Sittingbourne 0 v 2 Metropolitan Police

Saturday 12th February 2011
Ryman League Division 1 South
Bourne Park, Sittingbourne
Admission and Programme: N/A (as gates open when I arrived)
Attendance: 123
Match Rating: 2

At the final whistle of the Norton Sports v Herne Bay game, I briskly made the long walk from south to north-east Sittingbourne, almost four miles, to Bourne Park, home of Sittingbourne FC, to catch the last forty minutes of the Ryman League Division 1 South game between Sittingbourne and Metropolitan Police.

Whereas Woodstock Park, home of Norton Sports, was a pleasant rural venue, the opposite would be true of Bourne Park, which is located in the middle of a messy industrial park. There is also very stark signs of the troubled period in the nineties as one passes through grand gates with the slogan "Bourne to Win" as one enters the Cental Park complex, passes the extremely impressive Central Park stadium, which was the club's former home until eye-wateringly excessive spending forced the club to sell the ground to the local Council, where the priorities of greyhound racing conflicted too much with football, with the result of the club building up a former training pitch below Central Park, and is a much more basic and humble venue. Sittingbourne's money problems continue however, as they took the decision earlier this season to no longer pay their players, which will surely put them at a huge disadvantage at this level.

Bourne Park has been developed in a much more realistic way, with one main all-seater stand providing good, elevated and unobstructed views of the action. Hard standing is available around the rest of the ground, with two small and very basic covered structures opposite the main stand and a more regular stand behind one of the goals. Behind the other, as one walks into the ground, is a small club shop and a larger portakabin style clubhouse, with a tea bar between the clubhouse and main stand. Whilst Bourne Park is not easy on the eye by any stretch of the imagination, it does have a compact, close-knit feel to it.

This match paired two of the better sides in the division according to league standings, with Sittingbourne in eigth place, Metropolitan Police up in third place but have lost their last three games. I arrived at the ground five minutes into the second half, with the Metropolitan Police one goal up, having scored after just four minutes of the game, but there was little sign of Sittingbourne getting back on level terms, as the visitors dominated the game. Ironically, just as Sittingbourne were beginning to get back into the game and creating some half chances to score, Metropolitan Police scored a second goal on the break, which was a very good effort as Eddie Smith raced onto a through ball before lobbing the onrushing keeper from just outside the area. It was however a controversial goal as a Sittingbourne player went down injured in the build up, and scenes threatened to turn ugly as players and management comlained loudly and bitterly at allowing the game to continue. Without reason, as the rules say that play shoul only be stopped for head injuries, which this was not. This killed the game as a contest, as the Metropolitan Police seemed content to stick with what they had and although Sittingbourne has the majority of possession and attacks in the final third, they never really looked convincing and likely to pull a goal back.

Ramsgate 1 v 6 Sittingbourne

Saturday 30th January 2010

Ryman League Division 1 South
Southwood Stadium, Ramsgate
Admission: £8.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 242
Match Rating: 4

Once again today, I ended up at a game that I had not intended to watch at the time of setting out, with the frosty weather game claiming my intended Kent Senior Trophy game at Deal against Sevenoaks, and, once again I ended up watching a high-scoring game with a team on end of a hiding, for the third consecutive game in a week.

On hearing that the game at Deal had been called off (how did we manage before mobile phones?!), I stayed on the train for another 20 minutes to take in the Ryman League Division 1 South game between Ramsgate and Sittingbourne - a fairly local derby. Southwood Road is about a 15 minute walk from the train station and it's fair to say that this is a typical old-fashioned lower non-league ground, with shallow banks of terracing at both ends, with partial covering, and a long covered stand with bench seating, entrance to which costs an additional 50p. The ground is perfectly adequate, but could certainly do with a lick of paint, tidying up and broken fences mended! Plus points though for having some character! The programme is an attractive and well-produced 52 page effort with all the essential information, however it is advert-heavy for a programme costing £2.

On paper, this game was a classic mid-table tussle, with Ramsgate in 8th place and Sittingbourne just behind in 11th, but having played two games less, and both teams were within touching distance of the play-off positions. On a beautiful winter's day - cold, but with clear blue skies and bright sunshine, this certainly turned out to be a game of two halves, with Ramsgate marginally the better side and certainly having the better chances in the first half and went ahead on 37 minutes thanks to a stonewall penalty which Warren Schulz converted, sending the keeper the wrong way. Just before half time, Sittingbourne scored a controversial equaliser when a scramble in the penalty box resulted in a shot that the Ramsgate keeper, Danny Twyman, saved, but according to the linesman, not before the ball had crossed the line. The Ramsgate players complained bitterly en masse to the officials, but predictably to no avail.

At half time, there was little indication of who might go on to win this game, and certainly no indication of the landslide that was to follow, particularly as Ramsgate had been marginally the better side. Sittingbourne took the lead a few minutes into the second half, and with Ramsgate looking a very poor shadow of their first half performance, Sittingbourne went on to score four more goals - including an embarassing moment for the Ramsgate goalkeeper when an attempted clearance hit the Sittingbourne forward and rebounded into the net, although to be fair to the keeper, he clearly demanded the defender to put the ball to his left, but the ball was played to his right. The last two goals were excellent long range efforts from just outside the box, which the keeper might have done better at keeping out. Ramsgate also had a player sent off for a second yellow card when they were 1-3 down with 20 minutes left, and which killed off any realistic chance of a comeback. It was just as well that the game was entertaining from a neutral's point of view, as it was very noticeable how sharply the temperatures dropped after half time with the sun setting, making it one of those stereotypical January days watching football when, no matter how much you wear, still your hands, feet and ears feel like ice blocks! Roll on those warm sunny football-watching days in April!

So, a very one-sided scoreline to the away team which was harsh on Ramsgate and in truth vastly flattered Sittingbourne, but who took their chances excellently and cashed in as the home side began to throw the towel in. So in the end, on reflection, the weather was kind to me in diverting me to an alternative game which proved very entertaining and full of goals.