Tell Me Easter's On Friday To Thursday. Matchgoing 29 March - 4 April

[Gangster Octopus]

Dunno yet...

[Nocturnal Submission]

The Bridge on Saturday for Blues/Burnley and then up to Wolverhampton for my first visit to Molineux for the Women's League Cup Final on the Sunday.

[cantagalo]

Only two local games tomorrow and I've chosen Alfreton Town v Rushall Olympic over Derby County v Blackpool on the grounds that I've never seen Rushall Olympic before.

The late kick-off for Brentford v Man United gives me the chance to pop in to Potters Bar Town v Margate first.

On Monday, I'm shall be in Sussex for Eastbourne Town v Eastbourne United (11:00) and Lewes v Whitehawk (15:00). I searched in vain for a 19:45 kick off to complete the day.

After a day off, on Wednesday it's more stress at Brentford v Brighton.

[Artificial Hipster]

I've got a ticket for what will almost certainly be the biggest event in Wythenshawe's sporting history on Monday as 2nd place Ammies travel to leaders Town in the NWCL Premier.

The Bolton Hospital Cup returns next week with a couple of games on Thursday to choose from.

[Disco Child Ballads]

Lincoln City v Leyton Orient tomorrow. Considering Lincoln's recent run of form, I expected them to beat us quite convincingly.

[Patrick Thistle]

Barry Town v Penybont in the Cymru Premier on Good Friday.

Not sure about Saturday yet. There are a few local options.

I'm not going to Bristol Rovers v Shrewsbury on bank holiday Monday because I'm seeing family instead. I was looking forward to seeing the new stand. Cross fingers we'll be playing each other next season.

[longeared]

Parkgate v Dronfield Town on Saturday, a game it feels like I see every season.

Probably something on Monday, not sure what yet as nothing immediately leaps off the fixture card. Belper Town possibly.

[Ray de Galles]

Friday - Wimbledon v Harrogate Town, D4.

Saturday - Probably London Colney v Bedfont, CCL D1. A few other ideas as back up plans given the rain in recent days,

Monday - My aim is to finally get to Perry Barr for the first time to see Birmingham Brummies v Oxford Spires in the SGB Premiership in the evening. In the unlikely event that weather conditions allow that to happen I'd hope to see a game or two on the way (taking advantage of one of the now commonplace Bank Holiday Monday morning kick-offs in the ninth/tenth tier for one of them). If the speedway is postponed I may try a game or two in the south-east/south coast area instead.

[Bored Of Education]

Bath City at home tomorrow. Boss' leaving drinks start at 12.30 which I will leave to go to the match and then rejoin them afterwards so my critical faculties may not be at their sharpest. After Tuesday, probably the best way for me to enjoy the match. May do Taunton on Monday for a rare away trip.

[RobW]

Orient tomorrow at the Bank. It's a sell out apparently and my old man is joining me for the first time in months. Cue 1-0 away win.

[jameswba]

SSV Jahn Regensburg vs Hallescher FC (Germany, 3 Liga)

We are spending Easter weekend in Regensburg. If you're daft enough to put your trust in Slovak and Czech railways and Deutsche Bahn, Bavaria is just about accessible from Zilina in a day by train. In fact, leaving in the dead hours of Thursday morning left us with half a day here, to stroll up and down the Stone Bridge, get lost in medieval alleyways and sample some local wurst.

No doubt there'll be more wurst at the Jahnstadion tomorrow. The ground looks like a generic new-build and is a bus-ride away from the centre, on the southern edge of town. I remember seeing the old one on TV years ago, and it looked gorgeously ramshackle. Jahn were miles clear at the top of this league a few weeks ago but are in the midst of a dire run, and now trail Ulm by four points. Hallescher are 16th. We finally saw a few goals in a German game this time last year (Augsburg 1 Koln 3) so I'll optimistically precit there'll be four more tomorrow. 2-2 draw.

[all new noj]

Wednesday v Swansea this afternoon. Monday tbc.

[Fearful Symmetry]

3 games for me, have actually paid cash money to watch City today (alright, 12 quid, but still) in front of another sell out crowd, and then 2 Ferriby games, Consett at home tomorrow then a short trip up the coast to Bridlington on Monday. I genuinely don't care if we lose every other game by 5 goals or more this season, as long as we don't lose to that lot.

[Capybara]

Nothing today. Ripon City v Otley Town tomorrow and Boro v Sheff Wed on Monday.

[Crystal Staples]

Oxygen tank, check. Cagoule, check. Corned beef sandwich, check. Forest Green Rovers v Stockport County. Where storm nelson brought about 2 weeks of rain so there's a pitch inspection at 10am.

Whole 1224 away allocation sold and there'll be keen eyes on what's happening in Wrexham. FGR's next 5 games are against the top 5 so interesting to see how they approach this. Parking the bus and drawing them all would be five good results for them but would leave them on 38 points from 44.

[George C.]

Watford later.

And hopefully a certain FAV Semi (Final 1st leg) tomorrow...

[My Name Is Ian]

Leatherhead vs South Park Reigate in the Isthmian League. I'm dad-sitting this weekend, and Leatherhead's a straightforward trip to a ground that I really feel like I should have been to before but haven't. Backup for this is Horsham YMCA vs Hassocks in the SCFL, and if both of those fail to survive the weather I'll have to wait for Worthing vs Hampton on Monday afternoon.

[The Mighty Trin]

I'm at Darlington v Chorley today, have played a blinder and got permission from HQ to watch two games at the New Defence tomorrow (Reigate Priory v Battle Town and then Horley Town v Knaphill). On Monday I'll complete the Isthmian Premier with a visit to Hastings Utd v Folkestone.

[Strangers On A Train]

Off to Sheffield on the train tomorrow to catch Blades v Fulham, hopefully we concede less than 5. Going early so will have a couple of hours spare to do some record shopping.

[Patrick Thistle]

Barry Town 0-0 Penybont
Cymru Premier

A draw that felt like a win for Barry who finished the game with 9 men. Without wanting to moan too much about a referee for the second time in a week, both sendings off were down to some arbitrary decision-making that angered the home fans. (Some fans were sceptical of the official from the off remembering how he accused a Barry player of assaulting him in a televised game where the filmed footage contradicted his account of events. At the end of the game some fans claimed he shook hands with the Penybont players and refused to shake hands with the Barry players.)

The game itself was lacklustre. Penybont had the majority of the game in the first half. Barry seemed to play better with ten men and forced their only real chance while a man down. A magnificent saving block from a Bont defender preventing a certain goal.

We had heavy rain bursts during the game and a hail storm after the final whistle. But for most of the match it was sunny.

[The Mighty Trin]

Darlington 0 Chorley 3
National League North
Att: 1,897

Thanks to Jesus, today promised to be a very good Friday indeed, with an early morning start up to County Durham and Darlington. 'Nothing remarkable but dirt', commented Daniel Defoe. That's a rather cruel assessment of this industrial market town, which has an imposing train station and some handsome buildings (including of course a Friends Meeting House). The Stockton and Darlington Railway was the world's first permanent steam locomotive passenger railway with Stephenson's 1825-built Active, later Locomotion No.1 doing the work.

Founded in 1883 following a meeting at Darlington Grammar School , Darlington achieved enough regional success to be accepted into the newly created Division Three (North) in 1921. In 1923 the Feethams pitch was frozen for a match against Chesterfield, but following agreements between cricket and both teams' officials and some nifty snow-removal work, the game was able to take place on the cricket pitch, which was technically a neutral venue and not sanctioned by the FA, so the referee got both teams to sign an agreement saying they would not protest the result. The club reached its peak with two seasons in Division Two in the mid-1920s and would be founder members of Division Four in 1958.

You'll all be aware of the sad story of Feethams, administrations and a massive ground by the by-pass. The club now share the rugby union ground of Darlington RFC. Another rugby union club Darlington Mowden Park RFC (initially the old grammar school club) bought the oversized arena for two million quid and now play there. Blackwell Meadows opened in 1994 after Darlington RFC had sold their own town centre ground for retail development. The football club (88.49% owned by the Darlington FC Supporters Society Limited) want their own ground, but it won't happen this side of 2026.

One odd fact is that in 2016 the then named Darlington 1883 club took over Horden Welfare FC from 30 miles away and moved them in as the club's reserve team. A new Horden Community Welfare FC were then formed and are now back in their old ground Welfare Park and in the Northern League Division Two. That reserve team are no longer a reserve team and have been spun off to become Darlington Town and are currently top of the Wearside League Premier Division.

Alighting from the train I made a pilgrimage to Feethams. The cricket pavilion and ground are still in use, but the football ground next door was vacated in 2003, demolished in 2006 and a load of houses and flats in a style that I do not care for have been crammed into the space. I always find it a profoundly dispiriting experience visiting such a site and, with the exception of the access road around the cricket pitch named after a former player, there's not even a hint that a football ground was ever there.

The entrance sign states that Blackwell Meadows is also the home to the Gentlemen and Lady Archers of Darlington. It is first and foremost a rugby union ground, with a large clubhouse (including roof with a clock and weather vane) and viewing balcony on one side. There's a seated temporary but well-built cantilevered stand opposite with a high roof running half the length of the pitch, a covered cantilevered terrace behind one goal and open flat standing to the right, behind which, hung to the wooden fence, is a large banner that proudly says 'DARLO'. There are five rugby training pitches around the ground to complete the bucolic out of town feeling and only the constant hum of traffic booting it off the nearby roundabout pre-match lets it down. For completeness I'd tried to walk to the big arena which is nearby as well, but ran out of pavement at said roundabout, so that place can fuck right off.

The Quakers have found a surprising vein of form recently and a were hoping for a fifth home win on the bounce. However, the table doesn't lie, and 20th at the start of play signifies that this has not been a vintage season. Their visitors the Magpies were fourth, so I was expecting a tight game, although Darlo had some amends to make after losing 8-0 at Victory Park back in November. Chorley started out in 1875 as a rugby team and only switched to football in 1883, so should have felt right at home here.

Jeff Winter walked in front of me just before kick off, and there were plenty of home shouts of 'haway ref' in a first half where players were falling to the ground like sacks of spuds. It was a nervy half, both teams having good chances, including a very controversial Chorley goal line clearance for which an image was being shared around that showed it was in fact a goal. This may have altered the course of the game, but in added time the Darlo keeper clattered into a Chorley attacker in the box, was booked and the penalty was subsequently smashed in.

Sat in her pink hi-vis with 'draw seller' on it behind me, Linda won the £1,336 half-time draw ('I've only been doing it for nine years'), so that was nice. As she was joking about bringing in Messi for the remaining games, Chorley scored again with a well-crafted goal cutting in from the right with a tap-in inside the six-yard box. Quaker heads had fallen when minutes later the Magpies got a third after a cross wasn't cleared and was subsequently belted into the net. Heads dropped and that bit of confidence appears to have evaporated. It's really between them, Rushall and Banbury for the final two relegation places with Chorley up to third. A smashing day out with a spot of sunshine and a lunchtime cheeky Nandos thrown in.

[The Mighty Trin]

[RobW]

Lincoln City 1 - 0 Leyton Orient

A tough game in which City were second best for most of it. Orient very tough to play against, and they would have won comfortably if not for Lukas Jensen making one smart save, and a gilt-edged chance being headed over. Undoubtedly tricky conditions what with the strong breeze, which led me to question why Lincoln seemed intent on hoofing the ball over the heads of Taylor and House. Beckles and Cooper looked pretty content with dealing with anything, though the former might want to stop wresting forwards down by the neck.
Teddy Bishop covered for Ethan Erhahon pretty well, but Reeco Hackett had an appalling game for the Imps, and I feared the worst when Danny Mandroiu looked like he couldn't continue. Somehow he ploughed through the entire game, but wonder whether he'll be risked at all on Monday.
City looked better second half, without creating clear cut chances, and I think Draper coming on up top to battle Beckles was a smart move. Orient still produced the better chances and had more possession. Fortunately, Jovon Makama came on and within a minute scored the decisive goal. A momentary lapse of concentration at the back gifted him the ball back and he took full advantage slotting home. Absolutely delighted for the lad, only his second senior goal. Had to laugh at the ref giving Jensen a talking to about timewasting during injury time when Orient were taking 45 seconds over each bloody throw in the first half.
Credit to the away support, made a good racket throughout. Results went our way and by some miracle we are now in the play offs. Going to be very difficult to keep this extraordinary run going, particularly as Carlisle got an incredible result today. I still have a few days left to consider whether I want to renew my season ticket. Feel like i'd be a fool not to atm.

[cantagalo]

Alfreton Town 1 Rushall Olympic 0
National League North
Att: 585

This looked like an important match for both teams with Alfreton occupying the final play-off place and Rushall in the final relegation spot. As it turned out, the result didn't change a lot as all the teams around Alfreton won and all those around Rushall lost.

Alfreton are not a team you would choose to watch if you want flowing, possession based football. Their game is based around winning set pieces as high up the pitch as possible. And thir most dangerous set pieces are throw-ins which Adam Lund hurls into the penalty box from anywhere in the opposition half. Somehow, more by luck than judgement, Rushall managed to survive a first half onslaught only to concede soon after the break when Jordan Thewlis rounded the keeper with the defence appealing for an offside flag. Rushall responded with a few decent efforts and were perhaps unfortunate not to get a point.

Not the best of games. The highlight was probably the splendid rainbow that appeared shortly after a heavy half-time shower.

[Jobi1]

York City 2 Chesterfield 1
National League (att: 7,571)

Ah man, what's the narrative of today? Could tell you about the really good food and delicious pints pre-match, or the silly bus journey up to the ground with some of our more exuberant youthful supporters, making us look forward to a bit of peace and quiet in the ground, despite it being the biggest crowd yet for a City game at the new gaff.

Could tell you about the champions taking the lead with a bit of a daft easy tap-in goal on 5 minutes. Or a really worrying neck injury to our fun time full back Thierry Latty-Fairweather (apparently he's OK). Could tell you about the flock of sheep I could see in the field behind the West Stand, which is shortly to be filled with housing, thanks to the Home Office forcing the planning through against the advice/wishes of the local authority because fuck the environment.

There were our second half comeback goals, both off "wrong" feet, admittedly against a team whose actual hangover appeared to be kicking in – our Afghan refugee superstar Maz cutting in onto his right to curl one into the top corner before big Dipo did a few defenders on the other side and drilled a left-footed shot in at the near post.

Could tell you abou the extraordinary biblical downpour the last 10 minutes were played in (pic below), so heavy the front row of the stand genuinely had a substantial amount of water in it, and we briefly couldn't even see the stand on the far side through the deluge.

But nah, all I'll tell you is that for pretty much the first time this season, I've come away from a York game actually elated, had a brilliant day/evening out with some dear friends, and ultimately that's what this nonsense is all about. Oh, and Paul Cook is an absolute bollox.