Saturday, 23 May 2026

Brecon Corries - Rich Field

Brecon Corries FC
The Rich Field
Canal Road
Brecon 
Powys
LD3 7HL








Ground Number: 1556
Saturday 23rd May 2026
Brecon Corries - Chepstow Town
Ardal South East 








BRECON CORRIES - A BRIEF HISTORY

BRECON CORRIES or BRECON CORINTHIANS to give them their full name, were established in 1946 following the end of the Second World War. Early on, they played a single season in the Mid Wales League (Southern Section), winning the title. In 1949, they joined the Welsh Football League, starting in Division 2 East. They were champions in 1955, winning promotion to Division 1. A 6th-place finish in 1964 was good enough for promotion to the Premier Division, but Brecon only lasted a single season before relegation. A couple more seasons were spent in Division 1 before, in 1967, the club resigned from the league and joined the Brecon and District League. Though they won no honours here, Brecon returned to the WFL in 1974. Starting in Division 2, they won promotion in 1980 after a 3rd-place finish. The club were Division 1 champions in 1082, winning promotion to the Premier Division, which was renamed the National Division in 1983 and Division 1 in 1992, following the founding of the Cymru Premier.

In its first season as a second-tier league, Brecon finished as runners-up behind Ton Pentre, but the second half of the 1990s proved cataclysmic as the club suffered four relegations in five seasons between 1996 & 2000 to find themselves in the South Wales Senior League Division Two. In 2002, Brecon won promotion to Division 1 after finishing as runners-up to Fairwater. Another relegation came in 2005, another promotion in 2011, this time as runners-up to Lisvane/Llanishen. The league changed its name to the South Wales Alliance in 2015. Brecon left for the Mid Wales South League in 2019, winning the title in their debut season. They moved to the Mid Wales Football League East Division, which they won in 2022. This earned them promotion to the Ardal South East, the third tier of Welsh Football, where they remain to this day.


 
Local cup wins include the Mid Wales League Cup in 1948, the Welsh League Cup in 1963, 1982 & 1992, the J. Emrys Morgan Cup in 2022 and the Mid Wales Football League Play-off in 2022. Brecon, archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. Historically, it was the county town of Brecknockshire (Breconshire); although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of the County of Powys, it remains an important local centre. Brecon is the third-largest town in Powys, after Newtown and Ystradgynlais. It lies north of the Brecon Beacons mountain range, but is just within the Brecon Beacons National Park. It has a population of 8,250. The Welsh name, Aberhonddu, means "mouth of the Honddu". It is derived from the River Honddu, which meets the River Usk near the town centre, a short distance away from the River Tarell, which enters the Usk a few hundred metres upstream. The confluence of the River Honddu and the River Usk made for a valuable defensive position for the Norman castle, which overlooks the town, built by Bernard de Neufmarche in the late 11th century.


Brecon's town walls were constructed by Humphrey de Bohun after 1240.  The walls were built of cobble, with four gatehouses and were protected by ten semi-circular bastions.  In 1400, the Welsh prince Owain Glyndŵr rose in rebellion against English rule, and in response, in 1404, 100 marks were spent by the royal government improving the fortifications to protect Brecon in the event of a Welsh attack. Brecon's walls were largely destroyed during the English Civil War. Today, only fragments survive, including some earthworks and parts of one of the gatehouses; these are protected as scheduled monuments. In 2010, the Town Council installed a plaque to the slave-trader Captain Thomas Phillips captain of the Hannibal slave ship. During the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests, the plaque was removed and thrown into the River Usk.[citation needed][27] Following the protests, the Council passed two resolutions on 20 September 2020 to display the plaque in the local museum, Y Gaer, and to request that it be displayed as part of a suitable exhibit detailing the wider context, without being restored. It was also resolved unanimously that a working group is established to consider whether a new plaque, a new work of art, or a loaned artwork should be commissioned, and where any new piece should be located.


MY VISIT

For this Saturday, the game choices were dwindling, though there was still a long list of around sixty fixtures I could go to. Not many of them were great in terms of travel, though, so it was whittled down to a shortlist of four possibilities. Barnston, Cheam Park Rangers and a double of a game at Field AFC and Beeston St Anthony's were all considered. However, Brecon Corries had been suggested a few weeks ago, and I was all set to go to that until Daniel announced that he wanted £40 in petrol each from Colin & me, as none of the Essex lot fancied the trip to Wales. Plus, I'd have to drive up to ASDA, which would be another £2. I'd worked it out that if I drove, I'd only ask Colin for £31 if he came to my local bus stop. I really didn't fancy driving. Eventually, a compromise was reached. Daniel would take a shortcut and pick Colin up from home, and me up fairly locally and 'only' charge us £37 each. This worked for me; I figured that £6 extra was worth it for being able to have a few drinks and type up my blog on the way home. I had paid a premium to use public transport and also had a much longer journey for the same reason. The day out is important to me, more important than the football itself, at least on a Saturday.
It caused yet another PuffPuff controversy on Twitter after he demanded that his passengers pay for his petrol, pretty much. Barely a day goes by without him upsetting someone with his worldview on there. Personally, I work out my servicing costs for the year, divide them by the number of miles done that year, then add them to my costs so I can fairly compare them to public transport. For this year, it has been a good year for car costs, so only 4p a mile. I then work out each trip using the trip computer on my car, subtracting 10% from the MPG as it is woefully inaccurate. I'll then split the costs among everyone in the car. Normally, it's Colin who gets the belting deal, never having to drive because of his epilepsy. But I could never justify making my passengers pay more, and I reckon that it could cause problems with car insurance too. As well as the occasional airport runs and school runs that Daniel does for extra money, but each to their own.


From our game in Gloucestershire, I drove Colin & I home. Gloucester Services was extremely tempting as it was a farm shop, but it was a tight call for Colin to get his bus home. Despite some slow drivers, we made up time on the way, and I dropped him off and got home well before 8. I came home, uploaded my blog and sorted my photos. Three pints of cider were consumed as I watched YouTube and tried to send myself to sleep. I got off around 10.30 ahead of another busy Sunday at work. I had played hard over the weekend, so a bit of hard work was no bad thing. Monday was fairly similar, but despite my usual Tuesday off work, there was no midweek football that I fancied. We were in the dying embers of the football season, but I was hoping that I'd have a few more Saturdays yet. I briefly considered Upper Hale v Farnborough North End, but decided against it when kickoff was put back to 7 PM. If it had been step 7, I wouldn't have minded, but it was further down the pyramid. I still walked to town and back, getting some shopping and having a relaxed day. The rest of the week was work. I did my research on the club on Thursday and was feeling like a pint or two. However, I decided to wait until Friday to make that reward taste all the better. I spotted a parody article in Viz which had a dead ringer for PuffPuff in it, much to the amusement of Twitter.

It had been a busy week at work, but not unpleasant. I came home on Friday, slung my clothes in the wash, had a shower, got dressed and had a pizza for lunch within 90 minutes before heading out for a walk. Four miles into Wycombe, first stop the fruit stall for a big bag of clementines for £2. A pint at Spoons for a penny less was made all the more pleasant by sitting out the front and watching the world go by. Then to Poundland for some batteries and a can of Irn Bru before a pint of Old Rosie in the old faithful, The Rose and Crown, tipped the scales from stone cold sober to merriment. Lidl was next up, where I got a bottle of rum and some fresh lemonade, amongst other things. Some rum went into the lemonade for the walk home, where I had a final pint of cider before bed. I woke at 6 and got bathed and ready. Leaving at 7.40, I realised I'd forgotten breakfast so stopped at the Asda petrol station for a meal deal of Hoi Sin Duck wrap (in the absence of Brie, bacon and chill chutney sarnie), energy drink and cake bar.

 

From there, I walked across the road just as my lift was pulling up. I was allocated the Kenilworth Road seat with little leg room behind Daniel. It was still fairly comfortable though. It was a convivial journey and good to catch up with Chelmsford-born hoppers Daniel and Jake. It was a reasonable journey; the families, not my favourite type of people ahead of work tomorrow, were out on force and caused congestion near the M4/M5 junction. The pleasant-looking town of Crickhowell was also slow going. We were at the Welsh Venison Centre Farm shop at 11.05. It was very good, I got a Venison sausage roll, a chocolate brownie and three ciders for about £23. I had the chilled Gold Medal cider (a retry) and the Venison Sausage roll in the sunshine amidst lovely views. My only quibble was that it was not based in Barry in tribute to the 1990s Southampton and Newcastle midfielder. But it was a great place to pick up some random Welsh produce that's not available back home. It was then 15 minutes drive to the town. Despite being less than 15 minutes walk to the ground from the ground, our esteemed driver said it was too far to walk. We headed to the pleasant Wetherspoons, The George Hotel. As I was full, I just had a pint of Black Dragon for £3.34; the others had soft drinks and food. The other half was ordered, with me still not hungry. One meal was not enough for our driver as he helped Jake finish his. Jake had indeed had a cocktail with Malibu, but it looked like Fanta. From there, the very pleasant town saw us bump into a fellow Wycombe fan and have Welsh Rarebit at the Country Kitchen. This was superb and the best I've had. A disappointing half of Tiny Rebel cherry beer was had at the Brecon tap, but at least I got a load of cider to take away.

 

Brecon Corries were 13th in the table but had suffered a 15-point deduction due to a player registration issue. Insanity that it happens in the digital age and with the otherwise excellent Cymru Football app, but there you go. They'd won 14, drawn 5 and lost 11. They were on a good run but had lost 3-1 to Abertillery Bluebirds last time out. Chepstow Town, an equally lovely town, had won 8, drawn 11 and lost 11. They were on a good run too and had beaten Croesyliog 3-1 last time out. It was Chepstow that made all the early running, but it was Brecon that took the lead on 20 minutes, Jay Hughes with a low shot. Jamie Williams got the second on 37 minutes from close range. It was quite an achievement as apparently half of their players were away on a stag do. This fact showed in the second half as Chepstow roared into a three-goal lead, playing some good stuff, though the usually reliable Cymru Football App did not register. Two sending offs made Brecon's job that bit harder around ten minutes from time. The score remained unchanged. Brecon probably deserved a share of the spoils, but it was not to be. We had an hour of crap roads before we got on the M4 towards home. Time dragged, but I was home well before 8 for a final drink before bed.

 

THE GROUND 

RICH'S FIELD is a pleasant venue. Just the one stand, but this has bags of character. Basic soft drinks and snacks are available from a hut. The rest of the ground is open standing, set in a lovely area. Parking is plentiful, and the town is around 15 minutes walk away. 

Saturday, 16 May 2026

Sharpness - Hamfields


Sharpness AFC 
Hamfields Leisure Centre
Hamfields
Berkeley
Gloucestershire
GL13 9TN

01453 810413






Ground Number: 1555
Saturday 16th May 2026
Frampton United 3-2 Quedgeley Wanderers
Les James GCFL Cup Final








SHARPNESS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Sharpness AFC was established in 1900 and joined the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League, winning it three times early on after joining as founder members in 1922. They stayed here with titles in 1963 and 1966 up until they joined the Gloucestershire County League in 1968. Their first spell lasted up until 1984 when they won the title, but they had finished as runners-up to serial winners Cadbury Heath as early as 1971. A six-season spell in the Hellenic Premier lasted from 1984 until 1990, and Sharpness won the title in 1986 and finished as runners-up to Yate Town in 1989. However, the lack of floodlights held them back and prevented promotion.  They never finished below 7th but resigned from the league in 1990 to return to the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League. They won the Division 2 title in 1992 to be promoted to Division 1. Back here, they won titles in 2001, 2010, 2016 & 2019, making it twelve league wins in total. After the latter of those, it was back to the Gloucestershire County League. The first two seasons were abandoned due to COVID, and the highest finish was 3rd in 2022. That was until the club were champions this season, earning promotion to the Hellenic League for the first time in 35 years.


Sharpness have played four seasons in the FA Cup, reaching the 2nd Qualifying Round twice in the latter half of the 1980s. During the 1984/85 season, the club beat Tiverton Town, Abingdon Town, Pirelli General, Supermarine and Cheshunt before losing to AFC Sudbury in an FA Vase 5th Round replay. Up until 1988, Sharpness played at The Port, but the ground was developed upon by British Waterways. Previously, they had been paying just £1 a year rent. A three-season groundshare at Forest Green Rovers proved prohibitively expensive, leading to them dropping down a level. They played at Berkeley School for a while before moving to their current home at Hamfields Leisure Centre in Berkeley. The club's name, Sharpness, takes its name from a local port. There is a small community of approximately 100 residents directly adjacent to the port, in addition to the subvillage of Newtown, approximately 0.5 miles to the south-east.


Four miles to the south lies the small town of Berkeley. This is where they are now based. The town has a population of around 2,250.  It lies in the Vale of Berkeley between the east bank of the River Severn and the M5 motorway. The town is noted for Berkeley Castle, where the imprisoned King Edward II is believed to have been murdered, as well as the birthplace of the physician Edward Jenner, pioneer of the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. Berkeley lies midway between Bristol and Gloucester, on a small hill in the Vale of Berkeley. The town is on the Little Avon River, which flows into the Severn at Berkeley Pill. The Little Avon was tidal, and so navigable for some distance inland (as far as Berkeley itself and the Sea Mills at Ham) until a 'tidal reservoir' was implemented at Berkeley Pill in the late 1960s. From 1876 to 1964, the town had a railway station, originally on a branch from a junction at Berkeley Road on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway. From 1879, the branch became a through-route to Lydney when the Severn Railway Bridge was opened. In 1960, the bridge was damaged beyond repair by a ship collision. Some of the rail line is still used by the Power Station to transport low-level nuclear waste by rail, and a railway preservation society is working to extend the line to Sharpness.


MY VISIT

Usually on Saturday, I don't like driving unless it is a part of a double. This was to be the case on this Saturday, but when I looked at the five choices I'd selected, they looked to be rubbish days out on the train. Mainly small places in Essex where the stops were through unremarkable towns with no decent pubs. As it was significantly more expensive by train, I decided that using the car was in order. I whittled it down to a choice of three - either Chalgrove Cavaliers v Halse United (cheapest), Corinthians v Hashtag United Reserves (went past Colin and ticked Basildon Wetherspoons) or Frampton United v Quedgeley Wanderers (played at Sharpness, which will be step 6 next season). In the end, it was the latter that we chose, only deciding at 9 PM on Thursday.
It was a convoluted journey back from Leominster, taking a long time. I got petrol at Witney, filling up one tank whilst emptying another at the same time. Who says men can't multitask!. Finally, I dropped Colin off at 11.15 and was home 15 minutes later. I had tons to do, getting a wash on, uploading that day's blog and starting this one. I also had a couple of pints of cider to help me relax. 1 am was my projected bedtime, but I was wide awake, so it ended up being more like 2.30. I was quite deep into the booze at this point, but my search for a farm shop near the ground selling local cider and cakes proved fruitless. I woke up at 8.30 after six hours of sleep and had a bath and breakfast. Plans for a walk were shelved as I wanted to do my research for today's game. PuffPuff was attention-seeking on Twitter again, trying to dupe people into what game he was attending. Colin had told me last night that he had secured a ticket for Celtic v Hearts, but her maintained he was going to Pollok despite hanging around Celtic Park and taking pictures of the teams arriving. In the end, he did go to the game at Celtic Park.

 

I was concerned about Colin turning up as he hadn't checked his WhatsApp since last night. But he was as good as gold and was there at 11.15 at the end of my road. It was a decent journey down to the Emersons Green in Bristol for Wetherspoons 518 for me. Fish and Chips came quickly for me, before my drink in fact, and I'd almost finished my meal before Colin got his. This led to yet another display of rudeness and entitlement, which led to the manager coming over to tell him to be nicer to staff. He was rude to the manager as well, despite working in retail and getting a full-time wage for a 12-hour week, thanks to PIP for his epilepsy. Working in retail myself, I know that it's better to be nice to poorly paid staff. Something that was a real problem during the pandemic, but thankfully has improved. My fish and chips were more expensive than usual, but there was a huge bit of fish. It was half an hour to the ground from there, with brilliant organisation to get us parked. It was a £3 cash entry, and a pint of Thatchers Gold in the bar was also fairly priced. Celtic got the luck of the devil to win the title with VAR poking its nose in. For such a Reform supporting, stop the boats, punch down on the disabled and foreigners, politically, I was surprised that PuffPuff went in the Celtic end, with his views very much at odds with their values.

 

The Les James GCFA Cup Final was being hosted at the ground of champions Sharpness. Frampton had finished in 4th place and were the cup holders. League-wise, they had won 17, drawn 6 and lost 9. To reach this final, they had won 2-0 at Henbury and Rockleaze, beaten Wick 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw and thumped Ruardean Rangers 5-1. Quedegeley Wanderers were one of the few clubs that had lights, from what I recall. To get to the final, they had beaten Chalford 1-0, Sharpness 4-2 and Tytherington Rocks 1-0. League-wise, they had finished 6th, winning 15, drawing 6th and losing 11. The weather was drab and drizzly. Quedgeley had the better chances early on, but Frampton took the lead with a deflected shot on 18 minutes. Quedgeley forced a good save out of the Frampton keeper as he blocked with his foot. On 31 minutes, it was 2-0, a, low shot into the bottom left from 25 yards. Some feisty tackles were going in, and some yellow cards were handed out. On 63 minutes, Quedgeley Wanderers pulled a goal back, a good shot into the bottom right-hand corner. A minute later, it was all square, a cross headed home. It was deserved, but around five minutes from the end, Frampton United retook the lead with a floating shot from a wide angle. A tad hard on Quedgeley, but it had been a good game.


THE GROUND

HAMFIELDS is a smart setup but a work in progress. The pitch is fully railed, and there is a small area of standing cover with the inevitable metal seated stand on the way. There is a smart bar, but an interesting looking pub with real ales and cider is the Salutation, a half hour walk away. At the ground, the cider choices are Thatchers Gold and Stowford Press, plus more in bottles. I didn't see any hot food. The huge car park is excellent, but I'm not sure about public transport.

Friday, 15 May 2026

Leominster Town - Bridge Street Park


Leominster Town FC
Bridge Street Park
Bridge Street
Leominster
Herefordshire
HR6 8EA








Ground Number: 1554
Friday 15th May 2026
Leominster Town 7-3 Civil Service
Herefordshire League Division 2






LEOMINSTER TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1893 and spent most of its early years playing in local competitions. They played a single season in the Shropshire League in 1896 but left after one season, finishing bottom of the table. Information about the club is scant, but it appears as if they have spent most of their history in the Herefordshire League. They had their first spell in the West Midlands (Regional) League between 1996 and 2004, achieving two 3rd place finishes in Division 1 South without gaining promotion.  They resigned from the league in 2004 to return to the Herefordshire League, where they won the Premier Division title in 2010. They started in Division 2 this time, winning promotion after a 3rd place finish in their debut season. Two seasons were spent in Division 1 before they left the league in 2013.


The club finished as runners-up to Ewyas Harold in their first season back. A severe loss of form saw Leominster finish bottom in 2015, but they were not relegated due to Ross Juniors' resignation from the league. The club finished bottom again in 2018 and spent a season out of football before returning in Division 1, only to be stopped again by the pandemic. Despite finishing 6th in 2021, they were demoted to Division 2 for the following season. They were runners-up to Wellington Colts in 2023, winning promotion back to Division 1.  They were only to last here for a couple of seasons, being relegated after a bottom-place finish last season. They look set to put that right this season as they will be Division 2 champions.


The club won the first-ever Herefordshire FA Junior Cup, beating Worcester Excelsior 5-2 at Edgar Street, Hereford. In 2010, as part of a treble, the club won the HFA Charity Bowl and the Journal Trophy as well as the league title. For the first 70 years, the club was based at Worcester Road. This was also the home ground of the North Herefordshire League before it merged with the Herefordshire League. In the 1960s, Leominster Borough Council took over the site, which they had decided would be used for industrial purposes. Despite the council planning to build a new pitch, this never happened, leaving the club playing in a field and changing rooms in a caravan with no running water. Over the years, the requirements for grounds became stricter. So, In 1994, Leominster Town and Leominster United (formerly Dale United) merged, and three years later, the new ground opened at Bridge Street Park adjacent to the town's leisure centre. Floodlights were soon added, with the stand being converted to seats in the midst of the pandemic.


Leominster is a market town in Herefordshire, located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary, the River Kenwater. The town is 12 miles north of Hereford and 7 miles south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of almost 12,000, Leominster is the largest of the five towns in the county; the others being Ross-on-Wye, Ledbury, Bromyard and Kington. The town, previously spelt 'Lemster', takes its name from the English word minster, meaning a community of clergy and the original Celtic name for the district Leon or Lene, probably in turn from an Old Welsh root lei to flow. The most notable person to hail from Leominster is the West Ham United and England player Jarrod Bowen.


MY VISIT

I always love a bit of Friday night football, but outside of the hop games, I hadn't seen one in England since 19th December at South Leeds. They are always bumper crowds when clubs move their games, but so few do. It is always the same group of groundsharers, playing again and again on Friday night. It doesn't appeal unless it is a new ground or one that I've not been to for ages. On this Friday night, it was an exceptional opportunity. An early kickoff, at a great ground, in one of my favourite regions for cider. The only downer was that I would be driving yet again, but at least Colin would be in the passenger seat to halve my costs. I also spotted a farm shop which would hopefully be able to supply me with some local stuff to take home.


From Kennington on Tuesday, it was a far easier drive home. Rather than the conoluted cross-country route on the way, once we had got out of Kennington, it was dual carriageways and motorways. It gave a far better impression of Oxfordshire roads than the garbage that we used on the way there. I dropped Colin off at 9.15 and got home around 15 minutes later. There was time to get my blog up before bed, not that I really felt like sleeping. At least it was my shortest day at work the next day, though the weather couldn't make up its mind whether it wanted to rain or be sunny. Mindful of my game at Leominster on Friday, I checked the weather, and all was fine. I wasn't counting my chickens yet, though and knew that there was a multitude of reasons why the game might not go ahead. As a result, I left doing my research on the club until Thursday, although all the signs were good when I checked on Facebook. The research proved to be tricky, especially for seasons before the millennium, but I did what I could.
It was the usual busy Friday at work, although it wasn't as unpleasant as usual. I got my head down and time flew by, with me out at 1. I met Colin, and we were on our way. I'd deliberately skipped lunch as we were stopping at the Golden Cross hotel in Bromsgrove. We arrived at 3, the car park out the back of the pub was free for half an hour. I ordered small fish and chips with cranberry juice for £6.69, service and food were spot on. It was helped by the generous offer from the council of 30 minutes of free parking. As the car park was out the back of the pub, it was perfect. Colin told me on the journey that Daniel was asking £40 each for petrol to Brecon Corries next week. Surely some mistake on Colin's part, as that meant that the occasional Braintree Town fan would be raking in 25p a mile from us, with the Essex pair presumably paying nothing.

 

I am always fair with Colin, splitting the costs halfway, as anything more invalidates your insurance, as it would be counted as hire or reward. Personally, I'd be asking for £35 from Colin, including a significant detour to drop him home with just us two or £16 each with a full car. It put next week all up in the air again. It was a slow but picturesque journey to the Quarry Farm shop, where I picked up some local ciders. There might be some retries in there as the mobile signal was rubbish, but it was nice to pick up some obscure stuff. Sadly, none from local legends Ross-On-Wye cider, though. We were at the ground just before 5. I was happy to pay the £1 to park in the Leisure Centre, but had not got enough change. Instead, it was dumped out on the road outside. We had a look inside the ground, confirming the game on and got some pictures. From there, it was less than a 15-minute walk to the town's Wetherspoons, The Duke's Head. It was a sleepy but pleasant town with a slow internet signal. In the pub, I had a sticky Korean chicken bowl with a pint of Black Dragon for £10.82. Service was, as usual, good. It was nice to sit in a comfortable environment to type this blog, with the plan to leave for the ground around 6.20. The plan was to get to the ground well in time for kickoff and to check out what else was on offer.


Leominster Town were top of the league and had won 19 and lost 2 of their games. They'd won their last twelve, plus had a walkover, making it thirteen straight wins. In their last game, they'd beaten Burghill Rangers 6-0.  Before that run, they had lost their only two games in November at Kidderminster Town and at home to AFC Worcester II. Civil Service were in 9th and had won 5, drawn 2 and lost 14. They'd lost their last couple, including a 3-1 loss at Ledbury Town Development last time out. When the two sides met on 27th September, Leominster won 6-2 at Victoria Park, Hereford. There was a shock goal for Civil Service, 90 seconds in. It was an opportunist strike from 25 yards which deceived the keeper. Four minutes in, Leominster thumped the bar. 23 minutes, it was all square when a right-sided cross was put home from close range. 28 minutes, Leominster led 2-1. The Civil Service keeper flapped at the cross, and the ball was headed home from close range. The visitors came close to equalising on 33 minutes, but the keeper saved with his right foot and tipped it around the post. 41 minutes, it was 3-1 to Leominster, a shot from 20 yards floating in. I'd got a burger at halftime, nice and freshly cooked, although as it turned out, I missed some goals. The second half saw yet more goals, with the hosts winning 7-3. The highlights were a penalty save by Civil Service, before they went up the other end and pulled a soft goal back, plus another on a quick break. Overall it was an avalanche of goals for Leominster, though on the night they lifted the title.


THE GROUND

BRIDGE STREET PARK is an incredible ground for the 13th tier of English football. The main stand is seated and holds around 120. It would put some step 4 sides to shame, as it is all brick-built rather than metal. Additionally, there is some cover behind the goal, thanks to the clubhouse. For now, the ground is two-sided, though there is room for expansion. The clubhouse mainly offers a good range of food as well as drinks. Parking is plentiful. The town is 15 minutes walk away and has its own train station and presumably buses. The town has a Wetherspoons amongst other things, and looks like a nice place to spend a few hours in.