The Hellenic Western Side

19 Sunday May 2019

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Thursday 18th April 2019 ko 19.30

Hellenic League Division One West

ALMONDSBURY 3 (Sheppard 45 Lane 85 Bisp 87)

MALMESBURY VICTORIA 2 (Jones 6 Tranter 77)

Att 195

Entry £5

Programme £1

As I mentioned in the Barnton article the original plan for Easter was for GroundhopUK to be based in the North West Counties League. Conventional wisdom would be that they made a mistake in turning down Easter for their hop, but they got excellent crowds for their event in March, so perhaps they bucked that trend. If turning down Easter could be said to be their loss (and I’m not totally convinced), then the Hellenic certainly gained. By swapping the two events around the Hellenic got a prime groundhopping slot, and he chance for 13 clubs to host rather than the 7 we’d originally planned. Brian King at the Hellenic jumped at the chance of an expanded hop but we did create an oddity though, and that was Almondsbury hosting.

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Botany Bay

17 Friday May 2019

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Tuesday 16th April 2019 ko 18.15

Aylesbury & District League Premier Division

TETSWORTH 5 (Gant 3 85 Jones 12 Riley 18 Nawaz 23og)

ELMHURST 2 (Haider 32 Jabar 66)

Att c20

Entry FREE

If you’ve ever driven on the M40 between Thame and Stokenchurch, then you’ve been within a couple of hundred yards of Tetsworth. You can see the lorries thundering along the embankment from the pretty Oxfordshire village around 4 miles south of Thame on the old A40. Or perhaps car boot sales are your thing? If they are and you’re from the South-East then you’re probably attended one of the mammoth Sunday car boot sales held here. All of that does the village something of a disservice. Continue reading →

The Old Paludians

15 Wednesday May 2019

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Tuesday 9th April 2019 ko 18.30

Hellenic League Division 2 East

TAPLOW UNITED 2 (Hill 23 Murtagh 27)

STOKENCHURCH 3 (Holgate 22 Blesson 69 C Baumohl 70)

Att 5

Free Entry

When I first started groundhopping 15-odd years ago the Step 6 Hellenic Division ONE east looked a lot like this. I remember visiting the likes of Englefield Green Rovers and Eton Wick and seeing grounds with little more than a pitchside rail. You can imagine my surprise when the Central Midlands League Hops started. That league was at Step 7 yet the grounds all seemed to have stands…. Continue reading →

Carry On Up the Ceiber

13 Monday May 2019

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Saturday 6th April 2019 ko 14.30

Welsh League Division 3

PENRHIWCEIBER RANGERS 3 (Carter 6 Davies 31 Morgan 39)

TREDEGAR TOWN 2 (Hillman 8 Cullinane 46)

Herring sent off 90 (dangerous play)

Att c50

Entry £3

Programme 50p

The drive up to the Mountain Ash area from just beyond Pontypridd is one of my favourites in the South Wales Valleys. Part of the reason why it is the sense of history about the area, and my own memories of so many games and clubs visited in the area. It’s got to a point where if I see a mining village I wonder why I haven’t seen a game there yet! Then there’s the switch-back narrow roads and the seeming endless rows of terraced cottages, this is a part of the world where you do have to concentrate when driving! Continue reading →

The Last Post

08 Wednesday May 2019

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Tuesday 2nd April 2019 ko 18.15

Banbury Charity Cup 2nd Round

BODICOTE SPORTS 3 (Reeves 37 81p Kiss 83)

CHASEWELL PARK 3 (Robertson 43p Beales 52 Harding 64)

Bodicote won 5-4 on penalties (No extra time)

Att c20

Entry FREE

In groundhopper parlance the last part of the season when the clocks go forward and clubs without floodlights can play evening fixtures is known as “Silly Season.” It sounds like a pejorative term, but isn’t meant to be, it refers to the ability to watch leagues you can’t do midweek in the winter. By reputation it evokes summer evenings, watching a game in pleasant rural surroundings in your shirtsleeves. I allowed myself a grim smile as the sleet lashed against my car’s windscreen as I headed the 20-or-so miles north.

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The Cuddy

07 Tuesday May 2019

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Sunday 31st March 2019 ko 12.30

East of Scotland League Conference A

PEEBLES ROVERS 1 (Lindsay 72)

NEWTONGRANGE STAR 3 (Jamieson 13 Scott 40 Porteous 78)

Att 288

Entry £5

Programme £1

With the Scottish Hop coach full I found myself driving from our base in East Kilbride to the event’s final destination in Peebles. It wasn’t a quick drive once I’d left the M74, but the rolling hills of the Borders and the roads’ sweeping bends made for a enthralling journey. It was time to reflect on how this game should have taken place on last year’s hop, the cold and snow saw the game, also scheduled for Sunday lunchtime postponed. I pulled into the rugby club car park, and pondered on how many fewer people would have attended the game last year given the lousy conditions? Continue reading →

Dragon Soup

03 Friday May 2019

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Saturday 30th March 2019 ko 20.00

East of Scotland League Conference C

LINLITHGOW ROSE 3 (Roddie MacLennan 15 39 Coyne 63)

JEANFIELD SWIFTS 2 (Davies 6 Connor McLaren 46)

Att 618

Entry £6

Programme £2

We left Blackburn, and headed over Cockleroi Hill. We were a little tight for time, I’d spent a little too much time thanking those involved at our previous game. The nerves jangled slightly, was driving past a Korean War Memorial part of the plan? But then the county town of the Lothians peeped into view, and as it turned out, the hop coach used exactly the same route as we had. The over-riding reason for the nerves was due to a massive sense of anticipation. Continue reading →

The West Lothian Question

29 Monday Apr 2019

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Saturday 30th March 2019 ko 17.15

East of Scotland League Conference C

BLACKBURN UNITED 4 (Downie 1p 4 65 Browne 81)

PRESTON ATHLETIC 1 (McFarlane 77)

Att 328

Entry £6

Programme £2

I smiled when I heard the groundhoppers’ joke, yes Blackburn vs Preston could so easily be an English Championship game in Lancashire rather than a Scottish non-league fixture in West Lothian. That Lancs/Lothians connection wasn’t lost on former MP Tam Dalyell who in 1977 used the two towns to illustrate a situation after Scottish devolution where Scottish MPs could vote on English affairs, but not vice versa. Continue reading →

The Wreck Of The Old Mauritania

27 Saturday Apr 2019

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Saturday 30th March 2019 ko 14.15

East of Scotland League Conference C

INVERKEITHING HILLFIELD SWIFTS 2 (Cowie 71 Hamilton 75)

Miller sent off 60 (2nd booking)

Francis sent off 78 (Foul & Abusive)

Cowie sent off 82 (Foul & Abusive)

HERIOT WATT UNIVERSITY 4 (Muttitt 27 57 Huxford 31 Singh 82p)

Att 301

Entry £6

Programme £2

The Scottish Hop’s move from the Lothians to the Kingdom of Fife was nothing if not spectacular. First the Kelpies, the steel horses wild but frozen but their energy an inspiration to motorists on the M9. With the Hop coach’s 61 seats more than sold out, I was driving in effect an overspill car, but the there was a silver lining as we could stop close to the three Forth Bridges to take some fairly spectacular photos!

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The Inland Mariners

24 Wednesday Apr 2019

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Saturday 30th March 2019 ko 11.00

East of Scotland League Conference C

CAMELON JUNIORS 5 (McKenzie 8 43 46 Sneddon 10 25)

EDINBURGH UNITED 1 (Auriemma 40p)

Att 356

Entry £6

Programme £2

The biggest mistake you can make round these parts is to describe Camelon as being part of Falkirk. As any local will tell you the two places are separate even if you do pass the Falkirk Wheel as you arrive, and one town does rather run into the other! But as we approached Carmuirs Park I felt more anticipation than perhaps any other ground on this year’s Scottish Hop. Oddly that was in part because I’d been here before…. Continue reading →