East Grinstead HC 5 v 0 SC Stroitel Brest

The final game of the day would see the host club, East Grinstead, play the Belorussian team, SC Stroitel Brest in Round One Group D. East Grinstead finished as runners up in the English League, and were eliminated in the second round of last season’s EHL competition. They also included three players from the Great Britain team that finished fourth in the Olympics. Stroitel Brest are certainly the leading team in Belarus, being reigning champions in Belarus and have won the Belarus league 17 times since the league’s formation in 1993. They also have ten members of the Belarus national team, although they are only ranked 31^st in the world.

If this was expected to be a comfortable opening victory for the home team, it did not shape up that way in the early stages, with the first quarter very even, East Grinstead probably had the best chances to take the lead but the Belorussian side deserved to see out the quarter on level terms. It was in the second quarter where almost all of the meaningful action took place, as East Grinstead blew their opponents away with four goals in eleven minutes. Andy Piper opened the scoring on 23 minutes, before Mark Pearn doubled their advantage on 27 minutes. Glenn Kirkham added a third on 32 minutes, and two minutes later, Piper scored his second of the game to give East Grinstead a four goal cushion.

It was game over really, and they added a fifth on 45 minutes through Adam Jordan. Sadly the game really petered out after that, with little attacking intent from either side, as Stroitel Brest seemed to want to concentrate on damage limitation, and East Grinstead were happy with what they had, and the last quarter was a total non event, as East Grinstead probably knew they had done enough to qualify for the next round.

Lille MHC 2 v 7 HC Bloemendaal

The second game of the day would be an intriguing game, with the French Champions, Lille MHC, paired against the perennially strong HC Bloemendaal, from the Netherlands in Group G of Round One. Lille haven’t played in the EHL since 2009, although last season they won the lesser tournament, the EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy. Bloemendaal won the EHL in 2008/9, although have only reached the Quarter-Finals in the last three seasons. The presence of five players of the Netherlands team that won silver at London 2012 pointed towards a very strong team and would make them the favourites for this encounter.

After a fairly even opening to the game, once the Dutch team took the lead, there was only ever going to be one convincing winner, as they opened up a two goal lead in the first quarter, Rogier Hoffman opening the scoring on 8 minutes, and Roel Bovendeert doubling Bloemendaal's advantage on 14 minutes. Olmer Meijer extended the lead to three on 20 minutes, before Lille pulled a goal back on a minute before half time.

It was after half time when Bloemendaal really took control of the game with some absolutely wonderful hockey, slicing through the Lille defence with almost embarassing ease. Teun de Nooijer scored Bloemendaal's fourth on 43 minutes, Bovendeert scored his second of the game and Bloemendaal's fifth on 49 minutes, before de Nooijer also scored his second and Bloemendaal's sixth goal just a minute later. With four minutes remaining, Ronald Brouwer scored the Dutch side's seventh goal, whilst Lille had the consolation of scoring the final goal with the last hit of the game through Fernando Mondaca. And so a very comfortable victory for Bloemendaal

KHC Dragons 2 v 1 Saint Germain HC

Friday 26th October 2012
Euro Hockey League Round One Group B
East Grinstead Sports Club, East Grinstead
Admission: €14.70
Programme: £5.00
Attendance; 1000 (estimate)

Having watched – and thoroughly enjoyed – two games of hockey at the London 2012 Olympics in the summer, I was very interested to go and watch hockey’s version of football’s Champions League being played over three days in East Grinstead. It would also be of interest to me as the hockey action I watched in the summer was the women’s version, whereas the Euro Hockey League action would be a men’s tournament.

This event was being held at East Grinstead Sports Club, the first time that any stage of the Euro Hockey League would be hosted in England. The ground is located about a half hour walk southwest from East Grinstead train station, with the waterbased artificial hockey pitch in the middle of various sports pitches. Spectators were guided from one corner of the pitch down one length, where a large uncovered temporary stand was placed on top of the three rows of uncovered seating that spectators usually make use of. Spectators were not allowed anywhere else around the pitch, but the venue was pleasant, nestled in amongst trees in a very rural and peaceful location. To cater for the much higher number of spectators than usual for this event, a large sports hall close to the pitch was open with a bar and various stalls, and outside were various refreshment tents. Tickets could be purchased at a reduced rate online – although payment had to be made in Euros – although as it turned out, I need not have bothered purchasing a ticket, as my ticket was not checked all day. Programmes were available at an expensive £5.00, although it was an excellent, informative publication of 48 pages.

The initial stage of the Euro Hockey League is hosted at two venues, with 24 teams divided into eight groups, half had already played out a tournament in Barcelona, the other half at East Grinstead. To qualify for the next stage of the competition, teams must finish in the top two of the three team group, with games being played between Friday and Sunday.

Although my ticket covered all four games to be played on the Friday, I decided to miss the first one with a 9.30 start, and arrived about an hour before the start of the second game, with Belgium’s KHC Dragons playing France’s St Germain HC. St Germain finished as runners up in the French league, but had not qualified for the two EHL tournaments. The KHC Dragons were runners up in the Belgian League but have qualified for the last three EHL tournaments, and claimed the bronze medal in last year’s tournament, the first Belgian side to claim a medal in the EHL.

On a cold day with intermittent light showers making conditions feel even colder, it was the French side who took the lead on 8 minutes, when a long ball played forward was not cut out, finally reaching Jean-Baptiste Pauchet on the touchline, who had plenty of time to get into a good position before firing past the keeper. However, the Dragons were back on level terms inside the first quarter, when they were awarded a penalty corner on 16 minutes, and the ball was duly smashed home by Loick Luypaert. The game became something of a stalemate during the second quarter, and so the scoreline remained 1-1 at half time.

Still the match remained a tight affair throughout the third quarter, but midway through the final quarter, on 58 minutes, the Dragons took the lead with a simple goal from close range by Jeffrey Thys. They held out fairly comfortably to claim a narrow victory, although Saint Germain also claimed a bonus point for not losing by more than two goals..

Charlton Athletic 0 v 1 Barnsley

Saturday 20th October 2012

Football League Championship

The Valley, Charlton

Admission: Season Ticket

Programme: £3.00

Attendance: 15,585

Match rating: 2

Match report can be found here

Northwood 5 v 1 Woodford United

Saturday 13th October 2012
Southern League Central Division
Chestnut Avenue, Northwood
Admission: Free for me, £8.00 normal admission
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 128
Match rating: 3

For my fare on "Non League Day 2012", I shortlisted the handful of clubs who commendably offered free admission to those with a season ticket to a Premier or Football League club. With the more attractive games at Hemel Hempstead and Canvey Island not the easiest to get to on public transport, I headed to west London armed with my Charlton Athletic season ticket still undecided as to whether to go to Uxbridge or Northwood - ultimately, as my tube train pulled into Baker Street, I reckoned that getting to Uxbridge would be a little tight, and so it was to Northwood I headed.

Chestnut Avenue is located about a ten minute walk from Northwood Hills tube station, and in all honesty, I felt the whole experience of my visit was full of contradictions, where clearly much effort has clearly been made to provide good facilities, however it somehow lacks much of what is special about this level of football. After their excellent free admission promotion and professional website, it was surprising that the ground was so difficult to find. The football club is signposted into Chestnut Avenue, but there is then no sign of the football ground as one walks down the dead-end road - ultimately I guessed that the ground must be down the side road signposted for allotments, and ultimately I was correct. It was also surprising that the ground was not opened until less than half an hour before kick off, and although visitors were clearly signposted towards the clubhouse, it did not feel a particularly welcoming environment for new visitors. Once inside the ground, the setting was surprisingly very pleasant for a London venue. Completely enclosed by tall trees and a rising recreation ground behind one of the lengths, there are three sections of a mainly all-seated stand along one length, whilst there are a few steps of covered terracing behind one of the goals. Along the other length is a covered terrace from the corner flag - where the teams enter the field of play - until just before the half way line, whilst around the rest of the pitch is hard standing. A slightly elevated view can be obtained from one corner of the ground, and I had the impression that there would be a rather spooky feel to the ground on a dank, misty winter’s evening, with the large graveyard behind the trees behind the goal. The facilities are generally very neat and tidy, and so it is a shame that the tea bar is a rather scruffy looking structure, providing pretty poor standard of refreshments, and that litter has been left strewn around the ground from weeks previously. It was also a pity that on a day of aiming to attract new fans to the club, so little effort seemed to have been made to really leave an impression with those people to make them want to return, with a very downbeat atmosphere around the place. Perhaps my assessment is a little harsh – I just felt that, whilst clearly much effort is put into running the club, the final touches to really attract new spectators were missing. I had heard that the programmes at Northwood are excellent, and I was certainly not disappointed. In fact, I really could not fault it, with more interesting and relevant information than one would often find in the Football League, very readable with an attractive and professional design, a quite stunning effort from a club in the fourth tier of non league football with a perennially low matchday readership.

This game would be between two of the early strugglers in the league. Northwood went into the game in 14th place in the 22 team league, with two wins and a draw from their opening seven games, although they had an excellent run in the FA Cup, winning three away games before bowing out to Conference South outfit Boreham Wood. Woodford United have had a disastrous start to their season, rock bottom and pointless after their opening eight games, having scored just two goals all season.

With the sun shining brightly at kick off, the visitors almost took a surprise lead with just five minutes on the clock, when a free kick was curled onto the post, however Northwood went straight up the other end to open the scoring, when Oliver Hawkins met a free kick with a glancing header and the ball went in off the post. Ten minutes later and Woodford were back on level terms when the goalkeeper surprisingly decided not to come out to claim a high, looping cross into the box, and the ball was headed onto the keeper's shin by Tom Fountain and the ball squirmed into the net. Unsurprisingly given their position, Woodford made it quite clear they would be happy with a point as they engaged in blatant timewasting in the first half. It seemed to work, as the game became disjointed up to half time, at which time the scoreline remained level.

However, six minutes into the second half and Northwood started to gain complete control of the match. A corner was passed around the edge of the box, before John Christian hit home a powerful half volley from 20 yards out. Three minutes later and Northwood opened up a two goal lead with another fine goal, when the ball was crossed low to Christian, who volleyed home. On 67 minutes, the home scored their fourth, when Adamson Ajayi drove deep into the box but instead of shooting, showed excellent patience and composure in working the best opportunity for himself to score, which he did when he curled the ball low into the net facing the other way. Northwood scored their fifth just two minutes later with a really simple goal against increasingly beleagured opposition - a cross into the box was nodded home by the unmarked Hawkins for his second of the game. Just as one feared the scoreline could take on embarassing proportions, the triple substitution Northwood made immediately after scoring their fifth goal seemed to kill the game, as did a prolonged heavy hail shower. They still had further good chances to score more though, although credit to Woodford who kept battling gamely and had a couple of decent chances to score a second, despite having a player sent off five minutes from time for a stamp on a player. 

Sidley United 1 v 1 Selsey

Saturday 6^th October 2012

Sussex County League Division One

The Gullivers, Sidley

Admission: £5.00

Programme: 50p

Attendance: 47

Match Rating: 4

I had originally planned to dip into the East Sussex League today with a visit to Ninfield United or Hooe Sports, however heavy overnight rain meant that I did not fancy taking a chance on a village recreation ground. Instead, after confirmation that all three of Bexhill’s senior clubs would be playing, I chose a revisit to The Gullivers, although my previous visit was six years ago.

The Gullivers is about a twenty minute walk from Bexhill train station, just off Sidley high street, and regular buses ply the route. The ground is shared with the cricket club, however it still manages to retain an intimate, enclosed feel to the ground, something which is often lacking from such shared facilities. As one enters the ground, along the length of the pitch stretching to the right is a rather claustrophobic stand with a couple of terrace steps, with a low roof and the relatively tall enclosed dugouts built into the stand. Apparently this stand is living on borrowed time though, as the club is hoping to replace it with a more modern and spacious version. An addition to the ground to my last visit was an all-seater prefab stand, positioned adjacent to the older stand. Behind one of the goals is hard standing, and one continues along that path between the clubhouse and cricket pitch to reach the tea bar, and another entrance to the ground. Along the other length of the pitch are temporary barriers, with no hard standing due to the cricket pitch. A stone wall provides the boundary from the tea bar to one corner of the ground behind the cricket pitch, up a steep incline to the other corner of the ground, and so indeed, one corner of the football pitch has quite a marked incline. Behind the remaining goal, hard standing only stretches from the length with the stands to the goal. Special mention must be made of the programme, for which only 50p is charged, a far fairer and more realistic price than the £1.00 or more that is usually charged at this level. And a very reasonable publication it is too, printed on glossy paper, with an attractive cover, has a very professional look throughout and contains all the basics one needs for the match.

Today’s game would be between two apparently closely matched mid table teams, separated by one point and one place, but who are probably more looking over their shoulder than pushing towards glory. Sidley United were in 16^th place in the 22 team league, and have picked up just one point from their last four games. Selsey were in better recent form, having picked up seven points from their last four games and were in 15^th place having played a game less than Sidley.

The heavy overnight rain had given way to blue skies and bright sunshine during the day, although the rain had certainly left its mark, with the pitch suffering from the pre-match warm up and indeed it cut up badly as the game wore on, making conditions tricky to play football. The early stages were pretty even, Sidley probably just shaded it, although Selsey had to make a sub as early as the fourth minute after an extremely robust – but fair – tackle. On 34 minutes, it was the home side who took the lead, when a rather ambitious long range daisy cutter of a shot by Andy Hales took a deflection off a defender’s boot and the ball fell to James Taylor, who lifted the ball over the keeper and into the net.

The scoreline remained 1-0 to the home side, but in the second half, they seemed to lose their way somewhat and were reliant on some fantastic last ditch tackles to prevent Selsey from scoring. However Selsey did get an equaliser on 59 minutes. Straight after Sidley had a good chance to extend their lead, Selsey went straight down the other end and a shot across goal struck defender Jack Cooper and the ball rolled gently into the net for an own goal. Both sides pushed hard for a winner for the remainder of the pitch – it appeared most likely to come from Selsey, although they seemed to lack ideas in the final third, and it was Sidley who had the stand out chance, when Dominic Cooper saw his header hit the bar from a free kick five minutes from time. In the end, a point apiece was probably the right result and credit to both teams for producing a very entertaining game full of attacking endeavour and effort on a tricky, muddy pitch.

The following photos were taken in June 2013 - with the ground abandoned since April when the owner Sidley Sports and Social Club ceased trading, eventually leading to Sidley United withdrawing from football for the 2013/14 season - hopefully for one season only...