Wednesday, 19 September 2018

Selston FC - Parish Hall


Selston FC
Parish Hall
Mansfield Road
Selston
Nottinghamshire
NG16 6EE

01773 812540

Ground Number: 595
Wednesday 19th September 2018
Selston 1-0 Gedling MW
East Midlands Counties League









SELSTON FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

 Selston FC was established in 1968 as a Sunday league team and it wasn't until 1986 that they made the move to Saturday game. They started at a decent level, joining the Central Midlands League that year. Their first spell in this league produced a series of mid-table finishes, though regular reorganisation meant that they moved division on a regular basis. In 1992 they switched to the Midlands Regional Alliance, remaining there until 1997 when they rejoined the CML. Their second spell provided mixed results - after earning promotion from the Premier Division in 1999 they would go on to spend three seasons in the higher-tier Supreme Division, two 9th place finishes was an encouraging start but in 2002 they finished bottom of the league and returned to the lower tier. The team continued to struggle and in 2004 they disbanded the first team for a couple of seasons to focus on their youth setup. They rejoined the MRA in 2006, winning the title in 2008 and moved to the Notts Senior League where they were champions in 2014. This signalled a period of great success and in 2015 they rejoined the CML. They were champions of the now-regionalised South Division twice in a row and in 2017 they were promoted to the step 6 East Midlands Counties League. Last season saw an excellent debut season with a 4th place finish and that is where they sat in the league before my visit.

This season saw their second game in the FA Vase and first since 2000 when they lost to Ludlow Town. They've already bettered their progress, winning 3-1 at Radford in the 1st Qualifying Round before winning 3-1 at South Normanton Athletic in the 2nd Qualifying Round. They now face another trip, this time to Eastwood Community in Round 1. The village of Selston has a population of 12,596 according to the 2011 census, though this includes nearby Bagthorpe. 

MY VISIT

 Initially, on my week off, I'd been hoping to do a lot more games with Milton Keynes based hopper Chris. Usually, my early morning starts and his unavailability on Tuesdays and Saturdays severely limit our trips. Though signs had initially looked promising, thanks to his work commitments, he was only able to make the Wednesday. Annoyingly, there was a real lack of options with only a handful of games available. After discussing the options, we eventually settled on Selston v Gedling Miners Welfare although I'd have probably preferred the Bottesford Town v Pinxton FA Vase replay. As usual, I did my research on places to eat for dinner and found a decent looking Indian restaurant a few miles away in Alfreton.



 The day of the game came and I spent my morning at home researching future blogs. After lunch, I left home at 2.10 as I wanted to stop in Aylesbury en route. B&M Bargains had the few bits that I needed, including some drinks for the night's game. I made good progress from there, arriving to meet Chris half an hour ahead of our planned 4PM meet time. It turned out o be a blessing in disguise as the journey was up to the M1's usual abysmal standards. There was a delay as soon as we got on but we eventually got going. The worst of the delay was saved for the junction with the M6 where a minor prang with a Volvo going into the back of a lorry resulting in two lanes being closed. A 'report of obstruction' proved to be a hoax near Leicester which resulted in more time being added to the journey before the usual slowdown in the roadworks. All this resulted in over an hours delay with us getting to Alfreton at 6.10. I parked in Tesco and we nipped to the local Wetherspoons, The Wagon & Horses for a swift pint. This was one of the better establishments in the chain and I was pleased that they had one of my favourites, Black Dragon cider available. Chris and I both had a pint of this before making our way across the road to an Indian restaurant called Sanan. There we both had Karahi Chilli Chicken with Pilau rice and I had some orange juice to wash it down. The food was excellent, though there was a bit of a wait for it to come and so we didn't get out until 7.20.

 It was then a 6-mile drive to Selston, with us getting there at 7.35. Entry was a fiver and a thin but reasonably decent programme was a quid. I briefly got some pictures of the ground before settling on a spot on the halfway line between the dugouts. It was a physical first half, but even so, I felt the referee was a bit whistle-happy which resulted in the game being broken up a lot. Both benches had plenty to say for themselves but in the second half, the referee let the game flow a little more. The only goal of the game came on 54 minutes when a foul just inside the area resulted in a fairly soft penalty being awarded. It mattered not to Carl Moore who stepped up and slotted past Gedling keeper Danny Brown.  There was an 83rd-minute red card for Selston's Rhys Dolan. It was a tackle in the middle of the park and he got some of the ball but the referee called it right according to the rules as it was a tad high. The hosts survived a late scare as a Gedling goal was ruled out for offside. The visitors probably deserved a share of the spoils but the Selston home win sent the vast majority of the 153 crowd home happy and sent them second with 7 wins out of 7. It had been a better game than the 1-0 scoreline would suggest and I headed home in a decent mood.

We left the ground at 9.45 and I wasn't anticipating any problems. We made a good start and was making good progress until we hit a road closure on the M1. The diversion took us off at Northampton and sent us down a ridiculous back route. The tiny road was unable to cope with the volume of traffic and so a 45-minute delay ensued, the worst of it coming thanks to a 2-mile queue at a roundabout. After stopping for fuel, I dropped Chris off around midnight. It was then a dash for home and although there were plenty of stretches of road having works done, the delays were only around 5 minutes. I got in at 1 am and was pleased to be able to see my parents before they headed off on holiday, something that I was fearing that I'd not be able to do. I stayed up for a bit after that, catching up on my YouTube subscriptions whilst I typed my blog.



 THE GROUND
PARISH HALL is a venue shared with the local cricket club and as a result, only two sides are available to spectators. These two sides are pretty hemmed in and they contain two stands, one for standing and one for sitting. They'd keep a couple of hundred fans dry and refreshingly they are solid structures rather than the usual metal stands. The pitch had a distinct slope to it and this added to the charm. The clubhouse is set way back and this sells pies, rolls, hot drinks, soft drinks and cans of beer and cider. The village has a few places to eat and drink and the main centre is around half a mile away.
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Tuesday, 18 September 2018

Broadbridge Heath- Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre


Broadbridge Heath FC
Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre
Wickhurst Lane
Broadbridge Heath
West Sussex
RH12 3YS

01403 211311




Ground Number: 794
Tuesday 18th September 2018
Broadbridge Heath 4-1 Horsham YMCA
Sussex Royal Ulster Rifles Cup 1st Round



BROADBRIDGE HEATH FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1919 by demobilised soldiers from the First World War. They joined the Horsham & District League upon formation, winning the league and the league cup in their first season. The club would remain here for some time, right up until 1970 when the competition was absorbed into the West Sussex League. Starting in Division 3, Broadbridge Heath won promotion in their second season as well as winning the Charity Cup the season before. They won another promotion to Division 1 in 1976 but two years later left to join the Southern Counties Combination League. In 1983 this was merged into the Sussex County League. Broadbridge Heath started out in Division 3 and remained there until 1988 when a third-place finish behind Ifield and Midway was good enough for promotion. Despite struggling for a lot of their first spell in Division 2, they won promotion after a 3rd place finish behind East Preston & Eastbourne United in 1998. They'd only last the one season in Division 1 with the team winning just 4 games all season and finishing rock-bottom. Aside from a couple of good seasons, Broadbridge Heath continued to struggle and would be relegated back to Division 3 in 2008. a 5th place finish in 2012 was deemed good enough for promotion back to Division 2. This time they would fare a lot better in Division 2 and in 2014 would finish as runners-up to Eastbourne United to seal promotion to the top tier. The club has remained there ever since, though the league has been renamed the Southern Combination. In 2016-17 Broadbridge Heath enjoyed their best ever finish in their history as they finished 8th. They are currently enjoying a good start to the season and stand a good chance of bettering that position if they carry on as they are.

Broadbridge Heath have a very poor record in the FA Cup having lost all three games that they have played in the competition so far. Their record in the FA Vase is not much better though in 2017-8, they did reach the 2nd Round. After beating Southwick, AFC Croydon Athletic and Kensington Borough they travelled to the eventual winners Thatcham Town and found themselves on the end of an 8-2 defeat. The village of Broadbridge Heath has a population of just over 3,000 according to the latest census and is a couple of miles away from the town of Horsham who would provide the opposition for my visit. The club are due to move next door to a new ground soon, having played at their current venue that is a multipurpose facility since 1987. Prior to that, they played at a more basic facility that is now the site of a Tesco supermarket. 

MY VISIT

 For the first day of my half-week off, I knew that I'd be on my own. Neither of the hoppers that I regularly go with were available. As usual in this situation, I'd be trying to keep the miles down, or indeed head south. With the lack of local grounds that I have yet to do, it was inevitable that it would be the latter. There was around 15 options in all, all involving clubs from the Southern Combination and Wessex Leagues. I'd been hoping to do an FA Vase replay, but there were none available at 'new' grounds. It would be another cup, The Sussex Royal Ulster Rifles Cup that would provide me with a game. Broadbridge Heath v Horsham YMCA had three things going for it - it was my nearest unvisited ground, it was a local derby and the club was due to leave the ground soon, albeit only to next door. It was to be the first game of a busy week for me and so I had quite a lot of research to do for this blog.



On the day of the game, I'd had a reasonable night's sleep and did my usual walk down town before getting a lift back with my Dad. After a nice Mexican for lunch, I spent the afternoon watching TV and catching up with various things. Earlier, I'd noticed that Dorking had free entry for their friendly against Dulwich Hamlet but I decided to stick with my original plan despite Dorking being nearer. After having dinner, I left at 5.25, hoping for a decent journey. It turned out to be the case, having only 15 minutes delay overall. I listened to the Alex Ferguson Sporting Life CD that I'd picked up from a local charity shop earlier that day and it was well worth the 50p outlay. I got to the ground about 50 minutes before kick off. I noted the 3-hour restriction in the Tesco car park and so headed through to the Leisure Centre car park just in case there was any extra time. I paid £6 for entry and £1 for a reasonable programme before walking round to get some pictures of the ground. After that, I went inside to type some of my blog on my tablet, but I'd not used it for ages so the battery was dead. I got by with my phone, catching up on Twitter before going outside just before kick off. I opted to stand on the grass bank on the opposite side of the ground as it was a lot closer to the action than the main stand.



The first real chance came on 15 minutes when a low shot was tipped around the right-hand post by Horsham YMCA keeper Aaron Jeal. From the resulting corner, a cross in, the ball was fed back across the box and Devon Fender bundled the ball home from close range. The visitors had a chance to get level on 23 minutes when the impressive Tony Nwachukwu fired narrowly past the right-hand post from just outside the area. They did get the equaliser on 39 minutes following a spell of pressure. A corner was put in but was only half cleared. The ball fell to Mark Cave who lashed it into the top right-hand corner from just inside the area for a lovely goal. Broadbridge Heath regained the lead with the last kick of the game when Marlon Maxwell slid the ball home at the back post following a quality delivery from a corner. Four minutes into the second half, a great ball from Lee Carney found George Cousins who controlled well before slotting home from 15 yards. The result was sealed on 79 minutes when the ball fell to Richard Wetton on the edge of the area and his tidy finish found the bottom right-hand corner. A disappointing evening for Horsham YMCA was made worse on 84 minutes when Nwachukwu saw red for calling the referee a 'fuc*king idiot'. I've seen referees being called far worse and not even being booked, but if you go by the rulebook, then referee Oliver Westgate made the correct decision.

Despite a couple of minor whinges from the home bench, Mr Westgate handled the game well and let it flow. This contributed to an entertaining contest that provided good value for the £6 entry fee. Elsewhere Wycombe gained a 2-1 victory against Fulham U23 in the Checkatrade Trophy, a competition that I continue to boycott, because of the inclusion of 'B' teams. The attendance of just 595 would indicate that most others feel the same. I left at 9.40, trying to listen to the football coverage, though the crackly MW reception made it difficult. Attempts to pull over and listen to it via my phone proved futile as there were plenty of signal dead spots. I was glad for Liverpool, getting a late winner to beat Paris St Germain 3-2. As I got closer to the M25, things improved although by 10.30 there was nothing worth listening to. Instead, I put my Duran Duran Greatest Hits CD on, another 50p Charity Shop bargain. I got home at 10.55 and caught up online before typing my blog. As it was my week off, I had a couple of bottles of cider while I did this and it was nice not to have to worry about not being up for work in the morning.

THE GROUND

BROADBRIDGE HEATH LEISURE CENTRE is a multi-use venue which frustratingly includes an athletics track. The only area that is covered is the main stand, this stretches the whole side of the pitch and probably contains around 350 seats. It's set a fair way back from the pitch and various athletics paraphernalia gets in your way. The rest of the ground is open with the grass bank on the opposite side providing an acceptable view. There are bar and food facilities at the ground, but these were basic and closed on my visit. The large Tesco opposite is probably your best bet, though be wary of the 3-hour limit if you use the car park. Overall, the club was nice and friendly and I really enjoyed my visit.
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Wednesday, 12 September 2018

Lydney Town - Lydney Recreation Ground


Lydney Town FC
Lydney Recreation Ground
Swan Road
Lydney
Gloucestershire
GL15 5RU






Ground Number: 793
Tuesday 11th September 2018
Lydney Town 1-2 Lymington Town
FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round Replay






LYDNEY TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was formed in 1911, starting out in local leagues. 1952 saw them join the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League where they were champions in 1980 after finishing as runners-up in the previous two seasons. This led to a four-season spell in the Hellenic League and despite a credible 5th place finish in the first season, the financial strain saw them return to the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League in 1984. They remained at this level for over 20 years until the decision was made to join the Gloucestershire County League. This spearheaded a period of great success, with Lydney Town champions in their first season, resulting in promotion to the Hellenic League. They won Division 1 West in their debut season of 2006/07 and gained promotion to the Hellenic Premier. Despite a 10th place finish in their first season, there were issues with getting floodlights installed and as a result, the club was demoted back to Division 1 West. Lydney Town would stay here until 2015 when they finished 3rd behind Woking & Emmbrook and Brackley Town Saints and were promoted back to the Premier Division. They've remained there ever since with the best finish of 9th coming in 2017.

This current season has represented Lydney Town's best progress in the FA Cup so far. They travelled to AFC Hayes in the Extra Preliminary Round and came away with a 2-1 victory. Next up was another journey, this time to Royal Wootton Bassett Town where the two teams shared a goalless draw. Lydney won the home replay 5-3 to set up another trip, this time to Lymington Town. The two sides drew 2-2 down in Hampshire on Saturday to set up a game that sees the winners face a plum home tie against Torquay United. There has been modest success in the FA Vase, the 1st Round being reached on four occasions. Local cup wins include the Forest Green Supporters Trophy won in 1995 & 1997.



 MY VISIT

Once again, it was time to hit the FA Cup trail, surprisingly this would be my 6th FA Cup game of the season and the third in little over a week.  The last two had hit me hard in the pocket costing me nearly £90 for the pair, but thankfully I was still keeping within my budget of £20 overall. The quality of the games varied wildly from a thrilling game at Bemerton Heath Harlequins last Tuesday and a dull game at Ramsgate on Saturday. Thankfully, I'd have fellow hopper Anwar back in the passenger seat tonight to keep me company and help out with costs. It was the game that stood out above the other options for me, though I might have been swayed by the dinner choice though. We'd stopped at a place called Muchahos on our way to Longlevens in late June. Here we had both had a really good meal, so much so, that I didn't add it to my football costs for that game. The attractiveness of the game was raised another notch on Monday when the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round draw paired the winner with a home game against Torquay United, until recently, a Football League club of many years. It would be a good way to celebrate Anwar and I's 200th groundhop together since we started in September 2012.



On the day of the game, I'd had a reasonable nights sleep and it was my usual walk down town before meeting my Dad for a lift back. I'd purchased a decent Beef Keema curry lunch from Iceland and I had this before spending the early afternoon starting this blog and making some plans for future games. I left at 3.30, getting to Aylesbury at 4 where Anwar was waiting for me. I was pleased when he said he was unlikely to be going to Portsmouth v Wycombe as it opened up the chance of another hop together. We had a bit of traffic in Oxford and Witney but traffic was a lot clearer than usual. We got to our pre-match food stop in Gloucester at 6 where we both had half pound gourmet burger meal for £7.50. It was all freshly cooked and very nice and filled us up a treat. From there we made the 20-mile journey to Lydney, filling up at a reasonably priced petrol station on the way. We got to the ground at 7.10 and were charged a quid to park in the nearby rugby ground. From there we went in, entry was £6 including a programme. I got some pictures of the ground before finding a spot on halfway to watch the game from.



Looking at the league tables, both sides were sitting in mid-table. The hosts were 12th in the Hellenic Premier having played 5, won 2, drawn 1 and lost 1 so far this season. Owing to cup commitments, they'd not played a league game since August 27th when they drew 0-0 at home in the local derby with Tuffley Rovers. As a result, they had up to 4 games in hand on some of the teams. Lymington Town were 11th in the Wessex Premier and were unbeaten, despite being yet to play a home game. They'd not had a game since the 18th August when they got their first win of the season, 2-0 at Andover New Street, having drawn the previous two. I've covered Lydney Town's progress in the competition above but the visitors tonight had beaten Sandhurst Town 5-1 in a replay (after a 1-1 draw) and Frimley Green 3-1 in the competition so far to get to this round. The game started brightly and it was the hosts who were doing all the running in the opening few minutes and a good save from Lymington keeper Nic Jones which resulted in a corner. Lymington soon started to have chances of their own and they too forced an even better save out of Lydney keeper Ellis Boughton. This resulted in a series of corners which came to nothing. Boughton went on to make several good saves during the first half, as Lymington, who included former Andover Town, AFC Totton and one time Wycombe transfer target Mike Gosney had the better of the first half.  The second half saw things evened up a bit but it was the visitors who took the lead on 54 minutes. There was a foul just inside the box and a penalty was awarded, Ashley Jarvis stepped up and converted the spot kick to give his side the lead. The game was becoming a bit lively in terms of fouls and a few booking were handed out by the referee in an attempt to calm things down. Lydney got an equaliser on 68 minutes, the defending could have been better but Lewis Thomson's shot went in off the left-hand post to send the home fans into raptures.  The goal led to Lydney having a spell of dominance but just as it looked as if the game was going to extra time the visitors struck and 87th-minute winner.  Sam House put a good cross in and Jake King headed the ball home to seal the game.

The attendance of 337 would have been amongst Lydney Town's biggest ever crowds I'd imagine. Though the majority of the crowd went home disappointed, it had been a good night for the club. They'd had their best ever FA Cup run and had hosted the game really well. I found out the next day that they'd had no knowledge of the rugby club charging people to park and were not best pleased that people had been taken advantage of as many would have assumed that they were getting the money. It had been a good value night on their part but from a selfish groundhopper's point of view, I was pleased for Lymington. Their tie against Torquay United in the next round could be potentially shown live on the BBC Sport website and opens up the possibility of an enticing 'double'. We left at 9.45 and made reasonable time home, although the small roads were not most pleasant to drive along in the dark and drizzle. We listened to reports of the England game where they had beaten Switzerland 1-0. This soon gave way to music, with me dropping Anwar off at 11.45. I got home myself 20 minutes later, but couldn't get to sleep for ages. Not great with me being up at 4, but I felt OK for most of the day.



THE GROUND

LYDNEY RECREATION GROUND is set in pleasant countryside just outside of town. They are located adjacent to the rugby and cricket clubs. As with most grounds of teams that have seen a rapid rise in recent years, the stands are of the metal 'Arena' type. Though pretty dull, they do have seats in club colours, around 100 in total. The rest of the ground is open hard standing with a capacity of around 1,500.

 The tea bar looked decent value and had a basic range of food and drinks at reasonable prices. The bar was spacious and had a decent range of drinks including Thatchers Gold for cider drinkers. Further afield, the town is around a ten-minute walk away and has a decent range of pubs and food places. 
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