Park View 0 v 4 London Lions

Saturday 26th October 2019
Spartan South Midlands League Division One
New River Stadium, Wood Green
Admission including programme: £5.00
Attendance: 20

I had booked a Megabus coach ticket to Leicester for today, but with heavy rain forecast overnight and throughout today, with a yellow weather warning at that, I decided to abandon those plans - a good call as it turned out, with all three games I could have visited, at St Andrews, Oadby Town, and Saffron Dynamo, indeed postponed. Whilst the weather was not forecast to be as grim in the south-east, rain was still forecast to fall on sodden ground, so I decided early on to take the safe option and head for this match to be played on a 3G pitch, but also in the knowledge that the ground had a large stand to take shelter in from the forecast persistent rain.

The New River Stadium is about a 15 minute walk from Wood Green tube station, and is little more than a stone's throw away from Haringey Borough's home ground Coles Park, where I watched a couple of games in the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup. The stadium is part of a large community sports complex, and amongst the various other sports clubs that play their home fixtures on the stadium pitch is London Skolars, who play in Rugby League's third tier. The wide array of sports that are played on the pitch does create a bit of an issue, with lots of different lines present, albeit in different colours for each sport. Access to the ground is via the main entrance to the sports centre, through a turnstile next to reception, and then up flights of stairs to reach the top of a large all-seater grandstand. Although the seats are far from comfortable, views are excellent and unobstructed, with the good elevation (and leg room) compensating to a large extent the distance spectators are from the pitch, thanks to a running track. Along the opposite length there is an uncovered terrace consisting of ten steps, which extend (with fewer steps) around the end closest to the low building which houses the changing rooms, whilst there is just a slightly overgrown path around the remaining end. Colourful trees give a surprisingly pleasant backdrop to the ground, and to a large extent it is hidden away from the surrounding urban landscape. A club official walks around the stand shortly before kick-off to take the admission fee from the sadly very sparse crowd in exchange for a 16 page programme, which introduced both clubs and had some basic reading material, but it did lack a league table and fixtures/results.

After a solid first season in senior football last season, finishing in 13th place in the 20 team division - and I watched them win a very entertaining game 3-4 at Rayners Lane towards the end of last season - Park View have had a disappointing start to this season, coming into this game rock bottom in the table, following just one win and three draws from their opening ten league games. A quirk of the fixture scheduling meant that today's fixture actually offered Park View with the opportunity of completing a double over today's visitors, with their only win coming at London Lions a month ago, with the game ending 0-1. After two sixth placed finishes since their return to senior football, London Lions came into this game in 12th place, following four wins and a draw from their opening 12 league games.

With the rain falling with varying intensity throughout the game, Park View had the first good chance of the match, on 5 minutes, when a ball over the top sent the striker clear and as his eventual shot hit the keeper and went wide. On 18 minutes, the visitors had their first clear chance, when a cross shot was parried over the bar by the keeper, but from the resultant corner, they took the lead. The ball was floated in from the corner, and the keeper claimed it but then let it squirm out of his grasp, and the ball was hooked home. On 38 minutes, a London Lions shot was deflected over the bar, and from the resultant corner, there was an almighty scramble on the line but the ball couldn't quite be poked home. But the visitors did double their lead on 42 minutes, when the ball was headed home from a corner, brushing a couple of players on its way through.

So a fairly comfortable half time lead for the visitors, and there wasn't much threat of a goal either way for the first half an hour of the second half, until London Lions sealed the three points on 77 minutes. There was a large slice of fortune though, an innocuous looking curling shot should have been routinely caught by the keeper, but the ball went through his hands and into the net. The visitors then had a couple of really good chances that they should of converted, but they did finally score their fourth on 90 minutes. A long distance floating strike was just saved by the short keeper's fingertips at full stretch above him, but the ball fell to a London Lions player, and he struck the ball low across the keeper and into the net, to seal a comfortable win for the visitors.

Charlton Athletic 3 v 0 Derby County

Saturday 19th October 2019
EFL Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 19,408 (2,999 away)

A match report can be found by clicking here, and video highlights by clicking here.

Oxford City 0 v 1 Dartford

Saturday 12th October 2019
National League South
Court Place Farm, Marston
Admission: £6.00 (half price with EFL Season Ticket)
Programme: £2.50
Attendance: 307

Today was  the annual "Non League Day", and it was a shame that the day specifically geared up towards attracting new fans to the non league game had persistent (albeit mostly light) rain falling almost constantly for the 24 hours in the lead up to the 3pm kick offs across the south of England. I decided to head northwards, where the rain was forecast to be more patchy than along the south coast, and to a ground that I could travel to in the certainty provided by the plastic pitch at Oxford City, enabling me to tick off my penultimate ground in the National League South, with the lure of being able to gain half price entry from the usual £12 today by showing my Charlton season ticket at the turnstile - every little helps in the costly hobby of groundhopping.

Court Place Farm is about three miles north-eastwards from Oxford train station, and so I decided to make use of Plusbus and let the bus take the strain, service 14a dropping me outside of the Court Place Farm complex entrance, then after a walk along a short lane, the turnstile block is situated in one corner of the ground. The clubhouse is situated behind the end closest to the entrance, bright and spacious inside, with a tea bar window in the exterior wall to the front, and has the entrance gates from the club's previous home, the White House Ground, in front of the hatch - a very nice touch. The club shop is housed in a portakabin to one side of the clubhouse, with programmes for sale just outside from a picnic table. A spacious area of uncovered standing is available between the clubhouse and the pitch railing. The changing rooms are located in a low building located close to the entrance along one length, with quite a long stand covering four rows of seating straddling the half way line. On the opposite side there is a stand covering a few steps of terracing, with a more modern all-seater stand towards the corner flag. There is a further stand covering a couple of terrace steps behind the remaining goal, with a big screen alongside showing highlights of a recent game, today's line-ups, and various other messages, and is an impressive feature of the ground considering the club's level in the pyramid. It's a functional ground with plenty of cover, although supporting pillars or floodlight pylons can obstruct one's view from all of the stands. The 44 page programme, in full colour and printed on good quality glossy paper, was well presented and a good read, containing all of the necessary stats to preview the game, as well as some interesting articles to read.

Oxford City were originally transferred to the National League North in the close season, but were switched back to the South division in June, as a knock-on effect of Gateshead's successful appeal in only being demoted one step to the National League North, thereby continuing Oxford's four season stay in the South. Dartford are also in their fifth season in the National League South and had appointed a new manager yesterday, Steve King, although he would not be in the dugout today. A glance at the league table suggested that today's game would be between two very evenly matched teams, with only goals scored separating the two teams. Both clubs had won two and drawn four of their opening ten league games, and both have a goal difference of -9, but Dartford are a place higher, in 17th out of 22 clubs, having scored 18 goals, compared with Oxford's 11.

Fortunately, the light rain that was forecast did not materialize, although it remained very overcast and increasingly chilly. The game got off to a slow start, with the first goalmouth action of note coming in the 14th minute, when the ball was fizzed in from the right by Oxford, taking a deflection behind. And they forced good saves from the Dartford keeper on 22 and 26 minutes, before Dartford took the lead on 35 minutes, Ben Greenhalgh running from his own half, unopposed until he approached the penalty area, from where he rifled the ball across the keeper and into the net. Oxford had a big shout for a penalty three minutes later when it appeared that Finn Tapp was pulled to the floor following a corner, but nothing was given and Dartford saw out the half with their slender lead.

The visitors should have doubled their lead barely a minute after the break when the ball was passed back from the byline to an unmarked Greenhalgh towards the edge of the area, but he skied the ball well over the bar. On 55 minutes, Reece Beckles-Richards saw his shot came back off the left hand post, whilst on 61 minutes, a Dartford player showed terrific pace to run past the defence with the ball, but his eventual shot went just over the bar. Oxford did manage to create some decent chances during the remainder of the game, the pick of which saw a shot blocked on the line as they piled on the pressure in the closing minutes, but they couldn't find an equaliser, and Dartford held on for the three points.

Video highlights of this match can be viewed by clicking here

Warminster Town 2 v 3 Bristol Telephones

Saturday 5th October 2019
Western League Division One
Weymouth Road, Warminster
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 369

Following the tea time game at Devizes Town, it was really quite a spectacle being part of the long convoy of groundhopping making its way through narrow, winding roads 20 miles southwestwards for the final game of the Western League groundhop day at Warminster, kicking off at 7.45pm.

Weymouth Street is located just to the south of Warminster town centre, with the football ground up quite a steep hill. There is ample street parking available adjacent to the ground, with the turnstile block situated up a short lane, indicated by plenty of bright and colourful signage from the main road, and an abundance of welcome messages posted around the place is a nice touch. Most of the spectator facilities are situated along the length closest to the entrance, with a tea bar adjacent to the entrance. The modern clubhouse straddling the half way line dominates the ground and is pleasing on the eye. There is a row of covered seating to the front of the clubhouse, with standing to the rear. A further small wooden stand is located just beyond the corner flag behind the end closest to the entrance, with one row of seating inside, and standing room to the rear. Otherwise, there is hard standing behind the rest of this end and the other, whilst half of the remaining length also offered hard standing, with the remaining half inaccessible. The 20 page programme was informative and well presented.

After several seasons struggling at the foot of the division, being grateful of a reprieve from relegation to intermediate football in 2018 after finishing bottom, last season was much better for Warminster, finishing in sixth place, and they came into this game in 13th place, following three wins and four defeats from their seven league games, but earnt a good 3-0 home win against Sherborne Town in their last game last Saturday. Bristol Telephones have found life difficult in senior football since their promotion from the Gloucestershire County League in 2017, finishing in 16th place out of 22 clubs in their first season, and bottom last season, but were reprieved from relegation. And this season has not started any better, losing their first six games, finally picking up their first point in their last game in a 3-3 draw against Devizes Town, and found themselves five point adrift at the foot of the table.

On an evening that started off dry and mild, but steady rain arrived during the first half and remained with increasing intensity as the evening wore on, this was a really entertaining match to watch for the bumper crowd. Despite Bristol Telephones' lowly position in the table, it soon became clear that a shock result could be on the cards, creating most of the early chances with quick long balls forward causing plenty of problems for the Warminster defence. And after having a one-on-one shot parried by the keeper, the visitors took the lead on 14 minutes when Luke Barnfield struck a powerful low shot from an angle across the keeper and inside the far post. And they came close to doubling three minutes later, when a low ball across the six yard box just evaded a tap in, with several other chances following before Warminster equalised on the half hour mark with pretty much their first sight of goal, Jacky Miluk showing some good footwork to set himself clear before firing the ball across the keeper and into the net. And they completed the turnaround by taking the lead on 33 minutes when a run down the left ended with James Vincent rounded the keeper and passed the ball into the net. Warminster had certainly woken up by now, and saw a cross headed just over the bar two minutes before the interval, but perhaps the game changing moment occurred a minute into added on time in the first half, when Francois Allen reacted badly to a tackle and was shown a red card.

So the match was set up intriguingly at half time - Warminster a goal to the good, perhaps fortunately so, but would have to play the second half a man down. And indeed, the scores were level on 48 minutes. Another long ball down the left channel ended with a low ball across the box, which just evaded the keeper and Dhani Golding tapped the ball home at the far post. And a see-saw game saw the visitors go back in front on 59 minutes when Barnfield scored his second of the game with a powerful cross-cum-shot which brushed the keeper's finger tips on its way into the far top corner. For the remainder of the match, both teams created several chances, including both teams hitting the woodwork, as the game became stretched and end to end, but in the end Bristol Telephones held om to claim their first win of the season. It was a result few would have predicted at kick-off, but they deserved their win tonight, and with their bright attacking play, they should surely lift themselves off the foot of the table in the coming weeks.  As for Warminster, it was just one of those nights where they couldn't get going, and just as it seemed they had, the red card proved the big turning point of the match. But off the pitch it was a great and memorable evening for the club, with the rain not detracting from what was a good atmosphere generated amongst the bumper crowd around three times bigger than usual, and with the clubhouse and tea bar both doing roaring trades.

And so at the final whistle it was time for me to embark on the three hour drive home in the rain. This was another really enjoyable groundhopping day, with the usual friendly and enthusiastic welcome that one usually finds in this part of the world very much in evidence today at all three grounds I visited, and all three clubs were very well prepared in catering for the bumper attendances. It is a shame that this was the last organised groundhop in the Western League, at least for the foreseeable future - hopefully another league in southern England (perhaps the Wessex League?) will arrange similar groundhopping events in the near future.