Redhill 0 v 1 Lingfield

Tuesday 27th December 2011
Sussex County League Division 1
Kiln Brow, Redhill
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 100 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

At the conclusion of my early afternoon game at Windsor, a double was made possible with several Sussex County League fixtures taking place in the evening. With logisitcs narrowing the choice down to matches at Redhill or Three Bridges, I settled for the Surrey derby between Redhill and Lingfield.

Kiln Brow is located about two miles south of Redhill town centre, alongside the A23 and within a stone's throw of East Surrey Hospital, and is about a half hour walk from Redhill rail station. Earlswood rail station is about half the distance, but is served much less frequently. The ground is not particularly pleasing on the eye, although improvements have been made in recent years since my last visits. After one enters the turnstiles, there used to be a real hotchpotch of red portakabins stretching along the length of the pitch, but these have now been replaced by a more permanent clubhouse, a building resembling a house for the changing rooms, and most recently an all-seater stand has been installed straddling the half way line. Obviously unable to resist temporary buildings, there are a couple of green prefab buildings housing the clubhouse and tea bar. There is a small stand for standing in the corner behind one of the goals, with just hard standing around the rest of the pitch. It is fair to say Kiln Brow would not gain many plaudits for aesthetic appeal, but facilities have certainly improved no end and there is quite a unique feel to the place which is always pleasing. Redhill were always renowned locally for producing excellent programmes. Unfortunately their standards appear to have dipped, although on this occasion it may have been due to the Christmas deadlines. It consisted of ten pages inside an advertising shell and was a double issue for this and Redhill's New Year's Eve fixtures and covered the basics and there are certainly worse programmes produced at this level.

Both of tonight's teams have had solid if unspectacular seasons so far. Redhill were in seventh place but with up to three games in hand on most teams above them. Lingfield were three places lower and two points worse off, having played a game more. Redhill have had two excellent results most recently, winning 6-1 at bottom of the table Chichester last time out, and comprehensively beating high-flying Lancing at home the week before. Things have not been so good for Lingfield recently, losing their last two games and suffering an 1-8 humiliation at Selsey in the RUR Cup. The two sides have already met this season at Kiln Brow in the Surrey Senior Cup, with Lingfield victorious by three goals to one. A surprise inclusion in the Lingfield team was Nicky Forster, the former Reading, Brighton, Brentford and Charlton striker, and current manager of Dover Athletic. It must be very rare indeed that a manager plays for another team.

A quarter of an hour ahead of kick off, the lights went out, although happily power was restored after about five minutes and the game went ahead on time. The first half was rather uneventful - competitive, but with neither side creating any real chances until four minutes before the interval when Lingfield had a shot cleared off the line.

The scoreline was goalless at half time, and it was one of those games where a nil-nil appeared to be written all over the game. However, six minutes into the second half and the deadlock was broken, albeit with a scruffy goal in keeping with the game. Forster drove towards the goalkeeper before crossing the ball in the air along the six yard line, and Lee Flavin bundled the ball in with his chest according to the officlals after the referee consulted with his linesman, but there was a strong suspicion of handball which the Redhill players protested vigorously for. The rest of the game continued in the same vein of being competitive but with precious few goalscoring opportunitoes, and in the closing minutes, Lingfield looked the more likely scorers, but one goal was all they needed for the three points which sees them leapfrog over Redhill and into eighth place.

Windsor 4 v 1 Egham Town

Tuesday 27th December 2011
Combined Counties League Premier Division
Stag Meadow, Windsor
Admission: Free
Programme: £2.50
Attendance: 806
Match Rating: 4

For my latest festive bank holiday football fix, I went for "a right royal day out", with a trip to Windsor, attracted by the club offering free entry to all spectators for today's match, which was appealing enough in itself, being a local derby between two of the better sides in the Combined Counties League Premier Division.

This is Windsor's first season in existence, formed after the winding up of the previous club Windsor and Eton. They have taken over the former club's ground at Stag Meadow, which is located about a half hour walk from Windsor and Eton Riverside station. The walk is certainly very pleasant, as one passes close by Windsor Castle and then through the town centre. Stag Meadow is located on the edge of the Great Park, and is neat, tidy and well maintained, but it will not live long in the memory of my groundhopping travels. The ground is very open, with a small old-fashioned all-seater stand, dating back to the 1940's, straddling the half way line on one side, either side of the stand are uncovered terraces, whilst on the other side of the pitch, cover is extended along the middle three quarters of the length over a few terrace steps. Behind both goals are again a few terrace steps but uncovered. A tea bar is located in one corner just after one enters the ground, whilst on the other side of the main stand is the clubhouse and as this was designated a "Family Fun Day", a hog roast was offered together with face painting and various other attractions. A special edition of the programme was produced, for 50 pence more than normal, today containing 48 pages in full colour. Plenty of interesting articles and stats to read. A slight criticism might be that the editor tried to be a little too funny on too many occasions, although in fairness perhaps regular fans would have "got the jokes" more than a one-off visitor.

Considering Windsor had to start from scratch at the start of this season, it is to their enormous credit that they found themselves in second place going into today's game, three points behind reigning champions Guildford City. After an understandably slow start to the season, they have been in electric form recently, winning their last four league games and are unbeaten in their last ten league games, stretching back to mid October, and over the season, their stand out results have been 11-0, 10-0 and 7-1 victories. Today's visitors, Egham Town, are doing better than they have in recent years, in fourth place, eight points behind Windsor but with two games in hand. They also have been in very good form, losing just once in their last 13 games.

On an incredibly mild afternoon for a festive fixture, the opening exchanges pointed to an even match, yet on eight minutes, Windsor opened the scoring when a surging run from the right towards the goalkeeper by Ryan O'Toole ended with the ball being played along the six yard line for Joe Chandiram to fire home. Windsor dominated the rest of the half and missed at least three glorious chances to extend their lead, although this was more a reflection of how well Windsor were playing - credit to Egham for always looking to play football and they showed enough with intermittent attacks to suggest that the game was still very much in the balance at half time and Windsor may yet regret missing those golden chances.

The second half started off as evenly as the first had, but on the hour mark, Windsor increased their lead when Michael Chennels fired home from close range following a good run into the box and cut back by Yashwa Romeo. Five minutes later and it was game over, when Ben Porter showed good trickery before laying the ball back to to Romeo to tap the ball into an empty net. A minute later and the scoreline became very harsh on the visitors when O'Toole worked some space before curling a peach of a low shot into the corner from the edge of the box. The home side took their foot off of the gas after this, which allowed Egham to come more and more into the game, and they got the goal they deserved on 86 minutes when Dan Hartlebury curled a lovely shot just out of the reach of the keeper and into the net. They had a couple of chances to make the scoreline more respectable, but the match ended 4-1 to the home side. Egham could count themselves very unlucky to be on the end of such a scoreline - a similar performance against most other teams in the league would probably yield three points, but today they were simply blitzed by an electric spell from the home side in the space of six second half minutes.

It was a brave decision to allow free entry for a match that probably would have attracted a reasonable crowd anyway, being a festive fixture against a local team also going well this season, but it was pleasing to see the club rewarded for the big efforts that had been put in to make the day a success with a huge attendance, who not only got their wallets out for refreshments, but the town was very much sent the message that their team is alive and kicking again after the demise of the former club, and on today's showing, Windsor will run Guildford very close for the title and a return to the Southern League looks a distinct possibility.

East Grinstead Town 2 v 0 Crowborough Athletic

Monday 26th December 2011
Sussex County League Division
East Court, East Grinstead
Admission inc. programme: £6.00
Attendance: 133
Match Rating: 2

For my Boxing Day fare, I ventured to a ground I regularly visited many years ago prior to my groundhopping days, but had not for many years, for the north Sussex derby between East Grinstead Town and Crowborough Athletic, another team I regularly followed all those years ago.

East Court is about a twenty minute walk from the town's train station - although with no trains running today, I had to drive to the game today, with the ground located on the approach to the town along the A264 from Tunbridge Wells. I always considered East Court to be one of my favourite grounds at this level, and it was pleasing to discover that the necessary improvements have given the ground a very neat and attractive feel without detracting from its pleasant setting. The ground is located down a narrow access road, and on entering the ground, one walks up a bank to reach the main stand, which was standing room only the last time I visited, but now has seats installed. A small covered stand of terracing is now located between the main stand and the entrance, and around the rest of the ground is just hard standing. Changing rooms and the clubhouse are located behind one of the goals. There is a naturally enclosed feel with trees all around and the location is quiet. The ground is very well maintained with stands and buildings freshly and brightly painted in club colours, and it would certainly not look out of place in the Isthmian league. I recalled that East Grinstead always used to produce excellent programmes, and their standards certainly have not dropped. Included with admission, it is remarkably well produced with a very professional design, 20 pages in full colour, although half of those contain just advertising.

Today's match would be between two teams stuck firmly in mid-table, with East Grinstead in ninth place in the twenty team league, and Crowborough three places and two points behind them. After a tricky November, when they lost consecutive league games by 0-7, 0-5 and 2-4, East Grinstead then proceeded to win four of their last five league games. Crowborough have been very inconsistent this season, and since I witnessed a very limp display at out of form Selsey earlier in the month, they have gained a win and a draw in their two league games.

The first half of this match was rather dull, with the only event of note being the referee pulling up with an injury which required lengthy attention, and he would eventually be forced to admit defeat at half time and was replaced in the middle for the second half. It was no surprise that the scoreline was goalless at half time, with almost all of the action confined to the middle of the park with few attacks mounted by either side.

The second half threatened to continue in a similar vein, until the home side took the lead on 58 minutes, The keeper Mark Fox pumped the ball forward from a free kick, and the ball was then curled into the box from the left and Aaron Watson glanced his header past the keeper and into the net. Thirteen minutes later and East Grinstead doubled their lead, when a throughball was played which Tony Reid latched onto, before racing towards goal for a one-on-one with the keeper, and Reid stroked the ball calmly into the net under the keeper. The scoreline was a fair reflection on second half proceedings, where the home side certainly upped the ante, whilst the visitors huffed and puffed without ever being to able to carve out real chances on goal. As the game entered stoppage time, East Grinstead hit the post, and so East Grinstead claimed a comfortable derby victory and so rose two places in the league to seventh, whilst Crowborough remain in twelth.

Roffey 0 v 1 Barnham

Saturday 24th December 2011
Sussex County League Division 3
Bartholomew Way, Horsham
Admission: None
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 182
Match Rating: 3

With only a handful of games across the country taking place today, it was to my good fortune that almost all of these were taking place in my local league, the Sussex County League. And even more fortunate that the nearest ground I had not yet visited would be playing at home. It is fair to say the decision to play games on Christmas Eve was not universally popular amongst players and officials, as all clubs with floodlights moved today's fixture to another date. One really has to pity the Roffey players, who were faced with games on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, which really does border on the ridiculous!

Roffey's Bartholomew Way ground is located on the northern outskirts of Horsham, and is about a 15 minute walk from Littlehaven rail station, at the end of a very middle class housing estate. As Bartholomew Way ends, a large car parks stretches out, at the end of which is the clubhouse and bar, and to the right of which is the football pitch, neatly nestled with trees closely surrounding all four sides. Unsurprisingly for a club in their first season in the Sussex County League, facilities are minimal, with the pitch railed off but with no hard standing nor other spectator facilities apart from a tea bar hut located in one corner. The setting would surely be more attractive in early Autumn, when the trees would be laden with colourful leaves, and the constant roar from the adjacent busy dual carriageway also detracts from the pleasantness of the setting. With attendances hovering around the 50 mark this season - which is very decent in this league - today's attendance four times that figure certainly came as a surprise to the home team, swelled by a very large number of groundhoppers attracted by the opportunity to tick off a new ground with so few other games being played. The hosts coped very well with the unexpected turnout, with the tea bar doing a roaring trade throughout and the programmes originally produced being gobbled up half hour ahead of kick off. However, fresh copies were printed throughout the match to ensure that everyone who wanted a copy would not be disappointed. The club deserves enormous credit for that, and indeed, the overall impression of the club was very positive, of a very friendly, well-run club.

Clubs promoted to the Sussex County League tend to do well - today's visitors, Barnham, finished in third place last season in their debut season, and are in the top half of the table this season, in sixth place. Roffey have proved an exception to the rule of thumb though, as they have only won two of their opening sixteen games, losing all of the others, and prop up the table. They have shipped at least six goals on four occasions - including an 1-8 loss last time out at TD Shipley, and 7-1 at Barnham last month.

The game started off surprisingly evenly, with little to tell between the two sides, although Barnham perhaps shaded the amount of attacking intent. They took the lead on the half hour in rather bizarre circumstances, when a fine strike from outside the area cannoned off the crossbar, and the keeper seemed to completely lose concentration as he wandered around, talking to one of his defenders, and Ashley Harper took his time to stroke the ball into an unnecessarily empty net. Quite what the reasons were for the keeper to stop playing is an absolute mystery. The rest of the half continued in an even manner, and the scoreline remained one goal in Barnham's favour at half time.

Roffey began the second half on the front foot, mounting several attacks, the best of which came on 50 minutes when a low cross was met by a shot which stuck the post and bounced clear. The game remained in the balance throughout the second half, but there were few real golden chances to score until five minutes from time when Barnham really should have doubled their lead, when the ball was played back from the touchline to an unmarked forward but he shot wide of the goal from about 12 yards out. A couple of minutes later and Barnham came very close to scoring again, when the forward spotted the keeper slightly off his line, but the ball was tipped over the bar.

In the end, it was Barnham who predictably claimed the three points to move up one place in the league, however they were run very close by a Roffey side who, on the evidence of today, do not look a bottom of the table side who have lost 14 out of 16 games this season, and with only one team potentially being relegated and with only up to a four points behind the three clubs immediately above them, they still appear to have a good chance of escaping the drop. One hopes they do, as certainly off the pitch, the club is a credit to the Sussex County League.

Crewe Alexandra 1 v 1 Crawley Town

Saturday 17th December 2011
Football League 2
Gresty Road, Crewe
Admission: £19.50
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 3,635
Match Rating: 3

With a weekend stay in Crewe booked months ago taking advantage of Travelodge's bargain £10 a night offer, it is fair to say my heart sunk when arriving in Crewe on Friday afternoon, with a fair covering of snow on the ground and freezing temperatures forecast for the night ahead. Prospects did not look any brighter in the morning with intermittent heavy rain and sleet showers, and when I visited the stadium mid-morning, the pitch was still covered in snow with the groundsman and helpers working hard at removing the snow from the pitch. Only at 1.30 was the game confirmed as definitely on.

Gresty Road - how the ground should surely continue to be known as rather than the bland official name of the Alexandra Stadium adopted at the turn of the century - is conveniently located just a few minutes walk from Crewe rail station - indeed, one sees it up close as the train approaches the station from the south. The main stand is a large and impressive single tier affair that would not look out of place in the Premiership, containing around two thirds of the total capacity of the stadium, and towers over the remaining much lower and unconnected three stands, all very similar in design and with identical heights. Views appear to be excellent wherever one sits, with just a couple of obstructing pillars in the away stand. All stands are all-seater, all seats are priced the same throughout the ground, and away supporters are allocated the stand opposite the main stand. The 68 page programme did not look promising at first glance, with a design more akin to a fanzine and not even a glossy, hardened cover, but it actually turned out to be one of the better programmes I have encountered, with much interesting to read even for a neutral supporter.

Today's match would be a tough assignment for the home side, who found themselves down in sixteenth place, although they have taken seven points from their last three league games since Steve Davis took over from Dario Gradi. Where Crawley find themselves today is quite remarkable, considering they were an average Southern League team less than ten years ago.. Newly promoted to the Football League, they look odds on to earn a second successive promotion and went into this game top of the table by three points, were eight points clear of the play-off places and were unbeaten in their last fourteen games.

It was the home side who started the game very much on the foot front, and had a few half chances to open the scoring, before they did so on nine minutes, when Wes Fletcher, on loan from Burnley, headed home powerfully following an excellent cross by Byron Moore. Crewe's lead was well deserved - they also had a shot cleared off the line - as Crawley surprisingly struggled to get a foothold in the game, but suddenly came a potential changing point in the match. Today's referee, Stuart Attwell, is one of those referees who, when you learn he will be the man in the middle for a game, you just know that, for whatever reason, controversies aplenty will follow and the chances are that at the end of the match, he will feature prominently in most person's reflections of the game - the cardinal sin for a referee. On 15 minutes he sent off Crewe's Shaun Miller who went in to the tackle hard and slightly high, but then so did the player he tackled, Sergio Torres.The home side understandably opted for a much more defensive formation, and unsurprisingly Crawley came much more into the match, dominating possession but were gulty of playing too many sloppy passes. However, on 31 minutes, Crawley were back on level terms, when Andy Drury, on loan from Ipswich, sent in a cross which was met by Matt Tubbs who guided the ball just inside the post. Crawley then continued to dominate proceedings, with ever more intense waves of attack, and it only seemed a matter of time before they would take the lead. The scoreline remained level as the half time whistle blew, with Attwell being greeted with deafening boos from the home fans as he approached the tunnel, and it was hard not to have sympathy for the home supporters, as Attwell's performance could at best be described as erratic, turning a blind eye to some blatant pulls and pushes and late tackles. The chant from Crawley's fans "Can we have you every week" showed they agreed their team was getting the better of the decisions.

The second half saw Crawley continuing to take advantage of having an extra man to dominate proceedings, but they could not fashion any real gilt-edged chances, and full credit to Crewe for occasionally looking threatening on the break, and they had a further two good penalty shouts turned down - one when a free kick was given millimetres outside of the box when the contact did appear to be inside, the other when a clear handball was ignored. In the end the points were shared, with yet more loud boos greeting Attwell as he headed for the tunnel, which was a shame as this deflected from the enormous credit that the home team should be given for playing admirably for 75 minutes with ten men against such high flying opponents to deservedly hold out for a point. Crawley will probably return south happy with a point and extending their unbeaten run to 15 games on a day when they just did not seem to click.