One-sided valleys - matchgoing 26 November - 2 December

[CY_Boaby]

Perth Scorchers v Adelaide Strikers, Women's Big Bash League Grand Final

The WBBL grand final to be held at the 60,000 capacity Optus Stadium where the Scorchers have home advantage having finished top of the table. Adelaide finished 4th so it would be a shock if they came over here and flew home with the trophy.

The record crowd for any women's game in Perth is just under 42,000, which was set by Aussie Rules side Fremantle Dockers back in 2018, so they're hoping to set a new record later this afternoon. I got my tickets on Monday but at my son's cricket game earlier this morning, they had free tickets to give away however most parents had either already bought theirs too, or have no interest in going. It wasn't easy trying to give away those free tickets, but I managed to offload them eventually.

As I type it's already 36C and very sunny. With the game due to start in just over 2 hours time, the heat may well keep the crowd down.

Perth Scorchers 5/146 beat Adelaide Strikers 6/134

Scorchers won their first WBBL title having twice been beaten finalists. The visitors won the toss and sent the Scorchers in to bat, and with the big-hitting and extremely destructive opening pairing of Beth Mooney and Sophie Devine failing to sparkle despite an opening partnership of 52, Adelaide were looking like they made the right call. But South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp hit a superb 31 runs not out to get Scorchers up to a decent total of 146.

Adelaide were up against it when they lost 2 wickets and only had 16 runs on the board after the 6-over powerplay. A decent 65-run partnership saw Adelaide stay in the game, but the run-rate just kept creeping up, and when that partnership was broken, the wickets started to tumble and it just got too much for Adelaide to chase down.

The crowd was nowhere near the record 42,000 they were hoping to beat, but the 15,511 who did turn up set the highest ever attendance for standalone WBBL match.

[Gangster Octopus]

It's cold in Oxford, and we've arrived at the ground ridiculously early...

[Gangster Octopus]

By the way, the last time that we played Oxford United after going top of the third tier with an away win in the South-East, we lost 4-3...

[Gangster Octopus]

A rolling advert for ethically sourced coconuts. Is that a big thing in Oxford?

[Gangster Octopus]

We thought that we'd scored. We hadn't...

[Gangster Octopus]

Both teams are wearing black shorts. Is that allowed, or is it a tribute to Roderick Spode?

[Gangster Octopus]

We're going to regret these missed chances...

[Gangster Octopus]

The Oxford United players are very adept at flinging themselves to the ground.

[Gangster Octopus]

Goal free at half time.

[Gangster Octopus]

Dreadful challenge by an Oxford United player results in nowt...

[Gangster Octopus]

Serious fuck up in our defence almost gifts Oxford United a goal.

[Gangster Octopus]

As part of the Spode love in, the officials are also wearing black shorts...

[Gangster Octopus]

Oxford United get a free kick when one of their defenders runs into their keeper.

[Gangster Octopus]

Finishes without a goal.

[elguapo4]

Just got a text from my St Patrick's Athletic supporting mate,he has Covid,so is missing the cup final tomorrow.

[Gangster Octopus]

And it's impossible to get back into town, so we go to the Hollywood Bowl...

[DCI Harry Batt]

A first for me, as I abandoned the game at half time as I was too cold to be outside any longer.

[Foot of Astaire's]

Bolton 2-2 Cheltenham

A really good game of footy, in Arctic conditions and in the end a fair result. Wanderers were down to just 12 fit senior players and spent the first 15 minutes chasing shadows as Cheltenham knocked it around really confidently with Alfie May, Kyle Vassell and a diminutive chap in midfield real standouts.

Elias Kachunga scored the goal of the game for our 2nd equaliser and but for two terrible late efforts, we may have nicked a win but that would have been an injustice.

[Patrick Thistle]

Cardiff Met 3-2 Barry Town
MG Cup semi final

A soft penalty was the winning margin in this game, although it was the first goal for the Met. This was the most laughably incompetent refereeing display I've seen for some time in a Welsh pyramid competition. Barry were denied a goal after fakey-fake fakery by Met players claiming to be injured in a goalmouth melee after the ball was cleared from behind the line. There was a lot of timewasting and shithousery going on. Barry had managed to go 3-1 down and the ongoing injustices fired the team up up really attack on the last 20 minutes. They eventually got one back but it was too late to force an equaliser.

As my friend Paul said on the way home, if it had gone to penalties Barry would have lost anyway.

It's the first time I've heard the Barry fans go vitriolic on a referee. Chants continued after the final whistle and fans abused the Met players as "cheats" as the players warmed down. It was toxic by the end. And the good news is we get to go back to that soulless dump in 3 weeks time.

At least they have a toilet block now.

[Patrick Thistle]

In fairness, even though they are nothing more than a glorified PE department, the Cardiff Met programme is pretty good.

[Ray de Galles]

Wimbledon 2 Fleetwood Town 2
Division Three
Plough Lane

I thought Fleetwood were the better side today, save for 20/25 minutes in the second half around the Dons goals. They certainly managed the horrible conditions better, particularly the swirling wind they had behind them in the first half meaning they took a 0-1 lead in to the break.

Wimbledon came back to lead 2-1 with two well taken goals but, like on Tuesday night against Crewe, they faded in the last fifteen minutes or so and conceded a late goal. During the ten minutes of injury time (mostly added from when Fleetwood wasted time at 1-1 with multiple players hitting the deck and demanding treatment, some very dubiously) The Trawlermen looked the more likely to nick a winner too.

It seemed chaotic in all the public areas and concessions of the main stand today, even though it wasn't a sell out crowd. The teething troubles of the otherwise excellent new ground really should be starting to be sorted by now.

[Capybara]

Corinthian-Casuals 0-0 Brightlingsea Regent
Isthmian League Premier

I’d more or less decided that, given the weather forecast, I’d give football a miss today. I didn’t want to travel far and there wasn’t much I fancied in London. But the weather seemed better than expected and I read that the Corinthian-Casuals bar has real ale for Saturday games (I’d been saving their ground for an evening visit given the ease of getting back afterwards) so I decided to go. First stop was Woodies Bar (apostrophe uncertain) in (New?) Malden which is down a lane leading off the A3 and looks out on to a large playing field. It’s been a Guide pub in the past but isn’t in this year which is a pity because there’s precious little in the area. It’s also full of all kinds of sporting memorabilia and features hundreds of football (and other sports) programmes hanging from the ceiling. The beer was good too. To the ground and into the bar and a (decent) programme acquired, I joined the queue and purchased a very pleasant pint of beer from the Brightwater brewery. There’s plenty on show in the bar – scarves, pennants, trophies etc from around the world. The history is there on display. The game? Not very good, I’m afraid, and the cold, windy weather played its part. The ball hit the post three times and Casuals had the ball in the net, but the linesman’s flag was raised. It wasn’t as cold as the away end at Grimsby but it was still very cold. It’s a great place to visit, but try and pick a day when the weather’s decent. Attendance: 202


It also broke my streak of games without a 0-0. 76 games to be precise. I can't see I'll ever get anywhere close again.

[Artificial Hipster]

Bamber Bridge 1-0 Basford United
NPL Premier Division

Go west, said Arwen so it was to the rather nondescript village of Bamber Bridge a few miles outside Preston that I headed in order to celebrate Lancashire Day with a slice of Preston's finest contribution to the culinary world, the butter pie, which the friendly staff in the tea hut were proud to tell me had been freshly baked on the premises earlier in the afternoon.

The chances of the game living up to the heights reached by the pie were slim but while it wasn't a classic it was an enjoyable enough encounter which, although the home side probably just about deserved the victory, either side could have won. Brig had much the better of the opening half hour but having failed to test the Basford keeper in spite of getting into a number of promising positions (had their right winger had a right foot they'd have been a lot more dangerous) they allowed their pacier opponents to get a foothold on the game and were the width of a post from going in behind at the break.

The second half was a feat of endurance for everyone in the ground as temperatures plummeted and the wind cut like a whip but both sides created decent chances and eventually, with less than 5 minutes left on the clock, a foul in the box was correctly identified as such by the ref and the penalty was duly converted to give the pre-season relegation favourites the victory which puts them on top of the league. If only they had a hot bath to celebrate in!

[Southport Zeb]

AFC Knowsley 0-1 Congleton Town Reserves (Cheshire League Premier Division)

I had been planning a trip to Manchester but decided not to bother, given the weather. Instead I made the short trip down to Huyton to visit the Lord Derby Memorial Playing Fields. This is between Huyton and the motorway, and is located next to the entrance to Knowsley Hall. The ground has been developed over the last year or so, with a clubhouse selling drinks and a railed off main pitch that has allowed AFC Knowsley to play their Cheshire League games here.

I saw Knowsley South, as they were then called, play their first Cheshire League game a couple of years ago at their previous home of Kirkby Leisure Centre. Since then they've gained a couple of promotions and entered this game joint top of the Premier Division. The game was a competitive one with both sides having chances, but it was Congleton that scored what turned out to be the only goal, an excellent finish just past the half hour. Knowsley came close a few times but couldn't convert, even with the visitors reduced to ten in the closing minutes.

Afterwards I headed to Archbishop Beck School where I watched fourth tier basketball between Liverpool and Manchester Swarm. Liverpool started well, leading by ten in the first quarter, before league leaders Swarm shook off early rust and eventually won comfortably to maintain their 100% start.

[cantagalo]

Ashford United 3 VCD Athletic 1
Isthmian League South East
Att: 279

The foul weather caused me to abandon any thoughts of a lengthy journey so for the second time in 24 hours I found myself heading towards Homelands where this time the landlords were playing VCD (which, I later found out, stands for Vickers, Crayford and Dartford) Athletic. It was even colder and windier than last night but at least the bar was open today for some shelter from the storm.

Surprisingly, the first three goals were scored against the wind. Ashford's clincher came late on when the VCD keeper parried a shot up in the air and it was blown over the line. There was a lot of time spent at free kicks trying to keep the ball stationary on the 3G surface.

The win takes Ashford to the top of the league as Cray Valley PM were held to a draw at Ramsgate.