Nailsea & Tickenham 1 v 3 Shepton Mallet

Saturday 27th January 2024, Kick-off 15.00

Western League Premier Division

Frythe Way, Nailsea

Admission: £7.00

Programme: Online Only

Attendance: 93

After last Saturday's relatively dull fare - visiting a Step 7 game on a 3G cage in school ground, and then a revisit - I decided I wanted to have a good day out today, and so I booked cheap coach tickets to Bristol for today, with its plethora of grounds to choose from within easy reach. I booked it with the safety of the 3G pitch at Keynsham Town in reserve in case of poor weather, but with mild and dry weather prevailing, I could keep that in reserve for future. I had decided on a visit to Cribbs, but on approaching Bristol I realised that it would be cutting it a little fine getting back from Cribbs to catch the 18.30 coach back to London. So eventually, I decided to take a bus journey westwards out of Bristol, which promised to be quite a scenic route, and to visit a club which seems to be on quite an impressive upwards trajectory.

After arriving in Nailsea, and having some lunch at the town's Wetherspoons, I then walked about 15 minutes to the north western fringe of the town. The entrance road is marked by a colourful fixture board, and admission is paid at a wooden hut at the entrance to the car park. This is only the club's second season in the National League System, so it is unsurprising that the ground has mostly temporary looking facilities, hastily added to facilitate the club's rise. All of the facilities are along one side, with a collection of portakabins stretching from one corner, housing the tea bar, officials' facilities, toilets and the clubhouse, from where the electronic programme for today's match could be downloaded via a QR Code. A rather rustic and home-made looking stand (and all the better for that) holding four rows of seats straddles the half way line, and adjacent to that is a container unit, from where merchandise can be purchased, and today's line-ups were written up on the outward facing door. There is hard standing along the opposite length and behind one end, while the other is inaccessible to spectators, presumably due to no hard standing being present. The ground has a scenic backdrop, with farmland and a church behind trees, and with rolling hills in the background.

After being promoted from the Somerset County League at the end of the 2021-22 season, Nailsea & Tickenham secured back to back promotions with a runners up finish last season in the Western League Division One, but their progress has slowed slightly this season, as they came into this game in mid table, in 12th place in the 18 club division, following nine wins and a draw from their 21 league games so far. They have won their last three league games, although those were against the bottom two clubs, home and away against Millbrook (including a 9-0 home win last Saturday) who are cast adrift at the bottom of the table, and Wellington.  Shepton Mallet were in ninth place in the table, following nine wins and five draws from their 20 league games, and they will still have hopes of a late run for the play-offs, being just four points adrift currently. When today's two sides met in the reverse fixture back in late August, Nailsea & Tickenham won 1-3.

On a mostly overcast afternoon with the sun trying to break through but was deceptively very chilly particularly as the game wore on, the hosts almost got off to a dream start when, in the second minute, a long throw in was diverted by a backward header onto the cross bar. But in the eighth minute, it was the visitors who took the lead when a free kick was delivered into the box, headed across goal and Josh Jenkins headed home. But on 22 minutes, the score was levelled when the ball was crossed into the box and Luke Osgood showed good composure to drill the ball home. But on 38 minutes, the visitors were given the opportunity to retake the lead when they were awarded a penalty, after Jenkins chased a ball forward, the Nailsea keeper came out to close him down but could only grab Jenkins' legs just inside the far outer right corner of the area. Jake Sloggett slotted the ball into the bottom right corner, sending the keeper the wrong way.

That was how it remained at the break, and in the second half, it was the visitors who always looked the more likely to score, and so it proved when they added a third on 72 minutes, when Cam Allen curled a lovely ball over the defence, and Ethan Witchell got the ball under control before striking the ball across the keeper and into the far corner. The hosts never really looked like getting back into the game after that until the game entered ten minutes of added on time, when a bullet header from a corner was superbly parried by the keeper. But then it was Shepton Mallet's turn to force some very good saves from the home keeper, but they had done more than enough to secure the three points, which saw them rise a place in the standings and within three points of the play-offs.

Amateur Football Combination 1 v 2 Arthurian League

Saturday 20th January 2024, Kick-off 18.10

FA Inter League Cup Second Round

Meadowbank Stadium, Dorking

Admission: Free

Programme: Free 

Attendance: 100 (estimate)

Following my earlier game at Cuckfield Rangers, I then made my way north westwards to Dorking for this evening game, to take in this very interesting looking game, representing leagues in which I have never watched any games.

Having parked up in the multi-storey car park virtually outside the ground, I was confronted with waves of people leaving the ground, having watched Dorking Wanderers' 1-0 home win against Gateshead, and so I went into town to get some fish and chips before entering the ground through the open gates, with no admussion charges for this game. All of the ground was open for this fixture, which had not noticeably changes since my last visit just over a year ago, apart from a few steps seem to have been added on the previously flat standing area behind the far end, and the black metallic stand next to the main stand has lost its rear wall. A pdf version of the programme was available to download prior to the game, and it was a very pleasant surprise that printed versions were freely available from a table inside the ground.

The FA Inter-League Cup is open to representative teams from all Step 7 leagues and those of an equivalent standard, and is making its return this season after a sabbatical of three seasons. This was an intriguing game for me, with the Amateur Football Combination, which is outside of the football pyramid and so is rarely on my radar to watch games in with facilities at their grounds usually being very basic. Similarly with the Arthurian League, which is made up of old boys of public schools. This fixture would be the Arthurian League's first ever game in the competition.

On a cool but dry evening, with quite a decent and enthusiastic crowd in support, this turned out to be something of a game of two halves, with the Amateur Football Combination in the ascendancy during the first half. And they took the lead on 15 minutes when an excellent jinking run from the right ended with the ball being drilled low past the keeper. In truth, they should have scored more than just the one, although the Arthurian League certainly had their chances too, and with the last kick of the game, a half volley whistled just over the bar.

The Arthurian League were a side transformed after the break though, ,and they dominated for long spells. They equalised on 72 minutes, when a corner was headed back across goal and an outstretched leg poked the ball home, and three minutes later, the turnaround was complete when a shot from the edge of the area took a deflection off a defender to send the ball into the net. The Amateur Football Combination did not really threaten to equalise, and if anything, the Arthurian League looked the more likely to score again, but in the end, two goals was indeed enough for Arthurian League to progress to the next round, where they will meet either Thames Valley Premier League or Dorset Premier League next month.

Cuckfield Rangers 2 v 7 Battle Town

Saturday 20th January 2024, Kick-off 14.00

Mid Sussex League Premier Division

Warden Park Academy, Cuckfield

Admission: Free

Programme: None

Attendance: 30 (rough head count)

For today's groundhopping, my options were very resticted by a combination of persistent freezing conditions in recent days ensuring pitch inspections at virtually any grounds with grass,  and recovering from a lingering attack of gout meaning that a long distance journey by train including having to walk any distance from a station, combined with the possibility of my intended game being postponed en route, was unappealing. This meant that I decided to drive instead, choosing this game to double up with an attractive looking FA Inter-League Cup game at Dorking Wanderers, which would kick off at 6pm.

The Warden Park Academy is located on the south-eastern edge of the village of Cuckfield, and a couple of miles west of Haywards Heath, where the nearest train station is. As to be expected of a 3G pitch which belongs to an educational establishment, spectators facilities are very basic and there is not much of interest about the place. Located in a green mesh cage, spectators are only allowed down one length of the pitch, with no stands present. School buildings above a steep grass bank make up the background behind one corner, with rugby pitches behind the opposite length, and trees behind one end. Looking out over the cage from the steep bank, pleasant distant views of the South Downs can be enjoyed.

A glance at the league table suggested that this would be quite a close game between two mid-table clubs, with the home side possibly slight favourites. Cuckfield Rangers were in eighth place in the table, winning six and drawing and drawn two of their 14 league games, and were three points and three places ahead of today's visitors Battle Town, who had won four and drawn five of their 16 league games.

On a cold, mostly overcast but occasionally sunny afternoon, the first half certainly did not pan out as might have been expected, as the visitors racked up a seven goal lead at the break. On 9 minutes, the ball was struck from the edge of the area which rifled into the top right hard conrer, and they doubled their lead on 17 minutes, when a cross from the left was met with a header which sent the ball in off the underside of the bar. They made it three a minute later when a Cuckfield player was dispossessed in midfield, and some quick passing towards the area ended with the ball being caressed into the bottom right corner. Things started to turn ugly for the home side when Battle scored their fourth on 28 minutes when the ball was headed forward and fired low across the keeper and inside the far post, while on 35 minutes, they were awarded a penalty for a trip close to the edge of the box. Although the penalty was saved low to the keeper's left, but eventually the ball was drilled low through a crowd and beyond the keeper's dive into the bottom left corner. And as the game entered added on time, there was still time for Battle to add a couple more goals - first, the ball was pulled back from the byline for his team mate to take a touch before firing home, and two minutes into added on time, the ball was struck into the top right corner.

So, a devastating first half which certainly was enough to take the three points back to East Sussex, but perhaps unsurprisingly after such a dominant first half, the second half saw Battle lose much of their intensity, and it was Cuckfield who dominated long spells of the second half.  They scored a consolation in 55 minutes when, following good quick distribution from the keeper, the move ended with a low cross and a low first time shot crept just inside the post. And the scored another on 72 minutes, a low corner was struck home emphatically at the near post. That was where the scoring ended, with this still emphatic win for Battle liftting them above Cuckfield into eighth place, and at least Cuckfield were able to restore some pride with a very decent second half performance, although that made their first half performance all the more baffling.