Dream Football
Dream Football is the harder game
The grass is devilishly long
And growing
Fish appear in the trainer’s bucket
Your mother has set upon a small shop
On the halfway line
You are obliged to play in your underpants.
Allan Ahlberg (1937 – )
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Friday 1st March 2019
Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties League Premier Division
Godmanchester Rovers 4
Oris Hyem 25,
Mike Hyem 72,
Can King 81, 85,
Haverhill Rovers 1
Luke Haines 12,
Referee:- Jeffrey Aldous. Attendance:- 92
Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£6). Programme:- NONE
There have been substantial improvements at Bearscroft Lane since Godmanchester’s emergence some twenty five years ago, but for all that, it is still a pretty basic stadium. The team, however, are handily placed in the challenge for the championship. They gave their opponents a goal start, drew level by the break and smote three second half strikes and, maybe, should have had more!
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Saturday 2nd March 2019
Combined Counties League Premier Division
CB Hounslow United 3
Lewis Wood 36, 60(pen)
Trisdon Andrews 75,
Knaphill 1
Martin Smith 22,
Matthew Kellet s/o 88
Referee:- Callum Peter Attendance:- 50
Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£7) Programme:- £1.00
Bit of a turn up for the books, rock bottom hosts, CB Hounslow, defeating mid-table visitors, Knaphill, but it was a well deserved victory as the visitors lost their cool in the second half, conceding two goals and having a man dismissed after going into the interval at 1-1. This is only the second season at Green Lane which boasts seating down one side for maybe 200 and cover behind one goal. There is a very adequate club house, but this is outside the confines of the stadium. With Graeme Askham and John Main.
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The ‘planes from Heathrow fly low over the ground!
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Tuesday 5th March 2019
Sydenham Wessex League Premier Division
Tadley Calleva 3
George Callahan 26, 40
Brad Neal 27,
Bournemouth FC 2
River Smith 29,
Ali Zintany 90,
Referee:- Thomas Copping. Attendance:- 80
Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme:- £1.00
This exotically named club are based in Tadley in Hampshire, but the second part of their title is taken from the Iron Age headquarters of the Atrebates tribe at Calleva in nearby Silchester. The club is barely thirty years old and Calleva is their third addendum. The ground is a work in progress with cover for around sixty seated spectators and the foundations for what looked like a couple of small covered standing areas. The match was an entertaining encounter with the hosts looking comfortable with a 3-1 half time advantage. Late in the second period, the visitors struck a second, but were ultimately unable to gain an equaliser. With John Main.
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Evidence of some improvements being made to the ground, which is pretty basic!
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Wednesday 6th March 2019
Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 Central
Barton Rovers 5
Connor Vincent 9, 45, 90
Victor Osobu 52,
Robbie Goodman 71,
Corby Town 2
Joel Carta 37,
Steve Diggin 41,
Referee:- Tim Donnellan Attendance:- 103
Admission:- OMGDS £5.00 (£8). Programme:- £2.00
Made my first visit to Sharpenhoe Road forty six years ago on 17th March 1973. Barton Rovers were champions, that season, of The South Midlands League, but there were no stands, no floodlights and no turnstiles – a man with a bucket came round after half time – pay what you want! Tonight, they humbled highly placed rivals, Corby Town, despite the visitors taking the lead late in the first half. It was 2-2 at the interval, but the hosts decisively swept up the points and the victory with a fine second half display!
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The North West Counties League “Hop”
8 – 10th March 2019
We were billeted in Warrington for this year’s NWCL ‘Hop’ and seven games were scheduled for completion. Sadly, only six were completed as the bad weather took its toll of the very last fixture at Irlam. Otherwise, and bearing in mind the pretty foul weather, it was a good ‘hop’!
Friday 7th March 2019
North West Counties League Division 1 South
Barnton 0
Jordan Cobley s/o post match.
Vauxhall Motors 2
David Webb 35 (pen),
George Hassall 67,
Referee:- Matt McQuillan. Attendance:- 272
Admission:- £5.00. Programme:- £1.00
On a soggy and cold evening in Cheshire, the hoppers descended on Barnton for the first match of The NWCL ‘hop’ and were very warmly welcomed! Sadly, the hosts were well beaten by a much superior Motors side who really ought to have struck more than twice in a game that they dominated.
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Widnes FC had been ground sharing here until recently when they got the chance to return to Halton Park, home of Wines Vikings RL.
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Saturday 9th March 2019
North West Counties League Premier Division
Bootle 4
Carl Peers 11, 19,
Ryan Cox 72,
Steven Jones 90+1
Ashton Athletic 2
Adam Gilchrist 23,
Charlie Munro 50
Referee:- Martin Holmes. Attendance:- 391
Admission:- £5.00. Progamme:- £2.00
“Respice, Aspice, Prospice” roughly translates into the vernacular as “Look to the past, the Present and The Future”. You can forget the past because at present the future looks bright for Bootle who survived a stern examination by visitors, Ashton Athletic and continued their drive for promotion!
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Saturday 9th March 2019
North West Counties League Premier Division
Litherland REMYCA 1
Paul Foy 45+2
City of Liverpool 2
Daniel Dalton 61,
Karl Clair 71,
Referee:- B. Atkinson. Attendance:- 574
Admission:- £5.00. Programme:- £2.00
Top of the table City of Liverpool brought a very healthy contingent of followers who kept up a constant volume of noise even when their side went a goal behind to a dubious penalty in first half added time. In the second half, they exerted their superiority and took the lead, but the game ended fractiously with four bookings in the final moments. Not a stadium that I will easily be enticed back to!
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That is one I’m glad I don’t have to go back to!
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Saturday 9th March 2019
North West Counties League Division 1 North
Lower Breck 6
Stephen Milne 19,60, 90+2,
Peter Moore 32,
James Colbeck 45
Jamie Henders55,
Ashton Town 1
Matthew Johnson 86
Referee:- Zach Chambers. Attendance:- 339
Admission:- £4.00. Programme:- £2.00
A very friendly club and they even donated a club mug to each of us on the coach! They are a good side, too, well placed in the division, but promotion is probably a step too far this season. The ground is a 3G pitch inside a cage and probably would not qualify for more than one promotion!
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Saturday 9th March 2019
North West Counties League Division 1 North
St Helens Town 1
Liam Diggle 49,
Garstang 3
Richard Coar 12,
Shaun Sailor 60,
Jonathan Hothersall 76 (pen)
Referee:- Phil Woodward. Attendance:- 292
Admission:- £4.00. Programme:- £2.00
Bert Trautman commenced his career with St Helens Town and in 1987, the club won The FA Vase with a 3-2 victory over Warrington Town at Wembley! Nowadays they play in a green metal cage with a plastic pitch and are languishing near the foot of their division. Garstang were the better team, but they rode their luck and more accurate finishing from the hosts could have made this a much tighter contest.
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Sunday 10th March 2019
North West Counties League Division 1 South
Rylands 3
Stephen Boothman 5, 45+1
Jamie White 87,
Cheadle Heath Nomads 5
James Green 10, 27 (pen),
Kieran Herbert 37,
Ashley Harrison 68,
Andrew Simpson 71,
Referee:- Alex Beckett. Attendance:- 319
Admission:- £4.00. Programme:- £2.00
Rylands is a pretty basic stadium, but even so, it was much improved on my last visit some five years ago, with floodlights and a small seated stand. The team top their division, but today, they were undone by the elements. They were unable to cope with the high wind in their faces in the first half and the visitors’ offside trap in the second half. The visitors had an Andy Carroll lookalike who led the line well and scored one of his side’s goals!
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Tuesday 12th March 2019
Sky-Bet EFL League 2
Cambridge United 0
Crewe Alexandra 0
Referee:- Charles Breakspear. Attendance:- 3,448
Admission:- hospitality (£50.00). Programme:- included (£3)
All the local non-League games wiped out by the weather, I chose to take in The Abbey Stadium with a spot of hospitality. The hospitality was fine, the match was pretty awful. It had 0-0 written all over it from very early on and there were precious few attempts on goal – although the visitors did miss a couple of gilt edged chances at the death. The windy weather didn’t help and it was a night to wrap up warm! This was my 22nd visit to The Abbey Stadium since my first (26th December 1974 – Cambridge United 2 Brentford 0 in Football League Division IV, attendance:- 3,959).
As someone said, the logo is looking a little tired and could do with an update!
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Saturday 16th March 2019
Southern Counties East League Premier Division
Corinthian 7
Emmanuel Oyolede28, 72, 78 (pen),
Shaun Brown 31, 68,
Jack Bath 54,
Oscar Housego 85,
Crowborough Athletic 1
Jack Funnell 23,
Referee:- Richard Joss. Attendance:- 60
Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£7). Programme:- £1.00
Just inside Kent, a stone’s throw from nowhere, but within earshot of Brands Hatch, this homely club whose players are all amateurs are dominating the league and look likely champions. Today, they gave the visitors a goal start and then smashed seven unanswered strikes to record an impressive victory. With John Main.
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Tuesday 19th March2019
Future Lions United Counties League Division 1
Lutterworth Town 1
Jordan Small 18,
Northampton Sileby Rangers 0
Referee:- John Bullen. Attendance:- 111
Admission:- OMGDS £2.00 (£5). Programme:- £1.00
Lutterworth Town look very likely to gain promotion this season and there were changes since my last visit. There was a small covered 50 seater Meccano stand behind the nearest goal and what looked like (according to Mike Dean) a Primary School woodwork project fifty seater stand down one side. Neither were here last time I visited! Poor old Sileby had lost their manager and all their players in the last month, but this evening, they defended stoutly in a scrappy encounter where the piano shifters outnumbered the piano players on both sides!
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Wednesday 20th March 2019
Abacus Lighting Central Midlands League
Black Dragon North Division
Retford FC 5
Will Tomlinson 2 (pen), 41 (pen), 58,
Jack Johnson 29,
Oli Bilham 83,
Retford United 0
Referee:- Wayne Gray. Attendance:- 704
Admission:- £5.00. Programme:- £1.50
The hosts only came into existence in 2015 and yet it looks highly likely that they will top the division this season and move onwards and upwards – probably to The NCEL. They now have some cover and hard standing on three sides and the main railway line to Edinburgh runs right alongside the ground. Tonight, The Choughs we’re far too strong for their neighbours and won at a canter, with a hat trick (including two penalties) from their centre half!
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A high speed express train flashes past on the far side of the ground!
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Saturday 23rd March 2019
Vanarama National
Barrow 2
Harrogate Town 2
Referee:- Peter Gibbons. Attendance:- 1,934 (107)
Admission:- OMGDS £14.00 (£18). Programme:- £3.00
Teamsheet:- 20p
There was a large crowd for this encounter on a bright sunny afternoon at Holker Street. The hosts rather threw the game away. Having worked hard for a two goal interval advantage, they then contrived, through comical defending, to gift the visitors two goals and were lucky not to concede more!
I travelled north by train from Rugby. Got in early around 1.00pm and dined at ASDA’s cafe hard by the ground!
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Wednesday 27th March 2019
Bedfordshire FA Senior Cup FINAL
Biggleswade Town 3
Liam Brooks 29,
Sean Lucien 59,
Jack Bradshaw 89,
Barton Rovers 0
at Bedford Town FC
Referee:- Will Finnie. Attendance:- 201
Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£8). Programme:- Free
The Beds FA showpiece final not only provided free programmes, but also a free portion of chilli and rice with Naan bread! The New Eerie was sparsely populated as this final went to form with the Southern League Premier Division side comfortably disposing of their first Division rivals. Even worse for the beaten finalists, their skipper was caught in traffic on The M25 and could only join the fray as a second half substitute!
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The East of Scotland League “Hop”
29 – 31st March 2019
Once again, we were based in a hotel in East Kilbride and on the way up from Birmingham International Train Station, where I caught the coach, we stopped for the first game at Denny. So it was well gone 10.30pm when we got to the hotel! This was a great ‘hop’. There were some fine stadia (and some not so fine) we always got a warm welcome and the weather, though generally cold, was usually bright and sunny. Best ground of the ‘hop’? In my humble opinion, I like Linlithgow Rose the best, but closely followed by Camelon!
Friday 29th March 2019
East of Scotland League Division B
Dunipace 0
Bonnyrigg Rose 4
Aaron Murrell 6,
Lee Currie 60, 84 (pen),
Leith Lough 87,
Referee:- Tony Fullerton. Attendance:- 380
Admission:- £6.00. Programme:- £1.00
First match of the Scottish Hop at Denny in Stirlingshire at Westfields Park, the recently refurbished home of hosts, Dunipace. Floodlights and a 4G pitch and plenty of expensive wire fencing to keep the ball away from the neighbours, but no seating AND no cover! Championship chasing Bonnyrigg Rose spent most of the match encamped deep in Dunipace territory and yet it was only two late strikes which gave the score line some credibility!
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The building on the side of the pitch housed the “hospitality” suite where for fifteen pounds you could enjoy an elevated view (and some free drinks!). However, there was still no seating!
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Saturday 30th March 2019
East of Scotland League Conference C
Camelon Juniors 5
Alan Doherty 9,
Alan Sneddon 11, 26,
Connor McKenzie 44, 47,
Edinburgh United 1
Gabriele Auiramma 42 (pen)
Referee:- Andrew Strang. Attendance:- 352
Admission:- £6.00. Programme:- £1.00
What a little gem of a ground, full of olde worlde charm! Concrete terracing on three sides – albeit a little care-worn, a few plastic seats scattered around, cover on two sides, but no floodlights, a very warm welcome and a good game until a couple of minutes after the interval when the hosts scored their fifth goal and the game died a death!
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Saturday 30th March 2019
East of Scotland League Conference C
Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts 2
Ryan Cowie 71,
Brodie Hamilton 75,
Heriot Watt University 4
Calvin Muttitt 27, 58,
Tyler Huxford 57,
Arron Singh 82 (pen)
Referee:- Barry Reid. Attendance:- 301
Admission:- £6.00. Programme:- £2.00
On just about the only flat piece of land in Inverkeithing, The Swifts had marked out a pitch and railed it and that is about all you can say about their home at Ballast Bank. Just over the far hills, the peaks of The Forth Railway and Road bridges stood out like the skeletons of Martian space craft! On the field a fairly mundane opening half cracked into life after an hour when the hosts – 0-3 down – had a man sent off and then pulled two goals back before having TWO more men dismissed and conceding a fourth goal to a twice taken penalty!
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High up, you can just see the peaks of The Forth Railway Bridge!
Again, high up, you can see the peaks of The Forth Road Bridge!
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Saturday 30th March 2019
East of Scotland League Conference C
Blackburn United 4
Darren Downie 2 (pen), 5, 64,
Michael Browne 82,
Preston Athletic 1
Kieran Jack 75,
Referee:- Alan MacLean. Attendance:- 328
Admission:- £6.00. Programme:- £2.00
A 3G pitch and a securely enclosed stadium with covered standing down one side – but once again no seating. There was floodlighting – and it was needed and another warm welcome at this community club in a quite deprived area. The game opened with an explosion of two goals in the first five minutes, nothing more until after half time when the hosts were playing up the slope, doubled their score whilst the visitors, who should have claimed more than the single strike gifted to them by the home custodian!
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Saturday 30th March 2019
East of Scotland League Conference C
Linlithgow Rose 3
Roddy macLennan 16, 38,
Thomas Coyne 63 (pen),
Jeanfield Swifts 2
Rhys Davies 6,
Connor McLaren 46,
Referee:- Colin Drummond. Attendance:- 618
Admission:- £6.00. Programme:- £2.00
Wow! What a cracker of a ground! Terracing on three sides and a grassy knoll behind the far goal and then ………. la piece de la resistance …. a huge cantilever stand with maybe 250 seats in it! This was a big match and a huge crowd came to enjoy the joust. The hosts are in second place in the league and their opponents, one place behind. The contest lived up to expectations with each side enjoying the advantage, but at the end it was the hosts who deservedly took the victory and the points!
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Sunday 31st March 2019
East of Scotland League Conference A
Peebles Rovers 1
David Lindsay 72,
Newtongrange Stars 3
Sean Jamieson 14,
Kyle Scott 41,
Ryan Porteous 78,
Referee:- Brian Colvin. Attendance:- 288
Admission:- £5.00. Programme:- £1.00
The football team shares Whitestone Park with the local rugby and cricket teams so that on two sides of the pitch were flimsy plastic railings easily removable in the cricket season and on the other two sides were substantial wooden fencing with some terracing and a fine stand down the length of the pitch. This match went according to form. The hosts, fourth from bottom were well beaten by the visitors who are fourth from top.
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Jack Warner with the big grin on his face in the blue coat sitting on the Peebles Rovers Terrace!
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Other Matches:-
Wednesday 13th March 2019
Premier League 2 International Cup Quarter Final
Leicester City U-23 1 Bayern Munich U-23 1 AET
Bayern won 5-4 on penalties attendance:- 465
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Tuesday 21st March 2019
Northants Senior Youth League Jayman Shield Group Stage
Cogenhoe United U-18 1 Corby Town U-18 0 Attendance:- 24
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Friday 22nd March 2019
Future Lions United Counties League Reserve Division Knock-Out Cup Final
Deeping Rangers Reserves 1 Cogenhoe United Reserves 3 Attendance:- 162
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Thursday 28th March 2019
Thurlow Nunn Youth League West Division
Deeping Rangers U-18 0 Peterborough Sports U-18 1 Attendance:- 60
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MATCHES:-
