Category Archives: D

Just Nod If You Can Hear Me

15 Tuesday May 2012

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Sunday 13th May 2012 ko 3.00pm

FA Vase Final

DUNSTON UTS 2 (Bulford 32 79)

WEST AUCKLAND TOWN 0

Att 5,126

At Wembley Stadium

Entry, Programme & Team Sheet- Complimentary (Many Thanks to Dave Morrall of the Northern Counties East League)

I really hadn’t planned on doing this one, but when Chris Berezai phoned me to say Dave Morrall, chairman of the NCEL had offered us complementaries for the final, well who’d say no to that?  So my suit and tie travelled up to Chris and Jenny on Sunday morning, and the two of us must have looked like we were off to church, as we left Long Eaton!

It was easy enough to park at Stanmore Tube station, and we passed The Hive, home to Barnet FC’s training facilities, and potentially their new stadium too, between Stanmore and Canons Park. It’s just 4 stops to Wembley Park, so there was plenty of time to collect out tickets, and enjoy a local chinese meal. After that it was a short walk to beneath the Bobby Moore statue to the hospitality entrance. Our tickets gave us access to the Bobby Moore lounge, which gives you a large bar and food area behind the seats directly below the Royal box. We got a free programme and team sheet, and noticed that food and drink prices were just as stupidly expensive as everywhere else in the ground. £8 for a burger is way beyond a joke.

Our seats were just to the right of the dugouts, a few feet from where the “Wally with the brolly” once forlornly stood, and on a sunny day I did notice there wasn’t much roof over our heads. However padded seats and armrests are not to be sniffed at, and there was a little clip in front of you for your programme!

What was utterly lacking was a half decent attendance. With this being an all Northern League final, that league’s policy of not taking promotions due to excessive travelling was borne out by the 85,000 or so empty seats! In these straitened times though the FA should take most of the blame. This is a competition for clubs a minimum of 5 promotions from Football League status so to ask people to spend £25 a ticket (no concessions) plus £4 for £2 worth of programme, plus the cost of getting there, is at best insensitive and at worst crass. Surely charging £10 each would have produced a better crowd and more revenue. The alternative would be to move the final to somewhere more suitable, although one hopper’s idea of Hartlepool was I think a little wide of the mark. I did comment though that it would have been a darned sight nearer for both sides to have played at Hampden Park.

The game saw Dunston take on the World Champions as West Auckland famously won the Thomas Lipton Trophy representing England in 1909 and again in 1911. On this occasion West Auckland were undone by the predatory Andrew Bulford who completed the feat of scoring in each tie. While West Auckland had far more possession, they created few chances and once Bulford latched on to a Stephen Goddard flick-on, he opened the scoring with a neat lob over keeper Mark Bell.

The second half carried on in much the same vein, and when West Auckland switched to 3 at the back in search of a goal, it was inevitable that there would be more space for Dunston to exploit. And exploit they did. Bulford hit the post, and soon after strike partner Goddard did exactly the same. The two combined nicely for the winner, Goddard again flicked on, and Bulford capitalised on hesitancy in the West Auckland defence to fire past Bell, taking his Vase tally for the season to 15.

 

Soap & Steel

18 Sunday Mar 2012

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Saturday 17th March 2012 ko 4.30pm

Central Midlands League North Division

DRONFIELD TOWN 4 (Doran 15 90 Gange 48 67)

THORESBY COLLIERY WELFARE 1 (House 60)

Att 276

Entry & Programme-Hop Ticket

Teamsheet 25p

Badge £3

Cheeseburger £2

Tea-in-a-mug 50p

The day’s 3rd game saw a real change of environ, from North Nottinghamshire to North Derbyshire, and there’s a real rivalry between the 2 counties, exacerbated by the UK miners’ strike (1984–1985). I drove through Chesterfield with its iconic crooked spire (or typical Derbyshire workmanship if you’re from Notts!), and headed north to to the small town of Dronfield. Rick Allen, drummer with Def Leppard hails from the town.

Situated as it is on several borders, Dronfield’s roots lies in several industries. There have been, at various times tanneries, soap works, and with a nod to nearby to nearby Sheffield, a significant steel industry. With the Peak District being a mere 3 miles away agriculture was also a massive contributor to the town’s prestige, and the most famous building in the town is testament to this.

The “Peel Monument”, situated on the town’s High Street, was built in 1854 out of gritstone as a tribute to Sir Robert Peel, to commemorate his repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. The monument is very distinctive, and is often portrayed in images of the town. It also forms the football club’s badge.

Dronfield’s ground makes use of the hilly topography of the town. The car park is above the cricket club, which is in turn above the football ground in Stonelow Road. On the other side of the valley the terraced houses disappear into the distance like a Lowry painting.

Like Basford, Dronfield Town are an ambitious club, and buckets were in evidence for their floodlight fund. A barbeque was fired up, but the club found the one food that even groundhoppers turned their noses up at. Pork dripping sandwiches are, so I was told by Rob Hornby, a local speciality, but I actually heard a hopper comment “Do they come with a free heart attack!” That said, I now regret not trying one, it couldn’t have been that bad could it?

The game pitched Dronfield against a Thoresby side that had only conceded only 9 goals in 19 league games. Clearly, noone had told Dronfield, and particularly fowards Andy Gange and John Doran, who scored excellent braces, despite at various times playing through driving rain and hail. Doran in particular looked a class better than the CMFL, and I do wonder whether in the future he’ll feature on a Northern Counties East hop! Danny House’s strike, from Thoresby’s only corner of the game was scant reward for the visitors who made a fine contribution to the game, for me the best of the 4 on offer today.

Oh what a lovely war!

25 Sunday Dec 2011

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Saturday 24th December 2011 ko 1.30pm

Sussex County League Division 2

DORKING WANDERERS 3 (Matty Evans 59 75 D Evans 76)

STORRINGTON 2 (Grantham 39 O’Regan 54)

Att 184

Entry £5

Programme SOLD OUT (content to be emailed), old copy FREE

Soup & Roll £1.50

Chips £1

It would have been easy to have said that every hopper known to man was at my morning game at Roffey, the afternoon proved they weren’t. Some had travelled here as a one-off, some had watched Pease Pottage in the morning. Some watched Roffey and went elsewhere. It all added up to 2 extra on the gate when compared to Roffey, and as before, they’d completely underestimated the interest in the fixture. What was lost on some visitors is that if a club’s attendance in normally 30, why would you risk the expense of printing 5 times you normal run of programmes, especially with the weather being so uncertain.

Dorking, or course lies in Surrey, not that you’re far from the Sussex border. Its best known as the birthplace of Laurence Olivier, not that at any point did I feel actually in the bustling market town. The West Humble Playing Fields lie in the shadow of the National Trust owned Box Hill, an area of outstanding natural beauty. Box Hill, incidentally, will be used for the cycling road race in next summer’s Olympics.

Perhaps that’s why the ground has wood very much to the fore. Cabins for changing rooms, with the pitch-side rail being in fact a fence. Nothing is prefabricated, nothing is standard issue, which makes it excellent for a one-off vistor, but you do wonder how on earth the club could progress to a floodit league with these facilities.

There was little Christmas cheer on show in this game. As early as 3rd minute Storrington forward Craig Grantham was guilty of a horrible studs-up challenge on defender Craig Vernon. He then seemed to grab Vernon by the neck, and Vernon retaliated by attempting a punch. Both players could, perhaps should have should have been sent off, but referee Dawson chose only to book Grantham.

It proved to be significant as Grantham opened the scoring, and throughout the rest of the game the tackles were notably late, and high. Wanderers took a 2-goal lead when keeper Williams fumbled O’Regan’s shot, and the visitors looked home and dry at that point. Clearly they hadn’t considered Matty Evans, who firstly headed home direct from a corner, then his shot from the left was the culmination of a fine passing move. I was glad to be watching from the the left touchline as left-back Dan Evans overlapping run saw him fire home from 20 yards. Pantomime villain Grantham finally did get his marching orders, collecting his 2nd booking for a challenge that ironically looked more clumsy than malicious. Any sense of injustice he he was feeling did not excuse the abusive language he shouted out as most of the Storrington bench were called into action to encort him from the field of play.

So as not to be left out of the fun, Wanderers manager Marc White was sent from the dugout for contesting a foul that wasn’t penalised, or for that matter even claimed!

Not exactly Christmassy on the pitch but all was well with the world off of it. Cards were exchanged and pleasantries of the season very much to the fore. And that is a good a time as any to wish both of my readers a very merry Christmas, see you somewhere daft!

Gang Show

01 Saturday Oct 2011

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Saturday 1st October 2011 KO 3.00pm

FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round

DEEPING RANGERS 0

LEEK TOWN 2 (Haddrell 14 Gibson 77)

Att 225

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

Badge £3

Tea £1

Pasty £2

I’d had problems finding something that appealed, so I went where 2 other hoppers were, and met Chris and Davy at Outgang Road. The United Counties League outfit always do well in their league, and you do wonder why they’ve never played at a higher level, the ground is easily up to scratch with its two Wembley turnstiles!

Incidentally Chris does his own excellent blog, “Damage in the Box,” so I’ll do the decent thing.

http://agroundhoppersdiary.blogspot.com

With Leek having struggled in recent years, and now find themselves at a level only one notch higher than their hosts, the Northern Premier League Division One South, you wondered whether there would be an upset.

Sadly for the neutral it wasn’t to be, as a goalkeeping howler gave Matt Haddrell a tap in for Leek’s first, and Danny Roberts in the visitors’ goal had an inspired afternoon producing brilliant saves to keep out former Lincoln City forward Tony Battersby. Inevitably we got the goal on the breal to double the lead, Australian midfielder Devon Gibson finishing well from the right, but at no stage did I fee that Deeping had it within themselves to win this tie. They seemed very one paced in the heat.

One wonders how disappointed Deeping were at losing, there is no shame is a defeat against higher opposition, but I felt Leek were there for the taking with a little more belief. I left, having enjoyed a ground that’s well worth the effort in visiting, but I’m not sure whether we’ll see Market Deeping’s team in a higher league soon, despite the ground’s clear advantages.

Razzmatazz

25 Sunday Sep 2011

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Saturday 24th September 2011 KO 1.30pm

North Berkshire League Division 1

DRAYTON FC 3 (Curran 72 76 82)

HARWELL VILLAGE 1 (Hinchcliffe 90)

Att 168

Entry by programme £3

Tea £1

Cheeseburger £2.50

Cheese & Onion Roll £1

Old team shirt £2

Badge £3

The second game of the hop was a mere mile and a half from the first, at the Recreation Ground, off Lockway.

The previous evening I’d had a bit of a nose round, firstly to see where to put the coach, and to see how they’d cope with a crowd. It looked easy enough to secure, but other than the village hall there didn’t look to be much space.

I needn’t have worried as the club put on a super show, complete with a gazebo borrowed from Tilsley Park, in nearby Abingdon. The place was packed out, and one hopper Martin Heyden from Cheshire even decided to cycle between the first 3 grounds! The locals pocked their noses over their fences and whinged at the number of people present, again there was a roaring trade in badges, and burgers, and I was impressed at how hard the Drayton FC people worked at their 2 hours in the spotlight.

The game was a complete non event for 70 minutes, then portly striker Danny Curran entered the fray. 10 minutes later, and 3 chances, he’d collected the match ball, Drayton the 3 points, and all was left to do was watch Martin climb on his bike just after a goalkeeping howler gave Harwell Village their consolation.

Life was getting better every minute…..