Welwyn Garden City 2 v 1 FC Broxbourne Borough

Saturday 29th April 2017
Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division
Herns Lane, Welwyn Garden City
Admission with Programme: Pay What You Want (usually £6.00)
Attendance: 113
Match Rating: 2

On the last day of the regular season in senior league football, rail engineering works scuppered my original plans to complete the Essex Senior League at Hullbridge today, and instead I headed to Welwyn Garden City for the second time this season, this time to visit the football club representing the town.

Herns Lane is about a half hour walk eastwards from Welwyn Garden City train station, and from the main road there is a short lane, over which there is a welcome sign, and then spectators walk through a tarmac area, with the large, attractive and well pointed clubhouse to the left and picnic tables to the right. The entrance to the ground is in one corner, and on the whole this an attractive ground, which is currently a little spoilt by being rough around the edges in places. From the entrance towards the goal there is a stand held up by scaffolding covering a mainly flat standing area, with wooden bench seating along the rear. From the entrance along one length, changing rooms are set some way back from the pitch, with a muddy area in between. Straddling the half way line is a long modern metallic identikit stand. On the opposite side behind the dugouts there is a small covered area which is currently inaccessible, with poles on the floor. Around the rest of the ground there is just hard standing. Colourful trees all around provide an attractive background, and the lack of traffic noise makes this a peaceful location too. The programme was very good, 48 pages containing more than enough stats and facts to preview the game.

There was not too much riding on this game, with fifth place the best that Welwyn Garden City could hope for. They came into this game in sixth place, having won 20 and drawn ten of their 41 league games, and were two points adrift of fifth placed Tring Athletic. It really has been a season to forget for FC Broxbourne Borough, and were 14 points adrift at the foot of the table,  having won four (none at home) and drawn five of their 41 games. When the two teams met in November, Welwyn Garden City won 1-4.

On a mainly cloudy afternoon, the first half was quite a forgettable affair. The game was surprisingly even, with the visitors more than a match for their hosts, who seemed very lethargic and with the appearance of a team going through the motions at the end of the season. There were also signs that things would not go their way, forced into a substitution on the half hour and three minutes later, the very same man, George Brinkmanship, was sent off for a high two footed tackle which did not have much ferocity behind it. It certainly gave the visitors more hope that they could get something out of this game, but a goalless scoreline at half time was no surprise.

The game continued with its rather dull, pedestrian nature in the second half, until the game exploded into life on 51 minutes, when Charlie Rome, who only came on at half time, struck a low free kick around the defensive wall and into the net to give Welwyn the lead. Their lead didn't even last a minute though, as straight from the kick off, Broxbourne attacked and their striker drove towards the penalty area from the right before curling a lovely low shot past the keeper and inside the far post. The game really could have gone either way and Broxbourne certainly deserved at least a rare point from this game, but it was Welwyn who scored what turned out to be the winner on 79 minutes. The ball was crossed from the left and Ashley Kersey headed home despite the ball hitting the keeper's palm on its way. The visitors never looked likely to get back on level terms and they will certainly be glad that the season has now ended and will hope for better in Division One next season. As Tring Athletic also won, Welwyn Garden City finished the season in sixth place.

 

Battle Baptists 2 v 1 Hollington United

Tuesday 25th April 2017
East Sussex League Cup Final
The Saffron’s, Eastbourne
Admission including Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 120 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

One not so good aspect of a generally extremely mild and dry winter has been the lack of a silly season of midweek early evening kick-off in intermediate and junior football this April, meaning that this cup final match may well prove to be my only taste of intermediate football this season.

The Saffrons, home of Southern Combination League Premier Division outfit Eastbourne Town, is a ground I have visited many times previously, although this would be my first this season. No changes were in evidence and so it remains an attractive venue with adequate facilities. The programme was basic t reasonable, 8 pages containing the league table, competition history, introduction to both teams, routes to the final and predicted line-ups.

This cup final was contracted by the best two teams in the league this season, with Hollington United already assured on the title having completed their fixtures, having won 19 and drawn one of their 22 league games, whilst Battle Baptists are comfortably assured of the runners-up spot, having won 15 and lost the other four games played, with three games left to play. This is the first of two cup finals for the Baptists, with a National Christian Cup Final to look forward to at Charlton Athletic's home stadium The Valley next month. In the league games between the two sides, Hollington won 4-1 at home in November, whilst Battle won their home game in January.

On a very chilly evening for April, a pattern soon emerged, somewhat predictably, of Battle Baptists looking to play good, passing football, whilst Hollington a more streetwise approach. Battle took the lead with 13 minutes on the clock when Dean Boyd crossed the ball and Tom Saunders headed the ball over the keeper and into corner of the net. They quite comfortably held on to their lead to half time, and might even have added to their lead, as Hollington looked surprisingly flat for the most part.

Hollington certainly showed more intent after the break, although they were hardly banging on Battle’s door as Battle's midfield and defence showed good organisation. And on 65 minutes, they scored a crucial second goal, a fabulous solo goal by Bulgarian Yordan Yordanov, showing good footwork to dance past a couple of defenders in the penalty area before slotting the ball low past the keeper. However four minutes later and Hollington pulled a goal back. After a great tackle in the box, a couple of Battle defenders just couldn’t deal with the ball deep inside their own area, allowing Sam White to poke the ball home. Hollington did come close a couple of times to equalising soon after, but Battle rode the mini storm and then saw out the remaining minutes quite comfortably, to lift their first ever trophy shortly after the final whistle. And well deserved it was too, playing the better football on the night whilst Hollington never really got going and became increasingly frustrated, for the most part taking it out on the officials and their opponents.

Kempston Rovers 4 v 1 Histon

Saturday 22nd April 2017
Southern League Division One Central
Hillgrounds Leisure, Kempston
Admission: £1.00 (usually £8.00)
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 288
Match Rating: 3

As the regular senior football season starts to wind down, I shortlisted two matches for today, both in the Southern League Division One Central, and both in close proximity to Bedford. Bedford Town were offering free entry for their game against Aylesbury United, but a three mile distance from the nearest train station, and with nothing riding on that game, meant I chose to head for Kempston Rovers instead.

Hillgrounds Leisure is about a half hour walk south west from Bedford train station, and after delighting in  wonderfully ramshackle nature of Ipswich Wanderers' ground on Monday, there was little to get excited  the ground I visited today, its modest, modern facilities reflecting a club in its first season in step 4 football. Spectators enter the ground through a turnstile block and enter the ground behind one length. To the right is a long brick building stretching along about two thirds of the pitch length, reaching the far corner, and containing all of the facilities of the ground. Inside are the changing rooms, various other rooms and a bar, which has a wooden decking area outside. To the front, there are a few rows of seating up to the half way line, with a few terrace steps the other side, and with a tea bar in the rear wall. Around the rest of the ground there is just hard standing, with wooden fencing acting as the perimeter behind both goals, and some 3G cages and a grass pitch behind the remaining length. It is a peaceful place, but has that community facility feeling about it which, whilst in itself is a positive thing, inevitably detracts from having “proper” football ground character, although mention should be made of a very friendly feel all around the place. The 20 page programme was fairly priced at £1, being rather basic and lacking interesting reading material but it contained what it needed to. Similar to the ground, the programme is Step 5 standard. Team sheets were available free of charge, which was a nice touch.

Going into the final day of the regular season in the Southern League, Kempston Rovers have had an excellent first season after winning the United Counties League last season. They were in pole position to claim a play-off berth before Easter Monday’s round of fixtures, when defeat to local rivals Barton Rovers and wins for two clubs below them saw them drop out of the play-off positions. Going into this game in seventh place following 20 wins and 10 draws from 41 league games, they needed to win this game and hope neither Egham Town nor AFC Dunstable, to claim an unlikely play-off spot. Today’s visitors Histon were a Conference National club as recently as 2011, but their relegation to Step 5 football was already confirmed on Monday, having won nine and drawn seven of their 41 games. When the two teams met in September, Kempston Rovers won 1-2.

On a generally warm and sunny afternoon, this match soon went to form and with 6 minutes on the clock, Kempston took the lead. Jake Newman ran onto a low ball forward which sprung the offside trap, Jake Newman running, before slotting low past the keeper. Histon were presented with a great chance to equalise on 8 minutes when a suicidal blind back pass was intercepted, but the striker couldn't get his shot away. But that was a rare ray of hope for the visitors as the home side dominated, see a header from a free kick hit the crossbar on 15 minutes, before they doubled their lead on 19 minutes, when Ben Shepherd struck the ball from just outside the penalty area and went in off the inside of the post. Kempton held their two goal lead to the break, and they at least were doing their side of the bargain in booking a play-off spot, and news came through that AFC Dunstable were losing at half time, although Egham were 1-0 up.

Within 9 minutes of the restart, Kempston all but sealed the three points with a third goal, Newman heading home from close range after the ball was whipped across goal. However, Histon did pull a goal back two minutes later, when a good cross was controlled by Tommy Wright, and he lobbed the keeper with the ball going in off the underside of the bar. That never looked likely to herald a comeback though, and the home side restored their three goal advantage on the 71st minutes as Newman just managed to cross the ball as it was about to cross the byline, and Ash Fuller headed home from very close range. The game rather petered out after that, and Kempston claimed a comfortable victory. Egham had doubled their lead to win though, which meant that Kempston were denied a play-off spot, finishing one point and one place adrift after Dunstable could only draw their game. But sixth place represents an excellent finish in their first season in Step 4 football. As for Histon, they will presumably head to the Eastern Counties League and look to regroup.

Ipswich Wanderers 0 v 3 Felixstowe and Walton United

Monday 17th April 2017
Eastern Counties League Premier Division
Humber Doucy Lane, Rushmere
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 103
Match Rating: 3

For my final game of the Easter weekend, I decided to drive to Suffolk today, to visit a ground that has long been on my radar following reports from fellow groundhoppers of it being a rather old-fashioned, quirky ground with plenty of character. It certainly did not disappoint.

Humber Doucy Lane is located almost three miles to the east of Ipswich town centre, just as the urban area gives way to countryside, and some old fashioned signage by the main road provides the first indication of a ground oozing with character. Spectators enter at the end of the car park, into one corner of the ground, and immediately after the turnstile, a homely clubhouse is located to one side, a tea bar to the other, and an open area with picnic tables for fans to mingle with their refreshments. Stretching along this length, first there is a brick built stand covering a standing area, straddling the half way line is a fairly narrow stand covering wooden seats, and towards the other corner flag, 2 rows of plastic seats have some rather rudimentary cover held up by scaffolding poles. Behind the goal closest to the entrance, there are a couple of further blue small buildings, beyond which there is covered standing stretching to the far corner. There is just hard standing around the remaining length and behind the other goal. In the modern era, it is a really delightful ground - not a modern "off the shelf" metallic stand in sight, no unnecessary modern additions to the ground just to satisfy the ground graders, just a collection of stands of various heights, other random buildings, corrugated iron sheets acting as a boundary around much of the ground, all of which are painted in club colours of blue and white, and finished off with some nice touches of signage around the place. A further nice touch is that the song "The Wanderer" is played over the tannoy as the players come out of the dressing rooms.The programme could not be considered good value at £1.50 though, 10 pages out 24 were advertising and although it did cover the basics, it was rather light on content for the price.

Ipswich Wanderers are heading for a mid-table finish, coming into the Easter weekend in tenth place, following 16 wins and four draws from their 36 league games. Felixstowe and Walton have had a great season, and are certain of a top three finish. They came into this game with a mathematical chance of winning the league, but with a nine point deficit behind Mildenhall with four games left to play, their best hope would be to hold on to the second place they occupied for this match, having won 25 and drawn three of their 36 games. It was something of a coincidence that I watched the reverse fixture of today's game at Felixstowe on Boxing Day, which the home team completely dominated to win 3-0.

On an afternoon that was chilly when the sun went in but pleasantly warm when the sun came out, there was a real false dawn to this game, as Ipswich Wanderers dominated the opening exchanges and did most of the attacking ion the opening 20 minutes. It was certainly against the run of play when the visitors opened the scoring on 21 minutes. Following a corner, the ball fell to Craig Jennings at the edge of the area, and he curled a delightful shot over the crowd of players into the top corner. The visitors doubled their lead three minutes later, when Nick Ingram poked the ball home following a bit of a scramble inside the box. Just after the half hour, it seemed that the game was all over when Rhys Barber powerfully headed the ball home following a free kick, but the goal was ruled out for offside. But it was Felixstowe who looked fairly comfortable with their two goal lead at the break.

The second half was not much of a spectacle, which suited Felixstowe just fine as they controlled the game, never really giving the home side any hope of being able to get back in the game. Jordy Matthews scored the visitors' third when the ball ricocheted in after his initial shot was blocked. Ipswich did manage to mount a few attacks, but as frustration mounted towards the end, so their hope faded away too.

The three points keep Felixstowe on course for a runners-up spot, being a point ahead of Newmarket with just two games left, but their very faint hopes of claiming the title were extinguished when news came through that Mildenhall had won their game and the title.