Long Eaton FC

Long Eaton 0 Bootle 1

Entrance to Long Eaton FC

Keeper error gives Long Eaton the boot

Long Eaton United 0 Bootle 1

06/12/08

After my visit to the Midlands in the previous round was replaced by a trip to the West country, I was on the look out when the draw was produced for a chance to head North. Long Eaton therefore seemed a perfect choice, not too far to travel, but in a Northern based league and at a ground I hadn't previously visited. 

The usual garbage weather during the week leading up to the game, namely rain and snow potentially put the game under threat. But I woke up to a glorious, sunny day with not a cloud in the sky although it was breathtakingly cold. 

The journey towards Nottingham was going without a hitch until the train ground to a halt just outside Grantham. Having sat still for 10 minutes, a guard walked through the carriage announcing that we were just waiting for a platform. I'm not sure whether they were building the platform, had mis-placed the platform or just forgot about us. We eventually moved after being at a standstill for 15 mins. A lady behind me was talking on her phone to her family. Apparently, she hardly ever used a train and was desperately excited by this long delay. It's amazing what gets some people 'turned on', but sitting on a stationery train with no information for what seemed like an eternity doesn't do it for me.

Luckily, I still made my connection at Nottingham and it's only a short trip to Attenborough station. Quite why this train only consisted of two carriages is a mystery I didn't get to the bottom of. 3 weeks from Christmas and we were squeezed in like sardines. The ground at Long Eaton is about a 15 minute walk from Attenborough along the Nottingham road passing a retail park. There were a couple of pubs on the other side of the road but it would have involved taking my life in my hands crossing the road to reach them, so I settled on my annual visit to a McDonalds. My quarter pounder was actually quite enjoyable and entertainment was provided by the couple with 5 kids sitting on the table next to me. They had the wrong drinks, one of them bashed his head on the table, another lost his new watch, a couple of them had a fight and this was all in the apace of 5 minutes. The parents must go to bed at night completely exhausted. 

I found the ground easily enough down a side street just past a bowls club. The bowls club had a security guard outside it complete with radio and fluorescent jacket. I couldn't quite understand why he was there as he appeared to be the only person there. The ground is actually bang on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border next to a quiet street where everyone seemed to be washing their car. It really is quite a nice little area.

Happiness is turning up at a ground and finding a match on an adjoining pitch. The game I found was a kids match and not a bad standard in a Long Eaton v Beeston contest. Always refreshing to see the game played with no histrionics. I entered the ground at about 2:45 and for the second round running, the club I was visiting had sold out of programmes. Never mind, my spirits were restored when the teams came out to R.E.S.P.E.C.T by Ottis Redding being played on the P.A, first time I've seen that done, nice idea!

A large corrugated fence surrounds the ground. A nice, good sized stand, a smaller stand on the opposite side and also a small, covered standing area. A good sized pitch.

Dazzling sunlight caused a few first half problems. Bootle came out as the more energised team and caused some early problems. Long Eaton hit the post with their first meaningful attack, but still fell behind on 19 mins following a dreadful error by their keeper. A firm back pass saw the keeper completely mess up his first touch which ended up at the feet of Fowler who slotted it into an empty net. After this, it was attack versus defence with Long Eaton throwing the kitchen sink at Bootle. Bootle defended superbly as if their lives depended on it. Long Eaton did get the ball in the net with ten minutes remaining, but the referee had already blown for a foul.

Another enjoyable trip with an excellent competitive game at the end of it.

Bitton FC

Entrance to Bitton FC

Bitton rack 'em up playing Poole

Bitton 4 Poole Town 2

15/11/08

A particularly nasty virus struck me on the weekend of the previous round & having been unable to leave the house, I was particularly looking forward to this weekends games. After the usual research & thought, I decided to visit Daralston. Then, my friend who coaches a village team in Somerset, E-mailed me to say that he had a free weekend & would I like to take in a Vase game down his way. He gave me a list of 4 potential ties & I needed all of the grounds except Frome. On paper, Bitton versus Poole seemed the most appealing and that's where we ended up. Having got into London, you have to travel to Keynsham station. There's actually 3 grounds within easy distance of Keynsham. Keynsham themselves, Brislington (Also at home in the Vase) and Bitton, quite unusual for a tiny station with only one train an hour. As usual at Paddington station, the platform number for my departure was put up with under 10 minutes to spare and there was a mass bundle as everyone manoeuvred for position trying to find a good seat. As a sea of people descended on platform 1, there was one dapper old fellow standing there with an umbrella in the air trying to get somebody's attention, he was probably flattened in the rush. Having secured a seat, I was surrounded by a group of Spanish girls either going to hen night. They were certainly in good spirits and loud but I forgave them this mainly due to the fact that I was mesmerised by the bride to be's ability to do a French plait without looking at what she was doing. She combed each of her friends hair and then whilst talking to somebody else and not looking, knocked up this masterpiece arrangement with not a single hair out of place. I tried this on my daughter once and ten years later, she's still trying to get the knots out of her hair. I had to change at Bath, a City that i never tire of. There were cranes and scaffolding everywhere and yet somehow it still looked magnificent, I think it's the brick work and how the buildings are built into the hills, one of my favourite cities! On arrival there were a group og guys clearly doing their community service, sweeping leaves. They seemed to be working hard until the train pulled out, then they all leant against the railings and lit up cigarettes. When my friend arrived ten minutes later, they were still in the same positions. The ground was only a five minute drive from the station. We did a quick wander around the outside of the clubhouse to have a look and were amused when an elderly chap mistook us as officials and asked my friend if he could buy two programmes from him. I wished we'd followed him as when we did enter the ground at 2:45, they'd sold out. There was a small clubouse where we bought a pint which also did filled rolls. Happiness on arriving at a ground is finding a game on an adjoining pitch and we were lucky enough to see the first half of Bitton reserves match, not a bad standard although we saw no goals.

Bitton's ground will not go down as a favourite of mine. A small stand and another covered area on the opposite side provide shelter, there is hard standing on both sides and behind one goal, the far goal just has grass for you to stand on. There is a sweeping end to end slope, this and a sticky pitch must have sapped the players energy. Bitton were top of their league and Poole third in theirs, so a tight game was expected. The pitch did seem to be quite long and this certainly helped an exciting end to end match.

Poole started strongly and were only denied by an excellent early save. When Bitton scored after a defensive slip on 12 mins it was against the run of play. 7 mins later and Bitton doubled their lead with a sharp finish but Poole came straight back to make it 2-1 after only 20 mins. Bitton scored again on 36 mins after another defensive slip. I expected that Poole would make a second half comeback as they were kicking down the slope but they had the wind taken out of their sails following a penalty. A great Bitton run down the left wing ended in a pinpoint cross that was met with a header that crashed against the bar, came back and unluckily hit a defender on the arm. The penalty wasn't convincing but still beat the keeper. Poole did get one back on 68 min but if anything, Bitton finished the stronger as Poole chased the game and were delighted with their win.

Great to be back on the Vase trail and Bitton could claim a few scalps on their quest for a Wembley place.

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.

Merstham FC

Merstham 5 Consett 4

Merstham cafe

                                                                           Fabulous cafe.

Moment of madness costs Consett their day in the sun

Mertham 5 Consett 4 aet

Having not visited a Combined counties team in the Vase this season, I opted for Merstham for their last 16 tie. Probably a big mistake for someone who has ‘issues’ pronouncing their TH’s. But I had a little practice in anticipation of buying my rail ticket & stood in the queue wondering why I hadn’t opted for the match in Stanway. Fortunately, the booking clerk didn’t have English as a strong point and he asked me to spell out my destination. It turns out that the T is hard in Merstham and is pronounced Merstam, so I didn’t need to worry.
The journey was fairly straightforward. A couple of students sat near me on the train from Victoria discussing their possible university choices. I had to smile as one of them spoke favourable about Hertfordshire and how it was bound to be a quiet, leafy type of place. Not how I’d describe Hatfield, I’d love to see her face when she visits the area.
It’s funny how trends occur when you visit a different ground every week. For the second week running, my train went hurtling past my destination. Very unnerving, although Nationalrail obviously picked this as the quickest route. I needed to change at Redhill and go back one stop on myself.
After last rounds culinary non-event, I was hoping for a decent lunch. A smile spread over my face as I left the station and found Merstham café there right in front of me. The English are knocked for their cuisine but you cannot beat a traditional café. Marvellous grub sold at exceptionally reasonable prices. So many choices, you could have omelettes, breakfasts, Shepherds pie, chops, jam rolly polly, spotted dick…The list was endless. People was streaming in and requesting all manner of food to order. Everything that came out looked great and was piping hot. I was so overwhelmed with the choice, I bottled it rather with my sausage, chips & beans, but they were great and I’d love the opportunity for a re-visit.
It’s about a 15 minute walk to the ground but very easy to find. After desperate weather for the last two rounds, this was the most glorious day. Not a cloud in the sky & the temperature hit a balmy 15 degrees.
The ground was nice enough. A fair sized stand and small covered areas behind both goals. There’s fencing surrounding the pitch, a clubhouse sited just outside the main entrance and a room with a tea hatch. Merstham had used the fine weather as an excuse to knock up a BBQ that did a roaring trade.
This particular Saturday was all about the game itself. In 25 years of regularly watching non-league football, this is up there contending for the most extraordinary game I’ve ever seen.
It started at a fairly pedestrian pace with Consett stopping Merstham from playing and basically being well on top. They scored on 16 mins, a quick throw on the left resulted in two blocked shots, the ball fell to Brown who shot across goal, the ball going in off the far inside post. The game continued in this vane, with Consett looking like comfortable winners. On 63 mins, Brown broke down the right, his cross across the 6 yard line found Johnson who side-footed home. Merstham finally got into the match on 70 mins, the keeper saved brilliantly from a snap shot but the ball fell to Morgan who shot into the roof of the net. Consett were still in total control though, until 30 seconds from the end of stoppage time. Piecha kicked a Merstham player in the penalty area with the ball 50 yards away, Piecha was sent off and Vernon hit a great penalty into the top corner. The first minute of extra time saw Moffat score easily for Consett after the Merstham keeper kicked an attempted clearance against his own defender’s backside. 10 mins later, Consett led by 2 for the second time in the match when Pounder curled home a 20 yard free kick. But 1 minute later & back came Merstham when Read finished nicely after a scramble. The second period of extra time saw Merstham on top for the first time. On 111 mins, they levelled once again when Greenhouse turned in a cross from the left, the keeper unlucky to tip it onto the inside of the post. The drama was complete on 116 mins when Vernon turned a shot in whilst he was falling after another goalmouth scramble. There was still time For Consett to miss a point blank chance in the final seconds, the shot being blazed over the bar.
At the end, the crowd just stood and applauded. Heart breaking for Consett but for £5, unbeatable entertainment for the spectators.

Concord Rangers FC

Concord Rangers 4 Shawbury United 1

See, it's dry!

Red letter day for supersonic Concord

Concord Rangers 4 Shawbury United 1

This was the week when it rained all week & with the exception of Wednesday, I mean all week! I had planned to visit Concord Rangers since the draw was made and had little hope of it surviving the deluge. I logged in to Tony Kempster’s magnificent website (How many other minority interests have such a comprehensive and up to date website such as his?) and watched as match after match was called off on the Friday night. All hope was not lost as Concord’s match was still showing as on. I woke on Saturday to find that it had rained all night, was still raining and the forecast was shocking. Still no news so I called the club, no reply! I called Shawbury and got through to the cleaning lady. A lovely person but she had no idea what I was talking about. Eventually, I found the secretary’s number for Concord on the Internet and called his mobile. A friendly bloke who claimed that the pitch had barely had any water fall on it and indeed it had been rolled that morning, match was definitely on. I did wonder whether this guy was using some Essex humour to wind me up, how could pitch be that good with all the water falling from the sky? But off I went. I had a 5 minute walk between stations in Haringay which wasn’t a problem, but having just missed a train, I had a 25 minute wait. This station only had a bus shelter type construction for cover and this had holes both at the back and the sides. As rain was hammering down, I got soaked. Imagine my joy when it was announced that the train had become defective and was cancelled. So another 30 minute wait meant that I stood on that damn platform for 55 mins, surrounded by various people, one of whom spoke constantly in a foreign language for 35 minutes without once breathing. She seemed to also be doing impressions of other people as part of the conversation. Quite hilarious, I just wish I knew what she’d been saying. The train finally arrived and rattled along to Barking with it still belting down with rain. I was still in good time although later than I’d liked. I often report on the tasty lunches that I experience, this day saw me have a corned beef slice on Barking station. For 85p I can’t complain & the guy heated it up for me in the microwave, but hardly fine dining. The final train journey from Barking to Benfleet saw the rain continue to fall, how was this game going to be on. On arriving at Benfleet, I got off the train where I saw the weirdest thing. It was dry! Not only was it not raining, but the roads were actually dry with no puddles. Canvey Island (Where Concord rangers are based) must have some kind of micro-climate. I set off on the 2.5 mile walk with a positive spring in my step. After only half a mile, I reached a roundabout and realised I had no idea which exit to take and my map was next to useless. I was not going to be beaten having found a dry corner of South England so did something I hardly ever do and hailed a taxi. I reached the ground in about 5 mins and was delighted to find the game on and the pitch in excellent condition. The ground is opposite some kind of complex behind a high wire fence, I was so keen to enter the ground, I never found out what it was. The tear bar was open although no hot food was ready and you could only buy chocolate bars from the clubhouse. I wasn’t going to complain as the two girls serving were very cute and incredibly friendly. The ground is next to a caravan park and also has some gas works behind one of the goals, so not too attractive on the eye. There’s a good sized stand and cover behind one of the goals. The rest of the pitch has hard standing and is surrounded by a white rail. There’s a slight end to end slope. A good sized but very busy clubhouse with bar, Sky TV & a pool table is set just next to the ground. All in all, this was an Essex league ground that I quite liked.
The match was played at a furious pace and was a feisty encounter throughout. Concord Rangers are so named as the team started out playing out of the nearby situated, Concord beach on Canvey Island. Concord took the lead on 26 mins when their captain turned in a cross from the dead ball line. 10 mins later and the same man was sent off for 2 yellow card offences. The referee lost his cool a bit at this time, evening up the score by sending off a Shawbury defender shortly after for a last man foul. A dubious red card in my opinion. Concord doubled their lead on 58 mins following a goalmouth scramble after a corner. Shawbury came storming back scoring a nice goal with a header from a corner on 67 mins and suddenly seemed to be the side on top. Concord weathered the storm and scored twice more in the last 10 mins. The first was a rebound turned in after a great save by the Shawbury keeper, the next was the best goal of the game as the left winger finished well after a great 40 yard pass.
I was a happy man and set off in an attempt to find my way home. I caught a bus as soon as I reached the main road (Number 26) and was back at Benfleet station in time to catch the 17:10.
Needless to say, when I got home, it was still raining and had been doing so all day.