Bexhill United Ladies 0 v 2 Bromley Women

Sunday 19th Feburay 2023, Kick-off 14.00
London & South East Regional League Division One South

The Polegrove, Bexhill-on-Sea

Admission: Free

Programme: None

Attendance: 35 (rough head count)

I decided to take in a bonus game today, when I realised that Bexhill United Ladies were unusually playing at The Polegrove - home of the Bexhill United Men's team. I can't remember the last time that the Ladies last played at The Polegrove, as they usually play their home fixtures on a 3G pitch at Bexhill College. But on a sunny and surprisingly warm afternoon, I decided on a visit to the coast and a rare opportunity to enjoy The Polegrove in daylight.

This game was in Step 6 of the Women's football pyramid, and both clubs look fairly comfortable with remaining in the decision, albeit that today's visitors were are having a much better season. Bexhill were down in ninth place in the twelve club division, following four wins and a draw from their 15 league games. Although the bottom two go down, Bexhill are unlikely to be in any danger of falling into the relegation zone, as the two clubs currently occupying the relegation berths have just three points and one point. They were not in good form, having not won since late October, which came against today's opponents, winning 1-2, although they were awarded a win in late November when opponents Cray Valley failed to field a team. Bromley were up in fourth place, following seven wins and two draws from 14 league games, but with only one club eligible for promotion, and very unlikely to be able to overhaul current league leaders Hastings United, who are seven points ahead and with four games in hand, second placed Ashford United, who have a 100% record from their ten league games, nor third placed Eastbourne United, who had won nine our of their ten games. 

The first half was entertaining, with Bromley always looking the more threatening team, although occasionally Bexhill looked dangerous on the break. Bromley opened the scoring on 42 minutes, when a corner was swung in and Charlotte Lee rose highest to head the ball downwards, deflecting off a defender before finding the back of the net.

The second half saw Bromley take much more control of the game, as Bexhull seemed to tire against Bromley's seemingly younger and fitter players, but the game remained in the balance until the 75th minute, when Bromley were awarded a penalty, when a Bexhill defender late tackle missed the ball but hit the Bromley player's shinpads. Lee stepped up to convert the penalty into the bottom left corner, sending the keeper the wrong way. Bexhill did come close to pulling a goal back in the 79th minute, when an up and under towards goal caused the keeper the flap at the ball, possibly unsighted by the blinding sunshine in the background, and the ball came back off the woodwork, and the loose ball was poled towards goal, only to be deflected behind for a corner. 

Burton Park Wanderers 0 v 1 Raunds Town

Saturday 18th February 2023, Kick-off 15.00
Spartan South Midlands League Division One
Latimer Park, Burton Latimer
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 89

Somewhat surprisingly, I realised earlier in the week that, for various reasons, I had only visited one new ground so far in 2023, and so I certainly wanted to change that today, which eventually ruled out a tempting trip to revisit Roots Hall, for what could well, very sadly, be Southend United's last ever home game there, and visiting some basic step 7 grounds despite the promise of printed programmes. I also wanted to take advantage of some decent travel deals currently available - 10% off train tickets by using my Amex credit card, and single bus fares capped at £2 thanks to a temporary government initiative, each of which meant a trip to the outskirts of Kettering would be much cheaper than usual. And to carry on the theme of groundhopping on a budget, this game would allow me to visit a Step 2 ground (in name, at least) for Step 6 admission fee.

Although train stations at Wellingborough and Kettering are much closer to Burton Latimer, it would be much more expensive to go there than to Bedford, where I walked to Bedford bus station and then caught a bus, taking about an hour and a half, with the bus stop very close to the ground. The journey took me right past the site of Nene Park, the former home of Rushden & Diamonds, where the stadium has been completely levelled, and all that remains is an set of Exit doors, and a road sign directing towards "Football Parking".  A sad end to what was a very decent modern football ground. Although Burton Park Wanderers have called Latimer Park home since 1973, Kettering Town moved in to share the ground in 2013, and have since become the majority leaseholder of the ground. Today, the ground has almost exclusively Kettering Town signage, with precious little of Burton Park Wanderers, and none whatsoever around the pitch and its immediate surroundings, which is quite a shame. There is quite an impressive turnstile block, but that is only used for Kettering's games, and instead for Burton games, spectators have to pass through a side gate and pay at a table just inside. Similarly, the main clubhouse outside of the ground, with a spacious covered area of picnic tables to one side, along with a tea bar hut seeming to offer a decent range of hot food, are only open for Kettering games, while for Burton games, quite a smart converted portakabin tucked well out of the way provides a tea bar counter, containing a basic range of hot and cold food and drink, and a separate bar area. As for the ground, it is above average for Step 6 football, but despite various enhancements which have taken place recently, is still well below average for Step 2 (where Kettering currently play, in the National League North), with facilities remaining very basic for the most part, some parts in a state of disrepair and not particularly easy on the eye, and many areas are dusty and untidy. Perhaps all of this is a reflection that Kettering do not see their long term future being here. Along one length of the ground there is hard standing until just beyond the half way line, then there is a rather old fashioned all-seater stand, and close to the corner flag, a further all-seater stand, covered by a white tarpaulin roof which has seen better days. Along the other length there is mainly hard standing, although there is uncovered terracing in a section. Behind one goal there is a metallic stand covering steps stretching the entire distance between the corner flags, while behind the other end, closest to the entrance, is the one modern and quite impressive addition to the ground, a smart all-seater stand, located behind the goal, with shallow uncovered terracing either side.

This match was something of a local derby, with less than ten miles separating the two clubs. Burton Park Wanderers were grateful for a reprieve from relegation last season, having finished second bottom last season, however following some excellent recent form, which has seen then win their last four league games and scored four in each of their last three, they are heading for the comfort of a mid table finish this season, coming into this game in tenth place, following ten wins and three draws from 22 league games. Raunds still have work to do to avoid the relegation trapdoor, coming into this game in 16th place, following seven wins and a draw from their 23 league games, and are only four points above second bottom Thame United Reserves, a berth which would be at risk of relegation. And they have been in disappointing form recently, losing their last three league games, including the reverse fixture of today's game, which Burton Park Wanderers won 0-4.

On a very overcast but fairly mild afternoon for February, this game started in a very lively fashion, with both sides having decent chances to open the scoring in the first quarter hour. The game then settled down, with not many more chances being created, and although Burton always looked the more likely to make the breakthrough, Raunds held their own, and the match was goalless and evenly poised at half time.

The game continued in a very similar fashion after the break, but it was the visitors who finally broke the deadlock when a low diagonal through all found the run of the Raunds forward, who ran on before clipping the ball across the keeper and into the net. Although Burton continued to do most of the attacking for the remainder of the game, they rarely looked like grabbing an equaliser, as Raunds gained some revenge for last week's defeat, and extended the gap to the second bottom club to seven points. I did expect that I would have to leave a few minutes early from this game, which I never like to do, with a bus back to Bedford leaving at 16.52, and with the next one not until 18.11, but fortunately, the referee kicked off on time and there were very few stoppages throughout the game. I did have a scare in added on time though, when a mass brawl caused the referee to stop proceedings and deal with the situation. Fortunately, that only added a minute or two, and as the final whistle blew at 16.50, I had time to run out to catch the bus, which was a few minutes late anyway, to head back to Bedford on the long journey home.

Broadfields United 1 v 2 Wallingford & Cromarsh

Saturday 11th February 2023, Kick-off 19.15
Combined Counties League Premier Division North

Tithe Farm Sports & Social Club, Rayners Lane
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 87

After missing out on a double following Charlton’s lunchtime kick-off a fortnight ago when my partner decided to join me for the day, I unexpectedly had another opportunity following a Charlton game today, when this game was very sensibly rearranged from a midweek date to today, when both clubs would otherwise not have had a fixture. An evening kick-off was necessary, as Rayners Lane were playing at home in the afternoon. That suited me perfectly to make my way across from south-east to north-west London, arriving with about twenty minutes to spare. The journey was a little complicated by the fact that Rayners Lane underground station, which is only about a ten minute walk from the ground, was closed today, and so instead I had to go to North Harrow station and catch a bus to close to the ground.

On my previous visit to Tithe Farm, in April 2019, the ground was one rather in transition. A 3G plastic pitch had been laid a year previously, a long stand with two rows of seating along one length had been recently smartly decorated, but although the new clubhouse in one corner of the ground had been constructed, it was not yet open, with the very old fashioned and tired clubhouse still open, and the ground generally looking rough around the edges due to the building works in place. Those have been completed, and the ground now looks really smart and offers excellent facilities for the level the resident clubs play at. A large kiosk has been installed by the half way line to take admission fees, with a 32 page colour professionally printed programme also available. The clubhouse is really impressive inside, stylish, modern and spacious with plenty of tables and chairs, big screens, dart boards and pool tables, with a large patio area to the front, and a tea bar hatch also offers a decent range of hot and cold food and drink. The former clubhouse has been removed, and a 3G caged plastic pitch installed in its place. The ground and the new clubhouse in particular has a real buzz about the place now, which was certainly lacking on my previous visit.

This game would be between two clubs occupying a berths in the lower half of the table, and with still a little work left to do to avoid the relegation trapdoor. Broadfields were down in  15th place in the 20 club division, following seven wins and a draw from 23 league games. Although they won their last game 5-1, they had previously lost their previous four league games since the turn of the year. Tonight’s visitors were known as Wallingford Town up to last summer, when they merged with Cromarsh Youth to form the current incarnation. And following promotion from Division One, they have had a decent season, coming into this game in twelfth place, following seven wins and four draws from 20 league games  and they were in good form, winning three of their last four league games since the turn of the year. In the reverse fixture played back in mid August, Broadfields came back from Oxfordshire with a 1-2 win.

On a cool evening, the first half was entertaining and played at a high tempo, with the visitors doing most of the attacking, but although they found the back of the net on 39 minutes, when Robbie Gallagher forced his way through into the penalty area to come up one on one against the home keeper, and his shot hit the keeper then back off Gallagher, before he tucked the ball home, but the referee decided that the ball had hit Gallagher's hand, and the goal was disallowed. 

The second half was a lot more even, and on 55 minutes, it was Broadfields who opened the scoring when Eric Lopes fired in a low shot from just inside the area which went across the keeper and inside the left hand post. But their lead was to only last four minutes when the ball was drilled in diagonally from the right inside the area, and Carlin Isaac tapped the ball home. The game could really have gone either way after that, but despite Broadfields having the more possession and looking the more threatening in the second half, it was Wallingford who scored the next and ultimately game winning goal on 85 minutes following a lovely slide rule pass through the defence and into the path of sub Ty Hamilton, who took the ball around the keeper and slotted the ball home from a slightly tight angle. And that proved sufficient to claim all three points.