Saturday 5th October 2024 ko 19:00

Southern Counties East League Premier Division

V.C.D. ATHLETIC 2 (Freeman 45+5, 56)

Gboda sent off 39 (serious foul play)

LARKFIELD & NEW HYTHE 1 (Alaka 73)

Ibbertson sent off 29 (DOGSO)

Gordon sent off 90+4 (serious foul play)

Att 382

Entry £10

Programme £3

Over the years Vickers Crayford Dartford has been good to me. I’d first seen them play around 25 years ago when they were groundsharing at a dilapidated Harrow Meadow, the Eltham-based home of the now defunct Greenwich Borough. Borough and Harrow Meadow was where Ian Wright first played his football, the club giving him a chance when others wouldn’t.

VCD were there because their spiritual home The Oakwood couldn’t stage Kent League games due to the club were forbidden from erecting floodlights. As soon as they could, back they went and I was fortunate to be at the first game back, a 2-2 draw vs Croydon in September 2006. Here’s a few photos from that evening, I’m bound to say mobile phone cameras weren’t up to much back then!

We arrived to something of an adventure. There was a wedding reception starting in the clubhouse and it became obvious that the coach in its allocated parking spot would soon be blocked in. With the help of, would you believe a wedding guest we got a couple of cars moved and the coach just about managed to inch out, turn and park up.

It was obvious once I’d got through the turnstiles that we were going to see a large crowd. Many positioned themselves high up on the banking if only to see the floodlights at Phoenix Sports no more than a couple of hundred yards away. In a sense it was a shame we couldn’t have paired the two clubs, but this is a SCEFL hop and they’re in the Isthmian League.

The ground had changed no end during my 18 year gap between visits, particularly on the far side, there was no cover back then! And yet despite that The Oakwood really has retained its sense of self, mainly due to the ramp down to the pitch from the turnstiles. It does have a character all of its own.

There was one issue though that I saw at VCD perfectly and its one that has bedeviled Step 5/6 hops for a while. At GroundhopUK we encourage clubs to be imaginative with their catering, we’ve seen over 20 odd years over 600 event games that imaginative equals profitable. However all too often clubs will tend to provide their normal offering just more of it. Here they advised us that they’d be doing “Football Food” and might “Try for a Chilli.”

The chilli, sadly didn’t materialise which was a shame. Club like Uffington United show how well that would have sold, or for doing something really out of the ordinary- the first ever SCEFL hop host Punjab United. Moreover, the volunteers in the tea bar were overstretched trying to fry burgers to sate a far greater demand than usual. They tried to cook to order, then serve through a hatch which as we always advise doesn’t work for the sort of crowds of the size hop events attract. It didn’t seem fair on those heroic volunteers , and it unquestionably was an opportunity lost for VCD, as good as my burger was.

Interestingly a contingent were there from Roffey who VCD were due to play in the FA Vase but were also going to be the opening hosts on the Sussex Hop in three weeks time; they looked fascinated! Please don’t see this as in any way me having a go at VCD- I greatly enjoyed their company, and I trust that they still did well out of their hop game. They certainly entertained everyone on the pitch!

The game was as the three red cards hints at, rather fiesty, although the first dismissal, Larkfield & New Hythe‘s Ross Ibbertson was for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity, but after that the tackles flew in with fairly predicable results. But you also saw why VCD are top, they always had that little bit of extra quality where it mattered, and Ollie Freeman to apply the coup de grace. I do suspect that if we hadn’t have included VCD on this hop then we probably would have lost our chance… in the nicest possible way.

We headed back to the coach, and egress was straightforward, thanks in no small part to that wedding guest- who by the way Chris did seek out- to buy him a pint!