Saturday 30th March 2024 ko 15:00

South West Peninsula League Premier East

ELBURTON VILLA 1 (Alcantara 56p)

Alcantara sent off 90+10 (violent conduct)

BOVEY TRACEY 2 (Haynes 12 29)

Thomas sent off (DOGSO) 56

Last sent off 90+10 (violent conduct)

Att 311

Entry £6

Programme £2

From Liskeard the cavalcade headed more or less due east, and over the Tamar to Plymouth and its environs. Elburton sits on the south-eastern edge of the conurbation, subsumed into Plymstock but the football club maintains the village’s identity.

In purely groundhopping terms Elburton Villa did give groundhop organiser Phil Hiscox a decision to make. Elberton had been on a previous Devon Hop, but subsequently moved pitches from the southern pitch, nearest the entrance to the western pitch, mainly so they could put up floodlights. I’m sure some would debate whether it counts as a new ground. My answer? 1. I didn’t visit the old pitch and 2. Who cares?

Given the huge crowd expected, the club organised parking down the hill at Haye Road at the rugby club. We may have trudged up that hill (3 hops in March plus a heavy cold equals fatigue) but boy was it good thinking. If nothing else, it kept the neighbours happy. Once everyone was in, the club shifted food and drink like it was going out of fashion, and I had a chance to consider what we’d be watching.

I’d been given a tip-off from an insider that referee Murat Kaymaz might be worth watching. He’s alternated in recent years between the Peninsula and Devon County Leagues, and I suspect we saw why here. It all boiled down to three red cards, all dubious in their own way.

Firstly, Bovey’s Mitch Thomas saw red for what was deemed to be a handball on the line, but every video I’ve seen shows him being struck somewhere… er lower down and painful! Then there were the dismissals of Bentley Alcantara and Neil Last in the final minute of stoppage time, for what would normally be called “Handbags.” That saw the players watching the last few seconds together, chatting happily whilst leaning on the pitchside barrier. It was bizarre, and I’ve seen no end of photos of Alcantara and Last, each as evocative as the other.

It wasn’t a game that Mr Kaymaz will look back on with undiluted pleasure, but it was certainly enthralling, even more so if you were a neutral- and there was no lack of them here! I suppose the way to look at it is that football as a spectator sport is in the entertainment business, and there’s no doubt we were entertained! I exchanged a grin with the redoubtable Mr Hiscox, and we all made for Ivybridge for the event’s coda.