All Roads Lead to...Essex!!!

Saturday 21st February 2015

Harwich & Parkeston 5-0 Bradfield Rovers

Essex & Suffolk Border League Division 1

The Royal Oak Ground, Main Road, Dovercourt, Harwich, Essex, CO12 4AA

With only having four days holiday left to take between the turn of the year and the end of the financial year, I decided to spread them out over three weekends - one in February and two in March. This weekend is the first of the three and with myself on a Tuesday - Saturday night shift I booked off both the Friday and Saturday.

One of my grounds that has been near to the top of my to do list is that of Harwich & Parkeston FC's Royal Oak Ground - a venue that I have been past twice while on holidaying in the area in recent years. In fact the last time was last June when we stopped off at the Asda opposite for some provisions for a four night break at the Haven site near Clacton. With H & P having a home fixture this weekend it was an easy decision to make, and coming along for the ride is Oadby Town FC secretary and good friend Kevin Zupp.

The High Lighthouse

The ground itself is not actually located in Harwich or Parkeston but that of Dovercourt, a small seaside town in its own right. Though to be fair the three towns are pretty much continuous

Redoubt Fort

Harwich itself has a military and naval history with a Royal Dockyard being established in 1652. This was due to the town being in a ideal location for the deployment of vessels in the Anglo-Dutch wars of the Seventeenth Century. The older part of the town, excluding Navyard Wharf is a conservation area. Nowadays Harwich is probably most associated with the International Port, lying one mile upstream from the town itself. Dovercourt meanwhile is older and larger than its more well known neighbour and is a small seaside town. If anyone does visit the old town in Harwich there is a visitor centre at the Ha'Penny pier and when we (the wife and I) visited back in 2010 we did a walking tour, and the two photos above were taken then. 

Harwich & Parkeston Football Club have a long history being formed back in 1877. They have managed to reach the FA Cup 1st Round on six occasions and have been beaten finalists in the old FA Amateur Cup twice. The first coming in 1898 when they lost 1-0 to Stockton @ Middlesbrough FC, and the second in 1953 when Pegasus defeated them 6-0 @ Wembley Stadium. In recent years the club have fallen on hard times withdrawing from the Eastern Counties League mid-season and now find themselves plying their trade in the second tier of the Essex & Suffolk Border League. H & P moved into their current home 117 years ago in 1898 and during the game was told that the land belonged to, or still belongs to Wix Abbey. There are also natural streams that run beneath the surface of the ground. 

The day start out with me leaving home around 8.30am to head over Oadby to pick Kev up from the football ground. From there we headed down the A6 and A14 to Newmarket where we called in at the JD Wetherspoon outlet, The Golden Lion for breakfast. With time on our side we stopped off again at another JDW outlet, this time at The Willow Tree in Stowmarket. A call to the social club at the ground confirmed that the game was still on and we arrived around forty five minutes before the scheduled 2.30pm kick-off. 

The ground is located on Main Road in Dovercourt and there is a car park to the right of the social club. Entry to the (social) club was free and the walls are covered with old photographs, certificates and memorabilia. The entrance to the ground was on the right hand side about half way down, though there are some fire doors that give direct access to and from the social club. As you enter the main stand, external toilet block, tea bar and changing rooms are to the right and behind the far goal. There is also another stand which is located behind the goal to the left. We were told that there has recently been some people doing community service that have cleared some of the overgrown vegetation on the far side and behind the changing rooms. Hopefully the club can get this again to carry on the work they've started!!! The two stands have, to put it mildly seen better days though in some respects it is what attracts people like myself to visit grounds like this. 

Before hand I did not look at the league table to see where the two teams were respectively so had no idea how this game was going to plan out. The first half an hour or so was quite even, but then the home side started to take control and scored twice before the interval, the second of which was an own goal. The second half was predominantly one way traffic and to be honest Harwich could and should have scored more than the three they did in the second period, and it was ultimately a comfortable victory for them. 

On the way home we broke the journey up again, this time in Cambridge to one of the two JDW outlets, The Tivoli and managed to park for free outside of the establishment. Like on the outbound journey the traffic on the A14 was pretty light and we made good time back to Leicester, and after dropping Kev off at the Charles Napier pub on Glenfield Road I was back home at around 8.30pm some twelve hours after departing.

Finally last but not least, we found Harwich & Parkeston to be a really friendly and hospitable club - they are a credit not just to non-league football but football itself. When I visit clubs I don't expect them to treat me any differently or go out of their way for me, but when people are polite and friendly, whether it be other supporters or club officials it makes the visit even more enjoyable. 

Admission: by donation - gave £4

Programme: none

Attendance: 54 (head count)

Sausage roll and chips: £2

websites / social media:

Essex & Suffolk Border League - official website - mitoo

Harwich & Parkeston - official website - twitter - facebook

Bradfield Rovers - official website - twitter

47 ground and match photos can be viewed in the slideshow below:

re-completing the LSL again!!!

Saturday 14th February 2015

Thurnby Nirvana Reserves 1-5 Anstey Nomads Reserves

Leicestershire Senior League Division 1

Hamilton Park, Sandhills Avenue, Hamilton, Leicester, LE5 1LU

Admission: none

Attendance: 5

Due to my limitations regarding football this season due to work one of my aims was to re-complete one of my local leagues, the Leicestershire Senior League (LSL), and at the start of the season I had three venues to visit - one in the Premier Division and two in Division 1. The other two were both visited before Christmas and they were GNG's new ground (The Riverside Football Ground) on Braunstone Lane East in Leicester and Aslockton Cranmers home on Spa Lane in Orston, Nottinghamshire.

Thurnby Nirvana is the result of a merger a few years ago between Thurnby Rangers and junior set-up Leicester Nirvana. All the clubs teams apart from the mens 1st and reserve sides play under the latter name, and Hamilton Park is home to them. Around Christmas time when at work one night I got talking to a customer who was wearing a Leicester Nirvana jacket and was told that the first team will be moving to Hamilton Park once the ground is ready for step 5 football, and this would be by the end of 2015 latest. I did ask if when they move they would change the first team's name to Leicester Nirvana and was told probably.

Hamilton is an estate on the north east side of Leicester with work beginning in the late 1980's. I used to live not far from there until 1988 and remember it being farm land with a farmhouse set on its own with nothing else around it. The name itself comes from the name of a deserved mediaeval village in the Barkby Thorpe parish that lies outside of the City boundary. More information about the history and location can be found on the Charnwood Borough Council website by clicking here.

Thurnby Nirvana Reserves are new to the LSL this season having transferred or depending on which way you look at it, promoted from its reserve team competition, the Leicestershire Combination, while their opponents joined the previous season. The fifteen teams in the LSL's division 1 are made up about as equally as you can get with an odd number of eight first teams and seven reserve sides. Both teams today are in the lower half of the table with Thurnby occupying 13th position with fourteen points and Anstey two places and one point better off.

I also used this afternoons football to catch up with my dad who I had not seen for six weeks, and with him living a five minute drive from Hamilton Park I picked him up, On arrival there is a small car park and club house decked out in Leicester Nirvana signage. It is an L-shaped venue with two full size pitches in front of the clubhouse and one to the left - this was the one used this afternoon. There was nothing pitch side literally and the pitch wasn't even roped off, and was without doubt the most basic of venues I have seen a game in the LSL at with my first one being back in 1998.

The game itself wasn't that bad and had a mix of some excellent goals and goalkeeping howlers. Anstey playing in all blue started the brighter but on ten minutes were one behind, when against the run of play Thurnby broke on the left and a powerful shot on the left hand side of the penalty area from gave the visiting keeper no chance. The home defence were at fault for the Nomads equaliser when they gave the ball away on the edge of their own penalty area and they were punished with a first time shot. The rest of the half was a reasonably even affair and it looked like the teams would go into the interval all square, but in the final few minutes the Anstey took the lead. In the second half Anstey looked the more dangerous of the two teams going forward and the more likely to add to the scoring. They did just that by adding three more - the first being a simple finish from a few yards out following a low cross from the right. Goal four for Anstey of the afternoon was the result of an instance that goalkeepers dread and have nightmares about, as the Nirvana keeper made a complete hash of a kick from a back pass and this allowed the Anstey #12 to roll the ball into an empty net. Without meaning to sound patronising I felt sorry for the keeper as it was his only mistake of the afternoon and had played pretty well. He could though do nothing about the visitors fifth goal of the afternoon - one of the best strikes that I have seen this season as the ball flew into the top corner from twenty five yards or so.

31 photos can be viewed online @

Owls shock Magna

Sunday 8th February 2015
Appleby Magna 1-2 Oadby Owls, Mens
Leicestershire & Rutland FA Sunday Premier Cup Semi Final
Bowleys Lane, Appleby Magna, Leicestershire, DE12 7BE

Having realised by complete accident that my blog was still available online, albeit under its old address I decided earlier on in the week to re-start and update it again. Whether there will be as many posts as before who knows?, but if I do post anything I will try and make it fresh and interesting to read. 

Appleby Magna is a small village in the far west of Leicestershire and has a DE12 postcode. It is close to the M42 motorway and Ashby-de-la-Zouch is the nearest town being 6 1/2 miles to the North East. The parish church is dedicated to St. Michael & All Angels and before the game I took a photo of it as I had to pass it to reach Bowleys Lane. 

Despite being in Leicestershire Appleby Magna, like the other sides that compete in Sunday Leagues that are based outside the county attract very little attention and seldom get noticed here in Leicester. Appleby though are without doubt the most successful and strongest of these teams having been competing in the top division of the Tamworth & District Sunday League (TDFL) for some time. Since the TDFL have had a web presence on the FA's Full Time site Appleby have been crowned league champions four times (2008-2012) and won numerous cup competitions as well. This season they are also going strong in the league  having won six of their seven games so far. 

Oadby Owls, Mens are new to this level of competition having risen through the ranks of the Alliance Football League (AFL) recently. In the Summer they had a double promotion to the premier division having finished runners-up behind Frolesworth United. The Owls did claim some silverware winning the Leicestershire FA Sunday Intermediate Cup, beating their divisional rivals Frolesworth in the final. This season they sit in a respectable fourth place in the table with twelve points from their seven league games.

Below is the two teams route to the semi final:

Round 1:

Appleby Magna - bye

Ponte (Hinckley Sunday League) 1-5 Oadby Owls

Round 2:

Appleby Magna 5-0 FC Charnwood (Charnwood Sunday League)

Oadby Owls - walk over after Wymeswold (Charnwood Sunday League) folded

Round 3:

Wykin (Hinckley Sunday League) 1-5 Appleby Magna

Oadby Owls 4-0 East Goscote Roofing (Leicester Sunday League)

Quarter Finals:

Appleby Magna 3-1 Quorn Royals (Charnwood Sunday League)

Athletic Oadby (Leicester Sunday League) 2-4 aet Oadby Owls

The venue that Appleby call home is on Bowleys Lane on the western side of the village and as expected is a basic affair. They share the venue with the local cricket club and there is no facilities for spectators. Even parking is restricted to the side of Bowleys Lane itself. 

I have seen both of these teams before this season and to be honest I expected a home win, and the first half played out like this. Appleby looked quicker and sharper and had the lions share of possession and territorial advantage. That said they did not create any clear cut chances until the latter stages of the half. Following some pressure on the Owls goal, the hosts were threatening and won a number of corners and one of these was headed in to give them a deserved lead around five minute before the interval. Five minutes after the re-start and the visitors caught Appleby asleep at the back and Dan Copp produced an excellent finish to square things up. This would the the Owls best spell of the game and on sixty-three minutes Callum Jarman got between two defenders and lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper to give them a 2-1 lead. It was no surprise that this gave the home side a kick up the backside and the final half an hour saw them create plenty of chances but found a resolute defence hard to break down.

To sum up - collective team work and effort can and will win games against sides that on paper have the better players. 

43 photos taken during the game can be found in the slideshow below:

re-starting

I didn't realise that this site was still available online at the old address "allroadsleadsomewhere.blogspot.co.uk", and it still has all the original posts I made. 

Because of this I will re-start posting again and start updating the stats side of things this evening and over the next few weeks.

Rob