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.