Ashton & Backwell United 2 – 1 Portishead Town Western League – Division One Saturday 28th December 2019 The Lancer Scott Stadium, Backwell Attendance: 103
The Season So Far:
Around 4 miles separates these two clubs as the crow flies. The home side just north of Bristol Airport lie in 8th place (with a -4 goal difference) in the table, with the visitors from the banks of the Severn estuary in 15th (and a +2 goal difference!). Neither side played on Boxing Day so should be fresh and ready for this meeting – the home Stags’ last game on the 7th December saw them beat high-flying Calne Town 3-2 at home. Portishead won by the same scoreline that weekend, against Lebeq United, but the week after that lost to Warminster. You have to go back to September to find their last win before the Lebeq tie. Ashton & Backwell ended last season in 4th and will certainly look to emulate that kind of finish this time round. Portishead will look to improve on last season’s 16th place finish. Both teams’ erratic form suggests that this game could go either way and it will hopefully be an entertaining match up.
Plymouth Parkway 2 – 3 Tavistock AFC Western League – Premier Division Thursday 26th December 2019 Bolitho Park, Plymouth Attendance: 564
The Season So Far:
Every year I hope for a Christmas miracle, and this year it looks to have happened; 2nd placed Plymouth Parkway at home to Devon rivals Tavistock on Boxing Day! Parkway find themselves 3 points behind Bradford Town with a game in hand and a superior goal difference. Behind them, Clevedon Town are just a point behind in 3rd, but have played 5 more matches. The home side have not played a match since the 7th December due to their last two games falling foul of the weather. An impressive season so far has seen Parkway lose only once in the league and rack up impressive wins including a 10-0 thumping of Odd Down. They also have an FA Vase 4th Round game to look forward to against Woodbridge Town of the Eastern Counties Premier.
Today’s visitors joined the Western League at the beginning of the season from the South West Peninsula League. Currently in 10th place, but with a good few games in hand over almost everyone around them, they’ll feel confident of climbing up the league in the near future. Like the hosts, Tavvy’s last two games were rained off, and their last game on the 14th was a hard-fought 4-3 victory over bottom side Chipping Sodbury. They were knocked out of the Vase by another Devon club Buckland Athletic in the 3rd round, so will look to focus their attentions on improving their league position and possibly claiming promotion to the Southern League.
Devizes Town 5 – 2 Bristol Telephones Western League – Division One Saturday 7th December 2019 Nursteed Road, Devizes Attendance: 50
The Season So Far:
This is my second attempt at visiting Nursteed Road after braving rain of Biblical proportions in November, only for the game against Wells City to be postponed. This week’s visitors to Nursteed Road, Bristol Telephones, are struggling in the Western League again after only surviving last season due to the dissolution of Chippenham Park. With just one win to their name and having played 3 games more than Bishop Sutton above them, the Phones will need to start finding more wins from somewhere and soon. Devizes find themselves in 17th but have at least one game in hand over many of the teams around them in the table. However, 4 losses on the trot – including a Cup loss to Wiltshire County League side Trowbridge Town – will not fill them with confidence.
Melksham Town 2 – 2 AFC Totton Southern League – Division One South Saturday 23rd November 2019 Oakfield Stadium, Melksham Attendance: 362
The Season So Far:
This bottom of the table clash will be Melksham’s first game in 2 weeks after last week’s game away at Bideford was postponed due to a bad accident on the M5 preventing Town from reaching Devon. 7 days earlier, despite their best efforts, they were knocked out of the FA Trophy by Gosport Borough from the league above. After 11 games, Melksham sit 4th bottom of the Southern League Division One South with just 2 wins to their name, the last of which way back in mid-September away at Highworth Town. Town will hope that home advantage plays a part this afternoon.
AFC Totton sit 2nd bottom, also with just 2 wins to their name. Last weekend for the 2nd match in a row they scored 3 goals. However Cinderford Town, and before that Yate Town, scored more. With a midweek Hampshire Cup victory against Petersfield Town, the team from just outside Southampton may well be less well rested than their Wiltshire opposition, but will hope to make it two wins on the bounce. If there is to be a winner in this game, it could prove to be a valuable 3 points come the end of the season.
Westbury United 0 – 1 Longwell Green Sports Les Phillips Cup – 1st Round Wednesday 30th October 2019 Meadow Lane, Westbury Attendance: 44
The Season So Far:
Both these teams had the weekend off after foul weather across much of the country put pay to many fixtures far and wide. Westbury were in action last Wednesday, going down 1-2 at home to Bridgwater Town. A week and a half ago, the visitors were on the right side of the same scoreline away at Cheddar. The home side find themselves mid-table in the Western League Premier, while Sports are in 5th – 4 points off top spot – in the division below. In last year’s Les Phillips Cup (LPC) both of these two crashed out in the 1st Round, meaning one of them will improve on last season’s performance!
Swindon Town 2 – 0 Cambridge United League 2 Saturday 30th September 2017 The County Ground, Swindon Attendance: 5,847
The Visit:
I was shocked when I worked out that it had been 5 years since I last went to a professional football league match. Back in 2012 it was FC Kobenhavn v Silkeborg in the Danish Superliga. Given payday was a couple of days ago it seemed like a good time to refamiliarise myself with the luxuries of league football – names on the backs of shirts, electronic scoreboards, faces familiar from the TV… Swindon seemed like the easiest to get to – a half hour train ride from Bath and then a 10 minute walk to the ground. I bought my ticket (online of all things!) and chose to sit in the Don Rogers stand, opposite the dug outs and the away supporters.
As I exited the station and made my way through central Swindon, it surprised me how multicultural the place is – Polish shops, Turkish barbers – I could have been in central London. Surprisingly The County Ground isn’t really visible until you round the last corner at which point a classic football league ground comes into sight. The four ‘proper’ floodlights and four separate stands each one distinctive from the other three. A top flight stadium for a period in the 90s, it would look rather out of place in today’s Premier League if truth be told. For me, though, this is a positive thing. Grounds like this, with their individuality are all too few and far between.
I managed to navigate to my seat with uncharacteristic ease via the electronic ticket scanner gizmo. My seat offered a decent view of the pitch and three of the stands – one of which was completely empty, unsurprising really given that the ground was only one-third full (or two-thirds empty, depending on your outlook on life!). The visitors started the brightest with a couple of early corners. This was until Amine Linganzi took aim from distance. Visiting keeper David Forde in his immaculate all-white kit parried away. The ball was dinked back into the box and eventually found Crystal Palace loanee Keshi Anderson who found the back of the net. Other than a hopeful penalty shout, Cambridge offered little going forward in the first half.
The second half saw United looking rather more dangerous but couldn’t really carve out anything more than a handful of half chances, giving Swindon’s Chilean goalkeeper Vigouroux the opportunity to fall on the ball each time. On the hour mark, Robins striker Luke Norris fell awkwardly, injuring his shoulder. Swindon lost their imposing frontman but gained 11 pantomine villains as Cambridge refused to kick the ball out of play as Norris struggled back to his feet. He was replaced by the even taller Harry Smith. United’s best chance came when Uche Ikpeazu’s header looped over Vigouroux but hit the bar and fell kindly for the keeper. Substitute Smith put the game out of sight in the dying minutes as Anderson turned provider, sliding a ball in for Smith to finish well.
In truth it was not a great game, but I enjoyed the experience of League football after having become rather accustomed to the more modest surroundings of the National League South and below.
Paulton Rovers 1 – 2 Frome Town Southern League Challenge Cup – 1st Round Tuesday 3rd October 2017 Winterfield Road, Paulton Attendance: 168
The Visit:
It always seemed odd to me that the village of Paulton in Somerset is frequently addressed as “Paulton, Bristol” – Bristol being a good 15 miles away along some scenic country roads. Perhaps the most recognisable, and certainly most visible landmark here is the slag heap which is evidence of a mining industry in the area that is sadly but unsurprisingly a thing of the past. The juxtapositioning of this next to the Tesco superstore is surely not lost on the locals.
I chose Rovers’ match against local rivals Frome Town – now the league above their hosts – out of curiosity about the Southern League Challenge Cup. Admittedly not a competition I am familiar with, so I was interested to see what it meant to the clubs. The frugal newly ex-student in me was also predicting a reduced ticket price… I was to be disappointed in that regard! I took the bus from Bath which meanders its way through the pretty little villages to the south west of the city and arrived in good time to explore the ground. But this was not before I was charged the normal admission cost of £9. I can’t have been the only one to be surprised at this but I was not about to hop back on the bus, plus evening kick-offs under the floodlights are one of my not-so-guilty pleasures.
So in I went. Winterfield Road is a good sized ground, particularly for essentially a village team (no offence intended). On the near side touchline are two separate stands, one raised a few meters above pitch level offering good views of the action. Next door is a lower, good-sized stand straddling a good portion of the far half. The far end has no terracing or stand to speak of, whereas the remaining two sides consist of narrow terracing covered by a distinctive, slightly retro roof. The ground was packed to the rafters 8 years ago when Norwich City visited in the FA Cup. This was the biggest match in the club’s history but sadly finished 7-0 to the Canaries who boasted such players as Wes Hoolahan, Russell Holt and Chris Martin. The latter of who scored four of the seven. Slight panic came over me as I spotted the refreshment window was closed, but the obligatory condiment/sugar table was fully laden so surely a burger was still on the cards. It was.
On to the match. Both sides boasted players who I was relatively familiar – Frome with former Bath City striker/ midfielder/defender and – for some – cult hero Chas Hemmings as well as Jon Davies who was with the Romans for a few months several seasons ago. The home side’s number 8 was Andrew Elcock who was also on the books at Twerton Park but failed to make an impact. The first half, in truth, was pretty dull. Other than three chances in three minutes for Frome in the opening ten minutes there was little in the way of goal mouth action. Davies was lucky not to be booked for kicking the ball away after 33 minutes, while 5 minutes later a rare pair of shots tested Hannah in the home goal.
Paulton started the second half well with a good period of pressure. A later tackle finally saw Davies enter the referee’s notebook, and shortly after a good run into the box from Mario Mateus left the Frome right back Griffiths a scare. The diminutive striker decided to pass when surely shooting was a better option. His pass was duly intercepted and the danger was cleared. The breakthrough finally came on 57 minutes – the ball was put behind by the Paulton defence and from the resulting corner ex-Larkhall Athletic midfielder Joe Raynes smashed the loose ball into the middle of the goal. Just two minutes later the Robins doubled their lead through centre back Marcus Mapstone. I have to admit I missed this goal, but it was met with gasps of admiration and the Frome Town Twitter feed described it as a shot from the edge of the area, so it sounds like my concentration lapsed at the wrong time! There was hardly time for anyone to catch their breath. Rovers’ Liam Monelle was caught offside and shortly after the home side halved the deficit. A lovely ball from substitute Josh Morgan-Williams was collected by Sims in the box. Monelle almost hampered his attempt but Sims did enough to hold his team mate off and smashed low into the corner. What followed was less inspiring – the ball spending much of the time in the midfield. Another good ball from Morgan-Williams found Monelle but he could only shoot wide. It was at this point that I had to leave to catch my bus back to Bath but I followed the clubs’ Twitter feeds and the score remained 1-2.
I wholeheartedly recommend a visit to Winterfield Road. The locals are friendly, the food is decent and the football is of a good standard. The stadium has bags of character and the surrounding area is picturesque Somerset countryside.
Odd Down AFC 0 – 5 Weymouth FC FA Cup – 1st Qualifying Round Saturday 2nd September 2017 Lew Hill Memorial Ground, Bath Attendance: 190
The Visit:
For those who are not familiar with the geography of Bath, Odd Down lies high up to the south of the city. The eponymous football club is flanked by a secondary school and a park and ride. Currently playing in the Western League Premier today they faced a Weymouth side two divisions higher and currently unbeaten at home this season. The home side however did beat higher opposition in the previous round so would likely go into this match confident that an upset was possible. Weymouth had brought a decent amount of fans with them up from Dorset though the crowd was smaller than I had imagined, particularly given the sunshine was present for large parts of the afternoon.
A chance for either side within the opening 2 minutes – Weymouth hitting the post for theirs – suggested that we would not be in for a bore draw today. Around the quarter hour mark Weymouth’s Antonio Diaz seemed certain to score but didn’t connect properly with a cross into the box. Shortly after, the home side laid claim to a penalty that was not forthcoming. I was quite a distance from the incident, but the Odd Down players seemed convinced that their player was impeded unfairly in the area. Then dangerous Diaz was causing problems for the home defence and a left footed shot from him was parried away from danger by Ed Baldy in the Odd Down goal. The visitors were starting to pile on the pressure and on 28 minutes they hit the post again with the follow up ending up in Baldy’s grateful arms. The home defence were putting their bodies on the line with shot after shot coming in, mainly from outside the penalty box. The goal came on 37 minutes but not before Weymouth hit the woodwork for a third time – albeit via an offside forward. A corner was partially cleared but only as far as Ben Thomson who shot through a crowd of players and into the bottom corner. Just before half time Odd Down’s Asa White made a good interception and hit a first time shot just wide.
Less than 5 minutes into the second half the away team doubled their lead. Thomson’s shot spun off a defender, falling kindly for strike partner Harry Baker who struck a sweet shot into the top corner. 2 minutes later Baker shot again but this time it was too high. The Odd Down players found a new energy in trying to find a way back into the game, however much of this energy was misplaced and a couple of players were lucky to escape being booked. A double substitution looked to shake things up a bit. Kye Simpson made a good run and looked to play in White but they were not on the same wavelength. The Down’s Dave Gould – one of the pair lucky not to be booked earlier on – made a couple of late challenges and was sent for an early bath leaving his team mates to battle on for a little over 15 minutes a man short. The free kick awarded for the sending off fooled the defence who were expecting a shot on goal. Instead Baldy pulled off a great save after a Weymouth forward was played in on goal. Down the other end, Kye Simpson finally made the visiting keeper Nick Thomas earn his keep. A cross from Ash McGrane was met well enough by Simpson but Thomas was equal to it. Fellow substitute Adam Bouchama had an opportunity to pull one back but mishit his shot when well placed. Weymouth weathered the storm and with 12 minutes remaining put the game to bed. Baker’s low shot may have taken a deflection on its way to goal but they all count. Visiting captain Jake McCarthy wanted in on the goals and struck a shot from 30 yards, but Baldy got across to turn it behind with the save of the match. McCarthy would not be denied 3 minutes later, however, and he found the top corner when he was one of several Weymouth players queuing up in the box. Deep into injury time, Baker grabbed his hattrick and put a gloss on the scoreline. Another low finish just about crept into the bottom corner when it appeared to be going wide.
Weymouth will be pleased with their performance and to avoid a potential banana skin, while Odd Down can be pleased with their first half performance. As it was, the visitor’s quality shone through and they go on into the next round leaving The Down to concentrate on other matters. A trip to the Lew Hill Memorial Ground is highly recommended – a great clubhouse serving food and drink seemed popular before the game as well as at half time. Inside the ground is a seated stand facing the dugouts. There is further cover at the near side goal end. Behind the far goal is a large grassy area which must be ‘interesting’ in less clement weather! So overall I had a great time at my 2nd FA Cup match of the season and look forward to my next visit.
Longwell Green Sports 2 – 3 Ivybridge Town (AET) FA Vase – 2nd Qualifying Round Saturday 23rd September 2017 Shellards Road, Bristol Attendance: 58
The Visit:
Until recently, Longwell Green was just somewhere you would go to go bowling or to go to the big Asda. Located a stones throw from Bitton, Longwell Green is in the far reaches of the sprawling south eastern Bristol suburbs. Shellards Road is just off the main road into Bristol and offers superb views of the surrounding countryside. In all honesty the ground itself is somewhat overshadowed by its surroundings – on the near side is a small seated stand, right next door to a covered standing area. The remaining edges of the pitch are just afforded a low railing. The home side came into this having only scored 3 goals in all competitions and rock bottom of the Western League Premier division. Their Devonian visitors from a step below are managed by former Blackburn Rovers defender Nicky Marker, for whom Kenny Dalglish once paid half a million pounds.
WEST COUNTRY FOOTBALL 