The Pressure Cooker

13 Sunday Sep 2015

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Monday 31st August 2015 ko 18.15

Welsh Alliance Divsion Two

PENMAENMAWR PHOENIX 3 (S Williams 21 Z Davies 44 Paddock 90)

GREENFIELD 4 (Pritchard 38 Beck 56 Henley 58 80)

Att 431 (Welsh Hop record)

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

Recently I attended a funeral of a mutual friend of my ex-wife and I. Since we split up 5 years ago we’ve only spoken a handful of times and never met. We both knew the other would be present, so the nervous tension built up in the days before. Fortunately we found time for a brief chat before the service, and whilst we’ll never be friends I stood at the back of the chapel and felt the tension slowly dissipate, rather like the valve on a pressure cooker. It wasn’t the first time I’d felt like that in the last few weeks. Continue reading →

Whose Club Is It Anyway?

13 Sunday Sep 2015

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Monday 31st August 2015 ko 14.45

Welsh Alliance “Mawddach” League Cup First Round

LLANLLYFNI 4 (A.Owen 3 90 C.Parry 49 Daniels 57)

TREARDDUR BAY UNITED 1 (Moore 42)

Att 307

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

Every single groundhop that’s ever been organised works only due to co-operation. There are different ways of putting these events together, I know one organiser that pays the away clubs to turn up, we don’t by the way, but if an away club doesn’t want to play, then putting it bluntly, there is precious little anyone can do about it.  Continue reading →

Pent or Five

10 Thursday Sep 2015

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Monday 31st August 2015 ko 11.30

Welsh Alliance Division 2

PENTRAETH 10 (McGonnigle 1 18 54 55 R Roberts 14 Monument 18 37 C Jones 59 89 D Owen 72)

GAERWEN 2 (McGuiness 21 Leuthwaite 27)

Att 376

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

As the coach pulled in back at Chester University the previous evening I remember glancing up at the evening sky. It was dark, with nothing to see, but I’d remembered the previous year’s hop at the pouring rain at Kinmel Bay and how disappointed I’d felt that we’d finished the longest hop of the year on a damp squib. That was a feeling enhanced at 2.30am when I woken by the rain lashing down against the window pane. I slept fitfully after that and when it was still raining at breakfast it took driver Jase to laugh, “Don’t worry mate, it’s not raining in Bangor!” to make me smile. Continue reading →

Mountaineering

07 Monday Sep 2015

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Sunday 30th August 2015 ko 18.00

Welsh Alliance Division 2

MYNYDD LLANDEGAI 3 (M Smith 6 M Hughes 70p Whitmore 74)

MELIDEN 2 (Buckley 15 Szabo 78)

Att 305

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

We left Llanrug and climbed into the mountains of Snowdonia and then we climbed some more. The roads narrowed, the heather turned purple almost it seemed through oxygen deprivation, and eventually we reached the tiny village of Mynydd (Mountain) Llandegai. Continue reading →

Electric Mountain

07 Monday Sep 2015

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Sunday 30th August 2015 ko 14.30

Welsh Alliance Division One

LLANRUG UNITED 2 (Palmer 64 DN Williams 87)

LLANRWST UNITED 1 (Jenkins 79)

Att 324

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

Even after a week or so after the event, there’s one aspect of the Eithin Duon ground I’m not certain of. If you stand on the right-hand side of the pitch there’s a wonderful view of Snowdonia, with a massive pylon in the middle of it! Now on one hand the pylon is exceedingly ugly, but it does give the place quite a talking point, and I’d hate the valley to be without power! Continue reading →

Locomotive

06 Sunday Sep 2015

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Sunday 30th August 2015 ko 11.30

Welsh Alliance Division One

LLANBERIS 1 (Parry 68)

PWLLHELI 1 (M Jones 76) C Jones sent off 83 (violent conduct)

Att 333

Entry £4

Programme £1

I remember the moment when Chris Berezai made the decision he needed a deputy. We were on a Hellenic Hop at Abingdon Town when his back seized up. He struggled through the rest of the event, and a few days later I got a phone call, and the rest as they say is history. From then on we’ve acted more as a joint effort rather than me simply order-taking. I wasn’t born to follow, but Llanberis proved to be rather different for a while. Continue reading →

Renaissance

04 Friday Sep 2015

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Saturday 25th August 2015 ko 19.45

Welsh Alliance Division One

LLANGEFNI TOWN 4 (Evans 57 A Hughes 63 I Jones 74 S Jones 78)

LLANFAIRPWLL 0

Att 409 (Welsh Hop Record)

Entry £4

Programme £1

It felt like we were reaching the 285 yards bit of a marathon as we reached Cae Bob Parry, in the market town of Anglesey, Llangefni. We were grateful the ground has floodlights, a relic of the club’s solitary season in the Welsh Premier, back in the 2007/8 season, but here’s the thing, we were due to visit here on Saturday of the first Welsh Alliance Hop back in 2013. Continue reading →

Oh I do like to be…

03 Thursday Sep 2015

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Saturday 29th August 2015 ko 16.45

Welsh Alliance Division One

TREARDDUR BAY UNITED 4 (Murphy 6 A Thomas 17 28 C Williams 47)

ST ASAPH CITY 3 (J Jones 47 86 Johns 74)

Att 304

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

From our first two games in agricultural Anglesey, the third saw a complete change of locale. We headed north-west and on to Anglesey’s smaller brother Island, Holy Island. Its best known for the port town of Holyhead, and the ferry over to Ireland, but just west of there is the holiday village of Trearddur Bay. Continue reading →

Glancing Forward

03 Thursday Sep 2015

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Saturday 29th August 2015 ko 13.30

Welsh Alliance Division 2

LLANERCHYMEDD 3 (J Jones 5 M Jones 29 48)

BLAENAU AMATEURS 2 (Bradley 35 45)

Att 317

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

As I was about to complete the crowd count back at Amlwch I spotted a lone figure looking nervously from outside the ground (I didn’t count him!). He was speaking to an Amlwch committeeman so I downed tools for a minute. It turned out to be to the Llanerchymedd manager getting a sneak preview of what was heading his way! Continue reading →

Logistics

03 Thursday Sep 2015

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Saturday 28th August 2015 ko 10.45

Welsh Alliance Division Two

AMLWCH TOWN 1 (Grffiths 44) Byast sent off 90 (2nd booking)

NANTLLE VALE 2 (A Hughes 2 S Williams 40) E Jones sent off 81 (2nd booking)

Att 318

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

When you organise a groundhop, after you’ve agreed the event with the league your next move is to pick a base, where you’ll run the coaches from and site your accommodation. There are some hard and fast rules with hotels and the like, parking must be free, there has to be room for the coach, and the breakfasts need to be of the cooked variety! Universities tend to be good for us, having single ensuite rooms is perfect for us, and the University of Chester’s accommodation is first-class, but it has meant we’ve needed to plan a little more. Continue reading →