Southern Counties East League Premier Division
Culverden Stadium, Tunbridge Wells
Admission: £8.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 518
For the final game of this year's inaugural GroudhopUK event in the Southern Counties East League, the roadshow made its way across the town of Tunbridge Wells, to the Culverden Stadium, arguably saving the best till last, with what is probably the best stadium and the best local support - although I may be slightly biased in my assessment there, given that only The Valley have I visited more than The Culverden, and only Charlton Athletic have I watched more than Tunbridge Wells.
Disappointingly, after all host clubs I had encountered so far this weekend had organised their parking facilities really efficiently, Tunbridge Wells proved an exception, with the car park outside the ground filling up early, and with no stewards marshalling traffic, a long traffic jam of cars eventually forced to turn around ensued. Inside, much remains unchanged - the large open terrace behind one goal where the more vociferous home fans congregate, and a low stand stretching virtually all the way along one length, a third of it with individual plastic seats that really are looking the worse for wear these days, the middle section has a rather basic reserved section for directos and guests, consisting of indivudal movable plastic seats, whilst the remaining third use to be a few steps to stand on, but now has a row of several plastic sofa style seats inside. Along the other length there remains only hard standing, and the far end opposite the terrace reamins out of bounds. It remains a peaceful and rural ground, with plenty of character.
Tunbridge Wells came into this weekend's fixtures in seventh place in the table, following four wins and two draws from their opening 11 league games, while Lordswood were in 14th place, following four wins and five defeats from their nine league games.
With Tunbridge Wells attracting decent support these days generally, and this game being played on a Sunday, as well as the influx of additional groundhoppers today, I expected a bumper crowd, but the final announced attendance of 518 was impressive indeed. And this was a game which ssw the home team in the ascendancy throughout much of the game, particularly in the opening stages, but ultimately paid the price for failing to convert more than one of some very presentable chances. On 12 miinutes, a low cross into the box evaded three players for a tap in, and on the half hour mark, Trevor McCreadie saw a shot from the edge of the area hit the outside of the far post. But on 32 minutes, very much against the run of play, the visitors broke the deadlock. A long throw in launched deep into the box was headed out to the edge of the area, only for Josh Reid to hit a lovely volley first time, drilling the ball through the crowd and past a goalkeeper rooted to his spot. Lordswood actually finished the half quite strongly, and had a couple of presentable chances to extend their lead, but retained their narrow lead at the break.
In the 57th minutes, Tunbridge Wells finally got on the scoresheet with an equaliser, when Jacob Feasey ran down the right before passing low into the danger area, for Trevor McCreadie to just beat the keeper to the ball to tap it home from 6 yards. The home side had some further good chances to claim the three points, but Lordswood could also easily have snatched the win themselves, but in the end the points were shared, a result that the visitors would no doubt be much the happier with.
And so on the final whistle, that was it for the inaugural Southern Counties East League groundhop event, which has proved to be a resounding success, well supported by those from near and far away, and I am sure everyone is looking forward to the next installment in 12 months' time.
Video footage of the goals can be viewed by clicking here
Extended video highlights can be viewed by clicking here
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