Andover Town 0 v 1 Moneyfields

Saturday 15th April 2017
Wessex League Premier Division
Portway Stadium, Andover
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 144
Match Rating: 3

For my Easter Saturday action, rail engineering works very much facilitated a journey along the Surrey Downs, and I decided upon a second visit of the season to Andover, for another tick in the Wessex League.

The Portway Stadium is about a half hour walk from Andover train station, and it’s out of town location on an industrial estate does not bode well, however it is actually an interesting ground, with decent facilities along with a pleasantly rural feel to the place. With some attractive club signage outside the ground, spectators enter through a turnstile block in one corner. To the rught, between the turnstile and the goal, is a small white stand covering a standing area, while stretching along the length is a two floor brick building housing the changing rooms and the bar, whilst straddling the half way line is a stand which is not easy on the eye, with mainly bench seating inside. Along this length and behind both goals, there is a grass bank down to pitch level, thereby offering spectators a slightly elevated view. Along the remaining length, there is just hard standing. With plenty of trees around to naturally enclose the ground and the surrounding area peaceful and quiet on a weekend, this is a nice place to watch football. The 20 page programme most of the essentials such as results, league tables and introduction of the visiting club, but lacked any welcome message, comments from club officials and other interesting articles.

With just one more game to play after today, there isn’t much left to play for for Andover this season, as they came into this game in 13th place in the 22 team division, with an 11th place finish the best they could hope for. They had won 15 and drawn six of their 40 league games. Moneyfields are having a much more exciting end to their season. Already assured of promotion to the Southern League, they were top of the league and five points clear of second placed Portland United, although Portland have a game in hand compared with Moneyfields' two remaining games, and Moneyfields are likely to have 3 points deducted if their appeal fails for fielding an ineligible player. They have won 30 and drawn five of their 40 games, but have picked up just a point from their last two away games. When the two teams met in October, Moneyfields won 2-0.

On another cool, mostly cloudy afternoon with sunny spells, the visitors dominated this match for long periods and it is fair to say that the Andover goalkeeper was man of the match by a country mile, making several crucial saves. Andover competed well though, looking fairly dangerous on the occasional break and in fact came closest to breaking the deadlock on 36 minutes, when a looping cross from the left wing hit the top of the crossbar.

Into the second half and Moneyfields continued to dominate, but with Andover no longer threatening on the break, and on 68 minutes, a half volley from the edge of the area came backnoff the crossbar. As the clock ticked by, a frustrating goalless draw looked increasingly inevitable, to really hand the initiative to Portland United in the race for the title. But with just four minutes remaining, Moneyfields found a way through. A free kick from wide was launched into the ball, and the ball fell to Steve Hutchings, who drilled it low across the keeper and into the net, to curl wild celebrations amongst the players. They held on for the crucial win which, as things stand, would have sealed the title, but with the likely three point deduction to come, a win at home to Newport (IOW) on the final day will confirm the title to be theirs. After the game, spectators were encouraged to remain pitchside for a few minutes along with the Andover team, to thank various club officials, players, and the manager giving a rousing speech, promising to emulate Moneyfields’ achievement next season.

Hawkinge Town 4 v 0 Rolvenden

Friday 14th April 2017
Weald of Kent Charity Cup Senior Section Final
Lindsey Field, Lydd
Admission including Programme: £4.00
Attendance: 120 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

With a fairly long distance groundhopping outing to look forward tomorrow, today I decided to stay relatively local on this Good Friday, to revisit a ground that has seen significant improvements since my most recent visit two years ago.

The host club today, Lydd Town, continue to ply their trade in the Southern Counties League Division One, and the last time I visited, there was no perimeter fence to the ground, and it was fairly straightforward to enter the ground without paying admission. That is no longer the case, as there is now a wooden perimeter fence, with an entrance consisting of a hut and covered turnstile. It is pleasing that the grass bank along one length has been retained, offering a slightly elevated view, and the surrounding views ensure that there is still a peaceful, rural feel to the ground, with Dungeness Power Station visible in the distance. There is also now covered seating available, in the form of two small metallic stands. The blight of modern non league football, these do actually fit in quite well here, and a nice touch is that they have red and green colour seats to match club colours. As previously, the attractive club house is situated behind a goal with netting to protect it from stray balls, and the dark wooden tea hut is located towards one corner. The 8 page programme was predictably basic, offering a welcome message, squad listings, introductions to both clubs, and their roads to the final.

Both of today's clubs compete in the Kent County Football League Division One Central and East, with Hawkinge Town top but level on points with the two teams below them, and with just two games left to play. After back to back promotions since entering the Kent County League, Rolvenden were in seventh place in the 11 team division. When the two teams met in the league, the match finished 1-1 in February at Hawkinge, and Hawkinge won 0-3 away in December. Only four clubs entered the Weald of Kent Charity Cup Senior Division competition this season, Rolvenden beating reigning cup holders Willesborough Athletic 5-2 on aggregate over two legs, whilst last year's beaten finalists Hawkinge beat New Romney 4-2 on aggregate.

On a bright sunny day, but with a persistent strong chilly wind blowing from end to end, behind Hawkinge during the first half, this turned out to be a rather one-sided affair, and with just three minutes on the clock, the Rolvenden keeper almost paid dearly for trying to pass past a striker deep inside his own area when he was dispossessed, but in retreat he managed to just about smother the ball wide. Hawkinge had several further good chances to open the scoring, before Rolvenden had two great chances very much against the run of play. But Hawkinge took the lead they deserved on 28 minutes when Niall Jackson struck the ball on the half-volley towards the edge of the penalty area and the ball went through a crowd of players and into the net. They came very close to score on a few more occasions, before they doubled their lead on 41 minutes, a cross from the right wing headed home by Damien Abel.

So, a good lead for Hawkinge at half time, but one had the feeling that the game was far over, as Rolvenden would be playing with the wind behind them in the second half, a wind that if anything was getting stronger. And indeed, they looked the likelier to score  in the opening ten minutes of the half, coming close on three occasions, before Hawkinge scored what felt like the decisive goal on 58 minutes, Kieran Byrne driving a low shot from the edge of the area into the far corner. Indeed, that really did take the sting out of Rolvenden, and four minutes from time Hawkinge added a fourth, Cade Mortimer showing some good footwork to create some space before shooting low past the keeper.

So the favourites Hawkinge lifted the rather large shield shortly after the final whistle, as they certainly deserved to, although the scoreline was a little harsh on Rolvenden.

Manchester City 3 v 1 Hull City

Saturday 8th April 2017
FA Premier League
Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Admission: £20.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 54,393
Match Rating: 3

Taking advantage of another Virgin Trains West Coast sale, enabling me to obtain train tickets from London to Manchester for £10 each way, I then noticed that Manchester City were offering very reasonably priced tickets for this fixture. Considering that the £20.00 ticket price was less than most League Two clubs charge, I looked forward to ticking off another top flight stadium today, reputedly one of the most impressive in the country.

The Etihad Stadium is about a 20 minute walk westwards from Manchester Piccadilly circus, a very pleasant walk for the most part along the Ashton Canal, and the stadium within Sport City, an area containing various sporting facilities originally constructed for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. On approaching, the stadium is impressive in its design and is attractively decorated with club colours and images of memorable moments in the club's history, and the club has used the spacious area outside  very well to create a really good environment to enjoy ahead of a match. The City Square Fanzone is excellently designed with food and drink outlets well designed to allow fans to mingle, with the club shop located in the middle, and with a live entertainment stage which had performers playing music today. On entering the stadium, checks are quite rigorous, including body and bag searches and scans, and once inside, the stadium is very impressive. It is attractively designed and coloured, and the views are excellent, as one might expect from a relative new-build, with no viewing obstructions, comfortable leg room and a good incline between rows. I sat in the newest area of the stadium, in the third tier of the North Stand, the tier being brought into service in 2013. The stadium is a continuous bowl of seating, the three tiers stretching in a wave like appearance  along both lengths, whilst behind the other goal there are currently just the two tiers, with a row of executive boxes along the top. The programme was very reasonably priced, compared to other clubs in the Premier League and even the Football League, and although in quite a small format, it was a good read.

In Pep Guardiola's first season in the Premier League, a midweek defeat at Chelsea just about put paid to any lingering hopes on winning the title, as their attention turns to securing a top four and all-important Champions League spot for next season. They came into this match in fourth place, having won 17 and drawn 7 of their 30 league games, four points ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United having played a game more. After seeming to be inevitably heading for relegation at Christmas, Hull were a resurgent team when I watched their game against Swansea in February, and they have continued their progress under Marco Silva, and two home wins in the last week have resulted in them climbing out of the relegation zone and were two points clear, having won a total of eight and drawn six of their 31 league games. Their away form did not offer much hope though, picking up just five points from 15 away games. When the two teams met on Boxing Day, Manchester City won 0-3.

On a beautifully warm and sunny afternoon, this was a match that Manchester City unsurprisingly looked in complete control of throughout. Although the first half was quite even, Hull never really looked likely to score. With just four minutes on the clock, Hull keeper made a great double save, first from David Silva, making his 300th appearance for the club today, and then Leroy Sane, and Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure also came close to scoring. But Hull's resistance was broken just after the half hour mark in quite unfortunate circumstances. Jesus Navas crossed powerfully low from the right and after finding it was through some legs, Ahmed Elmohamady turned the ball into his own net from close range. Hull had a great chance to equalise within a minute, but Oumar Niasse missed his kick from close range with the goal gaping. By half time, Manchester City held the narrow one goal lead, a lead that looked comfortable but always vulnerable to a goal on the break, particularly considering Manchester City's fragile defence this season.

Within three minutes of the restart, the home side doubled their lead. Raheem Sterling burst into the penalty area and crossed the ball low to Sergio Aguero, who had to step back to retrieve the ball, before driving the ball into the net, taking touches off a couple of defenders on the line. On 64 minutes, Manchester City sealed the win with a very good goal, Sterling again with assist, passing the ball sideways 25 yards out to Fabian Delph, who took a couple of touches before driving the ball low from the edge of the area inside the far post. Manchester City then coasted towards the finish with plenty of possession football, but five minutes from time, Hull scored a consolation goal. Shaun Maloney passed the ball back from the byline and Andrea Ranocchia hit the ball first time and although his connection was quite weak the ball still managed to find its way through the legs of defender John Stones and past the dive of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. The goal took the gloss off of the win slightly, but the three points were well deserved in their quest for the Champions League spot. This was always a match that Hull would struggle to get anything from, but a relatively favourable run-in means that they are in a good position to secure survival in the Premiership for next season.

This was a most enjoyable day out, with the club doing much to enhance the overall matchday experience, but not in a contrived, "cheesy" way that modern football can sometimes be guilty of.

Video highlights of this match can be viewed by clicking here