Whitchurch United 0 v 1 Newport (Isle of Wight)

Saturday 16th April 2016
Wessex League Premier Division
Longmeadow, Whitchurch
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 60 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

With train connection making a trip across Surrey much more convenient than usual, I had planned to visit Sandhurst Town today. However, heavy rain yesterday and with a little more this morning meant that that game was postponed, and so I continued a little further south-westwards to tick off another ground in the Wessex League.

Longmeadow is about a twenty minute walk southwards from Whitchurch train station, passing through the very pleasant village centre en route. After passing through the car park, spectators enter behind the length with all of the facilities. To the right of the entrance is a metal stand which is not particularly easy on the eye and contains wooden bench seating. To the left of the entrance is overhang from the clubhouse, and beyond where the players come out of the dressing rooms is a tea bar hatch. Around the rest of the ground is just hard standing, although spectators are not allowed to pass by the dugouts. A see through fence “encloses” the three other sides, and behind the length opposite the entrance are playing fields up a slope, behind one goal is a school, and behind the remaining goal there are tall trees in close proximity. It’s a peaceful, rural location with a friendly feel about the place, but it lacks charm and colour somehow. The programme was quite a dismal affair, clearly written in a timeless way, with no fixtures or results, league table or up to date comment. It contained eight pages introducing the history of Newport and an article about former Wessex clubs inside a 12 page glossy, colour shell introducing the home club.

There was little to play for approaching the last few weeks of the season, with both teams stuck firmly in mid table. Whitchurch went into this game in 13th place, with 12 wins and seven draws from their 37 league games, while Newport were two places better off having played four games fewer, with 14 wins and three draws from their 33 games. Newport had already played at Whitchurch back in December in the League Cup, winning 2-4, whilst in the reverse fixture in the league, Newport also won, 6-2.

On a mainly overcast and very chilly afternoon, this turned out to be very much a game of two halves, with it probably no coincidence that the team on top were the ones kicking down the quite considerable slope. Whitchurch had the better of the first half, taking plenty of shots on goal without ever really forcing the Newport keeper, although they did have a shot blocked on the line which they couldn’t quite force over. Newport looked fairly dangerous on the break, but the scoreline was goalless at the break.

Just over a minute into the second half and Newport saw a close ranged hooked shot cone back off the bar, but in the follow-up, a Newport player was brought down to earn his side a penalty, which was driven low but was blocked by the keeper, and the loose ball was hacked away. Newport went on to dominate the rest of the game, and they scored what turned out to be the winning goal on 62 minutes when, following a corner, the ball dropped to Ryan Oatley, who threaded the ball diagonally through a crowd of players and into the net. Newport could and should have won by a larger margin, but were guilty of missing some gilt edged chances, and the home side had a player sent off for a second yellow card. But one goal was enough to complete the hat-trick wins over Whitchurch this season.

Little Common 0 v 1 Lancing

Tuesday 12th April 2016
Peter Bentley Challenge Cup Semi Final
The Oval, Eastbourne United
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 100 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

My first taste of this year’s silly season was delayed a little more by my desire to watch Little Common, a team I have a soft spot for, take part in the league cup semi-final very much as underdogs.

A glance at the league tables indicated the size of the task in hand for Little Common to reach the final, as they were in seventh place in the second tier, Division One, of the Southern Combination Football League, with 13 wins and two draws from their 29 league games, whereas Lancing were in fourth place in the division above, the Premier Division, with 22 wins and five draws from their 36 League games. This has been a good season for Little Common in Cup competitions though, reaching three Cup quarter finals and beating higher league opponents on three occasions so far. To reach tonight’s semi final, Little Common have beaten Haywards Heath 0-2 away, Bexhill United 3-2 at home, Oakwood 4-3 at home, and although they lost 2-1 away at Broadbridge Heath in the quarter final, Little Common were reinstated when it was discovered that Broadbridge Heath had fielded an ineligible player. Lancing had beaten Worthing United away on penalties, Hailsham Town 4-1 at home, and Hassocks 4-0 at home in the quarter final. Little Common would have extra incentive to reach the final this evening as today would have been the birthday of club founder and chairman Ken Cherry, who passed away earlier this year.

On a glorious spring evening, Lancing unsurprisingly had the better of the first half, creating plenty of goalscoring chances, but were denied by a combination of bodies getting in the way, poor finishes and some inspired goalkeeping, and Little Common's player manager Russell Eldridge got his chest in the way of a powerful goal bound shot on the line. But it was Little Common who came even closer to opening the scoring in the first half when a scuffed shot by Lewis Hole hit the post, and on 36 minutes, Common's Dan Ethersby forced an excellent save. But Lancing would have wondered how on earth they did not go into the interval in the lead, such was their supremacy, but one wondered if they would be made to pay.

The second half was much more even, as Lancing seemed to want to play a short, neat passing game that would probably suit when played on their home plastic pitch, but was not so suited to this hard, bobbly surface. Little Common did well in closing down and hassling their opponents, and their more direct play forwards looked the more  threatening. It looked increasingly likely that the underdogs would force extra time at worst as Lancing barely looked a threat, until they were awarded a penalty for a foul tackle on substitute Alex Fair. Fair himself slotted the ball into the bottom left corner, sending the keeper the wrong way. That proved a hammer blow to Little Common, who did not really threaten until deep into injury time when a shot following a free kick swung into the box went over the bar.

So it was Lancing who progressed to a May Day bank holiday final against Newhaven, and they deserved their win tonight. Great credit should go to the underdogs Little Common though, who have it their all tonight with an energetic display and a fabulous display by the goalkeeper - but in the end, it just wasn't to be their night.

Cardiff RFC 16 v 42 Carmarthen Quins RFC

Saturday 9th April 2016
Welsh Premier Division (Rugby Union)
Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Admission: £12.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 500 (estimate)
Match Rating: 3

As I set out this morning on another bargain £2 return coach trip to Cardiff with Megabus, I was looking forward to taking in a Welsh League football match at Dinas Powys or Cambrian & Clydach today. However two long traffic jams along the M4 en route meant that I arrived in Cardiff an hour and a half late, at 2.15, meant that I wouldn't arrive at Dinas Powys until well into the first half and so instead I decided to take in some rugby union at an iconic venue. The game had an added appeal for me with the visitors hailing from what was my home town a while back.

The Cardiff Arms Park is situated immediately adjacent to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff city centre. Organisation was rather low key for today's fixture, with ticket windows and turnstiles not in operation, instead spectators simply handed over their admission fee at a programme stall in the corner of the ground where the clubhouse, club shop and burger van are located. Spectators today were primarily housed in a stand running along one length and which backs onto the Millennium Stadium, offering seating above terracing, and with hospitality boxes above the middle section of seating. A similar stand, but without any hospitality boxes, stretches along the opposite length, although this was out of bounds today. Behind one end there is quite an attractive brick building housing two rows of corporate boxes, whilst behind the other end is another, slightly smaller brick building with corporate boxes along the top and a few rows of seating along the bottom. It’s a neat, attractive and intimate ground which would presumably offer a really good atmosphere at a higher profile game, such as when the regional Cardiff Blues team are playing. The 24 page programme was very attractively and professionally produced, but was light on content.

This match would pitch together two teams struggling at the wrong end of the table. Cardiff came into this game in ninth place in the 12 team division, with seven wins and twelve defeats from their 19 League games, and have 37 points on the board. They had lost their three previous games. Carmarthen were second bottom, with five wins and 14 defeats  and 28 points in total. They surprisingly won at Newport in midweek following a couple of defeats. When the two teams met back in October, Cardiff won 30-22.

On a sunny but chilly afternoon, the match started rather low key, with the first score not arriving until the 21st minute, when Cardiff kicked a penalty for two points. The visitors hit back with two converted tries though, before Cardiff scored a converted try of their own, and so Carmarthen went into the half time break 10-16 ahead - tries being worth six points with conversions and penalties scoring two in a trial in this league this season.

Carmarthen seized the initiative in the second half and soon pulled away to build towards a comfortable win. They scored a converted try within two minutes of the restart, and converted their fourth try to claim a bonus point on 56 minutes. Cardiff gave themselves a faint hope of a comeback when they scored an unconverted try on 58 minutes following a great run from deep, but Carmarthen held firm and despite having a man shown a yellow card in the closing minutes, they were still able to score a fifth converted try.

So, a convincing win for Carmarthen after a dominant performance after a slow start, and rose one place in the table. Whilst it was disappointing to not take in a football game today, this was a case of 'better than nothing', and although the atmosphere was very low key at this match, it did make a nice change to watch some rugby in a decent stadium.

Scorers:

Cardiff - Try: Elis Wyn Benham, Morgan Sieniawski; Conversion: James Whittingham; Penalty: James Whittingham

Carmarthen Quins- Tries: Kieran Hardy, Gavin Thomas, Josh Helps, Iolo Wyn Evans, Ian Jones; Conversions: Steve Shingler (2), Callum Price (3).Penalty: Callum Price

St Margaretsbury 1 v 1 Oxhey Jets

Saturday 2nd April 2016
Spartan South Midland League Premier Division
Recreation Ground, Stanstead St Margaret
Admission including Programme: £7.00
Attendance: 38
Match Rating: 2

Being completely undecided about where to go today, and with sunny conditions prevailing, I searched for a rural, attractive looking ground that I had not visited before, and the Recreation Ground seemed like a good option today without following my recently well trodden path across Surrey.

The Recreation Ground is about a ten minute walk from St Margaret’s train station, and is certainly a venue to enjoy on a warm, sunny day. Spectators pass by the clubhouse, which overlooks a cricket field and offers a tranquil location to enjoy a drink outside, before heading to the entrance turnstile. One enters the ground along a grass bank, and along this from the entrance is a the tea bar painted in club colour stripes, and then a stand, with half offering seats and the other a few steps of terrace. Apart from having a floodlight pylon in from of the stand, this elevated area makes a very good place to watch the action from. Around the rest of the pitch is just hard standing. Plenty of trees give a nice background behind one goal and a length, as does the cricket field behind the other goal, and all in all there is a peaceful, rural feel to the place, that would probably be a lovely venue in late summer when the trees are laden with leaves. The 24 page programme is professionally produced, with an attractive layout and printed in black and white inside a full colour cover, and although is a little light on content, with half of the pages advertising, it covers the basics and a couple of interesting articles.

This game would be an important one for both sides as they battle to stay clear of the one relegation spot. Both teams are level on points, although Oxhey Jets have played a game less, and they are three points above bottom placed Harefield United. St Margaretsbury have won six and drawn seven of their 35 games, whilst Oxhey Jets have won eight and drawn one of their 34 games. Today's match would also pitch together two teams in terrible form - St Margaretsbury having picked up just one point from their last six league games, all at home, and they have not won in ten games. Oxhey Jets have also picked up just one point from their last five games. In the reverse league fixture back in August, St Margaretsbury won 2-4 away, whilst in the Herts Senior Cup in November, Oxhey Jets triumphed 1-4 at St Margaretsbury.

On a lovely warm, sunny afternoon, one might not have expected a great game of football considering both clubs are struggling and the pitch being hard and bobbly having recovered from waterlogging just a few days ago. And so it proved, with very little quality of display. The visitors looked slightly the better without really looking like scoring, and it was the home side who really should have opened the scoring a couple of minutes before half time. The ball was crossed low to a striker on the six yard box and all he had to do with tap it first time into the net - but he miscontrolled the ball and the defence and goalkeeper was able to smother the ball.

Into the second half and the match continued in the same vein, and it really seemed that we were heading towards a goalless draw, such was the lack of quality up front for both sides. But then, on 61 minutes, a moment of quality did suddenly arrive, when the ball was slipped through to Chris Blunden, and he smashed the ball in off the underside of the bar from the edge of the area, to spark wild celebrations by the Oxhey players. St Margaretsbury then pushed forward and started to look more threatening, and eventually they did get the all-important equaliser on 82 minutes. A free kick was floated to the edge of the box, and a header came back off the crossbar, and the ball fell to the feet of Simon Grove-White, who controlled the ball before driving the ball into the far side netting. They had the initiative by now, but Oxhey Jets held on quite comfortably to claim a share of the points which they will probably be the happier with, despite letting their lead slip. With the bottom two both losing and the team immediately below them drawing, this will probably prove a very important point for both teams.