Tag Archives: Goal

Hero and Villan

13 Thursday Oct 2011

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Wednesday 12th October 2011 ko 7.45pm

United Counties League Division One

HUNTINGDON TOWN 1 (Moyes 12)

WOOTTON BLUE CROSS 2 (Janes 17 34)

Att 65

Entry & Programme £5

Coffee 50p

A few days ago I watched Witney Town, a side becalmed at a location way out-of-town. Here’s club, again way out-of-town, but making it work for them. And for those who haven’t been yet and are planning a visit, don’t use the postcode, you’ll go horribly wrong! I did! Aim for the village of Kings Ripton, and Jubilee Park is just before you get there.

And what a well organised place it is. Spick and span, with a large clubhouse, its similar to Market Harborough’s Bowden’s Park. It’s all there. A tea bar, alcohol bar, cover, lights, and multiple pitches for community use. In fact my only quibble was the lack of a seated stand, with my hernia and general tiredness making such a thing desirable! I suspect, with the club at step 6 and having only been in situ since 2003, the comment would be all in good time!

I immediately took to the club, because, yes, they are friendly. It costs nothing to have friendly people having a joke behind the tea bar, and to help you out with the line ups. Put that with a local making their first visit, and there’s someone who’ll be back and will bring a friend.

So I walked (slowly) out to the pitch quietly rooting for the homesters. Interestingly former West Ham star Calum Davenport was turning out for the visitors, his career wrecked by injury, but it was Huntingdon who took the lead with Daniel Moyes’ free kick freakishly evading the keeper from a full 45 yards. A fluke? Oh yes, but they all count.

But just over 20 minutes later, it was Blue Cross who lead, Gary Janes taking advantage of first a defensive howler and secondly a glorious through ball. It was first half stoppage time when the first of the two major talking points occurred. Davenport pulled a shirt, in the box, was booked but Joe Furness’ penalty was well saved by Gerrard, diving to his left.

The second half could, and didn’t live up to the excitement of the first, but even with my newly found bias it was hard to deny Huntingdon at least a point. And in stoppage time, potential salvation occurred. Again referee Moore spotted an infringement in the box, again Furness stepped up to take the spot kick, again he aimed bottom right, and yes again Gerrard saved. Hero and Villian 18 yards apart.

Soon afterwards Blue Cross loudly celebrated an important away win. Home manager Ricky Marheineke walked off with his arm around a destraught Furness. You couldn’t help but feel not only for the player, but this warm friendly club.

To finish though, a question. Why is the club playing in the UCL? Nearby Godmanchester play in the Eastern Counties League, and Huntingdon’s under 18’s play in the Eastern Counties Youth League!

Elevation

13 Thursday Oct 2011

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Tuesday 11th October 2011 ko 7.45pm

Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division

HATFIELD TOWN 0

ROYSTON TOWN 6 (Lockett 20 Young 39 Feumi 43p Robins 67 Standen 81 90)

Att 87

Entry £6

Programme £1

Tea 50p  (in a University of Chester paper cup!)

Until last season Hatfield groundshared at Welwyn Garden City FC. Sharing somewhere other than your home town is seldom ideal, but Hatfield now at least have a home to call their own. The problem is that its still in Welwyn Garden City! Moreover the Gosling Sports Park, doesn’t just contain a 6 lane running track but a velodrome too, making the football spectator extremely distant from the pitch. That said the velodrome is perhaps the ground’s saving grace, as the banking does provide elevation, ameliorating some of the distance. Its helped further by a balcony the height of which I’ve never enountered anywhere other than Wembley Stadium. The panorama shot is from there and it does give a Subbuteo feel to wtching a game.

With 3 distinct viewing areas, the terrace, seating and balcony, the ground is certainly different, and I’ve heard descriptions of Stalinist, and East German, neither of which I’d necessarily disagree with. For me it simply felt municipal, nothing wrong with that, but I wouldn’t want to watch football somewhere like this all the time. I should add that the club has had to work hard to get the ground usable for football. Gates have to be locked at specific times, and a huge players tunnel built, which if it were in Kent would have the anti-polytunnel brigade up in arm!

Hatfield have signed a 7-year lease, but I got the impression that their tenure may well be a lot shorter than that. The bottom line is that they want to be in Hatfield, and they think they’ve found a suitable location. What happens next is anyone’s guess, but I’d get to Gosling Sports Park soon to avoid disappointment.

On the pitch there were 2 sides with radically different agenda. Hatfield are building for the future, in both senses of the word, while Royston simply wish to return to the Isthmian League. After watching one of the biggest away drubbings I’ve ever seen I’m not sure which club will achieve their ambitions. Yes, Hatfield’s defence was appalling, but they looked a young side, and an older, better remunerated team, ran riot. Are Hatfield relegation fodder? On this outing yes, but they’re not in a relegation spot, and are there better teams than Royston in the league? You suspect quite possibly.

Definately one to keep an eye on.

Brave New World

09 Sunday Oct 2011

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Sunday 9th October 2011 ko 10.30am (approx!)

Upper Thames Valley League Premier Division

KINGS ARMS WHEATLEY 3 (L. Cuff 27 Sackey 30 85)

BARTON UNITED 0

Att 18 (h/c)

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

This was another Peter Hack inspired choice and another of those Sunday League grounds that you can’t do on a Saturday. And this time he decided to come along!

The side plays on the main pitch at Wheatley RUFC just opposite the Wheatley Park Sports Centre, the other pitch was being used by King & Queen Wheatley giving me an excuse to return. The elevated position made it blustery but the view on a clear day would be spectacular.

I have connections with the Barton estate, having grown up on the Risinghurst estate, the other side of the A40 from it, and went to Bayswater School, on the Barton estate itself. I wondered while I was there why the local Saturday side, Headington Amateurs was never mentioned, but the Sunday side was. Nowadays its clear, the Sunday side had the locals, and represented the estate, and bluntly had a fairly fearsome reputation. Barton played Kings Arms in the final game of last season, a shoot out for the championship. The game was switched to Sutton Courtenay for security reasons, and a strong team of referees took the game. Barton lost, amongst much acrimony and alcohol, and so this game we approached with some interest, but trepidation.

We needn’t have worried as that Barton United it transpired have folded, this version is in fact Masons Arms from Headington Quarry, rebranded and moved to Barton Rec’. They’re a friendly enough much, no Stella or Strongbow to be found, but the edge has gone. No players remain from “Old” Barton, and frankly they looked flat.

Kings Arms never looked like be troubled and Referee Neil Evans had little or nothing to do. Three goals went in, each beautifully crafted, and Barton showed little or nothing, other than frustration.

I did find out that many of the “Old Barton” players went to Kidlington Royals. Perhaps I should check them out sometime.

Win a holiday in Jura

09 Sunday Oct 2011

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Saturday 8th October 2011 ko 6.30pm

Hellenic League Premier Division

KIDLINGTON 3 (Coyle 34 Curtin 47 73)

ARDLEY UNITED 4 (D Beckett 5p 84 Thorne 24 Bryan 43)

Att 158 (h/c)

Entry £5

Programme £1

Bacon Roll & Cheesy Chips £3.10

So, the final game of this mini-hop was at Yarnton Road, and unlike poor old Witney, this club are right at the heart of the local community. The facilities, are nowhere near as good as at Downs Road just two squat “Arena” stands, but the clubhosue does a roaring trade seven days a week, and that allows the football team to thrive. On this occasion they were bested by a resurgent Ardley United managed by former Oxford United and Banbury United legend Kevin Brock. Ardley have a strong ex Banbury United flavour, in fact at times I felt I was watching the Banbury side I enjoyed around 7 years ago when I’d moved to the town. It seems such a long time ago now….

One of the throng watching was Pete Hack. Pete reminds me of a bluesman, in that the restrictions put upon him has made him groundhop in a really interesting way. He runs the Whisky shop in Oxford’s historic Covered Market, which means he works every single Saturday afternoon. So he watches student football, the Sunday game, anything he can. A bluesman restricts himself to 3 chords, Pete’s restricted to non-Saturday afternoons. His hopping CV is, as a result, highly unusual and interesting. With the late kick off he was able to attend and brought a bit of a bonus. The Jura distillery have a competition to win a trip to the island, but Pete’s customers couldn’t be bothered to fill out the postcards to enter. So, at half time we had the sight of hoppers frantically filling in postcards, wondering whether there’s any football played on Jura! Anyone know?

That shouldn’t detract from the game which was excellent, and in my opinion the best two teams of the day. I always felt that Ardley were the better team, but the result was in doubt for the full 90 minutes, and that whether you’re a spectator, official, or groundhop organiser is all you’re looking for.

The Little Details

09 Sunday Oct 2011

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Saturday 8th October 2011 ko 3pm

Hellenic League Premier Division

WITNEY TOWN 0 Stott sent off 64 (pro foul)

READING TOWN 4 (John 30 38 75 Spence 88)

Att 117

Entry £5

Programme £1

Once upon a time Witney had a thriving football team. Based at Marriotts Close, in the centre of town, the social club made enough money to sustain Southern League football, even though attendances at the games were relatively low. But once the club relocated to their new stadium, in Downs Road, that link was broken. That’s because Downs road is closer to Minster Lovell than Witney itself, and who wants to go for a beer at a breeze block edifice by an industrial estate? The club folded, were restarted by the fans as Witney United, but that in turn folded at the end of the last season. Witney Town were quickly revived and controversially kept United’s league position and FA Cup place.

But it doesn’t solve the conundrum of football in Witney, namely that the facilities are excellent, but in precisely the wrong location. A wonderful friendly club, the free teamsheets, were most welcome, but the team was so obviously lacking.

There was a 10 minute delay due to problems with Reading Town’s kit. Last Monday they’d had a kit stolen leaving just two left. They’d picked one, in yellow only to discover upon arrival that Town still play in Witney United’s gold and black! They found red shorts and socks and borrowed Witney’s change shirts, a delightful shade of purple!

One look at the team sheet showed the depth of Witney’s on field problems. Reading Town featured former Torquay, Hartlepool and Cambridge United forward Marcus Richardson, and perhaps more intriguingly Ray Spence, formerly of Farnborough, Oxford City, and South Reading. That’s right, South Reading of the 2nd tier of the Reading League, Spence is to be polite, a controversial figure. No lack of talent, but with a quite appalling disciplinary record. I saw him play at Marlow United for South Reading and I would have booked him four times for dissent or unsporting conduct, and sent him off for throwing a punch. Somehow he stayed on the pitch…. On this occasion he was reasonably well-behaved, just a rake down a leg missed by the officials.

Perhaps he didn’t need to misbehave, as Reading won this game purely on the little details, if they got a chance, they converted it, mainly through Phillip John’s runs from the right which caught the home defence time after time. When Witney did get a chance, it was spurned, most notably by Bloomfield after 82 minutes. But when you’re struggling that’s what happens. That includes Jon Stott’s dismissal for hauling down a clean through Spence.

Maybe Reading will find themselves in the Southern league soon, but that’s level Witney should be at with these facilities, if only they can square the circle of such a poor location.

The All-Revisit Hop

09 Sunday Oct 2011

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Saturday 8th October 2011 ko 12pm

Hellenic League Division One West

CARTERTON FC 2 (MacDonagh 10 17)

LYDNEY TOWN 2 (Elliott 43 Liddington 47)

Att 102

Entry £4

Programme £1

Cappuccino 90p

Sausage & Chips £2

The purpose of this “mini-hop” is worth explaining. The Hellenic hop started life as a stand alone hop organised by the league itself. Later on the hop expanded and was attached to the Welsh hop when Chris Berezai became involved. With the Welsh hop now in Mid-Wales, the Hellenic has reverted to being stand alone. This day was set aside for those who had not visited the grounds on the original hops to catch up. That by the way included Chris himself! And that reader, is why I came to be doing 3 revisits for the first time, possibly ever!

Kilkenny Lane is one of my favourites in the league. It manages to combine good facilities with quirkiness. The bar is superb, little wonder League meetings are held here, but despite, the two stands, there is only one realistic place to watch the action, the bar’s balcony, thoughtful covered since my last visit. Jens from Germany was impressed; 5000+ grounds and he could drink, smoke and watch football simulaneously! Wunderbar! His travelling Margarete, was another welcome visitor, and her dislike for brown sauce was gently mocked as normal. Wonderful to see them again.

Carterton, were relegated last season, and have struggled to adjust to their new division. Lydney too have been in the top flight, and are struggling too. They would not have be happy to ship two goals in 10 minutes to goal keeping howlers, and then watch a stonewall penalty not be awarded by a referee bent on making as few decisions as possible. Creditably they fought their way back into the tie, and and their two goal blast was richly deserved.

That Petrol Emotion

06 Thursday Oct 2011

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Wednesday 5th October 2011 ko 7.45pm

Wessex League Premier Division

FAWLEY AFC 3 (Blaxall 11 52 Mockeridge 52)

HAYLING UNITED 1 (Burney 74p)

Att 47 (h/c)

Entry £5

Programme FREE (“Because its not very good tonight”)

Coffee £1

The Waterside Sports and Social Club is easy enough to find, but it isn’t easy to actually get to the football ground (you have to go via the reception), the ground is barely up to Step 5 regulations, with much of it being a mish mash of scaffolding poles and portacabins, the programme frankly was poor, and there was no hot food on sale on a rainy blustery night. Yes, you’ve worked it out, I loved the place.

Because its not the just the physical architecture that makes a ground, the people are just as important. And its here that Fawley wins out by a mile.

A friendly club with nothing much beats a miserable lot with facilties every time, and whilst Waterside will win no design awards, the stand kept us dry and gave us a decent view of a decent game.

Fawley started life as the works team for Esso, and the fuel refinery still provides quite a backdrop, somewhat reminiscent of Port Talbot. These days the club has nothing to do with the oil company, but has still worked its way up to the highest level of its existance, and for this game the attendance was augmented by 3 other hoppers, including Andy Norbury from Crewe and Shaun Ellis from Reading.

Also present was Splodge, keeping a low profile, as the away team are playing Fareham on Saturday.

But what will I remember Hayling for? That kit! Day-glo yellow! I don’t think it needs much more comment than that, other than it made photography difficult!

The potential advantage of being able to see your team mates from the next county didn’t seem to help them, particularly after Blaxall’s cross-cum-shot whistled past Patilla in the Hayling goal after 11 minutes. It wasn’t so much that Hayling had no answers, John Page the Fawley keeper had a fine game, it was just that Fawley had more and better ideas. A goalkeeping howler allowed Mockeridge to loft the ball into an empty net, and Blaxall collected his second moments later. Lenny Burney’s penalty really was scant consolation for a game long since lost.

Still a good game, with good company and at a really friendly club. Do pay them a visit.

3, 2, 1!

30 Friday Sep 2011

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Wednesday 28th September 2011 ko 7.30pm

Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Reg Davis Cup Final

GALA WILTON 3 (Hoskins 2 Hemming Bolton 27og)

STAR FC 2 (Gluyas 33 Conway 44)

Att 165 (h/c)

Entry & Programme £2 (but see below)

Match played at Glevum Park, Gloucester (Tuffley Rovers FC)

Consider if you will, a League Cup competition so well organised that it’s completed from start to finsh in September. Consider also, that this is a league where the top division sits a full 8 promotions from the football league. For this was one of the best organised cup finals I’ve ever attended, perhaps only surpassed by the Japanese Students Prime Minister’s Cup. The programme was excellent, it was easy to get the line ups and any piece of information was either in the programme or a simple question away. In fact the only thing that a few days after the event that still puzzles me is exactly how much was it to get in?

The front of the programme says £3, I was charged £2, but Lee West behind me was handed his programme and told he owed me a pound! Work that one out!

Glevum Park saw Hellenic Premier action comparatively recently, and it shows. Spick span, albeit with a lack of a bar area, it would quicky fall into the “bog standard step 5” category if isn’t wasn’t for that stand. I’ve never seen on of those before! In fact that only other ground I’ve seen seats like that were at North Leigh and they’ve long since been ripped out. I believe they call that “Progress.”

And what a game it was! After half an hour it looked like it would be a case of how may Gala could get but then the club formerly known as Eagle Star, found their feet. Yes they scored just the two, but hit the crossbar and missed when it looked a good deal easier to score, and don’t be fooled by the lack of goals in the second half either, this was a cracker from start to finish.

A game of one half

30 Friday Sep 2011

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Tuesday 27th September 2011 ko 7.15pm

Leicestershire Senior Cup First Round

AYLESTONE PARK 2 (G Seal 18 27p)

BIRSTALL UNITED 1 (Man-Klee 8 )

Att 54 (h/c)

Entry £2.50

No programme

Chips & Cheese £1.50

With the  Leicester based club having moved a full 400 yards to their new home, The Mary Linwood Recreation ground in Saffron Lane, this fixture attracted some of the big hitters of the groundhopping fraternity.

The ground reflects precisely the clubs needs and immediate ambitions. There are two pitches, so close that the dugouts are double sided, and the clubhouse is both large and impressive. However the sole spectator accommodation is still the same unseated Arena stand, salvaged from the old ground, and given a lick of paint. You question how far the club can progress with the ground as it is particularly when you consider that the club has the advantage of the demise of the Leicestershire Constabulary club which supplied both players and committee.

What we got was a cracking half of football. Birstall took an early lead, Aylestone stung by the threat to their 100% record responded, and with a penalty to take the lead we were set up for an exciting second half. I’d have even settled for extra time.

I turned up for the second half, I’m not sure the players did! What we got was a turgid half of ill-tempered hoofing, and a catalogue of unforced errors. By the end, extra time would have been a trial.