Warminster Town 2 v 3 Bristol Telephones

Saturday 5th October 2019
Western League Division One
Weymouth Road, Warminster
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 369

Following the tea time game at Devizes Town, it was really quite a spectacle being part of the long convoy of groundhopping making its way through narrow, winding roads 20 miles southwestwards for the final game of the Western League groundhop day at Warminster, kicking off at 7.45pm.

Weymouth Street is located just to the south of Warminster town centre, with the football ground up quite a steep hill. There is ample street parking available adjacent to the ground, with the turnstile block situated up a short lane, indicated by plenty of bright and colourful signage from the main road, and an abundance of welcome messages posted around the place is a nice touch. Most of the spectator facilities are situated along the length closest to the entrance, with a tea bar adjacent to the entrance. The modern clubhouse straddling the half way line dominates the ground and is pleasing on the eye. There is a row of covered seating to the front of the clubhouse, with standing to the rear. A further small wooden stand is located just beyond the corner flag behind the end closest to the entrance, with one row of seating inside, and standing room to the rear. Otherwise, there is hard standing behind the rest of this end and the other, whilst half of the remaining length also offered hard standing, with the remaining half inaccessible. The 20 page programme was informative and well presented.

After several seasons struggling at the foot of the division, being grateful of a reprieve from relegation to intermediate football in 2018 after finishing bottom, last season was much better for Warminster, finishing in sixth place, and they came into this game in 13th place, following three wins and four defeats from their seven league games, but earnt a good 3-0 home win against Sherborne Town in their last game last Saturday. Bristol Telephones have found life difficult in senior football since their promotion from the Gloucestershire County League in 2017, finishing in 16th place out of 22 clubs in their first season, and bottom last season, but were reprieved from relegation. And this season has not started any better, losing their first six games, finally picking up their first point in their last game in a 3-3 draw against Devizes Town, and found themselves five point adrift at the foot of the table.

On an evening that started off dry and mild, but steady rain arrived during the first half and remained with increasing intensity as the evening wore on, this was a really entertaining match to watch for the bumper crowd. Despite Bristol Telephones' lowly position in the table, it soon became clear that a shock result could be on the cards, creating most of the early chances with quick long balls forward causing plenty of problems for the Warminster defence. And after having a one-on-one shot parried by the keeper, the visitors took the lead on 14 minutes when Luke Barnfield struck a powerful low shot from an angle across the keeper and inside the far post. And they came close to doubling three minutes later, when a low ball across the six yard box just evaded a tap in, with several other chances following before Warminster equalised on the half hour mark with pretty much their first sight of goal, Jacky Miluk showing some good footwork to set himself clear before firing the ball across the keeper and into the net. And they completed the turnaround by taking the lead on 33 minutes when a run down the left ended with James Vincent rounded the keeper and passed the ball into the net. Warminster had certainly woken up by now, and saw a cross headed just over the bar two minutes before the interval, but perhaps the game changing moment occurred a minute into added on time in the first half, when Francois Allen reacted badly to a tackle and was shown a red card.

So the match was set up intriguingly at half time - Warminster a goal to the good, perhaps fortunately so, but would have to play the second half a man down. And indeed, the scores were level on 48 minutes. Another long ball down the left channel ended with a low ball across the box, which just evaded the keeper and Dhani Golding tapped the ball home at the far post. And a see-saw game saw the visitors go back in front on 59 minutes when Barnfield scored his second of the game with a powerful cross-cum-shot which brushed the keeper's finger tips on its way into the far top corner. For the remainder of the match, both teams created several chances, including both teams hitting the woodwork, as the game became stretched and end to end, but in the end Bristol Telephones held om to claim their first win of the season. It was a result few would have predicted at kick-off, but they deserved their win tonight, and with their bright attacking play, they should surely lift themselves off the foot of the table in the coming weeks.  As for Warminster, it was just one of those nights where they couldn't get going, and just as it seemed they had, the red card proved the big turning point of the match. But off the pitch it was a great and memorable evening for the club, with the rain not detracting from what was a good atmosphere generated amongst the bumper crowd around three times bigger than usual, and with the clubhouse and tea bar both doing roaring trades.

And so at the final whistle it was time for me to embark on the three hour drive home in the rain. This was another really enjoyable groundhopping day, with the usual friendly and enthusiastic welcome that one usually finds in this part of the world very much in evidence today at all three grounds I visited, and all three clubs were very well prepared in catering for the bumper attendances. It is a shame that this was the last organised groundhop in the Western League, at least for the foreseeable future - hopefully another league in southern England (perhaps the Wessex League?) will arrange similar groundhopping events in the near future.

Devizes Town 0 v 1 Ashton & Backwell United

Saturday 5th October 2019
Western League Division One
Nursteed Road, Devizes
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 252

Following the earlier game at Bradford Town, I joined the masses of groundhoppers in making the 15 mile, half hour journey eastwards to Devizes, for this Division One, arriving about half an hour ahead of this fixture kicking off at 4.45pm.

Nursteed Road is located down the end of a short lane from the passing main road, and admission taken at a booth, whether arriving by car or on foot, with ample room for parking inside the ground before reaching the football ground. Whilst the ground is rather basic and weathered, there is something beautifully rustic about it. The clubhouse is situated along one length, with some nice club signage posted on the outside, some modern, some more old fashioned, including what appears to be a manual scoreboard, although not in use today. Beyond the clubhouse, there is a tall building that more resembles what one would usually find on a farm, and hard standing is available along this length and behind both ends. A fairly old fashioned, but nicely spruced up, stand is situated straddling the half way line opposite the clubhouse, with four rows of wooden benches inside given a good elevated view of the action, and three terrace steps to stand on to the front. A tea bar is situated to the rear offering a decent range of hot and cold food and drinks, with a curry proving so popular amongst hungry hoppers that it soon sold out. The 28 page programme was well presented and a decent read, containing plenty of information to preview the match.

After losing their opening three league games, Devizes were unbeaten in their following four before today, and came into this game in 16th place in the 20 team division, having won two and drawn two of their seven league games overall. Ashton & Backwell United had won three and drawn three of their opening seven league games, and came into this game in eighth place in the table.

On a grey afternoon, although Devizes battled well, the visitors would surely have wondered how they were not in the lead by half time. On 9 minutes, a shot with the outside of the foot from the edge of the area came back off the right hand post, whilst on 19 minutes, a fabulous strike from the left wing sailed over the keeper but came back off the crossbar, and as the game entered stoppage time at the end of the first half, a goalbound header from a corner was blocked on the line.

However, it only took the visitors four minutes after the break to take the lead. A quick break was ended with a good tackle on the edge of the Devizes penalty area, but the ball broke free to an Ashton & Backwell to drill the ball past the keeper and into the net. There was plenty of huffing and puffing from Devizes, but they just couldn't find their way through to create any clear chances to get back on level terms, and indeed it was the visitors who came closest to scoring again, but one goal was enough to lift them to sixth place in the table, just two points adrift of the leaders, whilst Devizes dropped a place to 17th. Once again, the groundhopping masses beat a hasty retreat at the final whistle, with the final game of the day kicking off within about an hour, roughly 20 miles away at Warminster.

Bradford Town 2 v 0 Clevedon Town

Saturday 5th October 2019
Western League Premier Division
Trowbridge Road, Bradford-on-Avon
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 228

 

Having missed the last two Western League groundhop events, I decided I definitely wanted to attend this year's event, particularly as it would almost certainly be the last groundhop arranged by the Western League (in conjunction with GroundhopUK) after five seasons, with pretty much all clubs now having been covered. Although four staggered fixtures were arranged for today, the 10.45 fixture was at Portishead Town, a ground that I had already visited just a couple of years ago, and going there would have entailed an extra 75 miles of driving, not to mention having to set off at silly o'clock. So I decided to join the groundhop with this game kicking off at 2pm.

Trowbridge Road is about a ten minute walk from Bradford-on-Avon town centre, with the entrance located in one corner of the ground. Along the length closest to the entrance, there are two metallic stands, one for standing and the other all-seater, alongside each other by the corner flag. Beyond the two stands there is a large wooden shed, with its side walls painted in club colours, and then a further wooden building, painted completely in blue club colours and resembling a cricket pavilion, close to the half way line. There is hard standing along the rest of this length, and a stone wall forms a natural and attractive perimeter boundary behind this length. The hard standing stretches behind both ends and along the remaining length, behind which the grassy area extends, whilst behind the end closest to the entrance, a number of container units are lined up to provide changing rooms and the tea bar. The clubhouse is located a short distance away from the football ground but within the complex, passing alongside a bowling green to reach its entrance. It is quite spacious inside, with bottled beer from a local microbrewery available. The 36 page programme was very decent and well presented, with some interesting articles to read as well as plenty of stats and facts about both clubs and the league.

Both Bradford and Clevedon have made good starts to their league seasons. After top half finishes in each of the last five seasons, Bradford Town came into this game in second place, following six wins from their opening seven league games, the one defeat coming in their last home game against Street. Since resigning from the Southern League in 2015, Clevedon Town have improved their league placing in each season, and came into this game in fourth place in the table, following five wins and a draw from their opening eight league games, but after winning five league games in a row, they lost 1-6 at home to Street in midweek.

On a sunny afternoon, the first half was quite an even affair, with both teams coming close to opening the scoring on several occasions, and on 38 minutes the hosts opened the scoring, Tyson Pollard drilling the ball inside the near post from the edge of the area. Clevedon came close to equalising on the stroke of half time when the ball bobbled around the six yard box, but the eventual shot was deflected over.

In the second half, Clevedon did not look as dangerous as they had in the first half and Bradford looked relatively comfortable in their lead. They thought they had doubled their advantage on 58 minutes when a goalbound header from Dave Thompson was blocked and cleared by a defender on the line according to the officals, despite loud appeals from the Bradford players that it had gone over the line. But on 68 minutes, they were awarded a penalty. Following a cross from the left, a shot was blocked by a hand, with the referee awarding a penalty. Pollard struck the ball into the bottom left corner, sending the keeper the wrong way. The home side had further chances to extend their lead, but it mattered little as two goals would prove more than enough to claim the 3 points which maintained their second place in the table, whilst Clevedon dropped a place to fifth. And as usually happens on these groundhopping days, the vast majority of those present raced for the exit right on the final whistle to get in their cars or coach and head for the next game, which on this occasion would be 15 miles away at Devizes.

Charlton Athletic 1 v 2 Swansea City

Wednesday 2nd October 2019
EFL Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 15,741

This evening saw a quick return to The Valley, four days after the very pleasantly surprising 1-0 win against Leeds United. Tonight's fixture was one that would hold particular appeal to me, with Swansea City the visitors, a club I watched as often as possible at The Vetch when I went to university in South West Wales, and for whom I still have a considerable soft spot for.

It's not easy getting to The Valley in midweek, having to leave work a little early and with two changes of train required to get from the south coast to SE7, there is much potential for things to go wrong. And indeed, minor delays en route saw me just taking my seat as the players emerged from the tunnel just before kick-off.

Charlton came into this game in sixth place in the table, following five wins and two draws from their opening nine league games, but Swansea have made an excellent start under their new manager Steve Cooper, and were in second place in the table, a point behind leaders West Bromwich Albion, following five wins and three draws from their nine league games.

A match report can be found by clicking here

Video highlights can be viewed by clicking here