CET Challenge Cup

COVENTRY COLLIERY 1-4 aet BRINKLOW
Saturday 28th September 2013
Coventry Evening Telegraph Challenge Cup 1st Round
Coventry Colliery and Keresley Sports & Social Club

Went along to this tie with my dad after our original choice of Dunlop v Coventry Copeswood in the same competition was called off. This was due to the home side being unable to raise a team. The attended tie was an all Coventry Alliance affair and pitted division 1 Colliery against premier division Brinklow. There was no admission charge but the club had drinks and food on sale in the clubhouse, with coffee, sausage rolls and mars bars costing 50p each. 

The game wasn't a classic but was not the worst I have seen. It was goalless at half time before the visitors took the lead mid-way through the second half. From then I expected Brinklow to take control and run out comfortable winners, but it didn't happen as the home side equalised on 72 minutes with a superb curling free kick. Brinklow should have re-take the lead almost immediately, but the ball was put wide with only the keeper to beat. The game went into extra time and the home sides resilience was finally broken as Brinklow added three goals to secure their place in round 2.    

The location of the ground can be seen on this link: map, and it is number 45.

50 match photos taken during the first half can be viewed in the slideshow below:

holiday football

BEER ALBION 0-8 NEWTOWN
Saturday 21st September 2013
Devon & Exeter League Premier Division
Furzebrake, Stovar Long Lane, Beer, Devon

A weeks holiday to the village of Eype near Bridport in Dorset threw up numerous options for football in the area, and with only having visited one ground, Bridport FC options were aplenty. Unfortunately my original plans (Lyme Regis, Portland United, Chard Town among others) were all allocated away fixtures. This left me looking at fixtures in the Devon & Exeter League and the Somerset County League, and I then narrowed it down to a shortlist of three. with the other two being Seaton Town and Ilminster Town.

Apologies for there being no report etc, but the only internet connection I had while on holiday was the 3G service on my mobile phone. The photos have been uploaded since I arrived back today (Friday 27th September), and 40 of the ground and game can be viewed in the slideshow below:

Copa del Cymru

LLANSANTFFRAID VILLAGE 1-5 BERRIEW
Saturday 14th September 2013
Welsh Cup Qualifying Round 2
Recreation Ground, Treflan, Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain, Powys

After recent visits to basic recreation grounds in and around Leicestershire over the past few weeks, I fancy something different today. Where was to be the stumbling block, as if often the case when I have no or limited restrictions I am very indecisive. In the end I looked at possible games in the Welsh Marches, or for anyone unfamiliar with the term, one of the sides close to the English border. I narrowed it down to a shortlist of three and chose the above fixture. Also this was to be only my seventh game in the principality.

About Llansantffraid Village FC 

LLansantffraid (spelt with or without the 't') Village FC were formed in 2007 after the original village club decamped to Park Hall over the border in Shropshire. The club were subsequently accepted into division 2 of the Montgomeryshire Football League (MFL) and won the division at the first attempt. They lost only one league game all season, finishing four points ahead of runners-up Montgomery Town and gained promotion to division 1. The 2008/09 saw them crowned MFL champions, remaining unbeaten throughout their league games. Montgomery Town were again runners-up to Village, though the gap between the two had increased to nine points. A second successive promotion was also achieved, this time to the Mid-Wales League (MW). The MW sits at the third level of the Welsh Football system, and feeds into the Cymru Alliance. This season is Llansantffraid's fifth season in the MW, and in the four previous seasons they have finished in 8th, 5th, 10th and 11th place respectively. 

About the village (taken from the Wikipedia page)

Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain is a village, community and post town in Powys, Mid-Wales, close to the border with Shropshire, about 5 miles (8.0 km) south west of Oswestry and 10 miles (16 km) north of Welshpool.

St. Ffraid's Church

Llansanffraid means "Church of Saint Bride" in the Welsh language and ym-Mechain refers to its location in the medieval cantref of Mechain.

The name is based on the story of St. Bhrid, who is said to have floated across the Irish Sea on a sod of turf, or was carried to Scotland by two oystercatchers. The followers of St. Bhrid possibly set up new settlements known by the Welsh as 'Llan Santes Ffraid', Church of Lady Saint Bhrid.

In recent years the correct spelling of the village name, with or without a "t", has been a contentious issue, recognised by Powys County Council providing a dual spelling of the village name on road signs in the locality.

The earliest written form in Liber Landavensis, The Book of Llandav, a 12th-century document, refers to 'Llann sanfreit' in 1066. With so many places named Llansanffraid in Wales it was necessary to add location details, hence Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain (in Mechain) or Llansanffraid Glyn Ceiriog etc. The earliest written record for Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain is 1254 as Llansanfret.

In 1526 the name of the village appeared as 'Llansayntefrayde' in an English document. "The 'saynte' suggests an English influence on the Welsh name.The English language Tithe Maps of the early 1800s use two anglicised forms, 'Llansaintffraid' and 'Llansaintfraid'.

The first Ordnance Survey Drawing map by Robert Dawson in 1830 records the spelling of the village name as 'Llansanffraid'.

Welsh place names were often anglicised. For example, when the railway arrived in the village in 1862, the station was called 'Llansaintffraid'. The Border Advertiser, was originally a railway company publication to advertise the railway but as it became a local newspaper it continued to use this spelling.

By the beginning of the 20th century the 'i' was lost and the spelling for some appears to change again. In 1922 when the GWR took over the Cambrian Railways, the station name changed to Llansantffraid.

Apparently, in 2008, the letter 't' was officially dropped by Powys County Council, which claimed it was correcting a 'mistake'.However, the council's website still refers to the name of the village as "Llansantffraid". The different spellings in the name of the village are also reflected on local road signs.

A brief history of the Welsh Cup

The Welsh Cup is organised by the Football Association of Wales, and has been run every year since its inception in 1877 apart from during the two world wars. The winners qualify for the following seasons UEFA Champions League, though this has only been since 1999 after the demise of the European Cup-Winners Cup. The first victors of the competition were Wrexham who overcame Druids 1-0. Until 1995, some clubs playing in England were also invited to play in the Welsh Cup, but could not progress to the European Cup Winners' Cup by winning the Welsh cup. Instead, the best placed Welsh club in the Welsh Cup would take the European place. The first English winners of the cup were Shrewsbury Town who defeated Wrexham 5-2 in the 1890-91 season.

From 1996 to 2011, only clubs playing in the Welsh football league system were allowed to enter the Welsh Cup. This rule excluded the six Welsh clubs who played in the English football league system: Swansea City, Cardiff City, Newport County, Wrexham, Colwyn Bay and Merthyr Tydfil/Town. On 20 April 2011, the Football Association of Wales invited these six clubs to rejoin the Welsh Cup for the 2011–12 season but only Newport County, Wrexham and Merthyr Town accepted. In March 2012 UEFA stated that Welsh clubs playing in the English football league system could not qualify for European competitions via the Welsh cup but they could qualify via the English league and cup competitions, hence they were subsequently again excluded from the Welsh Cup. Prestatyn Town are the current holders as they overcame Bangor City 3-1 after extra time in the final, which was played at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham. The 2013/14 season will be the competitions 127th edition and competed for by 191 teams. It kicked off on the weekend of 17th/18th August with 51 ties in Qualifying Round 1. 

A full list of Welsh Cup finals can be viewed here, while the Welsh Football Data Archive is an superb resource for anyone with an interest in the history of football in Wales.

Match preview

Both teams play in the top division of the MW and on paper this should be an away win. The home side currently sit in the lower reaches of the division, winning only one of their six opening league games. This came on the 24th August against Builth Wells with a 4-0 scoreline. Last Saturday they were thrashed 6-1 at home to Llandrindod Wells. Berriew meanwhile sit top of the table with a 100% record from their opening five games, four of which have been away from home. Their last two games have seen them record comprehensive victories at Dolgellau (9-0) and Montgomery Town (7-0).

The main stand

The day, ground and game
I left home around 11.30am with the intention of getting there early to have a drink in one of the two pubs and take a few photos of the village. In reality I arrived at the ground with just fifteen minutes before kick-off, this was because the M6 around Birmingham was a nightmare and it did its best to scupper my plans!!!

The ground is set back off the main A495 that runs through the village, and if coming from either the east or west, follow the signs for the community centre. This leads to a car park with the ground entrance ahead of you. There is a turnstile block, but it wasn't in use today as instead admission money was paid to an "old boy" with a Guinness bucket on the right just before the tea hut. For anyone wanting any alcoholic liquid refreshment there is a decent social club on site. There are two areas of cover at the ground, both of which are all seated. The larger of the two sits behind the near goal, while a small one straddles the half way line on the far side in between the dugouts. 

The home side kicked off, but found themselves a goal down inside the opening twenty seconds. A ball down the right was crossed in and finished first time. This set back stunned the home side and they took time to get into the game. Berriew meanwhile tried to play balls over the top of the Village defence, but were denied by their inability to stay onside, or some decent defending and goalkeeping. It was far from one way traffic as the home side belied their lowly league position and deservedly equalised just before half time. The ball found its way to two unmarked players around the penalty spot, and the number four made it 1-1.

At half time the programmes arrived which was a folded sheet of A4 paper. It didn't look like one that the club would normally issue, but regardless someone has made the effort and despite being told I could have it for nothing I gave them a £1. 

The view from the main stand

For the second half I sat in the stand behind the goal having put my camera in the car, and watched an entertaining forty five minutes of football. Both teams were intent on attacking, though it was the visitors who had the more numerous and better chances. It took them until sixty nine minutes to re-take the lead, when a long ball over the top of the Llansantfffraid defence was finished with a low shot across the keeper. The tie was effectively over on seventy eight minutes when Berriew scored a third goal. This time it was a simple tap in after an original shot was well saved by the keeper. Two goals in the final few minutes put a gloss on the score, and one in which was harsh on the home side. Berriew's fourth of the afternoon was from another long ball which saw the ball lobbed over the oncoming keeper and it went in via the post. The fifth was unlucky as a shot was covered by the keeper, but a deflection from a defender saw the ball in the back of the net.

Overall a enjoyable visit into Wales at a ground that did not disappoint. A warm welcome was also had by the chairman. After the game the run home was generally pain free, though I did get held up on the M6 again but thankfully not by as much as on the outbound journey.
  

Match stats
Admission charge: £2
Programme issued: a 4 pager came at half time
Badges: £2.50 - available from the social club
Attendance: no more than 50
Match rating: 7 out of 10
Coffee: £1

Driving time: 2 hours 4 minutes (Google maps)
Driving distance: 107 miles

some more photos of the ground can be viewed in the slideshow below:

catching up...(7th and 8th September)

Last weekend saw me take in two games of football, one on the Saturday and one on the Sunday. The Saturday saw me change my plans, which was originally to be Oadby Town v Peterborough Sports and instead I headed into Nottinghamshire to catch up with Rob Hornby who was attending a game in the Notts Senior League (NSL). I last met up with Rob on Easter Monday at Wollaton FC. This time he was heading to NSL new boys Greyfriars FC. Greyfriars FC play their home games on the Burton Road Jubilee Park in Carlton, to the east of the Nottingham city bounday, and the venue is as basic as they come. There is a very small car park which is totally inadequate when like today, there are two football games going on. I arrived at 2.40pm after a pint at The Wheatsheaf in nearby Burton Joyce to find Rob already there. This was to be Greyfriars' first home game of the season and saw them up against unbeaten Moorgreen, who had won three and drawn one of their opening four games and without conceding a goal in the process. It was a hard fought game, but one in which the visitors never looked like losing. They opened the scoring inside the opening twenty minutes through Matt Clowes and added two more after the break for a comfortable three nil victory. There was as expected no admission charge or programme issued, and also no refreshments for spectators. 

The game on Sunday morning saw me head east to the other side of Leicester to the village of Scraptoft. The game chosen was an Alliance Football League Division 5 fixture between Humberstone 2000 and United Revolution. Humberstone have moved to the village in the summer and now play their home games at Aylestone St. James RFC on Covert Lane. The rugby club is a well appointed set up and there are three pitches, two of which are floodlit and a large clubhouse as well. The game today was played on the middle pitch and there is no pitch side furniture to speak of. The visitors who come from Huncote started the brighter of the two teams, but against the run of play the home side took the lead around the fifteen minute mark. This set the pattern for the rest of the opening forty five minutes, as without being outplayed United found themselves four down at the interval. By this my brother had joined me, having walked up from his house with his dog and youngest son. The clubhouse was open and selling drinks (tea & coffee - £1) and hot food (sausage sandwich - £1.50), and we then spent some time chatting while keeping an eye on the football. By the end of the second forty five minutes Humberstone had added another five goals to record a slightly flattering nine nil victory.

Photos from both games can be viewed in the slideshows below:

uninspiring venue

Castle Donington Town 2-3 Loughborough United
Saturday 31st August 2013
North Leicestershire League Division 1
Spittal Park, Spittal, Castle Donington, Leicestershire

My plans for my football fix on Saturday were limited to somewhere local, and preferably an early kick-off. With this in mind my attention turned to the fixtures in the North Leicestershire League and the Leicester & District League, but nothing really stood out for me. Probably not really surprising considering that I have watched football at 125 venues with Leicestershire & Rutland, but then on the Friday I noticed a change of venue for the above fixture. With confirmation from both teams via their twitter feeds that this was the case my decision was made. Castle Donington Town normally play their home games at Moira Dale on the east side of the village, but due to a clash with the local cricket club it was being played at Spittal Park. Spittal Park is a large multi-sport and multi-pitch recreation ground on the north side of the village. It is home to their numerous junior and ladies sides plus the local rugby club, who were also at home this afternoon.

I found the easiest way to get to Spittal Park was via the M1 and A50, and instead of going into the town turn right at the second traffic island after leaving the A50 and go round the top of the industrial estate. Spittal Park is signposted and you turn off Back Lane onto Spittal. The entrance to the sports ground is on the left hand side and the football club parking at the bottom. There is a large building that houses changing rooms, toilets and a clubhouse, though sadly the latter was not open so chance of refreshments. The game was played on the pitch on the east side of the venue and they roped it off on one side. The only furniture was a couple of benches though a grass bank behind one goal gave a decent vantage point in which to watch the game. As expected, with this being the 14th level of the English pyramid there was no admission charge or programme issued which is the norm for this level of football.

The game was one in which both teams showed plenty of endeavour, but there was very little quality and clear cut chances in the opening forty five minutes. The home side nearly scored in the opening twenty minutes when the bar was struck following a long ball over the top of the United defence. It was on twenty three minutes that CD made the breakthrough when a ball over to the left hand side of the penalty area was hit first time into the roof of the net. United had enough possession but rarely troubled the home keeper and the half ended 1-0. With around ten minutes gone in the second half the home side made it 2-0 and, following a poor back pass, the United keeper struck his clearance against an oncoming forward, who then had the simple task of rolling the ball into an empty net. This set back seemed to galvanise the visitors who then set about the task of trying to turn defeat into victory. With fifteen minutes to go they were awarded a penalty kick but it was well saved by the Donington keeper. Far from being downhearted they continued to pressure the home defence, and were rewarded with a goal with ten minutes remaining. Game on, and just three minutes later they made it 2-2. United were not finished and they completed a remarkable turn around scoring the winner with just two minutes left on the clock. Joy for the visitors, but the home side were left wondering how they ended up losing a game in which they were in total control.

Websites / Social media:

North Leicestershire League - official website - FA Full Time site

Castle Donington Town - official website - twitter

Loughborough United - twitter

46 photos taken during the first half can be viewed in the slideshow below: