Lowestoft Town 2 v 1 Wealdstone

Saturday 28th January 2012
Isthmian League Premier Division
Crown Meadow, Lowestoft
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 855
Match Rating: 3

Bargain train tickets again from National Express East Anglia prompted me to venture to the most easterly senior football club - and town - in the United Kingdom today. It would also be an opportunity to visit a club that has intrigued me in recent seasons, attracting extremely impressive attendances despite only very recently rising from County League level.

The Crown Meadow ground is located less than ten minutes walk north from Lowestoft train station and very close to the town centre. In truth, it is quite a charmless and dreary ground, but it does the job for the level of football. As one enters the ground in one corner, the clubhouse is to the left behind one of the goals, and as one continues along the touchline, there is a covered terrace area, an old-fashioned all-seater stand straddling the half way line, and a modern brick building housing the changing rooms and tea bar. Behind the far goal is a small shelter, and around the rest of the ground is just hard standing, with a background of housing all around. The programme was reasonable, fairly typical fare for the level - some interesting material but heavy with advertising.

Lowestoft look in a great position to push on and go one better this season, having only missed out on promotion to the Conference South last season when they lost in the play-off final to Tonbridge Angels 3-4, having led 3-1. They were in third place going into today's game, just two points behind the leaders Billericay but with three games in hand - they have two games in hand on second placed Hornchurch, on the same number of points. Their recent form in the league has not been too good, losing two of their last three games, although before that they were in electric form, winning their eight and drawing the other of their previous nine games. Wealdstone are stuck firmly in mid table, in eleventh place but will still have hope of reaching the play-offs, being seven points adrift of fifth placed Cray Wanderers but with two games in hand. They too have been in good recent form, unbeaten in their last nine league games and fifteen games in all competitions, but have drawn their last three games 1-1. A goalless draw was played out when Lowestoft travelled to Wealdstone earlier in the season.

On a dry, intermittently sunny afternoon, it was Lowestoft who looked the brighter in the early stages as they did all of the attacking, but completely against the run of play, it was the visitors who took the lead on 22 minutes when Britt Assombalonga, on loan from Watford, sprang the offside trap, ran from the touchline close to the halfway line unopposed, before beating the keeper. This unsurprisingly inspired Wealdstone to get more into the game, with both sides having reasonable chances to score during the remainder of the half, but going into the break it was the visitors who retained their slender lead.

It did not take Lowestoft long to get back on level terms though, when a defender's clearance was charged down, with the ball running free to Chris Henderson, who took his time to place a beautiful shot into the top corner from just outside the penalty area. Lowestoft then went on to dominate proceedings and on the hour mark, they were awarded a penalty when Lubomir Guentchev was bundled over close to the edge of the box. Joe Francis powered home the penalty just out of the reach of the keeper to his right. It was Lowestoft who looked far more the likely to add to the scoring for the rest of the game, although deep into injury time, it was Wealdstone who came agonisingly close to snatching an equaliser, when a 25 yard free kick was fumbled by the keeper, but he somehow managed to smother a powerful follow-up shot form a few yards out.

Carshalton Athletic 2 v 3 Cray Wanderers

Monday 2nd January 2012

Isthmian League Premier Division

War Memorial Sports Ground, Carshalton

Admission: £10.00

Programme: £2.00

Attendance: 208

Match Rating: 4

What was my first game of 2012 should actually have been my second, however after a day of heavy rain the previous day, I allowed myself to be swayed by the doom and gloom merchants on various forums to write off getting up early for a morning kick-off today. Frustrations were abound when most games survived the weather. So in the end I had to make do with the 3pm kick-off I had planned to take in anyway in south London.

The War Memorial Sports Ground is located just five minutes walk away from Carshalton rail station, and is quite an intriguing stadium. It certainly would not win any beauty contests, but it does have some unique character. The turnstiles are housed in modified portakabins, with similar buildings housing the tea bar, club shop and bar. Along one length of the pitch are further various small buildings, as well as an old fashioned all-seater stand, not in a particularly good state and about half of the seats are wooden, some of which have been removed. Along the other length is about a dozen steps of covered terracing. Behind one of the goals is a couple of terrace steps with basic cover, and behind the other goal is another basic corrugated iron structure covering the standing area immediately behind the goal. The programme was a very good effort, with an attractive, professional design and plenty of interesting information to read - even if much of it was out of date as the programme went to press before Christmas.

Coming into this game, Carshalton were stuck in mid table, in twelth place in the 22 team league, 10 points adrift of both the play-off and relegation positions. They are not in good recent form, picking up just one point from their last three games. Cray are having a better season, occupying sixth place, just one place and two points off a play-off position, although they lost both of their festive games at home 2-4, after winning their previous three games.

On a bright, sunny but cold day with barely a cloud in the sky, it was the visitors who took the lead with just six minutes on the clock when Tommy Whitnell fired home after a couple of shots had been saved. Cray completely dominated the opening half hour and there only really looked like being one winner, as Carshalton struggled to get any kind of foothold in the game. Gradually they did come into the game towards the end of the half, and they equalised with what was pretty much their first shot at goal, when Billy Crook nodded the ball forward in the penalty area and poked the ball home past the onrushing keeper.

1-1 was how it stood at half time, a relative travesty considering how dominant Cray had been, but in the second half, Carshalton were completely transformed, as they grabbed the initiative, and it was actually quite deserved when they went into the lead on 58 minutes, when Laurent Hamici made some room for himself before unleashing a lovely low curling shot from just outside the penalty area into the net. They looked ever more likely to hold out for an important win, until Cray equalised on 71 minutes with a clever free-kick by Whitnell when he fired into the top right hand corner. Eight minutes from time and Carshalton had the opportunity to retake the lead when they were awarded a penalty for a lunging tackle. The keeper, Sam Walker, clearly won the psychological battle as he “chatted” to the penalty taker and stood by the penalty spot for ages before retreating to his line, and the penalty was struck poorly by Hamici and was comfortably saved. Almost immediately, Cray had a shot saved on the line, but Carshalton did pay the ultimate price for missing the penalty when Leigh Bremner scored after a free kick into the box was not dealt with. With the last kick of the game, the home side had a great chance to equalise, but a powerful shot was slammed just wide of the post. So a deserved three points for Cray, as they looked the better side throughout the game, although Carshalton, despite their poor first half performance, will feel unlucky not to have gotten anything from the game after a much improved performance after the break and a missed penalty.

Worthing 1 v 1 Whitehawk

Saturday 26th November 2011
Ryman League Division 1 South
Woodside Road, Worthing
Admission: £8.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 275
Match Rating: 3

With my earlier game at Ferring kicking off at 1.45, the opportunity presented itself to race to another ground to take in the second half there. And so I hurriedly walked back to Goring-by-Sea rail station and made the seven minute train journey to Worthing, from which Woodside Road is less than ten minutes' walk.

I last visited Woodside Road just nine months ago, and a description of the ground can be found here. On my last visit I was most impressed with the programme, however on this occasion I was left not quite so impressed. It certainly had some interesting articles to read and all of the essential stats and facts, although 16 of the 48 pages were advertising.

This derby match would be between two of the stronger teams in the division, with Worthing occupying the final play-off berth in fifth place, seven points behind Whitehawk in second place, although Worthing have played three games less than Whitehawk. Recent from has been reasonable for Worthing, winning three of their last four league games, and drawing their previous two games. Whitehawk have been in fantastic form, winning their last six games on the bounce.

I arrived at the ground during half time, and paid half price admission at £4.00. By all accounts I had not missed much during the first half, which was goalless and for the most part a midfield battle. That's how it continued into the second half, but then on 51minutes the home side took the lead when a free kick was not properly cleared and the ball was swung towards the far post and Steve Metcalf lost his marker and nipped in to head the ball home with the keeper waiting for the ball to land into his hands. Worthing then went on to dominate proceedings and looked far more the likely to score, with Whitehawk very disappointing and lacking in ideas considering their lofty leauge position and red-hot recent form, although they did have a couple of half chances. Just as it looked like Worthing would claim the three points with the match entering added on time at the end of the game, Whitehawk were awarded a corner, which was well delivered and the Worthing keeper Alan Mansfield could only push out, and Sami El-Abd powerfully headed home through a crowd of players. There was no time for either team to get the winner and so it was a point apiece which the visitors will obviously be far the happier with.

Chatham Town 2 v 3 Enfield Town

Saturday 19th November 2011
Ryman League Division 1 North
Maidstone Road, Chatham
Admission: £8.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 203
Match Rating: 4

Visiting the home ground of Chatham Town has proved incredibly elusive for me over the years, having been thwarted by weather conditions and late trains on previous attempts. But today would finally be the day when I would tick off my final senior football ground in Kent.

The Maidstone Road ground is about a twenty minute walk south from the town's train station, with a slight incline all the way, and it turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise considering Chatham would be far from considered my favourite Kentish town. It has a mixture of old and new, and with trees lining three sides of the pitch, the colours from which in the autumnal sunshine made for a very pleasant background. Straddling the half way line is an old-fashioned stand with bench seating throughout, whilst on the opposite side is a much smaller all-seater stand. Behind one of the goals is a large modern white building housing the bar and changing rooms, with just a few terrace stepsfor spectators to watch the action from. Behind the other goal is just hard standing, although with plenty of rubble and loose bricks scattered around that a keen health and safety officer may raise an eyebrow at. The 40 page programme covered the basics and was typical fare for the level of football, but with half the pages containing solely advertising, could hardly be considered value for money at £2.00.

Going into this game, Chatham were firmly anchored in the middle of the table, in 13th place in the 22 team league, although they are closer to the play-off places than the relegation zone. Their recent form has been quite poor, picking up just a win and a draw from their last from their last eight games. The visitors, buoyed by opening their new stadium in their home borough within the last week, are up in fourth place, four points off the leaders and have lost just two of their 15 games so far. They were unbeaten in their previous seven games, with five wins.

On a bright sunny day without a cloud in the sky, it was the visitors who settled the quickest, playing good football with some delightful touches in the opening minutes. So it was something of a surprise when it was the home side who opened the scoring on 20 minutes. Moments after they had a header cleared off the line, the ball was in the back of the net via a header off the underside of the bar - whether it was a Chatham forward or an own goal was much debated. On 31 minutes, Enfield Town were back on level terms when a quick attack was finished by Leon Osei, beating the keeper at his near post. Parity lasted just three minutes however, as Chatham went back into the lead, when a header by Jason Barton looped over the keeper and into the net. It was pretty much all Chatham now, and they had two fantastic chances to give themselves a more comfortable half time lead.

Similar to how the first half started, again it was the visitors who were in the ascendancy in the early stages of the second half, rarely looking like they could score though. However, on the hour mark came arguably the game changing moment, when an excellent throughball resulted on a run towards goal, only termined by a desperate lunge from a defender as the two entered the penalty area. A penalty was duly awarded, along with the mandatory red card for the defender, although bizarrely no action was taken against an Enfield Town player who pushed a Chatham player to the ground in the ensuing melee. The penalty was cooly converted by Liam Hope, shooting low to the left as the keeper dived the other way. 2-2, and very much game on. On 70 minutes, the visitors thought they had scored when  the ball was tapped in following a tremendous point-blank save by the keeper, but the goal was ruled out for off-side. However, on 81 minutes, Enfield Town did take the lead for the first time in the match, when a free kick from close to the corner flag was headed home by Daniel Ailey. Both teams had chances to score in the remainder of the game, but in the end it was Enfield Town who took all three points back to North London, and credit to them for coming from behind twice to eventually win the game, although the home side will kick themselves as they could and perhaps should have taken a more comfortable lead into the half-time interval.

Horsham 1 v 1 Hastings United

Saturday 26th March 2011
Ryman League Premier Division
Gorings Mead, Horsham
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 251
Match Rating: 2

The ridiculous timing of England's match against Wales in Cardiff at 3pm on Saturday did not remotely tempt me into missing a non-league game, although where I ended up was not even on my radar when setting out. Severe disruption to trains meant my original plan to visit Fareham Town or one of the Littlehampton clubs was scuppered, leaving a Sussex derby in the Ryman League as the best of the remaining options.

Horsham currently play at Gorings Mead, home of Horsham YMCA, after leaving their delightfully traditional Queen's Street ground and a season at Worthing's Woodside Road ground. Horsham have been lucky to be able to play at a ground almost adjacent to their old ground - although the sight of new houses where their ground was located was sad to see - but presumably things will get tricky next season as the landlords of Gorings Mead, Horsham YMCA, are almost certain of relegation to the Sussex County League, a league which does not allow groundshares and which meant that Horsham had to play at Worthing when YMCA were last in the Sussex League a couple of years ago. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the traditionally lowly status of Horsham YMCA, Gorings Mead, which is located on the outskirts of Horsham and about a 20 minute walk from the train station, is very basic with a strong County League standard feel to the place, although it does have a nice rural, unpretentious feel. Along one side of the ground is a small all-seater stand, with two very small portable type stands, one offering seating, the other standing, On the opposite side is a small, old fashioned stand offering terrace steps set some way back from the pitch. The rest of the ground just has hard standing.  The 64 page programme was of a very good standard, plenty to read and digest, printed on good quality paper, attractively designed with lots of colour - including recent match photos, the only downside would be the high proportion of adverts - 31 pages exclusively containing adverts, not including player sponsorship..

When the two teams met earlier this season in Hastings, Horsham had three players sent off but still somehow managed to hold on to win 3-2. This was just about the only factor pointing away from a drab tussle between two struggling teams, in 17th and 18h place in the 22 team league, both having played the same number of games and with Horsham a point better off. With four teams relegated, both teams are in real danger, Hastings five points clear of fourth from bottom and six points clear of third bottom Folkestone Invicta, but both of these teams have two games in hand. After a calamitous middle third of the season which saw Hastings part company with their manager and many of their players and went on a run of 10 straight league defeats - and one point from 13 games - around Chrismas, their form has picked up recently with three wins in their last five games, but Horsham have been in poor form, picking us just three points from draws from their last six games and haven't won in the league since late January.

On a rather misty and muggy afternoon on what was an awful pitch - hard, bobbly with unpredictable bounce - the first half of this game was a rather forgettable affair, with Hastings in particular lacking any cohesion and playing far too many stray passes. Horsham looked the stronger team and they took the lead on 11 minutes when a long ball was flicked on and Ashley Robinson showed good composure to lob the ball past the keeper and into the net from just outside the penalty area. The rest of the half was a drab affair, except for Horsham's Ben Andrews forcing a wonderful point-blank save from the Hastings keeper, Seb Barton.

In the second half, Hastings showed much more urgency and application than they had in the first, although they still seemed to lack the quality needed to get back into the game as Horsham looked quite comforable. However, the game changed midway through the second half when Horsham's captain Ben Andrews, who was playing his first game in six weeks due to injury, was shown a yellow card for handball just outside the penalty area. Excessive verbals to the assistant referee earnt Andrews an early bath, the fourth Horsham to be sent off against Hastings this season, and from this point on, Hastings took total control of the match. After a couple of gilt-edged chances, Hastings did get back on level terms on 75 minutes when Ross Sutton played in a superbly judged cross deep into the box and Ollie Rowe firmly headed home from 8 yards out. From looking desperately poor in the first half, Hastings really should have claimed the win with several more excellent chances to score, but in the end, it was a point apiece, which became a better result on learning that both Aveley and Folkestone had lost today.

Worthing 3 v 3 Merstham

Saturday 26th February 2011
Ryman League Division 1 South
Woodside Road, Worthing
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 336
Match Rating: 4

Less than a month after paying a visit to Worthing, I made a return to the West Sussex coastal town today to visit the more senior and larger club, Worthing. Today was to be a day of celebration at Woodside Road, with this match being declared Fans Day, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Worthing Football Club, which included a reduced admission charge of £5.00, compared with the usual excessive (for this level) £9.00. This helped swell the attendance to the second highest of the season. Intermittently heavy rain overnight and in the hours building up to kick-off threatened to put a dampener on the occasion, but happily the pitch held up well enough to ensure that this would be one of only three games to be played from the scheduled ten games in the division today.

Woodside Road is quite a charming, old-fashioned ground with plenty of character, and I was certainly struck by the friendly feel to the place. As one enters the ground, there is shallow banked terracing behind the goal, with cover available to one side of the goal. A large grandstand on one length of the pitch offers a good, elevated view of the action, although railing at the front impairs the view of the near touchline. Along the opposite length is a few steps of terracing, with a very small stand in the middle. Behind the other goal there also terrace steps, with another covered area. After being hugely critical of the "effort" of a programme at Blue Square South club Weston-super-Mare last weekend, Worthing proved my point that clubs from lower divisions usually produce vastly superior programmes to that one. An attractive design, with plenty to read which is easy on the eye, interesting articles and all the stats and facts you could want, the 58 page publication was a very good effort by Worthing..

This game paired two of the apparent also-rans of the Ryman League Division 1 South, with both teams seeming to have little to play for this season, with Worthing harbouring only faint hopes of making the play-offs, in 10th place and eight points behind Burgess Hill Town in the final play-off place (with a further eight points to fourth placed Leatherhead), and Merstham in 14th place in the 22 team league, five ponts clear of the relegation places. It's fair to say it has been all or nothing with Worthing recently, having won four games on the bounce prior to drawing their last home league game 3-3 and then losing their last three games, including an embarassing home defeat to Sussex County League outfit Rye United in the Sussex Senior Cup, despite fielding pretty much a first team. Earlier in the season, the two teams shared six goals at Merstham.

The home side looked sluggish in the opening minutes with the visitors in the ascendancy, and indeed on just six minutes, Merstham took the lead when a long punt forward - which was to be a constant feature of Merstham's play all afternoon, was headed away unconvincingly by the keeper, who had come out of his area, straight to Sean Rivers, who showed excellent composure to lob the ball into the empty net. The rest of the half was forgettable, with Worthing having more and more of the game but were repeatedly guilty of giving the ball away cheaply far too often, mostly due to Merstham's pressuring style of play which was ugly to watch but effective. A heavy hail shower marked the whistle for half time, and relief was abound at the end of a dismal first half of football.

It did seem that the Worthing players would need something of a blast from the manager after a lacklustre display in the first half, yet within a couple of minutes, Merstham doubled their advantage with a similar goal to their first, with Rivers capitalising on another mistake by Worthing's Canadian goalkeeper, Tony Di Bernado. On 54 minutes, the home side were back in the game though, with a piece of either outrageous skill or fortune from Callum Saunders who struck from a narrow angle far outside the penalty area which flew into the net. Game on...but Merstham restored their two goal lead within a couple of minutes thanks to yet another long ball forward, and Harry Ottaway sidestepped the keeper to roll the ball into an empty net. Worthing did not look the forlorn outfit they appeared to be in the first half by now, obviously buoyed by their goal, and for the rest of the match, it was almost constantly one way traffic towards the Merstham goal. On the hour mark, Worthing pulled a goal back with Saunders' second of the game, volleying in a good cross at the near post from close range. On 70 minutes, the match was all square, man of the match Saunders this time the provider for a close range header by Terry Dodd. After looking second best for the first 50 minutes of this match, Worthing will really kick themselves for not claiming all three points as they hit the woodwork twice, the sidenetting and close range shots were desperately blocked. This was truly a bizarre game, rarely have I encountered a game that was so dull and lifeless in the first half, but was an absolute rip-snorter in the second half. For the neutral, it was a shame that Worthing could not claim the three points, as their young side seem to try to play good football on the ground, whereas Merstham, on today's display, would win few friends with their style of football, which is, to put it kindly, direct, with players always ready to go to ground and break up play with mysterious alleged injuries.