Crowborough Athletic 2 v 3 East Grinstead Town

Tuesday 26th November 2013
Sussex League Division One
Alderbrook Recreation Ground, Crowborough
Admission including Programme: £6.00
Attendance: 139
Match Rating: 3

My sixth visit of the season to the Alderbrook would be for a local derby, between two teams very much in form, and so everything pointed towards an intriguing, feisty encounter. The match certainly did not disappoint.

Crowborough's young team have continued their very promising campaign despite having a change in management recently. A victory against Horsham YMCA at the weekend hauled Crowborough up into third place, with 26 points from 14 games. East Grinstead had dropped just two points from their previous six games and went into this game in ninth place with 22 points from 13 games. An interesting aspect of this evening's game was that the assistant referees were father and daughter, Jason and Jessica Storrie - they would go on to perform very well and were hardly noticed, as should be the case.

On a cold, crisp evening, the game had an explosive start, with Crowborough taking the lead with just over a minute on the clock. Callum Ridley made an excellent run down the left to the edge of the six yard box before sliding a ball low across the goal, to gift debutant Jeffrey Mahodoo a tap in. It was an electric opening to the game for the home side, as a strangely lethargic East Grinstead team struggled to cope with Crowborough's energy. Indeed, Crowborough doubled their lead on six minutes, with a very similar goal to their first, again set up by Ridley's run down the left ending with a list cross to Mahadoo, who this time drove home powerfully from a slight angle. Gradually East Grinstead awoke from their slumber and started creating some presentable chances, but just as it was looking like Crowborough would retain their two goal lead, East Grinstead were awarded a penalty when George Hillier-Jones' sideways run into the box was ended by a foul by Jack Turner. Matt Geard struck the ball powerfully into the top left of the goal, to set up an intriguing second half.

Into the second half and it became ever clearer that the momentum was swinging towards the visitors. On 50 minutes, East Grinstead had a shot cleared off the line when the Crowborough keeper came to the edge of his area, didn't claim the ball and Chris Gregson hooked the ball goalwards. On 67 minutes, East Grinstead were awarded a second penalty, again Jack Turner was the guilty man pulling Sam Schaaf down in the area, and he was shown a second yellow card and then a red to reduce Crowborough to ten men. To continue the feeling of deja-vu, Geard hit the ball emphatically again into the top left hand side of the net. Seven minutes later and the turnaround was complete with East Grinstead taking the lead. A driving run from the right by Michael Belli finished with a low cross into the box and Geard tapped the ball home from close range to complete his hat-trick. Some of the Crowborough players seemed to really lose their composure and discipline at this stage, with one hefty tackle resulting in Geard having to be carried off, and a wild high lunge by Wayne Clarke on Hillier-Jones resulted in a straight red card for Clarke to reduce Crowborough to nine men, and the East Grinstead coach was also sent from the dugout. Yet another ugly late tackle by Crowborough substitute Elliott Wood could easily have resulted in a third red card for the home side, this time however the referee settled for a yellow card. The result was beyond little doubt now as East Grinstead held on comfortably for the remaining minutes to claim a valuable away win which sees them rise to fifth place. Full credit to East Grinstead for reacting extremely well to falling behind to two early goals, whilst Crowborough will wonder how they let a game slip away that they started so strongly, but perhaps this evening just proved that their young team has some more maturing to do before it can provide a consistent challenge at the top of the division.

London APSA 0 v 2 FC Romania

Saturday 23rd November 2013
Essex Senior League Premier Division
Terence McMillan Stadium, Plaistow
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 24
Match Rating: 3

Fancying a trip into London, I eventually chose to take in my first Essex Senior League game for several years, and a game that would have something of a twist, being two clubs made up, predominantly, of players from various ethnic minorities.

The Terence McMillan Stadium is located about a 15 minute walk north from Prince Regent Docklands Light Railway station, which itself is immediately adjacent to the ExCel exhibition centre. The ground is a completely sterile venue, is certainly not spectator friendly, inside or out, and has the feeling one is just in a random sports facility. There are no signs to guide people to the football stadium, until one reaches the front of the Newham Leisure Centre - which directs people to a locked gate. It turns out that spectators enter the stadium via the leisure centre, through a turnstile that the receptionist opens. Eventually, following one's nose through a corridor and opening an fire door, still with no signage as to where to go, one enters the ground in one corner, with admission taken at a table, with no club signage whatsoever or admission prices advertised. Close to the entrance along the length is a very rudimentary toilet and tea bar portakabin, and backing onto a sports hall quite attractively designed in green and white colour is overhang covering three rows of seating straddling the halfway line. With an athletics track surrounding the pitch, views are quite distant and the seating area doesn't provide much of an elevated view. Although there is hard standing around the rest of the ground, strangely spectators are seemingly not intended to go there, although grass banking and trees around this area do provide a fairly pleasant backdrop. The 24 page programme was rather basic in presentation, printed in black and white with a paper cover and the pages seemed a little jumbled, but in terms of content, it was one of the better ones at this level with plenty to read.

London All People's Sports Association, to give the club its full name, are having another season in the lower reaches of the division so far this season, in 15th place in the 20 team division, although they have played less games that most other teams and have only lost three of their twelve games so far. FC Romania have had a very encouraging start in senior football this season, having been promoted from the intermediate Middlesex County Football League last season. They were in fourth place going into today's game, having gained 27 points from their 15 games. Today's teams met in the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy last month, with London APSA winning 0-1 away.

On a bright, sunny but cold afternoon, FC Romania started the stronger, although good, skilful football always seemed to fizzle out in the final third, and the home team looked quite dangerous on their occasional forays forward. On 14 minutes, the visitors saw a low volley from Ilie Vasile come back off the post with the keeper a passenger, whilst on 22 minutes, the home side had a goal ruled out for offside when the ball was hit home by Fahad Nyanja at the far post. Right on the stroke of half time, FC Romania took a deserved lead when a clearing header upfield was flicked on into the path of Florin Pelecaci who took the ball forward before slotting it low past the keeper and into the net.

It was a deserved lead at the interval, but London APSA came out a more determined team in the second half and looked much more threatening than in the first half. They did seem to run out of puff as the half wore on though, and FC Romania made certain of the three points five minutes from time. A free kick was floated in from the right and the first player the ball dropped to couldn't get it under control, but eventually it fell at the feet of Andrei Simion at the far post, and he drove the ball emphatically into the net. The home side battled gamely to get a goal back, but FC Romania held on fairly comfortably for a deserved win. On a fairly drab occasion, proceedings were certainly livened up by a supporter of FC Romania, an Englishman who follows the club at every home and away game. All through the first half he constantly shouted support and advice to the players, who often did respond to the man's calls. Rather entertaining to listen to and a source of amusement to the Romanian nationals supporting the team, he became surprisingly as quiet as a mouse in the second half, but eccentric characters like him certainly make non league football.

Tunbridge Wells 1 v 0 Crowborough Athletic

Saturday 16th November 2013
FA Vase 2nd Round
Culverden Stadium, Tunbridge Wells
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 1,242
Match Rating: 3

Today would be a day of rather strange emotions for me. Having watched Tunbridge Wells' last three games in the FA Vase - including trips to County Durham and Wembley as they reached the final last year, today I would being the strange position of favouring the visiting team at the Culverden Stadium. Despite just seven miles separating the two towns, today would be the first ever competitive meeting between the two clubs.

There have been a number of improvements made to the ground since last season. There are now a number of large white display boards with club emblem and a message positioned along the entrance road and by the entrance itself. A good effort by the club, although they do look a little bit tacky and clumsily positioned. There is also a green portable housing a club shop now positioned outside the clubhouse. The programme is in much the same format as in previous years, 32 pages and with an attractive cover, but certainly overpriced at £1.50.

Today would certainly be a tough assignment for Crowborough, as Tunbridge Wells have certainly built on their successes of last season, both on and off the pitch. They currently lead the Southern Counties East League by two points having won nine of their twelve league games so far, and attendances over the first five games this season have averaged 306, by far the highest average in the league. They even managed to attract 285 fans for the second leg of League Cup tie in which they had lost the first leg 0-4! All a far cry from the not so distant days when they struggled to break the hundred fan mark! Being seeded having reached the final last hear, today would be Tunbridge Wells first game in this year's competition. Crowborough continue to have a very solid season, with a predominantly young team full of energy and some quality, and are in fifth place in the Sussex League Division One, gaining 23 points from 13 games. To reach this stage of the competition, Crowborough have beaten Southern Counties East outfit Holmesdale 4-2, followed by Epsom Athletic of the Combined Counties League Division One 1-0, both at home.

On a sunny afternoon with clear blue skies, the tone of the game was set straight from kick off, a full-blooded tackle after the first short pass from kick off. A great atmosphere was generated by both sets of fans in the 1200 plus crowd, and the match developed into a fully committed battle, with Crowborough more than holding their own. Indeed, they were denied what looked a clear penalty within the first couple of minutes, when Wayne Clarke's jinking run into the box ended with a tackle by Lewis mingle who seemed to get very little if any of the ball. And they settled to have more of possession and more of the presentable chances to break the deadlock. So it was somewhat against the run of play when Tunbridge Wells opened the scoring on 37 minutes  with a goal of real quality. Jon Pilbeam attacked down the right wing, beating several defenders before crossing to the impressive Andy Irvine, who had looked a real threat throughout the match, and his low shot clipped the inside of the post another ball rolled just behind the line.

1-0 was how it remained at half time, and Tunbridge Wells did a very good job at closing the game out in the second half, giving Crowborough very few sights of goal despite plenty of huff and puff. Their best chance came right on the final whistle, when Jason Barton, who moved from Tunbridge Wells in the summer having played a large role in their FA Vase run last year, saw his shot cleared off the line. But in the end, it was Tunbridge Wells who took their first step on a potential road to Wembley, whilst Crowborough deserve great credit for giving absolutely everything on the day and with a little more rub of the green, could well have forced a replay.

Dungannon Swifts 1 v 2 Glentoran

Saturday 9th November 2013
Northern Irish Premiership
Stangmore Park, Dungannon
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 788
Match Rating: 4

Having been a relatively frequent groundhopper to Northern Ireland back in the days of Ryanair fares of £10.00 return or less, today would be my first visit in three years, this time via Flybe. A last minute decision - when leaving Belfast City Airport - steered me away from a visit to Bangor and instead I headed west on a hour and a half coach journey into County Tyrone.

Stangmore Park is situated a mile and a half south east of Dungannon town centre. Somewhat frustratingly, the long distance coach from Belfast to Dungannon drives past the ground but does not stop. Set slightly below the adjoining main road, the ground is extremely neat, tidy and easy on the eye, perfectly adequate for Irish League football with modest attendances but it does have the feel of a Isthmian League Premier Division ground. One enters along one of the lengths, and an all-seater stand straddles the half way line, with a few steps of terracing either side. There is cover for a couple of terrace steps along the whole of the opposite length, although a low roof gives quite a corridor, bordering on claustrophobic feeling. Behind one goal is a few steps of terracing with the central area having cover, whilst behind the remaining goal is a covered stand with three rows of seating. The programme was very good, 40 pages all in colour, with plenty of interesting articles and information about both teams.

Dungannon have been in poor form recently, without a win in their last six games and picking up just two points, although one occasion those was last time out at Championship Crusaders and were only denied a win when Crusaders scored deep into added on time. Their last hone game resulted in a painful 0-5 defeat to local rivals Portadown. They were in ninth place in the 12 team division. Glentoran, by contrast, have been in very good recent form, unbeaten in five, picking up 13 points, a run which included a 2-1 home win against Dungannon. Glentoran were in fourth place in the division.

On a very chilly and overcast afternoon, and with the visiting fans outnumbering the home support, providing an excellent atmosphere and plenty of colour to proceedings, the game was even and competitive in the opening stages but it was the visitors - who had always shown a little bit more quality and composure - who took the lead on the half hour. Jordan Stewart, a youngster who has been earning rave reviews this season with some eye-catching performances, beat several defenders in quick succession down the left wing with some wonderful tricks before another defender put an end to the fun and games with a crude foul. The free kick floated in should have been comfortably caught by the Dungannon keeper but instead he dropped it to the feet of Marcus Kane, who hooked the ball home. Within a minute though, Dungannon were awarded a penalty for a clumsy sliding foul on Jamie Douglas as he sprinted into the box. Former Glentoran striker Darren Boyce smashed the ball high into the net to level the scores. After that burst of two goals in as many minutes, the game reverted time how it was before - competitive, increasingly feisty, enjoyable to watch, but with few chances for either side to score again.

Into the second half, and Glentoran seemed to step up a gear, but their task was made harder on 52 minutes when their defender Jimmy Callacher got into difficulties when he tried to control a long ball, Jamie Douglas stole possession and as he strode towards goal, Callacher brought him down from behind to earn a second yellow card and an early bath. Dermot McCaffrey struck the crossbar with the resulting crossbar. Dungannon had an even better opportunity to take the lead three minutes later when Boyce went through for a one on one against the keeper after a defender made a hash of cutting out a through ball and despite having all the time in the world to place his shot, Boyce snatched at it and the ball went wide of the left hand post. That miss was to prove costly as Glentoran then came back into the game after a shaky spell following the sending off. They went on to score a winner they probably deserved on 82 minutes. A corner was initially blocked and when it was eventually played to the far post, and Jason Hill volleyed the ball firmly into the net to cue wild celebrations from the Glentoran players and fans. They comfortably held out apart from a reasonable chance deep into injury time when the ball was headed just over by Boyce, and Glentoran rose to third place in the table - a good achievement following considerable upheaval over the summer, whilst Dungannon look a little more nervously over their shoulder, with just four points separating them from the relegation zone. Today's game was pretty much what I have come to expect from football in Northern Ireland - whilst the quality is often quite poor with frequent mistakes made, the football is generally extremely competitive, full of commitment and with a good atmosphere which makes for entertaining viewing - usually a stark contrast from the football played south of the border.

Goals and match report via the BBC website, http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24881699

Iden 3 v 2 Robertsbridge United

Saturday 2nd November 2013
East Sussex League Premier Division
Iden Recreation Ground, Iden
Admission and programme: Nil
Attendance: 28 (head count)
Match Rating: 4

Having planned to go to Battle Bonfire Night this evening, I decided to take in a local game at a venue I had not previously visited. And so - after some nervous checking of Twitter and the league website to ensure the game would take place following heavy rain during the week - I headed to the outskirts of Rye for a game in the intermediate level of the East Sussex League.

The Iden Recreation Ground is located just to the north of Iden village, which is a couple of miles north of Rye. As customary in the East Sussex League, facilities are very basic, although there are two improvised dugout shelters consisting of plastic sheeting, and a couple of advertising banners behind the shelters. There are no spectator facilities, however this is a scenic, very peaceful ground with a lovely feeling of quaint village football character. The undulating pitch is at the bottom of a slope from the car park and is part of a fairly large recreation ground incorporating a children's play area and cricket field. The pitch is closely lined by trees along three sides, giving it a very pleasant naturally enclosed feel. Behind the other length, the village church is visible above the slope of the recreation ground, with a cricket pavilion also used by the footballers situated to the right of the recreation ground a little way up the slope.

According to the current league table, this game would be between two of the stronger teams in the East Sussex League, with second placed Iden hosting third placed Robertsbridge United. Iden have won four and drawn two of their seven games, two points behind the perennial dominant force in the East Sussex League, Hollington United - quite an impressive performance after having to resign from the division last year due to ongoing struggles to put together a team. Robertsbridge are a point behind Iden, with four wins and a draw. Today's teams have already met in the league this season, with the match ending in a 2-2 draw.

On a very overcast and gusty afternoon, Iden made the early running and had several half chances to score, so it was against the run of play when Robertsbridge took the lead on 8 minutes. A low ball was played forward and a defender couldn't quite cut the ball out. Dominic Whittaker latched onto the ball and poked it goalwards past the onrushing keeper from just inside the area and despite the best efforts of a covering defender, trickled into the net. Within a minute, Iden almost equalised when a header from a corner was acrobatically saved. On 17 minutes, Iden did get a deserved equaliser. A free kick from a deep central position was flicked on and the ball fell to Rob Levett who tapped the ball home from a slight angle close range. On 21 minutes, Iden forced another point blank save, and the feature of play throughout the first half was of Iden playing the better football and posing a strong attacking threat, although Robertsbridge always looked dangerous with long balls pumped forward. 1-1 was how it remained at half time though.

Into the second half and conditions became very gloomy, giving way to a spell of heavy driving rain. On 61 minutes, Iden took the lead, Levett tapping home after the keeper fumbled a straightforward cross at a good height for him. Two minutes later and it was Robertsbridge's turn to profit from a poor fumble from the keeper, Guy Ballard tapping home from close range when the keeper dropped a cross that appeared simple enough to gather. The game remained entertaining for the remainder of the game, with both teams creating good chances to score, with by now Robertsbridge looking the more likely to score. However a couple of minutes from full-time, it was Iden who scored what turned out to be the winning goal, when a low shot from a slight angle took a deflection and the ball fell to Richard Weller who struck the ball home. In the end, the result was harsh on Robertsbridge, although a game that was well contested and frequently end to end was always likely to have a grandstand finish.