Random Matches You Are Going To...

[Groundhopping Adventures]

Thinking of going to Kennoway on Saturday. From what I can see from a recce it's a long walk over farmland to get to the ground as only players and committee can get up. This true or am I talking mince?

[The Mantis]

7 hours ago, Groundhopping Adventures said:

Thinking of going to Kennoway on Saturday. From what I can see from a recce it's a long walk over farmland to get to the ground as only players and committee can get up. This true or am I talking mince?

Things might have changed since I was last there in 2020 before the big P. Otherwise yes, you’re talking mince.

It’s a weird setup as you actually drive between the pavilion and the pitch. If you do drive up, the area around the pitch can be pretty boggy so rather than get stuck at the top corner, you need to carry on round behind the goals to the far side.

[Groundhopping Adventures]

1 hour ago, The Mantis said:

Things might have changed since I was last there in 2020 before the big P. Otherwise yes, you’re talking mince.

It’s a weird setup as you actually drive between the pavilion and the pitch. If you do drive up, the area around the pitch can be pretty boggy so rather than get stuck at the top corner, you need to carry on round behind the goals to the far side.

Good stuff. Delighted to hear I'm talking mince

[Red Kite]

Ominous pre-match clouds at Bootle vs Trafford, in Northern Premier League West.  The ground is about five minutes walk, as the crow flies, from Aintree station and racecourse.  Nice tribute display to the late "Mr Bootle", Frank Doran Snr.  The young team are one of the most vocal crowds going.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

Doing this today.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

A deserved victory in the end for the Fifers. Elgin passed up two glorious chances in the first half, and shite defending for the 2 goals. 
 

Managed to clock 2-Gregs John Young which was nice. I was also introduced to Bovril and pepper.
 

Ian Campbell raging at presumably, the appearance of a woke rainbow in the second half.

Edited March 30 by Melanius Mullarkey

[An Eejit Abroad]

Sydney 2-0 Central Coast Mariners
Att: 12,768

Awful first half in this A-League game but Sydney looked a lot better after the break and should really have won by more. Short-term covid era Aberdeen player Ryan Edmondson was the only SPFL connection in this one, I reckon.

Really nice modern stadium though the pitch itself looks exactly what you’d expect of a surface that hosts three codes of football during the season. Decent atmosphere, particularly considering the place was more than half-empty, and CCM brought a decent away support. Great Northern is an underrated beer too - perfect for a warm NSW evening.

[Ivo den Bieman]

Broadbridge Heath 2-3 Cray Valley Paper Mills (H/T: 1-3)
 

Last week Titograd, this week….Horsham. I’m back in London for Easter Weekend after my time in Montenegro. London is miserable as sin these days, winter clinging on with a bony grip like a 1950s Presbyterian Sunday. It’s been icy rain, sickly air, everyone whey-faced, pinched, stressed & underpaid. No idea who would choose to live here if they didn’t absolutely have to. I say this as someone who loved the London that was before it became a haven for property speculation & a neoliberal gulag.

With that in mind I decided to get in the car & into cleaner air away from the big city. I ended up just north east of the Sussex Downs in Horsham, at a club I’d never heard of until a few days ago- Broadbridge Heath. The attraction was the visit of Cray Valley Paper Mills, who folk may remember from their great cup run earlier this season, ended by Charlton Athletic on TV, just before Christmas. This was an encounter in the Isthmian League South-East Division, the eighth tier of English football.

Both these teams are upwardly mobile former amateur teams. Broadbridge’s ground is weirdly at the bottom of a Tesco car park, behind a leisure centre. It’s surrounded by a wooden fence, with a big club house and a small stand holding maybe 70-80 opposite.

No one was in it today, as it was in the shade, and it was warm & pleasant in the sun. A crowd of 180-200 watched the game, old buffers with dogs, a noisy little knot of 30-40 visiting fans from Eltham, wee boys playing their own games of 3 & in. Broadbridge were founded as a veterans’ team after the Great War; Cray Valley were the works team of a Paper Mill that shut down around the same time as the last episode of The Sweeney. 

Cray are locked in a deathmatch for the title with Ramsgate, whilst Broadbridge are puffing away contentedly in mid-table. This was a fiercely contested game played at full throttle.

The away support was left chafing when Broadbridge scored after just 3 minutes, the ball slotted home after some deft passing in the visitors penalty area. Indeed Cray started the game as though they’d spent a long Good Friday on the piss. Broadbridge could and should have had a second early on, another shot flashing narrowly wide. FUCKIN ‘ELL, remarked Cray’s match photographer. FACKIN STEP UP barked Cray’s terrifying no.6, a man called Palmer, who looked like one of the minor characters in Rise of the Footsoldier.

Slowly the visitors began to pull themselves together from this slipshod and pisspoor opening, and levelled after 20 minutes. It was goal of the season material, a ripsnorting right foot volley from fully twenty five yards that warped the roof of the net, threatening to wrench it from its stanchion. Right back Barney Williams was the scorer and its worth a look if highlights make it to youtube.

After that Broadbridge, who had started so impressively, fell apart for the remainder of the half. Winger Kyrrell Lisbie- Kevin Lisbie’s son- was playing really well down the Cray left and has an array of tricks and step overs. Broadbridge were pushed further back and fell behind on the half hour when Palmer’s enormous cro-magnon forehead met the ball perfectly from a corner, seven yards out. The ball hissed into the net. 2-1. 

2-1 became 3-1 when the home keeper parried a nasty shot straight into the path of the on- rushing Lisbie. Cray had chances to stretch further ahead and arguably could have had another before half-time.

Second half was much closer. Cray started off positively but Broadbridge got a foothold on the hour mark. Awarded a free kick 25 yards out, to the right of the penalty spot, a Ronald Koeman-type free kick whistled past Ovenden’s outstretched left glove and into the top corner, another terrific strike. Broadbridge kept pressing and won a series of corners but unfortunately the delivery was reliably abysmal.

Cray, tiring, began to try and keep the ball in the opponents corners and rang the changes, using all their subs. In one of these moves Lisbie was sent crashing by a Lochee Harp-style clumsy challenge and the ref pointed immediately to the spot. A golden chance to finish the game, but Doughty’s penalty was a poor trundler saved smartly to his left by the young home keeper. Heart in mouth moment when Broadbridge won a free kick in virtually the same place from which they had scored. Again it was a beauty, heading in, but this time big Ovenden got across at full stretch to palm the ball away to safety. The resulting corner drifted out pitifully.

In the end Cray will take the points however they come when things are so close in the title race, but they made heavy weather, unnecessarily, of this game. Coach Steve McKimm will be concerned about how poorly they started and a lacklustre second half. As for Broadbridge, they’re a hardworking physical side who will take a lot of good things from a decent performance against one of the division’s front-runners. 

The big title decider is a week on Saturday down at Ramsgate when the shoot out between first and second will likely decide the title. I’m a a wee bit gutted I’ll miss that actually, Ramsgate are well supported and the crowd should be in the 1500-2000 region.

Both title contenders are at home on Easter Monday and Ramsgate will need to come through a tough match with the ‘Brickies’ of Sittingbourne, who are currently third. If I’m feeling adventurous & it’s a nice day I’ll head to that, if not will head either to Cray v Sevenoaks, Maidstone-Welling, or outside candidate Chatham v Kingstonian. 

Lastly, yes this is a diddy level- bottom half Highland League / top 6 Midland League at a guess, but if you can’t enjoy the twists & turns of a close title race like this one I guess football’s not for you. We’ll see how Monday goes.

 

 

 

Edited March 30 by Ivo den Bieman

[The Mantis]

Just keeping @Le Tout P'ti FC happy with another photo with Tinto in it. Was going to watch ICT at Firhill but imagine that Dunc, I just couldn't be arsed.
Border Amateur League Div A at Hartree Mill. Biggar Utd 0 Tweedmouth Ams 1.
A game dominated by Biggar and a few near things but Tweedmouth scored early in the second half and took the points. An intriguing bit of needle between the Ams keeper and the Biggar no 11 throughout the game. A new ground for me, first in 2024, and another excuse to visit the Crown in Biggar.

[Le Tout P'ti FC]

13 minutes ago, The Mantis said:

Just keeping @Le Tout P'ti FC happy with another photo with Tinto in it. Was going to watch ICT at Firhill but imagine that Dunc, I just couldn't be arsed.
Border Amateur League Div A at Hartree Mill. Biggar Utd 0 Tweedmouth Ams 1.
A game dominated by Biggar and a few near things but Tweedmouth scored early in the second half and took the points. An intriguing bit of needle between the Ams keeper and the Biggar no 11 throughout the game. A new ground for me, first in 2024, and another excuse to visit the Crown in Biggar.

Excellent! Always pleasing to see a rugby pitch upgraded to a football pitch like this.

No random matches for me today, I’m overseas again (Islay!). 
 

[Crow]

Liverpool Legends 4-2 AFC Ajax Legends (0-2 HT) @ Anfield . 3pm. Brilliant afternoon for a great cause last Saturday. The home side coming back from 2-0 down to win. Vignal, El Zahr, Cisse & Torres with the goals. Captain Gerrard with Sven-Goran Eriksson in the dugout. Crowd 59,655.

[Crow]

The New Saints 1-2 Airdrieonians (1-1 HT @ Falkirk Stadium . SPFL Trust Trophy Final . An end to end 1st half saw the Welsh side take the lead before being pegged back. A tight 2nd half saw Airdrie win it midway through from the spot ️ after a silly foul. Crowd 3191.

[Crow]

Jeanfield Swifts 5-1 Vale of Leithen (2-1 HT) @ Riverside Stadium . 2.30pm. East Of Scotland League Cup R2. A dominant performance from the home side who played some great stuff . Vale battled away to hang in there and pulled one back just before the break. Crowd 122.

[The Mantis]

9 hours ago, Crow said:

The New Saints 1-2 Airdrieonians (1-1 HT @ Falkirk Stadium . SPFL Trust Trophy Final . An end to end 1st half saw the Welsh side take the lead before being pegged back. A tight 2nd half saw Airdrie win it midway through from the spot ️ after a silly foul. Crowd 3191.

 

Sitting with the Total Network Solutions fans? Booo! Thank feck for Airdiree!

[The Mantis]

11 hours ago, Le Tout P'ti FC said:

Excellent! Always pleasing to see a rugby pitch upgraded to a football pitch like this.

No random matches for me today, I’m overseas again (Islay!). 
 

I’m going over there with my mate for a few days end of April. Nae fitba though, just whisky & wildlife. Will be up in Lewis before that though, and the season should have started.

Edited March 31 by The Mantis

[Burattino Di Calzini]

As the Preston Athletic game was off, I went to Haddington for Haddington Athletic 2 Heriot Watt University 0 in the League Cup. Not the most eventful game, but once the home side got the first goal midway through the first half they were largely in control. Attendance 161, pie excellent. 

Edited March 31 by Burattino Di Calzini
Forgot to add pictures

[Crow]

Park Brow FC 1-1 Cobra (0-0 HT) @ Clubmoor Playing Fields . 11am. Liverpool Business Houses League 4th Division. A tight game came to life with the visitors taking the lead midway though the 2nd half. Parky fought back though to secure a late point ️. Crowd 24.

[Red Kite]

Rochdale's record appearance holder, Gary Jones, brings his Ashville side from Wallasey to Birkenhead's Cammell Laird 1907.  This is a North West Counties Division 1 South derby.  Ashville have a lot of games in-hand, due to a lot of home games being called of because of a water-logged pitch.  Chucking it down  but the pitch looks OK.  My camera is poor, but the brick building in the corner replaced the old Cammell Laird Social Club, of Half Man Half Biscuit LP fame.   Remaining neutral, today.

[Groundhopping Adventures]

Tadcaster Albion 3-2 Maltby Main

In York for a few days so needless to say looked for the local football offering. In the shadow of the gargantuan John Smith's Brewery lies Tadcaster Albion of the North East Counties League Premier Division. This is the 9th tier of English football so always interesting to see where it would be in our pyramid. Ground wise it reminded my of Hill of Beath, quality wise reminded me of primary school football but I'll put that down to playing catch up after several postponements and Maltby being bottom of the League. 

Really wasn't much of a game for the first 70 minutes. A goalless first half with little football played meant I was wishing I'd brought my book. We're also coming out the back of a ferocious cold so that wouldn't be helping. The second half however sprung to life. We shifted behind the goal into the Gretna style portastand and saw Tadcaster race into a 2-0 lead. Maltby had what I thought was a penalty rejected as the ref thought the attacker had dived. The visitors then remember they are playing football and manage to score twice but a third goal from the sport made it three one before the last consolation. 

It was fun, Taddy were the works team of John Smiths originally and Maltby where the pit team. I love stories like that. This is the League of Hallam FC. The second oldest football club and oldest ground in the world. Maybe next time.

[Red Kite]

On 31/03/2024 at 23:53, Crow said:

Park Brow FC 1-1 Cobra (0-0 HT) @ Clubmoor Playing Fields . 11am. Liverpool Business Houses League 4th Division. A tight game came to life with the visitors taking the lead midway though the 2nd half. Parky fought back though to secure a late point ️. Crowd 24.

Word on the street at the game I was at on Monday, is that the Business Houses League is seeing the quality rising against other local leagues.  Love the action shot of the lads sprinting, with the park in stark contrast to what's on the other side of the railway track.