Monthly Archives: May 2014

Cow Roast

12 Monday May 2014

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Thursday 8th May 2014 ko 18.45

Aylesbury & District League Premier Division

BERKHAMSTED SPORTS 5 (Alexander 4 Whittaker 47 64 Shode 66 Gower 85)

AYLESBURY DYNAMOS 5 (Ashell 14 Woolard 17 31 45 Shennan 29)

Att 13

Entry FREE

No Programme

I wonder how many travellers have visited either Berkhamsted or Tring and travelled along the A4251 to get there. Chances are you’ll fly through the little hamlet of Cow Roast, glance across at the pub of the same name and carry along your way, thinking no more about the place. I’m oft heard to comment that every settlement has a story to tell, and little Cow Roast has more to say than most….

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I Know Where It’s At

11 Sunday May 2014

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Wednesday 7th May 2014 ko 18.30

Northants Combination Premier Division

BRIXWORTH ALL SAINTS 1 (Ling 52) Dufty sent off 90 (2nd booking)

MILTON 0

Att 27

Entry FREE

No Programme

Brixworth lies to the north of Northampton, a stone’s throw from the M1/M6 interchange at Catthorpe immortalised in a million traffic reports. The team takes its slightly unusual name from the huge parish church of All Saints. Its one of the oldest, largest and most complete Anglo-Saxon churches in the country. It was founded circa 680 AD and was called  “The finest Saxon church north of the Alps.”

The village church is mentioned in the Peterborough Chronicles, being a monastery founded when Sexwulf became Bishop of Lichfield before the death of King Wulfhere in 675AD. Many elements from the original building remain visible, although there are later additions, notably the tower. The club is to be found on Froxhill Crescent, the mid-point of a modern estate and in the middle of it all is the wide expanse of the St David’s Playing Fields. Continue reading →

Outpost

11 Sunday May 2014

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Tuesday 11th May 2014 ko 18.45

North Berkshire League Division 3

BURGHCLERE 2 (Franklin 55 Kirkham 90)

KINTBURY RANGERS RESERVES 3 (Ramos 34 Allsop 40p 80p)

Att 28

Entry FREE

No Programme

I had a choice of two games that would give me somewhere new to visit, but when Radley switched their game to Sutton Courtenay (the team is becoming Sutton Courtenay for next season), I blasted down the A34 to the pretty Hampshire village through a downpour. I remember attending the North Berks AGM when Burghclere were elected. One side, no longer in the league, objected that the club were too far away to travel to, despite being within the league’s famous stipulation of being within 20 miles of Steventon Green. And let’s be honest, the trip is straightforward, a blast down the A34, turn left then follow the road for half a mile. And what’s at the end of your journey is well worth the effort of getting here.

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Just Beautiful

09 Friday May 2014

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Monday 5th May 2014 ko 15.00

Devon & Exeter League Premier Division

THORVERTON AFC 5 (Osmond 18 Riggs 35 Khoo 77 Place 87 90)

BUDLEIGH SALTERTON RESERVES 0

Att 31

Entry FREE

Programme NO

If you were to trace the line of the River Exe north from Exeter, in around 8 miles you’d reach the pretty village of Thorverton. Its a peaceful place, with cobbled streets, a square, and a pub in the middle. It’s the kind of place that has a garden open as part of the National Gardens Scheme, and there was, but there is a more turbulent history to the place. The name suggests a Viking background, although that’s unproved but the village did change hands during the English Civil War, and a garrison of American soldiers was stationed here during the Second World War. Continue reading →

The Ex’s

09 Friday May 2014

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Monday 5th May 2014 ko 11.00

South West Peninsula League Division One East

EXWICK VILLA 3 (Harris 23 Taylor 69 Chalke 71)

EXETER UNIVERSITY 5 (Bouwers 29 Hale 39 Blenkinsop 45 Jones 89 Yates 90)

Att 51

Entry & Programme £3.50

Badge £2

Tea 70p

For such a popular league with groundhoppers, League Secretary Phil Hiscox did ask me to stop telling people what a top bloke he is. “Tell ’em I’m a miserable so-and-so,” he said, whilst gaining the line-ups for the gaggle of hoppers that made up the vast majority of the attendance. Phil, my friend I think you rather were foisted by your own petard there! And you and I both know how popular the Easter Hop will be in 2016. Still while Phil was helping me out with the line-ups it did allow me to explore a little. Continue reading →

Empathy

09 Friday May 2014

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Saturday 3rd May 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 3 (Marquis 29 Toney 33 Kouo-Doumbe 50)

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Williams 6) Williams sent off 19 (violent conduct)

Att 7,529 (1,358 away)

Entry £19

Programme £3

I’ve watched my team lose their league status, and its a perfectly horrible experience, and one I wouldn’t wish on any fan (well perhaps Swindon, but that’s tribal!). The Conference may well be a quasi-League 3 but the process of falling into it still hurts a lot. 6 months ago, Northampton were racing favourites to take that drop, sacked manager Aidy Boothroyd, recruited Oxford United’s Chris Wilder more here, and went into this game out of the relegation zone for the first time this year, needing a point to guarantee League football.

In contrast Oxford had been in the play-off positions virtually all season, but since Wilder’s departure form had slumped with the club destined to finish 8th whatever the result. They had nothing but pride to play for, but the Cobblers’ conundrum was as follows. If they lost and either Wycombe or Bristol Rovers won, they were down, so how the club decided to stage the game surprised me.

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The Long Road Back

04 Sunday May 2014

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Thursday 1st May 2014 ko 18.30

Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division Two

NEWENT TOWN 4 (Bayliss 7 12 Gibbs 69 74)

LONGFORD AFC 1 (Edwards 16)

Att 31

Entry FREE

No Programme (the club issue for “Big” games)

Tea £1

Around 15 years ago, I was being given a lift to watch an Intertoto Cup game at Newtown AFC, and our driver had decided to avoid the motorways and take the scenic route, just clipping the top of the Forest of Dean. We passed a sign for Newent and he commented that the town’s club used to be in the Gloucestershire County League, but had disappeared off of his radar. I was new to groundhopping, and took a stupidly snobby attitude to the perceived quality of football on show. The simple fact was that I was in no position to judge, and when I saw this fixture on the club’s website, I felt I owed them a visit. It may have taken me far too long, but it was a good choice on my part, the football was excellent.

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The Dun Cow

04 Sunday May 2014

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Tuesday 29th April 2014 ko 18.30

Banbury District & Lord Jersey League Division One

HORNTON 4 (Walton 25 Bedding 27 81 Lee 82)

BLOXHAM 3 (Toule 17 R Gregg 12 35)

Att 11

Entry FREE

No Programme

As a groundhopper it sometimes pays dividends to step out of your comfort zone, and look out a game that chances are you’d never go and see on a Saturday. Early evening kick-offs do mean you get home at a sensible hour too! Hornton is one of those pretty-as-a picture villages in the very northernmost fields of northern Oxfordshire, and in truth you do hardly notice the border in these agricultural lands.

Even now the village shows signs of the area’s turbulent past. During the English civil war Banbury, just 5 miles away was a Puritan stronghold, but Oxford a Cavalier city, Banbury United’s nickname is still the Puritans, and I remember their programme featuring a cartoon of the legend of the locals hanging a cat on a Monday for the killing of a mouse on a Sunday. There’s the frankly gorgeous Church of England church of St John the Baptist, but just down the road is the Methodist Church, to give the stone cottages a choice of prayer on the Sabbath. Between the two the Dun Cow pub satisfies those who choose to ignore part of one of the churches’ doctrine. Continue reading →

The Good Doctor

02 Friday May 2014

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Sunday 27th April 2014 ko 10.00

Beograd Zone Liga

FK ŽELEZNIČAR 4 (Radosavljević 28  30 Tintor 32 Tovilović 85)

FK RESNIK 1 (Stanković 87)

Att 83

Entry 100 RSD (71p)

No Programme

Team Sheet- Comp

Even without alcohol, it felt like the morning after the night before as I awoke in my hotel of Slavija Square. Yes, I had witnessed the madness of the Belgrade Derby but I was worried that a 4th Division game, despite being more what my football is about would seem tame by comparison. I suspected my companions felt the same way as we checked out, and caught the taxi out to the ground by the Sava river with the railway line behind. The fact that near to Stadion FK Železničar our two drivers had to ask directions added to my feeling of unease. We arrived, and my feelings were completely wrong; I’d forgotten about the warmth of a Serbian welcome!

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