Football League Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 18,380
Thursday, 27 December 2012
Monday, 24 December 2012
Langney Wanderers 5 v 1 Hollington United
Saturday 22nd December 2012
East Sussex League Premier Division
Eastbourne Sports Park, Eastbourne
Admission and programme: N/A
Attendance: 12 (head count)
Match Rating: 4
On a rare occasion in recent months when I had not planned to visit a
Football League or Premiership ground, it was rather unfortunate that recent
persistent heavy rain severely limited my choice of local non-league games
today. Constant torrential rain from the early hours of Saturday morning on
already saturated ground put paid to almost every non-league game in the
south-east. With the selection further reduced by wanting to avoid a revisit, I
headed to the south coast for a game on a synthetic pitch in the East Sussex
League.
Langney Wanderers played their early games in their debut season in the
East Sussex League at Shinewater Lane in Eastbourne, but have switched their
home venue to the Eastbourne Sports Park during the winter months, to make use
of the all-weather 3G pitch there. The Eastbourne Sports Park is located on the
northern fringes of Eastbourne, about a ten minute walk from Hampden Park train
station, and is a large sporting facility consisting of an athletics complex, a
tennis centre, eight grass football pitches (several other clubs in the East
Sussex League play on these) and the 3G pitch. Although positioned inside a
cage, the arena is surprisingly spectator friendly, with plenty of room to
stand behind railing along one length of the pitch, and around the rest of the
pitch is hard standing albeit without railings. Floodlights are present,
although they were not used today. As the pitch is also used for hockey, there
is a rather colourful array of coloured lines painted on the turf.
This match would be between two of the stronger teams in the East
Sussex League Premier Division. Hollington United have been the dominant force
in the league for years. They finished last season with a 100% record, and were
unbeaten this season, having won five and drew the other of their six games so
far this season, and were in second place in the league, behind St Leonards
Social on goal difference but with a game in hand. Langney Wanderers had only
played four games of their league season so far, winning three and losing the
other. They were in eighth place in the
eleven team league, but with at least two games in hand on all teams above them
and seven points behind the top two.
On a truly horrible afternoon of strong winds and persistent rain,
together increasing mist, Langney Wanderers were in the ascendancy in the early
stages and duly took the lead on 12 minutes, when a cross swirled high above
the goalmouth in the wind, before Riki Prodger headed in from close range at
the far post. Hollington seemed to be having real difficulty adapting to the
difficult conditions and the plastic pitch, and their cause was not helped when
their goalkeeper was injured on 35 minutes and had to be replaced by an
outfield player. He was beaten within four minutes, when a long low ball was
played forward, and Prodger sidefooted the keeper before tapping into the net.
On the stroke of half time, Prodger completed his hat=trick with a free-kick
from 25 yards which was drilled into the net through the replacement keeper’s
hands.
Hollington’s long unbeaten league record was now in serious doubt, but
within ten minutes of the restart, they got a goal back with a powerful shot on
the turn from just outside the penalty area into the top corner by Jake Stiles.
Game on, it seemed, however within two minutes, Langney Wanderers restored their
three goal advantage when Paul Rogers hit home from a low cross from 8 yards. Langney
Wanderers really should have scored several more, as they adopted a “shoot on
sight” policy to test the replacement goalkeeper, their stand-out chances being
when the ball was blazed over the bar twice from good positions and struck the
post. They finally did add a fifth ten minutes from time when the ball was
played neatly around the edge of the box, before Mark Coleman struck the ball powerfully
into the net from the edge of the penalty area, beating the keeper at his near
post. So a very convincing win for Langney Wanderers, who adapted to the
conditions far better than Hollington who, despite putting in plenty of effort,
just looked all at sea and increasingly demoralised in the driving rain on the
plastic pitch.
Thursday, 20 December 2012
Crowborough Athletic 4 v 2 Southwick
Tuesday 18th December 2012
Sussex Senior Cup Second Round
Alderbrook Stadium, Crowborough
Admission: £6.00
Programme: N/A
Attendance: 60 (estimate)
Match rating: 3
Attending local midweek games has recently become easier and more attractive with my recent acquisition of a car, and tonight I took the opportunity of a revisit to the Alderbrook Recreation Ground, a ground I visited on many occasions in my younger days, for a Sussex Senior Cup Second Round tie. The tie was originally drawn to be played at Southwick, however the recent bad weather meant that two previous attempts to play the tie at Southwick were postponed due to a waterlogged and then a frozen pitch, and competition rules dictated that the tie be switched to the away venue on the third attempt.
A description of the Alderbrook can be found here from my previous visit. Unfortunately programmes were not produced for tonight’s game, which was only hastily arranged last Friday. However, back issues of the programme were freely available in the tea room and seemed to follow a familiar recent pattern of programmes here – colour, and quite glossy, but rather light on content.
Surrendering home advantage would surely make an already seemingly tough task even more difficult for Southwick, who play in a division below Crowborough in the Sussex County League. Crowborough were in 14th place in Division One and were in good goalscoring form, having won their last three games, scoring 11 goals in the process, and had lost just once in their last six games. Southwick were in 10th place in Division Two. In the previous round of the Sussex Senior Cup, Southwick beat Wick 2-0 at home, whilst Crowborough won away at Little Common on penalties after a 3-3 draw.
On a chilly, slightly misty evening, the game started in fairly predictable fashion, with Crowborough very much on the front foot and with Southwick looking very limited. The only surprise was that it took Crowborough as long as 18 minutes to open the scoring with a fairly scrappy goal, the ball finally being drilled home by Alex Rich. That did not seem to inspire the home side, whose play seemed to then increasingly sink to the level of their lower league opponents, as the game became rather dull and littered with mistakes. It was still a surprise when Southwick were given the opportunity to equalise when they were awarded a penalty on 35 minutes when their forward was rather clumsily brought down from behind. Idie Adejoda drilled the penalty into the bottom left hand corner of the net. A minute before half time and it was Southwick who took an unexpected lead when Lewis Finny drove forward and lashed home a powerful shot past the keeper from a slight angle.
So a surprising half time scoreline, although within ten minutes of the restart, Crowborough were back on level terms with a penalty of their own, struck high into the net by Josh Biddlecombe. They went on to dominate the second half, although as the half wore on, extra time was looking ever more likely. However, ten minutes from time, Crowborough took the lead when a looping cross from close to the byline was headed home powerfully by Jack Turner, and the tie was wrapped up five minutes from time when Alex Rich scored his second and Crowborough’s fourth when he curled a low free-kick into the net. So it was Crowborough who progressed to the next round as expected, where they will face Ryman League outfit Three Bridges in January, however they were given an almighty scare by their lower league opponents and will certainly need to up their game when they become the lower league underdogs.
Sussex Senior Cup Second Round
Alderbrook Stadium, Crowborough
Admission: £6.00
Programme: N/A
Attendance: 60 (estimate)
Match rating: 3
Attending local midweek games has recently become easier and more attractive with my recent acquisition of a car, and tonight I took the opportunity of a revisit to the Alderbrook Recreation Ground, a ground I visited on many occasions in my younger days, for a Sussex Senior Cup Second Round tie. The tie was originally drawn to be played at Southwick, however the recent bad weather meant that two previous attempts to play the tie at Southwick were postponed due to a waterlogged and then a frozen pitch, and competition rules dictated that the tie be switched to the away venue on the third attempt.
A description of the Alderbrook can be found here from my previous visit. Unfortunately programmes were not produced for tonight’s game, which was only hastily arranged last Friday. However, back issues of the programme were freely available in the tea room and seemed to follow a familiar recent pattern of programmes here – colour, and quite glossy, but rather light on content.
Surrendering home advantage would surely make an already seemingly tough task even more difficult for Southwick, who play in a division below Crowborough in the Sussex County League. Crowborough were in 14th place in Division One and were in good goalscoring form, having won their last three games, scoring 11 goals in the process, and had lost just once in their last six games. Southwick were in 10th place in Division Two. In the previous round of the Sussex Senior Cup, Southwick beat Wick 2-0 at home, whilst Crowborough won away at Little Common on penalties after a 3-3 draw.
On a chilly, slightly misty evening, the game started in fairly predictable fashion, with Crowborough very much on the front foot and with Southwick looking very limited. The only surprise was that it took Crowborough as long as 18 minutes to open the scoring with a fairly scrappy goal, the ball finally being drilled home by Alex Rich. That did not seem to inspire the home side, whose play seemed to then increasingly sink to the level of their lower league opponents, as the game became rather dull and littered with mistakes. It was still a surprise when Southwick were given the opportunity to equalise when they were awarded a penalty on 35 minutes when their forward was rather clumsily brought down from behind. Idie Adejoda drilled the penalty into the bottom left hand corner of the net. A minute before half time and it was Southwick who took an unexpected lead when Lewis Finny drove forward and lashed home a powerful shot past the keeper from a slight angle.
So a surprising half time scoreline, although within ten minutes of the restart, Crowborough were back on level terms with a penalty of their own, struck high into the net by Josh Biddlecombe. They went on to dominate the second half, although as the half wore on, extra time was looking ever more likely. However, ten minutes from time, Crowborough took the lead when a looping cross from close to the byline was headed home powerfully by Jack Turner, and the tie was wrapped up five minutes from time when Alex Rich scored his second and Crowborough’s fourth when he curled a low free-kick into the net. So it was Crowborough who progressed to the next round as expected, where they will face Ryman League outfit Three Bridges in January, however they were given an almighty scare by their lower league opponents and will certainly need to up their game when they become the lower league underdogs.
Bolton Wanderers 2 v 0 Charlton Athletic
Saturday 15th December 2012
Football League Championship
Reebok Stadium, Horwich
Admission: £22.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 15991
Match rating: 2
With the opportunities of visiting new stadia following Charlton becoming ever scarcer these days, a visit to what was up to last season an established Premiership stadium, which has an attractive and distinctive design, was one of the stand-out fixtures for me to attend this season.
The Reebok Stadium is very conveniently located just a few minutes’ walk from Horwich Parkway rail station, and the sight of the stadium as one approaches it is certainly impressive, with its very neat, curved and unique design. In the middle of a roundabout adjacent to the stadium is the impressive 30m high “Spirit of Sport” stainless steel sculpture, which features over 700 images of persons who have been key to the sporting history of Bolton shaped into a gleaming trophy. Surrounding the rest of the stadium is a large retail park. Inside the stadium is again very easy on the eye, the legroom and views are excellent, and the capacity has been sensibly pitched to suit the level of support and to give the stadium an intimate feel. The programme was surprisingly priced at just £2.00, and was excellent value for money, having plenty of interesting material to read whilst omitting the endless articles of dubious interest that one often finds in the larger and more expensive publications usually found in the Football League.
Bolton have certainly not adapted well to life in the Championship, so much so that their season has already cost them one manager in Owen Coyle. They found themselves down in 18th place in the 24 team league going into this game, although eight points clear of the relegation zone. Recent results under new manager Dougie Freedman have been pretty uninspiring, drawing five of their last seven games, winning one and losing the other. Charlton have been in good recent form, unbeaten in their last seven games since the shocking 1-4 home defeat to Middlesbrough at the beginning of October, and were unbeaten on the road since 18th September.
On a very overcast but mild day, the first half was a fairly cagey affair, with Bolton playing lots of possession, passing football, but with no threat or penetration whatsoever. Charlton looked to have the more attacking intent, but were let down by poor final balls, and so it was unsurprising that the scoreline remained goalless at half time. One very surprising aspect of the first half was how incredibly quiet the Bolton fans were, giving the stadium a rather eerie feel, only disturbed, apart from the Charlton’s fans chants, by a chorus of boos from the home fans at the half time whistle.
The second half continued in a similar vein, with a bore draw seeming the most likely outcome, until the introduction of Bolton substitutes David N’Gog and Martin Petrov changed the game. On 74 minutes, the substitutes exchanged passes before N’Gog worked some magic before slotting past Ben Hamer in the Charlton goal. Six minutes later and it was 2-0 to Bolton, with a very similar goal to the first one, this time N’Gog combined with Kevin Davies before slotting home. Finally the Bolton fans were stirred into life and to make some noise, and their team was transformed as they should have scored at least one more, but the scoreline remained 2-0. In the end, Premiership quality proved the difference between the two sides, after Bolton had looked surprisingly poor and lacking in ideas throughout the first two thirds of the match, whilst Charlton will be wondering how on earth they did not claim at least a point from this match, with a frustrating feeling of Bolton being “there for the taking”.
Football League Championship
Reebok Stadium, Horwich
Admission: £22.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 15991
Match rating: 2
With the opportunities of visiting new stadia following Charlton becoming ever scarcer these days, a visit to what was up to last season an established Premiership stadium, which has an attractive and distinctive design, was one of the stand-out fixtures for me to attend this season.
The Reebok Stadium is very conveniently located just a few minutes’ walk from Horwich Parkway rail station, and the sight of the stadium as one approaches it is certainly impressive, with its very neat, curved and unique design. In the middle of a roundabout adjacent to the stadium is the impressive 30m high “Spirit of Sport” stainless steel sculpture, which features over 700 images of persons who have been key to the sporting history of Bolton shaped into a gleaming trophy. Surrounding the rest of the stadium is a large retail park. Inside the stadium is again very easy on the eye, the legroom and views are excellent, and the capacity has been sensibly pitched to suit the level of support and to give the stadium an intimate feel. The programme was surprisingly priced at just £2.00, and was excellent value for money, having plenty of interesting material to read whilst omitting the endless articles of dubious interest that one often finds in the larger and more expensive publications usually found in the Football League.
Bolton have certainly not adapted well to life in the Championship, so much so that their season has already cost them one manager in Owen Coyle. They found themselves down in 18th place in the 24 team league going into this game, although eight points clear of the relegation zone. Recent results under new manager Dougie Freedman have been pretty uninspiring, drawing five of their last seven games, winning one and losing the other. Charlton have been in good recent form, unbeaten in their last seven games since the shocking 1-4 home defeat to Middlesbrough at the beginning of October, and were unbeaten on the road since 18th September.
On a very overcast but mild day, the first half was a fairly cagey affair, with Bolton playing lots of possession, passing football, but with no threat or penetration whatsoever. Charlton looked to have the more attacking intent, but were let down by poor final balls, and so it was unsurprising that the scoreline remained goalless at half time. One very surprising aspect of the first half was how incredibly quiet the Bolton fans were, giving the stadium a rather eerie feel, only disturbed, apart from the Charlton’s fans chants, by a chorus of boos from the home fans at the half time whistle.
The second half continued in a similar vein, with a bore draw seeming the most likely outcome, until the introduction of Bolton substitutes David N’Gog and Martin Petrov changed the game. On 74 minutes, the substitutes exchanged passes before N’Gog worked some magic before slotting past Ben Hamer in the Charlton goal. Six minutes later and it was 2-0 to Bolton, with a very similar goal to the first one, this time N’Gog combined with Kevin Davies before slotting home. Finally the Bolton fans were stirred into life and to make some noise, and their team was transformed as they should have scored at least one more, but the scoreline remained 2-0. In the end, Premiership quality proved the difference between the two sides, after Bolton had looked surprisingly poor and lacking in ideas throughout the first two thirds of the match, whilst Charlton will be wondering how on earth they did not claim at least a point from this match, with a frustrating feeling of Bolton being “there for the taking”.
Charlton Athletic 2 v 2 Brighton and Hove Albion
Saturday 8th December 2012
Football League Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £5.00
Attendance: 19,018
Charlton Athletic 2 v 0 Peterborough United
Tuesday 27th November 2012
Football League Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 17,377
Charlton Athletic 1 v 1 Huddersfield Town
Saturday 24th November 2012
Football League Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 20,012
Match rating: 3
Match report can be found here
Football League Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 20,012
Match rating: 3
Match report can be found here
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Maidstone United 1 v 1 Walton Casuals
Saturday 17th November 2012
Ryman League Division One South
Gallagher Stadium, Maidstone
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 1755
Match rating: 4
On a seemingly rare Saturday that was not taken up with a Charlton game or a game in the Premiership, today would finally be the day when I would make my long awaited first visit to Maidstone United's brand new stadium. With reports of an excellent stadium and almost unbelievably high attendances of people making the most of being able to watch their team play back in the town after an absence of 25 years (as a senior club - they did play in the town in their years in junior football after their brief stay in the Football League ended in the club's liquidation)
The Gallagher Stadium is very conveniently located just about five minutes walk from either Maidstone East or Maidstone Barracks rail stations, or just a little more from the town centre, and as one may expect of a newly built stadium that has been desired for so long by the club, it is a very neat, smart and impressive facility. As one enters the ground at one corner of the ground, having paid a rather hefty (for the level of football) £10.00, there is a large grey building housing the clubhouse and changing rooms. Further along this length is the only seated accommodation in the ground, with just under 500 seats. Behind both goals are metallic stands covering a few steps of terracing, and around the whole pitch is spacious hard standing. The metallic fencing enclosing the ground actually looks quite attractive too, to complete a very easy on the eye stadium. The main talking point arguably is the pitch, which is of the 3G, plastic variety. To my knowledge, they are the first senior club in England to have installed a plastic pitch, time will tell if it proves to be a sound investment. The club will certainly benefit from hardly any games being postponed, but it may hinder their long term progress as a club, as plastic pitches have not yet been approved by leagues higher than the Ryman League. Indeed the ground does have the feel of a place where the club has little prospect of climbing through the leagues, with a small ground with surprisingly relatively few seats placed in the one main stand. The programme was also very attractive, in full colour and consisting of 36 pages, almost half of which were advertising, but there was still plenty of interest to read.
Maidstone United have certainly christened their new stadium with successful football on the pitch, and they went into today's game two points clear at the top of the table, with two games in hand. A run of ten games unbeaten in all competitions came to an end in midweek, when an understrength team lost a Kent Senior Cup game against Tonbridge Angels in midweek. They would apparently be "home bankers" for this game, with today's visitors Walton Casuals rock bottom of the league, and in their last league game last Saturday, they contrived to throw away a 6-1 lead to draw 6-6 at home to Merstham.
On a heavily overcast afternoon with another amazingly large attendance - 1755, Maidstone's second highest of the season - the game quickly settled into a pattern of Maidstone dominating proceedings and creating the best chances to score. As the chances were being missed, there was a feeling that, if one went in, that could be followed by several more, although to be fair to the lowly visitors, they played reasonably well too and had chances of their own. Surprisingly, the scoreline remained goalless at half time.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, if anything Maidstone dominating more and the chances being missed were ever more gilt edged, with a combination of poor decision making and some excellent goalkeeping. Just as it looked like Maidstone would kick themselves and have to settle for a point from a goalless draw, soon after they had a goal disallowed for offside, it seemed they wouldn't even get that as Walton Casuals took the lead completely against the run of play, and what a poor goal it was for Maidstone to give away. Poor, as well as bizarre. A long ball over the top left a one on one opportunity. Initially the keeper looked favourite to clear the ball, but inexplicably he turned his back on the ball and jogged back towards the goal, allowing Kieran Dias to knock the ball past the all-at-sea keeper. The home side certainly did not give up after this hammer blow, and continued driving forward in search of a goal. One finally came in the fifth minute of added on time, when a ball was played low across goal from wide by Warren Whiteley, and the ball was tapped home at the far post by Michael Phillips.There was still time for the visitors almost to go back into the lead, with just about the final kick of the game, but this time the keeper saved well.
Video highlights at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV-pOMHMip0
Ryman League Division One South
Gallagher Stadium, Maidstone
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 1755
Match rating: 4
On a seemingly rare Saturday that was not taken up with a Charlton game or a game in the Premiership, today would finally be the day when I would make my long awaited first visit to Maidstone United's brand new stadium. With reports of an excellent stadium and almost unbelievably high attendances of people making the most of being able to watch their team play back in the town after an absence of 25 years (as a senior club - they did play in the town in their years in junior football after their brief stay in the Football League ended in the club's liquidation)
The Gallagher Stadium is very conveniently located just about five minutes walk from either Maidstone East or Maidstone Barracks rail stations, or just a little more from the town centre, and as one may expect of a newly built stadium that has been desired for so long by the club, it is a very neat, smart and impressive facility. As one enters the ground at one corner of the ground, having paid a rather hefty (for the level of football) £10.00, there is a large grey building housing the clubhouse and changing rooms. Further along this length is the only seated accommodation in the ground, with just under 500 seats. Behind both goals are metallic stands covering a few steps of terracing, and around the whole pitch is spacious hard standing. The metallic fencing enclosing the ground actually looks quite attractive too, to complete a very easy on the eye stadium. The main talking point arguably is the pitch, which is of the 3G, plastic variety. To my knowledge, they are the first senior club in England to have installed a plastic pitch, time will tell if it proves to be a sound investment. The club will certainly benefit from hardly any games being postponed, but it may hinder their long term progress as a club, as plastic pitches have not yet been approved by leagues higher than the Ryman League. Indeed the ground does have the feel of a place where the club has little prospect of climbing through the leagues, with a small ground with surprisingly relatively few seats placed in the one main stand. The programme was also very attractive, in full colour and consisting of 36 pages, almost half of which were advertising, but there was still plenty of interest to read.
Maidstone United have certainly christened their new stadium with successful football on the pitch, and they went into today's game two points clear at the top of the table, with two games in hand. A run of ten games unbeaten in all competitions came to an end in midweek, when an understrength team lost a Kent Senior Cup game against Tonbridge Angels in midweek. They would apparently be "home bankers" for this game, with today's visitors Walton Casuals rock bottom of the league, and in their last league game last Saturday, they contrived to throw away a 6-1 lead to draw 6-6 at home to Merstham.
On a heavily overcast afternoon with another amazingly large attendance - 1755, Maidstone's second highest of the season - the game quickly settled into a pattern of Maidstone dominating proceedings and creating the best chances to score. As the chances were being missed, there was a feeling that, if one went in, that could be followed by several more, although to be fair to the lowly visitors, they played reasonably well too and had chances of their own. Surprisingly, the scoreline remained goalless at half time.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, if anything Maidstone dominating more and the chances being missed were ever more gilt edged, with a combination of poor decision making and some excellent goalkeeping. Just as it looked like Maidstone would kick themselves and have to settle for a point from a goalless draw, soon after they had a goal disallowed for offside, it seemed they wouldn't even get that as Walton Casuals took the lead completely against the run of play, and what a poor goal it was for Maidstone to give away. Poor, as well as bizarre. A long ball over the top left a one on one opportunity. Initially the keeper looked favourite to clear the ball, but inexplicably he turned his back on the ball and jogged back towards the goal, allowing Kieran Dias to knock the ball past the all-at-sea keeper. The home side certainly did not give up after this hammer blow, and continued driving forward in search of a goal. One finally came in the fifth minute of added on time, when a ball was played low across goal from wide by Warren Whiteley, and the ball was tapped home at the far post by Michael Phillips.There was still time for the visitors almost to go back into the lead, with just about the final kick of the game, but this time the keeper saved well.
Video highlights at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV-pOMHMip0
Southampton 1 v 1 Swansea City
Saturday 10th November 2012
FA Premier League
St Mary's, Southampton
Admission: £30.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 30,501
Match rating: 3
There was a double motivation in going to this game. First of all, it would be an opportunity to watch Swansea City - the club I followed closely when studying in Wales and who I still consider to be my "second club". It would also be an opportunity to tick off another league ground fairly close to home, which I had not previously visited.
St Mary's Stadium, which one passes closely by on the train approach into Southampton Central, is located about a twenty minute walk eastwards from the station, passing the city centre en route. As one tends to expect of newly built stadia, it is built amongst rather unattractive industrial buildings, although the stadium itself is impressive and sensibly built. Whilst its modern design and lack of individuality do not set the pulse racing, the stadium is very comfortable and roomy, with excellent views throughout and plenty of legroom, and the stadium has a nice symmetrical feel to it. It is also designed well to accommodate the level of support Southampton are likely to attract and make the most of the noise generated. The 76 page programme had a very attractive and classy cover, and the content inside did not disappoint, with plenty to read and few advertisements.
Coming into this game, Southampton were in dire straits in their first season back in the Premier League, rooted to the bottom of the table, having picked up just four points from their opening ten games, losing eight games in the process, and have picked up just one point from their last five league games, and were dumped out of the League Cup 0-3 by lower league Leeds United. After a successful debut season in the Premier League last season, when they finished in eleventh place Swansea City have had a solid start to this season, notwithstanding a change in manager from Liverpool bound Brendan Rodgers to Michael Laudrup and found themselves in eleventh place in the league with twelve points from ten games.
On a sunny afternoon, perhaps unsurprisingly given the current plight of the home team, the crowd was rather subdued with a rather cagey opening to the game on the field, and a pattern developed of Southampton probably playing the more direct, threatening football, although they were hampered by some poor passing and ball control, whilst Swansea played their usual brand of passing football without ever really threatening that they would score in the first half. A goalless halftime scoreline would not have been predicted before kick off, but it was a very fair reflection on first half proceedings.
In the second half, the home side really seemed to up the ante, as they took control of the game and it seemed only a matter of time before they would score. On 64 minutes, that goal finally came, when Rickie Lambert headed towards goal, and Morgan Schneiderlin chested the ball forward before heading past the onrushing keeper Gerhard Tremmel. The relief around the ground was palpable, with hopes raised of a priceless win raised. Southampton have had an awful defensive record so far this season, so it was little surprise that they gifted Swansea an equaliser just nine minutes after taking the lead. Southampton's young Argentinian goalkeeper Paolo Gazzaniga played an awkward pass out to his defender, Maya Yoshida, whose poor first touch allowed Nathan Dyer to take possession and race forward before dispatching a low shot past the keeper and into the net off the far post. Southampton still had chances to retake the lead during the rest of the game, although Swansea probably had the best chance of all to win the game, when only a last gasp tackle denied a tap in for substitute Itay Schechter. But in the end, it was a point apiece, which both sides will probably be happy with - although Southampton will probably kick themselves for not claiming the much needed three points, the one point they did get lifted them off the foot of the table, whilst Swansea picked up a fairly rare point on their travels, having previously lost three of their four away games this season.
FA Premier League
St Mary's, Southampton
Admission: £30.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 30,501
Match rating: 3
There was a double motivation in going to this game. First of all, it would be an opportunity to watch Swansea City - the club I followed closely when studying in Wales and who I still consider to be my "second club". It would also be an opportunity to tick off another league ground fairly close to home, which I had not previously visited.
St Mary's Stadium, which one passes closely by on the train approach into Southampton Central, is located about a twenty minute walk eastwards from the station, passing the city centre en route. As one tends to expect of newly built stadia, it is built amongst rather unattractive industrial buildings, although the stadium itself is impressive and sensibly built. Whilst its modern design and lack of individuality do not set the pulse racing, the stadium is very comfortable and roomy, with excellent views throughout and plenty of legroom, and the stadium has a nice symmetrical feel to it. It is also designed well to accommodate the level of support Southampton are likely to attract and make the most of the noise generated. The 76 page programme had a very attractive and classy cover, and the content inside did not disappoint, with plenty to read and few advertisements.
Coming into this game, Southampton were in dire straits in their first season back in the Premier League, rooted to the bottom of the table, having picked up just four points from their opening ten games, losing eight games in the process, and have picked up just one point from their last five league games, and were dumped out of the League Cup 0-3 by lower league Leeds United. After a successful debut season in the Premier League last season, when they finished in eleventh place Swansea City have had a solid start to this season, notwithstanding a change in manager from Liverpool bound Brendan Rodgers to Michael Laudrup and found themselves in eleventh place in the league with twelve points from ten games.
On a sunny afternoon, perhaps unsurprisingly given the current plight of the home team, the crowd was rather subdued with a rather cagey opening to the game on the field, and a pattern developed of Southampton probably playing the more direct, threatening football, although they were hampered by some poor passing and ball control, whilst Swansea played their usual brand of passing football without ever really threatening that they would score in the first half. A goalless halftime scoreline would not have been predicted before kick off, but it was a very fair reflection on first half proceedings.
In the second half, the home side really seemed to up the ante, as they took control of the game and it seemed only a matter of time before they would score. On 64 minutes, that goal finally came, when Rickie Lambert headed towards goal, and Morgan Schneiderlin chested the ball forward before heading past the onrushing keeper Gerhard Tremmel. The relief around the ground was palpable, with hopes raised of a priceless win raised. Southampton have had an awful defensive record so far this season, so it was little surprise that they gifted Swansea an equaliser just nine minutes after taking the lead. Southampton's young Argentinian goalkeeper Paolo Gazzaniga played an awkward pass out to his defender, Maya Yoshida, whose poor first touch allowed Nathan Dyer to take possession and race forward before dispatching a low shot past the keeper and into the net off the far post. Southampton still had chances to retake the lead during the rest of the game, although Swansea probably had the best chance of all to win the game, when only a last gasp tackle denied a tap in for substitute Itay Schechter. But in the end, it was a point apiece, which both sides will probably be happy with - although Southampton will probably kick themselves for not claiming the much needed three points, the one point they did get lifted them off the foot of the table, whilst Swansea picked up a fairly rare point on their travels, having previously lost three of their four away games this season.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)