Sunday 20th April 2025 ko 12:00

South West Peninsula League Premier East

HONITON TOWN 0

SIDMOUTH TOWN 2 (Veal 32 Spalding 86)

Att 444

Entry £6

Programme £2

I remember back in the day, well 2015, GroundhopUK sorted of hosted a game at Cardiff Met FC. For us it was a precursor to a hop over the next two days in the Ceredigion League. There were all the trappings of a hop game, but it wasn’t part of the schedule, and we saw similar here at Honiton. The reason, though was entirely different…

The reason was this was the third attempt for Honiton to host the masses in the South West. On the 2018 hop their game was switched to Exwick Villa due to waterlogging then in 2024 a small patch of damp turf in front of the stand saw the referee call the game off with 300 plus in the ground. I will never forget the look on the club officials’ faces as they were forced to refund the windfall they’d hoped to earn….

So this tie was bolted on to the rest of the hop, complete with notices posted both online and at the gate stating that no this wasn’t included in the prebooked ticket, and legendary groundhopper Martin Bamforth ( yes he of the wrong Hibs fame!) was there to set folks straight!

And say it quietly, but Honiton did a fine job in hosting, far better than their truncated attempt last year. They did their catering themselves, and the team lines were both accurate and supplied in good time. At the end of Phil Hiscox’s Magnum Opus, it was good to just enjoy a good club and their people.

I don’t think many expected anything other than an away win, Sidmouth had won the Premier East title and were afforded a guard of honour which was a classy touch from Honiton. I’m sure Sidmouth also can relate to a rain-affected hop game! They won this one with a minimum of fuss, and all the best to them as they try their luck in next season’s Western League.

But as far as I’m concerned the weekend belonged to organizer Phil Hiscox. He spent his time telling everyone this will be his last hop as organizer, which I hope won’t be the case. Yes, GroundhopUK will be hosting in the Northern League for the next few Easters, and we’d love to see Phil join us, but if he does wish to host back in the south-west we’d never stand in his way. Whatever the future I very much doubt we’ve heard the last from the redoubtable Mr Hiscox.

Thanks to him, all the host clubs and all the wonderful volunteers that made for a wonderful Easter. But for Robyn and I, we weren’t quite finished.