Tag Archives: groundhop

Nesting

09 Tuesday Jan 2024

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Saturday 30th December 2023 ko 15:00

Northern Counties East League Division One

SWALLOWNEST 1 (Spick 84)

SHIREBROOK TOWN 6 (Macaskill 17 38 Day 44 54 Skelton 49og K Watson 80)

Att 135

Entry £6

Programme £2 (reissue from 12/09/23)

On the way back from Warrington we’d pondered ideas for our last game of 2023. I must admit we’d rather neglected the Northern Counties East, I’d more or less completed the league when the groundhop was based there, but that event finished at Selby in 2017 and there’s been plenty of club churn since then.

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(Kent)

11 Monday Dec 2023

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Saturday 18th November 2023 ko 15:00

Isthmian League Division One South-East

ASHFORD UNITED 3 (Draycott 16 Brand 41 Carney 90+4)

SHEPPEY UNITED 2 (Willis 4 Bessey-Saldana 14)

Att 478

Entry £10

Programme £2

We’d reached the part of the season where the weather makes sure you either pick a game that’s on 3G or have a whole slew of backup plans. Added to that I had two thoughts on the back of my mind. The first was that I wanted something with seating and cover, Robyn’s ankle was still causing her pain, and there was the vexed question of the Southern Counties East. I took the view to cash in a 3G insurance policy.

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Cloudbusting

04 Monday Dec 2023

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Sunday 29th October 2023 ko 14:45

Southern Combination Division One

BILLINGSHURST 2 (Humphries 55 McAlpine 73)

EAST PRESTON 2 (O’Driscoll 27 Kusaka 80)

Marney penalty saved 90

Att 245

Entry £6

Programme £2

Robyn and I spent the entire journey from Wick to Billingshurst fully expecting a phone call to confirm that the game was off. While the rain had relented for the time being the deluge that had cause the abandonment at Wick, must have had the same impact at Billingshurst hadn’t it?

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Crabby

29 Wednesday Nov 2023

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Sunday 29th October 2023 ko 11:00

Southern Combination Division One

WICK 2 (Hack 31 Crouch 33)

OAKWOOD 3 (Agymane 11 Etherington 48 Ramen 62)

Abandoned 66 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch

Att 189

Entry £7

Programme £2

We’d sat under Storm Babet overnight and I was happy enough to see our hotel in one piece, let alone any other consideration. There’d even been a tornado in Littlehampton with a house near Wick losing it’s roof. Robyn and I went down to breakfast failing to see how we’d see any football that day. In fact the only possible silver lining was that at least it had stopped raining….

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Influencers

24 Friday Nov 2023

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Saturday 28th October 2023 ko 14:15

Southern Combination – Division Two

BOSHAM 1 (Harris 32)

JARVIS BROOK 1 (Edmunds 41)

Att 232

Entry & Programme £4

We’d watched the Shoreham game in the midst of a deluge, and the downpour carried on all night. It was therefore of no surprise that at breakfast the news had come through that our first game at Pagham had been lost. And for the record saying the pitch was waterlogged doesn’t do the conditions justice. The place was flooded, as were many of the approach roads.

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Mussel Bound

22 Wednesday Nov 2023

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Friday 27th October 2023 ko 19:45

Southern Combination Premier Division

SHOREHAM 0

Tims sent off 50 (2nd booking)

CROWBOROUGH ATHLETIC 4 (Murraine 59 Killick 62 Pearson 72 83p)

Att 223

Entry £8

Programme £2

I must admit an organised groundhop for the Southern Combination came as a surprise to me. My regular reader might remember that we’d wanted a southern-based hop for a while. That started in 2015 with my unsuccessful attempt to get the Wessex League on board but out of the ashes of that project two things happened. The first was that late Mark Edmonds contacted us at GroundhopUK to organise a hop for the Western League, and around that time I contacted the Southern Combination.

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Wheels

10 Friday Nov 2023

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Sunday 8th October 2023 ko 15:00

Southern Counties East Premier Division

DEAL TOWN 2 (T Chapman 46 B Chapman 76)

T Chapman sent off 62 (dangerous play)

Hark sent off 75 (DOGSO)

KENNINGTON 0

Att 535

Entry £8

Programme £2

We left the isolation of Lydd and traced the route of Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway back to Hythe and gradually the view from Shirley’s coach became more urbane. We even eventually reached Deal via Kingsdown which did produce a smile. I’d camped there with the Scouts in the mid-1980’s and as my mum waved off the minibus she looked at the bright sunshine and commented,

” Well you’ve certainly got the weather!”

That night we had the most unbelievable thunderstorm, the local supermarket was hit by lightening, and the bolts were bright and frequent enough for me to read a book in my tent. I’m not sure after all these years I’d have that sang-froid now. Mind you with what happened later, maybe we still do!

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Just Deserts

07 Tuesday Nov 2023

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Sunday 8th October 20243 ko 11:00

Southern Counties East Premier Division

LYDD TOWN 2 (Dickens 17 Webster 42)

SNODLAND TOWN 0

Att 295

Entry £7

Programme £2

If there was a silver lining to the hotel in Chatham making such a pigs ear of the GroundhopUK SCEFL Hop booking for we saw it on Sunday morning. Being in Folkestone instead meant we were closer to Lydd than we’d planned, and the upshot was more sleep. Even coach driver Shirley looked notably relaxed as she made a bacon sandwich in lieu of breakfast.

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What Matters

03 Friday Nov 2023

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Saturday 7th October 2023 ko 18:30

Southern Counties East League Premier Division

WHITSTABLE TOWN 2 (Oliver 3 Smith 55)

BEARSTED 1 (Palmer 70)

Att 682

Entry £10

Programme £2

If I’d felt that the hop’s visit to Faversham Town was an exercise in visiting a future Isthmian club then much the same could have been said above Whitstable Town and their home at the Belmont. But tragically in the days leading up to the hop everything changed. The news came through that club volunteer Matt Milne had died suddenly aged just 43 leaving his widow club secretary Francesca and their two young children bereft.

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Bly Spirit

30 Monday Oct 2023

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Saturday 7th October 2023 lko 11:00

Southern Counties East League- Division One

ROCHESTER UNITED 1 (Hume 90)

FAVERSHAM STRIKE FORCE 0

Att 279

Entry £7

Programme £2

It’s not often I’m relaxed on a hop event, there’s usually too much riding on that. But as Shirley navigated through narrow suburban streets, cussing at some folks’ selfish parking habits, it all felt normal. We had time, and the day’s clubs were well prepared.

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