Twice a week the winter thorough
Here stood I to keep the goal:
Football then was fighting sorrow
For the young man’s soul.
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Now in Maytime to the wicket
Out I march with bat and pad:
See the son of grief at cricket
Trying to be glad.
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Try I will; no harm in trying:
Wonder ’tis how little mirth
Keeps the bones of man from lying
On the bed of earth.
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by A.E. Houseman 1859 – 1936 (From “The Shropshire Lad”)
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Tuesday 1st February 2022
Wessex League Division 1
Andover Town 5
Downton 0
Referee:- Timothy Bunt. Attendance:- 178
Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme:- £1.00
Andover Town, reformed less than ten years ago from the ashes of Andover FC and also playing at Portway Stadium are enjoying a season of relative success. Tonight’s victory takes them to the top of the table and, maybe, the opportunity to return to the premier division. There was a good crowd for tonight’s encounter and the visitors certainly gave a good account of themselves after conceding in the opening minute. However, as the game drew towards the final whistle, they conceded two goals and gave young Ryan Griffiths the chance to claim a Hat Trick!
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Saturday 5th February 2022
FA Cup 4th Round
Huddersfield Town 1
Duane Holmes 19,
Barnsley 0
Referee:- Jeremy Simpson. Attendance:- 16,605
Admission:- hospitality. Programme:- included (£3)
It was an early start on the train north for Ed, Mike and Freddie (07.40 from Corby) and Jim, Sonny and Kingsley (07.57 from Banbury) Many stops later we reached a wet and windswept Huddersfield Station and met up with each other and garnered a taxi for the short trip to The John Smith’s Stadium
Inhospitable heavy northern rain and a chilly wind pervaded this Yorkshire FA Cup derby, but the hospitality for three generations of my family was warm and cheerful and three bottles of wine to accompany the meal certainly oiled the system quite pleasantly! Huddersfield were the better side and squandered several very acceptable opportunities, but Barnsley were always in it and, in added time, only the linesman’s flag stopped them from equalising! good game, with sons Jim and Mike and grand sons, Freddie, Sonny and Kingsley and another long trip home by rail!
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Sonny, Kingsley and Freddie
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Ed, Mike and Jim
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Heavy rain and equally heavy winds played havoc around the stadium before, during and after the match!
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Sunday 6th February 2022
FA Cup 4th Round
Nottingham Forest 4
Phillip Zinckernagel 23, Brennan Jackson 24, Joe Worrall 32, Djed Spence 63,
Leicester City 1
Kelechi Iheanacho 40,
Referee:- Paul Tierney. Attendance:- 28,762
Admission:- OMGDS £20.00 (£30). Programme:- £3.00
Leicester City were mugged, today. They put a pretty strong team out and for the first twenty minutes, they looked comfortable and in control. Two goals in a minute tipped them right out of their comfort zone and they never recovered. It was 3-1 by half-time and 4-1 after an hour, by which time Brendan Roger’s had thrown in the towel and replaced some of his stars with bit players. Forest were deserved winners and a large Leicester City following had dwindled considerably before the match ended! With John Main.
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Monday 7th February 2022
Northern Premier League Division 1 Midlands
Coleshill Town 0
Josh Willis s/o 89,
Halesowen Town 1
Richard Gregory 7,
Referee:- Neil Pratt. Attendance:- 480
Admission: OMGDS £7.00 (£9). Programme:-£1.50
The league leaders were in town tonight and their followers swelled the attendance to three times the normal gate for the home side. In a very ordinary match, The Yeltz scored after only seven minutes and that was just about the end of the excitement for the evening. Try as they might, and they did attack with determination in the second half, the hosts were unable to break down the impenetrable barrier of the visitors defence. With John Main and Lee West.
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Tuesday 8th February 2022
Southern Combination League Premier Division
Lingfield 2
Sammy Clements 22, David Heaton 70 (pen),
Crawley Down Gatwick 0
Referee:- Darren Eaton. Attendance:- 62
Admission:- F.O.C. (£6/4). Programme:- £1.00
There was free entry to tonight’s match for intrepid hoppers (well, two of them, anyway) and, it was also possible to watch the match on big screen in the club house, rather than braving the elements (and Burnley v Manchester United was also showing on an adjacent screen). However, we watched from pitch side, from the 100 seater stand. Only two sides of the ground were open and, apart from the stand and the clubhouse/changing rooms, there was little other pitch side furniture. These teams are both firmly ensconced in mid-table, but it was the hosts who deservedly took the spoils in a fractious match. With John Main.
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There were TWO screens in the clubhouse bar, one screening the match outside and the second, smaller screen to the right, showing Burnley 1 Manchester United 1, in the Premier League!
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Saturday 12th February 2022
Isthmian League South Central Division
South Park 0
Hanwell Town 0
Referee:- C Barnett. Attendance:- 95
Admission:- OMGDS £5.00 (£9). Programme:- £2.00
A trip by train down to Reigate and a substantial repast at The Beehive, a hostelry of some repute, before the visit to South Park’s small stadium which has a couple of Meccano stands behind one goal, seating perhaps 150 spectators, a substantial changing room area down one side with a refreshment kiosk at one end and a lorry container magically transformed into a boardroom! In midweek, the high flying Sparks mauled Marlow Town by 5-0. Today, they came up against sterner stuff in the shape of Hanwell Town and from very early on it was pretty obvious that 0-0 would be the most likely outcome. In a fractious match of few chances neither side were able to impose themselves, even when the visitors were reduced to ten men near the end, there was never a sniff of a goal! With Phil Evans, who took me for a meal in The Beehive before the match!.
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Monday14th February 2022
Pitching-in Southern League Premier Division Central
Hitchin Town 1
Redditch United 1
Referee:- J Gibson. Attendance:- 302
Admission:- OMGDS £8.00 (£12) on line only. Programme:- £2.50
Best part of two years since my last visit and many changes. The wooden terracing has been swept away and replaced by a new covered area with metal terracing behind the near goal, the refreshment kiosk has been moved along the side of the ground and there is evidence, in parts, of new security fencing. On the pitch, poor old Hitchin are struggling, rooted to the foot of the table. The first period was dreadful, but after the break, both teams came out with greater determination. The hosts struck just before the hour mark, but couldn’t hold out and the visitors scored with a scant seven minutes remaining.
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The new covered standing area behind the near goal with metal terracing replacing the original wooden steps.
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Wednesday 16th February 2022
Notts Senior Cup Quarter-final
Ollerton Town 2
Jacques Etia 52, Sean Dickinson 55,
Carlton Town 3
Nathan Watson 6, 13, Aaron O’Connor 78,
Referee:- Attendance:- 94
Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme:- £1.50
We arrived in Sheffield for the League One match between Sheffield Wednesday and Accrington Stanley, just in time to find that it had been called off due to a waterlogged pitch! Hurrying back southwards amidst Storm Dudley, we popped into Ollerton Town for a fast and furious Notts Senior Cup tie. Carlton Town, the visitors, play some two divisions higher than the hosts and, with a strong wind at their backs, soon established a two goal advantage. After the interval, the hosts equalised within ten minutes and the game hung in the balance until Aaron O’Connor’s 78th minute winning strike. With son, Mike and grandson, Freddie.
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Thursday 17th February 2022
EUFA Europa Conference Knock-out Round
Leicester City 4
Wilfrid Ndidi 23, Harvey Barnes 49, Patson Daka 54, Kiernan Dewsbury Hall 74,
Randers FC 1
Vito Hammershoy-Mistrati 45,
Referee:- Radu Perrescu (Roumania). Attendance:- 25,242
Admission:- OMGDS £9.50 (£15). Programme:- £3.00
A very relaxing evening if you were a Foxes fan, Premiership worries shelved temporarily and a convincing victory against Danish Side, Randers FC. It was an entertaining contest. At the interval, the sides were level, the visitors having cancelled out Wilfred Ndidi’s 23rd minute opener, but three unanswered second half strikes deservedly handed the victory to Leicester City. With son, Mike, grandson, Freddie, and John Main.
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Son, Mike and grandson, Freddie.
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Saturday 19th February 2022
Hampshire Premier League Senior Division
Denmead 2
Harvey Hawkins 42, 76,
Sway 1
Kejuan Barrow 85,
Referee:- Thomas Wells. Attendance:- 18
Admission:- F.O.C. Programme:- £2.00
The aftermath of Storm Eunice left a swathe of postponed fixtures – including ours at United Services Portsmouth, but not before we’d arrived there! A hurried change of plan saw us make the short journey to Havant for a first match in The Hampshire Premier League at Front Lawn, the 3G home of Denmead. Second in the table in only their second season in the league, they have high hopes of progress into The Wessex League … but there is much work to be done to bring the ground up to standard. Today, they made heavy weather in cold, blustery conditions of defeating middle of the table, Sway. A goal in each half for the hosts and a late, late consolation for the visitors. With John Main, Chris Berezai, Craig Dabbs and Phil Page.
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From the left: Ed, John Main, Craig Dabbs, Phil Page and Chris Berezai
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Tuesday 22nd February 2022
National League North
Kettering Town 2
Callum Stead 67, Jordon Crawford 71,
AFC Telford United 2
Jason Oswell 3, 54,
Referee:- Stephen Parkinson. Attendance:- 605
Admission:- OMGDS £10.00 (£15). Programme:- £2.00
Gone are the glory days of Rockingham Road and regular crowds well in excess of 1,000. Latimer Park is a poor replacement, despite substantial development and the general impression is of a ground with a patchwork of stands and covered terracing, but not in the same class as other grounds in the division. The hosts were behind after only three minutes to a resurgent Telford side and they found themselves two goals down, ten minutes into the second half. They battled back well and drew level with twenty minutes to go. A draw was a fair result in a match where the ball spent a great deal of time up in the air!
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Wednesday 23rd February 2022
FA Women’s National League Division 1 Midlands
Leafield Athletic Ladies 1
Chloe Shirley 12,
Solihull Moors Women 1
Tiana Russell-Cartwright 8, Harley Savage (GK) s/o 83,
Referee:- Guy Thrower. Attendance:- 52
Admission: OMGDS £1.00 (£4). Programme:- NONE
The hosts normally play their home games at Highgate United, but with that ground waterlogged, the match was switched at short notice to Studley’s 3G pitch. Apart from the pitch and a rail round it and hardstanding on all four sides, there is nothing more to add than a Meccano stand seating, perhaps, 100 souls. There was plenty of entertainment as these two sides slugged it out. Both goals were scored in the opening 12 minutes, but the keen competitive edge was maintained right through to the very end when the visiting custodian was dismissed for a Dogso offence.
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Saturday 26th February 2022
Wessex League Premier Division
Horndean 0
Brockenhurst 0
Referee:- John Foster. Official Attendance:- 116
Admission: OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme:- £1.00
They could have played until the middle of next week and still they wouldn’t have scored. Second and third in the table cancelled each other out and they have it all to do again in the return fixture, next Saturday. Fortunately, I will be at The North-West hop! Five Heads Park is a rustic, but tiny ground, open on only three sides with a well stocked refreshment hut and a clubhouse and bar outside across the car park. The hundred seater stand is very cramped, but the officials were very friendly and helpful. The official attendance was 116, but there were at least 140 people there!
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Monday 28th February 2022
Southern League Premier Division Central
Hitchin Town 1
Jacob Hutchinson 55,
Tamworth 1
James Hurst 82,
Referee:- G. Swanton. Attendance: 412
Admission: OMGDS £8.00 (£12). Programme:- £2.50
It’s Monday so it must be Hitchin Town! After a good win at the weekend lifted them off the bottom of the table, the Canaries still found themselves four points from safety and tonight’s encounter did them no favours. Tamworth are one of the teams they have to catch to maintain their status, but after taking the lead ten minutes into the second half, they conceded with a scant seven minutes remaining. Relentless rain made conditions difficult, but a draw was a fair result.
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Other Matches:
Wednesday 2nd February 2022
Midland Midweek Floodlit Youth League Eastern Division
Rugby Borough Juniors 2 Bedworth United u18 4 Attendance:- 61
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