Sunday, February 10, 2013
Shildon to the four
Brantham Athletic 1 Shildon AFC 4
I'm feeling positively spoilt. Two Vase matches on consecutive Saturdays at new grounds. I could probably try again next Saturday with all the postponements, but will leave it until the next round.
About a minute before leaving home, there was a knock at the door with two Jehovah's witnesses itching for a discussion. I let them down politely, "Do you follow a different faith??" they asked, "No, I follow the FA Vase" was my slightly cheeky reply.
Once again my first train was 6 minutes late, then all the way into London, a door between two carriages kept swinging open every time there was a slight jolt. It ended up with a guy leaving his foot there to try and keep out the howling gale. Still, fares keep going up and this is the shocking service that we have to put up with.
I went via Highbury & Islington to Stratford, where I caught the connection to Manningtree. It was piddling down with rain at Stratford, so I was pleasantly surprised when arriving at Manningtree to see there was barely a cloud in the sky. Mind you, I nearly missed my stop as I was so gripped reading 'Scarecrow' by Matthew Reilly. If you've never read any of his books, give them a go. Thrill a minute stuff!
A brisk 20 minute walk from Manningtree station to the ground mostly along a busy A road. I actually thought that Brantham was in Essex, but it's just over the Suffolk border in a quiet little area with a nice looking Chinese restaurant which seemed somewhat out of place to me.
Lunch was a cheeseburger and chips from the busy clubhouse. Not bad although the chips were slightly undercooked. However, the ladies behind the hatch were working their socks off.
The ground really reminded me of Littlehampton where I'd been earlier this season. A raised gallery over the clubhouse and no hard standing on the near side where both common features. There was a stand on the far side and a covered seating area behind one area of the near goal, I understand there seats came from the old Layer road.
The PA was blasting out disco music, being a kid of the 70's, I was foot tapping and singing along to myself quite happily. A word here for the PA announcer. He was absolutely hillarious throughout the game with his good spirited quips and banter whenever the opposition scored. Great fun!
As so often happens when Northern teams travel at this stage of the Vase, they brought a lot of fans with them. Much beer was drunk but everyone thankfully behaved themselves and was in good spirits.
The game was never really in doubt. Brantham couldn't take a couple of early half-chances, but were actually out-played, out-thought, out-fought and generally well beaten by a team that seemed to get to every ball first and just wanted it more.
They scored on 17 mins from a header and got 2 more early in the second period. Brantham did pull one back but then immediately gave away a penalty which was converted to restore the 3 goal cushion.
All in all, a satisfactory trip complemented by some football chat with a couple of other travellers on the train back to London.
I'm feeling positively spoilt. Two Vase matches on consecutive Saturdays at new grounds. I could probably try again next Saturday with all the postponements, but will leave it until the next round.
About a minute before leaving home, there was a knock at the door with two Jehovah's witnesses itching for a discussion. I let them down politely, "Do you follow a different faith??" they asked, "No, I follow the FA Vase" was my slightly cheeky reply.
Once again my first train was 6 minutes late, then all the way into London, a door between two carriages kept swinging open every time there was a slight jolt. It ended up with a guy leaving his foot there to try and keep out the howling gale. Still, fares keep going up and this is the shocking service that we have to put up with.
I went via Highbury & Islington to Stratford, where I caught the connection to Manningtree. It was piddling down with rain at Stratford, so I was pleasantly surprised when arriving at Manningtree to see there was barely a cloud in the sky. Mind you, I nearly missed my stop as I was so gripped reading 'Scarecrow' by Matthew Reilly. If you've never read any of his books, give them a go. Thrill a minute stuff!
A brisk 20 minute walk from Manningtree station to the ground mostly along a busy A road. I actually thought that Brantham was in Essex, but it's just over the Suffolk border in a quiet little area with a nice looking Chinese restaurant which seemed somewhat out of place to me.
Lunch was a cheeseburger and chips from the busy clubhouse. Not bad although the chips were slightly undercooked. However, the ladies behind the hatch were working their socks off.
The ground really reminded me of Littlehampton where I'd been earlier this season. A raised gallery over the clubhouse and no hard standing on the near side where both common features. There was a stand on the far side and a covered seating area behind one area of the near goal, I understand there seats came from the old Layer road.
The PA was blasting out disco music, being a kid of the 70's, I was foot tapping and singing along to myself quite happily. A word here for the PA announcer. He was absolutely hillarious throughout the game with his good spirited quips and banter whenever the opposition scored. Great fun!
As so often happens when Northern teams travel at this stage of the Vase, they brought a lot of fans with them. Much beer was drunk but everyone thankfully behaved themselves and was in good spirits.
The game was never really in doubt. Brantham couldn't take a couple of early half-chances, but were actually out-played, out-thought, out-fought and generally well beaten by a team that seemed to get to every ball first and just wanted it more.
They scored on 17 mins from a header and got 2 more early in the second period. Brantham did pull one back but then immediately gave away a penalty which was converted to restore the 3 goal cushion.
All in all, a satisfactory trip complemented by some football chat with a couple of other travellers on the train back to London.
Sunday, February 03, 2013
4th round seen on Borrow. time
Borrowash Victoria 0 Ascot United 3
As mentioned before, I have two main hobbies. Non-league football and amateur dramatics. Occassionally, one gets in the way of the other. Due to performing the play 'Table manners', I was going to miss the FA Vase 4th round and any potential replays. But then the snow came! As annoying, irritating and dangerous as the snow and ice is (I fell over twice last week), it actually did me a favour. So many matches were postponed from the two Saturday's that I missed, I was able to get in this 4th round tie.
For some strange reason, when buying my advance tickets online to get a cheaper price, I could only get a return to Derby, it wouldn't allow me to buy advance tickets to Spondon. So I decided to buy a return from Derby to Spondon once I reached Kings Cross. I approached the tickt desk and asked for this return. "Where" bellowed the ticket clerk. I spelt out Spondon for him, "Never heard of it" he said staring me straight in the eye as if this was some kind of crime. I just shrugged at him as he typed it into the computer. "Well it does exist" he finally said almost begrudgingly. I paid my £3 & left the clerk starring suspiciously at me.
The train from St Pancras to Derby was 3/4 empty and due to the unusual peach and quiet, it verged on the civilised.
At Spondon station, just me and a guy in a blue wooly hay got off the train. He's a hopper I thought as he stared up and down the road for some kind of inspiration on which route to take. I had examined the walk on google maps satellite view, so knew where I was going.
I quickly stumbled across a chippy where I bought a steak & kidney pie with chips. Very nice, but it should just be called a steak pie as you can never find any kidney for love nor money. No complaints though, the further north you go, the more generous the porton of chips. I enjoyed it as I walked along the road about 100 yards behind the guy with the wooly hat. Now I'm not sure if he was going to the game but if he was, he missed theturning to Borrowash road.
The ground is right next to Graham Street Pimms FC. I find it hard to understand how 2 clubs can be literally right next to each other and both continue to exist and pull in support. Graham Street were also at home, if they'd brought their kick-off forward by a couple of hours they would have picked up a decent crowd as double headers are always popular.
Have to say, this is my kind of ground. It's the raised banks that always floats my boat and these gave this ground a sort of bowl feel. There is a stand on the near side and also a seated area behind the near goal. Hard standing surrounds 3/4 of the pitch. A reasonable clubhouse that was positively heaving with people, the tea hut was also very efficient. The toilets are in a block on the far side next to the players changing rooms. It has the most vast urinal area that I've ever seen at a club at this level. Through me for a brief moment, not the sort of thing I like to make a decision about!
Despite arriving at 13:55, the club had run out of problems. The printers had apparently let them down. One official was taking names and addresses and kindly offered to post a copy on to people. A programme is not life or death o me. Listening to some conversations in the clubhouse, you would think that some people had had their life savings swindled from them. Some of the comments I heard, I'm guessing from fellow groundhoppers made me shake my head with bewilderment. I don't think enough appreciation is given to clubs that really struggle to get volunteers on board. One guy was even complaining about the bad reception he had received on bursting into the boardroom to ask for a teamsheet. Yeah, I wonder why that might be!
So to the game, Ascot were easily the better team. They actually played some delightful stuff with 2 or 3 outstanding individual performances. Borrowash haad a couple of good chances but really cannot complain about the result. Ascot scored halfway through the first half and then got aother 2 in the last 20 minutes, the last one a penalty. The Borrowash keeper made a couple of blinding point blank saves which made up for the most erratic kicking display I've seen in quite a while.
The nice thing is, there should be another Vase match next Saturday, weather permitting......
As mentioned before, I have two main hobbies. Non-league football and amateur dramatics. Occassionally, one gets in the way of the other. Due to performing the play 'Table manners', I was going to miss the FA Vase 4th round and any potential replays. But then the snow came! As annoying, irritating and dangerous as the snow and ice is (I fell over twice last week), it actually did me a favour. So many matches were postponed from the two Saturday's that I missed, I was able to get in this 4th round tie.
For some strange reason, when buying my advance tickets online to get a cheaper price, I could only get a return to Derby, it wouldn't allow me to buy advance tickets to Spondon. So I decided to buy a return from Derby to Spondon once I reached Kings Cross. I approached the tickt desk and asked for this return. "Where" bellowed the ticket clerk. I spelt out Spondon for him, "Never heard of it" he said staring me straight in the eye as if this was some kind of crime. I just shrugged at him as he typed it into the computer. "Well it does exist" he finally said almost begrudgingly. I paid my £3 & left the clerk starring suspiciously at me.
The train from St Pancras to Derby was 3/4 empty and due to the unusual peach and quiet, it verged on the civilised.
At Spondon station, just me and a guy in a blue wooly hay got off the train. He's a hopper I thought as he stared up and down the road for some kind of inspiration on which route to take. I had examined the walk on google maps satellite view, so knew where I was going.
I quickly stumbled across a chippy where I bought a steak & kidney pie with chips. Very nice, but it should just be called a steak pie as you can never find any kidney for love nor money. No complaints though, the further north you go, the more generous the porton of chips. I enjoyed it as I walked along the road about 100 yards behind the guy with the wooly hat. Now I'm not sure if he was going to the game but if he was, he missed theturning to Borrowash road.
The ground is right next to Graham Street Pimms FC. I find it hard to understand how 2 clubs can be literally right next to each other and both continue to exist and pull in support. Graham Street were also at home, if they'd brought their kick-off forward by a couple of hours they would have picked up a decent crowd as double headers are always popular.
Have to say, this is my kind of ground. It's the raised banks that always floats my boat and these gave this ground a sort of bowl feel. There is a stand on the near side and also a seated area behind the near goal. Hard standing surrounds 3/4 of the pitch. A reasonable clubhouse that was positively heaving with people, the tea hut was also very efficient. The toilets are in a block on the far side next to the players changing rooms. It has the most vast urinal area that I've ever seen at a club at this level. Through me for a brief moment, not the sort of thing I like to make a decision about!
Despite arriving at 13:55, the club had run out of problems. The printers had apparently let them down. One official was taking names and addresses and kindly offered to post a copy on to people. A programme is not life or death o me. Listening to some conversations in the clubhouse, you would think that some people had had their life savings swindled from them. Some of the comments I heard, I'm guessing from fellow groundhoppers made me shake my head with bewilderment. I don't think enough appreciation is given to clubs that really struggle to get volunteers on board. One guy was even complaining about the bad reception he had received on bursting into the boardroom to ask for a teamsheet. Yeah, I wonder why that might be!
So to the game, Ascot were easily the better team. They actually played some delightful stuff with 2 or 3 outstanding individual performances. Borrowash haad a couple of good chances but really cannot complain about the result. Ascot scored halfway through the first half and then got aother 2 in the last 20 minutes, the last one a penalty. The Borrowash keeper made a couple of blinding point blank saves which made up for the most erratic kicking display I've seen in quite a while.
The nice thing is, there should be another Vase match next Saturday, weather permitting......
Sunday, December 09, 2012
Hert broken
Ampthill Town 1 Hertford Town 0
Due to my wife's 50 th birthday and turning up at Stony Stratford the previous Saturday to find the pitch resembling Lake Windermere, this was my first game since the last round of the Vase at Littlehampton.
Two weeks before Christmas is never the best time to travel by train into London. The platform was heaving, the train was heaving and yet First Capital Connect still make the decision to just send out a four carriage train. Why oh why do they never think of their customers comfort. Still, fares will increase well over the price of inflation again in the new year and absolutely nothing will change - Rant over!
st Pancras was also heaving, but the platform for my train was a little tranquil oasis with only me and a couple of other people daring to head out of London on this prime Saturday shopping day.
It was a straightforward trip to Flitwick station where I was challenged to a walk of between 2-3 miles to Ampthill's ground. I was hoping to bump into somewhere for lunch but could only spot a Martin's newsagent. I bought a bar of chocolat in case of emergencies but there was no sign of a chippy. I set off on my walk and after about 10 minutes, like a mirage, Flitwick fishery appeared like a mirage on the other side of the road. There were two people ahead of my in the queue. I anticipated a short wait but was in the shop for the best part of 15 minutes. Why do chip shops so often not have chips ready? This, along with the guy in front of me buying most of the food in the shop contributed to possibly the longest wait I've ever had for food on a hop. The guy in front of me actually drank a whole bottle of tango that he was buying and had finished it before he paid for it. Still, my jumbo sausage and chips were piping hot and really good.
The walk wasn't particularly enjoyable as it was constantly along busy roads with traffic roaring by. When I arrived in Ampthill, it was quite an attractive little place, larger than I had expected with a good selection of shops.
I used to be the tannoy announcer at Hertford Town as well as doing live, local radio reports. After these roles came to an end, I left the club to groundhop on a full time basis and this is the first time I had seen Hertford Town since. Needless to say, I entered the clubhouse and immediately bumped into a couple of people that I knew. I have to say that the collection of 30 or so Hertford fans sang without and did their club proud.
I really liked the ground. The clubhouse was neat, modern and well run. There was a covered area with some selected seating up a bank on the far side giving a great view of the action. A really nice backdrop of hills, a small wood and a striking church cross at the top of a mound. Hardstading all around with a pitch that played really well after the recent bad weather.
Sadly, the game didn't live up to much. It was slow, in fact laborious at times with long stoppages and seemingly aimless passes from both teams. Hertford's number 11 was injured after about 20 minutes and hobbled for the rest of the half. Why he wasn't substituted, I'll never know. He clearly couldn't run it off and yet was left labouring on the right wing for 25 mins. He even came out at half time for a fitness test after the physio had strapped him up, obviously he failed the test! Ampthill hit the underside of the bar in the first half and the Hertford keeper performed wonders to claw out the follow-up. Hertford hit the outside of the post, these were the only real moments of first half interest. The critical incident of the game happended midway through the second half. The Hertford keeper was caught by a forward in a 50-50 challenge, he writhed around in agony and after lengthy treatment was carried off. An outfide player took over between the sticks. Ampthill after a period of pressing, finally scored on 78 mins. A 15 yard pass was delightfully laid off in a 1-2 move and a toe poked finish gave the stand in keeper little chance. Hertford finally started to play some good football and looked threatening. if only they'd played like this when the scores were level! But Ampthill held on to reach the next round.
An enjoyable afternoon and nice to bump into some old friends.
Due to my wife's 50 th birthday and turning up at Stony Stratford the previous Saturday to find the pitch resembling Lake Windermere, this was my first game since the last round of the Vase at Littlehampton.
Two weeks before Christmas is never the best time to travel by train into London. The platform was heaving, the train was heaving and yet First Capital Connect still make the decision to just send out a four carriage train. Why oh why do they never think of their customers comfort. Still, fares will increase well over the price of inflation again in the new year and absolutely nothing will change - Rant over!
st Pancras was also heaving, but the platform for my train was a little tranquil oasis with only me and a couple of other people daring to head out of London on this prime Saturday shopping day.
It was a straightforward trip to Flitwick station where I was challenged to a walk of between 2-3 miles to Ampthill's ground. I was hoping to bump into somewhere for lunch but could only spot a Martin's newsagent. I bought a bar of chocolat in case of emergencies but there was no sign of a chippy. I set off on my walk and after about 10 minutes, like a mirage, Flitwick fishery appeared like a mirage on the other side of the road. There were two people ahead of my in the queue. I anticipated a short wait but was in the shop for the best part of 15 minutes. Why do chip shops so often not have chips ready? This, along with the guy in front of me buying most of the food in the shop contributed to possibly the longest wait I've ever had for food on a hop. The guy in front of me actually drank a whole bottle of tango that he was buying and had finished it before he paid for it. Still, my jumbo sausage and chips were piping hot and really good.
The walk wasn't particularly enjoyable as it was constantly along busy roads with traffic roaring by. When I arrived in Ampthill, it was quite an attractive little place, larger than I had expected with a good selection of shops.
I used to be the tannoy announcer at Hertford Town as well as doing live, local radio reports. After these roles came to an end, I left the club to groundhop on a full time basis and this is the first time I had seen Hertford Town since. Needless to say, I entered the clubhouse and immediately bumped into a couple of people that I knew. I have to say that the collection of 30 or so Hertford fans sang without and did their club proud.
I really liked the ground. The clubhouse was neat, modern and well run. There was a covered area with some selected seating up a bank on the far side giving a great view of the action. A really nice backdrop of hills, a small wood and a striking church cross at the top of a mound. Hardstading all around with a pitch that played really well after the recent bad weather.
Sadly, the game didn't live up to much. It was slow, in fact laborious at times with long stoppages and seemingly aimless passes from both teams. Hertford's number 11 was injured after about 20 minutes and hobbled for the rest of the half. Why he wasn't substituted, I'll never know. He clearly couldn't run it off and yet was left labouring on the right wing for 25 mins. He even came out at half time for a fitness test after the physio had strapped him up, obviously he failed the test! Ampthill hit the underside of the bar in the first half and the Hertford keeper performed wonders to claw out the follow-up. Hertford hit the outside of the post, these were the only real moments of first half interest. The critical incident of the game happended midway through the second half. The Hertford keeper was caught by a forward in a 50-50 challenge, he writhed around in agony and after lengthy treatment was carried off. An outfide player took over between the sticks. Ampthill after a period of pressing, finally scored on 78 mins. A 15 yard pass was delightfully laid off in a 1-2 move and a toe poked finish gave the stand in keeper little chance. Hertford finally started to play some good football and looked threatening. if only they'd played like this when the scores were level! But Ampthill held on to reach the next round.
An enjoyable afternoon and nice to bump into some old friends.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Little in it
Littlehampton Town 1 Hanworth Villa 1 aet
The train to London was even more heaving than normal. There were fans going to the Arsenal v Spurs gam, fans going to see England v Australia at Twickenham, yet I seemed to be the only one going to Littlehampton in the vase - funny that!
I once again marvelled at modern technology. My daughter has gone travelling and whilst the person in front of me was trying without much success to arrange a lift from Heywards Heath, I was merrily chatting to my daughter in Malaysia by using 'Whatsapp'.
The journey went without incident although a young lady near me spent about an hour knitting. Made me think what a dying art that is, I honestly can't remember the last time I saw someone knitting on a train, it reminded me of the slightly dodgy home-made jumpers I used to be given as a kid.
I didn't really expect to like Littlehampton and was anticipating a slightly run-down, seaside town. I actually encountered a neat little town centre which had a nice feel to it and some lovely little shops. I opted for the South coast pasty shop for lunch which had 4 small tables to eat in. I ordered a giant Cornish pasty and ended up eating the nicest pasty that I have ever had outside of Cornwall. Lovely suety pastry and a tasty filling that didn't cheat on the meat. Absolutely fabulous and try it if you ever get a chance.
The ground is about a 10-15 minute walk from the station and is pretty much a straight line walk. There are covered areas all along the near side and hard standing around all but 1/8 of the pitch. The clubhouse was positively buzzing and is up high necessitating the climb of some stairs. I wasn't expecting too many people but there was quite a crowd who were all up for the game and boisterous with it. Hanworth brought along quite a following. When the two sets of fans congregated in the same area and were all chanting, I anticipated some unpleasantness, but to be fair, the whole crowd were ib good spirits throughout and the match passed without obvious incident. Bizarely the Hanworth fans had two life sized cardboard cut-outs of Marilyn Monroe which they carried around with them, I never found out why.
The game itself was excellent. Littlehampton were from the lower level by one step but certainly matched their opponents. They had the better of the first half and scored after 32 minutes wih a fine diving header. The second half was even with Hanworth just about edging it. They equalised on 70 mins putting away a rebound that came off the far post. Both sides had chances to win it with great opportunities missed and the woodwork being hit. Tackles were flying in as this became a compelling, full-blooded cup-tie.
A winner couldn't be found though, so a replay will be taking place at Hanworth.
Thoroughly enjoyable game at a lively venue.
The train to London was even more heaving than normal. There were fans going to the Arsenal v Spurs gam, fans going to see England v Australia at Twickenham, yet I seemed to be the only one going to Littlehampton in the vase - funny that!
I once again marvelled at modern technology. My daughter has gone travelling and whilst the person in front of me was trying without much success to arrange a lift from Heywards Heath, I was merrily chatting to my daughter in Malaysia by using 'Whatsapp'.
The journey went without incident although a young lady near me spent about an hour knitting. Made me think what a dying art that is, I honestly can't remember the last time I saw someone knitting on a train, it reminded me of the slightly dodgy home-made jumpers I used to be given as a kid.
I didn't really expect to like Littlehampton and was anticipating a slightly run-down, seaside town. I actually encountered a neat little town centre which had a nice feel to it and some lovely little shops. I opted for the South coast pasty shop for lunch which had 4 small tables to eat in. I ordered a giant Cornish pasty and ended up eating the nicest pasty that I have ever had outside of Cornwall. Lovely suety pastry and a tasty filling that didn't cheat on the meat. Absolutely fabulous and try it if you ever get a chance.
The ground is about a 10-15 minute walk from the station and is pretty much a straight line walk. There are covered areas all along the near side and hard standing around all but 1/8 of the pitch. The clubhouse was positively buzzing and is up high necessitating the climb of some stairs. I wasn't expecting too many people but there was quite a crowd who were all up for the game and boisterous with it. Hanworth brought along quite a following. When the two sets of fans congregated in the same area and were all chanting, I anticipated some unpleasantness, but to be fair, the whole crowd were ib good spirits throughout and the match passed without obvious incident. Bizarely the Hanworth fans had two life sized cardboard cut-outs of Marilyn Monroe which they carried around with them, I never found out why.
The game itself was excellent. Littlehampton were from the lower level by one step but certainly matched their opponents. They had the better of the first half and scored after 32 minutes wih a fine diving header. The second half was even with Hanworth just about edging it. They equalised on 70 mins putting away a rebound that came off the far post. Both sides had chances to win it with great opportunities missed and the woodwork being hit. Tackles were flying in as this became a compelling, full-blooded cup-tie.
A winner couldn't be found though, so a replay will be taking place at Hanworth.
Thoroughly enjoyable game at a lively venue.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
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