FC SHOEMAKERS 09 1-4 ADDIES Sunday 18th November 2012 Leicester Sunday League Division 1 Braunstone Park [pitch 3], Cort Crescent, Leicester
With nothing going on a Sunday morning decided to walk down to Braunstone Park to watch one of the three games going on.
For anyone that has not seen the now defunct FC Braunstone Victoria or one of the Leicester & District League sides that use the pitches on a Saturday, there are four railed off pitches adjacent to Cort Crescent going north to south.
This was a decent game played in glorious sunshine, with the visitors deserving their victory. They created and missed numerous chances in the 1st half but went in at the break one up through a penalty.
Addies added three more, helped by some dodgy defending before two penalty kicks for Shoemakers. The first one saw the Addies keeper bring down a home player in the box and was lucky to receive only a yellow card. He then made a flying save to rub salt into the wound. A minute later and Shoemakers were awarded another penalty and this time the kick ended in the back of the net.
50 match photos can be viewed in the slideshow below:
There were no plans to go to a game on Sunday but with the wife being ill and not wanting to go out, I took advantage and went to another Sunday League game. Unsure as where to go I put on twitter for recommendations and Enderby Town were the first to reply, and as they were playing their game only a couple of miles from home decision made.
The ground on St. Oswalds Road is just off the ring road and is a two pitch affair. It is one that I had been meaning to visit for a couple of years with it also home to North Leicestershire League side Anstey Crown. The one nearest the road is fully railed but there is no hard standing or dugouts, while their is nothing pitch side at the second one.
The game saw two good teams play out a good game of football which was played in the right spirit of the game. The home side struck early on with a Matt Shuter goal on three minutes. Enderby gradually got into the game and drew level on twenty five minutes. George Young beat the offside trap, rounded the keeper and rolled the ball into an empty net. By the end of the first half the visitors had scored another goal, this time from Sam Young on 37 minutes and went in at the break 2-1 up. Around the hour mark the Foxes were awarded a disputed penalty which was duly dispatched by Jamie Aston to make it 2-2. Both teams went looking for the three points and the final twenty five minutes was end-to-end, though it was Enderby who were the more clinical. Further goals from Sam Young (69 and 87 minutes) and George Young (76 minutes) gave them the victory. During this time the home side struck the bar and post in the space of about a minute, while the home keeper made a superb save from a free kick that was heading into the top corner. To be honest it is probably the best save I have seen all season.
Overall another enjoyable morning watching Sunday League football and credit to both teams. 33 photos can be viewed in the slideshow below:
Stonelow Playing Fields, Shireoaks Road, Dronfield, Derbyshire
After a few can't be arsed efforts regarding the blog over the past few weeks I have made a conscious effort to do a proper report for today's game.
With no time restrictions in place my choice of game is based upon which direction to head to, and after heading south-west to Coventry last Saturday it is time to head 'up north' again on the M1. My first port of call to find a possible fixture is the Central Midlands League (CML), and one fixture stood - Dronfield Town v Phoenix and decision made. A rarity in the case that plans were not changed due to my indecision!!! The CML is a league that I have ventured into a lot over the years which is helped by the location of a lot of the clubs, and also the amount of clubs that have competed in the league over the years.
Since my visit to Long Eaton United for an FA Vase tie in 1998, Dronfield Town will be the 54th CML club that I have seen play a home fixture over the years. I am not going to bore people into listing them all but three were visited last season, Pinxton, Clifton (now Clifton All Whites) and Belper United. After today there are five different clubs and six different grounds that I have still yet to visit in the CML, of which hopefully two more will be visited after Christmas.
The town of Dronfield is located in north east Derbyshire, with the town comprising the settlements of Dronfield, Dronfield Woodhouse and Coal Aston. It is situated in the valley of the River Drone, lying between Sheffield and Chesterfield and has a population of over 21,000 inhabitants.
According to Google maps it should take me 1 hour 15 minutes to make the 58 mile journey north, and this was pretty much how it turned out with the traffic being light all the way there. The route took me up the M1 to junction 29 before heading east on the A617 towards Chesterfield. When in Chesterfield I took the A61 north in the Sheffield direction, before turning onto the B6057 into Dronfield itself. Local roads took me the car park, the entrance of which is on Shireoaks Road in front of Coal Aston Cricket Club. The pitch is set below the cricket pitch and the entrance is down some steps. The club use the cricket pavilion before the game and at half time to serve refreshments and food, and a cup of coffee was only 60p. There is a small stand on the near side of the ground, with the dugouts being opposite. There are no floodlights at present but the club do have planning permission for them, conditions apply though regarding the useage of them. They have managed to purchase a second hand set from one of the nearby universities and are currently in storage at a local firm before the club get them erected.
Dronfield Town are one of a number of football clubs that compete in the town, the main one is that of Sheffield FC who are the oldest football club in the world. They play their home games at the BT Local Business Stadium which is located on the Sheffield Road (B6057) at the northern edge of the town. Two other bearing the Dronfield name are AFC Dronfield Woodhouse and Dronfield Woodhouse FC who compete in the top division of the Hope Valley Amateur League.
At the start of play Dronfield are fourth in the league table with only one defeat in their twelve league games, some eight points behind leaders AFC Mansfield with two games in hand. Phoenix who are based in Brinsworth, South Yorkshire have twenty points from their thirteen games.
The game served up was average fare for the CML - I have seen a lot worse (FC 05 v Easington United in February 2010) but also seen better. Dronfield game plan of getting the ball down and playing football was in contrast to the harrowing and hassling approach from the visitors. Very few clear cut chances were created but on nineteen minutes the home side took the lead. A shot from about twelve yards from right midfielder Dan Wood crept inside the far upright past a flat footed keeper. No further goals in the first half and it was 1-0 at the break.
The second half was only nine minutes old when Dronfield doubled their advantage, which following a mix up in the Phoenix defence allowed a simple tap in for John Doran. Around the midway point of the half Dronfield rightly felt aggrieved at having a perfectly good goal disallowed, as the assistant on the near side put his flag up for a player who was offside but made no attempt to play the ball, but did not allow play on for a player coming from an onside position. After this stroke of good fortune Phoenix went and got a goal back just two minutes later to make it an interesting last twenty minutes. Dronfield stepped up a gear and made it 3-1 with nine minutes left. Following some good work and a cross down the left Cal Mawby was unmarked inside the penalty area and applied a simple finish.
Admission: £3
Programme: £1
Attendance: 36 (head count)
I'm glad I made the effort to pay Dronfield a visit as around mid morning I had my CBA hat on and was deliberating on whether to stay local for a game. Dronfield are a very friendly club and was made to feel welcome by the small band of volunteers that help keep clubs like this afloat.
For any readers on this who are on twitter Dronfield Town can be followed @DronfieldTownFC
43 photos of the ground and game can be viewed in the slideshow below:
Finally two days after the event I am getting my arse in gear to write a few words about the weekends football. It started off with a 10.30am kick-off on the north side of Coventry at The Black Pad, home of Coventrians RFC for an under-21's game in the Midland Combination Challenge Bowl between Coventrians and Hinckley United.
There are three pitches, one rugby and two football on the site with the clubhouse and changing rooms in front of the rugby pitch, nearest to the car park. The game was played on the pitch furthest away from the club house and was not in the best condition. It (the game) turned out to be an enjoyable one with Hinckley deserving their victory, and on the balance of play should have won by a greater margin. The home side struck in the opening couple of minutes and the goal would come under the "calamity" bracket, before Hinckley dominated the rest of the first half and went in at half time 3-1 up. At the start of the second half Coventrians got a goal back to make it 2-3 and then had their best spell of the game. After the hour mark Hinckley started to take control of the proceedings and were 5-2 up before a goal in the dying seconds for the home side made it 3-5.
Adm / prog: none
Att: 24 (head count)
Coffee: 60p
It was then onto the other side of Coventry for another game in the Midland Combination, this time a second round tie in the Challenge Cup competition between the top two in division one, Alvis Sporting Club and Cadbury Athletic.
The Alvis Sports & Social Club is one the southern side of Coventry and is home to not only the football team, but houses cricket tennis and bowls as well. A drive way takes you past the cricket pitch to a car park, and adjacent to the football pitch is the well appointed club house which looked like it had recently been refurbished. There was no hot food available as there is no kitchen, but the club had some cheese or ham batches available along with the usual bar snacks. The football pitch is fulley enclosed by metal fencing with the pitch being railed off on three sides. The two dugouts are on different sides of the pitch, while a small covered stand is on the far side. I got talking to the former match secretary who informed me that the club have plans in place for floodlights and another stand, though this one would contain seats.
The game itself was not as enjoyable as the one earlier on in the day, mainly due to the fact that the two teams cancelled each other out for the most part. Clear cut chances were few and far between but on the balance of the play I would say the visitors deserved their victory. A goal in each half from |Ellard (38 mins) and Parker (87 mins) was enough to put the Birmingham based side into round three.
Admission: £3
Programme: none
Att: 31 (head count)
Overall an enjoyable double in Coventry and I was home by 4pm. A slideshow of thirty ground and match photos from Alvis can be viewed below:
