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Sunday 23 September 2007

Game 514 (Campions @ Campion)

CAMPION 3-1 GOLCAR UNITED
Manningham Mills Sports Ground, Bradford
Saturday 22nd September 2007
West Riding County Amateur League Premier Division
The primary reason for travelling up to Bradford for a West Riding League match, and this one in particular is that Campion is my surname and was curious about the club – the name itself is not that common and a football club named after one made the curiosity grow especially as I have recently being looking at my family tree. The Campion line that have researched back to the 18th century originate from Rushden in Northamptonshire. I had also managed to get my dad to come along for the jaunt up the M1. The second and final reason is that I studied in Bradford between 1995 and 1997 and I have not been up there for seven or eight years or so and I wanted to have a look at the college and area that I lived. It not surprisingly brought back memories for me and to see the college halls of residence as a building site was not what I expected. While driving around I will admit that I did feel a touch of emotion.

As we had time on our side before the 2:30 kick-off we went to Saltaire to have some lunch and a beer and found a pub on the banks of the River Aire. Saltaire is a village which was purpose built by Victorian Sir Titus Salt for workers at his woollen mills.

We found the Manningham Mills Sports Ground fairly easily with the aid of a sat nav and arrived at around 2:15. Campion share the ground with Manningham Mills Cricket Club though the two pitches do not overlap and the football pitch is railed off all the way round with a small stand running approximately half way along the far side. The ground does boast a new building that backs onto Scotchman Road which houses changing rooms and bar. The club do not take a gate or issue a programme which was not unexpected and around 30 people were in attendance for the game.

The first half was, I thought very entertaining with good football being played by both teams which would grace a higher level. Campion nearly got off to the perfect start when the visiting keeper pulled off a superb save after only two minutes. It took the home side 25 minutes to score and well worth the wait it was as Durkin finished off a fine move with a low shot into the bottom corner from the left hand side of the penalty area. Both sides created chances and tried to play football instead of the route one option and Golcar were level before the half ended when their number six scored with an angled drive.

The second half started with the visitors having the majority of possession and creating the better chances, but were hit with a sucker punch on the hour mark when Chimba Manondo created space for himself to score from about 12 yards giving the keeper no chance. This seemed to knock the stuffing out of Golcar and gave Campion a second wind, with which they duly took advantage of but scoring a third with twenty minutes left through Noble. No further scoring ensued but both teams never stopped trying to score in what was an open game from start to finish.

Credit to both teams.

Final Score: 3-1

Saturday 8 September 2007

Game 513

F.C. KHALSA 3-3 F.C. BRAUNSTONE VICTORIA
Judgemeadow Community College, Leicester
Leicestershire Senior League Division 1
Saturday 8th September 2007
The previous two winners of the Leicester City League meet for the first time this season at Judgemeadow Community College in the Evington area of the city. This game was brought forward to a 2pm kick-off which I did not know about and turned up just after Braunstone scored their second goal from Stu Wheeler on the 40 minute mark. This was followed up within a couple of minutes for another goal for Braunstone from right midfielder Kyle Robinson.
Half Time: 0-3
The second half was completely the other way with Khalsa dominating the game completely and scored three goals of their own, two of which were from former Oadby Town midfielder Sean Philips who I have been told is on £100 per week - stupid money at this level. It does make you wonder where the money is coming from as Khalsa do not take a gate, issue programmes or have any refreshements available for visiting spectators. Even if they did take a gate they would not get much as I counted only about 25 people standing round the pitch.
Final Score: 3-3 (Attendance: 25 - counted)

Monday 3 September 2007

Game 512

F.C. BRAUNSTONE VICTORIA 0-3 LUTTERWORTH ATHLETIC
Braunstone Park, Leicester
Saturday 1st September 2007
Leicestershire Senior League Division 1
My first viewing of my local Senior League side F.C. Braunstone Victoria this season for their 3rd league match of the season against Lutterworth Athletic. Braunstone Vics play on the Cort Crescent side of Braunstone Park in Leicester and is next to the road. No admission is charged nor programme issued though if they did I would be surprised if many or any of the locals would come and watch. Depending on when a head count was taken it varied between 50 and 60 people watching at some point during the game.
Braunstone are currently in their second season in the Senior League and Lutterworth their third. The two games last season both ended in draws with a 4-4 scoreline in this fixture last season played in gale like conditions. Prior to this game Braunstone had won one and lost one while Lutterworth had started the season with a 100% record.
The game was an even affair throughout with the finishing being the difference. Lutterworth took their chances, Braunstone didn't. End of story. The first half hour was an even affair with both teams having similar amounts of possession and the visitors took the lead on 32 minutes when "a player" scored with a header from maybe six yards out. The remainder of the first half saw Braunstone play some of their best football but couldn't find a way to equalise and probably didn't want the half time whistle to blow.
Half Time: 0-1
The second half started with the home side looking like they were still on their interval and Lutterworth created a few chances and looked a yard quicker at times. They duly scored their second goal on the hour mark from a tap in which came from a left wing cross. Braunstone woke up again midway through the second half and played the better of the fooball for the remiander of the game with Darren Jepson having three chances, two of which were long range efforts saved by the visiting keeper. The first of these three chances should have put the Vics back in the game but his effort was brilliantly blocked by a Lutterworth defender. The third goal came right at the death when a mistake by the home keeper allowed Lutterworth to score a third and make the scoreline somewhat flattering.
Final Score: 0-3