Author Archives: laurencereade

Lucky 13

05 Friday Sep 2014

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Sunday 31st August 2014 ko 15.00

Rugby League Championship 1

OXFORD RL 29

SOUTH WALES SCORPIONS 22

Att 240 at Oxford University RUFC, Iffley Road.

Entry £12

Programme £2.50

I’m indebted to Calne-based Paul Fergusson to alerting me to this one, especially to the location! My encounters with rugby started and finished with an ex-girlfriend who worked for Brakspear’s brewery in Henley-on-Thames and supplied a steady supply of complimentaries for me to be bored rigid watching Henley RUFC play in the second tier of English rugby union. Now there are many advantages of having a blonde girlfriend who gets staff discount at a brewery, but believe me rugby union wasn’t one! I should however point out though the end-of-season dinners were superb, I still don’t remember how I arrived back at my flat in Bell street with a Williams F1 brolly, and a meal for two at a rather swish Italian restaurant one year. Continue reading →

Diplomacy

04 Thursday Sep 2014

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Monday 25th August 2014 ko 17.15

Welsh Alliance Division One

KINMEL BAY 2 (Luffman 32 Woods 48)

GLAN CONWY 2 (Orme 8 Fountain 18)

Att 221

Entry £5

Programme £1

Badge £3

So where you there? What did you see? What do you think? There’s a quite a story behind what happened, maybe you’ve heard some of it, maybe most of it even, but where this heads in the future is anyone’s guess. Continue reading →

Cathedral City

04 Thursday Sep 2014

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Monday 25th August 2014 ko 14.15

Welsh Alliance Division Two

ST ASAPH CITY 3 (Midgley 22 61 D Evans 63)

MOCHDRE SPORTS 1 (Philips 75)

Att 254

Entry £3

Programme £1

It was quite a tight squeeze getting 2 coaches into the lane down to Roe Plas, but once again there was someone there from the club to direct us down. I do wonder whether hop clubs realise how much our coach drivers appreciate having someone to meet them? Continue reading →

The Welsh Lourdes

04 Thursday Sep 2014

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Monday 25th August 2014 ko 11.00

Welsh Alliance Division One

HOLYWELL TOWN 3 (Lloyd 4 Tyson 40 G Williams 69)

LLANDYRNOG UNITED 0

Att 377

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

Back at the University of Chester my alarm sounded, and I dashed over to the window and peeked through the curtains. My heart sank as I watched the rivulets chase each other down the pane. 3 games left, including one we were worried about, but as I stepped into a shower (the portent of things to come?) I consoled myself that at least there would be nothing to worry about at Holywell, there is, after all, plenty of cover at Halkyn Road. Continue reading →

El Bandito

01 Monday Sep 2014

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Sunday 24th August 2014 ko 18.30

Welsh Alliance Division Two

NANTLLE VALE 3 (Jennings 12 J Evans 45 Kay 60) D Williams missed penalty 17

AMLWCH TOWN 0

Att 344

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

From our exit from Penrhyndeudraeth we remained very much in slate mining country as we reached the foothills of Snowdon and the village of Penygroes. Whilst many of the slate mines have gone, the area remains an administration centre, and for the record the area’s two most famous sons have had absolutely nothing to do with slate mining. Continue reading →

Fairlie

31 Sunday Aug 2014

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Sunday 24th August 2014 ko 15.30

Welsh Alliance Division One

PENRHYNDEUDRAETH 1 (Griffiths 11)

GWALCHMAI 1 (Roberts 48)

Att 394 (Welsh Groundhop record)

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

With both Blaenau Ffestiniog and Penrhyndeudraeth both on the Ffestiniog railway we really did have to travel between the two grounds on the famous narrow-gauge line didn’t we? It took a little organising, and Penrhyndeudraeth were great help, including pointing out that you can’t get two coaches to Penrhyn station, that’s why we alighted a Minffordd, but once we got the coach party on our 2 and a half chartered carriages the enjoyment was obvious. Continue reading →

Slate

31 Sunday Aug 2014

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Sunday 24th August 2014 ko 11.00 am

Welsh Alliance Division Two

BLAENAU AMATEURS 4 (Roberts 24 Williams 51p Copsley 90 Bradley 90p)

PENMAENMAWR PHOENIX 2 (S Williams 32 Prince 38)

Att 320

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

We’d shaved a few minutes off the start time to Blaenau Ffestiniog from Chester University. After the difficulties of the previous day, a little time less in our beds was a fair price for breakfast! Of course on the action-reaction principle we got to Blaenau ahead of time. That was no bad thing, as the town is the sort of place you’d want to linger in, even if for one or two that added up to a frantic search for a newsagent that had the “Non League Paper” in stock!

Continue reading →

Memories

28 Thursday Aug 2014

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Saturday 23rd August 2014 ko 18.30

Welsh Alliance Division One

BARMOUTH & DYFFRYN 6 (Lewis 20 22 59 Harrison 27 S Jones 32 Ap Gwyndwr 63og)

LLANRWST UNITED 2 (Griffiths 43 45p)

Att 294

Entry £4

Programme £1

Two years ago when we at GroundhopUK and the Welsh Alliance agreed that a groundhop should take place, one club loomed large, purely down to its location. In Welsh Alliance terms Barmouth is rather out-on-a-limb, a southern outpost of the league to the extent that on arrival I was struck at how much the scenery reminded me of Aberdyfi which we’d visited on the MID-Wales hop! Continue reading →

Mercy

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

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Saturday 23rd August 2014 ko 14.00

Gwynedd League

NEFYN UNITED 0 L Evans missed penalty 76

LLANLLYFNI 4 (G Williams 29 M Davies 67 L Griffith 85 90)

Att 286

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

Like Pwllheli before, Nefyn lies on the Llyn peninsula and the nearer we got to the town where singer-songwriter Duffy grew up, the scenery got steadily more spectacular. The Iron Age hill fort Garn Boduan, and hills of Gwylwyr Carreglefain vindicated our decision to bring the hop here, despite Nefyn not being in the Welsh Alliance. Continue reading →

Time

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

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Saturday 23rd August 2014 ko 11.00

Welsh Alliance Division One

PWLLHELI 5 (C Jones 7 82 Scott 45 49 68)

LLANRUG UNITED 4 (Lloyd 8 Owen 24p DN Williams 56 Sadler 80)

Att 328

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

When you’re organising a groundhop time is everything. You sit for hours with lists of clubs grouped by geography then use Google maps to calculate distance and from that, time. It’s a precious commodity and a simple error on the part of the coach company, a lost set of keys to one of our coaches, threatened to derail us. Continue reading →