Mildenhall Town 4 v 0 Swaffham Town

Saturday 29th October 2016
Eastern Counties League Premier Division
Recreation Way, Mildenhall
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 204
Match Rating: 4

Following my 3pm kick off at Newmarket, I got back in the car and drove 11 miles north-eastwards to Mildenhall, to watch a game that promised to be a rather one sided affair, going by the league table at least. It turned out that the best experience of this groundhopper day was saved until last.

Recreation Way is situated very close to Mildenhall town centre, and spectators enter in one corner of the ground by paying admission at a brick hut, decorated with attractive club signage. This is a ground that is very easy on the eye, neatly arrange and tastefully decorated, tucked into an attractive naturally enclosed area and with some good character about the place. After both grounds I visited earlier in the day had plastic pitches, Mildenhall have a grass one, but with a considerable slope from end to end. Most of the spectator facilities are along the side closest to the entrance. After passing my a table offering club souvenirs, there is a stand painted in black and yellow club colours covering a few terrace steps, and then there is a brick clubhouse which was extremely busy this evening, and with a refreshments window on the outside. Just beyond the half way line there are wooden benches covered by a low roof in front of another brick building. Close to the corner at the top of the slope on the opposite side there is a small modern metallic stand. The ground is nicely hemmed in by trees. The 40 page programme had an attractive cover and contained the necessary stats and some interesting features to digest, but with plenty of advertising contained within.

Mildenhall Town have made a terrific start to their season, leading the table, winning 13 and losing the other of their opening 14 league games, with their only defeat coming back in August, and are six points clear of second places Stanway Rovers and 12 points clear of third placed Newmarket Town. So, it would be a tall order for the visitors to get anything from this game, particularly as they came into this game second bottom, with just a win and four draws from their opening 14 league games. They had lost their last five league and cup games, and shipped ten goals in their last two games.

With night falling as the game kicked off at 6pm, the first half of this game was surprisingly even, with the visitors probably aided by kicking down the slope. Unfortunately for the struggling visitors, their goalkeeper gifted the league leaders the lead on 20 minutes. A free kick from the left wing by Luke Parkinson was floated goalwards, and the ball went through the keeper's hands and into the net. Swaffham had some half chances, and the closest they came to scoring was on the half hour, when a header from a free kick was deflected wide. But Mildenhall held a narrow one goal lead at the break, but with the prospect of playing down the slope to come.

Perhaps as expected, Mildenhall upped a gear in the second half and completely controlled proceedings, as Swaffham increasingly struggled to get out of their own half, and they were certainly not helped by their keeper who was having a poor game. Mildenhall doubled their lead on 63 minutes following a cross from the right to the far post found Parkinson, who took a touch before firing home via a sizeable deflection from the keeper. The result was put beyond all doubt on 66 minutes. The ball was floated in from the outer right side of the area, the keeper parried the ball into the danger area, and the ball was turned in via a deflection, Lee Clift being awarded the goal. Mildenhall scored their fourth on 74 minutes following some neat passing inside the box, and Parkinson curled the ball inside the far post. At that stage, further goals for the home side looked a certainty, but they never came, but Mildenhall will be content with a comprehensive win and a dominant display, in the second half certainly, which saw their lead at the top of the table extended by a further two points.

Newmarket Town 0 v 2 Great Yarmouth Town

Saturday 29th October 2016
Eastern Counties League Premier Division
Cricket Field Road, Newmarket
Admission: £7.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 123
Match Rating: 3

Following the midday game at Haverhill Borough, I made the 14 mile, 25 minute drive northwards, zigzagging along the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border, to watch a game a step up, this one in the Premier Division of the Eastern Counties League.

Cricket Field Road is located just to the south of Newmarket town centre, and less than ten minutes walk from the town's train station. A 3G pitch has been newly laid at the ground, but happily there was much more of a feel of this being a proper football ground than there was at Haverhill Borough earlier. There has been a lot of work done here around the ground as well as the laying of the plastic pitch, with the result that this is a neat ground with some interesting features. Spectators enter in one corner of the ground, and after paying admission at a caravan/trailer hut, walk down a slight slope to reach pitchside behind a goal, and next to the former, more traditional, turnstile hut where the entrance to the ground used to be. All of the facilities are along the length furthest from the entrance. Straddling the half way line is a relatively tall and narrow all-seater stand, whilst to one side is the brick clubhouse building, with a refreshments window on the outside and a fairly spacious but rather dated bar inside. Beyond the clubhouse and reaching the corner flag is a covered standing area designated for smokers. Tall trees line one end of the ground, Newmarket racecourse is visible behind the other, whilst along the remaining length, there is a grass bank with recently installed wooden fencing along the top. The club really seemed to embrace the groundhopper day here, with a really welcoming feeling for all attending, and a nice touch was their offer of half-time hospitality for the groundhopper who had travelled the furthest. That person, from North Wales, declined the offer, instead a hopper from Bournemouth took up the offer. Further evidence of how positive football can be at this level came when the Great Yarmouth Town players donated their match expenses, with a further contribution from the club, to the fund of a player who was due to sign for Newmarket in pre-season before being having his legs amputated following a car accident, along with a friend, also a footballer and who suffered a serious leg injury. The 36 page programme was well presented with plenty of interesting and informative information inside.

This would be a match between two teams who have made good starts to their league season. Newmarket Town came into this game in third place, with eight wins and three draws from their 14 league games, whilst Great Yarmouth Town, promoted from Division One in third place, were in seventh place, with seven wins and two draws from their 12 league games.

With the sun now shining brightly on a surprisingly very mild late October afternoon, Newmarket had the better of the first half, certainly in terms of possession, and they created some presentable chances, whilst the visitors did occasionally look threatening on the counter. But Great Yarmouth would surely have been the happier to reach the half-time break with the scoreline level.

The second half would be a completely different affair though, no doubt helped by the visitors taking the lead three minutes after the break. A couple of quick passed in and around the box ended with Mitch Forbes firing a low shot across the keeper and into the net. The visitors really seized the initiative, and doubled their lead four minutes later, Charlie Bartram drilling a shot from towards the edge of the area into the top left hand corner. That really killed the game as a contest, and Great Yarmouth controlled the rest of the game, as Newmarket looked more and more impotent as the game continued to its conclusion. Indeed, Great Yarmouth looked the more likely to score next, but they will be be very pleased with a very comfortable away win, and with how how they soaked up pressure in the first half, before going for the kill and controlling the game after the break.

Haverhill Borough 2 v 1 Cornard United

Saturday 29th October 2016
Eastern Counties League Division One
The New Croft 3G, Haverhill
Admission: £5.00
Programme: Sold Out
Attendance: 122
Match Rating: 3

Today was one of the Groundhopper Days excellently organised by the Eastern Counties League, allowing spectators to easily take in three games in a day, and today's event focused on clubs on the western extremity of Suffolk. And so for the midday kick-off, I headed up the M11 to take in this Division One game.

The New Croft 3G is part of a modern sporting complex run by the Haverhill Community Sports Association, and is located just to the north of Haverhill town centre. The 3G ground is situated adjacent to the main grass pitch on the complex, which they shared with Haverhill Rovers up until last month, until the 3G pitch was ready to host senior football and became Borough's home while Rovers remain on the grass pitch. It is usually difficult to fall in love with a plastic pitch within a cage, and that is most certainly true of this venue. It simply does not have the feel of being the home of a senior football club, much more of being a community or school facility. Perhaps in time it may develop more of a football club identity. Spectators enter through a small turnstile hut, which displays just about the only prominent Haverhill Borough club signage to be seen anywhere on the complex, and then there is a wooden shed to the left, with a small bar inside and refreshments window outside. Spectators then enter the cage, and all of the spectator facilities are located along one side, with a small covered terrace close to the entrance, and a modern metallic all-seater stand towards the furthest corner flag. Hard standing is only available along this length and behind the goal closest to the entrance - the remaining two sides are inaccessible. Programmes sold out long before kick-off, although to their credit, the club took names of those who wanted a copy forwarded on to them.

Haverhill Borough came into this game ninth place, with 6 wins and four draws from their 12 league games, whilst Cornard United were in 14th place in the 21 team division, with four wins and four draws from their 14 league games.

On a mainly overcast early afternoon, with the sun occasionally breaking through, this was a closely fought game for long periods, with both sides creating decent chances. Gareth Thomas headed the ball home when the ball was played into the box from a deep free kick, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Cornard's best opportunity came on 39 minutes, when Daniel Brown broke clear of the defence, and he shot low from the edge of the area but a faint fingertip touch by the keeper was enough to divert the ball onto the far post.

The game continued to be competitive after the break, and shortly after Cornard had a great chance to go into the lead, Haverhill did on 55 minutes. After some good movement and passing in the box, the ball was laid off to Jarid Robson fired the ball into the bottom right corner from a central position. They doubled their lead on 58 minutes following a low cross from the right, and Ryan Swallow took a touch before firing home in similar fashion to the first goal. The visitors got back into it on 67 minutes following a lovely sliderule pass through the defence presented Nathan Finan with the opportunity to fire the ball low underneath the keeper. The game really could have gone either way, both sides creating some very good chances, Haverhill's Martin Westcott seeing a lovely curling shot come back off the far post, and in the closing minutes, Cornard forced a couple of smart saves from the home keeper, but Haverhill held on to claim the three points.