Faversham Town FC

Faversham Town 0 Tunbridge Wells 1

Entrance to Faversham FC

Faversham pay the penalty

Faversham Town 0 Tunbridge Wells 1

Once again, I chose this fixture on the day that the draw was published, mainly due to the fact that I hadn’t visited the Kent league for a couple of seasons. Little did I know that Stuart Robinson would be doing a review of this very club in the Non-League Digest issue before this, Faversham is obviously the place to be in September.

A glorious late summer day made a most pleasant change. Little to spoil my journey then until on arrival at Kings Cross, I was informed that there was no Victoria line that weekend. Not a huge issue, just plain annoying with about 25 mins added to my tube journey with the whole population of the South East seemingly on the Piccadilly line. I was also slightly unnerved on boarding the train at Victoria as it was announced that it would split with half going to Ramsgate, the other half to Dover. Suddenly people were flying in all directions up & down the platform trying to select the appropriate carriage. I joined in for about 5 mins until I discovered that the train was splitting at Faversham & I could sit anywhere. I’ve not really visited the North Kent coast and made a mental decision to return as there are many clubs in the area. Interesting views of the Kent countryside and the harbours at Chatham & Rocester. I had a choice of 2 exits on reaching Faversham & naturally enough, chose the wrong one. I have quite a good sense of direction but always seem to choose the wrong exit when groundhopping. I wandered down the high street which is only a minute from the station, found a Martins newsagent and consulted a map of the area ( I often use this tactic), I quickly got my bearings and as luck would have it, found myself outside a chippy. I was given a huge portion of sausage and chips which took an age to eat but I’m certainly not complaining. It often amuses me in the Non-League paper when Sad Hopper says that he can’t resist the smell of burgers at a football ground. I think in my time, I’ve had two nice burgers at a football ground & I’ll usually walk miles to find an alternative.

I wandered back to the station, went through a little tunnel & then walked down a couple of quiet back streets before reaching the A2. Considering this is a major road, it was remarkably quiet on this particular afternoon. I have busier B roads near where I live. The ground is on the other side of the A2 & is clearly signed. It’s probably no more than an easy 10 minute walk from the station.

I actually found the ground to be quite old fashioned in its look. The main stand has an unusual shaped tin roof & there are plastic bench seats littered underneath for folk to sit on. There’s also a covered area behind the near goal and a small covered area by the corner flag again at the near side. The pitch slopes from side to side but played quite well. There was a disappointing backdrop though. I was hoping for some nice views but there’s basically, nothing to speak of at all.

I wandered in to the clubhouse to buy a drink and was impressed by all the officials. They all looked extremely smart in the blazers and club ties and were all buzzing about the place carrying out their duties. Clearly, they all knew their stuff and fired an instant response to any question posed to them. I sat to watch a bit of TV as I was a little early only for one old boy to turn it off the second I sat down. It wasn’t done deliberately, I don’t think he’d even clocked that I was there but it did amuse me.

The game was a tight inter-league affair with Tunbridge Wells always slightly in the ascendancy. About once every 10 mins in the opposition half, they settled and constructed a string of about 15 neat passes. I believe Soccer AM call it total football. It’s very pleasing on the eye and they could be a real force if they could do this on a more consistent basis. They scored on 33 mins when debutant Tate played a neat 1-2 just inside the left of the box and managed to drag a finish across the young rookie keeper and in to the far corner. Then it was a tale of 2 penalties. First Faversham were awarded one presumably for a push although I was up the other end and couldn’t see exactly what had happened. The penalty kick was weak to the keepers right, he saved it but the rebound was bundled in only for it to then be disallowed for another push. 15 mins from time Tunbridge won their penalty for a more blatant trip. Their taker tried a dinky Di Cannio style chip. Embarrassingly for him, the keeper hadn’t moved and just stood there to catch the softest penalty I’ve ever seen.

A few scares at the end, but Tunbridge held on to reach the first round proper.

London APSA FC

London APSA 1 Oxhey Jets 3

Docklands light railway

Oxhey Jets stay on track

London APSA 1 Oxhey Jets 3

06/09/08

On the day in July that the draw for the Vase was published, I was due to go to Blackpool on business. The draw was to come out at 11am, my train left at 12. What followed was some frantic printing & stapling, in good film style fashion, I completed the task with minutes to spare and rushed off just in time to catch my train. Sure, I could have waited another day to see the draw....hell, no I couldn't, now I had a whole evening in a Blackpool hotel to pick out my opening fixture. This I did & off to Birstall was my intention. But over time, I went off the idea of starting the competition in the Leicestershire senior league again, so I re-examined the draw and chose Pershore. And then the rains came and carried on and on and on, the forecast was dreadful, there was flooding everywhere & at the last minute, I chose London APSA as I hadn't been there before and there was more hope of the game going ahead. In hindsight, all three of my choices were played, but I'm happy with the decision that I made. 

It was an easy journey to this ground, on reaching London I took the tube to the interestingly named Prince Regent station on the Docklands light railway. Many things worry me about the 2012 Olympics. Security, will the stadiums be built on time, strikes by workers... One thing that doesn't worry me is the Docklands light railway. It almost doesn't belong in London. It's clean, is not crowded, always seems to be on time and winds its way over ground through interesting London landmarks. If only the rest of the tube was like this. The London Expo centre is right next to the station, the surrounding area was nothing more than a building site and was most unattractive. Fortunately, I was going in the other direction and found myself in quite a quiet part of the East end, a nice little area! I searched for a suitable lunch venue and with not a lot of choice, ended up selecting a saveloy and chips from a local chippy. Is it just me who when in the East end, has an uncontrolable urge to 'Cockney up' my language. Before I knew what I was saying, there were darlin' & mate's coming out my mouth and I left happily saying something along the lines of "Cor blimey, wot a nice gaff" The food was fine and I sat and ate it in a nearby park. Again, this was extremely quiet and it didn't feel particularly like I was in the country's capital city. 

The ground itself is about a 10 minute walk from the station. You have to negotiate a busy road but there are traffic lights as well as a bridge over this road. Theground is within Newham leisure centre and is surrounded by a running track, not a feature that I'm fond of at all at football grounds. Some kind of indoor running track is being built under the stadiums stand. It was due to have been finished at the end of August but the project was behind schedule. Please don't let this be an omen for 2012! Because of this, there was no cover to watch the game. Fortunately, we only had a couple of light showers, a minor miracle as most other games suffered a deluge of some sort.

I arrived in good time and was immediately approached by an official who asked if I was there to watch the game. He offered me a programme which turned out unusually to be in A4 format. I actually quite liked this for a change and it seemed to fit the personal attention that this club gives to all its match day duties.  The same official then pointed me to a porta cabin where tea was on sale, he then hopped round the counter, served me himself and also found time to have a chat with me. I can't remember ever having a warmer welcome from a club and I have a huge amount of respect for the effort that the volunteers put in, despite them being very few in numbers. I then got chatting to a London APSA player who was unfit after fracturing his arm during his first game for the club. Again, a really nice feller. I hope he's fit to play again before too long.

Having plenty of time, I went for a walk around the running track. I can't remember the last time I did the 400 metres, it must be about 20 years ago, this time i completed the lap in about 7 minutes. I was taking photos on the way, at least that's my excuse. On my second lap, i met someone walking the other way who turned out to be a fellow groundhopper. It always interests me as to the different way people carry out the same hobby. This gentleman mainly visits grounds in the South East and only does so for FA Cup & FA Vase matches. Still, he was good company and we spent the whole game standing together, discussing the different places that we'd visited.

A big plus was that we were allowed across the running track and literally watched the game standing on the touchline. The pitch was both long and wide, was as flat as a billiard table and seemed remarkably dry considering all the water that had fallen on it over the recent weeks.

The game itself was tight early on until Oxhey scored two in two minutes around the half hour mark. London APSA got back into it on 70 minutes after a nice strike by a substitute, but Oxhey secured the tie 5 minutes later after a nice passing move.

The best team won but I was sorry that London APSA were knocked out. A venue that grew on me the more time I spent there, due to the warm and friendly welcome that I received.

Visit if you get a chance.

Victorious captain lifts the Vase

Kirkham & Washam 2 Lowestoft Town 1

Water play at Wembley

Last gasp winner secures Vase for Kirkham & Wesham

Kirkham & Wesham 2 Lowestoft Town 1

In contrast to the cold conditions with driving rain for last seasons final, we had the most fantastic day with temperatures threatening 30 degrees for this years contest. I always find myself reminiscing about earlier rounds and it’s certainly been another eventful campaign. A postponement in Crowborough, early summer in Merstham, strong winds at Hungerford & Needham Market, I’ve experienced all four seasons. Great food at Merstham & Rothley Imperials, lunch at a station for Concord Rangers, again it’s been the good, bad ^ ugly. Great comebacks at Shrivenham & Merstham twice, the football has never been dull. The final lived up to its billing with Kirkham finishing off a truly great season. It was great to sit near the fountains at Wembley watching children & some adults cavorting in the water on a fabulous summer like afternoon. It would have been even better if the beer hadn’t cost £3.50 for a small bottle of Fosters, outrageous and Wembley should be ashamed of ripping people off. Wembley had told me that tickets would not be available on the day, the FA told me they would. So I was a little apprehensive during my journey, fortunately the FA were indeed correct. I was about to buy my £20 ticket when a Lowestoft fan offered to sell me hers as she’d managed to obtain a VIP ticket. She sold me the ticket at a £5 discount and it turned out to be a great seat near the half way line. The pitch looked immaculate as did the whole of Wembley stadium. It’s certainly a stadium that takes your breath away. Despite the obligatory ‘Mexican wave’ the whole game was hugely enjoyable.
I had no idea which way this was going to go,` although I felt that Kirkham’s name might just be on the trophy. I had no idea just how late they would leave it. Lowestoft started the stronger and took the lead on 9 mins. A deep cross from the left touchline caught a Kirkham defender in two minds, in attempting to clear he headed it past his own keeper. Lowestoft seemed content to sit on their lead playing a defensive 4-1-4-1 formation. They were effectively attacking only on the break, the majority of the match from this point was played in Lowestoft’s own half. A fascinating tactical battle was being played out although, despite a couple of miraculous escapes with woodwork being hit and last gasp blocks being made, it looked like Lowestoft would hold on. But on 84 mins, a ball down the left channel caught a defender on the wrong side, the ball was squared to Walwyn who took a nice first touch and buried it past the keeper from 9 yards. From then on, there was only likely to be one winner although extra time seemed inevitable. But 30 seconds before the end of stoppage time, Kirkham beat an increasingly high up the pitch offside trap, a 1 on 1 resulted in the ball being played to Walwyn and with the keeper being taken out of the game, he scored easily.
A fitting climax to another season, I can’t wait for next seasons draw.

Needham Market FC

Needham Market 0 Kirkham & Wesham 1

Needham chippy

Kirkham secure Wembley final place

Needham Market 0 Kirkham & Wesham 1

29/3/08

My run of seeing a game in every round of this competition came to an end over the Easter weekend. The offer of seeing 8 games in 2 days at the CML hop was too big a temptation to turn down. Fortunately, the semi final between Needham Market & Kirkham and Wesham was nicely set up with Kirkham holding a slender one goal advantage. So I prepared for my trip by calling up the National rail website and yes, you’ve guessed it, REPLACEMENT BUS SERVICE. They must be my most hated three words in the English language. This time, the maintenance was from Bury St Edmunds, so I’d have to complete my journey on said bus. The journey to Bury was uneventful, I stepped off the train, took a deep breath and headed for the queue of busses. Surprisingly, I was pointed in the right direction, the bus left on time and away we went touring a couple of delightful Suffolk villages. Delightful that is, until a bunch of rowdy, teenage Ipswich fans got on at Thurston. About a dozen of them got on board, the first words I heard were “Let’s burn it up at the back”. My heart sank! To be fair, once they’d settled down they weren’t too bad, but there’s always one with an annoying, monotone, loud voice who usually has bleached hair. The driver actually threatened to throw this individual off the bus when we reached Needham, probably as he was sick of listening to his voice & inane comments. I do like a spot of irony and that moment came when on a replacement bus service, we had to stop at a level crossing to let the slow moving, freight train pass by on the very line that I was not allowed to travel on. Never mind, I reached Needham in plenty of time & was happy to find a chippy almost immediately which had a couple of tables for those wanting to eat inside. My pie & chips were superb and piping hot, although not quite up to the standard of the one I visited twice in Crowborough. I ate my lunch to the sound of Kirkham fans singing away in the pub next door, all bode well for a good atmosphere at the game. A couple of older Kirkham fans came into the chippy with their wives, I felt their pain when the owner informed them that he didn’t serve gravy. The look of utter shock & bemusement on the Kirkham fans face was a picture- After all, Northern boys love gravy! It’s a simple 10 minute walk to the ground along very residential, but quite attractive streets. I was delighted to see that admission would only cost £6 and that under 12’s would be allowed in free. Where else do you get value like that for the semi final of a National competition? The ground is quite high up and a little exposed although the line of fir trees on one side of the ground gave a little relief from the wind. There is a reasonable sized stand and a couple of other covered standing area. The pitch was perfectly playable but rather sticky following a deluge of rain the day before. I never got to see a clubhouse, but other facilities at the ground were more basic than a lot of Ridgeon’s grounds. A crowd of 1270 watched the game, Kirkham fans by far the more vocal.
Any semi final always holds the interest, but this never quite got going as a contest. Both sides defended well although chances were few and far between. Kirkham always tried to play a neat passing game and should have scored in the middle of the first half when Patterson was clean through, but his shot went straight at the keeper. The second half was much of the same, Needham unable to carve open any clear cut openings. They did have one shot headed off the line and saw the giant Kirkham keeper make one fine save, but Kirkham were always more likely to score on the break as Needham pushed forward. Right on 90 mins, Kirkham secured the tie to win 4~2 on aggregate. They broke clear on the left and as the Needham keeper closed down the angle, the ball was squared for Walwyn to tap in the easiest of finishes. Kirkham on the day, were deserved winners.
Coming home, we had a 45 minute wait for the replacement bus service that we eventually caught from the main street. Nice of Network rail to provide signs telling us that the busses would be there. One poor guy had been waiting by the station for nearly 2 hours. Still, nice to meet up with fellow ground hoppers and discuss our hobby.
Needless to say, the same bleech haired Ipswich fan was on the bus going back towards Bury. I took my seat and switched on my I-Pod!

Hungerford Town FC

Hungerford Town 0 Whitley Bay 1

Hungerford Town FC clubhouse

Bay breeze past Hungerford

Hungerford Town 0 Whitley Bay 1

Quarter final day and I considered that I'd had a result. For anyone who takes note of what I write......Just me then! You'd remember that I almost visited Hungerford earlier in the tournament, only for me to change my plans after an offer to visit a friend in the West country. So when Hungerford were drawn at home for the quarter finals, I was able to visit a new ground within reasonably easy reach of my home. Once a month, I attend a men's breakfast club in a village near why I live that basically involves a large fry up & a chat with mates about a current affair topic. So with sausage & black pudding weighing me down, I headed straight for the station and off into London. The journey was very straightforward with a direct train from Paddington. All was going to plan, although I did think the train was strangely packed. It soon became apparent that the vast majority of the travellers were going to spend the day at Newbury races. The crowd seemed to mainly be made up of young blokes , dressed in suits who were intent on drinking as much lager as possible in as short a time as possible. Having said that, everyone seemed in good humour and 'Sure thing' tips were flying up and down the carriage. The train stopped at Newbury racecourse station and took about 10 minutes to empty. This put us behind time and we crawled the rest of the way to Hungerford, stopping at every possible signal. I still arrived at the station in good time, normally I would have wandered into the town and had a nose round, but today, there were a group of fans at the station obviously going to the game & fearing a big crowd, I decided to follow them so that I didn't have to worry about examining maps and finding the way. It's actually a really straight road and the walk takes no more than 10 minutes. Following my big breakfast, I called in at a local 'one stop' that I happened to pass and lunched on a cheese and ham salad sandwich which I ate at the ground and really enjoyed. Who needs chips! I seem to bump into the FA Vase trophy on at least one occasion every season & for the second year running, it was at the quarter final stage. The FA were on hand taking photos of fans standing next to the trophy, I nice touch that always goes down well.

I quite liked this ground which had a standard sized stand around the halfway line as well as a covered area on the other side and behind one of the goals. A good sized clubhouse with a bar, the pitch slopes from end to end and was hard & bumpy. Tea and coffee was being thoughtfully sold both inside & outside the clubhouse, there was also hot food and cold snacks available.

 A windy day along with the bumpy pitch, meant that skill was in short supply. The ball spent most of the game either high in the air or out of play. Hungerford never really got out of first gear. When they did create an opening, they completely failed to get a quality strike on goal. Whitley Bay spent the entire game closing the opposition down and not allowing them any time on the ball, a tactic that proved to be extremely effective. It was no surprise when Whitley Bay were the team to score, the goal came on 46 mins. Two Hungerford players went for the same ball, Whitley Bay picked it up, a low cross was missed by a defender and Robinson from a central position, shot under the keeper from 11 yards. Hungerford did manage to force two fine saves late on from the Whitley Bay keeper, but in all honesty, Whitley Bay were deserved and reasonably comfortable winners.

Now annoyingly. No, incredibly annoyingly, the first leg of the semi finals are on Easter Saturday when I'm away at the CML groundhop and even if I wasn't, there's never any trains running. So I'll have to make do with one of the second legs.