FA Cup Preliminary Round
Hill Farm Lane, Binfield
Admission: £7.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 220
Following yesterday evening's game at Wokingham & Emmbrook, and an overnight stay at the Winnersh Triangle Travelodge, today I made my way for the seven mile journey eastwards to the village of Binfield. As it was a warm and sunny day, I decided to arrive early enough to enjoy a four mile walk around the surrounding countryside, and then lunch in the beer garden at the excellent Victoria Arms, located about a mile away from the football ground.
The location of Hill Farm Lane is about as rural as it gets, well out in the countryside, surrounded by fields, and accessed by a small country lane. A fairly large car park was available, with admission to the game taken at a pay hut at the gate were cars enter. Admission for this FA Cup was a pound higher than the usual rate of £6 as advertised for forthcoming league games. Hand sanitiser dispensers were available on the pathway to the pitch area, and visitors were given a choice to scan a QR code for track and trace purposes, or use pen and paper. There is a lot to really like about this ground, with a collection of interconnected buildings perched above a grass bank behind one end. First to be accessed is a large covered area where refreshments can be consumed having been purchased from a hatch. One can then pass inside to quite a long bar area, with plenty of room for seating, and windows along the front, so that the game can be watched from inside on inclement days. The changing rooms are then located in the far building. There is a walkway along the front of the buildings from where the game can be watched, or the fairly steep grass bank made for another excllent vantage point on a warm, dry day like today. There is a modern metallic all-seater stand straddling the half way line along one length, and a grass bank to sit on should one prefer, as there is behind the other end, and along the remaining length there is just hard standing, behind which is the second football pitch of the complex, which is fully railed all around. Unsurprisingly given the location, the setting is very peaceful and relaxing, surrounded by trees, and generally there was a nice friendly feel to the club, with the impression that it engages well with the local community. A 24 page paper programme was produced for this fixture, and was a decent enough read.
This match offered the opportunity for a minor giantkilling with Binfield, of the Step 5 Hellenic League Premier Division, playing a step below the visitors, members of the Step 4 Southern League Division One South. Neither side have started their league campaigns yet, and today would be AFC Totton's first competitive game of the season. Binfield had won 0-2 at Westbury United in the last round to set up today's fixture. When last season was abandoned, Binfield were in great from and were in second place in the table, 13 points behind the leaders but with four games in hand, following 17 wins and two draws from their 22 league games and were unbeaten in 11 games. AFC Totton were a comfortable 16th place in the 20 team division, following seven wins and eight draws from their 27 league games
On a warm and sunny afternoon, this turned out to be a truly remarkable game, and the tone was set with barely 20 seconds on the clock, as the home side opened the scoring with an attack straight from the kick-off, Shaun Moore running onto the ball at the outer corner of the penalty area, laying the ball wide to Asa Povey, who crossed low for Moore to strike the ball first time into the net. But the visitors got back on level terms just three minutes later, Craig Feeney hitting a shot from the edge of the area which took a deflection to loop over the keeper and into the net. The game then settled down, as the visitors looked to keep possession and exert some control on the game, and Feeney saw a curling shot go only just wide of the far post on 18 minutes. But on 37 minutes, Binfield went back into the lead after Ollie Harris intercepted the ball, showed some good feet to wriggle through and clear of covering defenders, before showing excellent composure to calmly roll the ball past the keeper. And on 44 minutes, when the ball was played into the penalty area and Moore just got to the ball first and although he got his shot away (which fell just wide of the goal), he was clattered by the keeper, and the referee awarded a penalty, and showed the keeper a yellow card. Harris duly converted, striking low to the keeper's right, just evading his dive.
So, a surprising scoreline at the break, but there was a feeling that this tie was far from over, if the visitors could step up a gear. Unfortunately for them, that did not materalise, and as the second half, really lost their way and let the game drift away. They went further behind on 51 minutes following a corner, the ball helped across goal with a flick on and falling at the feet of Liam Gavin at the far post and he struck the ball powerfully home from seven yards. Binfield came close on several occasions to adding a fifth, before it finally came on 75 minutes with the goal of the game. A Totton defensive pass across the pitch was intercepted by Moore and, spotting the keeper slightly out of position, he fired a perfectly judged shot from 30 yards out into the net. To add to Totton's woes, they had sub Ethan Taylor sent off for a bad late tackle, but fortunately for them, despite Binfield still looking hungry and creating decent chances, no further goals were scored, and Binfield can now go full of confidence into the next round, with the ties drawn on Monday. It was a truly fabulous performance from them, full of desire, energy confidence, but Totton's performance was difficult to comprehend. Perhaps it was rustiness of the first game of the season, perhaps they had not prepared well enough, or were complacent that they only needed to turn up to progress against the underdogs, but in the end, they were fortunate to only lose by four goals - Binfield could easily have scored seven or eight. Presumably it was just a bad day at the office for them, to get out of their system ahead of their league season. As for Binfield, on this performance, and how they "finished" last season, they will surely be there or thereabouts in the race for promotion this season.
Hill Farm Lane, Binfield
Admission: £7.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 220
Following yesterday evening's game at Wokingham & Emmbrook, and an overnight stay at the Winnersh Triangle Travelodge, today I made my way for the seven mile journey eastwards to the village of Binfield. As it was a warm and sunny day, I decided to arrive early enough to enjoy a four mile walk around the surrounding countryside, and then lunch in the beer garden at the excellent Victoria Arms, located about a mile away from the football ground.
The location of Hill Farm Lane is about as rural as it gets, well out in the countryside, surrounded by fields, and accessed by a small country lane. A fairly large car park was available, with admission to the game taken at a pay hut at the gate were cars enter. Admission for this FA Cup was a pound higher than the usual rate of £6 as advertised for forthcoming league games. Hand sanitiser dispensers were available on the pathway to the pitch area, and visitors were given a choice to scan a QR code for track and trace purposes, or use pen and paper. There is a lot to really like about this ground, with a collection of interconnected buildings perched above a grass bank behind one end. First to be accessed is a large covered area where refreshments can be consumed having been purchased from a hatch. One can then pass inside to quite a long bar area, with plenty of room for seating, and windows along the front, so that the game can be watched from inside on inclement days. The changing rooms are then located in the far building. There is a walkway along the front of the buildings from where the game can be watched, or the fairly steep grass bank made for another excllent vantage point on a warm, dry day like today. There is a modern metallic all-seater stand straddling the half way line along one length, and a grass bank to sit on should one prefer, as there is behind the other end, and along the remaining length there is just hard standing, behind which is the second football pitch of the complex, which is fully railed all around. Unsurprisingly given the location, the setting is very peaceful and relaxing, surrounded by trees, and generally there was a nice friendly feel to the club, with the impression that it engages well with the local community. A 24 page paper programme was produced for this fixture, and was a decent enough read.
This match offered the opportunity for a minor giantkilling with Binfield, of the Step 5 Hellenic League Premier Division, playing a step below the visitors, members of the Step 4 Southern League Division One South. Neither side have started their league campaigns yet, and today would be AFC Totton's first competitive game of the season. Binfield had won 0-2 at Westbury United in the last round to set up today's fixture. When last season was abandoned, Binfield were in great from and were in second place in the table, 13 points behind the leaders but with four games in hand, following 17 wins and two draws from their 22 league games and were unbeaten in 11 games. AFC Totton were a comfortable 16th place in the 20 team division, following seven wins and eight draws from their 27 league games
On a warm and sunny afternoon, this turned out to be a truly remarkable game, and the tone was set with barely 20 seconds on the clock, as the home side opened the scoring with an attack straight from the kick-off, Shaun Moore running onto the ball at the outer corner of the penalty area, laying the ball wide to Asa Povey, who crossed low for Moore to strike the ball first time into the net. But the visitors got back on level terms just three minutes later, Craig Feeney hitting a shot from the edge of the area which took a deflection to loop over the keeper and into the net. The game then settled down, as the visitors looked to keep possession and exert some control on the game, and Feeney saw a curling shot go only just wide of the far post on 18 minutes. But on 37 minutes, Binfield went back into the lead after Ollie Harris intercepted the ball, showed some good feet to wriggle through and clear of covering defenders, before showing excellent composure to calmly roll the ball past the keeper. And on 44 minutes, when the ball was played into the penalty area and Moore just got to the ball first and although he got his shot away (which fell just wide of the goal), he was clattered by the keeper, and the referee awarded a penalty, and showed the keeper a yellow card. Harris duly converted, striking low to the keeper's right, just evading his dive.
So, a surprising scoreline at the break, but there was a feeling that this tie was far from over, if the visitors could step up a gear. Unfortunately for them, that did not materalise, and as the second half, really lost their way and let the game drift away. They went further behind on 51 minutes following a corner, the ball helped across goal with a flick on and falling at the feet of Liam Gavin at the far post and he struck the ball powerfully home from seven yards. Binfield came close on several occasions to adding a fifth, before it finally came on 75 minutes with the goal of the game. A Totton defensive pass across the pitch was intercepted by Moore and, spotting the keeper slightly out of position, he fired a perfectly judged shot from 30 yards out into the net. To add to Totton's woes, they had sub Ethan Taylor sent off for a bad late tackle, but fortunately for them, despite Binfield still looking hungry and creating decent chances, no further goals were scored, and Binfield can now go full of confidence into the next round, with the ties drawn on Monday. It was a truly fabulous performance from them, full of desire, energy confidence, but Totton's performance was difficult to comprehend. Perhaps it was rustiness of the first game of the season, perhaps they had not prepared well enough, or were complacent that they only needed to turn up to progress against the underdogs, but in the end, they were fortunate to only lose by four goals - Binfield could easily have scored seven or eight. Presumably it was just a bad day at the office for them, to get out of their system ahead of their league season. As for Binfield, on this performance, and how they "finished" last season, they will surely be there or thereabouts in the race for promotion this season.
Binfield's run in the FA Cup would end in the following round, losing 2-0 at Whyteleafe, of the Isthmian League South East Division (one step above Binfield)
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