Thame United 2 v 2 Hertford Town

Saturday 26th February 2022, Kick-off 15.00
Southern League Division One Central

ASM Stadium, Thame

Admission: £8.00

Programme: Online Only , Free Printed Teamsheet

Attendance: 112

With train journeys along the south coast again disrupted due to engineering works this weekend, I decided to head northwards instead to tick off my penultimate ground in the Southern League Division One Central with another trip into Oxfordshire.

The ASM Stadium is about two miles from the nearest train station, Haddenham & Thame Parkway, and although buses do regularly ply the route, I decided to walk, opting for a countryside route along the Miller's Way rather than walking along the main road with no footpath, taking about 45 minutes, and crossing the border from Buckinghamshire into Oxfordshire en route. The Stadium, located on the northern edge of Thame, is part of the large Meadow View Park football complex, opened in 2010 at a cost of just over £3 million, containing several grass and plastic pitches, as well as a secondary full size grass pitch with hard standing, dugouts and a metallic stand. On approaching the main football ground, the rear wall of the building containing the clubhouse, changing rooms and the main stand has a large television screen attached to it, a most unusual feature for a Step 4 non league ground, with plenty of picnic tables in place to watch the televised action from (in today's case, Tottenham completing a 0-4 win at Leeds on BT Sport). There are turnstile blocks either side of the building, although only one was open today, and printed team sheets were available free of charge on entry. The facilities along this side are impressive and very easy on the eye, with the stand stretching most of the length containing four rows of seating, and a row along the back for standing. Vertical wooden panels along the rear wall above the seating enhance the appearance. The seated area is set some way back from the pitch, but at least the view is unimpeded. A tea bar hatch is also located to the side of the seated area. There is hard standing along the other three sides of the ground, with a metallic stand for standing located behind the end closest to the entrance. It is a spacious, very well maintained and  functional ground with plenty of identity, and although there is constant traffic noise, the frequent appearances of red kites circling above make for a very pleasant sight.

Thame are having a decent season, up in seventh place in the table following 14 wins and seven draws from their 29 league games, and are four points adrift of the play-offs, but have played a game more. Hertford are facing a battle to survive in the division, in 18th place in the 20 club division, following six wins and five draws from their 29 league games, but although they have a ten point buffer between the two clubs in the relegation zone, Wantage have two games in hand, and Hertford’s current 18th place would leave them at risk of having to contest the relegation/promotion play-off matches - they are three points adrift of certain safety and have played a game more than Kempston Rovers. Hertford were in poor form as well, losing 5 of their last six league games. When the two clubs met in the reverse fixture back in late November, the game finished in a 1-1 draw.

On a bright and sunny afternoon but with a chilly breeze, this game certainly did not go to form. The visitors had the better of the first half, as Thame seemed to be rather disjointed and sloppy in their play at times, much to the frustration of their coaching team. And Hertford opened the scoring on 33 minutes when a quickly taken free kick fed Max Hudson in the left side of the penalty area, he crossed the ball low and Ben Weyman struck the ball past the keeper. It was a lead they quite comfortably held onto up to half time.

Whatever was said in the Thame dressing room at half time paid instant dividends as his side got back on level terms within 30 seconds of the restart when the ball was dinked in from the right by Linton Goss and headed home by Ryan Blake. Thame were certainly much improved in the second half, and they had a great chance to take the lead on 62 minutes when the ball was crossed low from the right and Dan West stabbed it goalwards from close range, but straight at the keeper's legs. But they did take the lead on 82 minutes when Linton Goss broke clear of the defence before firing the ball low across the keeper and inside the far post. It was a crushing blow for the visitors who were still playing well in the second half, belying their lowly league status and form. But in the end, they did get the point their play deserved when they equalised just as the game entered added on time when, following a perhaps slightly generous free kick awarded to them just outside of the penalty area, the ball eventually ended at the feet of Obinna Ogbonna to the left of goal and he drilled the ball powerfully past the Thame keeper from close range. A point apiece was a fair outcome on balance, and another point for each side in their battles at either end of the table, which meant that Thame are now five points adrift of the play-offs, while Hertford closed the gap from certain safety to two points, and although Colney Heath below them won to reduce the gap to eight points, they have played the same number of games, while Wantage lost 0-7 at Harlow. But above all, their performance today would surely give them great encouragement in their battle for survival ahead.

NW London 2 v 2 Clapton CFC

Saturday 19th February 2022, Kick-off 19.45
Anagram Records Trophy Quarter-Final

Coles Park, Haringey

Admission: £6.00

Programme: £1.00

Attendance: 40 (rough head count)

When the fixture details for this match was announced a few weeks ago, I was not alone in putting this one in the diary and very much looking forward to it. The evening kick-off would make it ideally suited to double up with a 3pm kick-off elsewhere (in my case, at The Valley), and the match was appealing, with NW London having big ambitions to climb the pyramid, and Clapton CFC with their (in)famous large, loud and colourful support. Unfortunately, that excitement spectacularly died in midweek for the vast majority of Clapton CFC fans and some groundhoppers too  when an admission fee of either £6 (when purchased in advance) or £8 (on the gate) was announced, resulting in a rather unseemly spat between Clapton CFC fans and the NW London Twitter admin, with the Clapton fans resolving to boycott the game, a stance gently supported by their club. Truth be told, I did initially baulk at the prospect at the admission myself, given that this was a game between two clubs in the Step 7 Middlesex County League Premier Division, where games are almost always free admission, or at most a nominal amount requested as a donation. It would be a fair assumption that a relatively high admission fee was charged with the opponents in mind - either an attempt to secure a bumper pay day, having already moved the game from their usual home ground at Brickfield Lane (home of Hadley) to a ground closer to their opponents, or to deter the majority of the Clapton CFC fans from attending, whose passionate “ultras” style following would make the game more like a home game for the visitors, and their support has been known to cause problems for host grounds. If it was the latter, it was a partially successful strategy. I eventually decided to attend, as I appreciated the rare opportunity to take in a Saturday evening game, hiring a ground does cost money, and in the grand scheme of things these days, £6 is not a lot of money.

So at the conclusion of my disappointing afternoon game at The Valley, I made my way to North London, via the train to London Bridge, bus to Liverpool Street, train to White Hart Lane, and finally another bus to just outside Coles Park, home of Isthmian League Premier Division outfit Haringey Borough and current tenants New Salamis, of the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division, arriving just over an hour ahead of kick-off. So I made use of the clubhouse bar, before making my way into the ground shortly before kick-off. There have been no noticeable changes to the ground since my last visits in 2018 during the ConIFA World Cup tournament. Most of the facilities are along one side, with a green and yellow coloured stand located just inside the entrance providing an excellent elevated view of the action, despite a few narrow supporting pillars along the front. Beyond the half way line is a fairly long stand made of corrugated iron covering a couple of steps to stand on. A burger van is located between the two stands, but was not open today. There is just hard standing around the rest of the ground, and while it is not a ground of aesthetic beauty, but it serves its purpose well enough.

Clapton's supporters were true to their word in that they would not enter the ground in protest at the admission fees, but instead a sizeable number pitched themselves behind the perimeter fence in one corner, chanting virtually non-stop and waving flags throughout the game, even when the opposition scored. It was rather ironic with their boycott that, as it turned out, paying admission was kind of voluntary anyway, with at least four unattended doors left open around the ground, although the Clapton faithful seemed happy in their position and continuing to make their protest throughout.

Both clubs are pushing hard at the top of the Middlesex Premier League. With the top six clubs separated by just three points, NW London are in fourth place, following ten wins and four defeats from their opening 14 league games, but with games in hand on all clubs above them, and only two points adrift of leaders Brentham with a game in hand, they are well placed to challenge for the title and/or achieve promotion, for which they have applied. Clapton CFC are one place and one point above NW London, but have played three games more. When the two clubs met in the league back in late September, Clapton CFC won 5-3. Both clubs received walkovers in the previous round of this competition.

On a dry but chilly evening, in front of a very sparse crowd inside the ground (instead of several hundred that would probably have been in attendance were it not for the Clapton boycott), this was a game of two halves, with NW London having the better of the first half, in terms of both possession and chances, and they opened the scoring on 31 minutes after they were quite surprisingly not awarded a penalty when the keeper clattered into the forward, but the ball spilt away to team mate Toby Daniel, who struck the ball home into an unguarded net.

The second half was greeted with fireworks and flares being set off in the Clapton corner. But although Clapton started the second half on the front foot, it was NW London who doubled their advantage on 57 minutes, when the ball was drilled low across the keeper and inside the far post by Daniel for his second of the game. But Clapton pulled a goal back on 65 minutes, when the ball was launched high from their own half and with two Clapton forwards bearing down on the keeper, Arthur Wright delicately lobbed the ball over the keeper and into the net. And Clapton equalised on 74 minutes when the ball was looped into the box, and Julian Austin got his head to the ball to send it looping above the keeper and dropping down over the line and into the net. Both sides then created some very decent chances to win the game in the remaining minutes, but both keepers pulled off some very good saves, but there were no further goals and the game went straight to a penalty shootout to decide who would progress. 

After NW London took the first penalty, both sides scored their first three, but then NW London saw their fourth struck just wide of the left hand post, and when Clapton scored their fourth, they looked likely to progress. But then after NW London scored their fifth penalty, Clapton saw theirs saved, and a repeat in the sixth round of penalties ensured that it would NW London who would claim the semi-final spot. It is not the Clapton CFC fans' style to be quietened by losing a game, and indeed more flares and fireworks were set off shortly after the final whistle, and after initially being approached by some of the NW London players, no trouble ensued fortunately, and they were soon replaced by the Clapton CFC players going over to show their appreciation for the support. 

Charlton Athletic 0 v 4 Oxford United

Saturday 19th February 2022, Kick-off 15.00
EFL League One

The Valley, Charlton

Admission: Season Ticket

Programme: £3.00

Attendance: 14.029 (1,987 away)

Recent results has meant that the season is as good as over for Charlton in terms of having anything to play for, but the pre-match build-up would be a little different for me today, as I decided to take advantage of the PSA testing which was being hosted at The Valley today, for a donation of £10.00. Although the value of PSA testing is disputed, particularly as I am currently younger than the main "at risk" age range, I eventually decided to take part, and good on the club for hosting this event, increasing awareness of the very real danger of Prostate Cancer to men and encouraging people to get tested for a condition that is treatable if caught early enough, but which otherwise can prove fatal.

After losing two games in quick succession in the north-west since the last home game at The Valley, any hopes of making the play-offs have now been completely extinguished once and for all for the Addicks, meaning the season is as good as over and attention turns to preparing for next season. Following Charlton's win at home against AFC Wimbledon, they went on to lose 1-2 at Bolton Wanderers the following Tuesday, and then by the same scoreline at Wigan Athletic last Saturday, despite taking an early lead. Those results have left Charlton down in 14th place in the table, following 11 wins and 6 draws from their 31 league games, and are 14 points adrift of the play-offs, and nine points clear of the relegation zone. Today would be a tough game, with Oxford in seventh place in the table, following 15 wins and eight draws from their 32 league games, although they have lost their last two league games. When the two clubs met back in August, Oxford won 2-1.

An official match report can be read by clicking here

Short video highlights can be viewed by clicking here