Holyport 1 v 2 Flackwell Heath

Monday 9th April 2012
Hellenic League Premier Division
Summerleaze Village, Maidenhead
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 76
Match Rating: 3

Today would turn out to be slightly unusual for me, as being a Bank Holiday, I did not set out for a game in the Combined Counties League for my customary 11.30 kick off. Instead, a noon kick-off at Holyport in the Hellenic League opened up a very convenient double in Maidenhead, and so off I headed to Berkshire for my Easter Monday double bill.

The Summerleaze Village is located about a twenty minute walk from Furze Platt rail station, or about half an hour from Maidenhead rail station, and is certainly hidden well off the beaten track, as one goes down a residential road, followed by a windy gravel road for a long way, passing by a lake and a couple of cricket pitches until the football ground is finally reached. Having only entered senior football and moved to this venue within the last ten years, it comes as little surprise that there is no real character or history to the ground, but it does still have a certain appeal nonetheless with a very rural setting and relaxed feel. Before entering the ground, one passes a kind of double decker structure of dark green portakabins housing the changing rooms and toilets. On entering the ground behind a goal close to the corner, there is a wooden tea hut to one side and a modern metallic prefab structure providing half a dozen steps of standing towards the goal but some way back from the pitch. There is an all-seater prefab stand located to the side of the half way line closest to the entrance, and hard standing is available on three sides, with the remaining length still accessible. Rapeseed fields behind two sides of the pitch with no fencing make for a bright, attractive, open feel to the ground. The 24 page programme was a very reasonable effort, containing plenty of information about both teams and the league.

Promoted into the Hellenic League Premier Division this season, Holyport have had a comfortable first season at the highest division the club has ever played at, in twelth place in the 21 team league. Flackwell Heath have had a good season and find themselves in fourth place, although that is likely to be as good as it gets for them, as they are thirteen points off of third place. When the two teams met over the festive period, Holyport claimed a 1-0 away win.

On a day more akin to the middle of winter than mid April, with constant drizzle in a strong gusty wind, it was the home side who took the lead with just three minutes on the clock, when Dan Rapley drove in from the wing, evaded several chances before firing home a low shot just inside the far post from just outside the penalty area. They went on to completely dominate the first half, making something of a mockery of the league placings of both sides, and they really should have scored at least a couple of goals, with the visitors playing in a rather lethargic and sloppy manner.

The second half continued in a similar manner, and so it was something of a surprise when Flackwell Heath suddenly got back on level terms, when Liam McManus glanced a header into the net from a corner. This was harsh on the home side, but a sense the tide was turning came when Holyport had a player sent off for a second yellow card as the referee seemed to lose control of proceedings, inconsistently dishing out a succession of yellow cards for not very much. However, the sending off did not change much, as Holyport continued to dominate, carving out plenty of chances. However, it was Flackwell Heath who scored the next goal to take the lead, again from a corner, when Riccardo Cannon stooped to bullet a header just inside the near post. That goal proved to be the winner, a real smash and grab for Flackwell Heath, when Holyport deserved at the very least a point.

Hollands and Blair 2 v 0 Cray Valley (Paper Mills)

Saturday 7th April 2012
Kent Senior Trophy Semi Final
Star Meadow Sports Ground, Gillingham
Admission by programme: £4.00
Attendance: 105
Match Rating: 2

For today's fare, I headed up to the Medway towns for a semi-final cup game set up in rather unusual circumstances, giving two teams previously eliminated from the Kent Senior Trophy an unexpected second opportunity in the competition. With the final scheduled for next weekend, at the start of this week the Kent FA had found Erith and Belvedere guilty of fielding an ineligible player in their January tie against Cray Valley - how on earth it has taken this long for this to come to light is anyone's guess, but at least it did before the Final was played - and so both teams that Erith and Belvedere had beaten were reinstated to play off for the right to reach the Cup Final.

The Star Meadow Sports Ground is about a half hour walk from Gillingham train station, and is located adjacent to the busy A2 road. In all honesty, it is a rather charmless, unremarkable ground at the moment, although building works are already in place to improve facilities with the construction of a new changing rooms block and one senses that the ground could be a totally different arena in five or ten years time if the ambitious noises come to fruition. Currently, one passes by the very spacious clubhouse en route from the entrance to pitchside, where facilities are limited to hard standing behind one of the goals and along one of the touchlines. The other touchline has just grass standing, and these three sides have railing. The remaining area behind the other goal is not accessible for spectators. There is no cover and no floodlights. The 28 page programme, included with admission, had some interesting information although half of the pages contained just advertising.

Today's game would give an opportunity for a team from the Kent Invicta League to reach the Cup Final - no mean feat indeed. If the facilities at Star Meadow had been sufficient, Hollands and Blair would probably be plying their trade in the Kent League, having won the Kent County League in two of the last three seasons and finishing as runners up in the middle season. They have surprisingly been off of the pace in the newly formed Kent Invicta League this season though, currently in fifth place and fourteen points shy of leaders Bly Spartans. Their recent form has not been good, losing two and drawing the other of their last three games. To reach this stage, they had beaten West Wickham and Beckenham Town, before losing to Erith and Belvedere after extra time in the Quarter Final. Cray Valley were rather surprisingly elected into the Kent League this season, having finished third in the Kent County League last season and with minimal facilities at the time, although they have settled reasonably well into senior football, in eleventh place in the sixteen team league.

On an overcast and surprisingly cold afternoon with spots of rain in the wind, the game turned out to be a rather poor affair, surprisingly devoid of passion with a first ever senior cup final at stake for both clubs. After Cray Valley were denied by a wonderful point blank save from a header in the opening couple of minutes, it was Hollands and Blair who showed most of the attacking intent in the first half and they deservedly took the lead on 27 minutes when a free kick from wide of the penalty area was headed home at the far post by Stuart West, a lead which they held at the interval.

For the opening quarter of an hour of the second half, it was surprising how flat Cray Valley's play remained, with misplaced passes and a lack of creativity. The home side opened up a two goal cushion on 76 minutes, when a corner was headed home at the far post by Stephen Hafner. This finally sparked the visitors into life, and how they did not score was a mystery, with shots going agonisingly wide of the post or players deliberating too much before having a shot on goal. This short period of carving out good chances did not detract from a well deserved victory for Hollands and Blair, to set up a Final appearance against Sevenoaks Town next weekend. Few would have guessed that final line-up, given the powerhouses in the Kent League, and Hollands and Blair will surely fancy their chances against a team who are in the league above, but are third from bottom.

Metrogas 3 v 1 University of Kent

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
Kent County League Division One
Marathon Playing Field, Metrogas Sports Ground, New Eltham
Admission: None
Programme: None
Attendance: 40 (h-c)
Match Rating: 4















The arrival of April and the clocks having gone forward usually prompts the start of the groundhopping silly season of early evening midweek kick-offs.However unusually consistently mild and dry conditions over the winter resulting in relatively very few postponements has resulted in leagues in the south-east of England having to add supplementary cup competitions to fill the void Saturdays, let alone have to cram in a backlog of fixtures in the midweeks, in the closing month of the season. Therefore midweek early evening fixtures are proving thin on the ground in the south east this year, and so for my opening silly season game, I made my way to south-east London for a Kent County League Division One game.

The Marathon Playing Field is one of about half a dozen pitches of the Metrogas Sports Ground, located about a ten minute walk from New Eltham rail station, and was rather a pleasant surprise for the level of football, the location and the basic nature of facilities. As one arrives pitchside, there is hard standing and railing from the corner flag to the dugout along one touchline, whilst around the rest of the pitch there are no railings or similar barrier nor hard standing. Behind one of the goals, is an attractively built large clubhouse, comfortable on the inside and offering a tea bar and a little shelter outside. Colourful trees around the complex make for a surprisingly rural and peaceful setting, given its location. Obviously no floodlights are installed here. As is usually - but not always - the case in this league, no programmes were issued.

Metrogas have had a wonderful season. They look hot favourites to win the league and certainly to gain promotion to the Premier Division, as they lead the table by four points with a game in hand, are still unbeaten this season in the league, have only failed to take maximum points on three occasions from the nineteen games played (two of those draws coming in March) and have a goal difference of plus 63. The University of Kent went into this game in eighth place in the fifteen team league, a deceptively low position as they have played at least five games fewer than every other team in the division - win all of their games in hand and they would be in third position.

On a cool evening with overcast skies that got ever darker and more threatening as the evening wore on, it was Metrogas who unsurprisingly looked the stronger team from the start and carved out some presentable chances, although it wasn't until the half hour mark when they finally took the lead, when a looping, perfectly judged cross from out wide was headed in from close range. For the rest of the half, Metrogas dominated and they really should have gone into the interval with a more commanding lead than one.

After a very short half time interval of less than five minutes, with conditions already becoming rather dark and with rain starting to come down which would become increasingly heavy and persistent, within a couple of minutes of the restart, the University of Kent were suddenly back on level terms when a long low ball forward seemed to have been gathered by the keeper, but he allowed the ball to squirm away, allowing the striker to tuck the ball home. It was a surprising scoreline given the dominance of Metrogas up to this point, but after the equaliser, the game became very even and very much in the balance, so much so that one sensed that Metrogas' unbeaten record could be in real danger. Almost out of nothing, Metrogas went back into the lead on 67 minutes, when a low cross into the box was thumped home emphatically from close range. Within a couple of minutes, Metrogas added a third, when a rebound was tucked home after the keeper had saved a shot. With proceedings becoming exceedingly dark, the game rather petered out as Metrogas claimed yet another three points.

Taff's Well 2 v 3 Goytre United

Saturday 31st March 2012
Welsh League Division One
Rhiw Dda'r, Taff's Well
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 100 (estimate)
Match Rating: 4

With a bargain £2.00 return Megabus coach ticket from London to Cardiff booked months ago with the aim of exploring another potential treat of a ground in the Welsh League, options turned out to be fairly limited in the end, with a trip 7 miles north of Cardiff appealing the most, to take in an almost top of the table clash.

Having arrived in Cardiff little more than an hour before kick off, I hastily caught a train from Cardiff Queen's Street rail staition for the 15 minute ride north to Taff's Well. Rhiw Dda'r is a pleasant ten minute walk from the station, via a rural cycle path, and if one puts in ear plugs, is a very pleasant place to watch football at. The facilities themselves are currently basic and not particularly charming. As one enters the ground at one corner of the ground, to the right and behind the goal is a long unattractive windowless building in club colours of yellow housing the changing rooms and clubhouse. On one of the touchlines is a small stand, about a third of which hosts standing, the other two thirds have seating, but views from here are not good, with little inclination between the three rows of seating, set at pitch level and some way back from pitch. Around the rest of the ground is hard standing, although on the opposite touchline, a new stand will be installed within the next week. Typically for a Welsh League ground, dramatic hills surround the ground whick make for an attractive backdrop, but the busy A470 dual carriageway which passes right alongside the ground produces constant loud traffic noise. The ground has floodlights, and it is possible to watch the game for free from the road lining the ground - which unfortunately several people chose to do. The programme was fair, with only an eight page insert relevant for today's game inside a shell used throughout the season. The shell did have some interesting reading material about the club and other articles of interest, although it was rather dated considering it was written before the start of the season.

Today's match would pitch the second and fourth placed teams together. Taff's Well are the second placed team and look well placed to challenge for the title, four points behind leaders Cambrian and Clydach, but with a game in hand. They had a disappointing 1-4 defeat at struggling Cardiff Corinthians in midweek, although before that they had won four games in a row. Goytre United were three points behind Taff's Well, but had played three games more. They had disappointingly lost their previous two games, both at home against bottom half of the table teams, although before that they had won four and drawn two of their previous six games, a run which included beating today's opponents Taff's Wells 3-1 at the start of the month.

On an overcast afternoon and on an undulating, bobbly pitch, the game started off quite poorly, with both teams struggling to settle and play cohesive football. The pattern quickly emerged though of the home team always looking to play the long ball, which did not add to the entertainment value of the game but in fairness the long balls were usually accurate and looked threatening. The hosts thought they had taken the lead on the quarter hour mark, when a corner was headed home from close range, but the goal was disallowed for pushing. On 36 minutes, it was the visitors who took the lead though, when the keeper came charging out of his box to deal with a long ball but was beaten to the ball by Craig Stiens, who had the simple task of knocking the ball to the side of the keeper before shooting low into the empty net from about 25 yards. Five minutes later and Goytre United doubled their advantage, when a scruffy cross was tucked home from close range by Richard French.

Into the second half and there was little sign that Taff's Well would get back into the game, and indeed on 65 minutes, Goytre United seemingly put the game to bed with a third goal, when a shot by French from just inside the penalty area went into the net despite taking a deflection off of the keeper for his second of the game. There was plenty of huff and puff from Taff's Well for the rest of the game but they rarely convinced they could get back in the game, although ten minutes from time, they did score what appeared to be a consolation goal when a penalty was confidently converted by Jamal Roberts into the top left hand corner just out of the keeper's reach. Two minutes from time and suddenly Taff's Well were right back in the game when a shot from a very tight angle took a deflection and looped over the keeper and into the net. After Goytre United looking so comfortable for most of the second half, suddenly they were holding on quite desperately for the three points as it was all Taff's Well in the closing minutes as they mounted sustained pressure on the Goytre United goal, forcing a succession of corners. In the end, time ran out and it was Goytre United who claimed the victory, as they rose to third place in the table, leapfrogging Taff's Well, who dropped to fourth.

Bosham 0 v 2 Rottingdean Village

Saturday 24th March 2012
Sussex County League Division Three
Walton Lane, Bosham
Admission: None
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 50
Match Rating: 4

With glorious warm sunshine putting in an appearance today, I fancied a trip to the countryside for a grassroots game at a peaceful, village setting, and so I considered it an ideal opportunity to tick off one of the three remaining grounds I had yet to visit in the Sussex County League Division Three (and indeed, in the whole of the Sussex County League) with a trip to the western extremity of West Sussex.

Walton Lane is located about a twenty minute walk south from Bosham rail station, and facilities are basic, which will prevent the team from getting promoted back into senior football. Indeed, it has frustrated them recently, as they were Champions the season before last but were denied promotion, when apparently their facilities did not meet the criteria for the league they were in, let alone Division Two. The football pitch is part of a recreation ground, and one walks through a play area to get to the pitch - indeed, the play area comes up close to the pitch along one half of the length of the pitch. On the other length, tucked towards the corner, is the very old fashioned but extremely welcoming clubhouse and tea bar, with cover stretching from the clubhouse to the pitchside railing, providing the only cover at the ground.This is the only length of pitch that is railed, spectators are seemingly not intended to watch the game around the rest of the pitch, and there is no hard standing. There are also no floodlights here. The ground and the setting are not hugely memorable in all honesty, although a friendlier welcome and atmosphere would be very hard to find. Programmes were available from the tea bar, and was very good for the level of football, containing all the essentials to inform oneself of the background to the game ahead.

In truth, there is little left to play for both today's teams this season. Bosham went into today's game in twelth place in the sixteen team league, disappointing after their recent successful seasons, but are 14 points clear of a potential relegation place having place less games than the teams currently occupying those berths. Their recent form has not been good, having picked up just two points from their last four games, all at home, although before that run they did beat leaders Newhaven away. Rottingdean Vllage were in seventh place, but six points adrift of sixth placed Barnham and eighteen points behind leaders Newhaven (their lack of facilities also means promotion is not a consideration for them). Their recent results have also not been the best, winning one and losing three of their last four games. When the two teams met earlier in the season Rottingdean emphatically won 7-1 - after Bosham had taken the lead with less than a minute on the clock.

On a warm, sunny but hazy afternoon, the first half was an entertaining affair, with both sides doing plenty of attacking, first of all the Bosham keeper pulled off a couple of excellent point blank reflex saves to keep Rottingdean at bay, then Bosham had a couple of excellent chances, firstly when a forward drew the keeper wide of goal but his delicate lob hit the crossbar, then a one on one was saved by the keeper's legs. On 39 minutes, it was Rottingdean Village who took the lead when a low cross was played into the box and Michael Damario just beat the keeper to flick the ball home. Rottingdean kept their slender lead at the interval, which was deserved as their forward line looked dangerous throughout the first half with their pace often too much for the Bosham back line.

Bosham came out in the second half on the front foot, yet on 53 minutes, Rottingdean doubled their lead when a Bosham defender dallied on the ball and was dispossessed, and Rickie Mitchell strode forward before powering a shot across the keeper and into the net. Soon after, Bosham had a great chance to equalise when their forward broke clear for a one on one with the keeper but he blazed over the bar when he could have passed to his fellow forward. They had a couple of other reasonable chances to get back in the game, although with ten minutes left on the clock, Rottingdean hit the post. In the closing minutes, Bosham had a couple of fierce drives at goal saved by the keeper, but in the end, it was the away team who claimed a victory which they deserved for looking the more convincing and composed team, although the game really could have gone either way. Both teams remained where they were in the table.