Whyteleafe 2 v 0 Hastings United

Tuesday 27th November 2018
Isthmian League South East Division
Church Road, Whyteleafe
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 147
Match Rating: 3

Having this week off work, I had originally planned to make the long drive over to the Hampshire-Berkshire border to visit my penultimate ground in the Wessex League Premier Division, Tadley Calleva, which is quite challenging to reach by public transport - my favoured means of transport on Saturdays. However, heavy rain fell for most of the afternoon and although the pitch there passed a 4pm pitch inspection, the driving conditions were not good in the persistent heavy rain, there is only one small stand present at the ground to provide shelter from the rain, and I did not want to risk driving all that way only for a last minute postponement. And so I decided on a revisit to Whyteleafe with the safety of a plastic pitch now being installed there.

Church Road is only about a ten minute walk from Whyteleafe and Upper Warlingham train stations, although I decided to drive to the ground this evening in consideration of the weather, with plenty of parking available on the quiet road outside. Down a short slope from that road, there is a car park, to the left of which is the clubhouse, which is quite spacious and interestingly decorated inside. To the right of the car park are the entrance turnstiles, situated about a third of the way along one length. It is an interestingly quirky ground, offering some decent facilities, a fair amount of character, and not an identikit stand or the like in sight. Behind one of the goals there is quite a large stand offering a good, elevated and unobstructed view, with seating taking up about half of the interior, with standing available along the back and on terrace steps in the other half of the stand. To the side and along the top from the stand, there is a burger bar, with the changing rooms in the corner. Along the length where the entrance is situated, there are a several steps of uncovered terracing, and straddling the half way line is a small stand with seating inside, although with part of the roof removed to allow a floodlight pylon to stand, it offers very little protection from rain on nights like tonight. A further small home-made stand of scaffolding and corrugated iron covers the terracing further along the length. Behind the other goal, there is quite an intimate low but long stand covering flat standing area, whilst along the remaining length, there is mainly hard standing, apart from a small stand covering a flat standing area. Trees closely line the ground, and I recall this as being a nice green setting in daylight hours. There is also a really friendly and welcoming feel to the place, all of which makes Church Road a very pleasant place to visit. The 16 page programme printed on regular paper was slightly overpriced at £2.00, but was well presented and attractively designed, containing the important information and stats, although the fixtures/results page was two games out of date. Team sheets were also available free of charge.

Whyteleafe have made a solid start to their campaign, coming into this game in eighth place, following five wins and four draws from their 12 league games, three points adrift of the play-off berths. They were not in the best of recent form though, losing their last two home games 2-3, and in their last game drew 0-0 at home. Hastings have had a great start to their campaign, in second place in the table, although ten points adrift of leaders in the only automatic promotion berth available, Cray Wanderers. By contrast, they had won their last two home games, and drew at home to Faversham in their most recent fixture. The two teams have already met in the FA Trophy at the Pilot Field this season, with Whyteleafe triumphing 2-4 last month.

After heavy rain fell right up to kick-off, leaving walkways flooded in several places around the ground, the rain relented virtually as the game kicked off, and conditions stayed dry for the rest of the match. The opening exchanges were lively, and a pattern soon developed of Hastings looking to play a quick short passing game while Whyteleafe seemed to sit deep and then launch the ball forward on the counter. The visitors had the first clear chance on 12 minutes, when their forward cut inside before firing a low shot just wide of the far post. But what turned out to be the decisive moment in the match came as early as the 28th minute, when a long ball upfield seemed to be slightly misjudged by defender Tom Climpson, who then clumsily brought the Whyteleafe striker down to prevent him running clear on goal. A straight red card was shown to Climpson, and the punishment was doubled as Bradley Wilson drilled the ball low into the bottom left hand corner. That did not seem to deter the visitors initially though, as they continued to look threatening without having much end product, apart from on 37 minutes, when a cross from the right just evaded the head of an unmarked team mate. But Whyteleafe retained their slender lead at the break.

In the second half, Hastings seemed to be able to threaten less, although they did have a couple of decent chances, which just lacked the finishing touch. And on 77 minutes, the hosts doubled their lead thanks to a powerful close range far post header by Bryan Akongo following a corner. That did seem to deflate the visitors, as Whyteleafe really should have increased their tally - forcing a great one-on-one save on 79 minutes, and on 82 minutes, their forward was sent clear  and his eventual shot beat the keeper and hit the inside of the far post and rolled along the line, staying out of the goal. And in the end, Whyteleafe saw the game out quite comfortably. A disappointing result for Hastings, who looked lively going forward, but they did not manage to force the keeper to make a single save, and that proved decisive. It also did not help that they had two of their key midfielders, Jack Dixon and Sam Adams, missing through suspension, and had to field 16 year old James Pool - who put in an accomplished performance despite his tender years in a depleted team.

Frenford 4 v 0 Fire United

Saturday 24th November 2018
Eastern Counties League Division One South
Jack Carter Centre, Ilford
Admission: £4.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 30 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

With Frenford new to senior football this season and facilities apparently very sparse at their home ground, I intended to delay a visit to the Jack Carter Centre until next season, once the ground has been upgraded to senior standard. However, as I had to be home for 6pm, the 13.30 kick off here made this game an ideal visit to a new ground for me, which otherwise would have been impossible today, at least in senior football.

The Jack Carter Centre is about a 15 minute walk from Redbridge Underground station, and the football ground is enclosed from several other football pitches, with the main complex centre situated in the middle. Serving as an impressive hub for the local community with a particular focus on young people, offering various sporting and other leisure facilities, there is a small tea bar on the ground floor, with a comfortable seating area to provide the only shelter from the elements for football spectators. The history and work of Frenford Clubs as well as the Jack Carter Centre is interestingly presented through timelines and photos on the walls. The senior football pitch is situated a little distance from the main building, with a wooden hut installed by the entrance in one corner where spectators pay their admission, and the team line-ups are also posted on it. Once inside, spectators discover facilities that are as basic as they come in senior football, and indeed very rarely found these days as the FA have now fully enforced their criteria for senior football, kicking out several established clubs purely on ground grading criteria. There is no seating or cover present, hard standing is only available along one length of the pitch, one end is inaccessible, and although the ground is enclosed, the fencing is see-through. There are also no floodlights, hence the early kick off today. However, for next season, a new plastic pitch will be installed, equipped with all the necessary facilities to satisfy the ground grading requirements for senior football. A 12 page programme was printed in colour and was very smartly presented, covering the basics well enough.

This game would be an opportunity to see another two clubs new to senior football thanks to the creation of a step 6 division in Essex. For Frenford, there is no doubt they deserve their crack at senior football, having challenged in the top half of the Step 7 Essex Olympian League Premier Division in the last eleven seasons, winning it twice and finishing in second place last season, but probably considered the jump to Step 5 football in the Essex Senior League too big, which was the only available option before the creation of the South Division of the Eastern Counties League. They have settled fairly comfortably into senior football, coming into this game in eighth place, following seven wins and three draws from their 15 league games. Fire United, only formed in 2012, were artificially promoted two steps from the Middlesex County League Division One Central and Eastern, in which they finished fourth last season, and they have found the step up quite tough so far. They came into this game second bottom in the 19 team division, following two wins and a draw from their opening 15 league games, and have lost their last eight league games.

On a very overcast afternoon with a stiff chilly breeze keeping temperatures cold, the final score did not really tell the full story of the game, as although Frenford deserved to win,  this was a lot closer than expected. Frenford did have a goal disallowed on five minutes when the ball was flicked on following a free-kick to the back post and tapped in from close range, but from an offside position. Plenty of chances were then created by both teams, mostly Frenford, with the woodwork denying them twice. But on the stroke of half time, Frenford took the lead following a corner, the ball finding its way to Luke Woodward's feet at the edge of the area, and he fired a shot which went in off the underside of the bar.

One wondered if the home side would now kick on against their out of form opponents, and it looked that way when moments after the ball was headed just over the bar from a corner, they were awarded a penalty on 47 minutes when a seemingly innocuous  free kick into the box was clumsily handled by a defender. However, the penalty was saved low to the keeper's left. But after the visitors had a good chance to equalise, firing just over the bar on 51 minutes, Frenford were given another chance to score from the spot, after Charlie Fairhead raced towards goal, and he was brought down by the keeper Christiano Res as he tapped the ball to one side, earning the keeper a red card, who then passed his goalkeeper's shirt to outfield player Diego Bittencourt. But again Frenford passed up the opportunity to double their lead, this time the penalty being struck against the left hand post. Frenford then saw a curled shot come back off the bar, and 75 minutes, Fire United had a great chance to equalise, a flicked header from a corner flying into the keeper's midriff - anywhere else and it surely would have been a goal. But less than a minute later, the home side all but wrapped the game up. The visitors sloppily lost possession from a free kick by the half way line, and Danny Driscoll ran forward before slotting the ball low just inside the near post. Fire United again came agonisingly close to scoring on 81 minutes, when a good downward header from a corner was very well saved low down to the keeper's right. But Frenford scored their third on 88 minutes, and it was a gift, the keeper passing the ball out to a defender, who lost control of the ball, allowing Woodward to run forward and shoot the ball low past the keeper for his second of the game, and in added on time, Frenford were awarded their third penalty of the match, when some good footwork ended in a trip near the outer corner of the penalty area. It was to prove third time lucky though, as Woodward struck the ball into the bottom left hand corner to claim his hat-trick.

So Fire United fell to their ninth consecutive league defeat, but although Frenford certainly deserved to win the game, the four goal margin massively flattered the hosts, as with a little more luck, the visitors could easily have got something from the game

Stanway Rovers 1 v 2 Redbridge

Saturday 17th November 2018
Essex Senior League
The Hawthorns, Stanway
Admission and Programme: £6.00
Attendance: 75
Match Rating: 3

 

After the premature and rather sad conclusion of my lunchtime abandoned game at Harwich & Parkeston, I then drove half hour southwestwards around and to the western extremity of Colchester, to recomplete the Essex Senior League.

The Hawthorns is located off a quiet suburban lane a short distance from Junction 26 of the A12, with a plentiful car park immediately before the ground. The clubhouse is located next to the road, with the turnstile towards one corner of the ground. Once inside, one discovers a ground full of character and individuality, with plenty of facilities built in-house, with virtually everything finished in club colours of yellow and black. Behind the goal where the entrance is there is covered standing of one step, extending about a third of the way along one of the length, which just has flat standing. In the corner, there is the player's tunnel, a couple of portakabins, and a burger van with a couple of bench seats close by. Beyond the other side of the dugouts, there is a small covered area, whilst behind the other goal, roughly the middle two thirds is covered, although the path is quite tight. Along the remaining length there is a modern metallic stand, very smart and most of which contains four rows of seating, but with a small flat section too. Either side of this stand there are further small, more rudimentary stands to provide cover of the hard standing. A very basic 8 page programme was free with admission, and although it lacked the league table, it otherwise served its purpose.

After spending their entire time in senior football in the Eastern Counties League - with the last 12 seasons in the Premier Divisions, mostly finishing comfortable inside the top half of the table - Stanway Rovers were transferred to the Essex Senior League for this season, and had a tough time to begin with, losing their first three games, but have steadied the ship since, coming into this game in 11th place following six wins and three draws from their opening 15 league games, and were unbeaten in their last seven league games. Redbridge looked a good bet for promotion last season, eventually finishing in fourth place, but they have found this season more of a struggle, coming into this game in 16th place in the 20 team division, following three wins and five draws from their opening 15 league games. Today would be the third time the two sides have met already this season, with the reverse fixture in the league finishing 3-3, whilst just last Saturday, Stanway Rovers triumphed 3-1 at home in the Gordon Brasted Trophy.

On a sunny afternoon which was very chilly when exposed to a stiff breeze blowing, the first half was evenly balanced, the home team having slightly the better of things and certainly looking more likely to score, and they thought they had on 21 minutes when the ball was headed firmly into the net following a corner, but the goal was ruled out for a push. They came very close again on the stroke of half time, when the Redbridge keeper could not cleanly gather a shot from a very tight angle, but the loose ball couldn't be prodded home - the Stanway players appealing that was partly due to one of their players being held back. But goalless was how it remained at the break.

The scoreline was only to remain blank for a couple of minutes after the restart, when Redbridge took the lead. A low ball found should have been dealt with by a defender, but he skipped, allowing Michael Ogboin to run on with the ball and fire it low across the keeper and into the net. The visitors were gifted a second goal just a couple of minutes later, when the ball was poked goalwards, the keeper fumbled the ball and Ayodesi Adelekan prodded the loose ball home. Redbridge almost made the game virtually safe on 52 minutes, when they saw a low shot well parried by the keeper, and on 54 minutes, Stanway pulled a goal back when Gaz Dauti fired in a good low shot from the edge of the area which beat the keeper. There was plenty of huff and puff from Stanway as they did plenty of attacking in the final half hour, but the final ball was never quite good enough, and in the end, Redbridge held on for a decent 3 point haul on the road, although Stanway could feel hard done by not to get anything from the game.