WEST COUNTRY FOOTBALL

Axed.

Plymouth Marjon 0 – 5 Axminster Town
South West Peninsula League – East Division
Saturday 9th October 2021
Marjon Sports Centre, Plymouth (view on map)

Attendance: c22 (head count)
Admission: £0 (donations accepted)
Weather: Cloudy but dry

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The Season So Far:

On the face of it, with the home side lying in 6th and the visitors in 7th, this could well be a very close encounter. However, dig a little deeper and it’s not quite that straight forward as that with Plymouth Marjon having played 4 games more than Axminter. Marjon have won as many as they’ve lost, with Axminster only losing 1 of their 9 games so far. Knowing this it is tempting to put Axminster as favourites despite not having home advantage today.

The past 2 games involving Marjon have thrown up a 2-1 loss against Dartmouth, after an emphatic 6-1 home win over Torridgeside. Marjon’s only draw so far this season was with the aforementioned Dartmouth – a one-all tie at the Marjon Sports Centre. Most of the games featuring the university side have been high scoring affairs, with plenty of matches throwing up 6 goals apiece.

Axminster come into this off the back of a 2-2 draw with Bovey Tracey – a result that was probably more of a plus for Bovey Tracey. Prior to that, a confidence-boosting 7-0 away win over Elmore in the Devon St Lukes Challenge Cup was preceded by elimination from the FA Vase by league rivals Brixham. Despite this hiccup, the Tigers can be optimistic about the season, particularly after having started the campaign with 4 straight victories.

Pier Pressure

Keynsham Town 0 – 4 Clevedon Town
Western League – Premier Division
Tuesday 7th September 2021
Crown Fields, Keynsham (view on map)

Attendance: 111
Admission: £7
Weather: Balmy, sunny until sunset

View the full photo gallery HERE

The Season So Far:

8 games into the season, Keynsham Town sit in an impressive 3rd position in the Western League Premier Division, although they have played more games than the majority of the teams in the league. Opening with two 3-0 victories – at home to league newcomers Ashton & Backwell, and away to Brislington – the K’s then travelled to Tring in the FA Cup where they found themselves on the end of another 3-0 result! An away win at Cadbury Heath was then followed by a relative rough patch including defeat to Cornish side Helston who have this season moved into the Western League from the South West Peninsula League. 3 consecutive draws came next including 2 in the space of four days against Shepton Mallet. Bank Holiday Monday saw a return to form as Keynsham thrashed early strugglers Bridport 6-2. Saturday saw Town travel south to Street; a 1-1 was the result and enough to push The K’s up to 3rd spot coming into this match.

The Seasiders of Clevedon Town have had a somewhat tougher start to the 21/22 season, with just one victory to their name so far – a decent 4-2 away win against Brislington. The FA Cup saw Clevedon lose heavily – 6-1 – away at the Hellenic League’s Bishops Cleeve. This defeat came after a pair of 2-2 draws: away at Exmouth on the opening day of the season, and at home to Cadbury Heath 4 days later. Mid-August had Clevedon lose 2 home games in quick succession as they faced former South West Peninsula League side Saltash United and then high-flyers Bitton. The Seasiders succumbed 1-2 and 1-3 respectively. The aformentioned win over Brislington stopped the rot and then on Bank Holiday Monday Clevedon travelled to Wellington where they played out another 2-2 tie. Clevedon then hosted winless Ashton & Backwell on Saturday, hoping to earn another 3 points. The final score was 3-2 to United leaving Clevedon in 14th position.

Mashed to a Polp.

Polperro AFC 5 – 1 Sticker AFC Reserves
St Piran League – East Division
Saturday 21st August 2021
Killigarth, Polperro (view on map)

Attendance: c36
Admission: Free
Weather: Misty, showers, some sun

View the full photo gallery HERE

The Season So Far:

The St Piran League acts as a feeder league to the South West Peninsula League. I was originally planning to visit an SWPL fixture – Liskeard Athletic v Godolphin Atlantic – but the away side had to pull out due to a Covid outbreak. So a swift rearrangement was necessary on my part and, what with my accomodation for the week being in Polperro, it made perfect sense to visit Killigarth for Polperro AFC’s second game of the season. A relatively new league, this will be only the 3rd edition of the St Piran League and will hopefully be the first season to reach a meaningful conclusion. The previous 2 falling victim to the Corona Virus. The 2020/21 season ended prematurely of course, with Polperro flying high in 2nd but with a couple of games in hand over Bude Town in 1st. Sticker Reserves, on the other hand, were languishing somewhat in 13th (out of 15).

Opening the campaign with 2 consecutive home matches, Polperro began the season last week with a convincing 7-1 victory over Millbrook Reserves (Click here for the ‘Where’s the Tea Hut’ visit to that game). Bizarrely, and I’m not quite sure why, only a handful of fixtures took place last weekend, meaning that Sticker Reserves’ first run out of the season is today. Hopefully they won’t be too daunted by the prospect of coming up against a side who won by 6 clear goals 7 days ago.

Downton Crabby

Downton FC 1 – 2 Folland Sports
Wessex League – Division One
Saturday 7th August 2021
Brian Whitehead Sports Ground, Downton (view on map)

Attendance: 142
Admission: £6
Weather: Rain showers

View the full photo gallery HERE

The Season So Far:

Both these sides were competing at this level during last season’s forcibly abridged season – today’s visiting side from suburban Southampton were certainly in the title hunt before the campaign was cut short by Covid-19. They were flying high in 3rd place, winning 7 of their 12 played matches, albeit some 13 points behind runaway leaders Laverstock & Ford who were unbeaten at that time. Downton – today’s hosts – were having a tougher time of it down in 13th, but had managed an extra 2 games before the season was called off. Just 3 wins from 14 games, however, and they would’ve been looking over their shoulders at the 6 chasing teams.

Preseason, then, and Downton’s last 2 fixtures saw them beating Hampshire Premier League side Lyndhurst 4-0 away from home, before drawing 2-2 with Hamworthy United Reserves on Tuesday evening. On Tuesday 27th, Folland Sports executed an impressive victory over Fareham Town from the league above. Prior to that they beat Sway FC, of the Hampshire Premier League, 3-0. So, impressive preseason, but who will go home the happier side after today’s league opener?

Watch your Mouth!

Avonmouth FC 1 – 2 Bristol Manor Farm
Preseason Friendly
Sunday 11th July 2021
King George V Recreation Ground, Avonmouth (view on map)

Attendance: c120 (Head count)
Admission: Free
Weather: Overcast/Rain

View the full photo gallery HERE

The Season So Far:

Avonmouth FC currently play in the Premier Division of the Bristol and Suburban League – a feeder league to the Gloucestershire County League. Today they face higher-league opposition in Bristol Manor Farm who play 4 divisions above in the Southern League Division One South. This is the home team’s second friendly this preseason after facing Western League Premier side Bitton AFC the previous weekend. This game finished in a 5-2 victory for the side making the trip from the other side of Bristol. Manor Farm, on the other hand, have a couple of games under their belt having faced off against Welsh sides Llantwit Major last weekend, and Barry Town United yesterday. This suggests there will be some rotation in their squad and perhaps some trialists getting a runout, given they’ll be playing 2 games in 2 days!

Most will be expecting a win for the visitors, but as we know friendlies can be very unpredictable so we will see what happens.

Frozen Peas

Peasedown Albion 0 – 3 Victoria Sports
Dimmock Green Cup – Semi-Final
Saturday 22nd May 2021
Peasedown Recreation Ground (view on ma p)
(Home of Peasedown Miners’ Welfare – Neutral Venue)
Attendance: ~60 (head count)
Admission: Free

View the full photo gallery HERE

The Season So Far:

Both these teams play in the Mid-Somerset League Premier Division. Albion are based in Peasedown St John – a large village just outside of Bath, while the visitors today are from the town of Street; famous for Clarks shoes. The prematurely finished season saw Peasedown finish 7th out of 10 having played just 5 games, while Sports had played 8 and found themselves in 4th position.

The Dimmock Green Cup was arranged to compensate for a lack of games and Albion have almost a perfect record on their journey to the semi-finals; only failing to win in a 1-1 draw against Weston FC. A week ago, in the last 8 they beat Wells City A on penalties. By comparison, Victoria Sports suffered one defeat and played out a 1-1 draw against the aforementioned Wells City A team. An away win over Cam Valley saw them reach the semi-finals.

In theory this should be a close encounter between two teams with good records so far in this strange post-season period.

Fresh out of luck

Freshford United 1 – 1 Westbury United Reserves
Post-Season Friendly
Saturday 1st May 2021
Browns Park, Freshford (view on map)
Attendance: ~14 (head count)
Admission: Free

View the full photo gallery HERE

The Season So Far:

These 2 sides both compete in the Trowbridge and District League which is a feeder to the Wilshire Senior League. Freshford are in Division 1, while Westbury reserves play in the second tier. Before the curtailment of the season, Westbury were unbeaten and flying high in first position after having played 7 games. In the level above, Freshford were 4th, having won 3 and lost 3.

So far the visitors have played a couple of friendlies in the post-season and not had the best of times: losing 3-1 to Warminster United and 5-0 to Calne Town reserves. Naturally they’ll be looking to turn things around against Freshford. Speaking of today’s home side; I was only able to find details of one friendly result – a 6-2 loss at home to Hilperton United.

Despite there being a division between these 2 teams, I’m anticipating a close match given the poor friendly results so far for both sides, and Westbury’s impressive run last ‘season’.

The Taming of the Shrews

Frome Collegians 3 – 0 Shrewton United
Fountain Trophies Senior Cup – Group B
Saturday 24th April 2021
The Old Showfield, Frome (view on map)
Attendance: ?
Admission: Free

View the full photo gallery HERE

The Season So Far:

As with most league competitions, the Wiltshire Senior League’s 20/21 season was curtailed thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. These two sides both currently participate in that same competition (despite Frome not being in Wiltshire); today’s home team were 4th of 11, with their visitors in 9th when the season was halted. Like a lot of leagues, positions were slightly skewed due to a disparity in games played, with one team having played 15 games, while a couple had managed just 8. So this competition was given the task of making up for the lost season. A change in format due to the pandemic sees 14 teams split geographically into north and south. Within the two groups teams will play each other once, with the top sides from each playing out the final at the end of May. Both Collegians and Shrewton come into this match having played one game each so far, with decidedly different outcomes. The visitors winning 2-1 at home to Melksham Town Reserves, while Frome crashed to a 4-0 home defeat to local rivals Trowbridge Town. One the face of it there was only one winner.…

Stiff Upper Lip

The Stiffs FC 4 – 3 Trowbridge Tigers
Post-Season Friendly
Saturday 10th April 2021
St. Mary’s Rec, Steeple Ashton (view on map)
Attendance: ?
Admission: Free

The Visit:

Whilst semi-looking for a place to walk on a slightly overcast Saturday lunchtime, I happened to spot that local team The Stiffs FC of the Trowbridge & District League were hosting Trowbridge Tigers. It was a 1pm kick off in the nearby village of Steeple Ashton. I cleared it with my other half and we loaded up the car with our 10 month old boy. As this was hastily arranged, and with a baby in tow I only caught the 20 minutes or so before half time, but was treated to a couple of really good goals from the visitors. The first a decent one-on-one finish, followed by a great top corner finish which may have taken a very slight deflection. I learned after that these goals but the Tigers in the lead after trailing. The home side eventually won 4-3 but it did seem like a close encounter. I certainly hope to re-visit properly for a fixture in the near future, not least for the spectacular views of the surrounding countryside.

… to the Brim

Bradford Town 2 – 3 Brimscombe & Thrupp FC
FA Vase – 2nd Round
Saturday 5th December 2020
Trowbridge Road, Bradford-on-Avon (view on map)
Attendance: 161
Admission: £6

The Season So Far:

It hardly needs saying, but this season has been a somewhat strange one. Currently 10th in the Western League Premier Division – although the tables are typically hard to read due to games in hand on account of Covid outbreaks within squads – Town’s last game was a 4-2 away win over Chipping Sodbury. This, though, is an FA Vase match. That last season’s final has yet to be played while we are already well into this season’s competition says it all about the state of non league football at the moment! The Bobcats were awarded a bye into this round of the Vase on thanks to an impressive performance in last season’s campaign when they reached the last 16. Their opponents make the trip down from picturesque Gloucestershire where they compete with Forest Green Rovers for support. Undefeated so far in the Hellenic League Premier Division after 5 games, The Lilywhites thrashed AFC Aldermaston in the 2nd Qualifying Round, and then beat Longwell Green Sports 4-2 in the 1st Round proper. Both sides should come into this fixture with a mix of confidence and uncertainty – home advantage for Bradford and an impressive start to the season for the visitors. However, with Lockdown 2 now behind us, and no competitive games for 4 weeks there will likely be a measure of tentativeness in both squads.