Willingdon Athletic 1 v 0 Polegate Town

Tuesday 22nd March 2022, Kick-off 19.30
Eastbourne FA Challenge Cup Semi-Final
The Oval, Eastbourne

Admission: Free
Programme: None

Attendance: 70 (rough head count)

It was looking like I was going to have blank midweek, with no fixtures scheduled locally within the pyramid. But once I became aware of this fixture, it was suitably tempting for me to take in my third visit to The Oval this season.

This game would be between clubs from the northern suburbs of Eastbourne, and from the Mid Sussex League, although on paper, Willingdon Athletic would appear to have been favourites for this game, as their first team is in the Step 7 Premier Division, whilst Polegate Town are two divisions below, in Division One. Willingdon are down in 12th place in the 13 club division, following four wins and four draws from their 17 league games, but with at least three games in hand on the three clubs above them, and are only five points adrift of ninth with five games in hand, they should climb to safety. Polegate are in a fairly similar situation in their division, down in eighth place in the 11 club division, but climbing to fourth is very realistic, with at least three games in hand on the four teams above them, and five points adrift of fourth place.

On a very mild evening, after enjoying the last of the afternoon sunshine with a KFC in the park and a stroll along Eastbourne seafront, Willingdon dominated the early stages and it looked like being only a matter of time before they opened the scoring, but Polegate rode the storm, and had a great chance to take the lead on 13 minutes when the Polegate forward took the ball wide of goal, in the end too far to take a shot on goal, but his pass into the centre of the penalty area was easily hacked away. Willingdon created the more chances throughout the first half, a couple of crosses across goal just evading a tap in, whilst Polegate saw an excellently struck free kick heading for the top left corner tipped away by the keeper, and then a drilled close range shot was parried by the keeper, and after the ball was recycled, a ball pumped towards the back post just evaded a couple of players for a tap in.

So it remained goalless at the break, but the deadlock was broken three minutes after the break with a long range shot by Peter Cooper from just outside the penalty area was rifled into the top right corner of the net, brushing the keeper's fingertips en route. It was disappointing to hear a Willingdon player shout "They're f**king sh*t, they deserve that" - perhaps Polegate were rather limited, but they were giving Willingdon a run for their money and with a little bit of fortune, they could well have taken the lead. But as gamely as Polegate battle on, they didn't really look likely to get back on level terms as Willingdon saw the game out quite comfortably in the end, to set up a final against one of Eastbourne Rangers, Eastbourne Town Under 23 or Sovereign Saints.

Charlton Athletic 2 v 0 Burton Albion

Saturday 19th Match 2022, Kick-off 15.00
EFL League One

The Valley, Charlton

Admission: Season Ticket 

Programme: £3.00

Attendance: 11,348 (320 away)

After Tuesday’s long overdue win against Gillingham, bringing to an end a horrible run picking up just one point from seven League games, and more importantly stretching the gap to the relegation zone back to ten points to hopefully banish any growing fears of relegation.

Following the win on Tuesday, Charlton rose to 16th place, following twelve wins and seven draws from 37 league games. This afternoon’s game certainly looked winnable, at home against a fellow club with not too much left to play for this season, and who would be, with all due respect, a lot happier with mid table safety in League One than Charlton. Burton were two places above Charlton, in 14th place, following 13 wins and eight draws from their 38 league games. Their recent form has not been great either, picking up just a point from their last five league games, prior to winning 3-2 against Fleetwood. When the two clubs met in November, a feisty game ended in a 0-1 away win for the Addicks, with both teams having a man sent off, Jayden Stockley for Charlton and former Charlton defender Deji Oshilaja.

A match report can be viewed by clicking here 

Short video highlights can be viewed by clicking here 

So, similar to the Gillingham game, this was not a particularly entertaining game to watch, but although Burton had more of the possession, they did not pose any real threat after they went behind and it was a very comfortable win for the Addicks. And as we look to build following a mostly disastrous season, two clean sheet wins on the spin certainly gives something to build on as yet another summer of rebuilding edges closer.

Charlton Athletic 1 v 0 Gillingham

Tuesday 15th March 2022, Kick-off 19.45
EFL League One

The Valley, Charlton

Admission: Season Ticket

Programme: £3.00

Attendance: 9,728 (1,559 away)

In truth, it was hard to feel much excitement at the prospect of making my way up to south-east London after work, for Charlton’s last midweek fixture there this season. Sadly, a season that started with so much hope and expectation has turned into a disastrous one, with the ever growing desire for the season to be over as soon as possible.

Following a goalless draw at home to Sunderland last time out which, despite being a game that Sunderland really should have won, a clean sheet and breaking a run of five straight defeats to an end, Charlton reverted to current type on Saturday with an apparently all too familiar gutless and uninspiring performance at Accrington Stanley leading to a 2-1 defeat, despite taking the lead thanks to a very dubious handball, and Accrington being reduced to ten men on 63 minutes. That left the Addicks in 17th place, seven points clear of the relegation zone, with the club currently occupying 21st place being tonight’s visitors Gillingham. And since the sacking of former manager Steve Evans in January, when they were seven points adrift of safety, their form has certainly picked up since Neil Harris was appointed,  and are now outside of the relegation zone on goal difference, in 21st place. Overall, they have won seven and drawn twelve of their 37 games played. When the two clubs met at Priestfield in late September, the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

An official match report can be viewed by clicking here

Short video highlights can be viewed by clicking here

So, not a particularly exciting nor enjoyable game to watch, with few goalscoring chances, but Charlton dominated possession and deserved the win overall. It felt like a crucial three points, opening back up a ten point gap to the relegation zone, and was probably enough to erase remaining, but previous ever increasing, fears of being dragged into a relegation scrap.

Wallingford Town 2 v 0 AFC Aldermaston

Saturday 12th March 2022, Kick-off 15.00
Combined Counties League Division One

The Hithercroft, Wallingford

Admission: £6.00

Programme: £1.00

Attendance: 40 (rough headcount)

I decided to make another return visit to Oxfordshire today, to tick off my final ground in the Combined Counties League. It has been quite a long time coming this season, since Wallingford's transfer from the Hellenic League last summer, with a previous attempt on August Bank Holiday aborted en route due to a Covid related postponement, and a three mile walk from the nearest station unappealing during winter's dark afternoons. But with plenty of sun forecast today, today was the day to pay a visit to The Hithercroft.

Although buses from Didcot and Reading do serve Wallingford, instead I fancied the countryside walk from the nearest train station at Cholsey, with the two and a half mile, 45 minute route taking me alongside a heritage railway line, through a churchyard, and across flat countryside, leading to the Wallingford Sports Park, on the western fringe of Wallingford. It's a busy hub of sporting facilities, with hockey and rugby pitches, as well as tennis and pétanque courts, among the facilities on offer, with a spacious and homely clubhouse, with a couple of bars and a function room, situated in the middle of the complex. The football ground is located to the right of the pavilion building and is accessed in one corner, and although a wooden pay hut is in place, it was not in use today. All of the spectator facilities are located down the length closest to the entrance. A traditional brick stand is located along one half, split into three sections. The right section has three steps, with two rows of seating alongside a standing area, a hospitality room in the middle section, whilst on the left hand side, a tea bar offering a decent range of hot and cold refreshments operates from a wooden hut. Straddling the half way line there is a modern metallic all-seater stand, whilst towards the far corner, a brick building houses the changing rooms and toilets. There is hard standing with a shallow grass bank behind one end, whilst the other two sides of the ground are accessible but not really maintained for spectator access. The familiar sight in these parts of a red kite circling above the ground made for a pleasant occasional distraction. Wallingford do produce printed programmes, 16 pages that are smartly presented in colour and on glossy paper, containing manager's notes, introduction of both home and away clubs, Wallingford's league results including line ups and the current league table.

Both clubs playing today were laterally transferred from the Hellenic League Division One East last summer, and as we approach the business end of the season, Wallingford certainly seem to have more to play for, in sixth place in the table following 14 wins and ten draws from their 26 league games, and have lost just two league games all season. They were just one point off the play-off positions with three games in hand on fifth placed Sandhurst Town, and two points behind fourth placed Eversley & California. AFC Aldermaston, managed by former Tottenham, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace player David Tuttle, are comfortable in mid table, coming into this game in 14th place, following ten wins and two draws from their 27 league games, and were 21 points adrift of the play-offs and nine points clear of the relegation zone. When the two clubs met in the reverse fixture back in early November, Wallingford won 2-5.

On a mostly sunny afternoon that was very chilly in the shade with a strong breeze blowing behind Wallingford in the first half, the hosts took the lead with just four minutes on the clock when a corner was played short quickly, Brad Walton crossed and Euan Aitchison diverted the ball with a flicked header inside the far post. Aldermaston probably came closest to scoring in the entire game on 17 minutes when a long range shot, probably caught in the wind, was pushed up the home keeper, and the loose ball a few yards out couldn't quite be bundled home before it was cleared. Wallingford then had a couple of good chances to double their lead, but they finally did on 27 minutes when a diagonal ball skimmed off the top of a defender's head into the path of top scorer Ricardo Benjamin, and he waited for the ball to sit nicely before unleashing a lovely powerful shot across the keeper and in off the far post. The hosts had further chances to increase their lead, most notably on 34 minutes when a curling shot from just outside the area by Ty Hamilton sailed over the keeper and hit the top of the crossbar.

Into the second half and the game was very scrappy, not helped by difficult conditions, but despite the visitors conceding countless fouls in dangerous positions, they were not punished for them. Wallingford always looked the likelier to score again, and the closest they came was on 72 minutes, when Turibo dos Santos saw his free kick skim the top of the bar. Aldermaston had a decent chance to reduce the arrears on 83 minutes when a looping header sent the ball towards the top left corner, but the keeper pulled off an excellent save at full-stretch. But in truth, it was a fairly comfortable win for Wallingford, which elevated them up to fifth place and final play-off berth, with Sandhurst losing today.

After retracing my steps back to Cholsey station, the journey home was a bit of a nightmare, with train connections not working well due to much reduced services from Redhill today, and then a fatality on the line in the Eastbourne area resulted in my train terminating at Lewes, having to get another train to Newhaven, catching a public bus to Eastbourne, but packed with rowdy football fans, the bus driver pulled over en route and threatened to wait for police to arrive, and then waiting for about an hour at Eastbourne station, with replacement buses unable to be sourced and taxis booked by Southern Railway not turning up, before station staff very kindly gave me a lift home, finally getting home at about half past midnight. Ah well, such are the adventures of groundhopping, and it did not detract too much from what was an enjoyable day out.