Hythe Town 2 v 0 Hastings United

Thursday 1st January 2015
Isthmian League Division One South
Reachfields Stadium, Hythe
Admission: £9.00
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 302
Match Rating: 3

After my hopes of taking in a game on Tuesday were thwarted by frozen pitches in the south-east, and with train services running to a Sunday service today making a long-distance trip with multiple connections tricky, instead I decided to drive to a game, to revisit a ground and watch Hastings United again for my first game in 2015.

The Reachfields Stadium is located about a ten minute walk westwards from the town centre, and is not an easy place to access by public transport, located two miles from the nearest train station at Sandling, via a country lane, with buses available from Folkestone (although they were not running today, New Year's Day). There is much to like about this stadium, which possesses a great deal of character, uniqueness, and has the feel of a "proper", old-school non-league ground, with not a bland prefab stand in sight. One enters the ground through turnstiles behind one goal, which consists of covered terracing stretching the entire width between corner flags, and continues along one of the lengths. Along the other length is a quirky looking double-decker building, with covered seating on the ground floor in front of the changing rooms, with the clubhouse on the first floor, with a balcony stretching along the front offering good, elevated views of the action. To one of side this stand painted in club colours of red and white, covered bench seating stretches to the corner flag, whilst to the other corner flag is a tea bar, toilet block and an open standing area. The 44 page programme was cheaper than most clubs at this level, and had plenty to read, even though more than half of the pages were exclusively advertising.

This match would be between two side deep in the bottom half of the table, with work to do in the second half of the season to avoid relegation. Hastings, in 19th place in the 24 team division, are two points and one place better off than today's hosts, having also played two games less. Hastings have won seven and drawn seven of their 25 games, while Hythe have won six and drawn eight of their 27 games. Hythe cames into this game in poor form, winning just one of their last twelve games in all competitions - although that win was a 6-0 home win against Guernsey. When today's teams met in the reverse fixture in August, Hastings triumphed 2-1, and indeed have won the last three meetings between the two clubs.

On a very dull, overcast afternoon, the games nearly exploded into life within the first twenty seconds. The Hythe keeper cleared a ball only as far as Ashley-Paul Robinson, who volleyed towards goal with the keeper out of position, but the ball went just wide of the post. It was to be as close as Hastings would get to scoring all afternoon. Still with less than a minute on the clock, Hythe went down the other end and saw a shot fired just over the bar from ten yards, and indeed, Hythe would assume the ascendancy, and deservedly took the lead on 21 minutes. Michael Yianni played a free kick from deep to the back post, dissecting two Hastings defenders, allowing James Morrish to head the ball firmly across the keeper and into the net. Both teams had chances to score, although Hythe always seemed to be in the ascendancy and looked to be the more threatening in the final third, although playing football was not proving easy on a very difficult surface, which was slippery and cut up badly, not to mention a strong, biting wind of increasing intensity. But Hythe retained their slender one goal lead heading into half time.

Although Hastings tried to show more attacking intent after the break, they still very rarely looked like scoring, their best chance coming ten minutes after the break, when a terrific through ball found Archibald, but his initial shot was blocked, and the rebound poked wide. Eventually, Hythe would seal the three points a couple of minutes from the end of normal time, Jack Sellens, on-loan from Gillingham, chased a ball towards the corner flag, won the race with the keeper to gain possession, before teeing up Ryan Philpott, who had only entered the game two minutes previously, and he fired the ball into the unguarded net. With the visitors demoralised, Hythe saw the remaining minutes out comfortably, and leapfrogged over Hastings to rise to 19th in the table.

Overall, this was a poor performance by Hastings, who looked lethargic and lacking in creativity. Indeed, they struggled to even get a team out, naming just three substitutes, one of whom did not appear to be on the bench, and another signed on loan from Sussex League Division Two outfit Little Common. All of this appeared to be the last straw for manager Dominic di Paola, who resigned shortly after the game, having only been appointed in October. Whoever takes over appears to have a real battle on their hands to keep Hastings away from relegation, just six points clear of the relegation zone having played two games more, seems to have a rather unbalanced and generally unfit squad, and presumably at least some of the players brought in by di Paola will soon be on their way.

Camberley Town 4 v 0 Frimley Green

Saturday 27th November 2014
Combined Counties Premier League
Krooner Park, Camberley
Admission: £6.00
Programme: Sold Out
Attendance: 177
Match Rating: 4

With the majority of clubs below the Conference South moving their games originally scheduled for Boxing Day back a day to the Saturday, my options were reduced with torrential rain falling overnight. With major delays on the trains persuading me to drive to a game today, I actually changed my mind en route, from a game at Sussex League club Loxwood where I had previously visited, to one I had not visited before, at Camberley. Even driving proved problematic today though, as I joined a traffic gridlock on the M25. Despite eventually finding my way across country, I unfortunately still missed the kick-off for this game, arriving about ten minutes in.

Krooner Park is located about a mile south-west of Camberley town centre, passing through an industrial estate until one passes through red and white gates with the club's initials on them and into the car park, located behind one end of the ground. After entering through a brick turnstile building in a corner of the ground, the overall impression of Krooner Park was one of a ground that is rather tired, seen better days - but it is exactly that which gives the ground some nice character and variety. Along the length from the turnstile, one passes a tea bar hut, the clubhouse with some overhang providing cover and a fair amount of open space to pitchside, whilst straddling the half way line is an all-seater stand. Behind the goal closest to the entrance, cover stretches virtually the entire width, and is rather cosy with its fairly low roof  above two terrace steps. Around the rest of the ground there is just hard standing, with a blue industrial unit providing the background to the length opposite the main stand and clubhouse. Unfortunately, by the time I arrived, the turnstile operator informed me that they had sold out of programmes.

This match was very much the traditional local derby, with less than two miles separating the two clubs. After finishing as runners-up last season, Camberley are again sniffing around the top of the table this season, coming into this game in fifth place, with 13 wins and three draws from their 19 games, but they have games in hand over all of the clubs above them in the table, and were they to win their games in hand, would climb into second place and within a point of leaders Cove. Frimley Green are struggling at the other end of the table, third bottom, two points ahead of Guildford - having played a game more - and seven points ahead of bottom placed Hanworth Villa, having played two games more. They have won five and drawn four of their 22 games.

Happily, no goals had been scored by the time I arrived, as I found a very open and even game, with both teams creating chances. The first contentious decision came as a Frimley Green striker ran onto a long ball, only to be wiped out by the keeper who came out of his area to make a rather crude challenge, however not even a yellow card was produced. Camberley went on to assume the ascendancy, and deservedly took the lead on 29 minutes. A corner was headed out and then miskicked out of the area only to fall to a Camberley player who lofted the ball first time into the box, and Perry Coles diverted the ball past the keeper with a karate kick style connection. Frimley Green had a great chance to equalise when their striker found himself at the back post with just the keeper to beat, but he pulled his low shot wide of the far post. What would turn out to be the game defining moment came deep into first-half added on time, when the ball was swung from the left towards the Camberley goalkeeper, and the Frimley Green striker bulldozed the keeper into the net. That sparked a rather ugly brawl as the two players grappled with each other, soon others joined in, one Frimley player grabbing the Camberley keeper by the face from behind, whilst Frimley captain Andrew Grace ran the length of the pitch to kick the Camberley keeper. The referee did not help the situation one bit as he stood from a distance frantically blowing his whistle for a minute or more, but eventually made the correct decision, following consultation with a linesman, in sending off Grace and booking both of the original perpetrators. The Camberley goalkeeper could feel very fortunate to remain on the pitch now, benefitting from the earlier decision by the referee not to book him for his cynical foul outside of his area. It's fair to say the half-time interval came at a good time.

Yesterday I had seen a team come back from a goal down and a sending off in the first half to dominate the second and almost snatch a win. That was never going to happen today though, as Camberley went on to completely dominate the second half, with the visitors losing their discipline. It looked only a matter of time before the home side would extend their lead, and after Frimley Green could easily have gone down to nine men with a late, high tackle, they did on 72 minutes with a shockingly poor challenge by Lee Page, who tackled knee-high on Camberley's Daniel Band. From the resulting free-kick, Camberley doubled their lead, Doug Ford stretching out a foot to guide the ball home from the free-kick lofted into the box. Camberley would really turn the screw now, and on 80 minutes, a wonderful pass from the half way line over the defence fell at the feet of Sam Slater, who dribbled towards goal before slotting the ball past the keeper. Two minutes later and another perfectly judged aerial cross from the left resulted in Camberley's fourth, Matt Bunyan heading the ball home after just beating the keeper in the air. The win could have been even more emphatic, but Camberley surprisingly, playing with two extra men, seemed to place more value on the clean sheet than scoring further goals. No doubting that Camberley thoroughly deserved to win this entertaining feisty local derby, but in truth it was Frimley Green's poor discipline which lost them this match, as they seemed to have had enough about them, particularly (but not only) when they had 11 players on the pitch, to have got something from this game.

Video highlights of this game can be found here

Charlton Athletic 1 v 1 Cardiff City

Friday 26th December 2014

Football League Championship

The Valley, Charlton

Admission: Season Ticket

Programme: £3.00

Attendance: 17,543 (874 away fans)

Match Rating: 3

As has seemed to happen a lot more often than not over recent years, Charlton were handed a home game for this year's Boxing Day, and although one had to sympathise with Cardiff and their fans for a long away day with extremely limited public transport running, today's opposition certainly added some spice for me. Having studied at university in West Wales, during which time I attended many Swansea City home games at their wonderfully old and ramshackle ground, The Vetch, I developed a dislike of Cardiff City. Furthermore, today's fixture conjured up memories of a remarkable game the last time the two teams met at The Valley two seasons ago, when Charlton came from 0-2 down to lead 5-2, only to concede two late goals to leave the home fans on tenterhooks during added on time.

Despite Cardiff being relegated from the Premiership last season, and Charlton only just avoiding relegation to League One, there was little to separate the two clubs in the league table going into this game, tied on 30 points from 22 games and with the same goal difference of +1, although Cardiff had won two more and drawn six fewer games than Charlton, and Cardiff a place higher than Charlton having scored six more goals. Following their disappointing home draw with bottom placed Blackpool, Charlton lost 0-2 at Blackburn, and manager Bob Peeters seemed to have responded with a shake up of the team for today's game. After a number of errors leading to conceding goals in recent games, young goalkeeper Nick Pope was dropped for Phillipine international Neil Etheridge, Chris Solly switched to left back to oust Morgan Fox from the team, Igor Vetokele made way for George Tucudean, whilst club captain Johnnie Jackson returned to the team after two games out through injury.

On a bright, sunny afternoon, this was another game very much of two halves, with Cardiff dominating at least the first half hour. The first ten minutes were fairly unremarkable though, until Cardiff took the lead on 12 minutes. A throw-in from the left by Aron Gunnarsson into the box was flicked on, allowing Tom Adeyemi to plant his header into the bottom left corner, with Etheridge stranded flat-footed. Cardiff really pushed on from their, and could easily have increased their advantage, and the game appeared to turn even more in the visitors' favour on  33 minutes, when Charlton were reduced to ten men, following Callum Harriott's late, high tackle on Craig Noone. It was one of the very rare decisions that the referee got correct, as generally he had as poor a game as I can remember a referee having at The Valley, with quite baffling inconsistency and seeming to strongly favour Cardiff in awarding fouls in similar scenarios. As often happens, Charlton seemed to up their game a little, although the visitors remained very comfortable as they went into the half-time interval a goal to the good.

Into the second half and Charlton were truly a team transformed, the ten men really taking the game to Cardiff, and the more the half progressed, the much more likely it looked the Charlton would score an equaliser. Tucudean connected with a corner with an overhead kick, but the ball hit the post, although a defender on the line probably would have blocked the ball had it been on target. Around the hour mark, Charlton manager Bob Peeters sent on Vetokele and played three at the back. On 65 minutes, Cardiff should have been reduced to ten men when Tucudean sprinted towards goal, but Sean Morrison fouled him, denying a clear goalscoring opportunity but the referee awarded just a yellow card. Justice was almost done from the resultant free-kick, but although Johann Berg Gudmundsson's bending free-kick beat the keeper, the ball came back off the same right hand post as Tucudean's earlier shot. Tucudean again came close with a shot that beat the keeper but was cleared off the line, and Charlton were denied a clear penalty when another Tucudean shot was blocked by an arm, but the referee gave nothing. One always wishes to hope that referees do not favour either team in a game, but it really was hard to cling to this as Mick Russell had no problem at all with the visiting players wasting so much time, to the point of really taking liberties. Happily, justice was finally done two minutes from time when Charlton equalised with a real goal of the season contender. Gudmundsson won the ball back with a sliding tackle in midfield, took a few paces to create space for himself before thumping a shot from fully 30 yards which flew into the top left hand corner, giving the keeper no chance. However, it could and really should have been even better for Charlton, as right at the end of added on time, Vetokele, the one man Charlton fans would wish for a golden chance to fall to, sprinted clear of the defence and ran towards goal, but inexplicably, with just the keeper to beat, he placed his shot high over the goal. A couple of months ago and it would have been a certain goal, however Vetokele has struggled for form in recent weeks since returning from injury.

Having had to play with ten men for almost an hour after falling behind, a point has to be considered a good outcome for Charlton, but it was difficult not to feel disappointed that all three points were not claimed following a very strong second half performance, but having to contend with an incredibly poor refereeing performance and lady luck not going their way.

Video highlights of this game can be found here

Hastings United 0 v 1 Burgess Hill Town

Monday 22nd December 2014
Sussex Senior Cup Round Three
Pilot Field, Hastings
Admission: £6.00
Programme: Free
Attendance: 199
Match Rating: 2

For this evening's entertainment, after finishing off my Christmas shopping and visiting relatives, I headed to the Pilot Field for the first time in over two years, to see another game in this season's Sussex Senior Cup, a competition I've seen quite a few games in already this season.

There have been no significant changes to the Pilot Field since my last visit during pre-season in 2012, and so it remains a stadium that one enjoys, for its character with its imposing, old-fashioned large main stand, but spectators remain fairly distant from the pitch. The programme for this evening's fixture was just a four page publication, given away free of charge at the turnstiles and containing likely line-ups, away team pen-pics and the entire Third Round draw draw for the Sussex Senior Cup.

Arguably, apart from the fixture being at home, this was as bad a tie as Hastings United could have been handed. Avoiding a tie against attractive opposition such as Eastbourne Borough or Crawley Town, and also the more lowly clubs from the Sussex County League, instead they had a fixture against a fellow Isthmian League Division One South outfit, but one that have had a remarkably successful season to date. Burgess Hill are unbeaten in their opening 21 league fixtures, in second place and a point behind leaders Merstham, but with six games in hand, and have only lost once in all competitions this season, at the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, where they lost away at Conference National club Dartford. In the FA Trophy, they triumphed over recent Football League club Aldershot. Although this evening's line-up saw five changes from the team that played in the league on Saturday, they still featured Greg Luer up front, bound for a move to Premiership Hull City next month.

Before the season started, Hastings were expected to challenge strongly for promotion, however if anything, their more likely escape from the division would be downwards following a disastrous opening four months of their season, and are currently in 18th place in the 24 team division, with seven wins and seven draws from their 25 games. A season in mid table obscurity looks the most likely outcome for Hastings, which makes this evening's game the last realistic chance of playing for anything positive for the club.

On a blustery but relatively mild evening, and with a fairly healthy crowd for a Monday evening fixture in the county cup competition just before Christmas, this was hardly a Christmas cracker. Hastings probably would have been the happier with the first half, playing decent possession football although only very rarely showing any attacking intent, but they could be happy that Burgess Hill rarely threatened either. Hastings did have the ball in the back of the net just after the half hour mark, following some very good quick and incisive forward passing towards goal, Taser Hussan fired the ball across the keeper and into the net, but the linesman's flag went up for offside.

Whilst Hastings might have been happy enough with how things were going at the interval, Burgess Hill went on to dominate the second half, allowing the home side only a couple of glimpses at goal. What turned out to be the winner came on 73 minutes, and came from a Hastings corner. A quick counter-attack down the left ended with Rob O'Toole firing a shot which came back off the inside of the post, only to fall perfectly for the onrushing right back Lee Harding, who struck the ball powerfully into the net from the edge of the area. One felt that would probably be decisive and so it proved, as Hastings never really looked likely to get back on level terms to force extra time, and so it was Burgess Hill who progress to a quarter-final tie at the winners of the Third Round tie between Worthing and Steyning Town.

Coventry City 1 v 1 Fleetwood Town

Saturday 20th December 2014
Football League One
City of Coventry Stadium (Ricoh Arena), Coventry
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 10,254
Match Rating: 3

A discounted ticket offer, which saw the club sell all tickets in home sections for today's fixture at a flat rate of £10, and at a discount of £15 where I chose to sit, prompted me to head to the West Midlands to tick off another of the 92, for an otherwise very unremarkable fixture.

The Ricoh Arena, as it is currently known, is not an easy place to get to by public transport, located about four miles north of the city centre, and with no direct buses from the railway station - one must change at the city centre bus station, or walk the mile between the train and bus station. One can then choose either a special football bus service, at £5 return, or a regular scheduled bus service, at £3.10 using a plusbus ticket - with both options predictably being extremely busy after the match. The stadium certainly looks impressive from the outside, with an extended section to one side housing an exhibition hall, hotel, casino and other facilities giving the building an interesting look. Following Rugby Union club Wasps' purchase of the stadium, it is no surprise that the stadium has a lot of that club's branding displayed on it, with just a couple of logos of the football club. Once inside, it is pretty much everything that one would expect of a recently built stadium - very neat and tidy, easy on the eye, spacious - but lacking in charm or character, particularly on days like this when the stadium is not even a third full. The stadium has "wrap-around" seating, single-tiered with one length and behind both goals featuring continuous single-tiered seating around the corners. A steep incline in the seating rows ensures a good view. The remaining length is designed rather differently and adds a little bit of variety to the overall look of the stadium. There are two tiers, the bottom tier about two thirds of the height of the seating around the rest of the stadium, with only about half a dozen rows in the upper tier, located in front of hospitality boxes and hotel room windows, with a solid wall above to the roof. Some of the roof around the stadium features perspex panelling, to allow more light into the stadium. The 68 page programme was fairly standard fare for a Football League programme, attractive and with a hardened glossy cover, but it did have plenty to read, including ten pages introducing the visiting club.

Coming into this game, both sides were stuck firmly in mid table in League One which, based on the histories of the respective clubs, is as much a fabulous achievement for Fleetwood Town as it is a disappointing predicament for Coventry City. Having only entered the Football League in the 2012/13 season, Fleetwood were in eleventh place, with seven wins and five draws from their 20 league games, whilst Coventry City, who spent 34 consecutive seasons in the top flight up to season 2000/2001, were three places and two points worse off than Fleetwood, having won six and drawn six of their 20 games. The omens did not look good for Fleetwood today though, having lost eight of their last nine away games in all competitions. Unsurprisingly, this would be the first ever meeting between the two sides.

On a bright, sunny afternoon, this proved to be very much a game of two halves. Although Coventry certainly started the brighter, showing some slick passing in midfield, Fleetwood grew more and more into the game, and deservedly took the lead on 18 minutes, albeit with a slice of good fortune. Gareth Evans whipped in a right-footed cross from the left wing, which Coventry defender Andy Webster got his head to, deflecting the ball over his own keeper and into the far corner. They really should have extended their lead by half-time, spurning several good chances, as the home side looked surprisingly flat and lethargic.

However, Coventry were a side transformed when they came out in the second half, looking much more threatening without managing to create any real gilt edged goalscoring chances, until they got back on level terms ten minutes from time. Matthew Pennington swung in a cross from the right wing, Gary Medine headed the ball back across goal and Simeon Jackson managed to slide in to poke the ball home from very close range despite the attentions of a defender. The only question now was whether Coventry would go on to snatch a winner, but they did not and a point apiece was about right, and Fleetwood would no doubt be the happier. Although only 121 fans were counted in the away section, this may have been due to Coventry's rather bizarre and distasteful decision to not extend the £10 flat range ticket price to the away fans, instead charging them the usual £22.

Video highlights of this game can be found here