Eastbourne United Association 1 v 2 Little Common (aet)

Tuesday 29th September 2015
The Oval, Eastbourne
Sussex RUR Cup 2nd Round
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 46
Match Rating: 3

After several weeks of not fancying midweek action, there was a plethora of attractive choices for me this evening. In the end, I chose to visit The Oval for a cup tie that was originally drawn with Little Common as the home team, but ongoing issues with their floodlights meant that the tie was switched.

Having been almost completely redeveloped in 2012, it is hardly surprising that there have been no obvious alterations to The Oval since my last visit in April 2014, and the programme remains of good quality with plenty to read inside.

On paper, the home team would be favourites this evening, as they play in the division above the visitors in the Southern Combination League (formerly the Sussex County League). Eastbourne United had won two and drawn two of their seven league games so far and were in twelfth place in the Premier Division. Little Common had won four and drawn three of their seven league games and were in seventh place in Division One. It would be interesting to see how the home team would react to their manager, who took the club to the FA Vase semi-finals a couple of seasons ago, resigning yesterday.

This evening was a sign of things to come, with a cold feel to the dry evening, and the game almost had an explosive start, with Little Common's Zac McInery seeing his header from a free kick come back off the bar, and then the home side went straight down the other end with a long ball finding Liam Baitup, but with the keeper in no mans land, Baitup fired tamely into the keeper's arms. The rest of the first half was surprisingly even, with Eastbourne disappointing with their rather sloppy and slow play, and Little Common, for the most part, stayed on level terms quite comfortably. The two teams traded a great chance to open the scoring - first Eastbourne saw a shot parried at blank range and then the follow up shot was ballooned over from close range, whilst Little Common saw a header from a corner cleared off the line.

90 seconds into the second half and Eastbourne took the lead, when Baitup thumped home an unstoppable shot. For most of the rest of the half, they looked comfortable in their lead without looking like to extend it, and in the final ten minutes, Little Common began to pile on the pressure, still without really convincing that they would score. However, in injury time they did just that when the ball from a throw in found Dan Ethersby, and his shot on the turn went hit the inside of the far post and went into the net. The visitors came close to winning the tie in normal time, but a close range header was held by the keeper.

But the tie went into extra time, which was not particularly welcome on a cold evening with a stiff breeze coming in from the Channel. Little Common continued with the momentum they ended normal time, and it was then not a surprise when they took the lead ten minutes into extra time when Will Spice glanced the ball with his head into the net via the inside of the far post. Surprisingly Eastbourne never looked likely to force a penalty shoot-out, and it was Little Common who looked much the more likely to score, but they did not need to and they progress to the next round, where they will host Crowborough Athletic of the Southern Counties East Football League, whilst Eastbourne United's new manager, Tobi Hutchinson, had a disappointing first game in charge.

Wingate and Finchley 2 v 1 Concord Rangers

Saturday 26th September 2015
Summers Lane, Finchley
FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 133
Match Rating: 3

Having missed the train preventing me to get to my intended game at AFC Stoneham in the Wessex League, I decided instead to head to north London for some FA Cup action. After two Saturdays of visiting some rather curious venues – one resembling a building site followed by a ridiculously oversized and inappropriate stadium for Step 6 football, I was looking forward to visiting what, by all accounts would be a much more traditional footballing venue.

Summers Lane is about a 15 minute walk from West Finchley tube station and is quite a pleasant ground, generally well maintained and with some quirkiness about it. Spectators are greeted by a range of bright and colourful signs of varying age at the roadside, and then after passing through a turnstile, one walks towards the main stand which straddles the half way line. It is easy on the eye, predominently white with a little blue and has a nice rounded finish to the roof. Whilst it does offer elevated views of the action, it is set a long way back from the pitch and has supporting pillars and floodlight pylons to get in the way of one's view. An interesting feature of the grandstand is that it is two facing, with the back wall separating seating facing the opposite way for spectators watching rugby on the adjacent pitch. Below the stand there are rows of uncovered terracing, with some quite attractive tiling and pathways, as well as a neat hedge and small trees adding to the aesthetic appearance of this length. Along the opposite length is three steps of quite narrow terracing, with the central section covered, and three small plastic pitches are located behind this length. There are narrow paths of hard standing behind both goals, with a small terrace stand immediately behind one of them. The programme promised much but delivered little, impressively and attractively designed but the 48 pages were heavy on advertising and light on interesting, relevant material.

This match had the ingredients to be an interesting FA Cup tie, with the home team doing well in the league below the visitors, who have not started their season well. Wingate and Finchley have gained twenty points from their opening ten league games and were in sixth place is the Isthmian League Premier Division. In the previous round of the FA Cup, they beat Long Buckby 0-4 away. Concord Rangers have picked up ten points from their opening 11 games in the National League South, but had lost their last three league games. Today would be their first game in this year’s competition, and they would be hoping for a repeat of last year’s run, when they reached the First Round proper, taking League Two Mansfield Town to a replay before losing 0-1 at home.

On a mainly warm and sunny afternoon, the game got off to a flying start, with the visitors taking the lead with barely a minute on the clock. After the keeper parried a goal bound header, Tony Stokes reacted first to poke the ball home from a slightly tight angle. The home side must have been fearing the worst, but Concord Rangers were in poor form, and indeed Wingate and Finchley got back on level terms on 16 minutes. They were awarded a free kick side just outside the area, which was tapped sideways to Tommy Tejan-Sie, who fired the ball into the net via the inside of the right hand post. The match then settled down, although both sides always looked they had a goal in them. The home side came closest to going into half time with a lead, when a header was blocked on the line on 36 minutes.

The second half was very much a half of two halves, with the visitors doing most of the attacking in the early stages but did not make the goalkeeper work hard enough, and the closest they came to retaking the lead was when a free kick hit the top of the crossbar before going over. The home side then went on to dominate, but rarely threatened at goal, and Concord Rangers had a great chance following a quick break, but the eventual shot was placed wide. A replay was looking inevitable, until Wingate and Finchley took the lead three minutes from time. Karl Oliyide ran onto a perfectly judged low throughball, and he tapped the ball to the side of the keeper before slotting the ball into the empty net. Concord Rangers never looked likely to save the tie in the remaining minutes as the home team kept the ball in their attacking third, and so it was they who await Monday’s Third Round draw after causing a minor shock today. Concord Rangers will be disappointed how their performance really tailed off in the final half hour, which ultimately cost them any chance of another stab at Football League opposition this season.

AC London 4 v 1 Eltham Palace

Saturday 19th September 2015
Crystal Palace National Sports Centre Stadium, Penge
Kent Invicta League
Admission: Free
Programme: Free
Attendance: 52 (head count)
Match Rating: 3

Although I had pretty much decided on a trip down to Hampshire today, my mind was changed when I noticed at Friday lunchtime that AC London were offering free admission for their first home game of the season and as a senior club, giving me the opportunity to tick off my final ground in the Kent Invicta League. I had a strong feeling that I had saved the most unusual venue at this level until last.

The Crystal Palace National Sports Centre Stadium is located just a couple of minutes walk from Crystal Palace rail station, or about a 20 minute walk from the station I used, Penge East, and is located within Crystal Palace Park, a very pleasant recreational area with the National Sports Centre located opposite the stadium. One enters the stadium via a narrow walkway opposite the Sports Centre to enter behind one of the goals. Spectators then look over what is surely a unique venue at this level of football where crowds almost always are two digit numbers - a 16,000 capacity all-seater stadium, which regularly hosted international athletics events including the London Grand Prix for almost 60 years until the construction of the facilities at the Olympic Park. It is now rarely used for major sporting events, and indeed has been recommended for demolition recently. To the right of the entrance, seating continues all the way down the closest length and around the far corner. The area along the length is covered, with some abandoned press boxes located to the rear. The rest of the seating is uncovered. Along the other length is a separate stand , whilst there are no facilities between this stand and the entrance. A very old fashioned scoreboard, now in a sorry, unusable state with birds nesting inside, is located behind this goal. It was a quite surreal place to watch step 6 football, that just smacks of being wholly inappropriate for a club in the Kent Invicta League – far too large, consequently lacking any kind of football club feel or character, yet lacking basic essentials such as dugouts or refreshment facilities, and inevitably, spectators are a long way from the pitch. Putting the suitability of the stadium for Kent Invicta League to one side, it is quite sad to see a stadium that was up to a few years ago the home of UK athletics decaying badly now that it is no longer used for major events. An 8 page programme was produced, basic and rather self congratulatory in its content but at least they produced a programme, which was offered free of charge or for a donation, unlike Kent Football United last week in this league.

AC London have had, what would seem to outsiders, a decent start to life as senior club, and in only their third year in existence. They have won twice and drawn once of their opening six games, all away. It has not been good enough for their 20 year old manager, founder and chairman, who branded their position “disgraceful” in a recent interview with local football site, www.kentishfootball.co.uk , blaming amongst other things referees, injuries and other teams' styles of play. AC London certainly do not seem to be your average step 6 club, not that that is necessarily a bad thing. Eltham Palace, who I saw lose 7-0 at Glebe on August Bank Holiday Monday, have had a very difficult start to their season, having lost all but one of their seven league games so far, and have shipped 34 goals so far.

On a warm and sunny afternoon, the home side started the better, and deservedly took the lead on 16 minutes with a great shot from the edge of the area by Suliesmar Naves. They were given the chance to double their lead on 33 minutes when they were awarded a penalty for a trip in the area. Gerni Pugas placed the ball into the bottom left corner with the keeper flat footed. The visitors did have a couple of good chances to pull a goal back, but AC London certainly deserved their two goal lead at the interval.

AC London made the game safe five minutes into the second half when the goalkeeper spilled the ball and the ball eventually fell at the feet of Jo Chun, who drilled the ball low through a crowd of players and into the net. They should have scored a fourth on 57 minutes when the keeper spilled the ball again, but the striker rushed his shot and fired wide from a tight angle, when he had time to get in a better position. The visiting keeper, after receiving lengthy treatment, partly redeemed himself with a couple of very good saves, but the some did score their fourth on 82 minutes when the ball was curled in by Huender Santos, taking a deflection which wrong footed the keeper and the ball bounced into the net. In added on time, Eltham Palace scored a consolation goal that they just about deserved when the keeper seemed uncertain whether to claim a ball played forward, and their forward struck the ball inside the post. AC London thought they had scored straight from the kick off, with a shot from the centre spot catching the keeper out of his area and the ball dropped into the net, but the referee disallowed the goal. But they still comfortably won, without playing particularly well, with little communication in evidence between the players, but Eltham Palace again looked woeful today, particularly defensively, and it will surely be a very long season for them.

So it was indeed a rather surreal experience today, and in my opinion, AC London's inclusion in senior football does nothing to improve its credibility, with a ground that is vastly oversized and completely inappropriate for this level of football, yet lacks the basic facilities and organisation that one would expect from a venue hosting senior football, whilst clubs are forced into intermediate football just because they do not have floodlights or enough seats for the handful of people who turn up. Still, a different experience today, which is always welcome on my travels. It is still very early days for AC London, a club with friendly and certainly very ambitious officials, and I wish them well as they develop the club. I just get the feeling that the move to senior football has been offered to them too early in their development.

Kent Football United 3 v 2 Lydd Town

Saturday 12th September 2015
Glentworth Sports Club, Dartford
Kent Invicta League
Admission: £5.00
Programme: None
Attendance: 36
Match Rating: 4

Although I had only passed through Dartford yesterday evening on my way home from a holiday in East Anglia, a lack of appealing local or FA Cup games meant I headed to north Kent to tick off my penultimate ground in the Kent Invicta League today.

The Glentworth Sports Club is about a 15 minute walk from Dartford train station via the town centre, and is located beyond a car park and the Glentworth Ex-Serviceman's Club, and one enters in one corner of the ground. Whilst this place has potential to become a decent and attractive ground, and plans are afoot to make it so, there is precious little if anything to recommend a visit here for as it stands currently, and was not a pleasant place to watch football today. A tea bar is located just inside the entrance to the right, with picnic tables on a large patio area to the left behind the goal. There are currently no floodlights nor stands here, nor any hard standing. The area between the tea bar and the half way line is more akin to a building site, with uneven soil and construction materials strewn around, and there are some wooden poles attached to the railing to suggest this is where a stand may be placed. Spectators are prevented from venturing beyond the dugouts along this length. Behind one of the goals, as well as a patio area, an uneven path runs from the pitch to the changing rooms, which appear rather rudimentary and are certainly not easy on the eye. Spectators are not allowed behind the opposite goal, whilst down the remaining length, spectators can stand on grass. Trees behind this length offer the potential for a reasonably attractive setting. A rare effort to improve the ground's appearance is blue sheeting draped from the pitchside railing. Despite being told the programmes were coming, they never arrived – apparently, from noting other groundhopper visits, it is hit or miss (mostly miss) whether programmes are issued here, which really is not good enough at senior level.

If this match were played last season, this probably would have been an away banker, as Kent Football United struggled at the foot of the table and Lydd Town looked for long periods that they could claim the one promotion spot available before falling away slightly to finish third. Indeed, Lydd won 0-7 here in February. Things seem to be a little different for Kent Football United this season though, having opened their league campaign with three wins and two draws from six games and came into this game in fifth place. They bowed out of the League Cup last Saturday though, with a 4-2 defeat at Bearsted. Lydd look to be one of the teams to beat again this season, with a 100% record from their first five league games, and won away to strugglers Rusthall in the League Cup 2-5 last Saturday.

On a warm and sunny afternoon, all the signs in the early stages were that this would be the expected away win, and Lydd duly took the lead on 4 minutes, when a ball forward by Ryan Smith drew the keeper out to the outer corner of his area and Gary Lockyer struck the ball low into the empty net. They doubled their lead three minutes later when Ryan Smith headed home from a corner. It really was looking like a case of how many Lydd would score, until what turned out to be the game changing moment arrived on 37 minutes. The home side were awarded a penalty for a hand ball, and Danny Bezant placed the ball into the bottom right corner which the keeper only just couldn’t get a hand to. In the last minute of the half, Kent Football United scored an equaliser with a wonderful goal, Jack Gibbons flighting a lovely shot from 25 yards over the keeper and the ball hit the underside of the bar and bounced over the line.

It was quite surprising that the scores were level of half time, and even more surprising when the home team then went into the lead two minutes after the interval when the ball was looped from the left over the keeper, and Michael Ring headed the ball home. Lydd really disappointed in the second half, as they seemed more interested in moaning and arguing than rolling up their sleeves to get back in the game, and Kent Football United had by far the better chances to score, coming close twice within a minute when the Lydd keeper had an air kick at a back pass and only just managed to kick the ball away before it crossed the line, and later on in the move, a shot was crashed off the post. Lydd had a couple of chances in the last five minutes, having the ball in the back of the net but the goal was ruled out for a foul on the keeper as the forward bulldozed the ball in from the player’s grasp, and then in a similar situation to their first goal, a Lydd forward fired the ball goalwards from an angle with the keeper drawn out, but this time a defender managed to clear the ball away before it crossed the line.

And so Kent Football United claimed the three points, and credit to them for responding so well after conceding two early goals, in contrast to Lydd who really threw away this game as they lost their composure and focus as things started to go against them.

This was an enjoyable game to watch, which made up for the disappointment of the ground and the lack of programme. I look forward to revisiting some time in the future when hopefully this will be a much tidier ground with facilities suitable to host senior football.