In print...

Following the Greenhill - Victoria game a couple of weeks ago I e-mailed the Syston Town News to see if they would be interested in any of the photos I took during the game. The reason being was that Victoria play their home games at the Wreake Valley Community Centre in Syston itself. A positive response from the editor Fiona Henry came about who also asked it I could write a brief match report as well. No problem and below is the article and photo that is used in the latest edition of this monthly publication. The Syston Town News is available from the post office in Syston and has no purchase price.


This is the first time that I have had any of my work printed in any form of newspaper / publication. A couple of match reports have been in the odd non-league club programme, but other than this nothing. 

Playing badly and winning

BARROW TOWN 1-2 (aet) OADBY TOWN

Tuesday 27th September 2011

Leicestershire Senior Cup 1st Round

Riverside Park, Barrow-upon-Soar

A week off from work fortunately coincided with a midweek fixture for Oadby Town and pitted probably the two best teams in the competition against each other in a 1st round tie. This is Oadby's first venture in the Leicestershire Senior Cup since the 1998/99 season began like it did then @ Barrow Town. The final was reached before losing to Birstall United on penalty kicks. It began last night with a narrow 2-1 victory against an under strength side, which to be honest was a poor performance from an Oadby point of view. It is doubtful whether they can or will play as badly as this all season. 

Barrow started the brightest and created a couple of good chances in the opening ten minutes but the efforts, both from Naby Beny Doumbouya went side and blocked. Oadby then settled and opening the scoring on 19 minutes. James Miller flicked the ball to Michael Reeves who turned in the penalty area and finished coolly into the corner of the net. It took until 27 minutes for Oadby's first corner of the game but Craig Jacobs headed over. Just after the half hour mark captain Jon Stevenson outpaced the Barrow defence but his shot went wide of the post, and just two minutes later Reeves shot was saved by the Barrow keeper. Meanwhile Doumbouya continued to cause problems for Oadby and had further chances  to level things up, but the efforts all failed to trouble Danny Hanley in the Oadby goal. With the half coming to an end a latch ditch tackle from Steve Fenton prevented an equalising goal, and in the last seconds Stevenson should have put the game to bed but having been put clean through curled his shot wide of the upright. 

The second half was primarily a scrappy affair with Oadby offering very little and Barrow looking the most likely to get the next goal. Chances came and went until the 90th minute as Connor Hardy headed home a right wing cross for a deserved equaliser. This woke Oadby up and they should have won the game in injury time. Firstly an excellent cross from Jack Lane was headed over by substitute Kelvin Philips and then Lane himself curled a shot wide.

The first period of extra time saw Oadby step up a gear and took the game to their hosts. Firstly Matt Piper dragged a tame effort wide and Stevenson failed to connect to a Philips cross properly which saw the ball go wide. The winner came on 114 minutes when Piper saw the Barrow keeper off his line and lobbed him from 25 yards out. The ball hit the bar and bounced in off keepers head. The second period of extra time saw Oadby content to sit on their lead which in my opinion is a dangerous game to play at any level. Fortunately the game petered out  and Barrow could not find another equaliser that would take the game to penalty kicks.

Admission: £4

Programme: with admission

Attendance: 64 (head count)

Match rating: 1 1/2 out of 5

Senior Cup 1st Round - other ties

Anstey Nomads 2-1 Bardon Hill

Aylestone Park 2-1 Birstall United

Ellistown 2-1 Dunton & Broughton Rangers

Harborough Town 4-1 Desford

Highfield Rangers 2-5 St. Andrews

Medbourne 4-5 Sileby Town

Oakham United 1-2 Ashby Ivanhoe

Ratby Sports 4-4 Saffron Dynamo
after extra time. Ratby won 4-3 on penalty kicks

Thurmaston Town 3-1 Holwell Sports

Thurnby Nirvana 2-1 Blaby & Whetstone Athletic

Uppingham Town 1-2 Cottesmore Amateurs 

Food Hygiene at local clubs

Following a post on Kempster's Non-League forum about food hygiene I decided to look at the Food Standards Agency ratings for local football clubs. Basically the scale is 0-5 with 5 being the best. What I have found so far is:


5
Anstey Nomads, Barrow Town, Greenhill Youth Centre, Holwell Sports, Kirby Muxloe,  Mountsorrel Amateurs (as Mountsorrel Castle Cricket Club), Quorn, Ratby Sports, Shepshed Dynamo, Thurmaston Town (as Elizabeth Park Sports & Community Centre), Witherley United


4
Asfordby Amateurs, Barlestone St. Giles, Castle Donington, Caterpillar, Rothley Imperial (as Rothley Sports & Social Club), Stapenhill


3
Bardon Hill (as Bardon Hill Sports & Social Club), Blaby & Whetstone Athletic (as Blaby & Whetstone Boys Club), Heather St. Johns, Ibstock United (as Ibstock Miners Welfare Club), Loughborough Dynamo, Oadby Town


2
Earl Shilton Albion (as Stoneycroft Sports & Social Club)


1
Birstall United, Newhall United, Sileby Town


Awaiting Inspection
Narborough & Littlethorpe


Exempt
Huncote Sports & Social Club


No records found or not applicable
Ashby Ivanhoe, Aylestone Park, Barwell, Belgrave, Castle Donington Town, Coalville Town, Cottesmore Amateurs, Desford, Dunton & Broughton Rangers, Ellistown, Friar Lane & Epworth, Harborough Town, Hathern, Highfield Rangers, Hinckley United, Lutterworth Athletic, Lutterworth Town, Melton Mowbray, Saffron Dynamo, St. Andrews, Sileby Saints, Thringstone Miners Welfare, Thurlaston Magpies, Thurnby Nirvana

Hunting the Vase

OADBY TOWN 3-2 HUNTINGDON TOWN

Saturday 24th September 2011

FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round

Greene King Park

A briefer report than normal today as I am back at Greene King part for the second time this season to see Oadby Town. This is their first and hopefully not last game in this seasons FA Vase.  Opponents Huntingdon make the 49 mile trip across from Cambridgeshire for the first ever meeting between the two sides. This is a competition that holds fond memories for Oadby as they reached the semi-finals in 2003, having beaten holders Whitley Bay in the north-east in a tense 5th round tie before succumbing to eventual winners Brigg Town. To be honest their record since then has been pretty dire!!!! Let's hope today is the catalyst  for a long run in the competition.

Despite losing to Quorn in a replayed FA Cup tie they still remain unbeaten in the league with five wins from six games. In fact they remain the only unbeaten side in the East Midlands Counties League this season. Opponents Huntingdon compete in division 1 of the United Counties League which sits at the same level of the pyramid as the EMCL, and have four points from their three league games.

Pre-match prediction: I have generally been known to be incorrect at this but my head is saying Oadby should have too much firepower and win this either 2-0 or 3-1.

Oadby progressed to the first round proper of the FA Vase with a well fought and deserved victory in an entertaining game against their Cambridgeshire opponents. Both sides in the first half were evenly matched for the most post with chances missed at either end. For the hosts Jon Stevenson put the ball over when through on goal and hit a superb curling free kick that rattled the cross bar with the Huntingdon keeper well beaten, and skipper Joe Latham who was later to get on the score sheet had an effort cleared off the line. The opening goal of the game came on 39 minutes when Michael Reeves scored at the second attempt to give Oadby the lead. Just three minutes into the second half and it was all square as Oadby failed to clear, and the ball was headed home from a couple of yards out. Inside ten minutes and Oadby were back in front when Stevenson fed Reeves with a lovely through ball, who then rounded the keeper and finished with aplomb. Despite having a reasonable amount of possession Huntingdon failed to test the Oadby keeper. Oadby themselves always looked dangerous on the break with Stevenson in particular being denied by an excellent save. The crucial third goal for Oadby came with just six minutes remaining when Latham headed in a corner. With the game seemingly won Huntingdon got a second goal deep into injury time before the referee finally blew his whistle with some five extra minutes played.

The reward for the victory is a trip to Leicestershire Senior League side Lutterworth Athletic in the 1st round in four weeks time. Athletic themselves knocked out Anstey Nomads 3-1.

Admission: £5

Programme: £1

Attendance: ???

Match rating: 3 1/2 out of 5


My next visit to Oadby will be in two weeks time on October 8th for their EMCL encounter with Nottingham side Radford.


28 photos taken during the game can be viewed below:

Not football related but...

With a bit of time to kill I just thought I would share an insight into the musical taste of The Rambler. Below are a few videos by three of my favourite bands. Enjoy!!!!


1) 3 Doors Down - Kryptonite
2) Hinder - What Ya Gonna Do
3) Levellers - Before the End

Going Green

GREENHILL Y.C. 7-2 VICTORIA

Saturday 17th September 2011

North Leicestershire League Cobbin Trophy 1st Round

Greenhill Youth Centre, Coalville

As regular readers of this blog will have noted there was no report from last Saturday. This was because I was down in Paignton for the weekend attending my uncle Peter's wedding to his now wife Sarah and did not manage to attend a game in deepest Devon. It was not through lack of trying as the wedding was on the Friday but in the end I decided to keep the peace as it were and keep my wife Angela happy. We did have a very enjoyable day out with my dad (Paul), his partner (Julia) and my Nan using the Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat Company which took us from Paignton to Kingswear on the train (30 mins), the foot ferry to Dartmouth, river boat to Totnes (1hr 15 mins) and finally bus back to Paignton (25 mins). This round robin trip cost £21 (adults) or £19 (concessions) and allowed us time to spend in both Dartmouth and Totnes.

To be honest I had no idea where to go today as Oadby Town were knocked out of the FA Cup by local rivals Quorn. There were several games in both the Leicester & District and North Leicestershire Leagues and it was a case of deciding where to go and whom to see. After my usual indecision a game in the North Leicestershire League's Cobbin Trophy took my fancy between division 1 side Greenhill YC and division 3 side Victoria. Following on from a 0-0 draw in my last game accusations of potential goal whoring to be deliberated!!!! For the record the Cobbin Trophy is a competition for 1st teams while reserve teams compete in the Bonser Trophy.

Greenhill Y.C. were formed in 2006 and joined division 4 of the North Leicestershire League (NLL). They finished bottom of the twelve team division winning just three league games. Things improved dramatically the following season as they secured promotion to division 3 by finishing in 2nd place, just two points behind winners ATI Garryson Reserves. A 10th place finish was recorded in the 2008/09 season before they won promotion for a second time in three years by winning the division 3 title. Last season was another successful season for the Coalville based club as they won the division two title on goal difference ahead of Sutton Bonington Academicals. They only lost one league game and that was to the Accies on Easter Saturday. This was a game that I attended and a thoroughly enjoyable one it was too - see link on right hand side of blog. The defeat left Greenhill needing to win their last game of the season @ home to Castle Donington and this was duly achieved with a thumping 8-0 victory. This season they have carried on where they left off last season by recording two victories in their opening two games - 6-1 @ Loughborough Athletic was followed by a 7-3 goal feast last week against Woodhouse Imperial. Opponents Victoria are based in Syston and like previously stated compete in division 3. They have only played one game so far this season and that was a 4-0 victory @ Loughborough Galaxy.

source: www.everards.co.uk

My mum's partner Dave agreed to come and watch the game with me and we arranged to meet at The Birch Tree pub which is adjacent to the Bardon Hill Quarry for a pre-match drink. The intention was also to have another drink afterwards but on arriving back at the pub found it had closed at 2pm.

The Greenhill Youth Community Centre is very easy to find being just off the main A511. If heading towards Coalville from the M1 go past the quarry and Bardon Hill Sports Club and turn right into Waterworks Road. This in turn leads onto Cropston Drive and the community centre is on the left hand side. There is nothing (as expected) in terms of pitch side facilities so was not disappointed. Also excepted as well was the fact that there was no admission charge or programme issued .

The scoreline was one that I felt flattered the hosts a tad as they hit the visitors for six in the opening forty five minutes. Victoria should have took the lead after only sixty seconds but the shot went agonisingly wide of the far post. Greenhill made their visitors pay in emphatic style by scoring three goals in a devastating six minute spell. The first came on three minutes when #9 put the ball past the advancing keeper from twenty yards out into an open goal, and just two minutes later in became 2-0. A long throw in appeared to go straight into the Victoria goal but with the referee allowing it it must have took a touch from a player from either side. The third goal came with just nine minutes on the clock as the #9 got his second of the game, having been played onside saw his first attempt saved by the Victoria keeper but made no mistake second time around. The home side did not have to wait long for goal number 4 as this came in the 14th minute and this was primarily caused by the visitors themselves. A mistake by the right back allowed the Greenhill #10 pull the ball back to allow his team mate to finish first time. To be fair to them Victoria did not let their heads drop and more than matched their hosts in terms of possession and territory. They created a few half chances but they were generally off target. Greenhill's fifth chance of the half resulted in their fifth goal around the half hour mark. This was probably the best move of the half as the ball was played down the right, this was played across goal and finished with aplomb. The sixth and final goal of the half was also the most comical as the ball was moved quickly down the left and the cross was turned in by a defender via the post.

The second half was despite there being fewer goals a lot more enteraining. Victoria came out with the attitude that despite being six goals down would make a game of it. This they duly did as they played some good football and created a few chances. Generally the final ball and finishing let them down. Against the run of play Greenhill scored a seventh around the hour mark when a defence splitting through ball was laid across the goal for a simple tap in. Five minutes later and Victoria got a consolation goal they richly deserved as a free kick was knocked down and the ball drilled into the far corner past the keeper. Several more chances came and went, this time from both sides as Greenhill nearly added to their tally on a couple of occasions before Victoria ended the scoring in the last minute. A corner was only half cleared and volleyed home by their captain.

Admission: none

Programme: none

Attendance: peaked at around 50

Match rating: 3 out of 5

Websites:

North Leicestershire League (official)

A slideshow of 43 photos taken at the game can be viewed below:

Resignations

Despite it being early in the season there have been five resignations from both the North Leicestershire and Leicester & District Leagues:


North Leicestershire League
Desford 'A' 
Coalville Colliers 


Leicester & District League
Barlestone St. Giles 'A'
Birstall Social
Leicester Tile 08


edit...


It was Birstall Social reserves who have resigned not the 1st team. Doh!!!!

Quorn

QUORN 0-0 OADBY TOWN

Saturday 3rd September 2011

FA Cup Preliminary Round

Farley Way Stadium

Today sees me head to Quorn FC for the first time since 16th August 2005 when I watched Oadby Town record a 2-0 victory in a Midland Alliance encounter. I had not originally planned this fixture but intended to watch a North Leicestershire League match between Castle Donington and ATI Garryson. Following on from Oadby's emphatic victory over Northampton Spencer in the last round two weeks ago I changed my plans very quickly.

club logo (source: official website)

The formation of Quorn Football Club can be traced back to 1924 when a group of lads from the village Wesleyan Chapel formed a football team. In 1937 under the name of Quorn Methodists they joined the Leicestershire Senior League (LSL) and finished in 6th place in their debut season. A year later they recorded the first of three Leicestershire Senior Cup victories. After the end of World War 2 hostilities the LSL division 2 title was won in the 1949/50 season and a year later became LSL champions for the 1st time - a feat that would not be repeated for fifty years. In the 1951/52 and 1953/54 seasons they won a second and third Leicestershire Senior Cup crowns. During the summer of 1952 they changed their name to the current title, dropping the "Methodists" suffix. From 1954 until the present day honours were very few and far between - in fact you could say they were as rare as rocking horse shit!!!! Two LSL division 1 titles were won in 1987/88 and 1995/96 - both of which saw Quorn remain unbeaten during the two league campaigns. The first full season after the turn of the century saw Quorn claim their second LSL title and with it secured promotion to the Midland Alliance. Six seasons were spent in the Alliance before a 3rd place finish secured promotion to the Northern Premier League Division 1 South. The club have finished no higher than 12th place in the four seasons spent in the NPL-1S. The 2010/11 season finished on a high when they beat favourites Hinckley United 5-4 in the final of the "Westerby" Leicestershire Challenge Cup @ the Walkers Stadium for the first and only time. This season the club have struggled on the field and find themselves bottom of the table after six matches. Manager Dougie Keast resigned last Saturday following a 5-0 reverse at home to Grantham Town.

Quorn itself is a village in Leicestershire (population in 2001: 4,961), located a couple of miles south of Loughborough and nine miles north of Leicester. The village is probably best associated with fox hunting and the Quorn Hunt is probably the UK's most well known. The hunt was founded in 1696 but moved to Quorn in 1753 by the second master Hugo Meynell. Between 1973 and 1904 hounds were kennelled at Quorndon Hall, but now are housed at Kirby Bellars near Melton Mowbray.

Quorn Parish Church (photo by Thomas Willson)

The ground, Farley Way Stadium is located on the northern edge of the village just of the main A6 dual carriageway. The entrance to the ground is behind the near goal which houses a three or four step covered terrace that runs along the whole length. Along the far side is a shallow 320 seater stand that straddles the half way line. The changing rooms and clubhouse are housed in one large building along the near side of the ground. One thing final note about the ground is the quality of the pitch - every time I have attended a game here it has always been in immaculate condition. Credit to the ground staff.

Well to be honest there is not much to say about the game in a positive note. It was a hard fought but drab encounter. Neither side could take the game by the scruff of the neck and they will have to replay on Tuesday night (6th September) to see who will host Loughborough University in the next round. Looking back some twelve hours after the game has ended Quorn probably created a greater number of chances but James Flinders in the Oadby goal was never seriously troubled. The few chances that Oadby created should have won them the game - firstly Quorn goalkeeper Matt Nurse pulled off a superb save from Matt Piper at his near post and then with just two minutes remaining a Michael Reeve effort was cleared off the line. 

Admission: £7

Programme: £1.50

Attendance: 155

Match rating: 1 out of 5

Websites:

Quorn FC (official)

Evo-stik Northern Premier League

35 photos taken of the ground and game can be viewed below: