Eynesbury Rovers 8 v 0 Oadby Town

Saturday 17th December 2016
United Counties League Premier Division
Alfred Hall Memorial Ground, St Neots
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 82
Match Rating: 4

Today, with a lack of attractive games more locally on offer, I decided to head north into Cambridgeshire, for my first ever taste of football in the United Counties Football League, and a welcome return to non-league football after two weeks of Football League action.

The Alfred Hall Memorial Ground is about a half hour walk southwards from St Neots train station, and spectators enter the ground behind one of the goals after paying admission at a wooden hut. Most of the spectator facilities are situated along one length, with a small covered standing area alongside quite a long, old-fashioned covered seating area that straddles the half way line and which is located immediately in front of the clubhouse which is spacious but not particularly homely, having more the feel of a village hall inside. Straddling the half way line on the opposite side there is a corrugated iron structure providing a small over of standing, whilst around the rest of the ground there is just hard standing, apart from one end where there is just grass to stand on, although it appears that hard standing is in the process of being replaced. Indeed, the ground does have the look of one that is a work in progress, with some neat touches such as signage and smart wooden fencing alongside a somewhat scruffy appearance in other places. Tall trees and some blocks of flats provide the background scenery. The 36 page programme was smartly presented with an attractive cover, printed on good quality glossy paper and was informative with the relevant stats and some interesting sections to read. It was also a nice surprise to see admission charged at only £5.00, which compares very favourably with what I am used to in the south-east corner of England at Step 5.

Eynesbury Rovers are having a very good season so far, in second place with 17 wins and a draw from their 23 league games, although they trail leaders Peterborough Sports by eight points and have played a game more. They have won three of their last four games and have applied for promotion to Step 4. Oadby Town were in 17th position in the 22 team division, with five wins and four draws from their 23 league games. Today’s teams met less than a month ago in the reverse league fixture, with Oadby winning 2-1 thanks to a winning goal in added on time at the end of the match.

On a dull but mild afternoon, with just five minutes on the clock it was clear that this was not going to be Oadby's day, as the home side took the lead in fortunate circumstances. Craig Smith swung in a cross from close to the right corner flag and the keeper desperately tried but failed to grasp the ball as it sailed over him and into the far side of the net. From that point on, Eynesbury really blew their openers away with some wonderful football, showing some great touches and passing moves, although they were certainly aided by some static defending by the visitors. Smith made it two on nine minutes when he ran onto a low ball forward and he just managed to beat the keeper to tap the ball into the net. On 15 minutes, it was virtually game over when Smith completed his hat-trick, running onto another low ball through the defence in a central position and poked the ball low past the keeper. Oadby did have a great chance to pull a goal back on 35 minutes when a header from a corner was blocked and a follow-up shot was deflected high of the goal. But two minutes later, Eynesbury scored their fourth. The ball was lumped forward leaving a one on one as the keeper rushed out but as he took a swipe at the ball, he could only make a faint touch, allowing Allan Owen keeper to calmly stroke the ball into the unguarded net from the edge of the area. Shortly afterwards Oadby saw a fierce shot crash back off the crossbar, but as the scoreline remained at 4-0 at the break, they would only have pride to lay for after the break.

Within a minute, things got worse for the visitors when the keeper came towards the edge of his area to deal with a high ball forward but only succeeded in punching the forward's head rather than the ball to concede a penalty. Very surprisingly, only a yellow card was shown, but Smith struck the ball home from the penalty spot into the bottom right hand corner for his fourth goal of the game. The home side made it six on 54 minutes when the ball was flicked past a defender to set Owen clear at a slight angle, and he passed the ball into the net. Oadby's task became even more difficult on 62 minutes when they were reduced to ten men when Lewis McLean hobbled off after they had made all of their available subsitutions. Six minutes later, after coming close on a couple more occasions, Eynesbury scored their seventh when one of their players danced through the defence and the initial shot was parried, before Tom Coles struck the ball into the net. It became 8-0 on 72 minutes when Coles headed the ball home following a corner, and it looked a certainty that Eynesbury would reach double figures. But in the end they stuck at eight - they continued creating chances and missing them, indeed, they really should have scored at least 12, had they not missed some gilt edged chances. Credit to Oadby though as they continued plugging away, and had a great chance a minute after Eynesbury's eighth after one of their players dispossessed a defender, strode forward and forced a good save low to the keeper's left.

Bradford City 0 v 0 Charlton Athletic

Saturday 10th December 2016
Football League One
Valley Parade, Bradford
Admission: £20.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 17,968 (618 away fans)
Match Rating: 3

Today I decided to make my second visit to northern England in consecutive weekends, this time I was attracted by the opportunity of visiting a new ground following my team Charlton. Following Charlton has not been an enjoyable experience during the past couple of seasons, with a toxic atmosphere off the pitch fuelled by constant PR disasters by the current Belgian owners, and mismanagement on the pitch. Indeed, watching them away at Bury on the opening day of this season was a particularly depressing experience. But a visit to Valley Parade had been on my wish list for some time and so I booked a seat on the club coach, albeit with some fear of travelling a long way to watch my team lose.

Valley Parade is situated just to the north of the city of Bradford and is tucked in amongst residential housing on one side of a valley. It is a rather strange ground in that half of it is mightily impressive and would be fit to host Premiership football, whilst the other half is more suited to hosting lower league football. Very tall, two tiered stand stretch along about two thirds of one length, around the corner and behind one of the goals, although the two stands have slightly different layouts. With a steep banking of rows and no obstructing pillars, presumably the views are excellent from those areas. Along the other length is a shorter, modern all-seater single tiered stand, whilst behind the other goal, there is a double-decker stand, which is allocated to away fans and is rather cramped inside and has quite large obstructing pillars along the front of the upper tier which can obstruct one’s view, which is otherwise good. Before entering the stadium, it is worth pausing at the Valley Parade Fire Memorial, listing the names of those who lost their lives during the tragic events of May 1985.

This promised to be a tough game for Charlton, with Bradford unbeaten at home, winning five and drawing five of their ten home games, and came into this game in fourth place in the division, with 35 points from 20 games. After being unbeaten in their opening 15 games in all competitions, they won two and lost two of their last four league games, as well as losing two cup games. Following relegation from the Championship, Charlton were struggling in the bottom half of the table under Russell Slade before he was shown the door, caretaker manager then steadied the ship with two wins and a draw from the three league games under his stewardship, before former MK Dons manager Karl Robinson was appointed a couple of weeks ago, this being his second game in charge after a 0-0 draw at home to MK Dons in the FA Cup last Saturday. They came into this game in 10th place in the division, with 27 points from 19 games, although they are only two points adrift of a play-off berth. They have only lost one of their last eight league games. Perhaps surprisingly, today would be the first fixture between the two teams at Valley Parade since 2001 when they met in the Premiership and current manager Stuart McCall lined up in Bradford’s midfield.

I travelled to this game in fear of witnessing a dire defeat for my team, particularly as injuries and illness would deprive the team of some first teamers, but in reality, I came away pleased with a point and delighted with a performance that perhaps merited all three. Bradford started the game the stronger, and Charlton were not helped when their centre back Jason Pearce went off injured after just two minutes, but Charlton soon came into the game and on 13 minutes, came agonisingly close to opening the scoring. Josh Magennis, who was perhaps man of the match who showed some great touches, excellent close control and was penetrating in attack, received the ball at the edge of the area, took a couple of touches to evade a defender to send a low left footed shot across the keeper and the ball smacked off the inside of the post and ran along the goal line. They hit the woodwork again within a couple of minutes, Jordan Botaka showed some good footwork heading into the right side the penalty area before firing a powerful shot over the keeper, but the ball came back off the top of the crossbar. Magennis then saw a looping header land on the roof of the net, whilst on the half hour, he received the ball from a pull back 12 yards out, and although he had time to pick his spot, his goalbound shot was hacked away by defender Stephen Darby. Bradford did have their chances too, with young keeper Dillon Phillips saving a low cross-shot well. But as the scoreline remained goalless at the break, I feared that Charlton would be punished for not taking at least one of their chances to take the lead, as Bradford would surely up their game after the break.

Indeed, Bradford were better after the break, although there were fewer goalscoring chances for the most part. Botaka saw a powerful strike from 25 yards well saved low to the keeper's left, Bradford's Hiwula unleashed a shot from a similar distance went just wide of the post, and Bradford forced Phillips into a couple of very good saves. Either team could have won it, but as the game entered four minutes of stoppage time, Charlton's Patrick Bauer was sent off for a second yellow card when he got his body in the way as a Bradford attacker looked to run through on goal. But Charlton saw the game out to claim a valuable and unexpected point away from home from one of the better teams in the division. Normally I would come away disappointed from a goalless draw, but quite the opposite, this was a most entertaining game of football, with plenty of effort from both sides, some good goalscoring chances, and with the outcome in the balance right to the end. I certainly left feeling more optimistic about Charlton's future under the leadership of Karl Robinson, who speaks well, seems to be infectious with his optimism, and it was pleasing to see the team approach a difficult looking away match with a positive frame of mind, not looking to defend for long periods and hope for best on the occasional break.

Short video highlights can be viewed by clicking here 

Chesterfield 0 v 5 Wycombe Wanderers

Saturday 3rd December 2016
FA Cup Second Round
Proact Stadium, Chesterfield
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 3685
Match Rating: 2

This match was an ideal opportunity to tick off another of the 92 for me once I discovered that Chesterfield were offering tickets for just £10 anywhere in the stadium, at least half the price of tickets for league games, and the seat I chose in a central position in the West Stand would normally cost £24, the most expensive area to sit in the stadium. A bargain day out was complete when I managed to obtain National Express tickets from London to Sheffield for just a £1 booking fee, making use of converting Tesco Clubcard vouchers.

The Proact Stadium is about a half hour walk from Chesterfield train station, although I took the opportunity on the way to the stadium to look around the attractive town centre featuring the famous crooked spire of St Mary & All Saints Church. The Proact was only opened six years ago located alongside a busy road and amongst various large retail outlets and restaurants, and although a new-build stadium rarely gets the juices flowing compared with more traditional stadia, it has a smart appearance both on the outside and within. There are some nice features outside, including crooked spire statues by the roadside entrance to the stadium complex and the Memorial Garden which is attractively laid out with some memorabilia from the club's former home, Saltergate, interesting information boards to read about the club’s history, as well as tributes to past Chesterfield players who have passed away and a War Memorial. A very interesting area that is well worth a visit. Once inside, the all-seater stadium is pleasing on the eye, has a symmetrical design, and is sensibly sized. Along both lengths there are very similar looking stands, with a slight curve along the top, with the main (west) stand having corporate boxes lined along the top of the seating. With a capacity of just over 10,000, there is an intimate feel about the place, with all fans close to the pitch, and even today when there was a disappointing attendance, the ground did not have that disappointing sight of large empty sections that can blight larger grounds. The programme was really poor value today. A streamlined version of their usual publication, six of the 12 pages contained purely advertising, and just the manager’s notes, penpics of the visitors and the club’s fixtures and results being of interest.

This promised to be a fairly interesting cup tie, with the chance of a minor upset for the visitors. Chesterfield were struggling in 22nd place in League One, whilst Wycombe were in sixth place in the division below, League Two. Chesterfield had won their previous two league matches, but had lost their previous eight league games, but had beaten Colchester United 1-2 away to set up today’s fixture. Wycombe came into this game in good form, winning their last four league games, and won at Portsmouth 1-2 in the previous round of the FA Cup. History did not favour Wycombe today though, as they had lost all four of their previous visits to the Proact Stadium.

On an overcast but fairly mild afternoon, it was quite shocking how poor Chesterfield were today, and not only was on the receiving end of a minor shock in terms of losing, but were on the end of a well-derserved thumping to boot. They never really looked a threat throughout the match, looked devoid of creativity and passion, and as the visitors grew in confidence, convincingly won the game with an energetic display which reflected their manager's effervescent and galvanising presence on the touchline. Chesterfield did actually have the first effort on goal, when Ian Every weakly headed straight at the keeper from a good position, but that was as good as it got for the hosts. The visitors took the lead on 25 minutes. After a corner broke down, Scott Kashket whipped the ball in from close to the corner flag and Paul Hayes glanced the ball with his head in off the underside of the bar. Five minutes later and Wycombe doubled their lead following another corner. The ball fell to Anthony Stewart just outside the area and he floated the ball into the danger area and Kashket shot low into the net. Wycombe comfortably held on to their two goal lead at the break, and the home players would surely need a rollicking from their manager to wake them from their slumber if they were going to get back into this match.

Indeed, they did show a little more intent at the start of the half without looking like scoring, but their task became much harder on 64 minutes when they had Jon Nolan sent off for a wild late tackle, and six minutes later it was game over as a contest when Wycombe scored their third. The ball was threaded low through several Chesterfield players for Kashket to latch onto, and he shot low past the keeper. They scored their four on five minutes when the Chesterfield keeper palmed the ball into the danger area following a corner kick, and Stewart guided the ball on the half volley into the roof of the net. Two minutes later and Wycombe made it five, again Chesterfield gifting the goal to the visitors. The ball was lumped forward for a defender and Kashket to contest, both fell to the floor but Kashket was quickest to get to his feet, get to the ball and take it to one side of the keeper before slotting home.  Wycombe could have made the scoreline even more emphatic if they had wanted to as Chesterfield’s players were by now a thoroughly dispirited bunch, but the scoreline remained at five at the final whistle.

So a shock result, certainly in terms of the emphatic nature of the victory for the slight underdogs (in terms of league status) and a really poor day for Chesterfield with a shocking performance on the pitch, and the fans were very quiet in the stands (although the away fans were in great voice throughout) and it was a shame that the club's gesture of offering excellent ticket prices for this game was not rewarded with a higher attendance. But perhaps that shows the sad lack of interest in the FA Cup these days, even amongst fans, at professional clubs these days. It was a great day for Wycombe though, who displayed all of the endearing qualities of a smaller club on and off the pitch, and hopefully they will be rewarded with a romantic and lucrative draw in the next round.