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January 2022

Posted in Championship, Football, Non-League | February 2nd, 2022

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And, sorry I could not travel both

and be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

.

Then took the other, just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that, the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

.

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

.

by Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)

.

Saturday 1st January 2022

Isthmian League South East Division

Phoenix Sports 0

Corinthian 1

Joshua Stirman 8,

Referee:- Dan Doyle. Attendance:- 183

Admission:- OMGDS £5.00 (£9). Programme:- On Line

Leyton Orient v Bristol Rovers was the menu of the day, with hospitality, but on the train down to London … COVID-19 intervened and the match was postponed! A quick train journey to Barnehurst and this was a pretty good replacement match, a fairly basic ground with two Meccano stands down one side, a bar with large screen football, free teamsheets and a food outlet, but, sadly, the hosts are struggling this season, whilst the visitors are riding high. The only goal was scored early in the first half!

Phil Evans and Chris Berezai and I went to this match. The rest of the Leyton Orient party went to see Sutton United defeat Exeter City 2-1 in League 2 at Gander Green Lane. On the way from the station at Barnehurst to the ground, I slipped on the stairs and badly grazed my hand, with which I was trying to protect my I-phone!

Monday 3rd January 2022 kick-off: 11.00am

Southern Combination League Division 1

Worthing United 1

Dan Hills 30,

Hailsham Town 1

Connor Townsend 82,

Referee:- M Spence. Attendance:- 61

Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme:- F.O.C.

Ignoring the tautology of the league title, Lyons Lane, home of Worthing United, is a quirky little stadium with around 150 seats and hard standing on three sides, set into a fairly steep hillside. Today’s match survived the recent weather, but these two teams are struggling at the wrong end of the table and the hosts have no win in ten matches. They took a first half lead, but were never completely comfortable and conceded the equaliser some ten minutes from the end. With John Main.

Monday 3rd January 2022

Wessex League Division 1

Petersfield Town 3

Aaron Akoman-Emilepa 19, Paul Agreseyi 29, Brendan Jewell 60,

Andover 2

David Jerrard 68, Owen Trapnell 89,

Referee:- Catalin Tanase. Attendance:- 174

Admission:- OMGDS £4.00 (£6). Programme:- ON LINE

At Love Lane, Petersfield’s well appointed, but sadly, neglected, Stadium, the visitors, Andover Town, who currently hold second place in the division, suffered only their third league defeat of the season in a match of high intensity and determination from both sides. There were seven bookings, including a player sent to the sin bin, in a tasty, rip-roaring contest, which the lowly hosts won by the skin of their teeth. They led by 3-0 with a scant twenty minutes to go, but conceded two and clung on like grim death at the finish! Great game! With John Main.

Tuesday 4th January 2022

United Counties League Premier Division North

Loughborough Students 0

Leicester Nirvana 1

Ethan Hulley 35,

Referee:- Stephen Davies. Attendance:- 144

Admission: OMGDS £2.50 (£5). Programme:- £2.00

Football is a funny game! For the first half at Holywell, this evening, the students battered Nirvana and bottled them up in their own half, and then, just before the interval, they gifted them a goal. In the second half, they never regained the initiative and the visitors stole the points and the victory!

Saturday 8th January 2022

Central Midlands League Premier Division North

SJR Worksop 3

Jaden Thackeray 2, Matthew Templeton 52, Daniel Wiltshire 86,

Dinnington Town 3

Brandon Ashmore 32, 58, 68,

Referee:- Phillip Campbell. Attendance:- 66

Admission:- £3.00. Programme:- £1.50

A strong plastic fence surrounded the ground, but there was no cover, nor any hard standing. Despite the morning’s heavy downpour, the pitch was soft, but eminently playable. There was a club house, serving drinks and snacks about a hundred yards from the main pitch and across the cricket pitch, and team lists were readily available. St Joseph’s Rockware took a second minute lead, but were pegged back by half-time. The visitors took the lead twice in the second half, and each time looked worthy winners, but the hosts never gave up and eventually deserved a share of the spoils.

Tuesday 11th January 2022

Southern Combination League Division 1

Oakwood 2

Sam Cane 24 (pen), Vitor Razeka 76,

Epsom & Ewell 3

Steven Springett 4, Luke Miller 27, Jamie Byatt 87,

Referee:- John Patrick Kane. Attendance:- 64

Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme:- on line

About ten miles down the M23 in the borough of Crawley, a long winding track leads to The South Sports Ground, home of Oakwood. The ground is basic and a tad careworn, with a 60 seater stand and hard standing on only two sides of the pitch, but there was a warm welcome and hot tea and coffee in the bar! The visitors have designs on promotion, but they made hard work of this victory, twice conceding the lead and only notching the winning goal in the final five minutes of a contest they dominated from start to finish.

Before the match, John and I went to a nearby sandwich bar for cheese baguettes (in my case) and ham for John.

Saturday 15th January 2022

Western League Premier Division

Tavistock 3

Liam Prynn 13, 63, Dan Keith 57,

Cadbury Heath 1

George Boon 61,

Referee:- Nigel Lawrence. Attendance:- 158

Admission:- OMGDS £4.00 (£6). Programme:- £1.00

Nestling in a fold on the edge of town, Langford Park looked recently developed, although the bar was across the car park. Seating for maybe a couple of hundred but no access behind the far goal. Plenty of very friendly officials and excellent Cornish pasties, but the hosts, who hadn’t played since Boxing Day, looked rusty and should have been a couple down after only fifteen minutes. They rallied and conjured up a half-time lead. Two further second half strikes, either side of a Cadbury goal, saw them safely home. It was a round trip of nearly five hundred miles!

Tuesday 18th January 2022

Southern Combination League Premier Division

Alfold 1

Kelvin Lucas 37,

Littlehampton Town 2

Dion Jarvis 17, 54,

Referee:- John Pike. Attendance:- 65

Admission:- OMGDS £3.00 (£6). Programme:- £2.00

The Recreation Park at Alfold is a fairly Spartan accommodation with one Meccano stand seating perhaps eighty souls and adjacent to it, a terraced covered area. There was hard standing on three sides only, but a large club house and bar. The hosts, sixth from the foot of the table were entertaining the league leaders, so it was little surprise that the points went to the visitors. However, the hosts distinguished themselves and put up spirited resistance and, with a little more luck, might have pulled off a draw. Good match! With John Main and Ian Royer.

Yours truly forlornly sat at the near end of the stand!

Saturday 22nd January 2022

Sky-Bet EFL Championship

AFC Bournemouth 0

Hull City 1

Ryan Longman 77

Referee:- Michael Donohue. Attendance:- 8,823

Admission:- Hospitality. Programme:- incl. (£3)

First impressions are of how small the ground is and of just how good the hospitality is. The game, itself, was a tight affair. The hosts spurned several first half opportunities, whilst in the second period, a far more determined Hull side came out and snuffed away any threat. The only goal came after 77 minutes.

Sadly, Mike and Freddie weren’t able to come because they were booked in to watch Tess doing her performance in “High School Musical” at The Cube in Corby. The following day, Charlotte and I went to see it, too! I was a bit upset because I put these matches on mainly for my children and grand children, but this year, we also had a small commemoration for Graeme Askham and I invited Dave Phillipson down from Hull (his friend, Phil Grayson) died last November from cancer and COVID-19 complications. Also good to see Rob Hardcastle and Jack Warner, who hasn’t been for a few years, and who gave permission for a few additional photographs on the match (see below, copyright Jack Warner). It was a good day and an exceedingly easy trip by the minibus that I had hired to take the Corby contingent to the match.

From the left: Eddie McGeown, Jack Warner, John Lord, Phil Evans, Rose Askham, Rob Hardcastle, Dave Phillipson, Chris Berezai

From the left: Aman Singh, Jim McGeown, Jonny Crane, Sonny McGeown, Kingsley McGeown, Daz Bibby

Tuesday 25th January 2022

Eastern Counties League 1st Division South

Buckhurst Hill 9

Nathan Sollosi 1, 11, 35, Fehinti Fall 33, 78, 90, Suleyman Zuhdu 42, 73, Sam Sollosi 87,

Wormley Rovers 1

Car Clark 25, Miller Allen s/o (DOGSO) 69,

Referee:- Dele Sotimitin. Attendance:- 151

Admission:- OMGDS £4.00 (£6). Programme:- included

Buckhurst Hill’s first season at step 6 with floodlights installed and hardstanding all round and a stand for perhaps 100 spectators, but the ground has a bleak, empty feel about it, not so the team, who wrapped up a comprehensive and well deserved victory in front of a quite healthy attendance. With John Main, and good to see Laurence and Robyn, Andy and Frank amongst other hoppers for this rare Buckhurst midweek fixture.

Yours truly entering the ground!

Saturday 29th January 2022

Wessex League Premier Division

Hamworthy United 4

Max Wilcock 4, 61, Lee Francis 50, Jack Covell 86,

Amesbury Town 0

Referee:- Sean Jenkins. Attendance:- 108

Admission:- OMGDS £5.00 (£7). Programme:- £2.00

Blandford Close, the home of The Dorset County FA, has a 3G pitch and a seated stand down one side, with cover behind the near goal. There was a very warm welcome, a well stocked kitchen adjacent to a roomy bar. The hosts are currently challenging for the Wessex League title, with promotion in their sights. Poor Amesbury are propping up the table and at least a dozen points from safety. It wasn’t a classic. Hamworthy scored four and should have doubled that score, with several good chances going begging! Come the end of the season, these clubs will be going in opposite directions. With John Main and Chris Berezai.