This Will Be The Last Time; Matchgoing 12th - 18th August

[Gangster Octopus]

On Saturday I'll be watching Rotherham United's home game against Reading. And that will be the last time I will get to watch a Rotherham home game whilst having a base in the town. It's going to be difficult.

[Felicity, I guess so]

That's tough, GO- all the best.

A nice 5-0 should make it easier...

[Benjm]

I hope that they give you a game worthy of the occasion, GO.

I'll be strolling across to watch Brentford v Manchester Utd, as will much of the crowd given the thin public transport options on Saturday.

[Patrick Thistle]

No football plans at the weekend*. Might get to a Tuesday or Wednesday game next week.

[Capybara]

All the best GO.

Assuming I can survive bustitution I'll be at Scarborough v Hereford on Saturday. Then it's winless Boro v Sheffield United on Sunday. The game has been moved because of the Commonwealth Games (!).

[Simon G]

My u12s play their first pre-season friendly on Saturday morning against Leckhampton Rovers, a team who we outplayed twice last season but still managed to lose to. This week we go into the game with 10 players (9-a-side), and are missing our two best players. We've moved kick-off to 9:30, and I'll even consider starting earlier to avoid the heat.

After what will likely be a hammering in the heat I get to return to Whaddon Road where, on Tuesday evening, Cheltenham were dicked 7-0 in the League Cup. We play Portsmouth who will definitely be licking their lips at the gifts our defence are no doubt looking to offer their forwards.

Alcohol will definitely be required afterwards.

[cantagalo]

Brentford v Manchester United - no need to elaborate on this one. You all know the narrative.

For Tuesday, I haven't yet decided between Basford United v Nuneaton Borough or Mansfield v AFC Wimbledon where I can check on the progress of Paris Maghoma who is on loan at AFC from Brentford.

Then on Wednesday, I think I'll have a look at early UCL Premier leaders Heanor Town against Eastwood Community.

[jameswba]

I think I'll have a crack at a cross-border double header on Saturday. First time since the first Covid outbreak :

FK Trinec vs FK Dukla Praha - Czech Narodni Liga (2nd tier), KO 1015

These two sides earned one point and scored one goal between them in the league's first two rounds of fixtures. Trinec are generally content just to hang on in the 2nd tier, overshadowed as they are by the town's champion ice-hockey team and bigger local football clubs like Banik Ostrava. I'm sorry to have missed their 'steel vs coal' derby with newly-relegated Karvina on July 30th, though they were hammered 0-3. More is obviously expected of Dukla, but they haven't really looked like getting back to the top level since they left it in 2019. Defeats to Lisen and Opava in the first two games suggest they may struggle to do much better this time round. A dour draw seems likely.

MSK Zilina vs Vion Zlate Moravce - Slovak Fortuna Liga (1st tier), KO 1600

A boringly familiar fixture, but at least there's no need to dash back for it, since Trinec and Zilina are only 50 minutes apart. Zilina have at least managed a win in their opening four fixtures, and have drawn the other three. Moravce are bottom with two points, but will no doubt improve just enough to cling on for another season at this level. They've had an unbroken run it since 2010 but have never won here.

[Giggler]

All the best GO. Yesterday was five years since the moment it all started to unravel for Bury, when marquee signing in the push for Championship football Stephen Dawson got injured in the League Cup game against Sunderland at Gigg. That means it's coming up to five years since we went for a pie and a pint before my only visit to the NYS, which I enjoyed very much despite the result.

Congleton at the Neuven on Saturday, buoyed on by a win over Hallam in the cup last night. Tom Pope will be playing for them and I'll be interested to see what reception he gets off fans who adored him during the Stewart Day era.

[Ray de Galles]

Brentford v Manchester United - no need to elaborate on this one. You all know the narrative.

For Tuesday, I haven't yet decided between Basford United v Nuneaton Borough or Mansfield v AFC Wimbledon where I can check on the progress of Paris Maghoma who is on loan at AFC from Brentford.

Then on Wednesday, I think I'll have a look at early UCL Premier leaders Heanor Town against Eastwood Community.

Paris has been quite a hit in the opening games. It will be interesting to see what happens when club captain Woodyard returns to fitness but I suspect they might form the first choice central midfield partnership.

I'm going to make a late call but likely to travel down to Cardiff for the British Speedway Grand Prix at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday evening. I would hope to squeeze in a local game prior and current favorite is Caerau (Ely) v Penrhiwceiber Rangers in the Ardal South-West.

On Tuesday evening I plan to be Bored's Sherpa when he travels up for Hampton & Richmond v Bath City in the Conference South.

On Wednesday I will be at the opening day of the England v South Africa test at Lord's.

[elguapo4]

Bohemian fc v Dundalk

Because of European commitments, this will be our first home men's game in 42 days. I'm doing pitchside announcements, so if seand is there, he can give me a wave, the amount of fingers showing is up to him.

[Viktor Boskovic]

First football match for me this weekend since the world stopped in March 2020. I hope my seat isn't full of dust and cobwebs. Looking forward to finally having a couple of hours of relaxing, moaning at referees and player incompetence, before sitting in the post match traffic queue out of the Deva Stadium... Looking forward to it!

[Billy Casper]

Due to Barnsley winning 2 (two) games in a row and £20 tickets I'll be at Pride Park watching the bubble burst.

[Foot of Astaire's]

I'm at Vale Park on Saturday. The first away ground I ever went to with mates, rather than my dad, many moons ago. Just realised that in the several subsequent visits, I don't think I've ever seen us lose there....

[MyPieBurntMyMouth]

Coalville v Alvechurch with a mate for me. He's an Everton fan, so their game with Villa on the telly first.

Suncream ready.

[Furtho]

The availability at the ground of shade on a Saturday afternoon with a forecasted temperature of 35 degrees means I'll probably be at Ampthill Town v Wellingborough Whitworth in the (to me) familiar territory of the Spartan South Midlands League Division 1.

[Tony C]

I’ll be at Kendal Town v Wythenshawe Town tomorrow in a North West Counties game in a division which now includes several teams I’ve never heard of. I was looking forward to the first league game of the season against Bury on Tuesday but it was postponed due to Bury’s cup replay.

Anyway, as an eternal optimist, I hope Kendal have now found a level at which they can be at least competitive. They have, however, already lost their first two league games but came storming back with an apparently good away win against half decent Northern League opposition in the FA Cup last weekend.

And I can walk there, that’s a big plus.

[E10 Rifle]

Leyton Orient v Mansfield - my first home game of the season. Would be thinking of giving it a swerve if our seats weren't two rows from the back of the stand, given the vile weather

[Patrick Thistle]

My weekend plans are in flux. Might go to Pontypridd United's first Cymru Premier game on Saturday.

[NickSTFU]

I've just realised that Salop have Derby County on Tuesday night, and that falls within the permitted dates of this thread.

So, I'll be at that.

I'm on an Emergency First Aid a Work course (day 2 of 3), so hopefully I'll be done by 3.30pm and in the pub for 4pm for the Tuesday night mini-crawl.

[CY_Boaby]

Boaby Jnr's just been invited to the 60,000 sell-out AFL game between Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium later this evening, but to his absolute horror we had to turn it down as back in March I bought tickets for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince with a live orchestra by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO). It was a birthday present for my wife and had I not got the reminder earlier this week then we'd have forgotten all about it.

So the Boaby family will be experiencing "a bit of culture and all that shite" later this evening. As you were.

[longeared]

After a lot of debate I think I'm going to go to Harrogate Railway Athletic v Retford in NCEL division 1. This will be my first visit to Harrogate since the cycling Worlds in September 2019, so I will be sure to jump up and down on the grass in tribute.

Thunderstorms permitting I'll probably do Hallam v Thackley in the Premier on Tuesday night.

[Simon G]

Tewkesbury Town Pumas u12s 14-1 Leckhampton Rovers u12s
Thought I'd get this review out of the way before Cheltenham ruin my day, and probably my weekend.

Last summer we played Leckhampton away and lost 8-6, then in March we lost 8-3 to them. In both games we were by far the better team, but got caught on the break and were up against a goalkeeper who played out of their skin in the second game. Today, Leckhampton's goalkeeper cried off this morning leaving them with 8 players, so we decided to play 8-a-side. My team was at it right from the off and within 3 mins we were 2-0 up. By half-time, with us having two substitutes, we were 7-0 up and cruising. I offered to remove a player - as per the mercy rule - but their coach didn't see a benefit to it.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first, we played some nice passing, Leckhampton opened up, we had a shot on goal. My son, who had only ever scored one penalty before, got two goals from open play. They weren't completely out of it though and ha 5 min spells in both the first and second halves, finally getting a goal with about 5 mins to go. We immediately went up the other end to go 13-1 up and then when we scored almost from kick-off again, with 3 mins to go, the ref (our other coach) asked if we all wanted to call it time.

It's a difficult one because today was truly the hammering that we should have dished out on Leckhampton in the last two games, but it was telling that they were without a proper keeper. At least 4 or 5 of the goals would have been saved by someone even remotely confident. But that's to take nothing away from my team (note I no longer say boys as we have a girl on the team now, and my God is she brilliant) who passed beautifully, shot on target more often than not, and really ran themselves into the ground.

Coincidentally, the last time we played Leckhampton, Cheltenham played Portsmouth at home. I just hope they don't ruin my day today.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Donny Rovers at home today. Will that guy get himself sent off again?

[jameswba]

Trinec 2 Dukla Praha 0 (Czech 2nd league)

I don't envy anyone who comes to Trinec with a hangover. When I arrived at 0945 for the 1015 start, the ultras were already practising on the drums and the PA was playing dire Czech metal.

It was a strange game with Dukla playing nearly all the football and creating most of the chances. This was true when it was 11 vs 11, and when it was 11 vs 10 following the 55th minute sending-off of Sberle, the visiting no15.

Trinec barely put three passes together, but did score two well-taken goals. Tomas Omasta converted Tomas Jursa's cross in the 33rd minute, and Vaclav Jurena chased a long hoof downfield to lob the 'keeper in the 74th.

I still think Trinec will do well to avoid a relegation battle this season, though goalkeeper Lukas Hasalik and centre-back Martin Foltyn, both faultless today, may help them to more clean-sheets.

Dukla appointed Petr Rada, one of Czechia's best-known coaches in the summer, but no points and no goals from three games is a worrying start for him. He spent much of today's game kicking water bottles or sitting with his head in his hands.

Attendance : 432