Eastbourne United Association 2 v 0 Charlton Athletic XI

Tuesday 16th July 2019
Pre-season Friendly
The Oval, Eastbourne
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 216

On a very pleasant and sunny evening, there were plenty of enticing games to choose from locally - it was a shame they all fell on the same evening. But this was always the stand-out game for me, giving me the opportunity to watch a Charlton team, even if it promised to be a very youthful team on display this evening. It would also be interesting to visit one of my local clubs seemingly very much on the up, having had a rebrand as they celebrated their 125th anniversary season.

There have been a number of cosmetic improvements in and around The Oval since my last visit just before Christmas. A fixture board now greets visitors at the ground's perimeter fence, and club badges have been placed on the outer walls of the clubhouse and tea bar. More substantial changes have been made to the club crest and playing kit, adopting new club colours of red and blue replacing the previous black and white. This is part of club rebranding for the 125 year anniversary season, apparently reflecting the club's colours when it was formed. For this evening's game, unusually for a friendly, but most appreciated, team line-ups were written up on a whiteboard, with not "A. Triallist" in sight. Another very pleasant surprise was that programmes were issued for this match, a colourful 12 page publication which included welcome messages from the manager and chairman.

When I last visited The Oval last December, Eastbourne United were in a desperate situation languishing nine points adrift at the bottom of the Southern Combination League Premier Division with just two points on the board. Green shoots were evident though, with an ambitious new chairman having just taken over and with some new signings in the team, they won that night, and they would go on to achieve a great escape to survive on goal difference by three goals. The club does seem to be on an upward curve, with an upbeat feel to it, and they look sure to have a more comfortable season ahead. Charlton Athletic's first team squad are preparing for a return to the Championship, but as expected, with games at Ebbsfleet United tonight and Dagenham & Redbridge tomorrow night, an Academy squad would be taking the field here tonight, with Head of Academy Steve Avory in charge.

This would be an entertaining game to watch, played at a decent pace and with a competitive feel to it. It was an interesting clash between a very young Charlton team, most of the players having had little if any experience of playing against a senior team but were comfortable with the ball, whereas Eastbourne United, whilst containing plenty of very young players too, also had some experienced, more "streetwise" players to organise and drive their team on. Both teams created some decent chances to open the scoring, until Eastbourne United did so on 43 minutes. Sam Schaaf ran onto a poor back pass, the keeper coming out to close him down, but Schaaf managed to sidestep the keeper before firing the ball from quite a tight angle from the edge of the area into the net.

The game continued in a similar pattern in the second half, both teams creating some decent chances, and Eastbourne United doubled their lead on 75 minutes, George Landais whipped the ball in from the right, and Will Gordon volleyed the ball home from a central position, an excellent finish. They had chances to further increase their lead, although in the closing minutes, Charlton applied some decent pressure and came close to grabbing a consolation goal. But as always, the result in a friendly counted for nothing, and both clubs would have felt happy with a good, competitive run-out.

Milton Keynes Robins 1 v 3 Aylesbury United

Saturday 13th July 2019
Pre-season Friendly
Manor Fields, Bletchley
Admission : Free
Programme: None
Attendance: 50 (rough headcount)

Armed with a Southern Railway DaySave ticket, a one day rover ticket allowing unlimited travel on Southern's trains for £20, I headed towards Milton Keynes Central still undecided whether to visit Newport Pagnell Town or Milton Keynes Robins as I entered the vicinity. What swayed it in the end was feeling hungry for some lunch, and noticing a Wetherspoons en route to Manor Fields and with time to spare, I opted for this game and alighted the train at Bletchley.

Manor Fields is about a 40 minute walk from Bletchley train station, and the football ground is part of a large sporting complex which also includes a rugby pitch and a cricket field, as well as the Milton Keynes Irish Centre, a social hub of facilities and events for the Irish community. Spectators enter the football ground in one corner, with a small metal hut to pay admission at normally, although today the gates were open for free entry. In terms of facilities, they are certainly above average for Step 6 football, and according to a couple of signs, this is an all-seater stadium, with the warning that persistent offenders could face ejection and possible arrest - presumably this is intended somewhat tongue in cheek. A stand stretches from the entrance for almost the entire length, containing three rows of seating, with a refreshments window built into a brick wall to the entrance side of the stand. A hard path stretches from the entrance behind the goal and around to a small brick based stand, which straddles the half way line and contains three rows of slightly elevated seating. The remaining area to the far corner flag and behind the remaining end is overgrown and probably not intended to be accessed. Today at least, the ground was very scruffy, with lots of work tools, material and other rubbish inside the large stand, and several broken seats inside the smaller stand. Depending on your persuasion, this could be construed as "character", but in any case, the ground is a pleasant one to watch football at, and more than adequate for both resident clubs (Unite MK, of the Spartan South Midlands League Division Two, also play their home games here). Unsurprisingly, no programmes were produced for this fixture.

It has been a turbulent few years for Milton Keynes Robins who, up until earlier this year, were Buckingham Town. After vacating their home ground, Ford Meadow, in Buckingham in 2011, the club has been struggling to survive in their new home in Bletchley ever since, and they even announced that they were to fold last summer. Although that decision was happily reversed, the club subsequently changed their name, in recognition of there being very little prospect of the club ever being able to return to Buckingham, and to better appeal to local potential supporters and sponsors in Milton Keynes. After 20 years playing in the United Counties League, the club finished 14th in the Step 6 Spartan South Midlands League Division One last season. Recent history has not been too kind on Aylesbury United either, also having to groundshare away from their home town, in their case since 2006, and they currently play their home fixtures at Chesham United. They finished last season in 15th position in the 20 team Southern League Division One Central, at Step 4, with very similar placings in each of the previous five seasons.

On an overcast and not particularly warm afternoon, and for what was both sides' opening game of pre-season, the opening half hour was lively but with few goalscoring chances for either team. On 35 minutes, it was Aylesbury who took the lead though. Following a corner, the ball was laid off to Lewis Osborne at the edge of the area, and he drove the ball first time into the net via a slight deflection. The visitors then had a number of good chances in quick succession, culminating in a deflected shot forcing a good save by the keeper low to his left. Unfortunately, that save came at a considerable cost, as he had to leave the field in considerable pain, seemingly having suffered a dislocation.

After a Milton Keynes sub had run the line during the first half, there was to be no linesman in the Milton Keynes attacking half after the break, with the one "official" linesman manning the other half. Aylesbury doubled their lead on 49 minutes, Ken Feyi poking the ball home after some ping pong following a corner. And they scored their third on 59 minutes, following a quick break down the right. The ball was crossed in from the right by triallist Dominic Fraser, just evading the keeper's grasp above him, and Greg Williams headed the ball home. Aylesbury were well in command during the second half, but the Robins did pull a goal back on 71 minutes, rather fortunately, when an attempted first time clearance by defender Harry Jones was miscued, sending the ball looping over his own keeper and into the net. With little further attacking action, the game ended 1-3.

Both clubs will no doubt be content with the afternoon's work, having got their first game of pre-season under their belts with a good work out. Aylesbury will have appreciated a fairly lively game against opposition who battled well, while Milton Keynes will be happy to have competed well against a team a Southern League club.

Badshot Lea 0 v 3 Aldershot Town

Saturday 6th July 2019
Pre-season Friendly
Westfield Lane, Wrecclesham
Admission : £8.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 660

I am not usually keen on visiting new grounds too soon after opening, preferring to wait for them to "bed in" somewhat, once all the finishing touches have been completed. However this game did catch my eye, partly through a lack of attractive alternatives this early in pre-season, but mostly because it promised to be a big occasion for the home club, hosting the first ever game at their new ground against their local former Football League club.

After 12 long years having to play their home fixtures at Farnborough FC, Godalming Town, Ash United and Camberley Town, Badshot Lea finally have a ground to call home, taking over the site of Farnham Rugby Club's former home ground in Wrecclesham. It is not a completely ideal location for them, based over four miles from Badshot Lea village and the opposite side of Farnham. But that will matter little for the club who, five years after planning permission was granted and after two years of building works, can now enjoy the benefits of owning their own ground, to develop as they see fit and maximise income streams from their own facilities. After passing by a cricket field, visitors are greeted with a welcome sign on arrival, before passing through one of two entrances within a wooden hut. The ground is smart and has a pleasant location, very quiet and with tall trees closely lining one length and further back behind the other, beyond a small car park. There is a small stand with four rows of seating straddling the half way line, with a grass bank behind hard standing either side. The hard standing stretches around behind one goal and along the other length, with plenty of grassy area between the hard standing and the perimeter fence. Behind the goal closest to the entrance is the clubhouse, which is comfortable and stylish inside and with an adjoining hospitality room. A refreshments window is located outside, alongside which is a whiteboard for team line-ups - understandably not in use today. To cater for the anticipated large number of visitors today, two gazebos were erected in front of the clubhouse, one to sell draught lager from, the other for burgers. There is also a small narrow stand with steps inside towards the opposite corner flag from the entrance. In these days of printed programmes becoming an endangered species, it was great that the club issued a decent, colour 24 page programme for this fixture, produced by JMA Programmes. Content is always difficult in pre-season, but it marked the occasion of the ground opening well enough.

Badshot Lea finished ninth in the Combined Counties League Premier Division last season. As for Aldershot Town, after a couple of good seasons finishing in the play-off positions in the National League Premier, they should have been relegated last season, finishing in 21st position in the 24 club division, but they were handed a reprieve in mid June after Gateshead's enforced demotion.

On a warm, muggy and partly cloudy afternoon, the game followed a fairly predictable pattern during the first half, with Aldershot dominating and doing nearly all of the attacking with very little urgency or cutting edge, and the hosts even managed to have the odd sight of goal in rare forays forward. It looked like they would complete the first half without conceding a goal, until they did on 41 minutes, James Rowe crossing from the right and new signing from Ebbsfleet Dean Rance connected with a glancing header to guide the ball beyond the keeper and inside the far post.

Aldershot swapped teams at the break, to a more experimental side containing more triallists and youth players, yet the second half team put on a better display, showing more urgency, perhaps in their greater need to impress. The visitors scored their second n the hour mark, following some quick short passing just outside the box culminating in a triallist curling the ball home. They made it three in 71 minutes, when another triallist headed the ball home from a corner, and a fourth should have followed, either on 65 minutes when the ball came back off the far post with the keeper stranded, or on 70 minutes, when an unmarked diving header saw the ball go just wide. Badshot Lea had a great chance for a consolation goal on 83 minutes but a low shot was struck rather tamely beyond the far post, whilst on 87 minutes, an Aldershot player guided the ball over the keeper and towards goal, but was headed clear by a defender.

And so the game ended in a 0-3 win to the visitors, but clearly the result did not matter today, as Badshot Lea celebrated starting life in their new home with a bumper attendance swelling the coffers nicely, while this was a good run out for Aldershot, getting minutes into legs and allowing the coaching team to take a look at plenty of fringe and triallist players. Although the game itself was not the most entertaining, as to be expected so early in pre-season, this was an enjoyable day out in the warm weather and relaxed atmosphere and it was a pleasure to witness all the hard work of Badshot Lea Football Club over many nomadic years rewarded with a memorable occasion.