England Women 2 v 1 Spain Women (aet)

Wednesday 20th July 2022, Kick-off 20.00
UEFA Wonen’s Euro 2022, Quarter-Final
Brighton Community Stadium, Falmer
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £8.00 (covering whole tournament)
Attendance: 28,994

When I booked my tickets for five games at the Euro 2022 last year, it was more with hope than expectation that England would be taking part, as they would have to win their group. As it turned out, they would win their group in some style, and their opponents would be the team I watched at Brentford on Saturday, Spain.

England won their group by narrowly beating Austria in their opening game at Old Trafford 1-0, before turning on the style with an 8-0 thumping of Norway at Brighton ,and then a 5-0 win against Northern Ireland at Southampton. Spain, who are ranked one place higher than England at seventh place in the FIFA world rankings. To qualify for the quarter-finals Spain beat Finland 4-1 at Milton Keynes, lost 0-2 to Germany, before narrowly getting the better of Denmark in a winner takes all clash at Brentford on Saturday.

On an evening that was not quite as balmy as recent days, this was an intriguing encounter which saw England's energy up against the technically excellent Spain. England had the ball in the back of the net on 37 minutes, when Lauren Hemp's free kick from the left wing was delivered into the area and bundled forward into the path of Ellen White to tap the ball home from close range, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

Spain gradually exerted some dominance in the second half with their passing, possession football, and it was no surprise when they opened the scoring on 54 minutes when the ball was played out to Athenea del Castillo, who threaded the ball past Rachel Daly, ran towards the byline before passing the ball back to Esther Gonzalez, who took a touch before firing the ball low across goal and inside the far post. And England almost conceded what probably would have been a fatal second on 66 minutes when a looping cross from the right almost sailed over the England keeper Mary Earp's head, but she just managed to get enough of a finger tip on the ball over her head to take the pace off the ball, but was still thankful that Millie Bright was there to hack the ball away just before a Spain striker could pounce. Although England did threaten on occasions, roared on by a vociferous crowd, it was looking like Spain would weather the storm and eventually see the game out, and it became clear that there was their game plan, as they increasingly deployed game delaying tactics. But on 84 minutes, England did get back on level terms to send the crowd into wild celebrations when Hemp dinked the ball into the danger area, sub Alessia Russo headed the ball goalwards, and fellow sub and Manchester United team mate Ella Toone stabbed the ball home from close range.

It felt like that could turn the tide in favour of England, with a roaring crowd driving them on, and although the game finished level after 90 minutes. And 6 minutes into extra time, England took the lead with a goal that would be worth winning any match when Georgia Stanway strode through the midfield and as she approached the edge of the penalty area, she drove in a powerful shot which flew past the keeper and into the net. That was the fatal blow for the Spaniards, as they did not really threaten to force penalties throughout the remainder of extra time, and so it was England who progressed to the semi-final, where they will face either Sweden or Belgium at Bramall Lane next Tuesday.

Video hightlights can be viewed by clicking here

Denmark Women 0 v 1 Spain Women

Saturday 16th July 2022, Kick-off 20.00
UEFA Women's Euro 2022, Group B

Brentford Community Stadium, Brentford

Admission: £10.00

Programme: £8.00 (covering whole tournament)

Attendance: 16,041

Following my afternoon game at Buckingham Athletic, I then made my way back down to London via a combination of bus, train, tube and another train, arriving at Brentford about an hour before kick off, for my third taste of the Women's Euro 2022 tournament, my first away from the Amex. This was a game that I was particularly looking forward to, with it being my first visit to Brentford's new ground.

The stadium, located just a mile eastwards from Brentford's former home Griffin Park, is very conveniently located adjacent to Kew Bridge station, and the first impression is of slight amazement that it was possible to squeeze a decent sized stadium hosting Premier League football into such a small area, wedged tightly inside a triangle of train lines, with spare space taken up by a passing road and a newly built blocks of flats, and just a tight walkway immediately around the stadium, apart from the passing road. Having booked a ticket in the "cheap seats" section on the UEFA ticketing portal last year, I was very pleased with the seat I had been allocated, towards the front of the top tier immediately behind the goal. Whilst it was sad to see the end of Brentford's previous home, the wonderfully old fashioned and characterful Griffin Park, and not usually being a fan of soulless new stadia, I was quite impressed with the new stadium, having plenty of quirkiness about the design, is sensibly sized for the club's needs (although whether it will continue to be if Brentford remain in the Premier League for an extended period of time remains to be seen), and views are excellent, both from my seat and seemingly throughout the stadium. In addition to the two large video screens are attached to the roofs along either length, further smaller screens are located underneath for roofs of both ends, pointing down towards the spectators in that end. The roofing has plenty of slants around the stadium to it, and the individual seats are multi coloured, which seems to be becoming fashionable with newly built grounds these days, presumably to make the ground look fuller than it is if a full house is not present.

Just like at the game I watched yesterday evening, this game would be another "winner takes all" affair in the last round of group stage matches, although a draw would be sufficient for Spain to progress to a quarter-final match up with England on Wednesday evening. In their previous group fixtures, Denmark lost 0-4 against Germany before beating Finland 1-0, whilst Spain won 4-1 against Finland before losing 0-2 against Germany. The FIFA World Ranking suggested Spain would be the favourites to progress, ranked seventh in the world, with Denmark 15th.

On another warm evening, rather unsurprisingly, this was a game that was not the most entertaining to watch in all honesty, but which Spain dominated for long periods, impressing with their technical play and all it lacked really was a cutting edge and a shot on goal at the end of decent passages of play. Surprisingly for a team that needed to win to progress, Denmark generally sat back, but were dangerous on the occasional counter attack, and there was a feeling that they could make Spain for their reluctance to take shots on goal. 

After a goalless first half, the pattern continued into the second half, but on 50 minutes Denmark had a great chance to open the scoring when Harder passed the ball sideways into the path of Nadim, who took a touch before stretching to strike the ball towards the top right hand corner, but the keeper parried the ball away well. But as the match looked destined to finish goalless as the game entered added on time, Spain scored to make absolutely sure of their progress to the quarter-finals when Carmona looped the ball in from the left, and Cardona headed the ball back across the keeper and into the net. It was heartbreaking for Denmark and their loud and sizeable support, but in truth Spain were the better team and could now look forward to a trip to Brighton on Wednesday evening where they will face hosts England.

Video highlights of this match can be viewed by clicking here

Buckingham Athletic 2 v 4 Potton United

Saturday 16th July 2022, Kick-off 14.00
Pre-Season Friendly

Stratford Fields, Buckingham

Admission: Free

Programme: None

Attendance: 30 (rough headcount)

With my first visit to Brentford’s new-ish ground for a Women’s Euro 2022 game planned for this evening, I was struggling to get much inspiration of where to go for my afternoon game, wanting to tick off a new ground. I hadn’t really considered this game until this morning, but after doing some calculations to make sure I would get down to Brentford in good time after the game, aided by a 2pm kick-off, and getting the impression that Stratford Fields would make for a very pleasant place to visit on a summer’s day, I chose to head up to north Buckinghamshire.

On arrival at Milton Keynes train station, I then caught a bus for a 20 minute journey to Buckingham High Street bus stand, from where Stratford Fields is about a five minute walk. Just inside the entrance from the passing road is a small car park and the clubhouse building, which is quite bright and roomy inside, and with a very decent range of drinks on offer including a couple of ales on tap from Rebellion Brewery. I found their Smuggler ale most enjoyable. There is a patio with wooden picnic tables complete with parasols to the front, with distant views of the football pitch available. The football ground itself is enclosed by see-through metal fencing, which allows views over the very pleasant country park surroundings. There is only one stand present, but it is quite substantial and pleasingly old-fashioned, containing three rows of wooden bench top to sit on, and a row to stand on along the back. Tall trees line this length stretching round behind one end of the complex, further enhancing the green backdrop. There is just hard standing around the rest of the ground, with Perspex dugouts located on the opposite side to the stand.

Buckingham Athletic finished a steady ninth in the Spartan South Midlands League Division One last season, their nineteenth consecutive season in that division. Potton United finished in tenth place in the United Counties League Premier Divisions South, but for this coming season they will return to the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division, having spent just the one season away.

On an afternoon that was probably too hot for football, credit to both teams for producing what was, for the most part, quite an energetic performance that was enjoyable to watch. Potton opened the scoring on 8 minutes when the ball was laid off into the path of a team mate, who ran on before striking low past the keeper, but Buckingham equalised two minutes later when a pass into the striker to the left of goal drew the keeper out, but the Buckingham player managed to slot the ball home. Potton went back into the lead on 14 minutes, when the ball was pumped high downfield, the Buckingham defender misjudged the bounce of the ball, allowing the Potton forward to run clear on goal before coolly taking the ball round the keeper and tapping it into the net. The visitors were awarded a penalty on 24 minutes, when the Buckingham keeper tried to dribble the ball along the byline, but after being closed down, in trying to retain possession, ended up fouling the Potton man instead. But he made up for it when he quite comfortably saved a pretty poor and weak penalty with his foot. But on 31 minutes Potton did score their third, when a deflected cross-shot went past the keeper, with the ball kissing the inside of the far post before gently rolling just over the line.

The second half, perhaps inevitably, was played at a slightly slower tempo. Buckingham scored their second on 72 minutes, when their player ran towards goal and into the penalty area before being bundled over, and the resultant penalty was converted low into the right side of the net, sending the keeper the wrong way. A couple of minutes later, Potton had a powerful shot well parried by the keeper, but they did score their fourth on 86 minutes, when a shot on the run from the edge of the area took a slight deflection to send the ball past the keeper and into the net.