Everton 2 v 0 Blackpool

Saturday 18th February 2012
FA Cup Fifth Round
Goodison Park, Liverpool
Admission: £25.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 38,447
Match Rating: 4

After a happily very rare Saturday without a game last weekend thanks to the big freeze, today I took advantage of the excellent "Great Escape" ticket from the train company London Midland, which meant a trip from London to Liverpool and back would cost just £9.90, as well as reduced ticket prices for an attractive looking FA Cup tie at a ground that I have been wanting to visit for many a year.

There are a couple of options for reaching Goodison Park by public transport. A soccerbus operates from Sandhills rail station, however wishing to avoid the crush that would inevitably accompany the buses particularly after the game, I opted instead to alight at Kirkdale rail station, which is about a fifteen minute walk from Goodison Park. The ground is certainly something of a throwback to former times, an all too rare and refreshing change from the many modern identikit top flight stadia. Closely packed to neighbouring terrace streets, the main stand is of a double decker variety, with a large "top balcony" perched about a two tier stand - it is impressive in terms of its size, has character but is somewhat tired and dated. I selected a ticket in the top balcony, and whilst it offered an excellent "birds-eye" view, and on entering the stand one can look out over Stanley Park and Anfield in the distance, the wooden seats were uncomfortable, legroom was minimal and a large pillar obstructed my view. On the opposite side and behind the goal to the left of the main stand are two tier stands joined together, again with many obstructing pillars, but again they have character which made them quite endearing. Behind the remaining goal is the one modern stand in the ground, a large single tier affair. The programme was fairly average for a Premier League club, unspectacular but with a decent amount of interesting reading material and a pleasingly low proportion of adverts.

Today's match would be between two teams in good recent form. As has become fairly typical in recent seasons - and even less surprising given the lack of investment in the first team last summer - Everton had a slow start to the season, stuck firmly in or just below mid table all season, but are unbeaten in their last six games, winning three of those, and have only lost twice in their last thirteen games and find themselves in tenth place in the Premier League. To reach this stage, they overcame non-league Tamworth 2-0 and then Premier League Fulham 2-1, both games at Goodison Park.Having been relegated from the Premier League last season - coming much, much close than most had predicted to surviving, Blackpool are gathering pace nicely for a return to the top flight. Having been outside the play-off places almost all season, they entered them at the beginning of this month and are now in fourth place in the Championship, having been unbeaten in their last seven games, winning five of those games. To reach this stage, Blackpool comfortably saw off neighbours Fleetwood in round three, and then Sheffield Wednesday after a replay. A glance at the team sheets showed where the priorities lie for each manager. David Moyes selected pretty much a full strength team for Everton from the players he had available, whilst Ian Holloway chose to make seven changes from the Blackpool side that had beaten Doncaster in the league in midweek.

The game certainly had an explosive start, as the home side went in front with less than a minute on the clock.Magaye Gueye swung a cross into the box, which Marouane Felliani controlled before layng the ball off to Royston Drenthe, who fired in a powerful, controlled shot just out of the reach of the keeper and into the net. Just five minutes later and it looked like a tough task for Blackpool had already become mission impossible, when Drenthe's corner was flicked on and landed at the feet of Denis Stracqualursi a few yards out, who fired home at the second attempt. One feared this might have killed the game, with the higher ranked side at home two goals to the good with just six minutes on the clock, however nothing could be further from the truth. Whilst rarely threatening to score, Blackpool played some good football, whilst Everton continued to play with plenty of attacking endeavour.

In the second half, Blackpool continued to give a good account of themselves, again rarely looking like scoring , although Everton missed golden chance after golden chance to extend their lead. In the final stages, it was Blackpool though who came agonisingly close to scoring on three occasions.Lomana Tresor Lua Lua had a powerful shot tipped onto the post by Tim Howard, Kevin Phillips saw a wonderful free kick hit the corner of crossbar and post, and in added on time at the end of the game, Blackpool were awarded a soft looking penalty for a push, but Phillips put his shot well over the bar. So a deserved victory for the home side, with it always pleasing to see the club taking an FA Cup tie the more seriously rewarded with progression.

Video Highlights at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0ESFJE7shA

Reading 0 v 1 Stevenage

Saturday 7th January 2012
FA Cup Third Round
Madejski Stadium, Reading
Admission: £12.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 11295
Match Rating: 2

It was a fairly late decision to take in the magic of the FA Cup on Third Round day today. The match, in truth, was not one to potentially set the pulses racing, with the favourites at home against a team in just one division below, however bargain ticket prices made watching league football teams at a stadium I had not previously visited for the price that Conference South teams charge made a visit to Berkshire sufficiently attractive.

The modestly named Madejski Stadium is located almost three miles south of Reading rail station, close to the M4, and many buses are available to ferry supporters. Set above a retail park, it is very well designed outside and inside, and certainly has more character and uniqueness than other recently built stadia, being easy on the eye and with excellent views and legroom. It has seating all around and is single tiered apart from the west stand, which is two tiered. A slight wave design to the roof and a gap between the top of the stand and the roof certainly enhances the look of the ground. The programme, which unusually was a full edition for a cup match, was typical glossy Football League fare, but it ranks as one of the better ones, with plenty of interesting articles to read, although match reports of every FA Cup match played by the club in the last two seasons, when they enjoyed runs to the Quarter Finals, was rather tiresome.

Today's match would be between sides in good from in the Football League. Before losing last time out at Cardiff on Monday, Reading won their previous four games, and had won six out of seven, which has propelled them up to fifth in the Championship, albeit eight points behind the top two. They also have excellent recent pedigree in the FA Cup, reaching the Quarter-Finals in the last two seasons, when they have claimed the scalps of Premier League Liverpool, Burnley, West Bromwich Albion, and Everton. Graham Westley, Stevenage's manager, is not everyone's cup of tea, least of all mine, but there is no denying he is doing a quite remarkable job at the Hertfordshire club, taking them from non league football to a play-off berth in League One, in sixth place. Their recent form has been very similar to Reading's - before losing at home to Leyton Orient last time out, they won their previous three games and were unbeaten in thirteen games. Reading and Stevenage were also drawn together in last season's competition, with Reading winning 2-1 thanks to a late goal at Broadhall Way in the fourth round.

On a bright, sunny afternoon, Reading were desperately disappointing throughout, as they appeared lethargic with precious little cohesion in their play, whilst Stevenage hustled and harried, made interceptions and always looked the stronger and more likely side to score. On 21 minutes they deservedly took the lead when Darius Charles took the ball just outside the area and unleashed a low drive into the corner beyond the reach of the keeper. The only surprise at half time was that Stevenage had not increased their lead, with Reading having just one sight of goal.

Reading improved slightly after the break and managed to create some half chances, although it wasn't until the final 25 minutes that Reading finally started to mount some sustained attacks on goals, but still they never managed to create any gilt-edged chances, and indeed, it was Stevenage who came closest to scoring ten minutes from time when a powerful low drive was just turned aside by Adam Federici in the Reading goal. However, it was Stevenage who deservedly progressed to the fourth round and gain revenge for last season's defeat to Reading. Reading were desperately disappointing on the day, very surprisingly given their recent good form and pedigree in the FA Cup, but now they can concentrate fully on pushing for promotion back to the Premier League..

Video highlights at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxxqJxSwqfk

Erith and Belvedere 4 v 1 Selsey

Sunday 4th September 2011

FA Cup Preliminary Round

Park View Road, Welling

Admission: £7.00

Programme: £1.50

Attendance: 92

Match Rating: 4

An added bonus, this game. Although I don’t usually like to return to the same ground too soon – I had only been to Park View Road in April to watch the Kent Senior Trophy final – it worked out perfectly to call in for this game on the way home from Stansted Airport. In any case, it would be the first time I would watch Erith and Belvedere at Park View Road, with an FA Cup between clubs from the Kent League and the Sussex League.

Directions to and descriptions of the ground can be found here from my April visit, only to add that Erith and Belvedere have their own turnstiles to enter the ground through. To add to an already expensive admission fee, programmes were available for £1.50, which had an attractive cover and contained 16 pages of information within an outer shell of wall-to-wall advertising.

The fortunes of both clubs have contrasted quite wildly so far this season, pointing towards a home win. Erith and Belvedere started their season with three straight wins in the league, although they lost on Bank Holiday Monday at home to their apparent bogey side, VCD Athletic. In the previous round of the FA Cup, they defeated Sussex League Division 1 side St Francis Rangers 2-0 at home. Selsey have lost all three of their league games so far this season in the Sussex League Division 1, and reached this round of the FA Cup by defeating Mile Oak, of Division 2 of the Sussex League, after a replay. Today’s match would be the first ever between the two sides.

Throughout the first half, Erith and Belvedere always looked the better side and had more attempts on goal, whereas Selsey looked a very limited outfit, always battling hard but struggling to find their passes. The visitors would certainly have been the happier with the goalless scoreline at half time, although for their dominance, one could not say that Erith and Belvedere would be kicking themselves not to have taken the lead.

On 58 minutes, against the general run of play, Selsey took the lead, with a goal of quality that had been lacking in their play previously, Jake Goulding finishing off a fine passing move by delicately placing the ball across the keeper and into the net via the far post. Selsey then proceeded to have their best period in the game, but on 70 minutes, the tie was level again when Michael Cassius made a surging run down the wing and into the box, and after his initial shot was blocked, pulled the ball back to Hinga Amara, who scored from 6 yards out. A nightmarish midweek trip down to deepest West Sussex was looking increasingly inevitable for Erith and Belvedere, until they edged in front in the 89^th minute with a wonderful goal. Luke May received the ball 25 yards out following a clearance, and he had time to curl a perfectly judged shot into the top corner. On the stroke of 90 minutes, Erith and Belvedere made the game safe when Callum O’Shea’s shot was parried by the keeper and Andy Constable tapped into an empty net from a few yards out. Two minutes into injury time and the home side added a fourth, when Amara just beat the keeper to head the ball home following a well judged floating cross by O’Shea. There is no doubt Erith and Belvedere deserved to win this tie, and the scoreline was perhaps a fair reflection of their domination and superior quality, although it doesn’t tell the story of a game that was in the balance right up until the final couple of minutes, and Erith and Belvedere will visit Ryman League Division 1 South side Hythe Town in the next round.  

Pagham 1 v 2 Herne Bay

Saturday 20th August 2011
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Nyetimber Lane, Pagham
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 75
Match Rating: 4

My first taste of domestic football action of the season took in the very first step on the long road to Wembley in the FA Cup today, in the Extra Preliminary Round. A trip down to the West Sussex coast most appealed to me, with an appealing looking tie with two of the better sides on the Sussex County League and the Kent League.

Nyetimber Lane is about three miles from Bognor Regis train station, from which there are buses every 15 minutes dropping one virtually outside the ground. Having been greeted with a rather firm sign at the door that all must pay and don't take your anger out on the gateman if you disagree, I entered a very smart and neat looking ground that has obviously has had plenty of TLC and licks of paint in recent times.On one length of the pitch there is half a dozen terrace steps covered by a wooden roof - but with open sides and rear. On the other length is the clubhouse and alongside that is a small tradional stone stand that is entered from the rear and has an attractive modern sign welcoming everyone to Nytimber Lane. Hard standing is available around the rest of the pitch. The programme was an interesting one - just 8 pages for £1.00, but to its credit, contained no advertising, has a very attractive and professional cover and design and contains the all-important thorough welcome message, league fixtures and results including line-ups for each game, predicted line-ups for this game and potted histories of both clubs.

This would not exactly be a tie for Herne Bay to relish though, with perhaps one of the longest trips possible at this stage of the competition, from the north-east Kent coast right down to western extremity of the Sussex coast.Both teams cames into this fixture in perfect form - Pagham winning both of therr opening league games 2-1 in the Sussex League and finished last season in fourth place, albeit a whopping 20 points behind champions Crawley Down, whilst Herne Bay have also won both of their opening games in the Kent League. They are always a strong outfit at this level, having finished runners up in the Kent League for the last two seasons, last season being denied the championship and promotion by goal difference, losing only two league games all season.

In prefect conditions - a gloriously sunny day with barely a cloud in the sky and with temperatures pleasant but not oppressive, this match was a really good advert for this level of football, with both sides playing good football along the floor, although Herne Bay were probably guilty of over playing in the final third, seeming to prefer tippy-tappy football around the box instead of driving towards goal. They were made to pay for this approach when Pagham took the lead on 13 minutes, when following some confusion in the box, a shot was saved but only palmed out into the path of Phil Turner, who struck home from close range.

This was how the scoreline remained at half-time, slightly harsh on Herne Bay, although it did not take them too long to put it right. On 55 minutes, they were awarded a fairly controversial penalty for off-the-ball holding, which was converted by a well struck shot high into the top left corner by Byron Walker. Within a couple of minutes, the visitors went in front when a long looping free kick from close to the half way line was headed over the keeper caught in no-mans-land and into the net by Tom Bryant. Herne Bay deserved this as they did adopt a more clinical approach in the second half and could have scored several more, hitting the woodwork twice and a couple of breakaway shots drifted agonisingly wide of the post. Pagham only sporadically threatended - although they always looked capable of scoring when they did, and the intensity of chances stepped up in the closing stages, but in the end, Herne Bay claimed a good and well deserved victory, to set up a tie with neighbours Deal Town.

Huddersfield Town 2 v 0 Dover Athletic

Saturday 8th January 2011
FA Cup 3rd Round
Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield
Admission: £15.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 7894
Match Rating: 3

FA Cup action today and a long journey north to follow the lowest ranked team still left in the competition, and a team that I have always had a soft spot for, Dover Athletic. It's probably fair to say that a trip to the Galpharm Stadium was not quite the glamour tie that Dover would have hope for when awaiting the draw for the third round, however it still represented a trip to a famous, traditional league club and to play in an impressive modern stadium which is a different world from the stadia usually encountered in the Blue Square South. It certainly caught the imagination of Dover supporters, with over 1,500 fans estimated to make the trip from the Kent coast northwards - considerably more than usually flow through the turnstiles at the Crabble, it has to be said..

The uniquely designed arches of each stand of the Galpharm Stadium stand out impressively as one approaches Huddersfield on the train from Leeds, and the stadium is about a quarter of an hour walk from the station. For this game, tickets were available at the turnstiles for a discounted £15.00, and I took my seat in the South Stand behind one of the goals, which today, as always, was for away fans. The stand behind the other goal was closed for today's game. All four stands have a similar curved design, a pleasing on the eye and refreshingly unique design, which softens the boredom that one usually experiences at recently built stadia. Programmes were on sale for £2.00, clearly a reduced version of Huddersfield's normal programme. It still contained everything it needed to with plenty to read, but didn't seem to have the usual level of professionalism that one usually encounters at League matches.

Both teams lay in fourth place in their respecting leagues - Huddersfield in League 1, Dover Athletic three leagues below in the Blue Square South. The achievement of Dover reaching the Third Round is further enhanced when one considers that today was their sixth tie in the competition, starting out at Erith Town of the Kent League, and most recently Gillingham and Aldershot were comfortably dispatched. Their hopes of claiming a shock result could well have hinge would surely hinge on Adam Birchall, who has scored a quite remarkable 29 goals in 25 games games this season, and has scored in every round of their FA Cup run, 11 goals in total. As for Huddersfield, they reached this round by squeezing past Cambridge United 2-1 at home in a replay, before overwhelming Macclesfield 6-0, also at home.

If Dover were to have any chance of causing an upset, they would have needed to keep things tight at the start and hope for large helpings of lady luck along the way. They started brightly in the opening exchanges, however by the eigth minute, the game was already as good as over, as Huddersfield scored twice within a minute thanks to some rather poor defending. The first was scored by Scott Arfield with a tap in from close range after excellent work from Lee Novak, then Gary Roberts shot home after more good work from Novak. For the rest of the first half, Huddersfield were in total control of the game, with the speed of play and thought much quicker than their non-league opponents, and although Huddersfield rarely looked like scoring, they always had the air of a team that could go up several gears should they need to. Credit though to Dover who battled gamely and did have a goalbound shot cleared. The second half was much more even, but Dover never really looked like they could get back into the match until the final ten minutes, when they really did give it a go and could consider themselves extremely unlucky to not score a goal, thwarted by increasingly desperate blocks. However, 2-0 it ended, with there never really being a threat of a romantic upset. Not that the Dover fans let the result spoil their day as they fully appreciated the efforts of an only occasionally outclassed team. The constant loud support from the 1534 Dover fans was mightily impressive, but now Dover must go back to the bread and butter of league football, hoping their will not be any hangover from their FA Cup run as they persue a return to Conference National football.

Bognor Regis Town 3 v 2 Hastings United

Saturday 11th September 2010
FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
Nyewood Lane, Bognor Regis
Admission: £8.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 374
Match Rating: 4

FA Cup action again today for an attractive looking tie between two clubs in good form in their respective Ryman leagues, with the lower division team at home against a club from a division above. This was also a tie between two clubs from the Sussex coast, although the match couldn't really be described as a derby, with the towns as far as apart as you can get along the Sussex coast, separated by over 50 miles.

Nyewood Lane is located about a 10 minute walk from the train station, and is an all-round very pleasant stadium that manages to combine very good facilities (a reflection on their recent higher league status), a spacious yet close-knit feel to it, and plenty of character. Along one length of the pitch is a small all-seater stand in the centre, with a further small stand providing covered terracing, and uncovered hard standing the other side of the seated stand. Along the other length is covered terracing, behind one of the goals is open banked terracing and behind the other goal is a covered hard standing area. The ground also has an electronic scoreboard - a rare feature of a ground at this level of football. The 30 page programme was fairly standard fare for the Ryman League, unexceptional but with enough to read to gain a good background to the match ahead.

After two successive relegations from the Blue Square South - a price worth paying from Bognor's point of view, considering that they were punching above their weight at least in the Blue Square South was unsustainable for them - they have started this season in the Ryman League Division 1 South well with mostly local players, and have gleaned 10 points from their opening five games, with a 100% record at home, together with a narrow 1-0 home win against Sussex League side Ringmer in the previous round of the FA Cup. Hastings United, a settled Ryman League Premier Division side these days, have gleaned 11 points from their first six games, losing their first game of the season midweek at home to Sutton, when they came back from three goals down to be denied an equaliser deep into injury time thanks to an apparently hugely contentious linesman's flag.

With half an hour on the clock, it looked like the higher ranked team, Hastings, would coast to a comfortable passage into the next round in this Cup tie. Bognor played reasonably well in the middle of the park, but it was Hastings who carried the greater threat, Bognor having their keeper to thank for keeping his side in the game. Unfortunate for him then that Hastings would score a quick fire double just before the half hour mark with two very avoidable goals, Russell Eldridge firing in a shot through a crowd of players that the keeper presumably thought would have been cleared by one of his defenders before it would have reached him, and then Jono Richardson firing a fairly tame looking low shot which took a very unfortunate bounce off of a divet to bounce over the keeper's dive. Game over, and the game would peter out for a comfortable away win. Not at all, so it turned out. As the first half drew to a close, Bognor suddenly became irresistible, pulling a goal back via simple tap in from Jason Prior after excellent work from James Fraser, and a minute before half time they were level when Phil Turner cooly slotted the ball under the keeper. Bognor would not have wanted the half time whistle to come, so much in the ascendency they were at that time, and after a hugely entertaining first half, the second half failed to live up to those heights, mostly being a midfield scrap with regular long punts up field, although both sides continue to carve out reasonable chances. A replay at Hastings was looking inevitable though, from which Hastings would surely have had to have been red hot favourites to progress, until deep into injury time, a horrendous back pass by John Beales gave the on-rushing Jason Prior a one-on-one with the keeper, and he showed fantastic composure to slot the ball past the keeper from fully 25 yards. Considering the level of football and with so much at stake and in injury time at the end of the game, it was a terrific finish. Hastings barely had time to restart the match when the referee blew for full-time to spark wild celebrations amongst Bognor's players and supporters, whilst the Hastings players slumped to the floor no doubt reflecting on how they could have lost a game they were cruising  to victory in but inexplicably - and fatally - took their foot off the gas having opened up a two goal lead.

Deal Town 2 v 4 Hythe Town

Saturday 28th August 2010
FA Cup Preliminary Round
Charles Sports Ground, Deal
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 189
Match Rating: 4

My first taste of FA Cup action this season took me to the south-east Kent coast for an all Kent League clash. When contemplating FA Cup matches to watch, I usually try to seek ties betweek clubs from different leagues, finding that this adds an interesting added dimension to a cup tie between clubs not used to playing each other. However there was more than enough about this game to attract me. This would be a local derby, between two teams tipped to be in contention for the Kent League title this season. Finally, Deal is one of those elusive grounds that I have wanted to visit for a long time, but circumstances have always seemed to prevent a visit at the last minute.

As it turned out, I had not been missing out on too much, with the Charles Sports Ground being a very average, unremarkable county league ground in an urban setting. Facilities are reasonable, with one side containing a small, narrow covered standing area directly in front of the clubhouse. A new clubhouse is being built on the opposite side, however completion has been put on hold due to money being pulled from the grant that was funding it. Also on this side is a reasonably sized modern all-seater stand. Behind one of the goals is a small covered area for standing, with hard standing available around the rest of the ground. One attractive feature of the ground is an old-fashioned building housing the changing rooms in one corner of the ground. The ground has a spacious feel about it but could certainly do with a little tidying up, and is situated about a 15 minute walk away from Deal train station. The programme has an attractive hardened cover, but that is about as good as it gets with little interesting to read inside although it did contain plenty of statistics. But the overriding feeling was of an excessive price of £1.50 for a very average programme.

Hythe certainly mean to get promoted this season, strengthening their team significantly over the summer, the highlight being persuading Brendon Cass to trade Ryman League Premier Division football with Folkestone Invicta where he was a first team player for Kent League football at Hythe. Ambitions are probably a lot more humble for Deal, who became the only club from Kent to win the FA Vase in the last final at the old Wembley at the turn of the millennium.However, they have certainly made an excellent start to the season, having won all three of their games so far this season and had yet to concede a goal. Hythe had won two of their opening games, losing the other. Both teams comfortably won their extra preliminary round games to qualify for today's game, Deal dispatching Sandhurst Town 3-0, and Hythe beating Bookham even more convincingly, 4-0.

On a grey, overcast afternoon, the game itself turned out to be the definitive game of two halves - certainly in terms of goals, although for the most part, possession and chances were fairly evenly shared. Deal took the lead on 13 minutes thanks to a well taken goal by Andy Hadden from just outside of the penalty area, who showed tremendous composure and control to rifle home a shot through a crowd of players. Hythe were level on the half hour with an even better goal, when Lee Winfield curled a fabulous free-kick around the wall and just inside the post giving the keeper no chance. Within four minutes Deal went back in front thanks to a close ranger header by Aaron Robinson and so took a narrow but just about deserved lead into half-time. Whatever the Hythe manager said at half time worked to perfection, as Hythe took the game by the scruff of the neck right from the restart. They equalised ten minutes into the second half through Dave Cook, and then took the lead for the first time within a couple of further minutes with another wonderfully skilful goal, Craig Thompson chipping the keeper from a tight angle by the edge of the penalty area.This was slightly harsh on Deal but at this stage the game could have still gone either way, until Hythe opened up a two goal lead with ten minutes remaining through Brendon Cass. This completely deflated Deal and the game was up, and so Hythe proceed to a home tie against Epsom & Ewell in the 1st Qualifying Round.