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.

Crowborough Athletic FC

Crowborough Athletic 2 Brimsdown Rovers 1

A sunlit Crowborough FC

The Chip inn - Crowborough

Plenty to Crow about

Crowborough Athletic 2 Brimsdown Rovers 1 aet

15/12/07

This report comes in two parts. On seeing the Vase draw & being particularly fond of Sussex grounds, I chose to visit Crowborough for the first time. When I set off from home, there was light rain falling and the forecast was not got. By the time I reached Crowborough. It was belting down. I gave the game only a 20% chance of being on. It’s easy to find the ground from the station. You basically turn right 3 times and then walk for about a mile and a half up a long road. The pavements are not overly wide and the road has a reasonably steep incline. As a walked up the road, the rainwater coming the other way was literally lapping over my feet. I discovered a chip shop ‘The Chip Inn’ & stopped for a sausage, chips & some respite from the rain. I ate my lunch in a bus shelter immediately over the road from the chippy. I continued on my way & found the ground easily. A steward was coming out of the turnstiles as I got there at 13:45. I asked him if the game was on & he said that it was, although the referee hadn’t looked keen to play it from the moment he arrived. Brimsdown turned up at 2pm. The referee inspected the pitch again. Both managers & players wanted to play but the referee eventually declared the pitch waterlogged and unplayable. There was a big puddle in the centre circle. The groundsman claimed he could fork it out, but to be honest, conditions were dreadful & the ref had no choice. Top marks to the friendly & welcoming Crowborough officials who kept apologising (Not your fault lads!) & gave me a free programme. I expected the game to be played the following Tuesday which I would not have been able to make. But to my surprise, it was re-arranged for the following Saturday. All I needed now, was for the weather to behave. The Thursday before the game, I looked out my window before turning in for the night & the road looked like Richmond skating rink. But cloud cover arrived and by the following morning, the frost had all gone and the game wasn’t in doubt at all. So off I went again, kind of nice not having to take any printed maps as the route was easy to remember. Highlight of the journey was on the Northern line. The driver announced over the PA that a beggar was on the train & not to encourage her by giving her any money. A guy sitting opposite me turned to his wife & yelled “There’s no point begging, you’ve already had everything I own” Not often that one comment reduced a tube character to simultaneous laughter (Nice line!).
I visited the ‘Chip inn’ again, this time having a pie & chips. This really is a superb chippy, run by a friendly couple with top draw nosh. The pie was piping hot, with generous meat & a rich gravy. The chips have been excellent on both weeks. I ate this meal again in the bus shelter for old times sake.
One of my favourite sights on reaching a ground is to find another match on. A game was taking place on a pitch just before the ground. I was informed that it was Crowborough’s third team & they were 1 nil up with about 10 minutes to go. By the time this game had finished, it was 4-2 after extra time with a red card shown to a Crowborough defender. Great to see 5 unexpected goals in a game, short on skill, but high on endeavour. Whilst watching, the Brimsdown coach arrived. One of the officials came over to chat & announced that they’d come all the way from Hertfordshire. I informed him that I was a ground hopper and had also come from Hertfordshire. He put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a complementary ticket to the game, patted me on the shoulder & said “Enjoy the game”. I must go back to Crowborough, people can’t stop giving me free stuff. I was very grateful for the ticket & it softened the blow of having to pay twice to visit this ground.
Crowborough have a well organised set-up which is not typical of most Sussex league clubs that often have stunning scenery. The bar is set about 50 yards from the ground, inside there is a good sized stand and a covered area behind one of the goals. There’s also a well run tea hatch serving drinks & hot food. The whole ground is surrounded by a large corrugated fence. The pitch slopes slightly end to end although you don’t notice it once the game gets under way.
This turned out to be a highly competitive match. Brimsdown were through 1 on 1 after only 10 seconds, the keeper saving what could have been the most dramatic of opening goals. Once the game settled, Crowborough scored after 10 minutes with a header powered home from a corner. Crowborough were well on top and could have had a healthier half time lead. On 62 minutes Brimsdown stunned everyone by equalising against the run of play. A 30 yard blockbuster from the right back thumped against the crossbar, could have gone anywhere but dropped straight down to a Brimsdown player who couldn’t miss! Suddenly, we had a full blooded even cup tie that could have gone either way. Extra time was no surprise & it looked like stalemate had been reached with neither side threatening. Then the Crowborough manager took centre stage. As they won a corner, he replaced his most lively striker with a mountain of a man obviously brought on for his height. This player won the header from this corner & his header dropped in the six yard box and was gleefully stabbed home. High drama that sent the home fans away happy. One slight oddity is that they start & end the game at Crowborough with steel band music over the PA, didn’t quite fit on a cold December day.
After two trips in a week, I feel that I know Crowborugh well. I wonder if I’ll be back there as the FA Vase reaches its climax?

Shrivenham FC

Shrivenham 3 Dawlish 2

Shrivenham clubhouse

Octagon restaurant - Swindon

Shrivvy comeback stuns Dawlish

Shrivenham 3 Dawlish 2

Quite a gap between the last round & this, so plenty of time to arrange my trip. I decided to visit a Hellenic league team as for some reason, I have very few of these grounds ticked off. I decided on Hungerford Town and preliminary arrangements were made. A spanner was thrown in the works when my mate invited me down to Somerset for a few beers on the Saturday as his wife was away. Having a lot to do at home at the moment, I was wondering whether I had the time to go. That was, until he Emailed me to say that he’d just bought a Nintendo Wii. Needless to say, it would have been rude not to help him test it out. He loves football as much as me & suggested some games we might see in the afternoon. One of his suggestions was Shrivenham. So, Hungerford will have to wait for another day & off to Shrivenham I went.
I was meeting my mate at Swindon, got to Paddington in good time & waited for the platform to be announced for my train. It eventually came up on the departure board with only 5 minutes to spare. Now, I’m a reasonably fit bloke, so got to the platform in a couple of minutes. More than can be said for the poor pensioners who were struggling big time and boarded the train with seconds to spare, it took them until Reading to recover. Why can’t passengers be given more time to find the right platform? Not only that, but all the carriages were incorrectly labelled. The carriage that said it was B, was actually C and the carriage that said C, was actually D. This caused complete carnage with those of us who’d booked their tickets in advance, ending up going in all directions trying to find our allocated seats. I actually tripped over at one point and as I lay on the floor with anxious passengers stepping over me, I thought “This is why I love groundhopping”. Once everything calmed down, it was a straightforward journey to Swindon. I had 45 mins on arrival before I was due to meet my mate so I set off in search of food. I headed for the shopping centre & discovered a little restaurant/café called Octagon, so named as that is it’s shape. A nice relaxed atmosphere with ultra friendly staff. My sausage, chips & beans took a while to arrive put were piping hot and very tasty. They were washed down with tea served in the biggest & heaviest mug I’ve come across for a long time. The only down side was the piped Christmas music. Sorry, but November 17th is too early for all that. The drive from Swindon to Shrivenham took about 20 mins, mainly because a roundabout seemed to appear after every 100 yards. Thank God for sat. nav. It makes journeys like this so easy, although it almost takes a bit of the fun out of it. We found the ground easily, but struggled to locate the car park. Maybe if my mate had slowed down to 70mph, he’d have seen us go pasting past it. Basically, it’s just over the road and there were plenty of spaces. Getting there by public transport could be a struggle, although I did see a number 65 bus about a mile away from the ground, this can be caught from Swindon. You walk along a path to the ground where we were charged £3 admission including a programme. Considering the game we were presented with, this was outstanding value. The pitch slopes from end to end, has a low rail surrounding the playing surface with hard standing also all around. There is one stand that sits about 60, but is positioned near one of the corner flags, so doesn’t provide the greatest view. That is the only cover. The other side of the pitch has a raised bank, a feature I always like. Immediately behind this bank is a small wood with a few sparsely spaced trees, an interesting & unusual feature. Behind these trees are playing fields. In theory, people could walk across these fields and get in the ground for free. Happily, nobody chose to do this. The clubhouse was quite compact & packed out, so I never got to have a good look round. Hot food & drinks are sold separately by very friendly staff. My mate complained that it was the smallest hot dog he’d ever had, 3 bites taking care of it. The tea wasn’t great either but as I always say, you don’t go o football for the catering & at a small club like this, the effort was appreciated.
This game started off at a quick pace with both sides trying to attack; Little did we know what drama lay ahead. Dawlish were soon on top and scored after 11 mins when a header from a corner went in off a post. They doubled their lead on 24 mins sliding the ball home after a throw was flicked on. Dawlish were comfortably on top at the break. As the sides appeared for the second half, my mate said to me “Dawlish don’t look particularly fired up, do they?” I replied that “They probably thought they’d already got the game won”. They had several chances to increase their lead early in the second half & when Shrivenham put a golden opportunity over the bar, it looked like we’d see out a comfortable away win. The course of the game changed in a 5 minute period. Firstly, the Dawlish keeper gave away an unnecessary corner when he could have just picked the ball up. The corner was taken, bounced awkwardly & went straight in for a Shrivenham goal right against the run of play. A player from each side were then sent off for an off the ball incident, I was following the ball & didn’t see exactly what happened. Shrivenham adapted better to the loss of personnel & suddenly out of nowhere, were completely on top. The equaliser came on 75 mins as another attack down the right resulted in the low cross being slid home. Then 9 mins later, captain Mark Peters gleefully headed home the winner from a corner. An extraordinary comeback that surely even the most biased of home supporters didn’t see coming. A nice club to visit on the North Berkshire border.
As for Nintendo Wii. The Tiger Woods golf is great fun, as was a tennis game. The boxing is exhausting especially when alcohol assisted. I could well be writing more reports from the West country.

Holmer Green FC

Holmer Green 0 Brockenhurst 4

One for the Reacord books

Holmer Green 0 Brockenhurst 4

Families, we all love them, but do they have to have emergencies on a Saturday? I had spent the whole week researching a trip to Deeping & had all my train and bus timetables at the ready. Then the call came and I had to attend a family event on the Saturday morning which politically, I couldn’t get out of. This threw me into an obvious quandary. I would be free from 1pm, Deeping was now out of the question, so I studied the draw trying to find a game that I could reach. Just when Leverstock Green was looking to be my only option, my wife gave me a most unexpected lifeline by offering to drive me to a game. Back to the draw to hopefully find a ground I hadn’t visited. We agreed on Holmer Green, a trip of about 35 miles which she was happy to do. Now, at this point I must point out that my wife has never, ever, been to football before & I’m very grateful to her for putting herself out. My only concern was the M25, would it be the usual Saturday afternoon gridlock? My luck was definitely in this afternoon, as it was completely clear and we found the ground with an hour to spare. We decided to find a pub, which proved to be surprisingly difficult. We must have driven about 3 miles up long residential streets and bizarrely, couldn’t find one. I eventually spotted one up a side street in Widmer End. The Royal Standard turned out to be a locals pub, not particularly welcoming and an outrageous £6.50 for a pint of Guinness, a coke & a bag of crisps. Not going back there in a hurry! We sat outside whilst the locals sat in silence watching England beat Australia in the rugby. We returned to the ground after the game and ‘er indoors opted to stay in the car working on her laptop whilst I watched the game. The Double Decker I bought her seemed to keep her happy. There’s a good clubhouse at Holmer Green which judging by all the posters inside, is heavily used. There’s a well stocked bar, good sized halls and a selection of pool tables. There is a hatch serving food & drinks although my tea was only luke warm when served. Players walk along a path from this complex to the pitch which is behind a large hedge. The old boy on the gate was very welcoming & claimed he was falling asleep due to the lack of spectators arriving, maybe the rugby had kept people away? The crowd eventually reached about 40 in numbers and this season attendances seem to be falling round by round for me. The ground itself was a little disappointing. One stand that has 2 large wooden benches which would seat about 20 with room for people to stand behind & to the side of these. This is a white rail ground with wire fencing below the rail, hard standing on 3 sides and an unremarkable pitch. This is a typical South Midlands ground that lacks a bit of character, probably due to the uninteresting backdrop.
The ground was livened up by a pair of red kites that kept flying over the ground. The most majestic looking birds with a huge wingspan and so graceful in flight. I’ve seen them along the M40 corridor before but never this near London.
I keep bumping into Brockenhurst on my travels & I’m starting to recognise 1 or 2 of their fans. The first half was an even contest played at a quick pace with end to end action & some nice skilful play. Kevin Reacord, apparently making his full debut, scored a hattrick and looked a great player. Last season of course he reached the final with AFC Totton. He scored his first on 16 minutes with a slightly lucky cross which flew in over the keeper, his second was thumped home right on half time, a goal that knocked the stuffing out of Holmer Green. Full marks to Brockenhurst keeper Vine who caught everything & made some great first half saves to preserve their lead. Reacord completed his hattrick on 69 minutes, squeezing a shot home from a tight angle at the far post. Young completed the scoring 2 minutes later, slotting home after a neat 1-2. At about this time, the fellow next to me pointed into the sky and said “There’s the second half entertainment” as 3 hot air balloons flew by. “Just about sums Holmer Green up” he said, “Their balloon’s gone up”
There was still time for the miss of the season as a Brockenhurst substitute was presented with a wide open goal 10 yards out, yet somehow managed to shoot the ball sideways. He spent the next 2 minutes standing in the middle of the pitch with his hands on his head.
This won’t go down as a favourite ground of mine, but at short notice, it was there when I needed it.

Leverstock Green FC

Leverstock Green 3 Halstead 0

Leverstock Green village green