Charlton Athletic 2 v 0 Stevenage

Saturday 25th February 2012
Football League One
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 26,546
Match Rating: 4

An all too rare return visit to the Valley - indeed, my first Saturday afternoon visit since I allowed my season ticket to lapse after Charlton's relegation from the Championship three seasons ago, inspired by yet another imaginative offer  by the club of reducing all ticket prices to just £5.00.

Description of The Valley can be found during a previous visit here, and I took the opportunity to choose a seat in what is usually the most expensive part of the stadium, in the Upper Tier of the West Stand, virtually on the half way line. In my opinion, Charlton have always produced good, interesting programmes, and so today's 60 page issue proved.

Even as a naturally sceptical fan of Charlton, promotion to the Championship is looking increasingly likely, as they still find themselves well clear of the chasing pack - indeed, they have been on top of the table constantly since mid September. Going into this game, Charlton were seven points clear of second placed Sheffield United, and twelve points clear of third placed Sheffield Wednesday. There has been a relative blip recently. Although unbeaten so far in eight league games in 2012, they have "only" picked up three draws - against three lesser teams in Bury, Tranmere Rovers and Rochdale - in their last four games. Stevenage have been the real surprise package this season, inside the play-offs and currently in sixth place, a position they have occupied since Boxing Day. Since I last watched Stevenage just over a month ago, when they caused an upset by beating Reading at the Madejski Stadium in the FA Cup Third Round - a competition they are still in, after drawing 0-0 with Tottenham Hotspur in the Fifth Round last weekend - they have lost their manager Graham Westley. When the two teams met at Broadhall Way earlier in the season, Stevenage inflicted the first of just two defeats all season on Charlton with a 1-0 victory.

With the game less than 1,000 short of a sell-out, the first half was a rather dull affair, with Stevenage always looking to break up play and disrupt Charlton's play, whereas Charlton seemed to surprisingly lack ideas. Both sides had half chances, but a goalless scoreline at half time was of little surprise.

Within four minutes of the restart however and the deadlock was broken, and in fine style too. A long throw in into the box was headed out of the box, falling at the feet of centre back Michael Morrison, who controlled the ball before unleashing a 20 yard rocket into the top corner. The game completely changed from this point, as Charlton dominated the rest of the match and Stevenage had the air of a team aiming for damage limitation. They had numerous golden chances to score, most notably top scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips, who had not scored in his last eleven games but he could easily have had a hat-trick today. In the end he had to settle for the one goal, scored in the 64th minute, when he raced wide to the edge of the box, beat the defender to the ball and his cross-shot was turned in by Ronnie Henry on the goalline, although Wright-Phillips' shot was going in anyway.

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

Chesterfield P v P Charlton Athletic

Saturday 11th February 2012

Football League One

B2Net Stadium, Chesterfield

Admission: £18.00

Today was a rare occasion when the weather beat me. Having already purchased a ticket for Charlton's first ever trip to Chesterfield's new ground, continued freezing temperatures all week always put this game in doubt, and although the pitch passed an inspection at Friday lunchtime, temperatures fell to around -8c in northern Derbyshire on the Friday night. Considering that, even with a frost cover, there was little likelihood in this game surviving, I decided not to make my way up to Chesterfield, and indeed, this proved the correct call as the game was duly called off at a 10am, pitch inspection.

Most other non-league games also fell victim to the artic conditions, including all games in Kent. I finally managed to find two games that had passed inspections, at Whitehawk and Newhaven, and so off I set out for Brighton to catch Whitehawk's game. Unfortunately I arrived at the station to find all trains delayed and little definite sign of one arriving any time soon, I decided to write today off in football terms and watch the Manchester United - Liverpool game on television instead

West Bromwich Albion 1 v 2 Swansea City

Saturday 4th February 2012
Premier League
The Hawthorns, West Bromwich

Admission: £25.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 24,274
Match Rating: 3

On a day when the belated big freeze put paid to the vast majority of local non-league football - and even many games in the lower divisions of the Football League, it was rather fortunate that I had already planned to make a rare visit to a Premier League ground, where undersoil heating would mean that freezing weather would be little threat to the game unless the surrounding roads would be too treacherous. Today would also be the first opportunity for me to see with my own eyes the remarkable transformation in Swansea City's fortunes, having spent many an afternoon watching Swansea in the nineties as they struggled in the lower leagues in the ramshackle (but, for me, much missed) Vetch Field.

The Hawthorns, which has the surprising distinction of being the highest ground above sea level in the English Premier and Football Leagues, is located a few minutes walk from the railway station of the same name. Having been completely rebuilt since the early nineties, it is now a stadium that, while is small by Premier League standard, has been very well designed, fully enclosed, offers excellent, unobstructed views throughout and does not suffer from the identikit look. The East Stand, the most recent major development of the ground, is the tallest stand and the only stand to consist of two tiers. Set slightly lower is the "home" end, and lower still and of equal height are the West Stand (where I was sat today) and the stand behind the other goal, half of which houses the away fans. A nice touch is the placement of a large throstle, retained from the pre-development stand, on the wall above seating in one corner of the ground. The programme was truly superb, one of the best I have encountered at any level, and excellent value at £3.00. Imaginatively designed, a minimum of adverts and plenty of interesting reading material, it certainly helped while away the time on the long journey back down south after the game.

A glance at the Premier League table pointed to a game between two evenly matched teams, with Swansea just one place and one point better off than West Bromwich Albion, in fourteenth place. West Brom's recent form has not been good, picking up just one win from their last six games. The Hawthorns is also proving to be something of a bogey ground for the home side, having picked up just one point from their last five league games at home, stretching back to mid November. Not unusually for a promoted side, Swansea have been very strong at home this season - losing just once (to Manchester United) in twelve games - but have struggled on their travels. They had only won one and drawn three of their eleven games away from home - that win coming in January, on their most recent visit to the West Midlands, at Aston Villa. When the two sides met at the Liberty Stadium back in September, Swansea coasted to a 3-0 win.

On a bitterly cold afternoon with heavy sleet showers, the first half was quite a dull affair. Swansea displayed the brand of football they have become known for - lots of short passes, keeping possession and very, very rarely going for a long punt upfield, not even from goal kicks, but it was West Brom who could consider themselves the most unlucky not to open the scoring in the first half. They were denied a penalty when Swansea's Ashley Williams' apparent handball was not punished, and they had two shots cleared off the line in quick succession just before half time.

As half-time arrived, the increasingly heavy snowfall was beginning to lay on the pitch, requiring brushing away from the critical areas during the interval. On 54 minutes, against the run of play it must be said, it was the home side who took the lead when a Graham Dorrans corner was flicked on by Jonas Olsson, landing at the feet of Marc Antoine Fortune at the corner of the 6 yard box, and he took a moment to compose himself before firing into the net. The home fans celebrations did not last long. Appropriately on such a snowy, wintry afternoon, it was a case of the Iceman cometh, as the game soon turned on its head. Within a minute of going behind, the Icelander Gylfi Sigurdsson levelled the scores when he passed the ball into the net following a low cross by Neil Taylor after a fine run down the flank. Just four minutes later and Swansea were suddenly in the lead, when Sigurdsson surged forward before whipping in a cross, which top scorer Danny Graham cooly poked home. After that sudden burst of activity, the game settled back into its previous pattern, with Swansea playing some impressive football while yet again it was West Brom who fashioned the best chances, none better than when Peter Odemwingie blazed high and wide when unmarked just eight yards out. In the closing minutes, West Brom threw everything at Swansea, including keeper Ben Foster, and although an equaliser looked a possibility during this frantic period, Swansea held on for a deserved victory, lifting them ten points clear of the relegation zone.

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.

Tunbridge Wells 0 v 1 St Ives Town

Saturday 21st January 2012
FA Vase Fourth Round
Culverden Stadium, Tunbridge Wells
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 404
Match Rating: 3

A visit to a very familiar ground today, to witness what would be arguably the biggest occasion at the Culverden Stadium for a couple of decades, with Tunbridge Wells reaching the round of the FA Vase where the draw becomes national.

The Culverden Stadium has not changed at all since my previous reports, which can be viewed here. Unfortunately the state of the pitch has not changed either, resembling something of a ploughed field today, although it would be tough to criticise the club, who have invested much time and money in trying to get the pitch in better shape, but are still stuck with clay soil with poor drainage. Much effort was also put into making today's match run smoothly - and maximise revenue - with the anticipated large crowd with a hog roast, club shop and an additional portakabin tea bar located behing the clubhouse.My comments on the programme are the same as on my last visit, a reasonable effort which did the job, but far overpriced at £1.50.

Today would be the the sixth time that Tunbridge Wells have reached the Fourth Round of the The FA Vase, but have never progressed beyond this stage, and had not even reached this stage since the 1992/93 season. They have had to negotiate five rounds to get this far. Their recent form overall has been good, apart from losing to local rivals Sevenoaks Town 2-3 in the Kent Senior Trophy last time out after conceding two very late goals. Before that, they were unbeaten in their previous nine games in all competitions and were in fifth place in the Kent League, with the runners-up spot very much in their sites still, with games in hand on all teams above them. St Ives Town, of the United Counties League, entered the FA Vase in the Second Qualifying Round - a privilege Tunbridge Wells will also enjoy next season having reached the Fourth Round - and have won away from home in both previous rounds. They have far better recent pedigree in the FA Vase than today's hosts, reaching the Fifth Round of the FA Vase in three consecutive seasons betwee 2008 and 2010. In the league, St Ives are in fourth place - similar to Tunbridge Wells, the title looks out of their reach, but the runners up is a distinct possibility. Their forward line certainly looked impressive, with Junior McDougald, formerly of Brighton and Hove Albion and Dagenham and Redbridge amongst other Football League clubs, alongside Conor Washington, scorer of 24 goals in 29 games this season.

A bumper crowd of over 400 packed into the Culverden, swelled by an estimated 150 from Cambridgeshire, and the occasion appeared to get to the home players in the opening quarter of an hour, as they misplaced passes and hurried their clearances. St Ives settled quickly, and played some impressive football on the awful pitch to carve open some reasonable chances. Tunbridge Wells then settled into the game after a couple of half chances and the remainder of the half was even, however as half time arrived, the scoreline remained goalless.

Playing towards a packed terrace behind the goal, Tunbridge Wells dominated much of the second half, as they carved out some fantastic chances and St Neots struggled to mount many attacks of their own. Extra time was looking an inevitability until eight minutes from time, when out of nothing, the visitors opened the scoring when Jamie Alsop did well to work some space for a cross, which was glanced on by a Tunbridge Wells defender over the keeper, and Stuart Cobb touched the ball home from a couple of yards.One sensed that blow would be fatal, and indeed St Ives were good at closing the game out, although Tunbridge Wells still had a couple of reasonable chances to force extra time. But in the end, it was the Cambridgeshire side who progressed to the next round, and Tunbridge Wells would have to reflect on being made to pay for failing to score whilst on top in the game.

St Leonards Social 2 v 1 Wadhurst United

Saturday 14th January 2012
East Sussex League Premier Division
Tilekiln 2, Hastings
Admission and Programme  N/A
Attendance: 7
Match Rating: 3

Today I had decided it was time to watch some real grass-roots football again, and so I headed down to the south coast of East Sussex, for a game in the intermediate East Sussex League Premier Division involving the champions of the last three seasons, St Leonards Social.

The Tilekiln Playing Fields is located three miles to the north west of Hastings town centre, with regular buses running from the train station to the nearby Tesco Extra supermarket, a five minute walk away. The council owned Tilekiln is home to several clubs in the East Sussex League and consists of three football pitches. As one enters the complex from the car park, there is a functional and unattractive building - seemingly built primarily to resist vandalism - housing the changing rooms, with two of the pitches side by side, although separated by a cricket square, stretching away from the changing rooms, with a third pitch set at right angles to and below the second pitch furthest away from the changing rooms. St Leonards Social's home pitch is the middle one, Tilekiln 2. There are no spectator facilities and the pitches are open with no perimeter railing or rope - unsurprisingly it is a rather uninteresting, characterless and bleak venue for football. On the positive side, having the three pitches in close proximity meant that one has a choice of games should one get boring - the few people on the complex appeared to do just that, wandering between the games - and the slightly staggered kick-off times today meant that I was able to watch a little of the action in one of the other games during half time in the game I was focusing on.

Having won the East Sussex League for the last three seasons, although St Leonards Social are currently second in the table this season, there is little prospect of making it four in a row this season, as they are twelve points behind Hollington United - who have won all eleven of their games this season - and have played a game more. Former Sussex County League club Wadhurst United are currently battling against relegation, down in ninth in the eleven team league, although they are comfortably ahead of the bottom two teams.When the two teams met back in November in the league in Wadhurst, the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

On a chilly, overcast afternoon, it was not long before the home side opened the scoring, when a fast break allowed a one on one with the keeper, and the forward dinked the ball over the keeper, leaving a tap in from a few yards out for Terry Smith. St Leonards looked the stronger and more assured side as Wadhurst struggled to get a foothold in the game, and it appeared inevitable that St Leonards would increase their lead, although on the half hour Wadhurst had a great chance, when good trickery and patience created space and an opening, but the eventual low shot was cleared off the line. Right on half time Wadhurst did equalise, when a free kick from about 20 yards out was drilled low and hard by Matt Smith, taking a deflection which wrong footed the keeper.

Wadhurst could consider themselves quite fortunate to go into the interval on level terms, although the second half was much more even from the start, and Wadhurst had a period of about twenty minutes midway through the second half when they were bar far the better side and it looked inevitable that they would take the lead. However, they could not capitalise on their superiority, and it appeared that they would have to settle for a point. It ended up worse than that though, as just three minutes from time, St Leonards went back into the lead when a low cross was tapped in from close range by 44 year old Keith Miles, formerly of Hastings United and Eastbourne Borough, amongst many other clubs. Wadhurst never really threated to grab another equaliser and so it was St Leonards who claimed all three points.

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Photos of Tilekiln 3 (Rock-a-Nore 5 v 1 Old Town Athletic, East Sussex League Premier Division

Photo of Tilekiln 1 - Peche Hill Select II 3 v 7 Battle Rangers, East Sussex League Division 3

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