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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Tag Archives: soccer

Dengie Fever

22 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by laurencereade in B

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Burnham Ramblers, Essex Senior League, Football, Gordon Brasted, Gordon Brasted Trophy, groundhop, groundhopping, Leslie Field, Non League, Sawbridgeworth Town, soccer

Tuesday 21st February 2018 ko 19.55

Essex Senior League

BURNHAM RAMBLERS 1 (Hughes 10)

SAWBRIDGEWORTH TOWN 2 (Mays 52 Thomas 90)

Att 16

Entry £6

Programme £1

“Huh, because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth”

Pharrell Williams “Happy” 2013

My car came to rest in the Leslie Field’s car park. It was a cold, dank evening; even the operatives in the “Hand Car Wash” operating here had gone home. But Pharrell Williams’ hit could be heard from within the football ground, and all felt well with the world, sadly the song served only to mask the club’s problems.  Continue reading →

51.635489 0.802911

Tithings

19 Sunday May 2013

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Berkeley, Castle, DRG Frenchay, Edward II, Edward Jenner, Fc, Gloucestershire County League, Rockleaze Rangers, soccer, Thornbury Town, Town

Saturday 18th May 2013 ko 15.00

Gloucestershire County League

BERKELEY TOWN 1 (Mackie 45)

THORNBURY TOWN 3 (D Thompson 23 Derosa 31 N Irwin 63)

Att 102

Entry by donation

Programme £1

Tea-in-a-mug 50p

On occasion I get asked how I pick my games. Normally its fairly random, with the major determinant being what time I want to get home. This one broke the mould somewhat as I actually bothered to see if anything was riding on the result first. More on that later.

For a county associated with Rugby Union, Gloucestershire really is a footballing hotbed, with two strong, well organised leagues, the Northern Senior League feeding into the County League.

The surprise for me was just how much there is to visit and enjoy about Berkeley, and I have fellow groundhopper and subscriber Bob Mewse to thank for pointing me in the right direction. For a start there’s the castle, sadly closed on my visit. Its a motte-and-bailey affair, built around 1067 by William FitzOsbern, and is most famous for being where Edward II was murdered on September 21, 1327.

He’d been desposed by his wife Isabella of France and her lover and ally Roger Mortimer, and imprisoned. The difficulty was that Edward had to die, so their easily manipulated son (Edward III) could be installed as king. Execution would require the King to be tried and convicted of treason. Most authorities agreed that Edward was a poor king, the loss of the Battle of Bannockburn against the Scots in 1314 was the country’s worst defeat since the Battle of Hastings, but several argued that, since appointed by God, the King could not be legally deposed or executed as God would punish the country in retribution.

The solution was grisly, if legend is to be believed. A clean body was necessary for public display, so Edward was reputedly murdered on September 21st 1327 with a red hot poker, and I’ll leave it to your imagination as to where it was applied. The cell where he is supposed to have been imprisoned and murdered can still be seen and apparently you can still hear the screams each September 21st…

There’s more treats than just the castle. Edward Jenner was born here, and his house is open to the public. He is the father of immunology after discovering that milk-maids seldom got smallpox. Jenner concluded that the pus in the blisters that milkmaids received from cowpox (a disease similar to smallpox, but much less virulent) protected them from smallpox. On 14th May 1796, Jenner tested his hypothesis by inoculating James Phipps, an eight-year-old boy who was the son of Jenner’s gardener. He scraped pus from cowpox blisters on the hands of Sarah Nelmes, a milkmaid who had caught cowpox from a cow called Blossom. The boy was then brought into contact with smallpox but didn’t catch the disease.

Next door to the Jenner House is the Church of St Mary, where Jenner is buried. Its an unusual place, the tower is separate from the main body of the church. It was used as a Royalist defence during the civil war, and the North Door still shows the scars, musket ball holes are evident. In the graveyard lies Dicky Pearce, famous as the last court jester. He was the Earl of Suffolk’s fool, born in 1665, but in 1728 during a performance he overbalanced from the minstrel gallery and fell to his death. The question has been raised; did he fall or was he pushed? He’d apparently made fun of one of Lord Berkeley’s guests who had taken offence, but the truth will never be known.

Berkeley’s football season has been one of struggle. It didn’t help when the roof blew off the stand during a storm, but the club’s principle problems have been on the pitch. With two to be relegated the club found themselves third from bottom, one point ahead of DRG Frenchay with Forest Green-based Taverners already relegated.

With this being the last fixture of the season, Berkeley needed to better Frenchay’s result, with the Bristolians at home to Rockleaze Rangers. I had the added bonus of Lee West being at Frenchay. I kept the home bench aware of the score, they opted not to tell the players, taking the view that if the game was won, results elsewhere were irrelevant.

Sadly for this notably friendly side that didn’t happen. Thornbury started the brighter and soon worked out there was a real weakness in their hosts- their defence had shipped 89 goals in 35 games, and there was a real gap between left back and left centre half. Thornbury took full advantage with Brad Andrews in midfield pulling the strings, and a scoreline of 0-2 after half an hour was a fair reflection on play.

But then the unexpected happened, Berkeley worked out that their only means of defence was to attack. Karl Nash missed a sitter, then hit the crossbar, a certain penalty was denied by referee Alan Overthrow, and on the stroke of halftime James Mackie fired home to give Berkeley hope.

With the half time whistle having already sounded at Frenchay, and the score 0-0 it meant that Berkeley needed just the one goal for survival. That didn’t look likely as Thornbury soon re-established their superiority. Nathan Irwin scored the third, as the Berkeley players’ heads dropped, but salvation was at hand to the south. Rockleaze scored twice to make the game I was at irrelevant, but it was obvious that the players has no idea.

As the final whistle went, the home players sank to their knees clearly thinking that they’d been relegated. The Berkeley chairman quietly found the league delegate present, confirmed the Frenchay result and told his players. Other than one pumped fist their was no obvious relief, or celebration the players gathered up the two dugouts and trudged back to the clubhouse, no doubt reflecting on their lucky escape.





Despair, but the officials know
Relief

But still the chores

The Game That Could Have Been

13 Monday May 2013

Posted by laurencereade in B

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Berinsfield, Brian Rawlings, Hop, North Berkshire League, Saxton Rovers, soccer

Monday 13th May 2013 ko 18.45

North Berkshire League Division One

BERINSFIELD 1 (D Murphy 53)

SAXTON ROVERS 2 (Belcher 31 Whitehead 67)

Att 51

Entry FREE

No Programme

Let’s get one little known fact out there; no club reads like Berinsfield. If you find this surprising consider this. In the 18 months or so I’ve been writing these reports the most read article was the one for Irvine Meadow with 368 hits. I turned up last week at the Oxon Intermediate Cup to watch Berinsfield and so far the resulting article has been read a quite unbelievable 541 times! Thanks Berinsfield, and as I said no-one reads like Berinsfield!

Few clubs locally at this level attract the same level of support either. The entire village seems to levitate towards Lay Avenue when there’s a game on, this wasn’t a massive attendance for the club, after all it was a cold and wet evening and there was nothing riding on the game, but if the circumstances had been just a little different just think what it could have been.

On Saturday if Berinsfield won, and Saxton lost, then this game would have become close to a shoot-out for the title. However Saxton crushed Kintbury 7-1 to take the title leaving Berinsfield to mop up 4 more games to finish off a highly successful first season in the NBFL’s top flight.

And for all of that the village turned out to watch their sons (It really is like that) play, and the tea bar did its normal roaring trade keeping them all fed and watered. If you’ve been here by the way, you will have no doubt noticed that the pitch has been rotated though 90 degrees for this season. They’re rather particular about a good pitch here, and the club will be using their best pitch, the one the other side of the clubhouse for their groundhop game in September. With the sort of attendances Berinsfield get, I’m hoping they’ll beat the NBFL hop record attendance of 190. I wouldn’t bet against them!

Sadly the game will be remembered only for the broken ankle suffered by Berinsfield’s Brian Rawlings after 26 minutes. As is so often the case it was an innocuous challenge too. He tackled Louis Bloomfield but landed awkwardly causing the injury, and the game looked like being abandoned in the hail and rain while he laid there on the far side of the pitch. Eventually the paramedic arrived followed by the ambulance, and as the stretcher was loaded on to the ambulance he managed a grin, as both sets of players and spectators gave him a sporting round of applause. I trust he makes a full and speedy recovery.

After that 40 minute delay the game seemed rather irrelevant. I and everyone there would have understood if the game had been abandoned, it must have be almost impossible for the Berinsfield players to concentrate on the game after watching their teammate leave the ground in an ambulance.

The fixture was reduced to a total of 30 minutes for the first half and 40 for the second. Gary Belcher opened the scoring for Saxton, and David Murphy equalised for Berinsfield. But once former Oxford City and now Saxton player manager Matty Whitehead thumped home the visitors’ second, the travails of a long season finally told on the hosts. The minds were willing, but the limbs weak.

Berinsfield don’t lose at home often but teams like Saxton don’t turn up at Lay Avenue very often, even if on this occasion they only had the basic eleven men. Still in a week’s time, the season for Berinsfield will be over and they’ll just be the small matter of the end of season party at the local pub to negotiate. Knowing them as I do, that will be quite a party. That’s the Berinsfield way.



What’s in a D anyway?

30 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by laurencereade in H

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Hanborough FC, Long Hanborough, Roosevelt Road, soccer, West Witney, Winston Churchill, Witney and District League

Monday 29th April 2013 ko 18.15

Witney & District League Premier Division

HANBOROUGH FC 3 (Haggle 56p 90 Lewis 59)

WEST WITNEY 2 (Sparkes 22 Lewis 73)

Att 41

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

If you drive along the A4095 from Witney to Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, you do pass though some beautiful countryside. From North Leigh (pronounced locally as “Nor Lye”) and the spectacular Eynsham Hall, through Freeland, then its on through Long Hanborough, and Bladon to Woodstock.

Long Hanborough is aptly named, being an example of ribbon development along the main road. The only exceptions are along the roads out to the Blenheim sawmills at Combe, and the road out to Church Hanborough. You can see the spire at that village in a couple of the pictures.

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway was built past Long Hanborough in 1852, with Hanborough station between Long Hanborough and Bladon being opened to serve the village. The station is best known for being where on 30th January 1965 the body of Sir Winston Churchill arrived at on a train hauled by Battle of Britain Class locomotive Winston Churchill. From there the funeral cortege proceeded by road to Bladon Parish Church, where he was buried.

The problem with the station was devilishly simple though, it was misspelt! From opening to 1993 the station was known as Handborough even though the spelling had long since been standardised!

In more recent times the village has been a byword for quiet affluence, its close proximity to Oxford and the major commuter routes pushing up house prices. Former Neighbours and Spooks actor Craig McLachlan used to live here.

The mathematics of my game at the end of Roosevelt Road was straightforward, West Witney needed draw to take the championship. I don’t know why I don’t watch more of this league, its well run and its website is painstaking maintained. It nominally is a feeder to the Oxon Senior League, which again nominally leads to the Hellenic League, but the practicalities mean little or no transfers take place.

West Witney are well used to winning this league, and warming up they looked confident so it was no surprise when Ian Sparkes fired them into the lead. I thought that would open up the floodgates instead as time wore on they got more and more nervous. Hanborough began to exploit a weakness on the right channel, but Dan Haggle’s penalty following Shaun Rayfield’s poor challenge still saw the visitors with one hand on the trophy.

That changed when Tom Lewis put Hanborough into the lead soon afterwards, but the shock galvanised West Witney, and another Lewis, this one named Kevin equalised with the goal of the game, a fine 20 yard drive. Time to breath more easily? Not a bit of it as the nerves once again frayed as the clock wound down. Jokes were nervously told, substitutes paced and a dog looked nervous.

There was just enough stoppage time for Hanborough to float one more free kick into the 6 yard box. Keeper Kev Trethowan came for it but his weak punch went straight to Haggle whose header went back over Trethowan’s head, and with time almost standing still, gently dropped into the net.

There was no time for a second equaliser, but West Witney will have a chance of salvation next Tuesday evening at home to Charlbury. I wouldn’t bet against them!






 

Under Notts Wood

21 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by laurencereade in U

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groundhop, Notts Senior League, Rob Hornby, soccer, Underwood Villa, West Bridgford

Saturday 20th April 2013 ko 12.45

Notts Senior League Division One

UNDERWOOD VILLA 2 (Townsend 45 Tring 45)

WEST BRIDGFORD 2 (S Prince 5 Charlesworth 10)

Att 341

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge (last one!) £3

Thanks for the excellence of Selston’s traffic operation we were in the village of Underwood in plenty of time. Like our previous location this is a hilltop village with views over the Erewash valley, towards the southern outcrops of the Pennines. It’s a former colliery village, but seemingly has escaped from the deprivation often seen in former mining towns.

The mining heritage is reflected in the club badge with a mine headstock together with a football, bracken, St Michaels church & the crest of the Chaworth-Musters family. Bracken Park is on land owned by the Chaworth-Musters, and they have allowed the club to expand their operations to an area of 5 acres! The current project is a new pavilion which sadly wasn’t quite completed for our visit, but the kitchen part was, so the club made a good profit selling that Midlands footballing staple- Pie and Peas, except that on this occasion there was a choice of 3 types of pie!

Once again the team sheets were inaccurate, and I’m indebted to ace-blogger Peter Miles for giving me the correct line-ups. There wasn’t a moment to be wasted either as the visitors made a flying start. A poor clearance from a corner fell to Sam Prince who volleyed home in spectacular fashion.

Now there is one sure fire way of guaranteeing a goal in a groundhop game is to get Chris Berezai to either visit the toilet or go and buy some food. I’d wondered whether it only worked at events we’re organising, but many thanks Underwood, you proved that his talent is without restriction. Off he went to buy Pie and Peas, and that’s when Jurgen Charlesworth’s stunning, curling volley rocketed into the top right corner!

It set a pattern for the half, with the visitors dominating but all that changed in the final, mad minute of first half stoppage time. Firstly captain Ian Townsend blasted home from more or less the half-way line, then a few seconds later some appalling defending allowed him to round the on-rushing keeper Liam Johnson and slide the ball towards the goal. Did the ball cross the line before Sam Tring applied the final touch? Hard to tell, but if I was Townsend I wouldn’t be very impressed with his team-mate!

The second half couldn’t possibly have lived up to the standards of the first. The sides huffed and puffed but little of note happened. But then Chris didn’t need feeding or anything else. For that I take full responsibility.






 

Mobility

17 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by laurencereade in F

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Brockenhurst, Combined Counties League, Fleet Spurs, Jeff Kenna, resigned, soccer, Warren Kenna, wessex league

Tuesday 16th April 2013 ko 19.45

Wessex League Division One

FLEET SPURS 0

BROCKENHURST 3 (Ritchie 46 Spinney 53 Kenna 72p)

Att 23

Entry £4

Programme £1

I hate the fact the only reason I did this game is because Fleet Spurs have resigned from the Wessex League. It is the lot of the groundhopper that the end of the season is spent at least in part doing clubs and grounds that may not be there the next time round.

The Southwood Pavilion, in Kennels Lane, lies more or less equidistant between Fleet and Farnborough on former MOD land. At one end is the soon-to-be vacated Nokia building, the other woodlands leading to the Cody Sports and Social Club the former home of Farnborough North End. Therein lies the problem, the facility is nowhere near any population, so the most relevant statistic above is the attendance. They didn’t even cover the cost of the referee and linesmen this evening.

With financial facts of life stacked against you, a change is clearly necessary, but what that actually is isn’t known as yet. The club like would a sideways move to the Combined Counties, thereby reducing travelling costs, but a drop in status to the Hampshire League is possible, as is no move at all. It’s all down to the committees and darkened rooms of the FA to decide next month, or maybe the month after, the club simply doesn’t know. That can’t be easy for the players, not knowing even the level you’ll be playing next season.

And to be honest it showed, as promotion-chasing Brockenhurst dominated. They contrived to miss a string of chances during the first half. Over an excellent burger and cup of tea, the Fleet faithful feared the worst if the visitors found their shooting boots. Which they did with much of the crowd (such as it was) still in the pavilion, Dan Ritchie blasting home from 25 yards. Fleet worked hard, but offered little up front but it took something fortuitous for Brockenhurst to double their lead. The ball was worked well from the left but Mike Spinney’s shot was scuffed. A clean shot would have been easily blocked by keeper Ryan Bone, but instead it spun up and over the wrong-footed glovesman and looped in.

A silly penalty will no doubt help Brockenhurst’s goal-difference, it is extremely tight at the top after all, that was easily dispatched by Warren Kenna, the brother of former Southampton professional Jeff, for a rather harsh scoreline for Fleet.

Maybe I was the mood I was in, but I found myself warming to the small band of volunteers trying to keep Fleet Spurs going despite almost insurmountable odds. I wish them well whatever the FA decides.




The Hair of the Widow

05 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Chris Berezai, Josh Greening, Nathan Cook, Northern Counties East Groundhop, northern counties east league, Paddy Miller, Peter Beadle, Queensgate, Ryan Blott, Scarborough Athletic, Scott Phillips, soccer, Tom Fleming, Tony Hackworth

Saturday 30th March 2013 ko 11.30

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

BRIDLINGTON TOWN 3 (Phillips 20 Cook 35 Greening 56) Fleming sent off 82 (2nd booking)

SCARBOROUGH ATHLETIC 3 (Miller 19 Beadle 45 Blott 48)

Attendance 1,569

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

What better way to spend a Saturday morning than a trip to the seaside? Winding our way from Wakefield, near Driffield, and Wetwang, the weather was bright and sunny, completely removed from the freezing conditions of the previous day. Bridlington is a seaside resort and minor fishing port on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea. It is an area which is said to have the highest coastal erosion rate in Europe, and the fine sand is kept in place by thick groynes, which I remember clambering over as a small child during a summer holiday here.

I had a little trepidation over this fixture. Queensgate is a wonderful place to watch a game, full of the quirks I love in a ground, but the opposition would give the tie a completely different Continue reading →

Football on High

04 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by laurencereade in A

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Askern Villa, Athersley, Chris Berezai, groundhoppers, Northern Counties East Groundhop, northern counties east league, Rec, Recreation, Sheerian Park, soccer

Friday 25th March 2013 ko 19.45

Northern Counties League Division One

ATHERSLEY RECREATION 8 (Bennett 15 45 80 85 Harban 40p Thornton 70 Bentley 72 86)

ASKERN VILLA 1 (Brown 45)

Att 507

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

On the face of it, Athersley is a fairly unremarkable estate in the northern suburbs of Barnsley. Sheerian Park is easy to miss too, tucked away as it is between the houses. Even the welcome sign is attached to a house, and I suspect that if I’d have turned up on a typical Saturday afternoon I’d have written the place off as a Continue reading →

To the Moon and back

03 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by laurencereade in H

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Hemsworth Miners Welfare, Knaresborough Town, Mike Amos, Northern Counties East Groundhop, northern counties east league, soccer

Friday 29th March 2013 ko 16.30

Northern Counties East League Division One

HEMSWORTH MINERS WELFARE 0

KNARESBOROUGH TOWN 4 (Bromley 11p 17p Freeston 21 34)

Att 415

Entry £5

Programme £1

If ever a town suffered from the demise of the coal mines it was Hemsworth. Together with other one industry towns such as South Elmsall the levels of unemployment seen here topped 50% in the late 1980’s and despite repeated government interventions the town has never quite recovered. The Hemsworth constituency is famous for being the place where Labour votes were said to be “weighed rather than counted” during the 1960s and 1970s, but even the local Labour vote isn’t quite as strong is it was in the past. In fact the one place that seemed entirely immune from the malaise was Continue reading →

Viva Cas-Vegas

01 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by laurencereade in G

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Tags

Chris Berezai, Daz Young, Glasshoughton Welfare, Harvey Harris, Mike Amos, Northern Counties East Groundhop, Northern League, Nostell Miners Welfare, soccer, Tom Woollard, Wayne Ball

Friday 29th March 2013 ko 11.00

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

GLASSHOUGHTON WELFARE 2 (Ball 66og Woollard 90) Young missed penalty 79

NOSTELL MINERS WELFARE 0

Att 307

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

Tucked up snuggly as I was at the hotel, when the alarm went off I dashed to the window to judge the scene outside. It looked cold, but was it cold enough to freeze a pitch? At breakfast one of the coach party tried the classic acid-test all hoppers use. He went outside and found Continue reading →

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