Combined Counties League Premier Division
Elmbridge Sports Hub, Walton-on-Thames
Admission: £8.00
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 101
Match Rating: 2
It certainly wasn’t my intention to take in this game today. However icy conditions provoked pitch inspections at most grounds, and then an increasing number of postponements early in the morning, and after settling on a visit to Biggleswade with a back up of Langford, just as I arrived at my local train station, my Twitter feed announced that both games had failed their 10am inspections. So I decided to make a comfortable journey to south west London, safe in the knowledge that the game would be certain to go ahead on a 3G pitch. It would also allow me to re-complete the Combined Counties League Premier Division and the Isthmian League Division One South.
The Elmbridge Sports Hub is about a 45 minute walk from Walton-on-Thames train station, with a slight detour to the site of Walton & Hersham’s former ground at Stompond Lane, which the club very reluctantly vacated in mid September and has now been entirely demolished – just the grass and running track remain. Continuing through Walton-on-Thames town centre then right alongside the River Thames, it was an interesting if long walk. The football ground is part of a large sporting complex, partly on the site of Walton Casuals' former Waterside Stadium, where there is now an athletics stadium adjacent to today's football stadium. Spectators enter via a turnstile block in one corner, to then find quite an impressive, neat and tidy facility as one would expect of a new ground. Currently at least, the only spectator accommodation straddles the half way line. A large building which is attractively and intelligently designed, it contains five rows of seating with plenty of legroom, and the back row even has cup holders built into the arms. A good incline between rows offers good elevated and unobstructed views, although the stand is set some way back from the pitch. Along the top spectators can stand to watch the game, and inside is a spacious but rather clinical bar area. There are other large rooms either side of the bar room, although they were not in general use. Overhang allows some covered standing area on ground level either side of the stand. In the far corner is a burger van, although prices did seem rather eye-watering. There is just hard standing around the rest of the ground. There appears to be a base in place for a small stand opposite the main building, although it does seem an odd place for one, immediately behind relatively tall dugouts. There is wooden perimeter fencing, and while the stadium is very smart and is well appointed, as it stands it really is a sterile and soulless ground, with a minimum of club signage to make it feel like a home. It really is a total contrast in every way to Walton & Hersham’s former home Stompond Lane, which had fallen into increasing disrepair but just oozed character. Hopefully in time the resident clubs will be able to make the place feel more like home. The 22 page programme was quite thin but was informative enough with all the necessary stats and facts.
This match promised to be a decent one, between two clubs doing well in the league so far. Walton & Hersham were in third place, having won 14 and drawn three of their 21 league games, while Camberley were in fifth place, having won eight and drawn ten on their 21 league games. The two teams have already met in the league season, with that game finishing 1-1 in late September.
On a cold, overcast afternoon, Walton & Hersham had the better of the first half, doing most of the attacking, whilst the visitors for the most part looked compact and organised. On 5 minutes, a cross come shot from close to the corner flag driven in by a Walton forward skimmed the top of the bar, whilst on 20 minutes, the home side came close again, a powerful drive from the edge of the area was headed over the bar on the line. Camberley had a good chance on 35 minutes, a driven shot from outside the area seemed to slightly deceive the keeper as it swerved in the air, but he he managed to tip it over the bar. The last chance of the half fell to Walton, a low shot going just wide of the far post after a fortunate deflection.
The game followed a similar pattern after the break, although play became increasingly disjointed, with Walton trying to do much of the attacking - although they struggled to find their team mates with passes and seemed to become less and less inspired - while the visitors continued to look comfortable at the back and dangerous on their occasional attacks. Walton had come close to scoring on several occasions, and it looked like they would be made to pay for not putting at least one of those chances away when they conceded a penalty on 76 minutes as their forward was brought down in the box. From the spot, Adam Francis fired the ball just wide of the top right corner. Both teams created chances during the remainder of the match, but with quality very thin on the ground, it was not really much a surprise that the match finished goalless.
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