Southern Combination League Division Two Supplementary Shield
Charlwood Recreation Ground, Charlwood
Admission & Programme: None
Attendance: 45 (rough head count)
This was a game that I had very much been looking forward to ever since the Southern Combination League Division Two Supplementary Cup fixtures were announced. Always a big fan of the early evening "silly season" fixtures in April onwards, I was also intrigued to visit a club that has attracted a great deal of attention lately, being the subject of the excellent documentary series "Charlwood Uncovered", produced by "Bunch of Amateurs" and available to view on YouTube. It offers a fascinating and enjoyable insight into the club's operations on and off the pitch as it navigates its way through the league campaign, showing the good, bad and the ugly sides of football at this level. As others have commented, it is hard not to feel some warmth and attachment towards the club after following the series, looking out for their results and wishing them well.
The Charlwood Recreation Ground is located on the main road running through the peaceful and rural village of Charlwood, which is situated barely a mile to the northwest of Gatwick Airport's runway, and indeed, my drive to the ground took me along the airport's perimeter fence. The Recreation Ground, which is also home for the village's cricket club, is well maintained, has a very tranquil setting, is easy on the eye, and is naturally enclosed by hedgerows and trees. The football pitch is nestled to the side, with the main road passing immediately alongside one length, with a low hedgerow and a few trees in between. Several wooden benches are placed along this length. Another road passes behind one of the goals, with a hedgerow and tall trees bordering the ground and a small shelter with a steep tiled roof offers some cover when required behind the goal. The other end is lined with tall trees, whilst the cricket square and field stretches out beyond the remaining length, which is roped off and has two portable dugouts in place. A large pavilion building, opened five years ago, is the main feature of the ground, with an outdoor covered area along the front and a clock tower on the roof. Sadly it was virtually inaccessible this evening due to Covid restrictions.
This evening's game would very much be a local derby, with only Gatwick Airport separating the two villages, Charlwood located immediately to the northwest and Copthorne to the south-east. Following their lateral movement from the Mid Sussex League Premier Division, which they were leading last season when the season was declared null and void, Charlwood found life in the Southern Combination League Division Two a little tougher this season, and were in ninth place in the 14 club division, following four wins and a draw from their ten league games, when this season was curtailed. Copthorne were having a very decent season, up in third place following seven wins and three defeats from ten league games.
Unfortunately, after being unable to finish work as early as I had hoped and with plenty of slow traffic to contend with crossing Sussex, I just missed kick-off. With less than ten minutes on the clock came the big incident of the game, when Josh Howell was shown a straight red card for a high and late tackle. The rest of the half was competitive, perhaps the home side just edging things despite being down to ten men but with few goalscoring chances being created by either side, the best coming on 34 minutes, when a Charlwood corner was headed just wide at the far post.
There was a lot more attacking intent after the break Charlwood sent a free kick into the box, and after the visiting keeper couldn't claim the ball, a defender headed it just wide of his own goal. On 65 minutes, Copthorne had a good chance, one of their players glanced the ball past a defender on the wing and ran forward towards the keeper, eventually pushing the ball too close to the byline for a shot on goal himself but with the keeper out of position, passed it back to a team mate towards the edge of the area but he couldn't force the ball home. A minute later, and a low cross by Charlwood was sliced over his own bar by a Copthorne defender, and from the resulting corner, a far post header was powered just wide. On 71 minutes, a good run with the ball down the left and into the area ended with a gentle curled shot, which went wide of the far post, and two minutes later, it was Charlwood's turn to come close, again from a corner, when a header was tipped onto the bar, and the follow up header went into the keeper's arms. They had another decent chance a couple of minutes later when a low drilled shot went just wide of the far post. Copthorne had a couple of chances at the death, but both efforts were blocked, and so the points were shared. That was a fair reflection of the game, and a point that Charlwood would probably be the happier with, playing over 80 minutes with ten men.
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