Oadby v Ampthill

OADBY TOWN 2-1 AMPTHILL TOWN
Saturday 21st January 2012
FA Vase 4th Round
Greene King Park

After what feels like a long time since I saw Oadby in action this is to be the first of two consecutive  Saturday home games for the Poachers. The last time I was down here for a games was on December 3rd when they hosted Tipton Town in the last round of this competition. A combination of the following has seen me miss all home games since - a postponement (10th Dec); midweek matches and two weeks ago I was down in London for the Spurs - Cheltenham FA Cup tie.

This tie pits two sides that compete at Step 6 of the non-league pyramid, with Ampthill playing their football in division 1 of the Spartan South Midlands League. Like Oadby they are having a good season as well and currently sit in second place in their division and have won their last four matches. Also like Oadby they have only lost two out of their twenty five league games played and currently sit in second place though are eleven points behind leaders London Colney. Oadby meanwhile are on a decent run of form themselves having only lost once in the last twelve matches in all competitions, which was against Barwell recently in the Leicestershire Challenge Cup.

On paper this should be a cracking cup tie between two in form sides. 

Both sides also have similar records in this seasons FA Vase so far with them both starting out at the second qualifying round and also they have had one tie that went to a replay. The record for both teams is as follows:

Oadby Town

2nd Qualifying: Huntingdon Town (H) Won 3-2

1st round: Lutterworth Athletic (A) Won 2-1

2nd round: St. Andrews (H) Won 1-0

3rd round: Tipton Town (H) Drew 1-1 aet

replay: Tipton Town (A) Won 2-1 

Ampthill Town

2nd Qualifying: Barkingside (A) Drew 1-1 aet

replay: Barkingside (H) Won 1-0

1st round: Basildon United (A) Won 4-0

2nd round: Haringey & Waltham Development (H) Won 3-2

3rd round: Lancing (A) Won 3-1

The club shop

Oadby progressed to the last 16 of the FA Vase with a victory that should have been more comfortable that it was. After a bout of sparing Oadby settled down and  took the lead on eleven minutes. A Matt Moore shot from twenty five yards out took a slight deflection on its way into the top corner.  The hosts doubled their advantage ten minutes later when Matt Piper converted a Steve Fenton cross to put some daylight between the two sides. A few minutes at it should have been three nil but Piper failed to connect with a cross from the right flank. Ampthill's ploy was to play long balls down the channels and these on the main were dealt with comfortably by Joe Latham and Declan Towers. The visitors best chance of the opening period came around the twenty six minute when a Jake Duffy cleared an effort off the line.   Oadby themselves had an effort cleared off the line and then Matt Moore was unable to beat Tom Kennard in the Ampthill goal. 


The second half saw Oadby take their foot off the gas and allowed the visitors  to come into the game more, though their efforts were on the whole easily dealt with by Oadby keeper Elliot Shilliam. Oadby had three notable chances to put their supporters at ease with both Moore and Jermaine Gordon being a whisker away from converting crosses from Piper, while a Latham header was tipped over by Kennard. With six minutes remaining Ampthill got a lifeline as Chris Lester scrambled the ball home via the post from a couple of yards out. A nervy finish for the home supporters but in the end Oadby deservedly progressed to the next round and as the final whistle blew a chorus of "we're all going to Wembley" rang out.


Admission: £5 / £3 concessions
Programme: £1
Attendance: 417


Other 4th Round Results
Whitley Bay 5-0 South Park
Tunbridge Wells 0-1 St. Ives Town
Willand Rovers 1-3 Staveley Miners Welfare
Shortwood United 1-0 Enfield 1893
Newcastle Benfield 1-2 Herne Bay
Bournemouth 2-1 Royston Town
Old Woodstock Town 0-2 Bethnal Green United
Newport Pagnell Town 2-3 Ashington
Norton United 1-2 Peterborough Northern Star
Wisbech Town 2-2 Dunston UTS (after extra time)
Bitton 1-3 West Auckland Town
Tividale 7-1 Binfield
Gresley 1-1 Three Bridges (after extra time)
Billingham Synthonia 0-0 Runcorn Town (after extra time)
Reading Town 2-3 Larkhall Athletic

Cleansing the Soul

EYE SPORTS 4-0 OAKHAM UNITED
Saturday 14th January 2012
Peterborough & District League Premier Division
Lindisfarne Road, PE6 7XH

After last weeks trip to the land of Satan that is a "premier league" football ground, I need to cleanse my soul as it were and get back to watching the grass roots form of the game. The main stipulation for us today was that we wanted a 2pm kick-off and with dad living in the eastern suburbs of Leicester, we headed across eastwards for a very rare venture into the Peterborough & District League (PDL). I had only previously seen one game in the PDL and that was nearly two years ago when I saw Uppingham Town record a 2-0 victory over Leverington Sports.

With an overnight frost covering much of England doubt set in as to whether any particular game would still go ahead. Armed with about a dozen fixtures and club secretaries I set off about 11am. First port of call was to pick my dad and then make the one hour drive along the A47 to Eye. We pulled into a petrol station on the edge of the village and made several calls, all of which went unanswered - very helpful indeed!!! With the sun being high in the sky and the temperature about four or five degrees above freezing we were reasonably confident that the game would go ahead, added to this was that Eye's ground was south facing which allowed enough time for the sun to thaw out the frost. After a quick visit to the ground which confirmed that the game was going ahead we made our way to the Blue Boar, one of the two pubs in the village for some lunch.We both had the same - a ham, egg and chip lunch washed down with a pint of Elgood's Feelgood Festive which is a 3.7% seasonal ale.

The footprint of the PDL covers an area that goes from Rutland in the west to Wisbech in the each, with Spalding at its northerly perimeter and Alconbury to the south. It was founded in 1902 and Fletton United were the first champions. Currently there are six division and they all contain a mixture of 1st, reserve and 'a' teams.

Eye is a large village in the unitary authority area of Peterborough and has a population in the region of 4,000 inhabitants. Until 1963 Eye was part of Northamptonshire  as the county diocese is focused upon Peterborough Cathedral. However Peterborough had its own county council since 1888 and in 1965 was merged with neighbouring Huntingdonshire. Under the Local Government Act 1972 Eye along with Peterborough and Huntingdonshire became part of Cambridgeshire.

I believe the club were founded in 2002 and joined the Peterborough & District League the same year. A full playing record is as follows:

SEASON	COMPETITION	PL	W	D	L	F	A	PTS	POS
2002/03	PETER-5	26	18	3	5	100	40	57	2ND
2003/04	PETER-4	24	17	2	5	83	32	53	3RD
2004/05	PETER-3	26	15	3	8	66	39	48	5TH
2005/06	PETER-2	26	3	0	23	30	124	9	14TH
2006/07	PETER-2	26	4	6	16	44	86	18	12TH
2007/08	PETER-2	24	20	1	3	87	32	61	2ND
2008/09	PETER-1	22	17	4	1	69	20	55	2ND
2009/10	PETER-1	22	16	4	2	83	28	52	1ST
2010/11	PETER-P	30	16	4	10	59	44	52	6TH

This season Eye currently sit in fifth place in the Premier Division, recording eight wins from their fourteen games played. They are currently on a five match unbeaten run recording a 6-2 victory against Uppingham Town a week ago. The last time they tasted defeat was in November when title favourites Pinchbeck United left Lindisfarne Road with a 1-0 victory. The reverse fixture against today's opponents was on the 26th November that saw Eye record a 2-0 victory.

Oakham United were only formed in the summer of 2011 when two local clubs Rutland Rangers (Peterborough League) and Oakham Imperial (Leicester & District League) merged. Oakham themselves come into this game on a decent run of form recording three successive victories.

The ground on Lindisfarne Road is on the southern edge of the village and the entrance is between two houses. It opens up and there is a small car park to the right and a breeze block building to the left which houses the changing rooms and club room. The pitch is railed off along the two sides and there are dug outs on the far side. 

My thoughts before the game were that this could be an entertaining match between two in-form sides and this proved to be the case. Don't let the score at the top of the report mislead you as this was not was one sided as it suggests. It was an end to end game in which the visitors from Rutland more than matched their hosts at times. To put it another way - Eye took their chances and Oakham did not. The opening goal came with five minutes before the half time interval as Ryan Francis created some space for himself inside the Oakham penalty area and slotted the ball across the keeper into the far corner of the goal. Two goals in the space of five minutes around the hour mark put the outcome of the game to bed. The second goal of the afternoon came on fifty-eight minutes when Steve Shore finished with aplomb following excellent work down the left. The third and killer goal of the game came just five minutes later when Francis got his second of the afternoon. The ball fell kindly to him inside the Oakham penalty area and his first time shot found the back of the net. With around fifteen minutes remaining Francis completed his hat-trick in some style. Oakham were caught on the counter attack and from around thirty yards out Francis let fly with a shot that beat the Oakham keeper all ends up. 

An enjoyable but chilly afternoon with some good football being played. When I will be back for another game in the PDL is another matter but it won't be due to the football on offer.  

Admission: None

Programme: None

Attendance: mid 20's

Entertainment rating: 7 out of 10

websites / sources:

Eye - wikipedia page

Eye village website

Peterborough & District League - official website

Around fifty photos took of the ground and game can viewed in the slideshow below:

5,000 robins descend on North London

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3–0 CHELTENHAM TOWN

Saturday 7^th January 2012

FA Cup 3^rd Round

White Hart Lane

Sometimes in football cup draws fall the way you like and prior to the draw for the 3^rd round of this seasons FA Cup I said to the wife that I hope Cheltenham get Chelsea, Manchester City or Spurs away. Well this prediction and wish came true and as regular readers of the blog know one of my closest friends is a season ticket holder @ Cheltenham. This made getting one of the 5,000 tickets that  Spurs released for the visitors section straight forward as season ticket holders were allowed to purchase two tickets each. An added bonus was that Spurs reduced the admission price to a respectable £20, with the cheapest adult tickets at White Hart Lane this season for league games costing £31 for the lowest category games. 

Useless fact alert: This will be the 26th FA Cup that I have seen, yet only the second in the competition proper. This came in the 2005/06 season when I saw Cheltenham host Newcastle United in the 4th round. The rest of the ties  were in the qualifying rounds.

My original plan was to drive down to north London and then get the tube and bus to the stadium, but for some unknown reason decided to check how much I could get to the capital and back on the train. I was quoted £31 return but the stipulation was that I had to get a specific train there and back – the train tickets were duly purchased and I was booked on the 1057 from Leicester which got me into St. Pancras International @ 1220. With Colin also arriving in London on the train via Paddington we arranged to meet @ St. Pancras itself at 12.30pm and make our way to White Hart Lane from there. Firstly there was a tube ride to Seven Sisters which is only three stops away on the Victoria Line and then a mile and a half walk to the ground itself. According to the excellent Transport for London website it should cost £5.20 return using an Oyster card. This was fortunate as I have £7.20 left on my card from my last visit to London at the end of July.


The area between the tube station and the stadium along Tottenham High Road is a cosmopolitan and multi-cultural mix. The High Road consists of plenty of small businesses which range from fast food takeaways to computer repair specialists, as well as two branches of the biggest supermarket chains. Also for anyone wanting a pre-match drink there are numerous pubs in the vicinity, though a lot of them near the stadium are for home fans only.

The club

As is the case when I went down to fellow North London rivals Arsenal I will just give a list of the club’s first team honours and records for Spurs. A full detailed history including reserve and youth team honours can be found on their official website @ http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/index.html.

The club were formed in 1882 as Hotspur FC before changing their name to the current title two years later. Their first league competition competed in was the Southern Alliance for the 1892/93 season, before joining the Southern League three years later in 1896. I have no idea if they played in any league competition between 1893 and 1896. While in the Southern League before they were elected to the Football League in 1908 they also competed in the United League, London League and Western League.

Football League champions (2) 1950/51; 1960/61

Football League Division 2 winners (2) 1919/20; 1949/50

FA Cup winners (8) 1900/01; 1920/21; 1960/61; 1961/62; 1966/67; 1980/81; 1981/82; 1990/91

Football League Cup winners (4) 1970/71; 1972/73; 1998/99; 2007/08

European Cup-winners Cup winners (1) 1962/63

UEFA Cup winners (2) 1971/72; 1983/84

FA Charity Shield winners (4 + 3 shared) 1920/21; 1951/52; 1961/62; 1962/63; 1967/68 (shared); 1981/82 (shared); 1991/92 (shared)

Western League champions (1) 1903/04

London League champions (1) 1902/03

Record victory: 13-2 v Crewe Alexandra (H) 03-02-1960 (FA Cup)

Record defeat: 0-8 v 1. FC Koln (A) 22-07-1995 (UEFA Intertoto Cup)

Most appearances: 854 – Steve Perryman

Top goalscorer: 266 – Jimmy Greaves

Record attendance: 75,038 v Sunderland (05-03-1938)

Highest transfer fee paid: £16.75m for Luke Modric (Dinamo Zagreb) – June 2008

Highest transfer fee received: £30.75m for Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United) – September 2008

The Stadium

Stating the obvious here but Spurs play their home games @ White Hart Lane in north London and currently has a capacity of 36,310. When the club were first formed they played their home games on Tottenham Marshes before moving to Northumberland Park in 1898. The move only lasted a year before they converted a disused nursery owned by brewery chain Charringtons at the present site.  The first game on White Hart Lane saw Spurs beat Notts County 4-1 in front of approximately 5,000 spectators.


My impressions of the stadium were just ok. It did not give you the "wow factor" like their north London rivals Arsenal, though I do admit comparing the two is unfair. Also I felt it did not have an aura about it, like for example Anfield where you know you are somewhere special and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I am struggling to sum up anything else that could be constructive or descriptive to describe the place...maybe "an average medium sized football stadium". 


One thing that I was not impressed with was how narrow the concourse was. There was only one entrance and exit for the away fans, which I presume was due to the larger than normal away contingent. This meant that it felt like an awful long time to get out of the stadium and back on to Tottenham High Road. 


The food and drink inside and outside the ground consisted of the usual fare - pie, hot dog, burger, beer (Carlsberg only) etc etc. There were four meal deal options which varied in price between £5 and £7. We ate at one of the many food outlets outside the ground and paid £3 for a hot dog.

The game

This tie pits two teams doing well in their respective league campaigns although they sit three divisions apart. Spurs are third in the Premier League with only the Manchester clubs, United and City above them in the table. Their last game on Tuesday saw them beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 with the goal coming from Jermaine Defoe.   Cheltenham are second in League 2, just one point behind leaders Crawley Town. They are unbeaten in nine games in all competitions, recording a 2-1 victory @ Port Vale in their last match on Monday. Their two FA Cup games so far have both been away from home and recorded victories @ Tranmere Rovers (1-0) and Luton Town (4-2).


What we had was in effect a Spurs 2nd XI that had a comfortable victory against their league two opponents. It should be said that the team that Spurs put out did consist of players that were / are full internationals. For example Jermaine Defoe, Aaron Lennon, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Niko Kranjcar.


To be honest I feel that the report on the BBC website is a fair reflection and without copying it word for word it can be viewed by clicking here: report

Admission: £20
Programme: £3.50
Badge: £3
Stadium postcard: £1
Attendance: 35,672


To sum up - well it is nice to visit the bigger stadiums in the country but I could not watch football in that environment every week. It is not because I did not enjoy the football on offer but because of the restrictions you have compared to watching the game at grass roots level. 


This was only my fourth ever game of football I have seen in London and the second time this season. As it happens I am back in London and meeting up with Colin in six weeks time (February 18th) for Cheltenham's visit to Dagenham & Redbridge for a League 2 encounter.   

Despite it taking longer than we (and most of the Cheltenham fans) would have liked getting out of the stadium I got back to St. Pancras without any problems for the 1825 train back to Leicester. Following a detour in Leicester to pick up some theatre tickets which are a 60th birthday present for my dad I arrived back home in Leicester at 8pm. 

Other Websites / sources:

Tottenham Hotspur – Wikipedia – Wikipedia (history)

White Hart Lane Stadium – Wikipedia


I did take some photos of the ground both externally and internally and these can be viewed below: