Thames Valley Premier League Premier Division
Alfred Palmer Memorial Playing Fields, Mortimer
Admission and Programme: None
Attendance: 80 (approximate)
With football unusually continuing throughout June this year, I decided to head for a rural location today, to make the most of the warm and sunny conditions that were forecast, and to take in my first ever taste of football in the Thames Valley Premier League.
The Alfred Palmer Memorial Playing Fields is about a half hour walk westwards from Mortimer train station, up a slight incline most of the way, and is located just to the south west of the centre of Mortimer village. A roadside club sign greets visitors to the ground, with an area to park just inside between the hedge and the pitch, up to about the half way line. The ground is one of the better ones in the Thames Valley League, fenced off around two and a half sides, and roped off around the rest. The fencing is most unusual for a football ground though, with individual metal guardrails, more commonly seen alongside roads, placed sporadically along the touchlines. There are also two metal dugouts in place, and behind the end closest to the main entrance is the clubhouse, including a rather cosy bar area, serving bottled drinks and bar snacks. Handily in the current climate, various tables and chairs are scattered on a patio area outside pitchside, including an area under cover, which provided welcome shade on a warm afternoon. Some smart mobile homes behind the end opposite the clubhouse make for further unusual background, and behind the length opposite the entrance, the playing fields stretch further out, and the grounds are surrounded by trees, giving pleasantly rural and peaceful surroundings.
The Thames Valley League is one of the few leagues that decided to play to a finish, through to the end of June. Mortimer came into this game in seventh place in the 14 club division, following ten wins and seven draws from their 23 league games so far, but in a very tight mid-table - just one point separates fifth from ninth - they could easily finish as high as fourth, being just three points adrift. Former Hellenic League outfit Finchampstead, demoted in 2017 solely due to ground grading issues after 17 seasons at Step 6, are in pole position to win the Premier Division this season, leading by three points with a game in hand, following 17 wins and four draws from their 23 league games. With second placed Berks County having played a game more, and so have only two games remaining, 4 points from their remaining three games would seal the title for Finchampstead. When the two clubs met in December, the game finished in a 1-1 draw.
Considering this afternoon's conditions were warm and sunny, credit must go to both teams for playing with plenty of energy and desire, and producing a very entertaining game, particularly in the first half. The visitors started strongly, and with barely a minute on the clock, saw a shot drilled just wide of the left hand post. But it was Mortimer who were awarded a penalty on 7 minutes following a handball, which was converted low into the bottom left corner. They came close to extending their lead two minutes later when the Finchampstead keeper just managed to stretch low and get fingertips to a low cross shot, enough to send the ball trickling just past the post. Finchampstead were continuing to have the better of the play, and it was no surprise when they equaliser on 26 minutes, when a free kick was floated into the box, was headed down, and a team mate lashed the ball home. And on 37 minutes, they were awarded a penalty of their own, when a ball was played low into the box, and the keeper brought the striker down. This penalty was also converted, into the bottom right corner, to give Finchampstead the lead. But right on half time, Mortimer levelled the scores. The ball was played forward low into the area, the keeper was drawn out, and the Mortimer striker just managed to get to the ball first to strike the ball goalwards from an angle, and it rolled over the line just before a defender could get there.
Into the second half and whilst the energy and good natured battling remained, the goalscoring chances really dried up, with the only real chance of note falling to Finchampstead in the 86th minute, after a goal kick by the Mortimer keeper was headed back into his half, sending the Finchampstead forward clear through on goal, but his shot was blocked by the keeper, with the ball bouncing into the area, but a defender comfortably cleared the danger.
A draw was probably the right result in the end, and a result both clubs would be happy with, as for Finchampstead, although Berks County won their game today to pull with a point, a win in either of the two remaining games will indeed secure the title.
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