Minefield.

WESTFIELD FC 2 – 0 MINEHEAD AFC

– Saturday 12th November 2022
– 14:00 Kick Off
– Attendance: ~25
– Full Photo Gallery

– Somerset County League – Division One
– Jerry Colbourne Ground, Midsomer Norton
– Weather: Mild, Sunny
– Admission: Free

Intro

Not to be confused with Westfield FC from Woking and currently playing in the Isthmian League, or indeed with Westfields FC of Hereford and the Hellenic League, this Westfield plays in the Somerset County League. Based in Midsomer Norton, this is my second visit in recent times to this small town to the south west of Bath. I went to West Clewes to see Bitton’s penultimate game of the season away at Welton Rovers in October; sadly Bitton quitting the league as a result of increased travel costs.

Westfield haven’t got off to the best of starts – losing 7 of their 11 games so far this season. This sees them currently in 12th (out of 16) position, although it is a little tricky to get the full picture as some teams have played several more games than others. Their stand out result is probably the 5-0 thrashing of Welton Rovers Reserves. Last weekend the Crayons lost 1-0 at home to 2nd place Uphill Castle.

Minehead make the trip over from the Somerset coast today and find themselves in 5th place. It’s been a mixed bag if truth be told, and having played a couple more games than a lot of the teams around them, 5th place probably flatters them somewhat. A strong start saw the Blues win 4 of their first 6 matches, however their only victory since came last weekend at home to Nailsea & Tickenham Reserves.

Both teams will be looking to secure a bit of consistency and put a run of results together; my head tells me to expect an away win but I know better than to make predictions!

No Ill Feelings.

SHEPTON MALLET AFC 2 – 2 ILFRACOMBE TOWN

– Saturday 29th October 2022
– 15:00 Kick Off
– Attendance: 223
– Full Photo Gallery

– Western League – Premier Division
– The Playing Fields, Shepton Mallet
– Weather: Mild, Cloudy
– Admission: £8

Intro

Both these sides will be buoyed by good midweek results in their respective local cup competitions; Shepton beating Welton Rovers 4-1 away from home in the Les Phillips Cup, while Ilfracombe were at home to a young Plymouth Argyle side and beat them 1-0 in the Devon St. Luke’s Bowl. Despite the same fortunes midweek, it’s today’s hosts who will be more pleased with the start to their campaign.

They currently sit in 3rd with four games in hand over 1st and 2nd. Admittedly, Mallet have been coming through something of a blip having recently lost to top side Bridgwater and mid-table Falmouth, and drawn at home with 16th place Cadbury Heath. A monumental start to the season saw Shepton win their opening 8 games and reach the 2nd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup for the first time. They faced Weston-Super-Mare in that historic match, but eventually succumbed to the Southern League side 1-0. Funnily enough Shepton revisited the seaside in the Somerset Cup less than 3 weeks later, that time losing 3-1 to Weston.

North Devon side Ilfracombe’s last league match was a morale-boosting 8-0 thrashing of Welton Rovers, and The Bluebirds are a comfortable 11th place in the table. The FA Cup and Vase bore little fruit for them this season – in the Cup they eventually overcame Sherborne Town after a replay, before losing to Southern League Division One Willand Rovers. They crashed out of the Vase at the first time of asking to Cornish outfit Camelford. A couple of decent draws against high-flying Bridgwater, and 5th place Mousehole, show that Ilfracombe are certainly capable of getting a result today.

Once Bitton, Twice Shy.

WELTON ROVERS 1 – 2 BITTON AFC

Tuesday 11th October 2022

Western League – Premier Division

19:30 Kick Off

West Clewes, Midsomer Norton

Attendance: 125

Clear Skies, Cold

Full Photo Gallery

Admission: £6

Intro

Bitton come into this fixture desperately hunting for their first league win of the season, having so far only picking up a point against Street back in August. Since then it has largely been tough going for the suburban Bristol side who have suffered heavy defeats to a number of teams including high flying Bridgwater United, Saltash United and Buckland Athletic. One silver lining was a 4-1 FA Vase win at home to Wokingham & Emmbrook, but there was to be no cup run as they narrowly lost in the next round at home to Eversley & California.

Newly promoted Welton lost 3-1 at home to Millbrook on Saturday after an impressive 2-1 away win over fellow promoted side Sherborne the Saturday before. In the FA Cup the Greens lost at home to US Portsmouth in the Extra Preliminary Round, while in the Vase they crashed out at the first time of asking away at Bovey Tracey. With just the league to concentrate on now, Rovers will look to secure Premier Division status for next season.

The Pilgrims Progress.

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 3 – 0 ACCRINGTON STANLEY

Saturday 8th October 2022

League One

15:00 Kick Off

Home Park, Plymouth

Attendance: 15,065

Sunny and Warm

Full Photo Gallery

Admission: £16

Intro

Argyle were looking to extend their 100% home record in the league this season with a win over a Stanley side who had won their previous 3 matches. So far the Green Army have beaten the likes of Derby, Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday, and find themselves deservedly on top of the League One table. Last weekend they enjoyed a morale-boosting 3-1 victory over Lancashire rivals Morecambe, and in fact hadn’t lost since mid-September away at Wycombe.

This Means War.

WARMINSTER TOWN LADIES 2 – 2 BRISTOL ROVERS WOMEN

Sunday 25th September 2022

South West Regional Women’s League – Premier Division

14:00 Kick Off

Weymouth Street, Warminster

Attendance: ~90

Overcast and mild

Full Photo Gallery

Admission: £2

Intro

I was supposed to be going to an FA Vase game on Saturday but had to change my plans at the last minute. Every cloud has a silver lining, as they say, and I was long overdue a visit to a women’s game of football. This was the perfect opportunity to tick that off my list and also to revisit Weymouth Street. I was last there for a pre-season friendly between Warminster Town men’s team and Bemerton Heath Harlequins in 2019.

Warminster Ladies were promoted from the Eastern Division of this League last season, and today was their first home game of this campaign. Getting off to a tough start, Warminster lost the opening game 6-0 away at Ilminster Town who finished in second place last season. Another away trip followed, this time down in Somerset against Bishops Lydeard. And Warminster secured their first 3 points of the season with a 2-1 victory.

Last season saw Rovers finish top of the Northern Division, winning all but 2 games and conceding only 12 goals. The first game of the season sounds like an incredible match with the Gas Girls putting 6 past Royal Wootton Bassett, but also letting in 4. At home last weekend they lost narrowly 2-1 to Forest Green Rovers.

Out of Gas

BRISTOL ROVERS 1 – 1 SHREWSBURY TOWN

Saturday 27th August 2022

League 1

15:00 Kick Off

The Memorial Stadium, Bristol

Attendance: 8,570

Sunny and Warm

Admission: £28

Intro

Rovers secured promotion to League 1 in dramatic style at the end of last season – beating relegated Scunthorpe United by the required 7 goals to go up automatically on goals scored. A decent amount of comings and goings over the summer may go some way to explain their somewhat up-and-down start to this season, along with the increase in the quality of opposition. That being said they did get off to the perfect start with a 4-0 away win over Burton Albion, followed by a home win over Oxford United. They were then brought back down to earth with defeats to Barnsley and Portsmouth, conceding 3 goals against each side.

The visiting Shrews have struggled so far this season, with a solitary win over Wycombe Wanderers the only highlight. A goalless draw against Derby County is not to be sniffed at, but defeats to Ipswich and Accrington Stanley see the Shropshire side languishing in the lower reaches of the table at this early stage of the campaign. They’ll certainly be looking to improve on last season’s 18th place finish, when they found themselves 10 points above the drop zone on the final day.

Battle Royale.

ROYAL WOOTTON BASSETT TOWN 1 – 1 WINDSOR FC

Saturday 6th August 2022

FA Cup – Extra Preliminary Round

15:00 Kick Off

Gerard Buxton Sports Ground, Royal Wootton Bassett

Attendance: 119

Sunny and Warm

Full Photo Gallery

Admission: £6

Intro

A fixture with regality written all over it marks the 2nd game of the season for the home side – a tough match against Hellenic League new boys Mangotsfield United on Tuesday ended in an impressive 1-0 victory for Bassett. Last season they finished in a comfortable mid-table position, losing as many games as they won. In last year’s FA Cup they made it past this round, before succumbing to Ardley United in a Preliminary Round replay. They had more success in the FA Vase, lasting until December when they lost to eventual semi-finalists Hamworthy United in the 3rd Round.

Windsor make their competitive debut for the season today, with the Combined Counties Premier League North not starting until next weekend. They finished last season’s campaign at 7th in the league but quite a way off the promoted teams. Not too surprising when you hear that league winners Hanworth Villa drew 4 and didn’t lose a game all season, storming to the title. Like their opponents today, The Royalists had an equal number of losses and wins. A short-lived FA Cup campaign last season had Windsor beaten by Tuffley Rovers in the Extra Preliminary Round, while in the FA Vase they beat Kensington & Ealing Borough, before losing heavily to Wellingborough Whitworth in the 2nd Qualifying Round.

Hammer Time

Westbury United 1 – 4 Shepton Mallet AFC

Saturday 23rd July 2022

Preseason – Friendly

15:00 Kick Off

Meadow Lane, Westbury

Attendance: c100 (estimate)

Cloudy, warm, breezy

Full Photo Gallery

Admission: £ FREE

Intro

A successful first season in the Hellenic League Premier Division (after a lateral movement from the Western League) saw Westbury United promoted as runners up, meaning this season they will compete in the Southern League for the first time. An opening couple of months saw them suffer 3 of their eventual 4 defeats of the season failed to suggest that they would win promotion, however a run of 16 games undefeated saw them fly up the table. Poor FA Cup and FA Vase runs would’ve eased fixture congestion, which is not to suggest that the White Horse Men would’ve been happy about their early exits from these competitions. A 4-2 win over Wessex League Christchurch in the Extra-Preliminary Round of the FA Cup showed early promise. However another Dorset team – Hamworthy United – would make the trip to Wiltshire in the next round and come away with the victory. Hamworthy were just getting started on a very successful season – promotion from the Wessex League Premier Division, and coming within a hair’s breadth of a Wembley final only to lose on penalties in the FA Vase semi-finals. There was no such success to be had for Westbury in the FA Vase as they crashed out at the first time of asking at home against Alresford Town. It will be interesting to see how well United adapt to Southern League football in the coming months, with survival surely their initial aim.

Shepton Mallet came a very respectable 6th place in what is becoming a really strong and competitive Western League Premier Division. Now featuring teams from Cornwall, and more from Devon, this League has seen a sharp increase in miles travelled for all teams involved. However, there are plans afoot to restructure the Leagues in the South West in time for the 2023/24 season which should help combat those long hours on the motorway. A strong start to the season saw Shepton keep clean sheets in all 4 of their opening games and pulling off 6-0, 7-0 and 5-0 wins over Cadbury Heath, Bridport (who would end up relegated at the season’s end), and Ashton & Backwell respectively. A decent FA Cup run saw the Somerset side beat Andover New Street after a replay, then knock out Southern League Melksham Town in the Preliminary Round. The reward was a home tie against Taunton Town who, by the end of the season would see themselves promoted to the National Leaugue South after winning the Southern League Premier Division South. Sadly for The Mallet they found The Peacocks in a ruthless mood that day and were convincingly beaten 8-1. In the FA Vase Shepton faced off against a couple of League rivals in the opening rounds: travelling to, and beating Exmouth Town in the 1st Qualifying Round, then hosting Cornish side Mousehole in the next game but coming up short and losing 1-0. Exmouth would be promoted alongside Tavistock at the end of the season; both teams will be coming up against today’s hosts in the impending Southern League season. Will Shepton Mallet be able to improve on last season and really push for promotion? Time will tell.

Duke Nuked ‘Em

The Lodge FC 2 – 9 The Duke FC

Saturday 23rd July 2022

Preseason – Friendly

12:00 Kick Off

Land Warfare Centre, Devizes

Attendance: c15 (headcount)

Cloudy, warm, breezy

Full Photo Gallery

Admission: £ FREE

Intro

This game saw a clash of two Trowbridge and District League teams. The newly-formed hosts – wearing old Warminster United kit – will be competing in Division 2 this season, whereas today’s visitors will be duking it out in the top Division. In fact The Duke won the league last season, but were not promoted – whether this was to do with ground grading or not I am not certain. Regardless, they beat 2nd place Hilperton United by 9 points, and managed just one loss along the way.

A Last Hurrah.

Oldland Abbotonians 2 – 1 Portishead Town
Western League – Division One
Saturday 30th April 2022
Aitchison Playing Field, Oldland Common (view on map)

Attendance: 42
Admission: £6
Weather: Sunny

View the full photo gallery HERE

The Season So Far:

The final game of the season for both of these teams – no chance of the play-offs for either, however Oldland should be pleased with their season, after struggling somewhat in recent campaigns. Win today and they will finish 10th – by leap-frogging Bishop Sutton – and avoid a negative goal difference. Another highlight was the Abbots’ FA Vase run which saw them beat Combined Counties side Eversley & California on their own patch. The reward was a home tie against Helston Athletic from the league above. The match finished 2-2 and the lower league team beat the odds to win on penalties. Another Western Premier Division side awaited in the next round – Street FC. Again Oldland held their own over 90 minutes – 1-1 the score in Somerset. Their luck ran out, however, at the Cobblers won 5-4 in the shootout. It was a high-scoring affair when Oldland met Portishead in the reverse fixture back in October. Portishead were on the right end of a 4-3 result that day.

If my maths are correct, the highest Portishead can finish is 13th this season. They would obviously need to win today in order for that to happen, and as mentioned previously they did beat Oldland earlier this season. That was on home turf, though so who knows what might happen. They are on a pretty decent run of games including draws with 3rd place Wincanton Town, and 4th place Welton Rovers. I saw Portishead play out a 2-1 loss at Radstock Town last month. An impressive couple of home games in March saw Posset beat struggling Bishops Lydeard and then play-off-seeking AEK Boco. There was no such joy in the FA Vase though – falling at the first hurdle at home to Royal Wootton Bassett Town.

So, hopefully today won’t be a damp squib with neither side having anything to play for other than the pride of winning on the day. I for one am hoping for the seven goals that these sides provided in October.