Matchgoing October 10th - 14th

[cantagalo]

Ashford United 0 East Grinstead Town 3

Still stranded in Kent so I chose the closest option. After being quite impressed with Ashford's performance at Sittingbourne on Tuesday, this was a big disappointment. Toothless in attack, they were picked off with ease by the visitors in the second half.

Not a new ground for me, no photos and little excitement. Still, I've got the thread started.

[Gangster Octopus]

I would've started the thread at Vale Farm if I hadn't acquired this bloody cold.

[Third rate Leszno]

Good work starting the thread, Cantagalo.

Cammell Laird 0-3 Maltby Main (FA Vase)
Attendance 96

A new ground tick for me, and much more characterful one than I expected. Lairds are a step lower in the pyramid than their Northern Counties East opponents but were hopeful of pulling off a shock after a good start to their season saw them lying 3rd in NWCFL 1S.

Their tactics seemed to be to stifle the visitors and hit on the break, and after a couple of near misses for Main, Lairds should really have gone ahead when they had a one on one but the striker saw his shot come back off the underside of the bar.

Maltby took the lead just before the break when a free kick was nodded down and tapped in. Half time took just 6 minutes, it's clearly not much fun hopping about on the pitch in a 30mph breeze now that changing rooms are unavailable so the players were keen just to get on with it.

As the half wore on, the Cammells made substitutions and grew in ambition, but just as it looked like they might get an equaliser, Main won a penalty and went 2-0 up. After that the game petered out a bit, with the visitors adding a 3rd with virtually the last kick.

[I'll add photos separately as the site seems to be being an arse about it]

[Third rate Leszno]

[fatbear]

Marlow 3-3 Westfield ( att : 190 )

Hat-trick heros for both sides. An entertaining game, Westfield might feel slightly aggreviated at not taking all 3 points

Full report, pictures and Covid requirements details can be found in the blog

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blog...d-att-190.html

[Merlin the happy pig]

Rookery Hill.

Isthmian League Premier Division. East Thurrock United 2-2 Merstham.

[Ray de Galles]

You will have seen 48 year old OISHSP? legend Barry Hayley come on as a sub for Merstham then?

[Sits]

Excellent Pics people.

Merlin the happy pig East Thurrock must be pretty much in the estuary isn’t it, from the name?

[Merlin the happy pig]

Excellent Pics people.

Merlin the happy pig East Thurrock must be pretty much in the estuary isn’t it, from the name?

Just had a look at the map, very close, not far from Canvey Island. I just go where the satnav sends me to be honest.

[Artificial Hipster]

West Didsbury & Chorlton 0-2 Charnock Richard
FA Vase 2nd Round Qualifying

I'd long since given up on being able to make this game when at 2.35pm Mrs H received the notification that her covid test result was negative. Having woken up with a temperature the morning after being informed she needed to self-isolate having come into contact with someone who'd tested positive we were prepared for the worst. As luck would have it I'd bought a ticket for one of my closet grounds. I'd intended to get some much needed exercise and take Shanks's pony to the game and to arrive early to meet a friend for a couple of beers but as it was I had to leg it to the car and just made the game in time for kick off.

There have been 3 significant changes at Brookburn Road since my last visit here 6 or 7 years ago. A small all seater stand has been erected at the clubhouse end of the ground and a covered standing area - the Shed - at the other. Entry to the latter was blocked off by a huge flag today in order to prevent fans congregating there - the club had received a warning on Friday that further breaches of social distancing rules would see the capacity of the ground temporarily halved. Which brings us neatly to the third of those changes, the crowd itself.

Forget the 'West Didsbury' in the club's name; forget the 'Founded 1908'. this is a club whose identity is very much Chorlton in spite of it only having moved here within the past 20 years. 5 minutes walk from Brookburn Road is the Horse and Jockey pub. Symbolising the increasing gentrification of Chorlton it's now 'Horse and Jockey - inn on the green' and proudly displays quite possibly the most vomit-inducing poster ever set to print, in the style of those advertising seaside resorts a century ago - 'Be Different,' it exorts, 'like everything else in Chorlton!'

And I suppose one has to accept that the self-styled Quorn sandwich brigade are at least that. Social media suggests a fanbase boasting links with left wing politics but other than a club crest in an EU flag and the occasional shout of, 'the referee's a tory' the chief subject for the songs which rang out throughout the game was vegetarianism. Great beer though, bought from a stall next to the shed end, a craft IPA in a hipster-friendly textured can (whose name, having forgotten my glasses, I couldn't read).

The game itself was largely forgettable. West had the only real chance of a first half which failed to hit the heights of scrappy - a free kick cannoning against the bar, the rebound tucked home but from an offside position. In the second half the team from the higher division took control. 2 decent finishes - the second a delightful curling shot into the top corner from outside the box - sandwiched the game's other main talking point, the sending off of West's right back for an elbow in the face of a Charnock player as things became increasingly tetchy.

TrL's photo of the gents at Cammell Laird wins this thread incidentally.

[cantagalo]

Kennington 7 Shoreham 0

A Homelands double-header for me this weekend as Ashford United's tenants took on Sussex opposition in the FA Vase.

I enjoyed this game more than yesterday as, although it was very one-sided, there were some splendid goals to appreciate including two delicate lobs and a couple of long-range shots. Kennington are currently top of the Southern Counties East Div One (10th tier) and they overwhelmed their opponents with some confident and at times excellent football.

I remembered to take a photo this time.

[Paul S]

F.A.Vase
Coggeshall Utd 3-2 Sporting Bengal
Att: H/C 45

I didn't know Coggeshall had two sides until I looked at the fixtures this morning when I discovered that Coggeshall Town who were founded in 1878 share their ground with Coggeshall Utd who were founded in 2017 and are now two leagues beneath them. I suspect Utd are the reserves side of town but I can't prove a thing but this ground hopper feeling is they are one and the same.

It was an entertaining game with Town leading 1-0 at the interval. At the end of halftime a heavy rain shower appeared from the north powered by strong easterly winds. It hit the ground and the next 20 minutes were played in stair rods but the pitch took it well and the game continued. Suddenly it was goals, goals, goals with Sporting getting a goal back then Coggeshall scoring another and Sporting getting their second. The last 15 minutes were pretty decent with loads of chances for Sporting to take the game to penalties but the crossbar and post denied them.

A great day out for ?6 and on days like this it's difficult to believe we are living through a pandemic.

[Greenlander]

Totally agree about the winner being the interesting toilet block but great pics all round people. However TrL missed a trick not posting one of the social club.

[E10 Rifle]

Walthamstow 3-1 London Lions, FA Vase

Quite a few of my Orient mates have been going to Wadham Lodge to watch crack Essex Senior League outfit the Stow in the absence of owt from Brisbane Road, so on Saturday I got on the bandwagon. Enjoyable and comfortable enough win for Walthamstow in front of 250-300 or so; a smattering of the London hipster non-league vibe about the place (an indie-punk-ish PA system), cans of Tyskie being swigged with abandon, but also the reassuring presence of your usual non-league eccentrics too. Will try to go again.

[Third rate Leszno]

However TrL missed a trick not posting one of the social club.

It's actually across the road (and closed) otherwise the thought had occurred to me.

[Third rate Leszno]

Ashton Town 3-1 St Helens Town (NW Counties Div 1N)
Att: 210

As a resident of England's Very High tier plague zone I'm going to be strongly advised not to venture beyond the boundaries from midnight, so I thought I may as well get one last match in while I still could. As a bonus, it gained me a 200th ground badge on the app.

Early ko at 7pm for a relatively local derby fixture, and a very decent crowd as well. Apart from the now-accepted palaver of having my temperature taken and scanning the code on the NHS app, I also had to have table service for my polystyrene cup of coffee.

Ashton scored very soon after kick off and were much the better side in the first half, albeit with the advantage of playing down the considerable slope. After they'd added a second, the Saints captain gave up trying to coach his defence and resorted to just bellowing FUCKS SAKE at regular intervals.

The second half was much more even as Saints were playing downhill, although they didn't create as many good chances as Ashton had, and the home side went 3-0 up with the best goal of the night, a curling cross that just cleared the last defender and was met with a lovely diving header by the Ashton centre forward David Moore, who completed his hat trick. St Helens did pull one back but never really looked like getting anything out of the game.

If this was my last game for a few months it was a good one to go out on. No idea whether the clubs inside the Tier 3 zone will be allowed to continue to welcome visiting teams, or indeed leave the zone to play away fixtures - the whole thing may just grind to a halt.

[The Mighty Trin]

Enfield Town 2 Kingstonian 1
Isthmian Premier League

I bought my ticket and programme the day before and watched anxiously out of the window today as it belted it down in north London.

Game on and off to Donkey Lane, which is reason enough for me to like Enfield. Another ground with a running track, as a lot of you will know, but one excellent Art Deco style stand a mile from the pitch and cover on the three other sides with the stands behind the goal in front of the running track which generated a good atmosphere. At least this Enfield team are back playing in Enfield.

Kingstonian took the lead due to an individual defensive howler and an easy jink and tap-in which was the half-time score and just about deserved. In the second half Enfield scored early with a near post header from a free kick and then won it after 88 minutes with a scrambled-in free kick.

As usual, it stopped raining just as I got into the train station to head home. Glad I took my largest brollie!

[cantagalo]

Whitstable Town 0 Hythe Town 6

I continued my mini-tour of Isthmian League South East grounds in Kent with a visit to the Oyster Boys (that's what they were called on one of their flags) of Whitstable. A wet Tuesday afternoon during a pandemic exploring the town is probably not to be recommended as it was largely deserted and could best be described as bleak.

I did though enjoy the Belmont Ground. As can be seen, it has a vintage main stand and at one end there is seating accommodation on a number of garden benches. As for the match it was a comfortable stroll for a Hythe team that just a couple of weeks ago I had seen beaten 4-0 at home themselves. I haven't yet got a grip on which teams are good and which teams are rubbish in this league. The win takes Hythe up to second but surprisingly, if this performance is anything to go by, Whitstable are still in fifth place.

[Uros Predic]

Cray Valley Paper Mills 2-0 Aveley
FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round

By some way the biggest crowd I've seen at Badgers Sports Ground last night as 301 turned up to watch The Millers play The Millers. It was a closely fought game, but the home side probably deserved their win, secured with two well taken goals on the break. That puts the Paper Millers into the 4th Qualifying Round for the first ever time.

The bigger than usual crowd meant social distancing wasn't the easiest, and few followed the tannoy requests to spread out a bit, and wear facemasks in the queue for the tea-bar. A notable highlight for us was the heavy set dreadlocked Cray Valley Paper Mills midfielder who had an incredibly high-pitched voice at complete odds with his physique when demanding the ball, reducing both my mate and me into giggles whenever he tore down the wing past us.

[Artificial Hipster]

Wythenshawe Town 2-0 Abbey Hey
NWCFL First Division South

A game not dissimilar to the one I watched on Saturday, albeit in less salubrious surroundings. Brookburn Road backs onto Chorlton meadows; Ericstan Park (named for 2 of the club's founders, Eric and Stan!) sits at the back of an industrial estate. I've tried to make it look as leafy as possible though by including in my photo some of the trees which separate the ground from a Tesco Extra.

These two were 4th and 5th when last season ended prematurely and both will have hopes of being up there again in the unlikely event of this season reaching a natural conclusion. The away side, disguised as yellow highlighters, shaded a cagey first half, Wythy's keeper making 3 fine saves to keep the scores level at half time. The second half was a different matter, bossed by the home side, goals right after half time and a cracker from outside the box at the death giving them a deserved victory.

[Merlin the happy pig]

Tuesday. FA Cup 3rd qualifying round. Peterborough Sports 1-1 Banbury United 6-7 on kicks from the penalty mark.

A record crowd of 478 for Sports, so a bit more crowded than I expected. Typical tight cup tie followed by some well taken penalties. Pissed it down, I've now belatedly bought an umbrella which I'll almost certainly leave at home the next time I need one.

[Merlin the happy pig]

Wednesday. Midland League Division 1. Coventry Copsewood 3-0 Cadbury Athletic.

Game switched late as Cadbury are having issues with their pitch. So a nice easy 40 minute drive after the trek to Peterborough the night before. Still had fun with roadworks on the way home mind. Tight first half finished goalless, different story in the second half with Coventry scoring three in front of a nicely spread out 60 spectators.

[Sits]

A great week for pics everyone.