Watford 2 v 2 Bristol City

Tuesday 29^th November 2011

Football League Championship

Vicarage Road, Watford

Admission : £10.00

Programme : £3.00

Attendance : 12, 418

Match Rating : 4

Another ground that has proved surprisingly elusive over the years was ticked off this evening, inspired by Watford Football Club’s commendable decision to reduce all ticket prices to £10.00 when purchased in advance via their website (which attracts a 50p administration charge) – on the day, prices rose to a comparatively eye-watering £26.00 or £31.00 - standard prices for other league matches at Watford..

Vicarage Road is about a 20 minute walk from Watford Junction train station via the town centre, and after collecting my ticket from the Ticket Collection Office, I made my way to the opposite of the stadium to enter the Upper Tier of the Rous Stand, along one length of the pitch, which is usually the most expensive area of the ground to sit in. Views are excellent from this two-tier stand are excellent, with no obstructions. Behind both goals are large single tiered stands, against with no obstructing pillars, with visiting fans allocated one half of one of these stands. Considering these three stands, the stadium is a modern and impressive one, however it is completely let down by the remaining length of the pitch, which is more akin to a building site. The main stand has been removed, whilst the condemned extension stand towards the corner has been condemned and is out of use.  Towards the other corner is a small part of former terracing, and scattered around is various temporary gantries and portakabins, as well as temporary dugouts.

A glance at the league table which points towards this clash being between two struggling teams, with Bristol City occupying a relegation spot in 22nd position after 18 games played, whilst Watford were only three places and one point better off. However, both sides have actually been in very good recent form. Watford have won their last three home games and had conceded just one goal in their last four outings. Bristol City, who earlier in the day had announced eye-watering losses in excess of £11 million in the last financial year for the second successive year, have won four of their last five games, the other game ending in a draw at West Ham.

On a cold night with clear skies, the game started quite cautiously, until the game burst into life on 25 minutes, when left back Carl Dickinson unleashed a wonderful 25 yard shot which flew past ex England goalkeeper David James to give the home side the lead. They doubled their lead on 42 minutes when Mark Yeates' shot from outside the box took a deflection and cannoned off the crossbar with James beaten, and Craig Beattie reacted quickest to tuck the rebound away. However, there was still time before half time for Bristol City to get back into the game, when Marvin Elliott powered home a far post header from fairly close range following a cross from wide by Ryan McGivern.

This set the game up nicely for the second half, and within just a minute of the restart, Bristol City completed the comeback, but what a gift it was. The Watford Adrian Mariappa passed the ball back to his keeper Scott Loach, who took his eye off the ball and allowed to ball to roll past him and into the net. Happening in front of the Bristol City fans ensured plenty of stick for Loach for the rest of the match, although to be fair he looked assured for the rest of the match. The visitors looked the more assured team throughout the second, although both sides looked capable of scoring, most notably with virtually the last kick of the game when Troy Deeney flashed a shot just wide of the post. So it was something of a surprise when there was no further scoring and the points were shared, which was sufficient to lift Bristol City out of the relegation zone, and Watford one place to 18th.

Video Highlights at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8OnD_RDFVI

Worthing 1 v 1 Whitehawk

Saturday 26th November 2011
Ryman League Division 1 South
Woodside Road, Worthing
Admission: £8.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 275
Match Rating: 3

With my earlier game at Ferring kicking off at 1.45, the opportunity presented itself to race to another ground to take in the second half there. And so I hurriedly walked back to Goring-by-Sea rail station and made the seven minute train journey to Worthing, from which Woodside Road is less than ten minutes' walk.

I last visited Woodside Road just nine months ago, and a description of the ground can be found here. On my last visit I was most impressed with the programme, however on this occasion I was left not quite so impressed. It certainly had some interesting articles to read and all of the essential stats and facts, although 16 of the 48 pages were advertising.

This derby match would be between two of the stronger teams in the division, with Worthing occupying the final play-off berth in fifth place, seven points behind Whitehawk in second place, although Worthing have played three games less than Whitehawk. Recent from has been reasonable for Worthing, winning three of their last four league games, and drawing their previous two games. Whitehawk have been in fantastic form, winning their last six games on the bounce.

I arrived at the ground during half time, and paid half price admission at £4.00. By all accounts I had not missed much during the first half, which was goalless and for the most part a midfield battle. That's how it continued into the second half, but then on 51minutes the home side took the lead when a free kick was not properly cleared and the ball was swung towards the far post and Steve Metcalf lost his marker and nipped in to head the ball home with the keeper waiting for the ball to land into his hands. Worthing then went on to dominate proceedings and looked far more the likely to score, with Whitehawk very disappointing and lacking in ideas considering their lofty leauge position and red-hot recent form, although they did have a couple of half chances. Just as it looked like Worthing would claim the three points with the match entering added on time at the end of the game, Whitehawk were awarded a corner, which was well delivered and the Worthing keeper Alan Mansfield could only push out, and Sami El-Abd powerfully headed home through a crowd of players. There was no time for either team to get the winner and so it was a point apiece which the visitors will obviously be far the happier with.

Ferring 0 v 2 Newhaven

Saturday 26th November 2011
Sussex County League Division 3
The Glebelands, Ferring
Admission: None
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 40 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

Even heading down to West Sussex, I still had not conclusively made my mind up about which game to go to. Either a much more pleasant ground at Roffey but between two apparently very poor sides, or presumably the much better football game at Ferring without the pleasant setting. Eventually I continued on the train to the outskirts of Worthing for a match that would see the mid-table home side take on formidable opponents..

The Glebelands is about a 15 minute walk from Goring-by-Sea train station, and is in many ways an unremarkable ground yet is amazingly well maintained for a club at this level, a club that has recently been promoted into the Sussex County League. The ground has no hard standing but plastic railing all the way around. There is a small brick stand for standing, and set back from the pitch is a small building housing the clubhouse and changing rooms. Immediately surrounding the ground is housing and a tennis court, with the South Downs in the distance. The ground obviously enjoys much TLC though, with all buildings looking neat, tidy and clean, and special mention must be made of a truly wonderful playing surface - flat, cut short, even having patterns mowed into it, it would not look out of place at any standard of football and is a real credit to the groundsman. Programmes were available from the clubhouse or from a person walking around the ground in the opening minutes of the game, and was a pretty good effort for the level, with a well designed cover and 12 pages of relevant reading inside an advertising shell.

In their second season back in the Sussex County League (having had two previous spells and were disbanded since the most recent spell, only reforming in 2007), they have had a solid start to the season, and were in 11th place in the 16 team division, with three wins and two draws from their opening eleven games. This will surely be a comfortable season with little threat of going up or down for Ferring. Today's match would have appeared somewhat daunting for them, as Newhaven have been in sensational form. Since opening their season with two draws in the league, they have won twelve of their last thirteen league and cup fixtures since, with a defeat coming in the FA Vase away at Raynes Park Vale (two league steps in the pyramid above Newhaven) after extra time. They were in second place in the league, five points behind leaders Saltdean United but with two games in hand. With a ground that surely ticks all of the boxes for senior football, promotion would appear firmly within their sights. The size of the task facing Ferring became all the more apparent considering they lost 0-9 at Newhaven in September, although their team today would be much changed from that day.

The match started quite evenly, perhaps because Newhaven seemed to want to play possession football and pick their moment to attack, although Ferring looked capable of opening the scoring. On 14 minutes though, Newhaven were awarded a soft looking penalty (to quote a Newhaven player to his manager), but the penalty was screwed horribly wide of the left hand post by Mark Probert. For the rest of the half, Newhaven had the stand-out chances, but in general the game was surprisingly very even, as the game reached half-time goalless and the game very much in the balance.

Newhaven seemed to up the ante slightly in the second half, and on 52 minutes struck the crossbar with a long range free-kick, with a couple of good chances for Ferring either side. Just after the hour mark, Newhaven did open the scoring when a free-kick from deep was floated to the far-post and an unmarked Jason Goddard headed in. Just two minutes later and Newhaven doubled their lead. A calamity looked on the cards from the Ferring goalkeeper throughout the match, often racing off his line and failing to deal with the ball, and this time he came charging out of his area to head the ball away, only for Mark Probert to take time to control the ball before expertly lobbing the keeper from long distance - a very good finish at this level. Ferring threatened several more times to score, but so did Newhaven, most notably on 68 minutes when a peach of a strike from outside the area hit the crossbar, and in injury time they had a goal disallowed for offside. So a predictable three points for Newhaven, which they deserved for their superior quality of play, but Ferring certainly came out with far more credit than they did in their previous encounter with Newhaven.

Barnet 2 v 1 Macclesfield Town

Friday 25th November 2011
Football League Two
Underhill, Barnet
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 2200
Match Rating: 4

Friday night league football with ticket prices reduced to £10.00 and an opportunity to return to a ground I visited many times in my schooldays with my Barnet supporting friend but had not visited for over eight years now inspired me to make the post-work trip to north London for this League 2 match.

After a rather unpleasant 45 minute rush hour tube journey from central London to High Barnet, I made my way down to the ground, about a five minute walk. I chose to sit behind one of the goals, in the all-seater South Stand, a new addition since my last visit. The usual cost of a seat here would be £17.00. Most of the rest of the ground has remained unchanged though. Along one length of the pitch is covered terracing, half of which is given to visiting supporters, who are also given a small temporary stand in the north-east corner of the ground - another addition since my last visit. The rest of the area behind this goal is a small uncovered terrace. On the remaining length of the pitch is an elevated old-fashioned all-seater stand, and to one side is a small all-seater stand - by far the most sparsely populated area for this evening's game - and on the other side is more uncovered terracing. With all railings painted in orange club colours, the ground has a very smart look about it and compares favourable with many other grounds in this league with far superior facilities but are possess far inferior character. The 64 page glossy programme was standard lower league fare and was a good read which took up plenty of my journey home.

Despite appointing former Northern Ireland and Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez as manager over the summer, and with a forward line that looks well above average for League Two in Izale McLeod and Steve Kabba, this season has still been a struggle so far for Barnet, perilously close to the drop zone in 21st place, although they have picked up some form recently, ironically away from home, gaining four wins on the spin on the road, two in the league, and two in cup competitions. Macclesfield Town have made a reasonable start to this season, and are much closer to the play-off positions than the relegation zone, and were in 14th place. They were not in the best of form though, picking up just one point from their last three games.

The game started in an even manner, although with a pattern emerging early on of the Barnet players clearly lacking confidence as they often lost possession too easily, whilst Macclesfield seemed quite short of ideas and seemed to rely on grit to get them through the game, and they looked slightly the more threatening in the early stage. As the half wore on, Barnet came back into the game and grew in confidence, and on 40 minutes they had the chance to take the lead, when Mark Marshall sprinted into the box before being dragged down by Carl Tremarco. Izale McLeod confidently struck the ball down the middle of the goal to give the home side the lead. This really seemed to give Barnet the impetus to push on as they mounted a few attacks in quick succession before they were awarded a second penalty just before half-time, given by the linesman rather than the referee, when Sam Deering surged into the box and was brought down by the keeper, Jose Veiga. Up stepped McLeod again and he scored again, this time low in the left hand corner.

A deserved lead for Barnet at half time, and at the start of the second half they controlled the game and there looked like only being one winner.However, just after the hour and completely out of the blue, Macclesfield pulled a goal back when the ball was rolled across the area to Matt Hamshaw in acres of space inside the box, and he smashed home high into the net. Predictably, this gave Macclesfield a lift, but within a couple of minutes they were down to ten men, when an awful lunging tackle by Ross Draper resulted in a red card, as well as a mass brawl. This was probably just what Barnet needed to break up Macclesfield's new-found momentum, and indeed, they saw the game out fairly comfortably for an important three points to lift them away from the relegation places.

Video of first goal:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_inUA7ILI6c
Video of second goal:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjWS-8O4XvQ

Chatham Town 2 v 3 Enfield Town

Saturday 19th November 2011
Ryman League Division 1 North
Maidstone Road, Chatham
Admission: £8.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 203
Match Rating: 4

Visiting the home ground of Chatham Town has proved incredibly elusive for me over the years, having been thwarted by weather conditions and late trains on previous attempts. But today would finally be the day when I would tick off my final senior football ground in Kent.

The Maidstone Road ground is about a twenty minute walk south from the town's train station, with a slight incline all the way, and it turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise considering Chatham would be far from considered my favourite Kentish town. It has a mixture of old and new, and with trees lining three sides of the pitch, the colours from which in the autumnal sunshine made for a very pleasant background. Straddling the half way line is an old-fashioned stand with bench seating throughout, whilst on the opposite side is a much smaller all-seater stand. Behind one of the goals is a large modern white building housing the bar and changing rooms, with just a few terrace stepsfor spectators to watch the action from. Behind the other goal is just hard standing, although with plenty of rubble and loose bricks scattered around that a keen health and safety officer may raise an eyebrow at. The 40 page programme covered the basics and was typical fare for the level of football, but with half the pages containing solely advertising, could hardly be considered value for money at £2.00.

Going into this game, Chatham were firmly anchored in the middle of the table, in 13th place in the 22 team league, although they are closer to the play-off places than the relegation zone. Their recent form has been quite poor, picking up just a win and a draw from their last from their last eight games. The visitors, buoyed by opening their new stadium in their home borough within the last week, are up in fourth place, four points off the leaders and have lost just two of their 15 games so far. They were unbeaten in their previous seven games, with five wins.

On a bright sunny day without a cloud in the sky, it was the visitors who settled the quickest, playing good football with some delightful touches in the opening minutes. So it was something of a surprise when it was the home side who opened the scoring on 20 minutes. Moments after they had a header cleared off the line, the ball was in the back of the net via a header off the underside of the bar - whether it was a Chatham forward or an own goal was much debated. On 31 minutes, Enfield Town were back on level terms when a quick attack was finished by Leon Osei, beating the keeper at his near post. Parity lasted just three minutes however, as Chatham went back into the lead, when a header by Jason Barton looped over the keeper and into the net. It was pretty much all Chatham now, and they had two fantastic chances to give themselves a more comfortable half time lead.

Similar to how the first half started, again it was the visitors who were in the ascendancy in the early stages of the second half, rarely looking like they could score though. However, on the hour mark came arguably the game changing moment, when an excellent throughball resulted on a run towards goal, only termined by a desperate lunge from a defender as the two entered the penalty area. A penalty was duly awarded, along with the mandatory red card for the defender, although bizarrely no action was taken against an Enfield Town player who pushed a Chatham player to the ground in the ensuing melee. The penalty was cooly converted by Liam Hope, shooting low to the left as the keeper dived the other way. 2-2, and very much game on. On 70 minutes, the visitors thought they had scored when  the ball was tapped in following a tremendous point-blank save by the keeper, but the goal was ruled out for off-side. However, on 81 minutes, Enfield Town did take the lead for the first time in the match, when a free kick from close to the corner flag was headed home by Daniel Ailey. Both teams had chances to score in the remainder of the game, but in the end it was Enfield Town who took all three points back to North London, and credit to them for coming from behind twice to eventually win the game, although the home side will kick themselves as they could and perhaps should have taken a more comfortable lead into the half-time interval.

Rhyl 0 v 0 Porthmadog

Sunday 13th November 2011
Cymru Alliance
Belle Vue, Rhyl
Admission : £6.00
Programme : £1.50
Attendance : 402
Match Rating : 3

The final game on my long weekend stay in Colwyn Bay would be on my way home. The original plan was to take in the Welsh Premiership game between Airbus UK Broughton and Afan Lido. This would not have been ideal, having to rely on Sunday buses to get to and from the ground from Chester, and happily various quirks of fate ensured that the Porthmadog v Rhyl was reversed at late notice, providing a much easier game in take in on my way home, to see two former Welsh Premiership clubs with strong ambitions to return (not always the case in Wales) in "sunny Rhyl".

The Belle Vue ground is located about 15 minutes from Rhyl town centre, slightly less from the train station and has quite an impressive and large fascia to the ground. One inside, the ground is almost completely all-seater. Behind the goal where one enters the ground is uncovered seating, with the "Legends Lounge" portakabin type building perched above. Behind the other goal is an all-seater stand. Spanning one length of the pitch is the largest all-seater stand in the ground, whereas on the other side is another all-seater stand, with the only standing areas in the ground either side of it. Unfortunately, all of the covered stands have many supporting pillars to obstruct one's view. The facilities are well in excess of what one usually encounters in the Cymru Alliance, and Belle Vue would be considered one of the best grounds in the Welsh Premiership - where they are surely destined to return sooner rather than later, having been demoted and then denied entry for off-the-pitch reasons. The 42 page programme was a good read although far overpriced at £2.00.

Today's match would be between two of the strongest teams in the Cymru Alliance. Rhyl currently sit on top of the league and have won eight games by at least four goals, twice scoring eight, and have already racked up a goal difference of plus 41 from their 11 games played. They have been formidable at home too, with a 100% record from their five games and only conceded two goals. Porthmadog sat in fourth place, just three points behind Rhyl and have only lost one league game this season - their previous game at Buckley. Porthmadog and Rhyl only played each other last week, when Rhyl triumphed 3-2 at Porthmadog in the Welsh Cup.

A good quality game was predicted between two good sides, and this quickly became apparent, and Rhyl almost took the lead on five minutes when a header hit the post. On 26 minutes, they again should have scored when the ball was blazed over from close range following a good cross. A few minutes later and they came close to scoring agaiin, when the forward beat the keeper to the header, but the ball just dropped over the bar. With the last kick of the half, Rhyl hit the post for a second time from a free-kick. Rhyl would certainly have been kicking themselves to have not scored in the first half, although Porthmadog certainly had their share of the play and also had some chances themselves.

The second half saw plenty of endeavour from both sides, again with Rhyl carving out the better chances, and roared on by a vocal and passionate support Rhyl came ever closer to scoring, but just couldn't find the goal. With five minutes remaining, Rhyl had Mark Powell sent off for a second yellow card, and in the end, both teams had to settle for a point, which no doubt the visitors would be much the happier with.

Colwyn Bay 2 v 1 Gainsborough Trinity

Saturday 12th November 2011
Conference North
Llanelian Road, Old Colwyn
Admission : £9.00
Programme : £1.50
Attendance : 436

The second game of my stay in the Colwyn Bay area was to be the "highlight" of my three planned games, to watch one of the half dozen Welsh clubs who have chosen to remain within the English non-league pyramid, in their first ever season in the Conference North.

Colwyn Bay's Llanelian Road ground is located about a half hour walk eastwards from Colwyn Bay rail station and town centre, and whilst it does not enjoy the spectacular background of many Welsh football grounds, nor any particular endearing character, it is a pleasant enough ground, with green hills either side of the ground giving a nice, rural feel. Some attractive wall murals also add a touch of uniqueness. Along one length of the pitch is an uncovered terrace of about a dozen steps, whilst along the other are two all-seater stands, with many obstructing pillars to obstruct one's view. These stands will have to be modified in the very near future, with the club recently receiving notice that they must be expanded to contain an extra row of seating to meet the required four, at an estimated cost of £30,000, or they will face demotion. It is difficult to see how these stands can be expanded. Behind one of the goals is a stand similar to the other two, again with obstructing pillars, with just one row of bench seating at the rear, and the stand is one of the lowest I can recall, very much a hazard for tall persons. Behind the other goal is hard standing, behind which is the clubhouse, changing rooms and a tea bar. In the corner there is a small all-seater stand reserved for the media. Following on from a bargain entry fee compared to what I am used to in the Conference South, the programme was also excellent value at £1.50, containing much interesting to read.

In their first season at this level having won promotion through the play-offs last season from the Northern Premier League, Colwyn Bay have had a good start to the season and were in eighth place in the league going into this game. Potential worrying signs have emerged though, as they have gained just two points from their last three games, and their manager Dave Challinor stepping down to bump up his pay packet at a club two divisions below Colwyn Bay, taking his assistant with him. Striker Jon Newby has taken over the reins for his first taste of management, and he would also play today. Gainsborough Trinity had a very good start to their season, winning five conscuive games in a purple patch between  August and September and are well inside the promotion play-off places in fourth position, although eight points behind the top two.

On a bright, sunny afternoon, from the first whistle, it was the visitors who grabbed the initiative and it was no surprise when they opened the scoring with just five minutes on the clock, when a cross was flicked on and Leon Mettam volleyed home powerfully off the underside of the crossbar.Gainsborough went on to dominate the remainder of the first half, always threatening the most to mount attacks but rarely really troubling the Colwyn Bay defence, whilst Colwyn Bay seemed to lack cohesion and nous. A 0-1 half-time lead to the visitors was a very accurate reflection on proceedings.

From the restart, Colwyn Bay seemed to have more purpose and more desire than they had shown in the first half, and within five minutes of the restart, Colwyn Bay equalised when a cross was headed home by Lee McEvilly. By now, Colwyn Bay were looking the more threatening and urgent side, and if there were to be a winner, they looked the most likely, and indeed, with quarter of an hour remaining, they went into the lead. A scramble at the corner flag suddenly resulted in a whipped cross into the box, and Karl Noon scored with a smart near post flicked header. Gainsborough seemed to have no answer to this as they continued to barely threaten for the rest of the match, indeed it was Colwyn Bay who passed up some presentable chances to extend their lead. In the end it did not matter, as Colwyn Bay claimed an important three points, the first win of Jon Newby's reign, and Gainsborough Trinity will reflect on how they managed to lose the initiative in a game they were dominant in up to half time.