Game 524

Newark Flowserve 2-0 Harworth Colliery Institute

Lowfields Works

Central Midlands League Premier Division

Saturday 12th January 2008

My first game in three weeks since I saw Brereton Social on the Saturday before Christmas saw me make the relatively short trip up the A46 to the New Balderton area of Newark to see Newark Flowserve take on Harworth Colliery Institute. The ground is on the site of Lowfields Works which is on Hawton Lane and took me around 1 hour to get to from my home in the Braunstone area of Leicester. I was not charged an admission and programmes were on sale for £1. I did a head count during the second half and there was around 35 people in attendance.

I met "Mr Central Midlands League" Rob Hornby at the game and spent the whole time talking non-league football, whether it be our "travellers tales" or issues within the game itself. It was nice to meet up with Rob again and look forward to seeing him and fellow groundhoppers at the Nettleham game on the Easter Weekend hop - it will be the only game of the eight that I will be attending.
The game itself saw a fairly even first half with the home side shading it that saw a few chances in a competitve but free flowing half. I can only recall about two or three fouls during the whole of the half. The half ended goalless.
The second was better in terms of entertainment and chances created with Harworth having more of the posession and creating the better chances. The home keeper was forced into action on more than one occasion and kept Flowserve in the game. As often is the case the sucker punch happend as the home side scored with a few minutes to go through their number 9 who rounded the visiting keeper to score. There was still time for a second from the home side with a tap in on the goal line from with the last kick of the game.

Game 520

Newport Pagnell Town 2-0 Yaxley

United Counties League Premier Division

Saturday 10th November 2007

Willen Road Sports Ground

Newport Pagnell was chosen for two reasons 1) due to them being on my "hit list" for a few years now 2) the nearest UCL club that I hadn't visited.

Willen Road is easy to find just five minutes from junction 14 of the M1 and about an hours drive from my home in south west Leicester. The clubhouse is outside the entrance to the pitch which contains a bar and toilets - there was no hot food available today, just cups of tea which being a coffee drinker left me having to buy either an alcoholic or soft drink. There were also ham and cheese cobs available at £1.40 from the bar. The ground entrance is nearest the clubhouse on the right hand side and cost £4 plus £1 for an average programme. There is hard standing all around the pitch with two seated stands either side of the pitch - one of these was only erected during the summer and is of the modern metal variety that a springing up and down the country.

The game itself...

Newport started the strongest and scored with a well worked move after only 3 minutes and had the better of the exchanges and chances for the majority of the first half. Yaxley came into it for the last 5 or 10 minutes or so which also saw the home side reduced to 10 men for what I believe, retaliation. The second half saw Yaxley come out with more purpose but clear cut chances were few and far between. Newport seemed to be happy to try and play on the counter attack and it was they who scored a decisive second goal 10 minutes from time to secure a victory they deserved.

The only disapointment I felt was that the attendance was a paltry 54 (head count). With the MK Dons away from home @ Crewe in the FA Cup the people of Newport it seems have no desire for their football club. A real shame. Nice friendly club run by nice friendly people and I hope they get the support they deserve in the future.

Game 515

SUTTON COLDFIELD TOWN 1-3 RADCLIFFE BOROUGH

F.A. Trophy Preliminary Round

Central Ground

Saturday 6th October 2007

Over two weeks since the game so I will make this brief...
£5 admission / £1.50 programme

A relatively even game despite the scoreline. Sutton, I recall had the better of the early exchanges though Radcliffe hit them on the break after 10 minutes or so for the opening goal and added a second before the end of the first half.


Sutton came out flying in the second and got a goal back within five minutes. Sutton dominated possession and territory but could not break the visitors down who themselves scored a third towards the end of the game.

Campion F.C. pics

A few pics from Campion v Golcar United - 22nd September 2007.

The blogger himself

Game 514 (Campions @ Campion)

CAMPION 3-1 GOLCAR UNITED

Manningham Mills Sports Ground, Bradford

Saturday 22nd September 2007

West Riding County Amateur League Premier Division

The primary reason for travelling up to Bradford for a West Riding League match, and this one in particular is that Campion is my surname and was curious about the club – the name itself is not that common and a football club named after one made the curiosity grow especially as I have recently being looking at my family tree. The Campion line that have researched back to the 18th century originate from Rushden in Northamptonshire. I had also managed to get my dad to come along for the jaunt up the M1. The second and final reason is that I studied in Bradford between 1995 and 1997 and I have not been up there for seven or eight years or so and I wanted to have a look at the college and area that I lived. It not surprisingly brought back memories for me and to see the college halls of residence as a building site was not what I expected. While driving around I will admit that I did feel a touch of emotion.

As we had time on our side before the 2:30 kick-off we went to Saltaire to have some lunch and a beer and found a pub on the banks of the River Aire. Saltaire is a village which was purpose built by Victorian Sir Titus Salt for workers at his woollen mills.

We found the Manningham Mills Sports Ground fairly easily with the aid of a sat nav and arrived at around 2:15. Campion share the ground with Manningham Mills Cricket Club though the two pitches do not overlap and the football pitch is railed off all the way round with a small stand running approximately half way along the far side. The ground does boast a new building that backs onto Scotchman Road which houses changing rooms and bar. The club do not take a gate or issue a programme which was not unexpected and around 30 people were in attendance for the game.

The first half was, I thought very entertaining with good football being played by both teams which would grace a higher level. Campion nearly got off to the perfect start when the visiting keeper pulled off a superb save after only two minutes. It took the home side 25 minutes to score and well worth the wait it was as Durkin finished off a fine move with a low shot into the bottom corner from the left hand side of the penalty area. Both sides created chances and tried to play football instead of the route one option and Golcar were level before the half ended when their number six scored with an angled drive.

The second half started with the visitors having the majority of possession and creating the better chances, but were hit with a sucker punch on the hour mark when Chimba Manondo created space for himself to score from about 12 yards giving the keeper no chance. This seemed to knock the stuffing out of Golcar and gave Campion a second wind, with which they duly took advantage of but scoring a third with twenty minutes left through Noble. No further scoring ensued but both teams never stopped trying to score in what was an open game from start to finish.

Credit to both teams.

Final Score: 3-1

Game 513

F.C. KHALSA 3-3 F.C. BRAUNSTONE VICTORIA

Judgemeadow Community College, Leicester

Leicestershire Senior League Division 1

Saturday 8th September 2007

The previous two winners of the Leicester City League meet for the first time this season at Judgemeadow Community College in the Evington area of the city. This game was brought forward to a 2pm kick-off which I did not know about and turned up just after Braunstone scored their second goal from Stu Wheeler on the 40 minute mark. This was followed up within a couple of minutes for another goal for Braunstone from right midfielder Kyle Robinson.

Half Time: 0-3

The second half was completely the other way with Khalsa dominating the game completely and scored three goals of their own, two of which were from former Oadby Town midfielder Sean Philips who I have been told is on £100 per week - stupid money at this level. It does make you wonder where the money is coming from as Khalsa do not take a gate, issue programmes or have any refreshements available for visiting spectators. Even if they did take a gate they would not get much as I counted only about 25 people standing round the pitch.

Final Score: 3-3 (Attendance: 25 - counted)

Game 512

F.C. BRAUNSTONE VICTORIA 0-3 LUTTERWORTH ATHLETIC

Braunstone Park, Leicester

Saturday 1st September 2007

Leicestershire Senior League Division 1

My first viewing of my local Senior League side F.C. Braunstone Victoria this season for their 3rd league match of the season against Lutterworth Athletic. Braunstone Vics play on the Cort Crescent side of Braunstone Park in Leicester and is next to the road. No admission is charged nor programme issued though if they did I would be surprised if many or any of the locals would come and watch. Depending on when a head count was taken it varied between 50 and 60 people watching at some point during the game.

Braunstone are currently in their second season in the Senior League and Lutterworth their third. The two games last season both ended in draws with a 4-4 scoreline in this fixture last season played in gale like conditions. Prior to this game Braunstone had won one and lost one while Lutterworth had started the season with a 100% record.

The game was an even affair throughout with the finishing being the difference. Lutterworth took their chances, Braunstone didn't. End of story. The first half hour was an even affair with both teams having similar amounts of possession and the visitors took the lead on 32 minutes when "a player" scored with a header from maybe six yards out. The remainder of the first half saw Braunstone play some of their best football but couldn't find a way to equalise and probably didn't want the half time whistle to blow.

Half Time: 0-1

The second half started with the home side looking like they were still on their interval and Lutterworth created a few chances and looked a yard quicker at times. They duly scored their second goal on the hour mark from a tap in which came from a left wing cross. Braunstone woke up again midway through the second half and played the better of the fooball for the remiander of the game with Darren Jepson having three chances, two of which were long range efforts saved by the visiting keeper. The first of these three chances should have put the Vics back in the game but his effort was brilliantly blocked by a Lutterworth defender. The third goal came right at the death when a mistake by the home keeper allowed Lutterworth to score a third and make the scoreline somewhat flattering.

Final Score: 0-3