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

Game 511

ALSAGER TOWN 5-1 SPALDING UNITED

Saturday 25th August 2007

Northern Premier League Division 1 South

The Town Ground

This was not a planned visit by any stretch. I had planned to visit either Rossington Main or Welbeck Welfare but signs on the M1 saying "Junction 25-27 Long Delays" made me think whether it was worth the risk as I hate (like a lot of people) being stuck in traffic. Fortunately Donnington services were in the vicinity and from there I made a couple of calls to clubs in the Potteries area - Alsager being one of them and with the help of a Sat Nav arrived at the ground with about 15 minutes to kick-off.

The ground is a strange affair as it is situated behind a cul-de-sac in a housing estate. There is no parking at the ground so the only option is to park on the street and walk along a track between the houses in the corner of the cul-de-sac. The layout is such is that it appears to be on three levels - the clubhouse, changing rooms, turnstiles and catering hut is on the upper level, below of which is a small carpark for officials and players and below further is the pitch. On the far side which is where the dugouts are located is a small covered standing area which probably runs maybe half the length of the pitch and on the other side is two covered seated stands which take up probably two-thirds the length of the pitch.

It cost £6 admission and £1.50 for an all-glossy programme which I thought was expensive - not enough reading material to warrant the price. The game itself was pretty good with both teams trying to play the ball on the ground instead of hoofing it into the heavens though the homesters looked the more sharper in the first 15 mins and deservedly took the lead on 17 minutes through Dave Whittaker and two minutes later were two up when Danny George deflected a free kick into his own net. On 26 minutes Spalding were awarded a penalty but this was saved by the home keeper and within two or three minutes were made to pay as Chris Budrys put Alsager 3-0 up. Alsager didn't set on their laurels and went looking for further goals but not no avail.

Half Time: 3-0

The majority of the second half action came with the first 25 minutes when Alsager scored two goals in two minutes to increase their lead to 5-0. Peter Heler got the fourth on 50 minutes and Chris Budrys scored his second on 51 minutes. Spalding then played some better football, maybe because of Alsager taking their foot off the gas and got a consolation goal on 65 minutes Benger. To make things worse for the visitors they had two men sent off within a minute of each other - the first a straight red card for I believe an elbow and the second was for a second yellow card. This ruined the game as Alsager didn't play with the same impetus prior to the dismissals and at time it looked like Spalding would be the one to add further goals to the game.

Final Score: 5-1 (Attendance 76 - Non-League paper)