Eastbourne International Tennis Tournament - Day One

Saturday 14^th June 2014

Eastbourne International Tennis Tournament Qualifying Rounds

Devonshire Park, Eastbourne

Admission: Free

Order of play leaflet: Free

Ever since I visited Eastbourne annually to watch county cricket at The Saffrons and passed Devonshire Park back in the nineties, I had always fancied taking in a day’s play during the Eastbourne International tournament week, but had always forgotten about it until it was too late each year. When I discovered a week or so ago that tickets would be free of charge on the opening day of this year’s tournament, I hurriedly booked my ticket for my first ever taste of live tennis.

Devonshire Park is about a ten minute walk from Eastbourne railway station, and is converted into an extremely attractive and well organised venue for this tournament week. Although one can use any of eight entrances to get into the ground, once inside the main entrance, one finds marquees offering information, refreshments and souvenirs. Beyond these are eleven tennis courts, all fenced off with spectators able to watch the action either to the side or behind the courts. It’s a packed area, but it never felt too busy or claustrophobic today, with some attractive buildings scattered around the perimeter, including Devonshire Park theatre. Beyond the outside courts are the two main arenas, Centre Court and Court One, which back onto each other. Centre court obviously dominates the area, with its stands dominating the complex. Behind one length is the large main stand, with a small roof covering the top couple of rows, and some hospitality lounges along the top of the stand – which also look over Court One to the other side. The main stand continues around one of the corners and behind one end. Further permanent seating stretches along the other length, although not as high, and temporary seating is placed above the permanent seating, so that the top of this stand matches the other two sides, and indeed all four sides have stands of matching height, as behind the remaining end, an entirely temporary stand has been erected. The Centre Court is extremely smart and pleasing on the eye, with everything sky blue and white coloured and it has a nice close-knit and atmospheric feel to it. A large scoreboard is located in one corner, with a much smaller one containing only the score is placed at the top of the entirely temporary stand. As mentioned, Court One backs onto the main stand of the Centre Court, and today one could walk freely between the two via the stand. There are six rows of permanent seating along this length, whilst along the opposite side is a temporary stand offering ten rows of seating. Behind one of the ends is a rather cramped two rows of seating, whilst behind the other end are just advertising boards. On a day of free entry like today, the complex was an excellent set-up, with it easy to wander around the pitches to find a game that takes one’s fancy, with a good, relaxed atmosphere throughout.

For my first game of the day, I chose to take up residence on Centre Court for the 10.30 game, to see if Great Britain’s Scott Clayton, hailing from Jersey and with an ATP ranking of 1,152, could cause a big upset against Australian Chris Guccione, ranked 614. Although Clayton made a moderately promising start, Guccione comfortably progressed within 52 minutes, winning 6-2, 6-1.

I stayed on Centre Court for my second game to cheer on another Brit, this time Ken Skupski, a Liverpudlian who doesn’t currently have a singles ranking as he concentrates on the doubles variety with his brother, against Frenchman Remi Boutillier, currently ranked 451. This would be a closer game match than my earlier one, Boutillier winning the first set 6-3, but the second set was very close fought and eventually went to a tie-break, which could have gone either way but in the end Boutillier triumphed in the tie break 7-3, to win 6-3, 7-6, with the match taking just over an hour and ten minutes.

I then moved to the adjacent Court One to take in some women’s tennis, to watch one of the best players playing in the Qualifiers today, Italian Francesca Schiavone who is ranked 71 but who was ranked as high as fourth in early 2011, won the French Open in 2010 and reached the Quarter Finals at Wimbledon in 2011, against Japan’s Misaki Doi, currently ranked 98^th. This match started off very evenly, but as it wore on, Schiavone imposed herself more and more, playing some great shots and gradually wore Doi’s resistance down, winning the match by 6-4, 6-3 with the match taking an hour and eighteen minutes.

I remained on Court One for my fourth game of the day, to cheer on a Brit, this time 17 year old Katie Boulter, ranked 581 but who still plays predominantly junior tennis. It would surely be a mighty tough assignment to progress in this game, against Austria’s Tamira Paszek, currently ranked 127 but who was ranked as high as 26 last year and won this tournament in 2012. Boulter started quite competitively, but soon made far too many unforced errors and in the end, Paszek comfortably progressing by winning 6-3, 6-1 in 56 minutes.

After a short break wandering around the complex and watching short snippets of action from the out pitches, taking in a couple of games in Court Two watching Jade Windley against Ana Tomljanovic....

I then returned to Centre Court for my final match of the day, a second qualifying round game featuring Remi Boutillier, who I had watched this morning, against Germany’s Tobias Kamke, ranked 88 and top seed in the qualifying tournament, thereby receiving a bye in the first qualifying round. This would be the closest game I had watched today, with Boutillier putting up a great show against a much higher ranked opponent, although he did frustratingly make some basic errors and was not helped with losing his footing on several occasions, perhaps due to the brief light rain shower that arrived soon after this game started. Kamke won the first set 6-4, but in the second half, he seemed to self-destruct somewhat, allowing himself to get frustrated and seemingly lose a little composure, earning an official warning from the umpire, and Boutillier won the second set 6-3. Unfortunately for him, Kamke regained his composure and dominated the final set , eventually winning 6-3 to progress, with the match taking one hour and 43 minutes.

 This was the final match on centre court, and I wandered down to Court One to watch Chris Guccione, who I watched first thing this morning, win a second set tie break to advance to the third round. Although matches were still going on around the minor courts, I decided I had experience enough tennis for the day and made my way home, but this was certainly a most enjoyable day, being able to pick and choose a tennis game to watch, and excellent value with the free admission - this was surely not be my last taste of tennis.

Many Games Have I Seen.... Awards - Season 2013-14

Looking back, this was a most enjoyable season, in which I was fortunate enough to witness quite a number of high scoring games and visit my usual wide variety of stadia at all levels. For the first time ever, I saw over a hundred games in the season, and for the first time ever, I saw a team reach double figures. My hopping will not be quite so extensive next season, as I have succumbed to the temptation of getting a season ticket at Charlton Athletic for the ridiculously cheap price of £150, but no doubt I will again be discovering plenty of gems, grotty holes, days when being a football ground is the best place in the world....and days when I wonder why on earth I bother....

Below I pick out some of the highlights of my travels during the season, reflecting on the usual wide range of experiences and emotions encountered.


Best game: 
Looking back, I was lucky to have watched some really entertaining and thrilling games this season. Lingfield 4 v 5 Hailsham Town was most enjoyable, with plenty of goals and the threat of a late comeback as Lingfield fought back from 2-4 down. But the winner here would have to be Rye United 5 v 4 St Francis Rangers which was even more entertaining despite a very heavy and boggy pitch, and was a real see-saw affair, which really could have gone either way

Worst Game: 
Again, I was quite fortunate not to have seen many shockers of games. The Sussex League Division One cup final between Crowborough and East Preston (0-1) was a typical cup final, that was more of a midfield battle and eventually won by a single goal. Oxford 0 v 1 Chesterfield gets my vote, probably because it was a game that promised much, with the game played between two teams who, at the time, were first and second in the division but delivered very little up a game of few chances, with the home team particularly poor. And to top it off - the ground was thoroughly uninteresting and bland.

Most pleasant ground:
This would have to be Saltdean United's ground, set in colourful rolling hills, and when I visited on a hot summer's day, the large steep bank along one length made for an absolutely relaxing, peaceful and joyful setting to watch football at.

Worst Ground:
This would have to be Hayling United - and that is even having visited on a warm, sunny afternoon. No entrance to the ground, which was completely open and devoid of any character or charm, the small stand was set far back from the pitch, which also meant one could not stand along the entire length of the pitch - a truly awful venue for senior football.

Worst Weather Conditions:
An easy choice this one, Hanworth Villa 2 v 7 Eastbourne United . The match started off in sunny conditions, albeit with a very strong gusty wind. However in the second half, the strong wind was joined by torrential rain and thunderstorms, which caused the game to be held up for about 15 minutes as players, officials and every single spectator ran for cover.

Highest Scoring games:
Ovingdean 3 v 8 Langney Wanderers and Hooe Sports 1 v 10 Ninfield United

Biggest Home Win
England Women 9 v 0 Montenegro Women

Biggest Away Win
Hooe Sports 1 v 10 Ninfield United

Best Comeback Win
Crowborough Athletic 2 v 3 East Grinstead United  There only seemed to be one winner here when Crowborough went into the lead inside the first six minutes. But East Grinstead got a goal back just before half time before dominating the second half and in the end, deservedly won the match.

Best surprise
Amiens 4 v 2 Gazelec Ajaccio  In almost all of my experience of French football, I have found it to be dull, defensive and cagey. This was anything but, with the home side showing great attacking flair that blew away their promotion-elect opposition. The Stade de la Licorne was also a very pleasant surprise, with its unique curved see-through glass grandstand roofs

Most welcoming:
In all honesty, no location particularly stands out, however I have always found Little Common to be extremely friendly and inviting and this season was no different on my visits. Worcester Park was also friendly enough.

Least welcoming:
This would have to be Hanworth Villa. The tone was set when being told on entry that I had to go to the clubhouse until about ten minutes before the game, which was only begrudgingly overruled once I complained, and in general, there was absolutely nothing welcoming or inviting about the place. But it seems that they are quite proud of this, as a large sign by the turnstiles shouts out, in army style print, "PROUD NO APOLOGIES"

Best programme:
Eastbourne Town's was very good - very informative and easy on the eye, and I particularly appreciated how they went to the effort of producing a four page insert updating results and league table from the Saturday games before this Bank Holiday Monday fixture. Rye United probably just scrapes my award though, which was informative, entertaining, and plenty of varied content. Too bad they no longer run a senior team after pulling out of the Sussex League in March.

Worst mismatch:
Hooe against Ninfield is a contender - Hooe should never have been allowed to play in the Premier Division of the East Sussex League, which was proven by failing to fulfil fixtures, hefty defeats and then being forced to resign by mid September. Ninfield didn't actually look that good today, and a better team might have doubled their tally - as Rock-a-Nore did the following week, winning 22-0 - and by the end of the game I saw, Hooe's players didn't even bother to attempt to close players down. Enfield Town against Beveren was also a gross mismatch, but it was only a friendly game. My award goes to Horndean against Calne Town as it was a competitive game between two senior teams that was a complete mismatch in the first half that threatened to become embarrassing, although the second half was a lot more even.

Most surreal game:
Two spring to mind for different reasons. The game between a displaced island inhabitants of a militarised island and a sea defence was unusual in the extreme. RWDM Brussels against Eendracht Aalst was bizarre in that it was an extremely dull game of few chances until the final three minutes, when the home team took the lead, the away team had two players sent off (Brussels also had a player sent off too)....but still somehow scored an equaliser at the death.

Best groundsman effort:
In what was a very trying winter for groundsmen in the south east of England, my award goes to East Grinstead, who managed to play their Boxing Day local derby against Lingfield despite persistent heavy rain in the area lasting several days which claimed most other local games.

Best bargain:
Compliments to Wigan for charging just £15.00 for Championship football - not just on my visit but the majority of their fixtures, also also to Derby, charging just £14.00 when I visited for a seat in one corner of the ground. No surprise that my team Charlton are also contenders here, with £5 tickets for one game and offering expired season ticket holders free entry to another. The additional £1 compulsory charity donation did not seem to be in the spirit of charity fund raising though, and so Dagenham and Redbridge wins the award, offering tickets for just £2.50 on their "Daggers against Racism" day.



Season Stats:

Games Seen: 101 (after Italy Ireland)
Goals Seen: 371

Average goals per game: 3.67 (not including penalty shoot-outs nor part games watched)
Goals seen in part games: 7
Home wins: 39 (43%)
Away wins: 37 (41%)
Draws: 15 (16%)
Neutral Games: 10
Home Goals: 181
Away Goals: 157
Neutral Goals: 33
Goalless Draws: 4 (4%)
Last Goalless Draw: 31/5/14 (0 games ago)
Longest run without goalless draw: 27/10/12 to 26/10/13 (87 games)
Foreign countries visited for football in the season: Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, France, Belgium.

Italy 0 v 0 Republic of Ireland

Saturday 31^st May 2014

International Friendly

Craven Cottage, Fulham

Admission: £25.00

Programme: £3.50

Attendance: 22,879

Match Rating: 4

For what will almost certainly be my last game of the season – my 101^st – this match completed a rather nice symmetry to my travels, watching the Irish national team this evening having seen my first game of the season in Ireland last July.

Craven Cottage is a stadium that I have visited many times previously, and has not changed since my previous visits, although apparently some “improvements” to boost the capacity of the stadium will take place soon, although it will be interesting to see if these plans may be put on hold following Fulham’s relegation from the Premier League. As the stadium currently stands, it is definitely one of my favourites, a delightful mix of tradition, character and modern facilities, whilst today for the first time, having a couple of hours to spare on my arrival in Putney, I walked along the opposite bank of the River Thames to see the stadium from the other side of the river. A 76 page programme was produced for this game, with a glossy cover and in full colour. It was an entertaining read, with interesting articles about both nations and the host club, although it did seem to lack considerably in background information to this game.

This would be an interesting game, with this being Italy’s last match before coach Cesare Prandelli selects his final squad for the World Cup finals in Brazil, a campaign they will commence against England on 14^th June.  They qualified for the tournament in style, after finishing as runners-up at Euro 2012, finishing top of their group with six wins and four draws from their ten games. This match would be preparation for the start of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign for the Republic of Ireland, having failed to qualify for the World Cup finals after a disappointing qualifying campaign which saw them finish fourth in the six team group, which signalled the end for the previous Italian coach, Giovanni Trappatoni. Tonight would be coach Martin O’Neill’s fifth game in charge of Ireland, assisted by Roy Keane perhaps for the last time as a move to manage Celtic looks very likely within the next week. When the team news was announced, it was clear that not too much could be read into Italy’s performance this evening, with many of their big names resting on the bench, including Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Pirlo, Daniele de Rossi, Mario Balotelli and Adriano Cassano, whilst Ireland also gave an opportunity to some fringe players, missing both talisman Robbie Keane and their best defender Richard Dunne.

On an overcast but very warm evening, this game started much as one might have predicted, with Italy making the early running and showing some delightful touches and flicks, forcing Ireland to concentrate on defending. The game was halted on 15 minutes when Riccardo Montilivo suffered what turned out to be a broken leg following a very strong but legal challenge from Alex Pearce, signalling the end of Montilivo’s World Cup dream. This seemed to affect the Italians, as the Irish had a good spell, carving out plenty of goalscoring opportunities, but a goalless scoreline remained at half time – parity was a reasonable reflection on the endeavours of the two teams, although not the lack of goals.

Ireland came out in the second half much the better team, having several chances on goal in the opening five minutes, and with Italy looking sluggish and uninspired, Prandelli introduced Cassano and de Rossi. On 55 minutes, just before he was replaced, Ciro Immobile had a goal disallowed for offside, whilst his replacement, Cassano, hit a powerful shot at goalkeeper David Forde, who looked secure and lively throughout. Those were rare attacks by the Italians, and Ireland almost scored the winner they deserved ten minutes from time when Stephen Quinn thumped a shot from a James McClean cross against the underside of the crossbar, before passing the rebound to Aiden McGeady, whose shot was saved by Salvatore Sirigu, who also had an excellent game. A goal looked possible for the remainder of the game, but goalless was how it finished, but this was a most entertaining game of football, full of attacking endeavour and commitment – all it lacked was goals.

Hannakins Farm 1 v 2 Kelvedon Hatch

Saturday 31st May 2014
Essex Olympian League Premier Division
Hannakins Farm, Billericay
Admission: None
Programme: Sold out
Attendance: 84 (head count)
Match Rating: 3

For my hundredth game of the season, and on what will almost certainly be my last groundhopping day of the season, I headed to Essex this afternoon prior to my evening international action, for a step seven game that had something left to play for.

Hannakins Farm is about a twenty minute walk north westwards from Billericay train station, a pleasant walk passing through the very attractive Lake Meadows Park en route, and the ground is similarly rural, peaceful and pleasing on the eye. After passing a bridge over a river into the car park, beyond a large brick building containing changing rooms, indoor sports facilities and a bar are two football pitches, both roped off on all sides with wooden poles holding the rope, although there is no hard standing. Behind the goals opposite to the sports centre are trees, as there are behind one of the lengths although further away, beyond the pitch not in use today. Behind the opposite length are tennis courts and an artificial pitch with American Football goals in place. Unusually, a programme was produced for this game, however the numerous groundhoppers  present today soon snapped those up, and there were even a couple of unofficial editions produced, with those being promptly snapped up too.

On this, the final day of the season in the Essex Olympian League and with only one other game taking place today, the visitors would secure a runners-up finish with a win today. They went into the game in third place, with 52 points from 25 games, three points adrift but with a superior goal difference to second placed Frenford Senior, who have completed their fixtures. They certainly came into this game in great form, winning their last four games and unbeaten in their last seven. The hosts were in eighth place in the 14 team division, and a win would see them move up into a seventh place finish. When today's teams met in Kelvedon Hatch back in August, the home side won 3-1.

On a warm, overcast afternoon, Kelvedon Hatch came within a whisker of opening the scoring in the first minute, but saw a powerful low shot come back off the post. The visitors went on to be the better side throughout the first half, taking plenty of shots that were either fired straight at the keeper or went high or wide from distance. Hannakins Farm played their part though, without ever really looking like they would score, and goalless was how it remained at half time.

 

The visitors upped the ante after the interval, and deservedly took the lead on 58 minutes. A cross shot was going wide of the goal but the striker smashed the ball in from about ten yards at the far post. They had some great chances to extend their lead before they did on 65 minutes. A great throughball beat the offside trap, with two players bearing down on the keeper, and the player in possession passed sideways to his team mate before striking the ball just inside the far post, although the keeper wasn't far off smothering the ball away. Soon after, the hosts had their best period of the game, finally looking like they could score, and six minutes from time they did pull a goal back, when the ball was hooked from the right edge of the penalty area, over the keeper and inside the far post for a great goal. They could easily have got an unlikely equaliser, had the ball dropped kinder in the box, and their keeper went up for a few set pieces in the closing minutes, whilst the visitors again hit the post following a fast break. But in the end, Kelvedon Hatch held on for the win they needed to claim the runners-up spot. This was a surprisingly entertaining game of football, competitive and with plenty of commitment show and with no end of season feel to the game at all. It's too bad that this will probably be the last season when I can watch league football season in late May, with the FA demanding that all league fixtures are completed by the first weekend in May from next season.