Three more football games and a game of basketball were attended during the last weekend of the month. Firstly I picked up a friend of mine at Nuneaton station at midday and I ticked off the two JDW outlets in the town, the Felix Holt and the William White and had lunch in the latter. To be honest they were two of the scruffiest and shabbiest JDW's that I have been in. Anyway this gave us enough time for us to get to our game of football that afternoon.
Dunlop 0-0 Coundon Court Old Boys
Coventry Alliance Premier Division
Dunlop Sports & Social Club, Burnaby Street, Coventry
It took us no more than half an hour to get to Coventry and the Dunlop Sports & Social Club is located in the northern suburbs of the city, making it very easy to reach from junction 3 of the M6 motorway. This was my first game in the Coventry Alliance this season and as it turned out my first 0-0 score of the season as well.
The Sports & Social Club is a tidy affair with it being home to two bowling greens, two full size rugby pitches, one half size and one full size football pitch and a cricket pitch as well. There is a large social club on site with parking on the access road. There is nothing pitch side at the football pitch, though there is a bit of hard standing along the far side.
The game had a 0-0 feel about it early on with both sides struggling to adapt to the blustery wind that blew across the pitch for the whole ninety minutes. To be fair to the teams it wasn't a bad game as they tried their best and they did create a few chances though neither goal keeper was really tested.
Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 25
With the game finishing around 4pm this gave us plenty of time to get home before heading out again.
36 photos taken mainly during the first half can be viewed in the slideshow below:
Leicester Riders 106-86 Plymouth Raiders
British Basketball League
Sir David Wallace Arena, Loughborough University
The tickets had been booked seven weeks in advance for what would be my sixth and final regular season game of the 2014/15 campaign. Also coming along for their first ever basketball game would be my friend Colin, my dad Paul and my brother Gary and his three boys - William, Oliver and Harry.
The Riders are one of the best basketball teams in the country and while they are waiting for a new arena to be built in Leicester itself, they are playing their home games at Loughborough University.
Both teams got out of the blocks quickly and very few shots were missed in a high scoring first quarter with the Riders up 31-23. The second saw only six points less being scored as the Riders increased their lead by three points to ten at the half 56-46. The third saw Plymouth cut into the lead and at one point had it down to just a single point. The Riders rallied to lead 76-69 at the end of the third. The final ten minutes were pretty much a formality as the hosts hit another thirty points and conceded just seventeen to win the game by a twenty point margin.
Tyler Bernadini was awarded the MVP with twenty six points and six rebounds. Neil Watson who leads the BBL in assists added another fourteen to his total and averages over ten a game.
Admission: £11
Programme: £2
Sunday 29th March
With having very little on I offered to take Colin back home to Cheltenham, though this act of kindness was so I could take in two more games of football. I did however forget that the clocks went forward and it meant an early start from Leicester. As expected the traffic was very light all the way down and the journey took less than ninety minutes. Having dropped Colin at a nearby supermarket I headed south to the village of Frocester, and arrived with a couple of minutes before the 10.30am kick off.
Frocester United 3-3 AFC Cheltenham
Gloucester & District Sunday League Division 1
St. Peter's Field, Peter's Road, Frocester, Gloucestershire
On a nice day this would have been a lovely setting to watch a game of football with the sports ground being located immediately behind the parish church. Instead the game was played in strong winds and at times driving rain. Luckily there were a line of trees at the far end which gave me some shelter and saved me from a soaking.
The game wasn't too bad considering the conditions. Frocester sit in mid-table with nothing really to play while their visitors are chasing promotion. Frocester took the lead on ten minutes with a controversial goal. The lead lasted around twenty minutes before a goal keeping error gifted the visitors an equaliser on thirty one minutes. Just five minutes had lapsed before the home #10 drilled a low shot past the AFC keeper to restore his sides lead. They could not hold on to it as with a minute remaining in the half the visitors drew level for a second time. Just after the hour mark and Cheltenham took the lead for the first time during the game, and going into the final stages the looked to have all three points, but a minute into stoppage time Frocester were awarded a free kick. This resulting kick caused confusion in the AFC defence and the ball was headed in by the AFC #5 past his own keeper which have the home side a point.
Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 4
After the game enough time was had to allow me to get something to eat before my second game of the day.
Tredworth Tigers 2-3 Slimbridge Reserves
Stroud Charity Cup Section B Semi Final
The Spa, Spa Road, Gloucester
The Spa is located in the centre of Gloucester and is also home to a local cricket club. There is a small car park and a two storey building which houses the changing rooms and bar. Both of these two teams, like all teams that compete in the various sections of the Stroud Charity Cup are Saturday clubs, and both compete in division 2 of the Stroud & District League with just one place seperating them in the league table.
Tredworth hit the ground running and opened the scoring inside sixty seconds, and by twenty four minutes were two up. They thought they had scored a third before half time but this was ruled out by the referee. The tie was turned on its ahead in the second half as the visitors scored three goals in the space of ten minutes - 50, 51 and 60. They should have put the game to bed in the latter stages but missed a couple of sitters. Tredworth should have made them pay as they were awarded a penalty kick in stoppage time, but the resulting kick was well saved by the Slimbridge keeper.
With games being played on Sundays I will be heading south to watch more games in this competition in the not to distant future.
Admission / programme: none
Attendance: around 30
43 photos taken during the game can be viewed in the slideshow below:
