesside League last season and went into this fixture in second place. Its clear that for elevation to the Northern League the club will have to move to progress.

The game saw a contrast in ambitions. Willington are ex-Northern League, and are looking to return for next season. They’re top of the table, and this win makes that ambition likely now they’re 10 points clear from Stockton FC, who are now second. It wasn’t the greatest game to watch as a neutral, two good sides simply cancelled each other out, and it took the dismissal of Willington’s Jason White, moronically for an incident of dissent in each half. Oddly it was the visitors who responded the best as substitute Reece Marshall fired home to take the points home north.

For all of that, I could have witnessed a 7-6 thriller, and I still wouldn’t remember this place for anything other the view. Its quite something isn’t it?

The curious case of Del and Raquel

12 Friday Apr 2013

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Wednesday 10th March 2013 ko 18.30

North Berkshire League Division 4

WARBOROUGH UNITED 0

WESTMINSTER 3 (Sillence 13 Bourton 46 Slater 58)

Att 10

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

The village of Warborough is adjacent to Shillingford, on the road from Oxford to Reading. Its most obvious feature is the Parish Church of St Lawrence, with its ring of 8 bells and its 12th Century font. The houses are as pretty as they are expensive, and the Six Bells Pub overlooks the village green where the football and cricket teams play. Affable Glaswegian manager Derek Russell described the place as “Chocolate Box” and it really is a perfect description. In a nearby field the 4th World Ploughing Championship took place in 1953, the site marked by cairn of British and International stones, topped with a Canadian model plough.

The Warborough team playing here now are in fact the former Radley FC, but moved here after Warborough & Shillingford folded and they’d lost their ground. With a new Radley team in the NBFL the circle is now complete, but Derek did share an anecdote. He was the postman for this part of the world, and soon discovered that actress Tessa Peake-Jones lives locally. Since her most famous role is that of Raquel in Only Fools and Horses, it was a case of Del and Raquel all over again!

I did make the mistake of asking to which team in Glasgow his loyalties lie. His answer was obvious, look at Warborough’s green kit. We spoke about groundhops, that’s inevitable given my connections with the league, I spoke to Westminster too, and Derek has some excellent ideas for when his turn comes. One thing is clear the visitors will love it here, so long as they don’t stay in the excellent pub!

With plenty of space to work with Derek plumped for the largest pitch that’s legally possible 100 x 120 yards, and it was noticeable that both teams tired with the space available. Westminster won, they were just that little bit sharper, but 3-0 was harsh on Warborough who fought to the last. That last bit was cold and wet as the rains came, which meant the dark curtailed the fun slightly early. It didn’t matter, it was a pleasure to spend a couple of hours with these gallant, friendly clubs at the heart of my favourite league.

The Orange Box

11 Thursday Apr 2013

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Tuesday 9th April 2013 ko 18.00

Banbury & Lord Jersey League Premier Division

HANWELL UNITED 4 (Hughes 57 Trevitt 71 82 86)

DEDDINGTON TOWN 3 (England 19 Thornton 38 Cook 66)

Att 10

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

Hanwell Fields is a fairly mundane new housing development at the northernmost edge of Banbury. Built between 2001 and 2009, it would have meant absolutely nothing had I not bought a house there, finally selling up and moving back to Oxford just under 2 years ago. As part of the planning gain, a sports field and clubhouse was built at the bottom of the hill on Dukes Meadow Drive, and each day I’d pass and wonder why on earth no one was making use of an excellent facility.

That changed for the start of the season when FC Naranja moved in. To be honest when I saw the name on the Full Time website, I imagined they were an Asian team, which shows my appalling linguistic ability. In fact they are a group of university friends who still wanted to play after graduating. They bought a kit, and since it was orange took the Spanish word for the colour as a name! As part of the agreement to play at Hanwell Fields they agreed to change their name, but thankfully the orange kit remains.

Deddington Town will win this year’s title, and for the vast majority of this encounter looked likely to win easily. Hanwell suffered the indignity of losing a player to sprained ankle collected retrieving a ball for a throw in, and Deddington looked sharper, and seemed to have that happy knack of scoring at opportune moments.

All that changed when Hanwell pushed James Trevitt forward by 10 yards. It completely flummoxed the visiting defence and Trevitt took full advantage, notching a 14 minute hat trick, to the delight of the Hanwell faithful. Even this cynic smiled; it won’t change anything, Deddington will win the title, and Hanwell will be happy to finish mid-table in their first season at this level.

I was just pleased to see the ground getting used, and being quite royally entertained into the bargain. Do pay them a visit, they’re well worth the effort.