FC Halifax Town 1 v 0 Grimsby Town

Sunday 22nd May 2016
FA Trophy Final
Wembley Stadium, London
Admission: £25.00 (Combined ticket with FA Trophy Final)
Programme: £5.00
Attendance: 46,781 (total combined with FA Trophy Final)
Match Rating: 2

Following the FA Vase final, and a roughly two hour break during which spectators were forced to stay inside the stadium and make the most of entertainment sporadically placed on concourses and overpriced and narrow range of refreshments on offer, the FA Trophy took place with a 4.15 kick off.

Just as there were clear favourites in the FA Vase final, so there would be in this FA Trophy game. Intriguingly, it pitched together two teams competing in the National League this season, but who will be separated by two divisions next season. Grimsby Town will return to the Football League next season after a six year absence, having won the Play-Off final last Sunday, also at Wembley Stadium. They finished the regular season in fourth place, with 22 wins and 14 draws of their 46 league games. Needing a win to ensure survival on the final day of the season, FC Halifax Town could only draw, resulting in relegation to the National League North, finishing fourth bottom, with 12 wins and 12 draws from their 46 games. In the league meetings, Grimsby won 7-0 at home in October, whilst Halifax won their home game 4-2 in February.

Unfortunately, but perhaps predictably between two professional teams, this match did match the excitement and attacking intent of the morning game, particularly during the first half, which was a rather dull and cagey affair, with chances at a premium and perhaps at least some of the Grimsby players were finding it difficult to raise their game one more time, a week after clinching promotion at the same stadium last week.

The game was crying out for a goal to liven things up, and a quite wonderful goal did come just a couple of minutes after the break. Richard Peniket got to the byline and crossed the ball into the six yard box, the keeper got a faint touch to push it out, and a couple of Grimsby defenders couldn't properly clear the ball, and Scott McManus ran onto the ball to curly it first time from outside of the area into the top right hand corner. That certainly sparked Grimsby into life, although Halifax still looked quite comfortable, and it was not until the final few minutes that Grimsby really threatened to score. A powerful close-range header from a corner went straight into the keeper's arms, and right at the end of added on time, with the keeper up for a corner, a shot on the turn was cleared on the line. Halifax had a couple of good chances of their own in the closing minutes, but one goal was enough to send their 10,000 fans into jubilation at the final whistle. The underdogs certainly deserved their victory, which was a small consolation to savour after the bitter disappointment of relegation.

Reflecting on the day, I think combining the two finals was a success, with the total attendance being testament to that. The format probably ensures that the FA Vase final has a future at Wembley Stadium. However, it should be noted that the attendance figure was skewed by the very large Hereford support, which probably accounted for around 10,000 fans more than most other FA Vase finalists would hope to bring along. And while the format of two finals in one day is very appealing to neutral groundhoppers, fans of the participating clubs did not stick around for the other fixture of the day. It was also disappointing that spectators were not allowed to leave and re-enter the stadium during the day, meaning that they were trapped inside a stadium with not that much to do and were exposed to a high priced and narrow range of refreshments.

Hereford 1 v 4 Morpeth Town

Sunday 22nd May 2016
FA Vase Final
Wembley Stadium, London
Admission: £25.00 (Combined ticket with FA Trophy Final)
Programme: £5.00
Attendance: 46,781 (total combined with FA Trophy Final)
Match Rating: 4

Today I decided to support the so-called Non-League Finals Day when, for the first time, the FA Vase and FA Trophy finals would be played on the same day, and spectators could watch both games for the one ticket price. It would be interesting to see how the experiment worked, as particularly with the FA Vase final, attendances previously barely reached 10,000, and so there was growing appetite to take the final away from Wembley, which would be a shame indeed, given the massive incentive for clubs at steps 5 and 6 to have a big day out at the home of English football.

The programme today was not the usual glossy publication produced for big days at Wembley, instead seeming to be of the recycled variety. It consisted of 78 pages in total, with exactly half devoted to each final, and it contained plenty of interesting reading material, interviews, club presentations, penpics and the roads to Wembley.

Although teams from the Northern League have dominated FA Vase finals over recent years, providing the winners on six of the last seven seasons, their representative today, Morpeth Town, were the underdogs today. Hereford have had a dream reincarnation in their debut season, after former League club Hereford United were wound up last season. They won the Midland Premier League at a canter, racking up 108 points and 138 goals from their 42 League games, losing only four in the process, and now look forward to Southern League Football next season. They overcame eight clubs to reach today’s game, most recently a battle of the large phoenix clubs, against Salisbury, narrowly winning both legs to progress 3-2 on aggregate. Incredibly, almost 20,000 tickets were sold to Hereford supporters, compared to just 4,000 in the Morpeth section, understandably considering the very long distance and lunch time kick off. Morpeth Town finished in fourth place in the Northern League, and defeated holders North Shields 2-0 on their way through nine ties to reach today’s final.

On a bright and fairly warm afternoon, with this match kicking off at 12.15, the game had an electric start, with Hereford opening the scoring with barely over a minute on the clock. Rob Purdie, who made over a century of Football League appearances for Hereford United, ran towards the edge of the area before firing a low shot past the keeper’s dive and just inside the post. It looked more and more like it would be a long afternoon for Morpeth as Hereford dominated, Sirdic Grant saw a shot from the edge of the area hit the bar, and a minute later, the ball was laid on a plate for Pablo Heysham to tuck the ball home from six yards, but he lost his footing and the chance went begging. Morpeth were edging back into the game though, and scored an equaliser on 32 minutes. The keeper failed to get his hands on the ball as it was whipped in following a corner, and the ball cannoned off the chest of 45 year old Chris Swailes, and the ball found its way into the net. Five minutes later and it was Morpeth’s turn to miss a sitter, this time Michael Chilton mishitting hit shot from a few yards out, but the scoreline remained level at the break.

Just as the first half had, the second half also got off to an explosive start, but this time it was Morpeth who took the lead. Some patient passing in and around the box ended with Luke Carr guiding the ball delicately low beyond the keeper’s reach and into the net. Hereford looked less threatening than they had before the break, and Morpeth scored their third on 59 minutes. The ball was threaded through the defence and Sean Taylor cooly tucked the ball inside the near post. Although one thought Hereford would have the quality to mean this game was far from over even being two goals behind, they rarely threatened to replicate their good attacking play of the first half as Morpeth kept on forcing the pace rather than sitting back on their lead. Hereford did have a shot cleared off the line on 90 minutes, but midway through the four minutes added on time, Morpeth scored their fourth. A slide rule pass through the defence enabled Shaun Bell to run onto the ball and fire home with the aid of a deflection off a defender’s legs.

So yet again a Northern League team lifted the FA Vase, and in the end they deserved their win with a solid, bold and attack minded performance, and showed great team spirit to react so positively to going behind so early on against a team who were massive favourites to win today. For Hereford it was a case of what might have been, had they converted their superior first half play into more goals

Sporting Hackney 1 v 2 FC Assyria

Saturday 21st May 2016
Middlesex County League Premier Division
Hackney Marshes Show Pitch, Hackney
Admission: Free
Programme: Free
Attendance: 16 (head count)
Match Rating: 3

With only literally a handful of games in the south-east to choose from now, and even those at risk from last minute call-off's due to player availability issues, or matches being played on back pitches, I decided to head for one of the most iconic grass-roots footballing venues of all.

Although not the closest train or tube station, I decided to walk from Stratford station today, which allowed me to walk through the length of the Olympic Park, with Hackney Marshes just to the north west of the park. On arriving at the complex, visitors enter the Hackney Marshes Centre, a large red building housing many changing rooms and other sporting facilities, and a bar on the upper level. Sporting Hackney play their games on the Show Pitch, which is immediately outside the centre. The pitch is taped off, but no hard standing or other spectator facilities are available. The centre, a large stone wall stretching back to the main road, and some colourful trees behind, make for an attractive background to the pitch along one length, while behind the rest of the pitch are some of the other more basic 80+ sports pitches stretching into the distance behind one of the goals. Whilst ambition is there for Sporting Hackney to progress into senior football, they will have to move homes in order to do that, with no possibility of upgrading the Hackney Marshes show pitch due to it being common land which cannot be developed. With it being a remote possibility indeed finding a suitable, affordable location to construct a football ground within the borough. Very much a bonus at this level was that a programme was produced today, with a handful left on the Centre’s reception desk for people to help themselves to. It consisted of four pages produced on a colour printer, with introductions to both clubs, up to date league table, and predicted line-ups.

On this, the final day of the league season, there was absolutely nothing riding on this game. Sport Hackney are certain to finish in 14th place in the 18 team division, having won seven and drawn six of their 33 games. FC Assyria are certain to finish in ninth place, having won 16 and drawn two of their 33 games. The reverse fixture of this match was played on the first day of the season, back in early August, with FC Assyria triumphing 4-0.

On a mostly overcast afternoon with a gusty breeze, the visitors dominated this game for long periods, showing some great trickery and inventive passing which cut open the home defence frequently. They took the lead on 7 minutes, when their forward received the ball on the left wing, dribbled towards goal, evading a defender, and although he could have a shot on goal from a slight angle, he passed to his team mate Andrew Isaac in a more central position, who fired the ball home. They came close a couple of times to doubling their lead before half time, seeing a shot hit the post on 34 minutes, while the ball was hacked away from a couple of yards out on 38 minutes. But they retained their slender lead at half time, giving Hackney hope they could get something out of this game if they could raise their game a little after the break.

However, within 3 minutes of the restart, FC Assyria did double their lead with another well worked goal. A lovely pass down the wing sprang the offside trap, and George Hedley ran towards goal, wrong footed the keeper before passing into an empty net. The game seemed as good as won now, and they looked much the likelier to score again, but too often seemed to want to take too many touches or pass the ball instead of shooting at goal. Hackney did gradually come back into the game in the last quarter, but it wasn’t until five minutes from time when they pulled a goal back, Yas Ibrahim eventually managing to find the back of the net despite the ball hitting the keeper on the way through. Suddenly, an equaliser did not look out of the question, but FC Assyria saw the game out for a win they certainly deserved.

In many ways, today was everything I enjoyed about groundhopping after the regular season has finished for senior clubs. It is a time to visit places I would not normally consider, yet I am always pleasantly surprised with an enjoyable, relaxed day out at friendly venues who are very welcoming and glad to see new faces in their usually sparse crowds.

APS Zakynthos - Non Match day visit

Unfortunately I was unable to watch any local football matches during my week's holiday on Zakynthos. I had a faint hope that APS Zakynthos' home game against Larissa, to be played during the weekend I flew home, would be confirmed for the Saturday. But it wasn't to be, when it was announced earlier in the week that the game was scheduled for the Monday. So I decided to visit the ground on a non-matchday. I was pleased to find a gate open at the main entrance and was able to roam freely around inside.

APS Zakynthos currently play in the second tier of Greek Football, in the Football League, but are facing a battle against relegation. They're fifth bottom, but with the bottom four clubs being relegated, are three points clear of the fourth bottom team.

The Zakynthians Olympic Champions Ground is about a twenty minute walk from Zakynthos Town port, and spectators enter the stadium via a flight of steps and then under an arch. One then walks along a short path to reach the main (and only) stand. The stand is typical of Southern Europe, uncovered, consisting of terrace steps set at quite a steep incline, with individual plastic seats bolted on about half of the area. Excellent elevated and unobstructed views can be had from here, not only of the pitch but also of the surrounding hills in the distance, as well as out to sea. This stand appears to be the only area accessible to spectators. A dusty athletics track circulates the football pitch, while the football club's name is painted onto the wall along the curve behind one of the goals, and some small fans flags are left hanging in a small section along one length. Quite surprisingly for a football ground in the second tier of a fairly major footballing nation, there are no floodlights here.

LPOSSA 3 v 1 FC Assyria

Saturday 7th May 2016
Middlesex County League Premier Division
Farm Park, Hayes
Admission: Free
Programme: None
Attendance: 35 (head count)
Match Rating: 3

With games really drying up now, in senior football in particular, I decided to head back over to West London today, within a few miles of my visit to Bedfont & Feltham last Saturday. It would give me an opportunity to tick off another Combined Counties League ground, that of AFC Hayes, and there was plenty riding in today’s game, with the home team pushing hard to win their division and achieve promotion to senior football. There would also be yet another attraction with the visitors made up of one of London’s ethnic communities.

Farm Park is located a couple of miles south of Northolt tube station, and before the game and with time on my hands, I had a pint in the Brook House pub, about a five minute walk down the road. AFC Hayes started out as the pub team of this establishment and bore its name up to 2007. There is a separate club house close to the football ground, and after strolling through the open gate in one corner of the ground – I found a ground with precious little character or charm about it. Along the length from the entrance there is a green breeze block building housing the changing rooms and also a refreshment window, which was closed today. Then, the strangest feature of the ground is a stand with a toilet block positioned on the base, and then a more conventional metallic all-seater stand straddles the half way line. On the opposite side there is just a small metallic stand covering metal steps, whilst behind the goal closest to the entrance there is cover over a couple of terrace steps stretching most of the way between corner flags. There is just hard standing around the rest of the pitch. Wooden perimeter fencing, and plenty of trees behind that, give the ground a surprisingly rural and quiet feel to it, despite its location in suburban London. No programmes were produced for today’s game.

London Post Office Sports and Social Association, to give the home club their full name, are top of the division going into their final game of the season, having won 21 and drawn eight of their 33 games played. Even a win might not be enough for them to win the division though, as New Hanford are four points behind but with two games in hand, while West Essex are five points behind with three games in hand. FC Assyria were in 11th place, with 14 wins and two draws from their 29 games. With games in hand on the teams immediately above them, they could finish two or three places higher in the division.

On a very warm and sunny afternoon, this game was surprisingly even for long spells, but LPOSSA opened the scoring on 18 minutes when a free kick was guided low into the bottom right corner with the keeper unsighted. LPOSSA got back on level terms just after the half hour with a very well worked goal. The ball was dinked over a defender and the striker then shot across the keeper and into the net from a fairly tight angle. Both teams came close to scoring before the break but a level half time scoreline was a fair reflection on proceedings.

FC Assyria were actually the better team at the start of the second half, right up until LPOSSA retook the lead on 63 minutes with another very good finish. The ball was played into the area wide of goal, before the ball was fired on the half volley across the keeper and into the net. LPOSSA went on to really dominate for the next ten minutes or, but the visitors steadied the ship, despite their goalkeeper falling really awkwardly on his shoulder and having to be replaced. They really should have equalised with five minutes remaining when the ball was crossed low and although the striker got a good connection to his close range shot, it was straight at the keeper. Deep into added on time, LPOSSA made sure of the three points. An initial mishit shot fell kindly at the feet of his colleague by the penalty spot, and he spun well to evade the defender before slotting low past the keeper. So LPOSSA did everything they could today, but now have to wait to see whether the two clubs with games in hand overhaul them.