Southern Counties East League Division One
Jubilee Field, Staplehurst
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 331
For the first time, GroundhopUK, organisers of groundhop events at various leagues throughout the year planned an event in the Southern Counties East League this year, and although I had long since been to all the grounds in the league, attending almost all of the games still appealed to me. With yet another rail strike called for today, I would have had to have driven to a game anyway today, and the relatively local event for me offered the chance to take in three games, at grounds that I had not visited since the respective host clubs had been elevated into Step 6, and my only previous visit to the Jubilee Field was over ten years ago.
On arrival at the ground, it was a relief to see the club had allowed parking in one of their fields surrounding the ground, to accommodate the hoards of cars that would be descending on the ground today. Teardrop flags lined the route to the entrance, with a couple of groundhopping merchandise stalls to one side, around which plemty of hoppers were gathering. Admission is paid for at a colourful cabin adorned with pricing and fixture information, before a walkway leads spectators through a corridor past the pavilion, to the pitch behind one end. The last time I came here in 2012, the ground was completely open, with not even railing, and all that was in place was hard standing along one length and the pavilion in the corner. That still stands, with team line-ups posted on the outside wall. But now the ground is railed all the way around, has wooden fencing enclosing the ground, and hard standing behind the end closest to the entrance, and still along the length beyond the pavilion corner. The remaining end and length are officially out of bounds, with no hard standing, but many people did venture down that length, taking advantage of the bright sunshine being behind them. Other new features since my last visit are a couple of small metallic stands straddling the half way line, one all-seater and one for standing, painted in green and white. Beers were available from a small gazebo erected between the pavilion and the stands, along with club merchandise from a table. Whilst still a little rough around the edges, the ground is perfectly adequate for Step 6, and its rural location, surrounded by colourful trees, make this a pleasant and enjoyable place to watch non-league football from. And full credit to Staplehurst for organising their big day well, with the large crowd well catered for inside and outside of the ground.
Staplehurst Monarchs finished down in 17th place in the 20 club division in their first season at Step 6 level last season, and they have started this season modestly, coming into this game in 12th place, following two wins and two draws from their opening eight league games. Rochester have made a decent start to their season, and were in fifth place in the division, following five wins and two draws from their opening nine league games.
On a gloriously sunny morning, unfortunately this turned out to be not the most entertaining game of football to watch, with particularly the home side playing a brand of possession football, always looking to play the ball back and around the defence, and this philosophy almost led to the opening goal for the visitors on 11 minutes, when the keeper had to scramble back to stop a back passing heading over the line. Rochester had a more direct style, but still struggled to create good chances, and a goalless scoreline at the break was no surprise.
The second half was more entertaining, and on 66 minutes, Staplehurst were awarded a penalty when the keeper came out and a Staplehurst player fell over the top of him. But the decision was overturned, and the Staplehurst players was shown a yellow card. But they did take the lead on 71 minutes. Following a Rochester throw in towards the half way line, a Staplehurst hooked the ball back downfield, for John Osagie to run onto down the wing, sprint past a defender and then side step another as he ran towards a more central position, before gently curling the ball low past the keeper and inside the far post. Rochester did not really threaten to grab an equaliser during the remainder of the game. The three points lifted Staplehurst into tenth place, with Rochester falling to seventh.
Video footage of the goals can be viewed by clicking here
Extended match highlights can be viewed by clicking here
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