Framlingham Town U18 0 v 1 King's Lynn Town U18

Thursday 6th September 2018
FA Youth Cup Preliminary Round
Framlingham Sports Club, Framlingham
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 70 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

On the final evening of my stay at the nearby Carlton Meres Holiday Park, I decided to visit another ground in the Eastern Counties League Premier Division, only a 15 minute drive away but a ground that would be difficult for me to get to from home by public transport.

Framlingham Sports Club is located to the north east of Framlingham town centre, and is located at the end of a track, beyond the complex's clubhouse and amongst the various other sporting facilities. Spectators enter the football ground through a short turnstile tunnel close to one corner. Straddling the half way line is a brick building with three rows of covered seating to the front with a refreshments window in the rear wall, whilst in the rear side of the building there are the changing rooms and a hospitality room. Between this building and the entrance is a brick toilet block, with a picnic table on grass to the front. On the opposite side, there is a small, green, newly installed stand with one row of bench seating inside, whilst along the rest of the length and behind the far goal there is just hard standing. The area behind the remaining goal is inaccessible. The ground has a very peaceful and green setting, and would be a particularly pleasant place to watch at on warm, sunny days. A programme was produced but was very limited in information, 4 pages with just predicted line-ups inside and a short article giving general information about the FA Youth Cup on the rear.

Both clubs' youth teams play in the Eastern Counties League Youth set-up, with Framlingham having won two and lost the other of their three league games so far in the Eastern Division, while King's Lynn Town have won all three of their league games in the Western Division, scoring 25 goals in the process.

With drizzle arriving as the game kicked off and sticking around with varying intensity for most of the match, the visitors really dominated this game throughout, carving out plenty of chances but we're denied by a combination of excellent saves, and some good blocks and deflections. They finally took the lead on 36 minutes when the ball was crossed from the left and Charlie Rudland headed the ball into the corner. On 44 minutes, a header from a corner hit the underside of the crossbar, but for all of King's Lynn's dominance, they held a slender one goal lead at the break.

The game continued in the same vein after the break, but credit to Framlingham for staying disciplined defensively to stay in the game. The visitors missed another hatful of chances throughout the second half, and Framlingham did manage to mount the occasion attack, and so an unlikely equaliser always looked a possibility to punish the visitors for not putting the game to bed. But in the end, the one goal was enough for a deserved victory for the visitors.

Kirkley & Pakefield 2 v 1 Gorleston

Tuesday 4th September 2018
Eastern Counties League Premier Division
Walmer Road, Lowestoft
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 130 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

During a 4 day break at Carlton Meres holiday park close to Saxmundham, I wanted to take in some football in the area, and the closest available this evening was just over 20 miles away up the A12 on the southern outskirts of Lowestoft.

Walmer Road is located about two miles south of Lowestoft train station and town centre, although as I was driving this evening, it was a relief that there is an ample car park adjacent to the ground. Spectators enter the ground roughly by the half way line, handing over their entrance fee at a small blue kiosk, with programmes and golden goal tickets available at a table just inside. To the left, set some way back from the pitch, there is a brick covered walkway into the clubhouse, which looks old fashioned and quite quirky on the outside but is very bright and modern inside. To the front, there is a large grassy area with benches scattered around. To the right of the entrance, there are a couple of small areas of cover close to the corner flag, with a brick building housing the changing rooms behind. Immediately behind the goal there is a smart low blue stand covering a flat area. Straddling the half way line on the far side is a long modern metallic stand, although its appearance is enhanced with large club signage along the back. There is just hard standing around the rest of the ground. There is plenty of space around the ground, some trees, and a tower visible behind one of the goals, and although the openness of the ground means it hardly feels intimate, it is an interesting ground, and plenty of attractive, colourful signage gives the place some pleasing identity. The 28 page programme was neatly presented with plenty to read.

After finishing in tenth place last season  Kirkley & Pakefield have had a solid start to their season, winning two and drawing two of their opening five league games, while Gorleston, who finished in seventh place last season, have won one and drawn one of their opening four league games this season.

On an overcast evening, with drizzle arriving early in the second half, this was a strange game in that, within the first ten minutes, it looked like this would be a real mismatch. With just over a minute on the clock, the hosts took the lead, a low pass forward was played into the path of Kaiden Goldspink, who fired a wonderful shot from the edge of the area, over the keeper and into the net. And they doubled their lead on 8 minutes, after a defender was dispossessed in the area and Kyle Haylock passed the ball into the net, via a sizeable deflection off the keeper. Kirkley should have scored more too, always looking threatening as they attacked at will, but gradually the visitors settled and the game became quite even as the half wore on. But 2-0 was how it remained at the break.

After making a double substitution at the break. Gorleston were a team transformed after the break, and on 58 minutes, they pulled a goal back. A corner was fired in low and Peter Lambert drilled the ball into the net. Gorleston were the better team for the rest of the match and if there was gone a further goal, it looked likely to come from them as Kirkley posed little threat. Deep into added on time, Gorleston had Luke Goreham sent off for lashing out as the home team guarded the ball in the corner flag, and they just couldn't find the equaliser that their second half performance probably deserved.

May & Baker 8 v 1 Burnham Ramblers

Saturday 1st September 2018
FA Vase 1st Qualifying Round
Gale Street, Dagenham
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 36
Match Rating: 4

Having travelled far for the last two Saturdays, and will do again next Saturday, I wanted a fairly easy game to get to. With today being the opening round of this season's FA Vase competition, and with rail engineering works preventing my preventing my preferred destinations in the Southampton or Colchester direction, I decided to head to East London, to watch a club making their way in their first season senior football.

May & Baker play at the home ground of Barking Rugby Football Club, which is about a 15 minute walk southwards from Becontree tube station along Gale Street, just before it meets the busy A13 dual carriageway. Spectators enter the ground next to the large clubhouse, paying admission to a man sat on a seat. All of the facilities open to football spectators is contained on the first floor of the clubhouse, with two bars - one quite small and cosy, the other much more spacious and not so comfortable, and with hot food and drinks available from a window within this bar. There is a long balcony along the front, which offers excellent elevated views of the match, although a couple of floodlight pylons to partially obscure one's view. There is just hard standing along the rest of the length, and spectators are not permitted anywhere else within the ground, apparently as landlords Barking Rugby Club will not allow it, and so a fairly long all-seater metallic stand opposite the clubhouse is out of bounds on football match day, although a handful of people did make it over there. A further rugby pitch is located beyond the stand, where a game was taking place today. In all honesty, it is not the best place to watch football, with no club identity around, and with the overriding feeling, understandably, that rugby is very much the dominant sport here. The pitch was also not in great condition, patchy in places, left quite long and with many clumps of grass cuttings around. With rugby also bring played on the pitch, one can imagine the pitch will be in a pretty poor state after Christmas. The 12 page programme was good enough, introducing both clubs and including predicted line-ups, league table and fixtures and results.

May & Baker's were one of the beneficiaries of the creation of the new Step 6 league in Essex, earning promotion despite only finishing in seventh place in the Essex Olympian League Premier Division last season. They have started their season in the Eastern Counties League Division One South strongly, winning three and drawing the other of their opening four league games, scoring 14 goals in the process. Burnham Ramblers also ply their trade in the Eastern Counties League Division One South, having been relegated from the Essex Senior League last season and have made a slow start to this season in the lower division, drawing two and losing two of their opening four league games.

On a sunny and fairly warm afternoon, there was little indication of what a one-sided game this would be until the home side opened the scoring on 15 minutes, a ball crossed in from the left found an unmarked Dean Hall, who poked the ball home just inside the post. And after seeing a shot well saved three minutes later. They doubled their lead on 21 minutes after some fabulous passing through midfield, a slide rule pass set Daniel Gilchrist clear, and he slotted the ball past the keeper. And the outcome of the match already looked as good as decided on 23 minutes, when the ball was passed to a completely unmarked Reece Tranter, who fired the ball home. May & Baker scored their fourth on 32 minutes following another good diagonal pass through the defence allowing Tranter to run clear before firing into the net via the keeper's fingertips. And when the home side scored their fifth on 35 minutes, after Gilchrist flicked the ball up over a defender before striking the ball into the net, the result already was beyond doubt, and the best the visitors could hope for was to avoid the scoreline becoming really ugly, with over an hour left to play. But they did see the half out without any further damage, despite a couple of near misses by the hosts.

The second half was much more even for long periods, as May & Baker certainly took their foot off the accelerator. They did have a great chance to score again on 63 minutes, when three attackers ran at one defender, but the eventual shot went wide of the far post, but a minute later, the visitors grabbed a consolation goal, when a header by Jack Davis looped high over the keeper and dropped down over the line. But May & Baker restored their five goal lead seven minutes later when the ball was crossed low from the left for Gilchrist to shoot high into the roof of the net from close range to claim his hat-trick. The home side continued to create chances, before scoring their seventh on 79 minutes. A good dribble inside the box by Gilchrist evaded a couple of defenders before he poked the ball past the keeper for his fourth of the match. And the scoreline became 8-1 on 81 minutes, when substitute Kiel Chandler struck the ball against the inside of the post and bounced just inside the other post. There were certainly opportunities still for May & Baker to reach double figures but it was not to be.

Whilst a home win would have been expected in their first ever FA Vase game, the margin of victory certainly was a surprise, although they always looked a real threat going forward, with accurate, incisive passing whilst the visitors always struggled whenever the opposition players ran at them.