Isle of Man Ladies 3 v 1 Greenland Ladies

Monday 27th June  2011
Island Games, Women's Tournament, Group B
Slade Road Recreation Ground, Ryde
Admission: £3.00
Tournament Programme: £3.00
Match day programme: 20p
Attendance: 22
Match Rating: 3

On my way back from Shanklin to Ryde to catch the hovercraft back to the mainland, I decided to take in a bonus half of football by getting off the train at Ryde St Johns Road to return to the Slade Road Recreation Ground, where I had this morning witnessed Jersey's comfortable victory over Hitra. I arrived at the ground about five minutes before half time in the match between the Isle of Man Ladies and Greenland ladies. On arrival, I learnt that the scoreline was evenly poised at 1-1, Jade Burton giving Jersey the lead on 14 minutes, with Greenland equalising on 26 minutes through Tobiasine Abelsen.

This game had the makings of an intriguing encounter, with the Isle of Man, who won the bronze medal in the last Iast Island Games, winning by 9-0 in their opening game yesterday against Gibraltar, but fatigue may prove to be a factor considering this was to be Greenland's first game in this competition. With only three teams in this group, a win for the Isle of Man would ensure they progress to the semi finals.

The short period of the first half I did see pointed to a close game, and for much of the second half, the game was competitive and reasonably entertaining, without either side really looking like scoring - Greenland had the better chances, but each time shot rashly when the player had much more time to conjure up a more controlled effort. Unfortunately Jersey's players seemed to model themselves on the men's game, continually berating the referee, behaviour which is normally a welcome relief by its absence in the women's game. On 56 minutes, Jersey took the lead when a powerful shot cannoned off the crossbar, and the rebound was smashed into the net from very close range by Gillian Christian, to provoke wild celebrations amongst the Jersey players and coaches. Five minutes from time and Jersey made the victory and a semi-final berth safe, when a low hard cross evaded a couple of players before Eleanor Gawne tucked the ball away at the far post. The 3-1 scoreline was quite harsh on Greenland, who could easily have won this game had they shown more composure in front of goal. Heading straight back to Ryde for the hovercraft back to the mainland, this was another enjoyable game of football, all four and a half matches were competitive, enjoyable and intriguing, had some very good skill on display, and some of the goals scored would have graced any level of football.

Saaremaa Ladies 0 v 2 Western Isles Ladies

Monday 27th June  2011
Island Games, Women's Tournament, Group C
County Ground, Shanklin
Admission: £3.00
Tournament Programme: £3.00
Match day programme: 20p
Attendance: 73
Match Rating: 3

















For my second game of the day in the women's tournament of the Island Games, I headed south from Ryde on the rather charming former London Underground tube train to Shanklin for a match between the Western Isles, making their debut in this year's competition today as religious beliefs prevent them playing on Sundays, against the Estonian island of Saaremaa.

The County Ground, home of Shanklin FC of the Isle of Wight Saturday League,  is about a quarter of an hour walk from Lake train station, slightly further from Shanklin station, and whilst facilities are minimal, the ground is a very pleasant one to watch football at. There are no floodlights in place, nor pitching railings nor hard standing, nor are there even any dugouts in place, although there is a clubhouse close to the pitch. Apparently the club is trying to raise funds with the ambition of bringing senior football to Shanklin - they would certainly starting almost from scratch. The ground does have a very nice feel to it though, with an intermittent oval of grass banking circulating the pitch, providing an excellent elevated view of the action, and trees all around but fairly distant from the pitch ensure a pleasantly enclosed yet roomy feel to the place. Indeed, there would be plenty of space to construct stands and the like should they obtain the finances and permission.

Before the competition started, one would have feared for Saaremaa, who entered the competition for the first time out last time but lost all four of their games, conceding 40 goals in the process. However, yesterday they managed a notable scalp by beating fancied Gotland 1-0, the team who they lost to by 0-7 in the previous tournament. The Western Isles have hardly set the world on fire in their previous two tournaments - the only ones they have entered, although they did achieve two victories in the last tournament.

Unexpectedly, temperatures had by now dipped with a couple of sharp showers and a fresh breeze providing welcome relief from the searing heat in the morning and on the previous day, and for the opening half hour, all the signs were that this would be a tight match between two even teams, with neither side really looking like scoring. On 34 minutes, it was the Western Isles who did edge ahead, when the Saaremaa defenders let the ball bounce deep inside their own area, and their indecision in clearing the ball was punished by Michelle Paton, who fired towards goal from 8 yards. A defender handled the ball, but the goal was given as the linesman said the handball occured after the ball had crossed the line - it looked a very sympathetic decision to me, one that suited both teams. A couple of minutes later and the Western Isles should have doubled their advantage, when a long range shot hit the bar, but the rebound was screwed horribly wide eight yards out and central to the goal. On the stroke of half time, they had another chance to double their lead, when a goalbound shot was handled on the line by Kart Mere, this time a penalty was awarded and the mandatory red card was shown to the defender. However, the penalty by Jenna Stewart was struck narrowly wide of the goal to ensure a tight 1-0 scoreline at half time.

Throughout the second half, the Western Isles had the upper hand, having occasional good chances, and whilst Saaremaa barely threatened, a one goal lead is always precarious. Finally on 79 minutes, the Western Isles made the game safe with a powerful shot by Louise Martin from just inside the penalty area which seemed to go straight through the keeper's hands - she really should have saved it. The game was now up, as the match petered out for a 2-0 win for the Western Isles. This was another surprisingly entertaining and competitive game of women's football, as the earlier Jersey-Hitra game had been, every bit as enjoyable as the men's games yesterday.

Jersey Ladies 6 v 1 Hitra Ladies

Monday 27th June  2011
Island Games, Women's Tournament, Group A
Slade Road Recreation Ground, Ryde
Admission: £3.00
Tournament Programme: £3
Match day programme: 20p
Attendance: 40
Match Rating: 4

For my second day on the Isle of Wight taking in football at the Island Games, a desire to visit grounds I had not visited before, combined with a favourable schedule, ensured that I would watch exclusively women's football today, starting with a 11.30 kick off at the home of Oakfield, members of the Isle of Wight Saturday League. This matched pitted Jersey against the Norwegian island of Hitra.

The Slade Road Recreation Ground is located about a twenty minute walk from Ryde Esplanade (where the catamaran and hovercraft land from the mainland), or about a ten minute walk from Ryde St Johns Road train station. As is the case with most grounds in the Isle of Wight Saturday League, facilities are very basic, with no floodlights and the pitch was just roped off, no permanent barriers, and there is no hard standing, although there are permanent dugouts. There has been some investment in facilities though, as one enters the ground, behind one of the goals, is a large modern clubhouse with seating outside under gazebos (almost certainly only for the duration of the Island Games), to the other side are brick changing rooms. Behind one length of the pitch are views of a valley of housing, behind the other, backs of houses tightly line the ground.

Neither of the two sides made a good start to their 2011 Island Games campaign, both losing their opening games yesterday, Jersey  0-5 to the reigning champions, the Aland Islands, and Hitra lost 0-3 to the hosts, the Isle of Wight. Neither team made it to the group stages last time out, Jersey winning two and losing two in their group in 2009, whereas Hitra, the first time they had entered the women's football competition, managed just a point from their four games, conceding 23 goals in the process.

On a very warm and sunny morning, the opening exchanges pointed to a fairly even game, however on 10 minutes, Jersey opened the scoring when a pinpoint cross was headed in by Kerry Sauvage. Jersey extended their lead to two on 22 minutes, when Jodie Botterill, who had created chance after chance with her pace breaking clear of defence but was offered no support whatsoever on each occasion, dribbled in from the touchline before placing a delicate finish beyond the keeper. With half an hour on the clock, Hitra should have reduced the deficit when a one-on-one was struck straight at the keeper, but on 37 minutes they did manage to pull a goal back when an expertly judged chip from fully 30 yards by Nina Antonsen dipped over the keeper and into the net, even though the keeper was barely off her line. Just four minutes later though and Jersey restored their two goal lead, when a Tara Marie drive beat the keeper at the near post. The game was seemingly put to bed on the stroke of half time, when a defender couldn't control a long ball over the top, leaving Botterill with a one-on-one, but the stand-out player of the match showed good composure as she sidestepped the keeper before stroking the ball into the empty net for her second goal of the game.

The 4-1 scoreline was harsh on Hitra, with Jersey's clinical finishing the difference between the two sides. The second half started off rather uneventfully, perhaps not surprising given the game was as good as over, the hot conditions and this being the second game both teams have played in two days, but on 65 minutes, Jersey stretched their lead to 5-1, with a powerful header by Sauvage from a corner for her second of the game. The following quarter of an hour continued to be uneventful, until with around ten minutes remaining, I had to leave this match in order to make my way to Shanklin for my next game. In that remaining period, Jersey scored again, making the final score an emphatic 6-1, Botterill claiming her very well-deserved hat-trick.

Åland Islands 3 v 3 Saaremaa

Sunday 26th June  2011
Island Games, Men's Tournament, Group D
Beatrice Avenue, East Cowes
Admission: £3.00
Tournament Programme: £3.00
Match day programme: 20p
Attendance: 78
Match Rating: 4

Following my afternoon match at Newport, I then headed northwards to East Cowes, a 20 minute bus journey, to watch the Island Games encounter between the Åland Islands - a Finnish group of islands located closer to the Swedish coast than Finland, against Saaremaa, located just off the coast of Estonia. The match at Beatrice Avenue, the home of Wessex League outfit East Cowes Victoria Athletic, would also mean I would complete "the set" of senior teams playing in mainland leagues based on the Isle of Wight, although I certainly had not saved the best to last.

Beatrice Avenue is located about a twenty minute walk south-east of East Cowes centre, which involves a steep climb for most of the way, although buses stop close by. As one enters the ground, it is a bit of a squeeze, with the pitch's barriers close by allowing little room to move. To the left of the entrance is a long stand - once again with a rather clautrophobic feel to it more akin to an alleyway, and is not easy on the eye - stretching to the corner flag offering one row of bench seating. To the other side is a small, modern all-seater stand which is much neater and finished in club colours. Hard standing is all that is available around the rest of the pitch. The ground has a rather open feel to it with training pitches behind one length of the pitch, and one could imagine that, on a cold winter's day, the hill-top location and proximity to the Solent would render this a bitterly cold location to watch football. Once again, the tournament programme was available for purchase, plus the 20p, 4 page programme specific to this game.

The Åland Islands have always been a fairly middle of the road team in the Island Games football tournament, with their best performance coming in the last tournament two years ago on home territory when they were runners up, losing the final to Jersey. Saaremaa have traditionally been one of the weakest teams in the Island Games, their best ever ranking being sixth, and have only ever won one game at the Island Games, back in 2001.

With weather conditions absolutely perfect - blue skies and warm sunshine but with the evening making conditions more acceptably cooler for players than had been the case earlier in the day, Saameraa made a blistering start to this game, opening up a two goal cushion with just six minutes on the clock. First, a fabulous,.thunderous strike by Martti Pukk from outside of the penalty area which gave the keeper no chance, and then four minutes later Elari Valmas was given all the time and space in the world to spin and fire home from 12 yards. For the rest of the first half, Saaremaa dominated proceedings and it looked like it would be only a matter of time before they added to their lead, and extra colour and atmosphere was added with the arrival of the vociferous ladies team of Saaremaa. However, Saaremaa couldn't score a third, and suddenly on 39 minutes Åland Islands were back in the game thanks to a penalty by Peter Lundberg, perfectly smashed into the top corner. On the stroke of half time, the match was all-square when Alexander Weckstrom scored with a looping header over the keeper after a long diagonal ball.

Although the Åland Islands appeared somewhat fortunate to be on level terms at half time, they went on to dominate most of the second half, and midway through the second half, they turned the game around completely with a deflected shot by Weckstrom for his second goal of the game. Their lead lasted for just two minutes though, as Saaremaa equalised with a powerful shot across the keeper by Sander Laht.The odd half chance came and went for both sides during the remainder of the game, but 3-3 was how it ended, a fair reflection on an enjoyable game containing plenty of attacking intent.

Alderney 1 v 6 Gibraltar

Sunday 26th June 2011
Island Games, Men's Tournament, Group B
St Georges Park, Newport
Admission: £3.00
Tournament Programme: £3
Match day programme: 20p
Attendance: 156
Match Rating: 4

The opportunity to watch some rather unusual international football together with some off-season action attracted me to the Isle of Wight for a couple of days, to take in some games in the football section of the Island Games, an Olympics-style tournament including island nations from all over the world. First stop for me would be an afternoon kick-off at St George's Park, home of Newport (IOW).

St George's Park, located just outside of the town and about a ten minute walk south of Newport bus station, is quite an impressive ground considering the Wessex League they play at, with very good facilities, is easy on the eye and is very well maintained. As one enters the ground, there is an all-seater grandstand offering good unobstructed views of the action.on one length of the pitch and on all three other sides there are shallow stands for covered standing all painted in club colours. Plenty of trees, a couple of hills and a peaceful setting ensure that the ground has a nice rural feel to it. Programmes for the entire men's and women's tournaments were on sale for £3, with contained 34 pages with information about fixtures, squad listings and ground descriptions, although it lacked anything about the history of the tournament or about the islands themselves, which would have been interesting reading. Also produced was a four page publication for the individual match which just included team squads for this game. From that point of view, the individual match programme contained no further information than the tournament programme. As a souvenir of the match, and priced at only 20p, it was a welcome publication, although considering the charging for games was a controversial decision in itself - with all other games free of charge, as has the football been in previous tournaments, it would have seemed appropriate had this very basic match programme been included with admission.

Considering the small size and population of Alderney, they deserve credit for putting out a football team at the Island Games, this being only the second time they have managed to do so, the other back in 2003 when the games were held in neighbouring Guernsey, when they won one game, beating Saaremaa to be ranked eleventh of the fifteen participating teams. Although the mind boggles as to how Gibraltar can be classed as an island, they have entered the men's tournament of the Island Games every time bar once since 1993. They have generally been an average peformer, although they did win the tournament in 2007.

On a blisteringly hot day, the opening ten minutes were quite even, however, when Gibraltar opened the scoring on 12 minutes through Joseph Chipolina with an excellent strike with the outside of the foot from outside the penalty area, the game completely transformed, as Gibraltar obviously sensed that Alderney were a very limited team who were there for the taking. Within minutes, a fabulous overhead kick struck the crossbar and appeared to bounce over the line before bouncing clear, but no goal was awarded. By half time, Gibraltar had opened up a four goal lead, all well worked goals helped by some accommodating Alderney defending allowing far too much time and space to the tricky Gibraltans. Roy Chipolina scored on 27 and 29 minutes, Lee Casiaro on 38 minutes, and one feared the scoreline might become embarassing for Alderney.
 
 

 

The lead was increased to five on 50 minutes with another excellent goal, a precisely played one-two finishing with a cute finish into the corner of the net by Casciaro for his second of the game. Finally, after wave upon wave of skilful attacks, with Alderney only having their keeper to thank for some very good saves to keep the scoreline moderately respectable, Gibraltar seemed to take the foot off the gas and Alderney managed to get on the scoresheet on 64 minutes through a deflected shot by Joshua McCulloch. Gibraltar should then have restored their five goal advantage when they were awarded a penalty, but the shot was screwed horribly wide. After a fairly dull passage of play, Gibraltar finally did score their sixth when they were awarded another penalty, this time Daniel Duarte made no mistake in sending the keeper the wrong way. 6-1 was how the match ended, and this was a fair reflection of proceedings - if anything, the one goal Alderney scored flattered them, who were completely outclassed and struggled to get out of their own half for most of the match. Gibraltar on the other hand were a joy to watch with their skills and fast passing game, although it was sad to witness their theatrics and trying to pick fights with the Alderney players (one wonders how they would behave if things were not going their way in a game?!) particularly when the Island Games is proudly billed as the friendly games.
 

BK Häcken 2 v 2 IFK Norrköping

Saturday 11th June  2011

Allsvenskan (Swedish Premier League)

Rambergsvallen, Gothenburg

Admission: 140 SEK

Team Sheet: Free

Attendance: 2517

Match Rating: 3

A desire to eke out football watching just a little bit further into the summer inspired me to plan a daytrip to Gothenburg, made relatively easy by Ryanair's cheap flights with favourable timings, and flying into Gothenburg City airport, which is only twenty minutes away from the city centre by coach. In an ideal world, I would have taken in a visit to the Gamla Ullevi, to visit one of the best and most modern stadia in Sweden. However, with only the odd game played on a Saturday afternoon in the Allsvenskan, beggars can't be choosers and I had to settle for a visit to the Rambergsvallen, the humble home of BK Häcken, very much the poor footballing relations of Gothenburg in almost every respect.

After spending several hours taking in the sights of Gothenburg, I then made my way on foot north-westwards from the city centre and onto Hisingen island, where the Rambergsvallen is located. The walk took about 40 minutes along a busy dual carriageway (although pleasant views can be seen looking back to the city waterfront when walking across the bridge to the island). Regular buses and trams also ply the route. The stadium is set in a subruban commuter area, and inside is, in all honesty, a rather unappealing arena for football. It has the dreaded running track around the pitch, so has an open and distant from the action feel to it. There are two fairly low grandstands running along each length, one stand by the dugouts having for the most part bench seating with a small section in the centre having more conventional plastic seats, the other stand has bench seating in the middle third, with standing areas either side, one of which was for away fans, although plenty of away fans were interspersed in all other areas of the ground. Behind one of the goals is a metallic terrace which was not in use today, a marquee for VIP guests, as well as a large screen which always seems to be present at all Allsvenskan matches showing interviews and match action. Behind the other goal was just hand standing, which a handful of people chose to watch the action from despite the distance from the action. Although it wasn't necessary, I bought my ticket in advance on the internet which I collected from a supermarket in the morning - it's a very simple system of purchasing and collecting tickets for games in Sweden.The issuing of programmes always seems to be a complete lottery in Sweden - here, an A5 double-sided sheet was handed out free of charge on entering the ground, containing the current league table and squad lists for each team - for a non Swedish speaker, this was perfectly adequate.

Today's encounter was between two teams struggling in the bottom half of the table after ten games played, with BK Häcken in twelth place in the 16 team league and just one point above the relegation play-off position of 14th, whilst IFK Norrköping, newly promoted to the Allsvenskan, one position and one point better off. BK Häcken's form has been nothing to write home about, gaining just one point from their last three games, although that included a narrow 0-1 defeat at city rivals GAIS and a very creditible 1-1 draw at home to reigning champions at Malmo. IFK Norrköping have been in worse recent form, gaining just one point from their last five games after winning their previous three.

On a very warm, sunny day, the match started at a fairly slow pace as is often the way in Scandinavian football, although the visitors had the upper hand and could easily have taken the lead with a quarter of an hour on the clock when Häcken's goalkeeper, Christopher Källqvist, tried to dribble the ball wide outside the penalty area and was dispossessed, but luckily by the time Shpetim Hasani had managed to line up the shot from 20 yards out, Källqvist just managed to retreat in time to collect the ball. Another defensive error was punished at the other end on 25 minutes when the Norrköping defender Bobby Friberg inexplicably tried to dribble the ball deep inside his own penalty area but was dispossessed by Rene Makondele, who then had the simple task of firing home past the keeper from about 8 yards out. The home side went on to control proceedings for the rest of the first half, missing some decent chances to equalise, including hitting the crossbar direct from a corner, however on the stroke of half time, the away side were back on level terms out of the blue, when Astrit Ajdarevic fired a low shot from 25 yards through a crowd of players which presumably unsighted the keeper. 

IFK Norrköping were slightly fortunate to be on level terms at the break, and there was little sign in the second half that they could score a winner, as the game became rather pedestrian with the home side looking comfortable and the more likely to score, indeed, IFK Norrköping had their goalkeeper, Abbas Hassan, to thank for several excellent saves to keep them in the game. However, just as the game entered added-on time at the end of the match, BK Häcken scored what surely would prove to be the winner when a corner was met with a bullet header at the near post by Matthias Ranegie from eight yards out. However, to their credit it was clear that IFK Norrköping's players had not allowed their heads to drop, which would have been understandable after such a devastating blow so late in the game, as they had an aggressive look about them as they restarted the game, and indeed they got their reward deep into added on time, when a long ball pumped forward was allowed to bounce by two defenders, and Gunnar Thorvaldsson, who I had seen on trial for Charlton Athletic in a pre-season game at AFC Wimbledon last July, just beat the keeper to poke the ball home to spark wild celebrations amongst the visiting players and disbelieving fans and stun the home fans into silence. A very dramatic end to what had been quite a dull second half, and surely was a point won by the visitors and two lost by the home side, not just in view of the last gasp equaliser but how BK Häcken had by far the better chances to put the game to bed.