Seaford Town 1 v 2 Bexhill United

Tuesday 29th September 2020, Kick-off 19.30
Southern Combination League Division One
The Crouch, Seaford
Admission including Programme: £5.00
Attendance: 123

Still wanting to make the most of going to football whilst it is still possible, I had a good selection of games to choose from locally, but in the end I chose this game, with a visit to The Crouch always a pleasant experience, and for a game between two sides that are known to play good football.

My most recent visit to The Crouch was last December, and whilst there have been no major changes to the ground itself, there have been a number of Covid-19 induced changes. Usually, entrance to the ground is via a pathway next to the clubhouse, but as players emerge from the changing rooms along that path, spectators now enter via a different entrance to the recreation ground behind the far corner along the length, with the track and trace formalities taken care of, and a decent programme provided in exchange for the £5 entrance fee. The programme is very colourful and well designed, and consists of a 16 page generic shell, containing an attractive cover specific for this game, an introduction to the club and mainly advertising, and with a 12 page insert specific to this game, and containing a preview of the game, fixture and league table.

There seems to be a really upbeat atmosphere at Seaford Town these days, with the club making great strides in encouraging the locals to support the club, with initiatives like a supporter's card for £25 entitling holders to discounts at local businesses, and which can be upgraded to include a season ticket for an extra £50. So it is quite surprising that on the field, they have not made a great start to the season, picking up their only point from their opening game of the season, and losing their following three league games. Bexhill have had a perfect start to their league season, winning all four of their league games so far, yet are still not top of the table, with Littlehampton Town leading the way on goal difference.

On a mild and dry evening, the first half was a lively affair, with both sides looking to seize the initiative, and Seaford probably created more of the attacking moves, but that was to prove their undoing on 15 minutes when Bexhill opened the scoring. A low crossfield pass out to the left wing found Jack McLean, and he dribbled forward, past a defender before slotting the ball through to Sammy Bunn running into the penalty area, and he struck the ball first time low past the keeper. Seaford kept attacking however, and on 18 minutes, Jack Langford created a little space 25 yards out, and his long range shot came back off the post. But on 25 minutes, Bexhill doubled their lead with a very good goal on the counter, McLean again beating his man down and he ran down the left wing, before crossing the ball low into the box, and after a Bexhill player stepped over the ball, Charlie Curran drove the ball home from a central position 10 yards out. The game settled down after that, and the scoreline remained 0-2 to the visitors at the break.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, Seaford still looking to attack, and probably having more of the ball than they had in the first half, but the visitors dealt quite comfortably with the Seaford attacks. But Seaford did give themselves hope of getting something from the game on 87 minutes, when a corner was floated in and after the keeper fumbled the ball above his head, Chris Grant managed to bundle the ball home through a crowd of players. Bexhill had a great chance to restore their two goal lead with a quick break left three Bexhill players running forward against one defender, but the eventual shot was parried by the keeper, but they didn't need that extra goal in the end and the claimed the three points. 

Video highlights of the game can be viewed by clicking here

Ampthill Town 1 v 1 New Salamis

Saturday 26th September 2020, Kick-off: 15:00
Spartan South Midlands League Division One
Ampthill Park, Ampthill
Admission: £5.00
Programme: None
Attendance: 103

For my destination in search of a new ground today, the trains favoured shortlisting one of three grounds in the Spartan South Midlands League Division One, all within Bedfordshire, with a choice from Shefford Town & Campton, Stotfold's new ground, or Ampthill Town. All would require a fairly lengthy walk from the closest train station, not a bad thing but making them better to visit during British Summer Time. Ultimately, a trip to Ampthill Park won the day, as it looked the most interesting of the grounds, and the game promised plenty of attacking football.

Ampthill Park is about a 40 minute, two and a quarter mile walk northwards from Flitwick train station, with the last section through a nature reserve, and finally passing alongside the grounds of Ampthill Rugby Club, who play in the second tier of the rugby pyramid, before crossing the road to find the football ground. Entrance to the ground is gained through a wooden turnstile hut, and Covid precautions were the most extensive I have encountered so far, with plenty of hand sanitizer gel dispensers and NHS track and trace QR codes to scan  available, and for the first time for me in 21 games this season, my temperature was taken. Once inside, there is much to really like about the place, starting with its setting, naturally enclosed by tall trees around all four sides, and a glimpse of the surrounding Ampthill Great Park is visible, including the Katherine's Cross monument standing proud in the distance. There is only hard standing around three sides of the ground, but quite a long stand straddles the half way line along the remaining length, smartly painted in club colours of yellow and blue, and offering an elevated view of the action as it set above pitch level. Inside, there are four wooden bench tops, and plastic seats, to sit on, whilst about a third of the area is for standing. A fairly new clubhouse, constructed in 2017, is located behind the entrance end close to the corner flag, and is smart and easy on the eye with a pleasant design, with a dark wood fascia and dark tiled roof, and French windows along the front of the bar area, which was inaccessible today due to Covid restrictions, but refreshments including alcohol were available from a hatch to one side. Unfortunately, the club no longer produces any kind of programme, but probably the last they did produce, against New Salamis last season for a game that never took place due to the start of the Covid lockdown, can be found here .

Both clubs have had good starts to their embryonic seasons, with seemingly plenty of goals in them. Ampthill won 3-5 at Milton Keynes Irish in their only league fixture so far, before dispatching Dunstable Town 4-1 at home. Today would be New Salamis' fixture away from home, having beaten won their opening league fixture against Shefford Town & Campton 5-1, and enjoying a great run in their debut season in the FA Cup, beating Colney Heath 1-0, West Essex 5-1, before narrow losing to Brentwood Town (two steps higher in the pyramid) 1-2. New Salamis were one of the clubs with the most reason to have felt particularly aggrieved at the decision to null and void last season as they were looking good for promotion in their first season in senior football, top of the table and 11 points inside the top four promotion spots, and they had averages over four goals a game, impressively notching up 117 goals in 29 games. Ampthill were in a comfortable 11th place.

Well the weather was certainly something of a shock to the senses this afternoon, some ten degrees less than last weekend, and a far cry from the warm and sunny conditions I enjoyed on Sunday, as today the thermometer barely reached double figures. This turned out to be a very lively game, full of energy but with a cutting edge surprisingly lacking from both sides. New Salamis had the better of the opening quarter, with Ampthill coming back into it as the half wore on, and both sides had good efforts to open the scoring, but it remained goalless at the break.

Into the second half and Ampthill were the better team now, doing most of the attacking and if anyone was going to score, it felt likely to be them. But it was the visitors who finally broke the deadlock on 77 minutes when a long ball forward from the back was misjudged by an Ampthill defender, allowing Charles Georgiou to run through on goal before lifting the ball past the keeper and into the net with a cool finish. But within two minutes, Ampthill were awarded a penalty for a shove towards the edge of the area, and Jamie Cerminara struck the ball low into the right side of the goal, sending the keeper the wrong way. Both teams pushed hard for a winner, neither happy to settle for a point, but in the end the points were indeed shared.

Little Common 0 v 3 Corinthian-Casuals

Tuesday 22nd September 2020, Kick-off 19.45
FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
The Oval, Eastbourne

Admission: £7.00

Programme: £1.00

Attendance: 149

Still wanting to take in as much football as enjoyably possible, whilst we are still able in view of the recent upsurge in Covid infection rates and the authorities starting to reimpose restrictions, this was the stand-out fixture for me in the FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round this evening, with the possibility of witnessing a major giant killing, with the home club plying their trade two steps below the visitors.

Little Common have been playing their home games at Eastbourne United's The Oval ground since 2017, although there are high hopes that they will be able to do the necessary ground improvements to their Recreation Ground home to enable them to return to hosting games in their home village in the not too distant future. I last visited The Oval just under a month ago, for the Eastbourne United - Lewes pre-season friendly, and the marquee in place that evening was not erected for this evening, but just inside the entrance, there was a table with hand sanitizer gel dispensers and, for track and trace purposes, a pad and paper plus a QR code to scan. As usual for Little Common over the years, the programme was good, well presented and laid out, mostly in colour, with some interesting articles and welcome messages to read, as well as stats and facts.

Little Common have opened their season in the Step 5 Southern Combination League Premier Division with three draws, after closing the abandoned last season in 13th place. To reach this stage, they have beaten AFC Uckfield Town 0-1 away, and then Stansfeld, of the Southern Counties East League Division One, 2-3 away. They exited the FA Vase at the first hurdle on Saturday, losing 0-4 at Southern Counties East League Premier Division outfit Fisher. Corinthian-Casuals, of the Step 3 Isthmian League Premier Division, opened their season with a 1-2 home defeat to Haringey Borough, after being in 19th place in the 22 club division when last season was abandoned. This evening would be their first game in the FA Cup this season, having reached the third qualifying round last season.

On a mild evening, and with a significant and vocal following supporting the visitors from south-west London, the first half was surprisingly even as, although the visitors did more of the attacking, they did not really create any gilt edged chances as Little Common more than held their own, and an upset still looked a distinct possibility at the half time break.

The second half was a different story, however, as the visitors eased into the lead four minutes after the break and thereafter cruised to a comfortable victory. The opening goal came following a corner and after an initial poked shot was blocked on the line, a scramble around the six yard box ensued, before Benjamin Checklit stabbed the ball home. And 6 minutes later, the visitors were awarded a penalty after Kevat Serbonij was bundled over near the edge of the penalty area, and Nathaniel Pinney drilled the ball home into the bottom left corner, sending the keeper the wrong way. Little Common kept battling hard to try and get back in the game, but it never looked likely, and the result was put beyond all doubt on 85 minutes when the ball was crossed from the right by Cheklit, and Little Common's Lewis Parsons headed the ball into his own net, before a Corinthian-Casuals probably would have converted anyway.