Coalmen deliver

Kings Lynn 2 Coalville Town 3

02/04/11

I had purposely left Kings Lynn alone in the quarter finals, my theory was that they were likely to beat Rye & I could pick up their ground in the semis.
I love it when a plan comes together, what could possibly go wrong? That would be the game being ticket only. I discovered this about a week before
the game. Cue frantic phone calls to the club, Emails & scouring of their internet site. I got hold of someone at about 3pm on the Monday before the game.
I couldn't attend the ticket office in person, there was no facility to use a credit card, so a postal application was my only route. I left work early, wrote
out a cheque (remember them?), knocked up a SAE & rushed to the post office. I then spent the rest of the week hovering around my letter box in hopeful anticipation.
The ticket arrived on Thursday, so once again I could relax.
A leisurely start on game day, a train to Cambridge, a 10 minute wait for the connection that went straight to Kings Lynn. Desperately easy & I was there in no time at all.
One of my pet loves when ground-hopping is to spot the ground from the train as you pull into the station. The pressure is then off. No scratching your head
wondering which way to go or searching for road names. About a 5 minute walk through a recreation ground and you're there.
A big crowd was expected so I decided to not explore the town and instead head straight for the ground. Lunch therefore turned out to be a cheeseburger from an
outside grill that wafted smoke across the pitch for the whole afternoon. Actually, it wasn't at all bad. Unfortunately, the other burger place went at an absolute snails pace &
I gave up waiting for a half-time cup of tea after only 5 people had been served in 15 minutes.
This ground almost looks out of place in the Vase, it's way to big. Obviously Kings Lynn's financial problems and folding are well documented and I hope they
quickly make their way up the pyramid. A huge, imposing stand that I loved towers over the pitch and the whole of the far side is also covered. The near end behind the goal has
terracing and rails, I couldn't get behind the far goal due to segregation. A smallish bar area is situated under the far end of the stand.
Fair play to Kings Lynn who made a real effort including face painting for kids and merchandise. The programme was okay but strangely basic for
this stage of the competition.
Coalville were 3-0 up after the 1st leg. However, not a single Kings Lynn fan I heard had any doubts that they would get back into this tie. I did laugh when
The great escape music was played over the tannoy at about 2:50. The programme also had details of the 10 greatest comebacks.
But Coalville were the better in this semi and have some superb strikers who could easily play at a higher level.
The wind was taken out of Kings Lynn sails when Coalville scored from a free kick on only 6 minutes. When the second came on 31 mins, it was no
surprise and was fully deserved. Incredibly, at half time, Kings Lynn fans were still talking about pulling the tie back.
When they scored 2 in 2 minutes I even got sucked into believing them for a minute and the place erupted. But then Lynn had a man sent off for two yellows
and the momentum was lost. Coalville scored again with a classic counter attack and it was all over.
Unfortunately, there were ugly scenes at this game which have no place in the FA Vase or any level of football. Crowd trouble on several occasions. Abuse
being hurled at players before the game even started. I twice witnessed the ball being thrown at Coalville players when it went out of play.
I can't comment on the Coalville supporters as i was up the other end. However, a minority of Kings Lynn fans were pathetic and don't deserve their club
to go anywhere near Wembley.
Disappointing scenes on an otherwise excellent occasion on a pleasingly warm afternoon.

Coalville Town FC

Coalville Town 1 Leiston 0

The noisiest shed in Leicestershire

Embankment, hill or mountain?

The swan in the rushes - Loughborough

King Cole march on

Coleville Town 1 Leiston 0

Of the 8 clubs in the quarter finals, I had only visited Poole and therefore there were no nerves when the draw was made. Dunston would be too expensive, I was banking in Kings Lynn making the semis, so Coalville was my choice. I went online to book my train tickets and was stunned when the cheapest option on the outward journey was a first class seat from St Pancras. I was almost excited about this & eagerly rushed to my coach as the train pulled in. The joy did't last long as it became apparent that there was a mix up. The coach had G on the outside & J on the inside and there was mass confusion as multiple people were trying to sit on the same seat. I was lucky to reach my seat early as it turned out to be double booked. The guard looked at my reservation three times along with the other person with an identical piece of paper & rapidly had to improvise, finding seats in weird and wonderful places for disgruntled passengers. You couldn't make it up! Eventually the dust settled and I had a peaceful, comfortable journey although the complimentary coffeee tasted like dish water.

I decided to travel to Loughborough and catch the bus from there, this gave me the opportunity to tick off a pub from the Good pub guide. I didn't have too long so it was just a quick half. The 'Swan in the rushes' is a real ale pub on Loughborough high street with a fine selection of beers. I opted for a pale beer called Harvest pale which did not touch the sides. I learnt that this was named CAMRA champion beer of Britain last year and what a worthy winner. 

I found my bus stop with ease and had a ten minute wait on a narrow strip of pavement. People queuing for the bus,  mixed with mums with large pushchairs and people coming out of shops caused an almighty log-jam & I was bustled and jostled all over the place and it was a relief when the bus turned up. An elderly lady sat next to me and immediately sparked up a conversation. "I hate it when they start" was her opening remark. My natural sarcasm had to be restrained as I was on the verge of asking her what she expected a bus to do. It turned out that she was a lovely lady and good company. I chatted with her for a good 30 minutes. I hope I brightened her day as she certainly brightened mine. 

The bus got caught in traffic when nearing its destination so I hopped off and walked the last 10 minutes. I only arrived with about 15 mins to spare which always irritates me slightly as I don't feel I get to know the ground as well as I might. You walk down a lengthy track with the ground appearing below you. This view reminded me very much of Hertford Town where I spent a few years as their P.A announcer. 

The ground was quite nice. An open tented club shop selling scarves and programmes, a couple of refreshment places and a media room. Two seated areas, one on each side. The largest seating area was on the far side, the other cover was a corrugated shed behind the near goal. A huge embankment loomed above the far goal, a feature I loved. A couple of walkers stopped for a free view during the game. I had a bacon roll on arrival as I'd not had other time for lunch due to the length of journey. It really wasn't great despite the pleasant and quick service. 

Once again the weather got in the way. Light drizzle turned to heavy drizzle followed by persistent light rain with a sharp, cold wind that slapped you round the cheeks before cutting right through you. My glasses needed windscreen wipers as I had to stand in it as all the covered places were taken. A truly miserable afternoon AGAIN!

The first half of the game was excellent with fast, good quality football and tons of commitment. Coalville hit the bar with a header when it was easier to score and had most of the attacking play. They scored 10 minutes into the second half with a scrambled goal. The game deteriorated badly after this with several lengthy injury stoppages and the ball seemingly constantly going miles out of play over the far touchline with never a spare ball to hand. Leiston had a man sent off for 2 yellows, the second for an elbow and despite a couple of near misses, they couldn't get back into it.

This will not go down as my favourite Vase trip ever. The miserable weather and poor second half the main reason, but this was a tricky ground to reach & I'm pleased to have got it ticked off.

Stansted FC

My very own, stalker black cloud

Stansted 0 Dunston UTS 2

The Crown at Elsenham

Dunston check in at Stansted

Stansted 0 Dunston UTS 2

A bit of a no brainer in choosing the game for this round. I’m not a great lover of the Essex league and therefore tend not to visit grounds as often as I should. But this North v South encounter at a ground in a league that I hadn’t visited this season ticked all the right boxes.
I always seem to moan about the rail service in this blog but yet again it was weekend carnage. This time, Finsbury Park was shut. All the trains into London were calling at all stops & because of the closure, I had to go into London and back out again. Fortunately, I was not affected by the replacement bus service further up the line from me but there were an awful lot of extremely disgruntled rugby fans having a tiresome journey travelling to Twikenham. One last train question. Why, wherever I sit, do I end up with someone sitting behind me bellowing into a mobile phone?
I examined the Good pub guide but there is no entry in Stansted Mountfitchet. But just one step up the line was ‘The Crown’ at Elsenham. This was only a 2 mile walk from Stansted so I headed off to get there early and would walk off my lunch afterwards. A nice little pub, not overcrowded but with a friendly atmosphere. There is a little restaurant area that is the life-blood of so many pubs these days. I was tempted by the blackboard offering homemade pizza. I asked how long that would take to arrive and was put off by the 30 minute wait until I heard that the dough for the base was all made by hand. 30 minutes it was, but my pepperoni pizza when it arrived was absolutely stunning & was washed down by a pint of London pride.
The walk to Stansted was a pleasure on a no over-busy B road on the most gorgeous of afternoons, a real touch of spring in the air. A mate of mine used to live in Stansted when I was a teenager & I enjoyed walking trough the high street, remembering haunts we used to frequent – Happy days!
The ground was very easy to find. A souvenir programme was produced in good numbers & all the volunteers had made a real effort to organise their big day, a credit to the club!
There is a covered, seating area on the near side & a huge mobile phone mast behind the near goal. The pitch encroaches onto the towns, summer cricket pitch but was fully railed off for this match. One small pet hate of mine is when you cannot walk round the whole pitch and this was the case here with the far corner impassable. All the hard standing was quite narrow and it got a bit congested, especially near the tea hut. There was a bar just outside the ground entrance which I didn’t visit as I didn’t spot it until I was inside.
The pitch was very bumpy and it seemed to affect the passing and shooting of all the players with balls constantly scuffed and otherwise mis-directed.
Stansted started the game quite brightly and brought a few useful early saves from the Dunston keeper.But there is a big, dark cloud with the same Vase itinerary as me & it spread over the ground midway through the half. The gloom seemed to descend on to the Stansted players as their energy and confidence sagged. As the half wore on, Dunston were the side on top although their opening goal came out of nothing. A ball was played into the area, the keeper and defender tripped over each other and the ball spat out to the right touchline. An early cross in caught the keeper in no mans land, I’m not sure if he thought it was going over or just couldn’t reach it, but he stood and watched it drop into an empty net. Dunston were the better second half team by a mile, playing with tenacity and enthusiasm. The second goal on 58 mins was also unusual. A ball through saw a defender just ahead of the attacker. He swung wildly at the ball and missed it completely, letting the striker in. This allowed the striker through and the defender pulled him back. This would have been a certain red card if the referee had not played a good advantage. The striker toed a shot at goal, the keeper made a fine save but it trickled over he line. Dunston saw the game out to win a surprisingly one-sided affair.
I enjoyed chatting with a couple of hoppers from Sussex & Worcestershire. One of them even knew of & reads this blog. This made me a happy man and certainly put the gloss on an enjoyable afternoon.

Bloxwich United FC

Blowich United 2 Torpoint Athletic 3

Clubhouse

Bloxwich hopes Torn apart

Bloxwich United 2 Torpoint Athletic 3

Just occasionally, thinks come together. My wife and are are fans of the rock band Genesis & there is an extremely good tribute band called G2 who play about a dozen gigs a year. It's not far off listening to the real thing! Anyway, they were playing this Saturday in Bilston. Shall we go & stay over?" my wife asked. I wasn't sure what to do as it was FA Vase last 32 day. Too much to hope that there would be a game nearby. So I examined the draw & couldn't believe my luck as I spotted this game at Bloxwich, only a few miles from our evening venue. So off we all happily went. This was my first trip up the M1 for quite some time. It really does seem to have fallen behind many other motorways. It seemed narrow, busy and in a very poor state of repair. Thankfully, the traffic moved fairly freely all be it at about 50 mph. We had chosen a pub on route from the Good pub guide and ended up at The Pheasant in Withybrook. This place is clearly there for the food market & I've never been presented with so many choices in my life. I full menu on the tables, a specials board with about 20 options and a lunchtime menu with another dozen or so choices. I had no idea what to pick but eventually went for a pork chop with apple sauce & roast potatoes. The food was okay but a bit 'Beefeater' when it arrived & I never did get any apple sauce. Still a quiet little spot that I wouldn't have otherwise bumped into. We found the ground easily despite the seemingly never ending number of traffic lights around Walsall. I arrived at 2:20, paid my entrance and requested a programme only to be fed the line that they had sold out. I've no idea how many they printed but never saw anyone in the ground with a copy. There is cover behind the near goal, the clubhouse was bustling and well staffed with several TV screens. The rest of the ground was in a state of slight dis-repair, every now and then you came across piles of rubbish lying around. It is a proper enclosed football ground with a busy road on one side and a quiet side street on the other. This was a real pudding of a pitch with quite long grass, I'm sure the recent weather has made the groundsman's job almost impossible.

Bloxwich started the better and scored after 12 mins. They looked the more dangerous side although Torpoint were always easy on the eye with their style of play. It looked all over when Bloxwich scored again on 64 mins. But always felt Torpoint would score and that happened on 77 mins when Bloxwich cheaply gave he ball away. Suddenly it was all Torpoint and they won an uncontested penalty for handball on 85 mins and then sent the healthy Cornish contingent home happy by completing a remarkable comeback on 89 mins.

Not my favourite ground by any means but memorable for the fabulous finish this game produced. 

Stotfold FC

Stotfold 0 Long Buckby 3

Stotfold FC clubhouse

Beggars can't be chosers

Stotfold 0 Long Buckby 3

04/12/10

I examined the draw for this round of the Vase & for once made an instant decision. I’d go to Cadbury Heath in Bristol. Yeah right! The cold weather arrived, followed by frost, followed by ice, followed by snow, followed by more snow and with ridiculously low temperatures, I didn’t stand a chance. The one saving grace was that the game was called off on the Friday. To be honest, I’d given up finding anywhere that was on & I wasn’t far wrong. Matches fell on the Friday & Saturday morning left, right & centre. The Saturday itself was a lot warmer than it had been with a balmy 4 degrees rumoured and a gentle thaw was in place. And then a miracle occurred. At about 10:30, a Vase match passed a pitch inspection and the ground in question was Stotfold, a mere 18 miles from home. This turned out to be the only game that beat the freeze. My wife had suggested we go to see Harry Potter & I got the “Oh, for God’s sake” look when I asked who he played for. But to be fair, she kindly offered to drive me if there was a pub lunch in it for her. I looked out the Good pub guide before she had finished her sentence & found the nearest pub we had yet to visit. This turned out to be the Three horseshoes in the village of Hinxworth about 5 miles from the ground. This was a charming place with thatched roof, roaring open fire and a nice selection of food & beer. The welcome could not have been bettered and I started to worry that I’d be late for the game as the barman was so chatty. I had a superb ultimate BLT club sandwich which also had cooked chicken & mayonnaise on the freshest bread I think I’ve ever tasted and all held together with a kebab skewer. It seemed apt to choose a pint of ‘Fireside’ which slipped down very nicely. I highly recommend this pub if you ever get a chance to visit.
Thr ground was easy to find with the lights visible from over a mile away. There is a medium sized stand and another covered standing area. A good clubhouse which was very warming at half time with hot drinks available from the tea hut. It was nice to see a photographer friend of mine who had been re-directed from Vicarage Road to cover this match, clearly the game of the day then!
Gentle drizzle gave way to heavy rain and murk on a desperate afternoon for football. Puddles in the centre circle took me back to the 1970’s., difficult to play in but it’s always amusing when the ball sticks in the water.A reasonably even start and it stayed that way until Long Buckby scored. The first came on 19 mins. A ball over the top through the right channel saw a striker get there just in front of the defender and lob the ball over the keeper. The second came on the half hour and was a nice goal. A nifty one-two on the edge of the area freed the initial passer to niftily loft a finish over the diving keeper. The last goal came on 38 mins as a shot from the right of the area caught a deflection, popped up and was headed into an empty net. The pitch deteriorated in the second half, both sides did well to keep coming although the quality was understandably all over the place and only a couple of handy saves by the two keepers kept the score as it was.
No classic and a ground I’ve visited before but with the conditions we were experiencing, I was grateful for anything.