I won’t be watching
the World Cup this year, Because,
Well it’s obvious ~
Qatar 2022
Haiku by Paul H Tubb
.
Saturday 3rd September 2022
FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
Eastbourne Town 0
Hanwell Town 2
Matthew MacKenzie 69, Kain Adam 90+2,
Referee:- Chris Wilks. Attendance: 284
Admission: OMGDS £4.00 (£7) Programne: £1.50
On a lovely sunny afternoon and in the shadow of Eastbourne College, these two teams, who had never met before, battled out a tense cup-tie. The visitors, some two steps higher in the pyramid had most of the play. The hosts defended, doggedly. It wasn’t until seventy minutes had passed that the deadlock was broken and the, deep into added time, the visitors added a second! With Phil Evans.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Tuesday 6th September 2022
Cherry Red Records premier Challenge Cup
1st Round
Penn & Tyler’s Green 0
Gary Lines s/o 37, serious foul play
Spartans Youth 1
Kyran Kellman-Fisher 28 (pen),
Referee: Anjah Merza. Attendance:- 44
Admission: OMGDS £3.50 (£7). Programme: on line
Well hidden in deepest Buckinghamshire, the ground is Spartan, with only one small covered area, but a beautifully manicured pitch and a very modern club house. This was a bruising encounter with no quarter asked or given. One sending off and four bookings in a game where the referee just about kept control. The only goal came just before the half hour mark … from the penalty spot!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Wednesday 7th September 2022
Northern Premier League Division 1 Midlands
Corby Town 4
Daniel Collins 35, Hilton Arthur 67, 83, Curtis Burrows 76,
Yaxley 1
Ethan Johnston 59
Referee: Ian Jackson. Attendance: 480
Admission: OMGDS £6.00 (£10). Programme: £2.00
Corby Town under new management are unbeaten this season in the league. Yaxley have yet to find a win in their first six games, five of which have been lost! Tonight, the visitors matched their opponents for over an hour, equalising the hosts first half strike in the 59th minute. Three more goals for Corby in the final twenty minutes, were, perhaps, a little flattering!
.
.
.
.
Tuesday 13th September 2022
South West Peninsular League Premier Division West
Launceston 3
Ben Harrison 29, Mark Elvridge 67, Tom Bullock 87,
Bodmin Town 3
Levi Landricembe 2, 59, 72,
Referee: Aiden Madden. Attendance: 44
Admission: OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme: F.O.C.
Hidden away in the middle of an industrial estate and overshadowed by a huge wind turbine, Pennygillam Way, home of Launceston,is not immediately prepossessing. There is cover on one side, with about 200 seats and a huge club house and refreshment kiosk and the officials were more than friendly and helpful. The game was a cracker. The hosts gleaned only their second point of the season (in their ninth league game), but they fell behind three times to the more impressive visitors and it took a goal three minutes from time to garner a point!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Wednesday 14th September 2022
South West Peninsular League Premier Division East
Torrington 0
Oakhampton Argyle 2
Luke Mortimore 80, 85,
Referee:- Liam Chick. Official Attendance: 78
Admission: OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme: NONE
Torrington’s ground has a fine stand down one side, but also, al fresco seating on the opposite side. There was no programme, but team sheets were freely available at the bar … sadly, no numbers were attached! The parish church of St Michael and All the Angels overshadows the ground. In 1645 following an English Civil War Roundhead victory, the captured prisoners were locked in the church. Sadly, the Royalists had left 80 barrels of gunpowder in the church, which exploded, damaging church and killing prisoners. Tonight, the fourth placed visitors eventually secured the victory against fourth from bottom hosts, who were using their new changing rooms for the first time. It was a tough tussle. The hosts fought well, but two goals in the last ten minutes won the match for Argyle.
.
This was the team sheet for the match, but the players on the team sheet had no numbers!
.
.
The Church of St Michael & All the Angels, blown up in the English Civil War in 1645.
.
.
Note the ‘al fresco’ seating in this picture on the far side of the pitch!
.
.
.
The new changing rooms … but only for the home team!
.
.
Saturday 17th September 2022
FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round
Gosport Borough 1
Dan Wooden 82,
Paulton Rovers 1
Will Harvey 90+1,
Referee: Iain Parsons. Official Attendance: 419
Admission: OMGDS £5.00 (£10). Programme: £2.00
Down in deepest Hampshire, high flying Gosport were expected to defeat opponents from a division below them at their well appointed stadium. Seating along each side of the ground and a fine club house and refreshments with team sheets available and football wall to wall in the bar! The match was feisty and entertaining, but goals were at a premium. The hosts scored first, eight minutes from time, but plucky Paulton equalised, direct from a corner, in the second minute of added time at the end! In the replay, the following Tuesday, Paulton Rovers triumphed by 2-1.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Tuesday 20th September
Kershaws Cambridgeshire County League Division 4A
FC Kennett 4
Will Earl 23, Connor Adams 60, Robert Haydon 51, 65,
Sawston United Reserves 2
Edward Carter 68 (own goal), Vito D’Ambrosia 83,
Referee: Paul Norman. Attendance: 36
Admission : F.O.C. Programme: NONE
FC Kennett, mainly teenagers with a couple of older players, are enjoying their first season in the league – and their first win this season – They play at The Sporting Pavilion on Station Road in Kennett, and the ground, little more than a field with very worn patches, is floodlit. There was a cheering of seasoned hoppers in attendance, Martin Hayden, Peter Miles, Lee West, Laurence Reade and John Main, to name but a few. The game was a good one and Kennett deserved their first success!
.
.
.
Notice how worn the pitch is!
.
.
Not the easiest team sheet to read!
Fortunately I had downloaded the team squads from “Full Time The FA”
.
.
Wednesday 21st September 2022
Spartan South Midlands League Division 1
Rugby Borough 7
Ethan Flaig 6, Asam Shaw 19, Dale Linton 38, Gez McGahey 42, 83,Ash Piper 60, Ryan Palmer 79,
Wellingborough Whitworth 1
Remy Brittain 55,
Referee:- Angus Neil Attendance:- 95
Admission: £5.00. Programme: £1.00
These two teams are new to the Spartan South Midlands League, having transferred from The United Counties League (Wellingborough Whitworth) and been promoted from The Leicestershire Senior League (Rugby Borough). The ground is 3G but there have been quite a few improvements made – new seated stand, access along the far side of the pitch, to mention but two!. Both teams are languishing, but it was the hosts who looked more likely to rise up the table as they thrashed Whitworth. Four unanswered strikes before the break and three more in the second period in a scintillating Borough performance with a solitary reply in the 55th minute. With John Main.
.
This magnificent photograph is the centre piece of a display at the entrance to the club house.
Behind the cups is the club house area, and the second pitch, right at the top is considered a different arena by Futbulog!
.
.
.
Saturday 24th September 2022
Witney & District League Division 2 k.o.: 11.00am
Brize Norton 0
Cassington Rangers 1
Jason Blackman 3,
Referee: Callum Jordan. Attendance:- 168
Admission: £4.00. Programme: included
A fine Indian Sumner’s morning, and the volunteers were out in force for the groundhoppers’ visit to Brize Norton. Breakfast baps of all shapes and sizes, ice creams and sumptuous slices of a wide variety of cake. Would that I could wax so lyrically about the match, but no, it was settled in the away team’s favour after a 4th minute penalty award. Having said that, a free kick was awarded to the home side in the 93rd minute for an offence clearly committed inside the penalty area! John was driving today and we missed the rest of the ‘hop’ games and travelled to ……
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Saturday 24th September 2022
Isuzu FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round k.o.: 3.00pm
Hartpury University 0
Clanfield 85 FC 0
Hartpury won 4-2 on penalties
Referee: Liam Brace. Attendance: 86
Admission: OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme: on line
A newish (2017) university, specialising in agricultural and equine studies, but also with a very good sporting record, Hartpury, near Gloucester, play in The Hellenic League Division 1, as do today’s opponents. The ground is a railed off pitch with floodlights and standing cover for about 50 spectators. The contest was moribund from the first minute, chances were few as both defences dominated, but at the end it was the hosts who took the penalty shoot-out decisively. No programme (on line), but free team sheets. With John Main.
.
.
A solitary John Main at half-time by the only covered portion of the ground!
.
.
.
.
.
.
Monday 26th September 2022
Pitching-in Southern League Premier Division Central
Hitchin Town 1
St Ives Town 1
Referee:- T. Whay. Attendance: 303
Admission: OMGDS £8.00 (£13). Programme: £2.00
Team sheet: £0.20
I love the timelessness of Top Field, even though the old wooden terracing has recently disappeared, the ground has lost none of its charm. It really is a lovely setting for a game of football! Tonight, both teams had enjoyed mixed fortunes at the beginning of the season, with the visitors the better placed in the table. Two first half strikes were the only bright spots in an otherwise fairly tepid encounter, and a draw was the fairest outcome.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Tuesday 26th September 2022
United Counties League Premier Division South
Lutterworth Town 2
Long Buckby 1
Referee: Aaron Lloyd. Attendance: 66
Admission: OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme:,£2.00
It was cold this evening and for the first time this season, I was glad of my coat! Struggling Lutterworth Town with only one win this season, battled hard for this victory against another lower echelon side. They were ahead at half-time, pegged back with twenty minutes remaining, lost their goalkeeping captain to injury and still managed a deserved late winne. With John Main.
.
.
.
.
.
Thursday 29th September 2022
FA Women’s Super League
Everton 1
Kirsty Levell (og) 90+3,
Leicester City 0
Referee: Cheryl Foster. Attendance: 1,900
Admission: OMGDS £4.00 (£8). Programme: F.O.C.
Teamsheet: F.O.C.
Walton Hall Park, the headquarters of The Liverpool County FA, has been used by Everton Women for the last two seasons, since their first match there in February 2020. This evening, despite the early (6.30pm) kick-off, there was a good crowd to welcome the teams. Everton were the better of two poor teams in the first half, and, indeed, continued their dominance after the break. The visitors, however, stuck to their task with gritty determination and it took an own goal in the third,and final, minute of added time at the end of the match, to, finally, clinch victory for the hosts and thoroughly dampen Leicester’s spirited and determined rearguard action!
OTHER MATCHES.
.
.
.
.
.
.
OTHER MATCHES:
Friday 2nd September 2022
FA Youth Cup Preliminary Round
Aylestone Park U18 1 St Andrews U18 1
St Andrews won 4-3 on penalties. Attendance: 352
_____________________________________________________
Thursday 22nd September 2022
U21 Premier League 2 League Cup Group Stage
Peterborough United 2 Blackburn Rovers 3 attendance: 102
______________________________________________________
