Old Hastonians 1 v 2 Eastbourne Rangers

Monday 30th March 2015
Wisden Sports Challenge Cup Final
The Polegrove, Bexhill-on-Sea
Admission and Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 100 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

This evening I headed to the Polegrove for the second time this season, to take in the second of this season's East Sussex League cup finals which, on league status alone, would be a higher standard than last Monday's final at Little Common.

This game was the Cup Final for teams in Divisions One and Two of the East Sussex League, and therefore it was quite a surprise, as well as a considerable achievement, that tonight's teams currently both ply their trade in Division Two. They both look destined for Division One next season though, with Eastbourne Rangers top of the table with 39 points, having won 13 of their 15 league games and needing just a point to secure the title. Old Hastonians are in second place, with 26 points from 12 league games, although being only four points ahead of third placed JC Tackleway having played two games more, could still be pipped to the runners up spot. In the league, Eastbourne won 0-4 at Old Hastonians, who were unable to raise a side for the reverse fixture in February. To reach tonight's final, Old Hastonians were drawn away in every round, winning 4-6 at Crowhurst, 2-3 at JC Tackleway, 2-4 at Ticehurst and 1-2 at Wadhurst United. By contrast, Eastbourne Rangers have been drawn at home in every round, winning 9-0 against Sandhurst, 5-2 against Wittersham and 4-0 against Bexhill AAC. Similar to last week's cup final, a perfectly adequate programme was produced for this evening's game.

On a horrible evening for football, with squally misty rain almost constant throughout, this was unsurprisingly an even game, with Eastbourne looking the more likely to score during the first half, which they duly did on 39 minutes. After the Old Hastonians' keeper pulled off a terrific reflex save to keep out a bullet header from a corner, from the resultant corner, the keeper made an unconvincing punch out, the ball was headed back towards goal and Connor Sullivan managed to deflect the ball through a crowd of players and into the net.

Into the second half, and gradually Old Hastonians assumed the ascendancy, forcing a couple of good saves before what, one sensed, would be the game changing moment, when Old Hastonians were awarded a penalty after a deliberate handball by Lee Chapman, for which he was shown a straight red card. Tom Cusden placed his penalty into the bottom right corner, and after Eastbourne Rangers appeared to be coasting towards lifting the cup, suddenly the momentum very much swayed towards Old Hastonians, and they had a couple of chances to take the lead. As the 90 minute mark came and went, extra-time loomed large, but then out of nothing, in the second minute of added on time, Eastbourne Rangers won the cup with an absolute screamer by Luke Barber. Running onto the ball, his shot from 25 yards went over the keeper and into the roof of the net, to cue wild celebrations amongst the players, coaching staff and their vocal fans, as the Old Hastonian players were crestfallen. The referee blew his whistle soon after, and it was the Eastbourne Rangers fans who lifted the cup shortly afterwards. It was hard not to feel some sympathy for Old Hastonians, but credit to Eastbourne Rangers, who overcame going down to ten men and who could easily have caved in in the foul weather conditions as Old Hastonians became increasingly dominant.

Hertford Town 2 v 1 Cockfosters

Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division

Saturday 28th March 2015

Hertingfordbury Park, Hertford

Admission: £2.00

Programme: £1.00

Attendance: 559

Match Rating: 3

With a few options of clubs in the south-east offering reduced or "pay what you want" admission today, I plumped for a visit to Hertingfordbury Park, which was hosting a charity day, as well as an open day for a local junior football club. This match would also be my first taste of South Midlands League action for several seasons.

Hertingfordbury Park is located about a twenty minute walk from Hertford North train station, and turned out to be quite a pleasant ground to visit, having some character with a fairly rural setting. One enters through a turnstile block in a corner, and moving towards the half way line is hard standing, behind and slightly above which is a large flat area, where a barbecue was in operation today under a gazebo. Beyond this is a fairly small white building housing the clubhouse and tea bar, then there is a small wooden garden shed housing the club shop, before the highlight of the ground, a tall old style pitched roof stand straddling the half way line. It doesn't offer the greatest of views, with large obscuring pillars, but it is always refreshing to see more traditional stands, this one complete with wooden fold-up seats (as well as plastic replacement ones). Beyond this stand, there is just hand standing, stretching behind one of the goals and along the other length. Behind the remaining goal, a pitched roof covers six terrace steps. The ground has a nice leafy setting - which clearly would be even more attractive in the summer/early autumn months, and a railway viaduct also provides an attractive backdrop behind the main stand. The 20 page programme was attractive and professionally produced, covered the important stats but was light on reading, although it was good to read about the charities benefitting from the proceeds of today's match, as well as of the partner junior club, Bengeo Tigers, who played several games on the pitch before and after the adults match.

Both teams are stuck firmly in mid table, with nothing left to play for in the league this season. Hertford are in ninth place, with 51 points from 33 games, whilst Cockfosters are in 15th place in the 22 team division, with 34 points from 31 games. When the two teams met in early November, Hertford won 0-3. Hertford actually had a player away on international duty today, Dajour Buffonge playing for Montserrat in their World Cup qualifying game against Curacao.

On a dry, fairly mild afternoon, playing conditions were made difficult by a hard, bobbly pitch and a strong gusty wind, and so it was little surprise that the first half was even, with few goalscoring chances created until the home side took the lead on 22 minutes. Tommy Wade  got on the end of a long punt up the field by the keeper which carried in the wind fell, ran towards goal before firing a low shot across the keeper and into the far corner from just inside the area. 1-0 was how it remained at half time, a scoreline which suitably reflected a tight first half that Hertford just shaded.

Into the second half and Hertford showed some more attacking intent, still rarely looking like scoring another though, until they did on 68 minutes. Wade controlled a long punt upfield well before slipping the ball perfectly into the path of Jordan Watson, who strode forward, kept a defender at bay before shooting low across the keeper and into the net. That was the decisive goal, as Hertford controlled the remainder of the game, at least until the third minute of added on time. Moments after Hertford could have scored a third when Charlie Evans placed a low shot just wide of the keeper, Cockfosters got a goal back. A free kick was swung in to the back post, the ball was headed across goal and Davie Evans tapped the ball home from close range. It was too little too late though, as Hertford secured the win on their big day.

The whole day was a real credit to the club, showcasing youth football in the town, and donating the admission proceeds of the day to two charities, and it was very pleasing to see the club rewarded with a relatively huge attendance, albeit that the vast majority of the attendance was made up of children participating in their own games of football.

Hailsham Athletico 0 v 1 Ticehurst II

Eastbourne Coach Finishers Challenge Cup Final

Monday 23rd March 2015

Recreation Ground, Little Common

Admission and Programme: £3.00

Attendance: 65 (estimate)

Match Rating: 3

With the intention of attending most if not all of the cup finals featuring East Sussex League club this season, tonight I attended the first, which was for the lowest ranked teams in the league.

Tonight's game was the final of a competition for clubs in the bottom two divisions of the East Sussex League, Divisions 5 and 6. The two teams are both only in their second seasons in existence, with Hailsham Athletico being formed and Ticehurst entering a second team for the first time, both clubs would be competing for their first piece of silverware. In the league, Hailsham Atletico are currently in fourth position, with 23 points from 12 games, but with at least two games in hand on the top three, a runners up spot is quite attainable. Ticehurst II are in seventh place in the 12 team division, with 15 points from just ten games, so a top half table looks likely. The two teams have not met in the league yet this season, and will play both games in a double-header fixture in early May. To reach tonight's final, Hailsham Atletico beat Sedlescombe Rangers II 4-5 away, then lost 1-5 to Mayfield but were awarded the tie after Mayfield fielded an ineligible player, and beat Orington 0-2 in the semifinal, whilst Ticehurst II beat Icklesham Casuals II 1-10 away, AFC St Leonard's 3-6 away, Victoria Baptists 1-3 away, and holders Grasshopper Old Boys on penalties in the semifinal.

On a dry but very chilly evening, this game was full of commitment throughout, with plenty of full blooded but generally legal challenges going in, although the occasionally theatrical reactions of Hailsham's players to strong challenges was disappointing. Although the match was very even, it was Hailsham who carved out more clear goalscoring opportunities, particularly during the second half, but saw efforts on goal go just the wrong side of the woodwork or drew good saves from the keeper, although Ticehurst certainly had their moments too.

As the second half drew to a conclusion, extra-time seemed a certainty to endure for the freezing cold spectators, until Ticehurst were awarded a penalty after a Hailsham defender handled the ball in the area. Alex Kingshott struck the ball to the bottom left corner, despite the keeper getting a faint touch as the ball passed him. Within a minute, Hailsham did have a chance to force extra time, but a long punt down field was headed on and just over the bar. And so it was Ticehurst who held on to lift the trophy shortly after the final whistle. Hailsham will be disappointed to be on the losing side having squandered several good chances to score, but this was certainly no smash and grab victory by Ticehurst, who more than contributed  to an entertaining and fully committed ninety minutes of football, and was a good advert for the quality of the lowest divisions of the East Sussex League.

Charlton Athletic 3 v 2 Reading

Saturday 21st February 2015
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 15,007
Match Rating: 3

Today I headed to The Valley for the second consecutive Saturday - before three Saturdays with Charlton not playing at home - hoping for an altogether better performance than last week's drab, somewhat lazy one.

Charlton won their midweek fixture against rock-bottom (and cast adrift) Blackpool 0-3, a result that could have been expected, but was the kind of fixture, far away in the north-west on a cold Tuesday evening, that could have tested the team's motivation, particularly after last week's performance, with realistically nothing left to play for this season. Charlton went into this game in 11th position, with 51 points from 38 games, 14 points adrift of the play-offs with eight games remaining. Despite reachng the FA Cup semi-finals, Reading have had a very average season in the league, and went into this game in 18th place, with 44 points from 37 games, ten points clear of the relegation zone. Their recent form has not been good, winning just once and drawing one of their last five league games. Charlton would be looking to complete a rare double this afternoon, having won at the Madejski Stadium 0-1 in early November with something of a smash and grab victory.

On a dry but very chilly afternoon, the first half was a very tepid affair, with very goalscoring chances and the game being played at a very leisurely pace. Reading took the lead on 39 minutes, when Pavel Progrebnyak received a pass from Jordan Obita deep inside the area, took a touch and fired the ball home from fairly close range.

A faint chorus of boos from the home fans greeted the half time whistle, however Charlton were certainly transformed in the second half, showing much more urgency - another sign perhaps that manager Guy Luzon has the ability to transform a poor performance - and they were duly rewarded. After Tony Watt sidefooted the ball wide when he should have scored, and Yoni Buyens had his goalbound shot well blocked by a defender, Charlton were awarded a penalty on 57 minutes, when Michael Hector handled the ball. Yoni Buyens stepped up to smash the ball into the top right hand corner, for his seventh consecutive penalty conversion. Charlton continued to create good chances, the pick of which saw an unmarked Chris Eagles somehow head over the bar when perfectly placed, but they did take the lead on 69 minutes. 17 year old defender Joe Gomez curled the ball in from the right, and Buyens maaged to turn the ball in with a flick of his body. Still Charlton continued to press forward, substitute Simon Church was denied by an excellent block by the Reading keeper Adam Federici, Charlton did score a seemingly match winning third on 79 minutes though, when Tony Watt drove to the byline, beating a couple of defenders before crossing the ball along the goal, allowing Church an easy tap in from a yard or two to score against his former club. The result really did seem all but confirmed five minutes from time when an exchange between Watt and Reading's Daniel Williams resulted in yellow cards for both players, a second yellow for Williams meaning a red card for him. Deep into injury time, Reading pulled a goal back, when Progrebnyak poked the ball home after Charlton couldn't cut out a low cross into the box, but that was in the fourth of five added on minutes and Charlton claimed the victory they deserved for their second half performance. After the doom and gloom engulfing the club at the turn of the year, things really are looking up for Charlton now. Guy Luzon, who was greeted with considerable apathy if not bad feeling, with the feeling amongst Charlton fans that he was just a puppet of the Belgian owner, who was the cheap, most available option rather than a positive one. As time has gone on, he has proved a refreshing approach with an attacking philosophy, with the ability to change a game when things are not going well. It's just a shame that the incredibly poor run of form between November and February put paid to any realistic play-off chances.

Video highlights of this game can be found here

Hailsham Town 1 v 2 Horsham YMCA

Tuesday 17th March 2015

The Beaconsfield, Hailsham

Admission: £5.00

Programme: 50p

Attendance: 52

Match Rating: 3

For my midweek game, which is actually proving quite a rare occurrence for me so far in 2015, this evening I headed to Hailsham. Although I had only visited the Beaconsfield as recently as late January, this game fitted the bill of a local game to watch after work, after a refreshing pint of Guinness in recognition of St Patrick's Day.

Hailsham's position in the league has deteriorated since my last visit, and they are now third bottom in the table with 27 points from 30 games, although they are seemingly safe from any relegation worries, as the two clubs occupying the relegation places are 20 and 22 points adrift of Hailsham. Prospects were high of witnessing plenty of goals though, with Hailsham having scored 69 league goals, the fifth highest in the division, but have conceded 92, the second highest in the division. After watching this evening's visiting team win impressively against high flying Eastbourne Town, they have won one, drawn one and lost the other of their games since. They came into this game in seventh place, with 47 points from 30 games. It's fair to say that Hailsham would be looking for some revenge this evening, having lost 11-0 at Horsham YMCA in October, and indeed conceded 20 goals on their last two visits to Gorings Mead. Tonight's programme was the original produced for the original match postponed on 21st February, plus a four page insert for this evening's fixture.

On a dry, fairly mild evening, this was to prove a strange game in that Horsham always looked to be the team more in control of the game, yet it was Hailsham who created by far the better goalscoring chances. Indeed, if they had converted half of their gilt edged chances, they would have won this game comfortably. After Hailsham had fluffed two one on one situations and saw a shot go past the stranded keeper but drop go wide of the post, the visitors took the lead on 36 minutes. Dave Brown took advantage of some hesitancy between keeper and defender to prod the ball home. They almost doubled their lead two minutes later, but a free header from a central position, getting on the end of a perfectly looping cross from the right, dropped just wide of the post.

Into the second half and the game followed the same pattern as the first, and indeed, just minutes after Hailsham spurned another one on one opportunity, Horsham went on the attack, the ball was pulled back from the by line into the area, and the shot was ballooned over the bar, although the referee judged he was fouled in the process and a penalty was awarded. Dan Sullivan stroked the ball into the bottom left corner, despite the keeper diving the right way. Hailsham finally did manage to put the ball in the back of the net on 76 minutes. The Horsham keeper had an air kick at the ball following a sideways pass from his defender, the ball was retrieved from the edge of the area, and Jack Divall drilled the ball home low inside the keeper's near post. Horsham closed the game out quite comfortably though, to claim a narrow win, and although they played the better football, Hailsham will really kick themselves at failing to convert at least half a dozen clear goalscoring opportunities.

Charlton Athletic 1 v 3 Blackburn Rovers

Football League Championship

Saturday 14th March 2015

The Valley, Charlton

Admission: Season Ticket

Programme: £3.00

Attendance: 14,888

Match Rating: 2

For my latest installment in following Charlton through a season of high peaks and low troughs, it was with optimism that I headed to The Valley, albeit with little meaningful resting on the games now. Not that that is a bad thing, after seeming to be relentlessly heading towards the relegation zone up until mid February.

After yet another win, coming from behind to win 1-2 at Cardiff last Saturday, after winning 2-1 at home to Nottingham Forest the previous Tuesday, Charlton have won their last three games and five of their last six, and went into today's game in 12th place, and are now closer to the playoffs than the relegation zone, albeit 14 points adrift. Blackburn were in tenth place, on 51 points were 3 points better off than Charlton and have won their last two league games, and drew at Liverpool in the FA Cup. Charlton were looking for some revenge against Blackburn, having lost 2-0 away just before Christmas, and 1-2 at home in the third round of the FA Cup.

On a chilly, overcast afternoon, this turned out to be a very disappointing, lacklustre and sloppy performance from Charlton, who got what they deserved out of this game. Despite starting fairly well, it was the visitors who took the lead on 15 minutes, when Jordan Rhodes latched onto a throw in, evaded the attentions of Tal Ben Haim, before hitting a low shot across the keeper and into the net via the inside of the post. Blackburn doubled their lead three minutes later, when Roger Johnson got in a tangle receiving the pass, Craig Conway dispossessed him, strode forward with the ball before firing low past the keeper. It was to prove Conway's last contribution, as he was immediately substituted with an injury. Charlton almost pulled a goal back on 20 minutes, but Igor Vetokele saw his powerful shot skim the top side of the bar, and although Tony Watt came close a couple of times, overall Blackburn deserved their 0-2 halftime lead.

After the game continued to meander along to a seemingly comfortable away win, Charlton were awarded a penalty on 57 minutes when Vetokele was clattered by the keeper when going up for a header, although surprisingly the keeper was only shown a yellow card despite being the last man and clearly denying a goalscoring opportunity. Yoni Buyens drilled the ball low into the bottom right hand corner of the net for his sixth successful penalty conversion of the season. That did inspire the home side to have their best spell of the game and came close to grabbing an, overall, undeserved equaliser - Vetokele again hitting the crossbar following a header from a Bulot cross, whilst Watt broke clear of the defence but placed his shot just wide of the left hand post. But on 78 minuted, Blackburn restored their two goal lead when Chris Taylor's shot ballooned high into the air and over the defence, allowing Rhodes, in acres of space inside the area to nod the ball home from close range. And that was that, as Blackburn deservedly took home the three points and completed the treble over charl Charlton. After such an impressive recent run, this was a surprisingly poor and sloppy performance from Charlton, in which none of the players impressed, and which hopefully will prove to be a one-off as they prepare to travel to bottom of the table Blackpool in midweek before hosting Reading next Saturday.

Video highlights of this game can be found here

Bowers and Pitsea 0 v 0 Barking

Saturday 7th March 2015
Essex Senior League
Len Salmon Stadium, Pitsea
Admission: £6.00
Programme: Sold Out
Attendance: 91
Match Rating: 2

This match was not even on my radar until after 2pm. After eventually deciding against a game in the East Sussex League, I headed towards Essex for Concord Rangers' Community Day, which offered free entry to their Conference South game against St Albans City and various activities including the Barclays Premier League trophy being present. However, as I approached the Dartford Tunnel, the M25 was jammed solid, and despite attempting to negotiate my way around the back streets of Swanley and Dartford, the added delay in missing a turning meant that I would not get to the ground in time for kick off. And so a quick scan of the Essex Senior League fixtures resulted in what was, on paper, an attractive looking fixture at Bowers and Pitsea. If fate drew me to this fixture, it certainly dealt me a bad hand...

The Len Salmon Stadium is situated to the north east of Pitsea, close to the A13 and a mile and a half walk from Pitsea rail station, and is a rather unremarkable ground that is not pleasing on the eye, in a rather ramshackle state set amongst not a particularly pleasant housing area. After passing by the social club brick building and through some of the car park, one enters the ground through a decent turnstile block, along one length of the pitch. To the left, there is a tea bar room and officials area, in front of which are a couple of rows of terracing, whilst beyond that is a small stand offering three rows of seating. Beyond that and the players' tunnel are a couple of uncovered terrace steps. To the other side of the entrance are a couple of portakabins, one housing the toilets, whilst behind the goal closest to these portakabins, cover extends from corner to corner. Behind the other goal is just hard standing, whilst the remaining length is out of bounds to spectators, chiefly as it is closely lined by trees. It appears that the club underestimated how many spectators would attend this game, as they had sold out programmes by the time I arrived ten minutes before kick-off - although apparently that was arguably a piece of good fortune for me, as the programme had extremely limited content - and the tea bar had sold out of hot food by half time.

The omens were very good for this game, with both teams in the hunt for the title and came into this game in fantastic form. Barking had won 11 of their last 13 games and topped the table, with 70 points from 28 games, although they were only three points ahead of Haringey Borough having played three games more. They had scored four goals in each of their last three matches, two of them away from home. Bowers and Pitsea were in fifth place in the table, with 47 points, but had only played 20 games and so have between five and eleven games in hand on the clubs above them. They had won their last 12 games, ten in the league. They won 1-6 at home in midweek and had not failed to score in a game since early November. When today's two teams met in August, the match finished goalless.

On a warm, sunny afternoon, this match turned into a huge disappointment, partly due to a pitch in a terrible condition that was soft underfoot, patched up and uneven, and also partly due to both teams adopting a very physical approach to nullify the attacking threat of the other, with aggressive late tackles, elbows and blatant pushes, which the referee, who was inconsistent all game, failed to deal with adequately, and the only real surprise was that the game did not really descend into a war zone thanks to his lack of consistent and appropriate control, and that none of the players came away with serious injury. Barking, who had a very decent following today, had the better of the first half, their more direct, lump it forward approach better suited to the tricky surface, and they saw several attempts on goal go just high or wide of goal, or were denied by a last ditch tackle.

The home side had the better of the second half, which happily became less physical than the first half, although Barking saw a header go just over the bar shortly after the break, and another shocking decision by the referee saw him award Barking a free kick in their own half whilst their striker had got on the end of a long ball forward and was bearing down on goal. Bowers and Pitsea had the more chances to break the deadlock overall in the second half, but in the end, the two teams cancelled each other and they both took a point which did little for either team's title challenge. Barking remained top but only by one point having played three games more, after Haringey Borough scored a last minute winner today, whilst Bowers and Pitsea drop a place to sixth.

Video highlights of the first half can be found here, whilst highlights of the second half can be found here