Bracknell Town 2 v 0 Highworth Town

Monday 2nd April 2018
Hellenic League Premier Division
Larges Lane, Bracknell
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 390
Match Rating: 4

At the conclusion of my earlier game at Frimley Green, I then made my way to the safe game of the day, for a very attractive looking top of the table clash in the Hellenic League.

Larges Lane is about a 15 minute walk from Bracknell train station, and spectators enter the complex via a turnstile block, from which there is a short walk along a lane, leading to the entrance of the ground itself close to the halfway line. This ground was completely redeveloped in 2016, the plus side is that it is now a very neat, tidy, modern and compact ground that is easy on the eye, but the flip side is that it has lost all of its character, not helped by a lack of club signage in and around the ground. To the right of the entrance is quite a long white building which house a modern but very dark clubhouse, the changing rooms, and hospitality rooms. A roof attached to the exterior wall outside the clubhouse covers four rows of seating. To the left of the entrance, there are a couple of black container units which were empty inside today but according to the programme will soon house a gym, with a tea bar where the gym is currently, next to the boardroom. There is just hard standing around the rest of the pitch, which is tightly lined with wooden panel fencing. The programme was a very unusual size, very narrow which was easy on the eye with an attractive cover, although for some reason the content was duplicated inside.

Today’s visitors Highworth Town came into this game top of the table, having won 26 and drawn four of their 34 games so far, whilst Bracknell were in fourth place, eight points behind Highworth but with four games in hand – indeed it looks like being between today’s teams and FA Vase finalists Thatcham Town for the probable two teams that will get promoted to the Southern League. Bracknell had won 24 and drawn two of their 30 league games, but impressively had only dropped two points from their 16 home league games all season. Both teams have been free scoring this season , both scoring more than 100 goals. When the two teams met in late December, Highworth won 1-0.

On an overcast afternoon with occasional spells of ran, Bracknell were as impressive with their high tempo, energetic brand of football, winning most of the 50-50 challenges, as Highworth really disappointed with a rather limp and uninspired performance. Bracknell took the lead with just two minutes on the clock, Seb Bowerman struck a fairly tame shot from the edge of the area straight at the keeper but the ball went through his arms and into the net. They nearly doubled their lead on 15 minutes when Bowerman saw his chipped shot over the keeper come back off the far angle of the woodwork. In a very rare attack, Highworth had a goal disallowed when a far post tap in following a low ball across the area was ruled out for offside. But Bracknell doubled their lead on 25 minutes when Kensley Maloney sprinted into the box and just as a challenge came in, he managed to shoot the ball inside the keeper’s right hand post. The home side hit the woodwork again on 41 minutes when Joe Grant saw his shot on the run come back off the bar. And 2-0 was how the scoreline stood at half time, which did not really do justice to a terrific performance from the home side, and gave the visitors hope that they could still get back into the game.

The second half was much more even, although Bracknell continued to control the game as Highworth barely threatened. Bracknell hit the woodwork for the third time on 55 minutes when TJ Bohane saw a shot deflected onto the post. Although Bracknell always looked much more likely to score again, the game rather petered out as Bracknell cantered to a very important win which puts them in a great position to clinch promotion. As for Highworth, after a stunning start to their season, which saw them with their first 13 league games straight, and then after a defeat were then unbeaten in their next 13 league games, they are on a relative wobble, having now lost two of their last four league games, and will need to get back into form quickly if they are to see of challenge of Bracknell and Thatcham for the two promotion spots.

Frimley Green 7 v 0 Bagshot

Monday 2nd April 2018
Combined Counties League Division One
Recreation Ground, Frimley Green
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 88
Match Rating: 3

After the fixture list was decimated by waterlogged pitches on Good Friday and Easter Saturday following prolonged heavy rain, a dry day followed on Sunday – only for heavy rain to return again overnight and into Easter Monday morning. That threw my original plans in the air, with yet again the vast majority of fixtures bring postponed.  In the end I decided to head for the certainty of a game on a plastic pitch at Bracknell Town, but I headed off early enough in the hope rather than expectation that one of the morning games in the Combined Counties in the area would somehow survive the wet weather. My preferred option of Cove (as I had only visited there previously on a non match day), did not, but this match at Frimley Green did.

The Recreation Ground is about a twenty minute walk from Farnborough North train station, and there have been no noticeable changes since my last visit just over two years ago. The 16 page programme was perfectly acceptable given the level, containing all of the necessary stats and information on both clubs.

Frimley Green came into this game in sixth place in the division, following 17 wins and six draws from their 31 league games, but a top three promotion spot is probably realistically beyond them now, seven points adrift with seven games left to play. After finishing a very respectable eighth place in their first season in senior football last season, they have struggled this season, and came into this game bottom of the table, following four wins and two draws from their 27 league games, in which they have shipped 102 goals. When the two teams met in October, Frimley Green won 0-2.

With spells of rain falling ahead of kick off and during the game, it was no surprise that the pitch was very muddy in places, and saturated in others, but the ball bounced well and there was no question the referee was right to play the game. Although Bagshot battled gamely throughout, the gulf in class was always evident, not helped by their goalkeeper putting in a less than convincing performance. With four minutes on the clock, Frimley Green took the lead, George Bowerman striking a powerful low shot inside the near post which the keeper barely reacted to. Two minutes later and a Frimley Green corner was parried high into the air by the keeper, with the ball dropping into the bar and into the danger area, but no Frimley could touch the ball home. On 26 minutes, a goalbound shot was sliced by a defender on the line onto the crossbar, but on 33 minutes the home side did double their lead. Roberto dos Santos put in a lovely cross from the left wing to the far post, from where Eddie McKinlay headed home. Frimley scored their third on 40 minutes, when Bowerman struck home low from the edge of the area, very similarly to his first goal, and within a minute he completed his hat-trick when he headed the ball home following another lovely cross from the wing.

So the game was already as good as won by half time, with the home side four goals to the good, and they added a fifth on 55 minutes, some good passing in the box resulted in McKinley, who drove the ball home. Frimley scored their sixth on 78 minutes. A low ball forward should have been cut out but Jamie Kemp ran into it down the right and to the byline, drilled through ball across the goal and a defender sliced the ball high and it dropped over the line. And a minute from time, after the visitors had managed to get in a couple of goalscoring chances, Frimley added their seventh, the ball was played low across the area to an unmarked dos Santos, who struck the ball low through the keeper's legs. They should have scored at least once more by the time the final whistle blew, and indeed could easily have reached double figures but for some good chances missed and the intensity of their play dipping for a while on the second half.

Eversley & California 2 v 0 FC Deportivo Galicia

Saturday 31st March 2018
Combined Counties League Division One Cup Semi-Final
Fox Lane, Eversley
Admission including Programme: £6.00
Attendance: 80 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

With heavy rain falling throughout yesterday (Good Friday) - which caused my chosen game at Snodland Town to be postponed just as I arrived at the ground at 2pm - the non-league programme was again decimated today with waterlogged pitches. With London bound trains from my home station subject to bus replacement for part of the journey, I initially decided to head to the Southampton area, but en route to the train station, my intended targets of Fawley, Totton & Eling and Worthing Town were all called off. But surprisingly (to club officials themselves as much as anyone), Eversley & California tweeted that their pitch was playable - "soggy but no standing water", and so I headed there, but with the proviso that the pitch was "playable..game is on for now", I had a visit to the 3G pitch at Bracknell Town as a back up, particularly as light rain was forecast to fall before kick-off. Committing to Eversley, I began to doubt my wisdom as rain started to fall as I walked to the ground. Happily that was fairly brief and replaced with some sunshine, and to my considerable relief, the pitch passed a final inspection by the match referee at 2pm and it was indeed game on.

Fox Lane is about a 3 mile, 1 hour walk from Sandhurst train station, a fairly pleasant walk along quiet back roads, and past the home of Surrey Elite League club Yateley United. The football ground is part of a large sporting complex of the Eversley Sports Association, which consists of nine football pitches (of varying sizes) and a cricket square in the middle, and with a path from the large car park leading along the edge of the complex, past a brick building containing a tea bar and changing rooms, then past a large indoor cricket centre building, to the entrance to the main football ground, which is accessed through a wooden building, to one side of the half way line. This is not a ground to get the juices flowing, but is perfectly adequate for Step 6 football, has a friendly and welcoming feel to it, and may have quite an attractive setting in the late summer months. Straddling the half way line on the opposite site to the entrance are two small modern metallic stands, one all-seater and the other covering steps to stand on, whilst around the rest of the ground there is just hard standing. The ground is enclosed by white sheeting adorned with the name of the club's sponsors, whilst two sides of the ground is closely lined with trees, and the surrounding countryside and quarry buildings can be viewed behind the other two. A 16 page programme is provided with admission, and is a rather basic black and white publication, but had decent enough content for this level.

This divisional cup semi-final was between two teams anchored in mid-table. Eversley & California were in eighth place in the league, following 16 wins and three draws from their 30 league games, while Deportivo Galicia, in their first season in senior football since promotion from the Middlesex County League, were in eleventh place, following nine wins and four draws from their 28 league games. In the league games between the two sides, Eversley & California won 3-2 on the opening game of the league season, whilst the return match finished 2-2 in early January.

On a very overcast afternoon, with light rain falling intermittently throughout the game, the pitch surprisingly looked good at kick-off, although as expected it soon cut up quite badly in places, which made playing good, passing football difficult, and undoubtedly the home adapted the better to the tricky conditions. The visiting keeper looked an accident waiting to happen, as he fumbled straightforward shots and flapped and missed high balls into the area, but the home side never actually managed to take advantage. But on 16 minutes, they did take the lead. A long throw in in to the box was flicked towards the far post by a defender's head, and Sam Hutchings struck the ball home from waist height past the keeper. They almost doubled their lead two minutes later, when a shot from the edge of the area struck the underside of the bar. The visitors barely threatened during the first half, but they did have a good chance on 42 minutes, following a quick break by two forwards, one managing to slip the ball to the other as they approached the penalty area, but the shot went just wide.

The second half continued with much the same pattern as Eversley looking comfortable despite only having the one goal lead, and on 63 minutes, they saw a powerful goalbound shot blocked by a defender's legs. But the reprieve lasted just two minutes, and again a long missile of a throw in into the penalty area set it up, this time Cameron Miller heading the ball over the keeper and into the far side of the net. To their credit, Deportivo kept on battling to find their way back into the match and came close on a couple of occasions, seeing shots flash just wide, but their best chance of all came on 90 minutes. A good chance sent their forward through towards goal, but he rushed and scuffed his shot wide. And in the end, it was Eversley & California who made it through to the final, where they will play Staines Lammas in early May.