Derbyshire la la la

Parkhouse 1-3 Westella & WillerbySaturday 13th September
Central Midlands League Premier DivisionMill Lane
Again having got up early after my night shift I decided to make the most of the good weather and take in a game. I had two criteria in choosing where to go. 1) It must be reasonably near to home and 2) It would be a non-floodlit ground. Had a quick look on the net saw Parkhouse were at home to CML new boys Westella & Willerby. A tick on both accounts and decision made. Plugged ground postcode into sat nav and left home @ around 1.30pm and made my way up the M1 to Derbyshire and more specifically Old Turton which is just outside the town of Clay Cross, and took just over an hour to get there.


Entering the ground by car I am charged £2 admission which includes the match day programme. The programme by the way is an excellent effort and I would not be disappointed if I had paid another £1 for it and I also managed to get a pin badge for £3 from the secretary. The ground is not floodlight and also has no cover - ideal for days like today. The club have laid foundations for a stand on the Mill Lane side of the ground so watch this space as it were.

Now to the game...

The visitors took the game to Parkhouse from the start and created numerous chances before they got the opening goal on 18 minutes, when the ball was played across from the right and was tapped in at the far post by Tom Dent. Four minutes later and it was all square as Paul Bicknall scored with a header from a corner. A further six minutes passed and the visitors regained the lead when Matt Fyvie struck a low shot into the bottom right hand corner from 12 yards or so. Westella continued to look the more dangerous and had the better of proceddings during the remainder of the half. The hosts should have been level at half time as their number six hit the woodwork with an angled shot with time about up. The second period saw the home side have the better chances and play the better football - just better finishing required and the game would have had a different outcome. The hosts were again unlucky when the frame of the goal was struck with the score still at 2-1 but it was the visitors who scored a crucial third goal on 79 minutes through a header from Lee Jackson. No further goals ensued and the game ended with a 3-1 victory to Westella & Willerby. An enjoyable and competitive game at a nice friendly club. A visit is well recommended.

websites:

Parkhouse - www.clubwebsite.co.uk/parkhousesatfc/
Westella & Willerby - www.westella-willerby.co.uk/

Ivan-ho-ho-hoe

Ashby Ivanhoe 9-0 Asfordby Amateurs
Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division

Saturday 23rd August 2008

Hood Park

A decision was made Friday afternoon that I would get up early for the second Saturday in succession to go and watch a game of football. The choice was an easy one this time as Ashby are a club I have been meaning to visit for a while, in fact I went their last season only for it to be when FC Braunstone Victoria did one of their two no-shows.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch is a small market town in north-west Leicestershire (population 12,758 - Wikipedia) between Coalville and Burton-upon-Trent. It's most well known landmark is it's ruined castle. Ashby Ivanhoe the team play on Hood Park which is on the edge of the town centre, the centrance to which is next door to Ivanhoe College. The club were promoted to Division 1 of the Leicestershire Senior League from the North Leicestershire League in 2005. In their first season they finished a creditable 3rd place, 7th place followed the next season while last season saw them finish runners-up to today's opponents Asfordby Amateurs. Asfordby joined the Leicestershire Senior League in 1991 and have spent most of their time in the lower division, only a three year stint in the mid-nineties has been in the Premier Division. The close season saw contrasting fortunes for both teams with Ashby progressing off the field with the installation of floodlights, things down at Asfordby have not gone so well with the resignation of their manager and (I believe) all of last season's squad not re-signing. They actually resigned from the LSL twice but have been persuaded to carry on.

Ashby started their campaign last week at Thurmaston Town with a 4-3 victory, and this was followed up with a League Cup tie against the same opponents. The result: 12-2. Asfordby were at home last weekend to one of the favourites, Blaby & Whetstone Athletic and were hammered 9-0. A trip to Ravenstone followed in midweek in the League Cup and they came away with a
2-0 defeat. There was technally no admission as the club play on a public park but charge £2.50 for a programme. The club do have plans to enclose the ground and progress from the Leicestershire Senior League - watch this space as it were.

Now to the game itself...

The first goal came on 17 minutes when Richard Hanslow made it 1-0 when he lobbed the ball over the visiting keeper, this was after the home sided created three excellent chances in the first fifteen minutes. Ten minutes later and it was 2-0 when Phil Gibson tapped the ball in from six yards after a 20 yard shot crashed against the bar. Phil Gibson got his second on 39 minutes to make it 3-0 when he turned in a low drilled free kick from the left hand side. Either side of the goals Ashby had chances come and go with a combination of poor finishing and good defending / goalkeeping keeping the score down.

Half Time: 3-0

The second half was barely two minutes old when Richard Hanslow got his second of the game to make it 4-0 when he turned between three Asfordby defenders and placed the ball into the corner of the goal. The fifth came fifteen minutes later when Hanslow completed his hat-trick after being put through on the right hand side, he drilled an angled shot into the far corner of the goal. It became 6-0 on 70 minutes when Hanslow scored again, this time from a ball played over the top of the defence and he finished with aplom. Phil Gibson completed his hat-trick on 79 minutes when he turned the ball home after a scramble in the penalty area to make it 7-0. The scoring was still not finished as on 82 minutes Hanslow got his fith of the game, turning the full back inside out before placing the ball into the far corner. Cue comments from bench "you're being greedy". The best of the goals was the last as James Fisher hit a screamer from fully 25 - 30 yards after a corner was not cleared properly. The second half also saw Ashby create many more chances than the ones they scored and on another day it could have been well into double figures.

Final score: 9-0


websites:
Ashby Ivanhoe: http://www.ashbyivanhoefc.com/
Asfordby Amateurs: http://www.asfordbyamateurs.co.uk/

A game on a Saturday...You must be joking!!!

Buckingham Athletic 0-1 Sport London e Benfica
Spartan South Midlands League Division 1Saturday 16th August 2008
Stratford Fields

This was my first Saturday game since April 5th, the day before I started working nights at a well known supermarket. I made a conscious effort to get up early so I could get to a game and rose at 1pm. This comparing to the previous Saturday when I didn’t get out of bed till 5pm! A quick look at some fixtures and I decided on Buckingham Athletic in the Spartan South Midlands League Division 1. This is not a league that I have frequented very often in the past yet here I am about to attend my second game in a row in this division. As the previous post states I attended the New Bradwell – Ampthill game on the Tuesday and thoroughly enjoyed the game. Buckingham are one of two teams in the town, the other - `Town ply their trade in the United Counties League Division 1 which is the same level in the non-league pyramid as ‘Athletic’. I visited `Town last October in a match that ended in a 1-1 draw against Huntingdon. `Athletic play on the Stratford Road (A422) that goes south east towards Milton Keynes. The drive down was easy and uneventful with the sat-nav taking us down the M1 to junction 15, then onto the A508 towards Stony Stratford and then finally onto the A422 which led us into Buckingham. The time / distance given on Google maps UK is 1 hour 8 minutes / 54 miles. The ground is slightly hidden by large conifer trees on the left hand side before you reach the town centre. Despite being my second visit to watch football I have yet to have a look round the town centre so I cannot tell you much about the place. Below is a few links on the town and district itself:

Buckingham University - www.buckingham.ac.uk

Visit Buckinghamshire - www.visitbuckinghamshire.org

Buckingham Rugby Club - www.buckinghamrugby.co.uk

The ground has an open feel about it, despite being on the edge of town, with a stand on the Stratford Road side of the ground. Luckily the rain that was forecast never materialised in this part of the country so we didn't need the raincoat and / or umbrella! The only goal of the game came on the 2nd minute when the visitors were awarded a free kick on their left hand side and from the resulting kick the ball was headed home by Albert de Matos. The homesters didn't let their heads drop and felt they should have been awarded a penalty a few minutes later, the referee though waved away their claims. Personally I thought it should have been awarded having an excellent view of the incident. A lucky escape for Benfica came on the 13th minute when the keeper gave away possession when just outside the penalty area, only for a first time shot to come back off the post. Six minutes later it was role reversal when Buckingham had their own escape as the visiting no. 10 hit the keeper's left hand post with an angled shot after being put through. The remainder of the half was competitive with the visitors being given very little room and time to play their short passing game I saw at Bedford last year. A credit must go to Buckingham as they had obviously done their homework. The second half was again competitve with both sides evenly matched. Chances were created at either end with both keepers making saves, the visitors through probably created the more clear cut ones and should have made the game safe on 71 minutes when the previously mentioned no. 10 missed a sitter from what seemed no more than eight yards.

Overall an enjoyable couple of hours, though the game deserved more goals. Still no 0-0 since Easter Monday 2006 so can't complain.

Attendance: 29 (football mitoo)

club websites:

Buckingham Athletic: www.buckinghamathletic.co.uk

Sport London e Benfica: http://www.sportlondonebenficafc.co.uk/

Withdrawal symptoms over...

New Bradwell St. Peter 3-1 Ampthill Town

Spartan South Midlands League Division 1

Bradwell Recreation Ground

Tuesday 12th August 2008

My first game of the season saw me and my dad end up in Milton Keynes, and more specifically New Bradwell St Peter Football Club. This is one club that I has been on my hit list as it were for a few years, especially as Milton Keynes is within easy reach of Leicester. I have only previously visited five clubs in the Spartan South Midlands League, three of the clubs currently ply their trade in the same division as New Bradwell and two clubs in the MK area - Newport Pagnell and Stony Stratford. The day started out with a trip to the Northamptonshire Records Office on the edge of Northampton to do some family research with the intention of trying to take the "Campion" name beyond the mid / late 1700's by looking at old parish records. Having spent around 2 and a half hours in the records office we did not manage to take the name further back but found out that the surname changed from "Camping" to "Campion" in the late 18th century. After leaving the records office the plan was to grab some lunch and then look at some of the villages and towns in Northamptonshire where our relatives came from. First up was Rushden, and more specifically Duck Street. Duck Street in 2008 is pretty non-descript, an average street on the edge of Rushden town centre. From there is was to Finedon and more specifically the church where a Campion was married in 1814. The final stop of the day was the village of Stanwick near Raunds. A lot of Campions / Campings in the late 18th century were christened here but strangely the father, an Edward Camping was neither born or buried in the village. Brick wall time!

After leaving Stanwick we decided to head to Milton Keynes itself and made the relatively short journey down the A509 and pulled into Willen Lake for a drink before heading to New Bradwell. Note - there are two Bradwell Roads. The one with the football ground on is in the postcode district of MK13. A phone call was made to the club to confirm location and we arrived with around 15 minutes before kick-off. No admission was taken, programmes had to be collected from a club official's house and I managed to get hold of one during the first half for £1. The club also had badges for sale from their centenary year six years ago which were sold for a bargain £1 each.


Despite arriving at the ground before kick-off we managed to miss the first ten minutes (and first goal for the home side) due to us talking in the bar and losing track of time. Shit happens I suppose!!! A couple of minutes after arriving at pitch side the home side were awarded a free-kick. Lee White stepped up and scored direct from the kick from fully 35 yards to make it 2-0 against a side that won 4-1 at the weekend. I'm not sure if it was intentional but the keeper was expecting a cross and was caught out position wise, added to the fact that the ball seemed to catch the wind. The home side continued to play the better football during the first half and should have been further ahead at the interval. The visitors came out with more intent and purpose in the second half (probably after a rollocking from their manager), but did not cause the home side too many problems. Both sides continued to create chances until Ampthill got a goal back on 77 minutes through Needleman. A free kick was spilled by the home keeper and the afore mentioned player reacted first to stab the ball home from a few yards out. The old saying in football that you are at your most vulnerable after you've just scored couldn't have rang truer, as just a minute later the home side restored their two goal cushion when the ball was diverted into his home net by a visiting defender from a right wing cross. No further scoring ensued and the home side were deserved winners. An enjoyable game hosted by a nice friendly club.

Trying to recall what happened without taking notes is difficult, even after less than 24 hours after the game ended. Hopefully the next time I attend a game I will remember to take my note book!

Distance / time (according to Google maps UK): 52.1 miles / 1 hour 7 minutes

Websites:

www.newbradwellstpeter.co.uk
www.ampthilltownfc.co.uk

Coast 2 Cove

Cove 1-0 Banstead Athletic

Tuesday 15th April 2008

Combined Counties League Premier Division

Oak Farm

As mentioned in the previous post I now work nights having Monday and Tuesday off. This has given me another chance to have a day out with Mrs Rambler (who generally has Tuesday's off from work as well) and also the bonus of taking in a game. Looking at the fixtures in Sunday's non league paper I decided that we should head to the coast, and as the geographically aware people among you will know Leicester is in the middle of the country and at least 80 miles from any seaside town. Skegness is the nearest at 84.4 miles using MS Autoroute's shortest option. Having been Skeggy many times and also no football being played in the vicinity I originally looked at Cromer on the north Norfolk coast - a mere 120 miles away and also had the advantage of somewhere that neither of us had been before. That was sorted until I saw the weather report which in a nutshell said that anywhere south the M4 would have no rain. Bingo we'll head down south. Had another look at the Non League Paper and saw that both the Wessex and Combined Counties league had fixtures being played. Didn't matter who and did not plan to decide until Tuesday afternoon. So we decided on visiting Bognor Regis (a mere 177 miles away using the sat nav route) and left about 8.30am. The journey took us down the M1 towards the M25 which we got caught in the traffic problems caused by the road works south of Luton Airport which delayed us by about 20 minutes. We were then onto the M25 which was generally trouble free, only the volume of traffic slowing us down slightly as we headed towards the A3 exit. Again no problems apart from more road works, this time at Hindhead half way between Guildford and Petersfield. Passing through Hindhead we noticed a pub with an unusual name - the Devil's Punchbowl - mental note made. Eventually we arrived at Bognor at 12.40pm (- a mere four hours since we left off, though we did stop for breakfast and refuelling on the M1 for half an hour) and parked up 350 yards from the seafront. I found Bognor to be smaller than I had envisaged but pleasant enough all the same. The pier is at one end of the promenade and the Butlins resort the other. With the season not yet in full swing and also being a weekday the place was fairly quiet and as forecast the weather was lovely - not a cloud in the sky. First port of call was the have some chips and eat them on the beach, you have to really! Four hours passed and we decided to call it a day and made our way back to the carpark. After a look at the map and another at the fixtures I decided that we should head back the way we came and stop off for a drink at the previously mentioned Devil's Punchbowl. A pint of Kronenburg was what the doctor ordered and went down very easily. From here the decision was made to head to Farnborough and more specifically Cove Football Club - only 35 minutes from our rest stop and within two hours drive of home.

Cove play on Squirrel Lane with the ground being at the bottom end of a narrow lane. There is parking both inside the club gates and in front of the clubhouse. We chose the latter due to not realising the about the former until going into the ground. We were charged £6 each which included a programme and also managed to get hold of a badge for £2. The clubhouse has recently been refurbished and houses a pool table and darts board. Inside the ground all the accommodation is on the far side with a (covered) seated stand being straddled by two sections of (covered) standing. More than enough for the 30 people (head count) in attendance. Mention must be made to the person who was on the gate - he made us feel very welcome and went out of his way to look for the badges at half time. I didn't get his name but it is people like him that give non league football the reputation it deserves.

To be fair to Cove the pitch was not in the best condition but considering the unpredictable nature of the weather we have had over the past few months it is a credit that clubs like themselves keep them playable all season long. At the start of play Cove were occupying fifth place, though some 35 points behind leaders Merstham while Banstead were in 18th place in the 22 team division. The home side started off brighter and playing the better football but the first chance of note came on the half hour when Cove's no. 11 blasted the ball over the bar from 8 yards or so. The visiting keeper was the busier and on 38 minutes got down well to save from the home no. 10. Two minutes later the home side deservedly took the lead when the no. 10 scored following up from a good save by the Banstead keeper from the no. 11.

The second half started in a similar vain to the first with Cove playing the better football and looking more likely to score. Their first clear cut chance of the half was on the hour mark when their no. 5 had a free header from 10 yards but put it over the goal. Five minutes later another chance for Cove, this time the no. 9 was put through from the half way line, managed to hold of the advancing defender and slid his shot past the keeper only for the ball to hit the upright. The visiting keeper was keeping his side in the game as with ten minutes left made another good save to deny the no. 11 again.

Final score: 1-0

A deserved win by Cove who on another day would have won by three or four goals. To be fair to Banstead they never gave up but didn't create enough to worry the home side. An enjoyable day out on the coast with a visit to a club that is a credit to this level. The journey home took around two hours and we were back in Leicester at around midnight.

Woedby Town (Game 535)

Oadby Town 0-1 Coalville Town

Tuesday 8th April 2008

Midland Football Alliance

Topps Park

A week after the game I thought it about time I typed up my notes from this game so here goes.

A rareity this season - a midweek game! This sees me back at my spiritual home in non-league football circles, Oadby Town for only the third time this season. If anyone reading this is does not know me, I used to programme edit for the club and then helped out on the gate when required. Due to recently changing jobs and working hours Tuesday night game will probably become the norm, expecially next season as I will be working Wednesday through Sunday nights.

Admission to Topps Park is £5 / £3 and £1 for a programme. The ground is situation on the Wigston Road in Oadby which though is a seperate town is basically a suburb of Leicester. There are two entrances at either side of the ground - the one at the clubhouse side is pay on foot while the one on Washbrook Lane side hosts the main spectator car park. The club have a covered seated stand which holds around 220 - most of which is in bench seated form. At the start of play both teams are languishing in the bottom half of the Midland Alliance table, though neither are in danger of relegation. Possession early on in the game is even with the visitors having the better chances and force home keeper Laurie Pearson to make a couple of saves, albeit relatively easily. All Oadby had to show for their efforts were wayward long range shots from Steve Fenton and David Fisher. To be honest the first half is poor but the home side should have scored in the dying seconds when Carl Adams slotted the ball past the visiting keeper only for the ball the hit the post and was cleared. The home team protested that the ball was over the line but the referee was having non of it. One question though - why didn't Matt Moore who was nearest the ball as it went past the keeper make sure it hit the back of the net only he can answer.



Coalville got the only goal of the game on 53 minutes when their no. 10 scored into the right hand corner following a free kick from 10 yards. The rest of the game was uneventful between two poor sides which Coalville only slightly the better of the two. On this performance it is not hard to see why Oadby are where they are in the MFA table. On the plus side they have two cup finals to look forward too in May - they play Hinckley United in the Rolleston Charity Cup and Friar Lane & Epworth in the "Westerby" County Challenge Cup.

The Welbeckian (Game 534)

Welbeck Welfare 0-2 Ollerton Town

Saturday 5th April 2008

Central Midlands League Premier Division

Elkesley Road Ground

I had two games planned for this afternoon and neither were this one. I made my what is now customary change of plan at 1pm and decided on this fixture - mainly due to the fact that Welbeck had scored 91 and conceded 99 goals this season so far. And no it is not a misprint!

At the start of play Ollerton are leading the division with the home side occupying 11th place in a twenty team division.

According to the trusty (?) sat nav it should take around 75 minutes to get to Meden Vale which is the village in which the club are located - take note do no follow any direction signs to Welbeck itself. The trusty (?) sat nav took me up the M1 to junction 27 then across through Mansfield and out the other end - wrong choice there me thinks Mr Tom Tom. Getting through Mansfield was shall we say a pain in the backside without resorting to swear words, a different route home is a definate. The weather throughout the day was very hit and miss - at times glorious sunshine but also equally cold wintery showers - lovely!!!!!! I arrived at the ground about fifteen minutes before kick off and parked on the road outside the ground. The ground has the backdrop of a working colliery - hence the name of the club, and added to the atmosphere of the place. It is something that will live long in the memory of my groundhopping. By complete coincidence I met up with "Mr Central Midlands League" Rob Hornby for the third time this season - we better stop doing this Rob or both of our better halves will start getting suspicious! I managed to buy a copy of a wonderful programme for £1 and then paid £2 to watch the game. There is no cover at the ground and only hard standing on one side of the pitch nearest the colliery. It does have a large grass bank on the far side which gave an excellent vantage point of both the pitch and it's backdrop. Also at the game while talking to Rob we met another groundhopper, Stickypalms who also has his own blog "The Groundhopper" - see link on right hand side of page, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with someone who you only know by a pseudonym and talking football about places that either of us had been - I recommended some clubs in Leicestershire and likewise was recommended clubs in Nottinghamshire that I have not yet visited. I should also add thanks for Mr Stickpalms for buying me a coffee - cheers, much appreciated.

Now to the game itself...Ollerton got off to a flyer when they were awarded a penalty inside three minutes which was duly despatched - still no nil-nil for me this season...hooray :-) No further goals were added but in reality the visitors should have been several goals to the good at half time which can be attributed to three (normally the case) factors - poor finishing, good goalkeeping and poor control. Though to be fair to Ollerton two early forced substitutions due ton injuries didn't help their cause and disrupted the flow and momentum. Inside two minutes of the restart Ollerton should have killed the game off but their no. 10, having forced the keeper to make a good save blasted the follow up over the bar when it seemed more easier to score. This then saw Ollerton begin to get frustrated and Welbeck get back into the game and looking likely to get an equaliser, but on 72 minutes the crucial second goal game when some excellent work on the left hand side by the full back saw him put in a low cross for 'a player' to make it 2-0 and game over. Further goals were hoped for but alas were not forthcoming and the final score remained at 2-0 to Ollerton and with it their place at the top of the Premier Division.
Another Central Midlands League club ticked off this season - for the record six and third in succession.