Fawley 1 v 1 Petersfield Town

Saturday 8th September 2018
Wessex League Division One
Waterside Sports Club, Holbury
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 50
Match Rating: 3

 

I had originally booked a cheap coach ticket to Birmingham for today. However, after only getting home from a break in Suffolk yesterday evening, rail replacement bus services en route to London, adding an hour to the journey, made that unappealing, as well as potential FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round games at Saffron Walden and Burnham. And so I decided to head along the south coast for an always welcome visit to a Wessex League ground.

The Waterside Sports Ground is about an hour's bus ride from Southampton Central train station, and spectators walk past the large buildings of the Waterside Sports & Social Club, which closed down in 2016 and is now in a sad state with all windows boarded up. Spectators then walk alongside a cricket field to one side and tennis courts and bowling greens to other, before arriving at the football ground entrance behind the goal. After paying admission and being allowed through a small gate, there are various portakabins placed to the right, one housing a tea bar, the others providing changing rooms. Along one length, between the corner flag and half way line there is a stand covering four row of bench seating, and decent inclines between rows mean it is a good place to watch the action from. There is just hard standing along the rest of the length, whilst along the opposite length, there are a couple of stands covering flat standing areas either side of the dugouts. The area behind the remaining goal is inaccessible. The ground, which is only emclosed with see-through wire fencing, has a pleasantly quiet and rural feel to it, with several refinery chimneys providing an unusual background, facilities are perfectly adequate with no identikit furniture. After the very existence of the ground and even the football club was thrown into real doubt when the Waterside Social & Sports Club was forced to close in 2016 due to insurmountable debts, it is very pleasing that the Holbury Community Sports Association, with support from landlords Esso, have ensured that the sporting facilities have been maintained. The 24 page programme covered all of the important stats and introduced both clubs, although some editorial or other articles would have enhanced it.

Fawley have won one and drawn one of their opening five league games. After a couple of disastrous seasons, suffering two successive relegations after finishing bottom by a distance in both the Southern League Division One Central and then the Wessex League Premier Division, Petersfield have steadied the ship somewhat this season, winning two of their opening five league games.

On a mainly cloudy afternoon, this was a game of two halves, with Fawley having the better of the first half while the visitors were mainly in the ascendancy after the break. The home side took the lead with just two minutes on the clock. After the Petersfield keeper came out of his area and collided with a Fawley forward, conceding a free kick, the ball was crossed into the box and was poked home by Ben Bolton. After Fawley dominated possession and half chances, Petersfield equalised on 39 minutes following a run down the left, the ball was passed to Will Essai in a central position at the edge of the area, and he struck a well measured shot past the keeper and inside the post.

The scoreline remained level at the break and it would now be the visitors who would look the more threatening. They forced a great reflex save by the keeper on 57 minutes, and on the hour mark, Fawley had a player shown a straight red card for a two footed lunge. Petersfield would probably have been favourites to go on to win the match now, but struggled to create clear goalscoring chances, and were also denied by some superb tackles in the box. In the end, the points were shared which was a fair reflection on the game, and Fawley would probably be the happier with the point, having played with ten men for the final third of the game and were second best throughout the second half.

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.