Western League Premier Division
Raleigh Grove, Sherborne
Admission: £7.00
Programme: Online only
Attendance: 134
A poor weather forecast in the south east corner (which actually turned out to be incorrect) meant that I chose to look west for my game today, and in the end, I chose a visit to Raleigh Grove, as the various train connections would work out well, and I had noticed the ground was set in a scenic location, which should look at its best on the sunny autumnal day which was forecast for Dorset this afternoon.
Raleigh Grove is about a five minute walk from Sherborne train station, albeit including a steep climb en route. The football ground is nestled between the town's rugby and cricket grounds, with access gained through a modern metallic turnstile block behind one end. Sherborne's excellent programme is only available online, but a QR code is available to scan at the turnstile for instant access to the pdf document on a mobile device. A large pitched roofed brick building is located to the right of the entrance, and between the goal and corner flag, and has a bright, roomy and modern bar inside, a covered area pitchside, with a tea bar window towards one side, from which quite an impressive selection of hot and cold food and drinks available. To the other side of the goal, there is a narrow wooden covered area for standing. The hard standing path along one length is raised, thereby offering good views of the action, with a very pleasant backdrop of a steep hill mostly filled with trees continuing well into the distance behind the clubhouse end. A modern metallic all-seater stand straddles the half way line. There is just hard standing along the remaining length and end (which is naturally enclosed with tall trees), and all in all, Raleigh Grove is a ground to enjoy, in a picturesque and peaceful setting.
After Sherborne were promoted as champions from Division One, by ten clear points, the club was rocked in the summer when their manager surprisingly decided to step down. They kicked off this season with a win and a draw though, but had lost their last three games before today, to leave them in ninth place in the table, following three wins and a draw from 9 league games. Buckland Athletic have had a similar start to their season, winning five and losing the other five of their ten league games so far, and they started their season with three straight wins, but going into this game, lost three of their last four.
On a mostly cloudy afternoon, but with bright sunshine breaking through regularly, Sherborne were almost gifted a dream start in the second minute when the ball was launched downfield, the Buckland defender completely missed the ball allowing the Sherborne player to run through on goal, but his eventual shot was well blocked by the keeper. But somewhat against the run of play, they did take the lead on 25 minutes when the ball was played down the left, and was then passed powerfully across goal for an unmarked Ashley Guppy to drive the ball into the top of the net. Buckland had a great chance to equalise on the stroke of half time when the home keeper did well to block a close range shot with his feet, meaning that they would trail at the break, but with everything to play for in the second half.
The second half continued in a similar vein to the first, with the visitors slightly on top but with the home side still looking dangerous on occasions. But on 58 minutes, Buckland levelled the scores when Cieran Bridger delivered a corner which an unmarked Rob Farkins met with a firm header to send the ball into the net. The game then seemed to be drifting towards a share of the spoils, but in the 89th minute, it was the visitors who snatched a dramatic late winner, again following a corner swung in by Bridger and a header seemed to take a couple of deflections on its way towards goal, before being hacked away, but not before the ball had crossed the line, according to the linesman, with the goal being credited to Scott Croker. Their lead wasn't really threatened in the remaining minutes, and although the final result was perhaps a little harsh on Sherborne, who led the game before succumbing to a very late goal, Buckland did look the more threatening side and overall, probably just about deserved the three points.
An eventful journey home included the bizarre sight and sound of a swan coming into land before seeminngly waiting at the edge of a platform at Salisbury train station, and with another sad fatality on the train lines through Three Bridges causing severe delays and unexpected changes on my way home, it would be shortly before midnight when I would finally put the key in my front door.
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