Monday 20th February 2017 ko 19.45

Hellenic League- Premier Division

BINFIELD 0

BRACKNELL TOWN 1 (Bohane 13)

Att 289

Entry & Programme £6

About 1,500 grounds ago I was enjoying hopping the non-league grounds of London. Week after week I visited a different ground and became very taken with the same group of older men I encountered every time I visited the capital. They’d worked out that with a little planning you could watch a game of football every day of the week, and so the clubs that played on the unusual days did rather well out of these “floating” fans.

I thought that in time I’d do something similar, but I’ve enjoyed clocking up the numbers too much! But if I ever do end up doing my little circle of non-league haunts then I’ve no doubt that Binfield’s Stubbs Lane will be on my list.

I’ve been here fairly regularly over the years, and each and every time the club have improved their home. Since last time the cover behind the goal has been extended further, and a new changing room block in in progress. The ultimate aim is Southern League football, unthinkable a few years ago, but the progress is clear and unambiguous.

But the ambition isnt the whole reason why I was there. Upwardly mobile they may be, but Binfield haven’t lost their soul in the building work. They’re well-organised, but friendly, so the potential pinch-point that is the main entrance is kept moving, and there aren’t many places where you manage to park with a smile!

Obviously this was a massive local derby, and a reversal of the tie that saw the reopening of Larges Lane earlier this season. If you were to look at this game in isolation you’d see this as the league leaders completing a double, although as I type Thame United have just beaten Flackwell Heath to go top. Binfield are seventh, 18 points behind Bracknell, but if you’ve watched the Moles over the years, you can see the future.

The question isn’t if, but when.