Tag Archives: League

Pre-dating Hardy

17 Sunday Feb 2013

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Friday 15th February 2013

Stonehenge, near Amesbury, Wilts

Entry £7.80

Maiden Castle, near Dorchester, Dorset

Free Entry

Maumbury Rings, Dorchester, Dorset

Free Entry

then, at 19.45

Wessex League Premier Division

HAMWORTHY UNITED 2 (Shovelton 26 43)

CHRISTCHURCH 3 (Cook 60 Osborne 65p Cornick 82)

Att 94

Entry & Programme £6

The roots of this lie in Hamworthy’s tenancy of the Dorset County Ground, just outside of Poole. An under-18 County Cup tie was scheduled for the Saturday, so with their fixture being a local derby, it was shunted backwards, affording me a finale to a day’s sightseeing! My friend Mike offered me a bed for the night nearby, so with a full tank of diesel, £50 in my pocket, and a headful of ideas, I had all the ingredients for a road trip!

With the counties of Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset being covered, there was no doubt I was going to be exploring Thomas Hardy country, but having visiting many of his haunts previously, I fancied something different, and dare I say, unworldly?

I don’t want to think too much how many times I’ve passed the monoliths of Stonehenge on the A303. I do wonder how many times cars have crashed, their drivers distracted by the prehistoric feat of engineering to the side of the road. Once you adhere yourself to the audio guide, you’re given still more reasons to stand and stare. The henge we see today was built 2500-1600 BC, but wooden henges existed prior to that, and the site started as an earth and ditch structure as early as 5000 BC.

The stones aren’t local, they’re bluestones up to 45 tonnes in weight transported from the Preseli Hills in South-West Wales. Let’s consider that for a moment, that’s 180 miles, with nothing more than wooden rollers, and brute human strength to transport the stones, then place them in exactly the right place to catch the sun at the solstice.

But why? The archeologists don’t think it was Druids, surprisingly. I’ve long since worked out that the best buildings tend to be religious, the glorification of a god seems to bring both the best and worst of people, but Stonehenge seems to have fulfilled a military need too. Again that’s not unusual, churches have towers so as to provide a place for a look-out and to defend the area if under attack, but the more you study, the more of a mystery the place seems to be! I do recommend the guide-book here, an absolute bargain at £5. The only quibble I can muster about the place is I could find absolutely nothing unworldly about Stonehenge. Maybe if I arrived at the solstice when the druids are chanting I would, but spirituality aside, it’s a fascinating place. Hardy clearly felt something spiritual here, as he used Stonehenge in Tess of the d’Urbervilles for the Tess’ final day of freedom, lying on the Alter Stone, with all the controversial (of the day) connotations that would produce.

From there it was an hour’s drive to Dorchester, or Casterbridge if you’re a Hardy aficionado (The Mayor of Casterbridge). I eschewed the delights of Hardy’s House, Max Gate, mainly because only a room or two is ever open, and opted for Maiden Castle, to the south of the town. It’s an Iron Age hill fort, dated around 600BC, and be warned it’s quite a hike to climb to the top, but worth the effort! It was expanded, tripling in size around 450BC making it by some definitions the largest in Europe. The views over Dorchester and the suburb of Poundbury, designed by Prince Charles are spectacular.

My last site was the smallest, but had the most varied history. The Maumbury Rings, started life as a henge, a smaller version of what I’d seen earlier. Their location, near the centre of Dorchester has meant they’ve changed use frequently over the centuries. In Roman times they were converted to an amphitheatre for the people of Durnovaria (Dorchester), before being converted once again to a fort during the English Civil War (1642-1649).

In 1685 after the Monmouth Rebellion the Rings were converted back to an amphitheatre. This time the “Entertainment” was public executions, as The Bloody Assizes saw Judge Jeffreys sentence 80 of the rebels to be executed here. Soon afterwards, in 1705 saw the odd case of Mary Channing, which Hardy based his poem The Mock Wife on.

Mary came from a well-to-do family in Dorchester, and received an education commensurate with her status. The problem was she took a liking to the male population of the town, several of them! Her despairing parents decided the best solution was to marry her off quickly so as to avoid a scandal, so Thomas Channing from nearby Maiden Newton was found, and despite neither party being at all keen they were married.

It’s fair to say the marriage wasn’t a success. With in 4 months of the nuptials, Mary bought a vial of Mercury and poisoned Thomas, him living just long enough to disinherit her. She was quickly caught, tried, and sentenced to death, the execution delayed due to her successfully pleading her belly, and the wait for her child to be born. Eventually her son arrived and soon after she was strangled then burned at the Rings.

Writing this I’m struck at the similarities between the Channing case, and that of Mary Blandy in Henley-on-Thames.

https://laurencereade.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/memories-of-henley/

Perhaps every town has a Mary Channing or a Mary Blandy whose ghost haunts its past?

I drove east to the outskirts of Poole for the evening’s game, and the whole ambiance changed, from the historical to the modern. From the harbour, with the Sunseeker powerboats propped up for sale in dry dock, to the modern harbour bridge with its blue Krypton lights showing you the way.

The County Ground is a fine home for Hamworthy, and could easily stage games at a higher level. There’s generous cover behind one goal, but the undoubted star of the stadium is the main stand. It’s beautifully maintained, and painted in club colours. It was a pleasure to watch a game with that as a backdrop.

And what a game it was! Christchurch came into the game with a defensive injury crisis and it showed as Hamworthy raced into a 2 goal lead at the break with Joseph Shovelton applying the coup de grace on both occasions. But if you can’t defend then you may as well attack, and Christchurch did exactly that in the second half.

AFC Bournemouth have just signed teenage winger Harry Cornick, but loaned him back to Christchurch for the rest of the season, and he tormented the defence. His cross found Russell Cook for the first and he was fouled for Ben Osborne’s penalty. His reward was a goal, showing composure to slide the ball home from an angle.

It was an entertaining coda to a busy day, even if I’d found nothing that was remotely unworldly today. With a busy itinery for Saturday though, there was still opportunity.

The Coal Post

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

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Tuesday 30th October 2012 ko 19.45

Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division

COLNEY HEATH 3 (Thompson 10 Clarke 69 Armstrong 82)

HADLEY 0

Att 61

Entry & Programme £6

Tea 70

Cheese & Onion Roll £1.40

Anyone who’s travelled around the northern curve of the M25 will have been within a mile of the Recreation Ground, and this pretty village would be fairly unremarkable but for one historical detail.

The first essay I was asked to write at university in London, was seemingly simple – define London’s boundaries. You could use famous square mile of the city, or perhaps the man-made moat of the M25. I think I plumped for the M25, an imperfect solution, but I couldn’t think of a better boundary, but the discussion made for an interesting lecture slot when our marked papers were returned!

There was in fact another boundary, still further out and these are the coal posts, used to mark where a tax on coal entering London would be levied. The series of around 280, all from 12 to 18 miles out, were of various types, but formed an irregular loop around the capital from medieval times to the tax’s abolition in 1890. The remarkable thing about Colney Heath is that there were 4 posts for the village alone, and all are still standing, the one I’ve photographed is on the small green opposite the “Cock” Pub. It must have been an important point on the route into the capital, from the north.

The Recreation Ground is a classic example of a ground being adapted to suite grading requirements. I would imagine that in the past cricket was played, but now the extra space is used as a training pitch. Floodlights have been added, and the clubhouse roof extended forward to keep the requisite 50 or so seats from getting wet. The clubhouse, large and warm was the best facility, and plenty there desisted from watching this game, but who can blame them when Reading 5 Arsenal 7 is being televised in the warm?

Out in the cold, this was a game that entertained without ever catching fire. The script suggested that Hadley would steal a point, despite Colney Heath having by far the greater possession and taking the lead early on through Matt Thompson. As ever the script wasn’t followed, but it took Aaron Clarke’s goal was late as the 69th minute to put the tie beyond doubt. Paul Armstrong’s tap in afterwards was mere icing on the cake.

As I left, my friend James commented that I couldn’t have many clubs in this league left to do. I really hadn’t thought about it, but when I checked this morning he was correct. Just 4 grounds without lights in the bottom division. Knowing me, I’ll end up completing those without realising, such is life!!

 

Gimme Shelter

19 Thursday Apr 2012

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Thursday 19th April 2012 ko 6.15pm

North Bucks & District League Division Two

UNIVERSITY OF BUCKINGHAM 0

CITY COLTS RESERVES 3 (Horwood 41 Chapman 45 Hinkley 51)

Att 16 (h/c)

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

I suppose the first point to note is that the University’s playing fields aren’t in fact in Buckingham. They’re about 1.5 miles southwest, just outside of Gawcott, a village whose claim to fame is that it’s the birthplace of architect Sir George Gilbert Scott. He designed many iconic buildings in the UK. Amongst these are the Midland Grand Hotel by St Pancras Station in London, and Martyrs’ Memorial in Oxford. His grandson Giles Gilbert Scott designed Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral and famously the red “K6” British phone box!

The North Bucks & District League in theory feeds into the Spartan South Midlands League, and is split into 4 divisions. There’s Senior, then Intermediate Divisions, followed by divisions 1, and 2. I expected therefore, to be watching a game on little more than a park pitch, what I got was much more interesting. Continue reading →

The Playoff for the Playoff

15 Sunday Apr 2012

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Saturday 14th April 2012 ko 3.00pm

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 0

GILLINGHAM 0

Att 7,322 (641 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc Ox Mail)

At the end of my last Oxford United match report, I pondered whether U’s keeper Ryan Clarke would have got to the lob that gave Torquay a point on Monday, if he hadn’t been injured. Wayne Brown’s first league appearance of the season tells me that he probably would. Such is football.

This game meant a lot to both sides, United to stay in the play-off zone as they were equal on points with Crewe who were away at relegation haunted Macclesfield. For Gillingham a win was necessary to maintain a realistic hope of sneaking into the 7th spot held by United.

Unsurprisingly for United, Harry Worley made way for Michael Duberry returning from suspension, and equally logically Scott Rendell replaced James Constable in the starting line-up. The enigma that is Dean Morgan kept his place, on the left side of attack in a 4-4-3 formation.

And virtually every OUFC attack in that first half came from through balls behind Gills left back Andy Frampton, clearly deemed slow enough for Cristano Montano to beat for pace. The trouble was OUFC’s Achilles heel was also very much on show, inability to put the ball away.  There were no lack of chances at either end as Liam Davis’ fine flying block prevented Danny Kedwell taking the lead for the visitors, while Gills keeper Paulo Gazzaniga’s spectacular save kept out Asa Hall’s volley. The rebound fell kindly to Morgan, but Connor Essam’s block was the equal of Davis’ before.

There was a exchange of bookings for Oxford’s Jake Wright and Kedwell as things got a little feisty, but at half time the score reflected the fact that neither side could get the upper hand.

Nothing tactical changed form the start of the second half. Again Hall was unlucky not to be on the score sheet, as his goal bound volley was somehow headed off the line by Matt Fish. Pace was replaced by pace as Montano was switched for Oli Johnson, and one target man for another with Rendell being replaced by James Constable. It was Constable’s cross for Johnson that saw the latter’s shot again headed off the line by Essam.

The final chance saw Johnson go down in the box under a stiff challenge. Was it a penalty? I’ve seen plenty like that given, but for me he went down a little too theatrically, which may be why linesman Robert Ellis did not flag, and Johnson was booked for diving.

A game that United on another day would have one with Asa Hall getting a brace, but with Crewe only getting a point too, is as you were Cedric. Next Saturday its Oxford’s turn to visit a relegation threatened side, Plymouth Argyle.

Jurassic Park

02 Monday Apr 2012

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Saturday 31st March 2012 ko 2.30pm

Perry Street & District League Premier Division

LYME REGIS AFC 2 (Simier 52 Gosling 90)

ILMINSTER TOWN RESERVES 1 (Gilman 41)

Att 44 (h/c)

Entry by donation

No programme

125 years of LRFC brochure £2

Tea-in-a-mug 50p

It was a full 18 months since I’d last visited the Dorset town of Lyme Regis, and with me finally getting round to visiting friends Mike and Christine, in footballing terms the number one priority was a visit to the Davey Fort.

Lyme Regis is known primarily for one thing, palaeontology as the coast, a World Heritage site, stretches over a distance of 153 kilometres from Exmouth, in the west, to Old Harry Rocks in the east.The coastal exposures along the coastline provide a continuous sequence of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous rock formations spanning approximately 185 million years of the Earth’s history. The localities along the Jurassic Coast include a large range of important fossil zones. The Blue Lias rock is host to a multitude of remains from the early Jurassic period.  Many of the remains are well preserved, with complete specimens of several important species. Many of the earliest discoveries of dinosaur and other prehistoric reptile remains were made in this area  notably those discovered by Mary Anning (1799–1847).

The Davey Fort sits on the hill as you enter the town from the north. There’s a clubhouse with an overhang behind the near goal, and a rail on one side. There simply isn’t room for much else as the ground is on a ledge cut out of the hill, and despite the obvious attempts to widen it, the pitch is too narrow to allow the club to progress upwards into the Dorset Premier League.

And that’s the tragedy of the piece. Here is a wonderful, charming club, who’ve won the league at a canter, and are clearly a big fish in a small pond, but the biggest problem lies in finding a large enough piece of flat land, in a hilly town that’s fashionably expensive! I chatted to club stalwart Graham “Percy” Vere (529 goals in 20 years), who told me that the club had found a suitable site further north, only to be turned down by the local authorities, as ONE PERSON had complained that he might have been able to have seen a floodlight! And people wonder why this country has an obesity problem!

With Lyme having the title all wrapped up, this game had the incentive of the club maintaining its 100% home record for the season. They made a confident start but the visitors, one of whose subsitutes had no idea in which league his first eleven play(Somerset County League), soon found their feet. Ilminster surprised everyone, including themselves, by scoring just before half time, when a beautifully flighted free kick from the left was turned in by Louis Gilman.

Regis didn’t seem unduly worried and soon after the restart a perfectly flighted cross from the right was expertly headed home by subsitute Julian Simien. Its was one way traffic by now and only a series of baffling off-sides given by the Ilminster club linesman kept the champions out. It was, of course only a matter of time, and in the final minute a perfect cross-cum-shot from the right by Joel Gosling nestled in the corner of the net. When you’re this good, you need no other opportunity.

A great achievement, but tinged with the regret that through no fault of their own, they’ll be having no other challenge next season but to try to repeat the feat.

When the sun declared war on the butter, and the butter ran

12 Monday Mar 2012

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Saturday 10th March 2012 ko 4.15 pm

Ceredigion League Division One

NEW QUAY 1 (Harvey 41) Thompson sent off 88 (dangerous play)

MAESGLAS 2 (Howell 38 R Evans 88) Morgan sent off 90 (violent conduct)

Att 276

Entry & Programme-Hop Ticket

Badge £3

3 bottles of Pen-Lon beer at £3 each

Curry and Chips £3

Not having to worry PRICELESS!!!!

The last game saw us head south once again to the pretty fishing village of New Quay (not to be confused with the Cornish town of Newquay!) Once again, in footballing terms this was another step down in status, and once again it felt like a step up! Continue reading →

Rest in Peace

05 Monday Mar 2012

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I’ve just heard the news at that Broadway United of the Cheltenham League have folded. Now while this isn’t exactly massive news in the world of football, it’s a real shame as the ground is a cracker, and I really enjoyed my visit there last season. So, here’s my report from that time, which I have updated slightly to the format I use now here. The original title was “Loz! Your thong is showing!”

Sunday May 22nd 2011 ko 4.00pm

Evesham Hospital & Charity Sunday Minor Cup Final

BREDON FC 3 (Drew 11 Carroll 45 Oughtred 90)

AC OLYMPIA 0

Att 97 (h/c)

Entry & Programme £2

Played at The Milestone Ground, Broadway (Broadway FC)

The Worcestershire town of Broadway is right in the centre of the Cotswolds and it would be hard to find a prettier location, nestled as you are in the hills. The most famous feature is the Broadway Tower. It was built on an ancient beacon site and has a colourful history. It was home to the renowned printing press of Sir Thomas Phillips, a country retreat for Pre-Raphaelite artists, notably the artist, designer, writer, craftsman and socialist William Morris, a location for the studies of the distinguished archeologist Sir Arthur Evans, and less interestingly as a farmhouse!  Today the Tower houses exhibitions connected with its past and the surrounding area. On a clear day you can see 13 counties from the top!

So, picture the scene. A warm Sunday evening, and I’m sat on a grass bank watching two Evesham and District Sunday League teams slug it out for a minor piece of silverwhere, when a WAG yells out “Loz! Your thong is showing!”

Not many people answer to “Loz,” so I checked the back of my trousers, no they were in place, and come to think of it that would not be my choice of underwear! but then I glanced away from the action, to my left. Loz, it transpired was Laura, the girlfriend of one of the Bishops Cleeve based Olympia players, and she’d stood up to throw the ball back in. And yes her red thong was showing, and yes she wore it well, to quote Rod Stewart. Well worth the £2 entry!

Other than Laura’s underwear there was plenty on display. Broadway is a pretty village just over the border into Worcesterhire from Gloucestershire and the ground reflects that. There’s a fair sized clubhouse but for the hopper, there’s a wooden stand made out of larchlap. Its raised too, on a grass bank, no seats just covered standing. I’ve not seen anything like it. Which rather belies the ground’s original use as a rubbish dump. Once upon a time the pitch was flat, like a bowling green, but then the rubbish rotted, and it has to be noted that there were obvious undulations. It didn’t help the players, who were of a low standard, and with a long season behind them.

The game pitted Bredon in Division 1 against Division 3 Olympia, and with all due respect to Laura and her mates, whose support was excellent, they didn’t look like winning from the moment goalkeeper Alcock dropped the ball right in front of forward Mark Drew.

Just one of those warm evenings when you can relax and watch a Broadway show when you don’t know the ending. Lovely.

Long Time Love Affair

15 Wednesday Feb 2012

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Tuesday 14th February 2012 ko 7.45pm

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Johnson 51 Constable 80)

DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE 1 (Arber 72)

Att 5,653 (119 away)

Entry S/T

Programme (inc Oxford Mail) £3

It seemed like a long time since I watched an Oxford United game, and for a change it was not due to me gallivanting around! With the Barnet game postponed a week last Saturday with me conveniently in the Netherlands, and last Saturday’s game at Accrington frozen off, OUFC’s last home game was on 21st January, and the last game of any description just 8 days later.

Regular fans know OUFC find it difficult to break down the teams at the bottom of the League, and with Dagenham 3rd from bottom and with wily old fox John Still in charge it was always going to be a game that would be one for the result, rather than one to enjoy as a spectacle. The visitors simply placed 2 banks of 4 in front of the goal and aimed to soak up the pressure.

The first half demonstrated the point. For the U’s Asa Hall had one shot, Billy Bingham had another for D&G, and one corner was won, for the visitors. Yes, United were forced, due to a mixture of injury and suspension to field a side with 2 debutants, Scott Rendell, and Mark Wilson, but the team was carrying too many  passengers.

The second half saw a switch from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2, with another debutant, Lee Holmes replacing Hall. The performance improved, but not by much, but at least the U’s were exploiting the flanks through Holmes on the right, and Liam Davis on the left. It was through the latter that Oxford took the lead. Davis took the ball on the left flank, and his curling cross was met by Oli Johnson’s late run. His header beat D&G keeper Chris Lewington at his right post.

That meant the visitors had to come out and attack, but even then they lacked any real cutting edge, although both Andy Whing and Jake Wright provided important blocks. The equaliser, when it came was a defensive error as a cross from the right was allowed to travel to the back of the box and there was captain Mark Arber to head home, across U’s keeper Ryan Clarke.

For D&G substitute Adam Cunnington’s shot grazed the post, but United won the game with a move started by yet another debutant, Mehdi Kerrouche. His erudite pass found Johnson. His turn and pass found James Constable, who slammed the ball into the bottom right corner with positive glee.

Romantic? No chance. Entertaining? Barely. Important? Definately.

That’ll do!

01 Wednesday Feb 2012

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Tuesday 31st January 2011 ko 7.45pm

Combined Counties League Premier Division

COVE 1 (Harewood 63)

SOUTH PARK 7 (Lavery 2 9 13 64 G Smith 41 C Smith 74 84)

Att 25 (h/c)

Entry £6

Programme 50p

Oak Farm, at the end of Squirrel Lane, in Farnborough owed me a game. Or rather I owed the Farnborough district of Cove a game! Let me explain. Around 14 years, and 1000 grounds ago, I was learning my hopping trade. I spotted in the “Non League Paper” that Cove were at home on Spring Bank Holiday. I arrived at 2pm, about an hour before what I thought was kick off. What I didn’t know then was that on Bank Holidays CCL fixtures are usually at 11am, so all I saw was the start of the post-match drinks! Entirely my fault, and I’ve made use of this quirk of the fixtures a few times since.

It was a chilly night, but I tucked into a mug of tea and a delicious burger (a shame no onions) , and with 3 other hoppers enjoyed a game that summed up much of this friendly little club’s recent history.

From being relegated by choice from the Isthmian League in 1996, to finishing rock bottom of the Combined Counties League in 1997/8 and 98/99, and the Premier Division in 03/04, to having arsonists torch the main stand in 2002, life has not been kind to them. The stand was replaced by a modular affair which does little else but maintain necessary gradings, but on this occasion the defence looked in most need of rebuilding.

Put simply, defending a high line and being incapable of spring the offside trap properly will inevitably lead to the concession of goals, and plenty of them. Time after time the Cove defence stepped up and each time a South Park forward found himself clean through. Keiran Lavery collected a quite superb 13 minute hat trick, and goals continued to arrive at regular invervals. It wasn’t that Cove were wretched, but every mistake was being punished. A shred of salvation arrived with Andrew Harewood’s fine shot, but a minute later there was Lavery at the other end to resume normal service. Substitute Chris Smith scored and missed two, as Cove’s defence seemed to lose what little of the plot they’d had had in the first place.

On this occasion the final whistle served two purposes, one to put Cove out of their misery and for those hardly souls spectating to trudge off in search of some warmth, observing that the puddles in the car park, were now ice.

If Cornered Will Fight

21 Saturday Jan 2012

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Saturday 21st January 2011 ko 10.30am

Oxfordshire FA U14 Girls County Cup Quarter Final

TOWER HILL VIXENS 0

CARTERTON FC 2 (42 54)

Att 21 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No Programme

Refreshments Available

Since I let it be known that I would be attending this game, I’d had a few calls commenting that it shouldn’t count towards my records. I pondered that one, and came to the conclusion that its a game of football, so it counts. But why was I there at all?  That was down to Ali Haining, my boss many years ago, and manager of the Tower Hill side. We hadn’t had a chat since seeing each other at a funeral in 2004.  So there you go, these days I’m available for weddings, bar mitzvahs and U14 football matches!

The West Witney Sports Ground is to be found by the B4027 Burford Road, if you’ve ever visited Witney Town’s Downs Road Ground, chances are that you’ve passed here.

On a horrible wet cold, and windy morning the place was packed. I had to park on the grass verge outside, as a multipicity of games were taking place on the ground, on various sizes of pitches. I recognised the referee from my 10-10 at Islip a few months ago. https://laurencereade.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/the-i-was-there-game/

Tower Hill have no Saturday male team, that’s the job of West Witney of the Witney and District League. They have a reserve team, but every other team falls under the Tower Hill banner. I was reminded of my visit to SanFrecce Hiroshima back in the summer. Not for the stadium, or the conditions, but for the field outside where hundreds of children were learning about the game by playing and having fun.  Any snobbery I could have felt disappeared with that thought. https://laurencereade.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/the-big-day-at-the-big-arch/

The game saw the Vixens pitted against their counterparts from Hellenic League Carterton FC. I’d looked up “Vixen” for some inspiration before setting out. Obviously its a female fox, but I was rather taken with the comment, “Will fight if cornered.” It turned out to be  positive metaphor for the game, as the two sides worked extremely hard to both master the conditions and the opposition.

When watching the womens’ game you have to accept that the pace is slower, but once I got used to that, the game ebbed and flowed nicely. I thought an error would settle the contest, and as usual I was wrong. A corner was floated in and a forward was able to bundle the ball in. Soon after, a through ball found a Carterton forward; her shot cannoned off the defender’s foot to wrong foot the keeper for 2-0.

A little harsh on the hosts I thought, although Carterton had enjoyed marginally more possession. For all of that this was football in its purest form in some respects, played for the enjoyment only.