In the bleak midwinter
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago
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Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
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Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.
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What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.
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by Christina Rossetti (1830 – 1894)
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Saturday 2nd December 2023
Southern Combination League Premier Division
Saltdean United 0
Steyning Town 3
Charlie Meehan 32, Joe Radley-Martin 41, Tom Chalaye 68,
Referee: Brendan Jones. Official Attendsnce: 102
Admission: OMGDS £5.00 (£7). Programme: £2.00
On a bitterly cold, yet bright and sunny afternoon on The South Downs, this match went ahead despite plenty of evidence of ice and frost. Hilltop Park is a very basic but scenic ground with a spectacular backdrop. There are seated stands on both sides of the pitch, but no other cover. There are changing rooms and a club house and bar. Sadly, this season, the hosts are struggling and were no match for their highly placed opponents. Two goals in the opening period and the coup de grace with twenty minutes remaining saw the visitors leave with the points and the victory.
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Monday 4th December 2023
U21 Premier League 2
Leicester City 1
Kian Pennant 69,
Wolverhampton. Wanderers 3
Owen Hesketh 19, Justin Hubner 47, Leo Lopez 53,
Referee: Aji Ajibola. Attendance: 290
Admission: OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Free team sheet
This was my twenty-third visit to The Seagrave Sports Complex in Seagrave just to the north and east of Leicester and where Leicester City’s impressive complex, costing, apparently, up to £100 million to build, now hosts under 21 and under 18 fixtures as well as being the clubs main training ground. Leicester City have a poor u21 side. Admittedly, they have injuries, notably captain Sammy Braybrooke, who is out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury which will probably last the season! John and I saw Wolverhampton Wanderers u21 side heavily defeated by Aston Villa u21 last August at Bodymoor Park. Tonight, they made short work of Leicester City with a first half strike and two more early in the second half, before The Foxes claimed a consolation. With John Main.
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Saturday 9th December 2023
Northern Premier League Premier Division
Gainsborough Trinity 0
Ilkeston Town 1
Jaime Walker 25,
Referee: Joseph Goodwin. Attendance: 462
Admission: OMGDS £9.00 (£13). Programme: £2.50
Despite the heavy rain of the last few days, the pitch was perfectly playable. Northolme is a traditional ground with terracing on all four sides and cover along three sides. They were formed way back in 1873 and were a Football League club from 1896 – 1912. Today, they languish in the lower echelons of the Northern Premier League’s top division. Ilkeston, meanwhile, are handily placed much higher up the table. They took the lead after half an hour and comfortably fended off their opponents for the rest of the game – including well over ten minutes of added time at the end of the match.
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Graeme Askham (1959 – 2020) Fellow “Hopper” passed away today three years ago. Many a happy match and many a ground visited!
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Friday 15th December 2023
Ebac Northern League Division 1
Redcar Athletic 1
Mason McNeil 37, Anthony Bell s/o 57,
Guisborough Town 2
James Frazer 78, Kurtis Hates 82,
Referee: Alexander Bourner. Attendance: 401
Admission: OMGDS £4.00 (£7). Programme: £2.00
On a raw evening on the north-east coast, this local derby was a feisty, rumbustious affair. The two grounds are barely seven miles apart and the teams are separated by two points in the lower reaches of the Division 1 table. The ground is somewhat basic, with round 100 seats down the near side and some cover behind one goal, but not a lot else. The hosts led at the interval, but just before the hour mark, they had a player dismissed and that changed the balance of the match. The visitors scored two goals in the final ten minutes and were good value for their victory. With John Main.
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Saturday 16th December 2023
Sunderland & District Mill View Social Club Over 40s League
Premier Division
Seaham Harbour CC Vets 2
Martin Deacon 33, Chris McCabe 44,
Boldon Colliery Old Barrel Vets 4
Graham Bruce 39, Steve Menzies 67, Andrew Yates 74, 79,
Referee: James Marshall. Attendance: 13
Admission: F.O.C. Programme: NONE
A very blustery morning right on the coast at Seaham, but the ground was a pleasant surprise, fully enclosed with a railed pitch, a modicum of terracing and club house with changing rooms. The visitors are struggling after promotion last season, but the hosts were missing five of their players. The wind played havoc, but in an entertaining encounter, the visitors eventually triumphed with two late goals. With John Main.
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Saturday 16th December 2023
Northern League Division 2
Newcastle Blue Star 5
Dan Lanning 21, 23, Regan Paterson 65, Callum Larmouth 69, Matty Telfer 71,
Washington 1
Flavio Silva 78,
Referee: Nigel Fittes. Official Attendance: 109
Admission: OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme: £2.00
The wind howled mercilessly around the marquee which provided Blue Star’s bar and king-sized TV screen. The ground, with plenty of seating and covered areas, felt a little ramshackle, with ad-hoc additions tacked on all round the arena, but, it appears to be a work in progress! Not so on the pitch! Second place Blue Star thrashed bottom but one club, Washington, it should have been more but over elaboration killed off several choice opportunities. With John Main.
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Tuesday 19th December 2023
Vanarama National League North
Banbury United 1
Ken Charles 40,
Chorley 4
Billy Whiehouse 25, Justin Johnson 37,Harvey Smith 53, Marco Rus 78,
Referee: Oliver Mackey. Attendance: 429
Admission: OMGDS £11.00 (£15). Programme: £3.00
The Spencer Stadium, or should I say, The Banbury Plant Hire Stadium, has a new stand with around 100 seats on the opposite side to the existing stand. This season, however, they lost their manager and most of their players and after a bright first season in National League North, they are now struggling, despite victory at high flying Tamworth. This evening, they were comprehensively dismantled by a Chorley side fresh from a defeat at table topping Scunthorpe United, but who climbed back to third in the table with this victory.
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The new stand on the far side at The Spencer Stadium
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Ed and eldest son, Jim
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Jim and Mike
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Saturday 23rd Secember 2023
Northern Premier League Midland Division 1
Corby Town 1
Toby Hilliard 61, Dan Wallis s/o 54
Boldmere St Michaels 2
O’Shane Stewart 69, Owen Parry 75, Kai Knight s/o 28
Referee: Joseph Karram. Attendance: 494
Admission: OMGDS £6.00 (£12). Programme: £2.00
Having spent a lot of time trying, unsuccessfully to locate Coventrians FC in Coventry, I sped back to take in a very local match at Steel Park on a mild and sunny, December afternoon. The home faithful were hoping and expecting a first home league win of the season. Ten home games, three draws and – now – Seven defeats. Fortunately, they have seven away wins out of nine matches! Both sides had a man dismissed and it was the hosts who opened the scoring to raise the spirits of a festive audience, but it was not to be and two strikes by the visitors in the final twenty minutes took the victory and the points!
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Boxing Day Tuesday 26th December 2023
Northern League Division 1 (11.00am)
Boro Rangers 2
David Lofts 47 (pen), 80,
Redcar Athletic 2
Brandon Holdsworth 37, Lewis Ritson 77,
Referee: J. Payne Attendance: 254
Admission: OMGDS )5.00 (£7). Programme: ON LINE
On a bright, sunny but cold morning, a plastic pitch in a cage with around 100 seats flanking a covered standing area. With such strong sunlight, viewing from behind one goal was the best option. Promoted from Division 2 of The Northern League at the end of their first season in that league, they formerly played at Stokesley FC and are now strongly placed in the upper echelons of Division 1. Local derbies don’t always go to form and this was no exception. Lowly Redcar were full value for the draw. They led twice and deserved their point. With John Main.
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Boxing Day Tuesday 26th December 2023
Northern League Division 2 (3.00pm)
Boldon CA 3
Levi Collins 39, 90, Jude Harrison 70,
Jarrow 3
Luke Hudson 12, Lutfur Karim 32, Chris Brennan 35,
Referee: T. Dutton. Attendance: 144
Admission: OMGDS £3.00 (£5). Programme: £1.00
Alongside the ground where I once saw Jarrow Roofing bow out of the FA Vase at the semifinal stage in front of a crowd of well over a thousand, The Villa is home to Boldon CA. The covered stand on the far side has twice been blown down by wind and there is little or no shelter – or seating! Both of these teams are becalmed in mid-table and it was the visitors who were the more lively in the first half, taking a three goal lead before conceding just before the interval. The second half was a totally different vintage, the hosts pressed incessantly but, it finally took a goal deep into added time at the death to retrieve a point from the game. With John Main.
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John Main
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Wednesday 27th December 2023
Northern Premier League Midlands Division 1
Cambridge City 1
Mikey Davis 60,
Corby Town 1
Connor Tomlinson 7,
Referee: Jorden Gibson. Attendance: 287
Admission: OMGDS £5.00 (£10). Programme: £2.00
Cambridge City are still waiting for their new stadium in Sawston to be completed, hoping to get in there some time this season, but, in the meantime, they are groundsharing on the 3G at Westwood Road, home of St Ives Town. It has been a less than auspicious season for both of these clubs. The visitors. have yet to register a home victory and the hosts were thrashed 7-0 the last time they played here. Perhaps both sides were satisfied with a point, but in truth, neither side deserved to win. With son, Mike, grandson, Freddie and Gary Miller.
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Freddie, Gary and Mike
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Saturday 30th December 2023
United counties League Premier Division North
Loughborough Students 4
Joe Fountain 2, Josh Wicks 51, Dylan Edwards 20 (pen), 56 (pen),
Hucknall Town 1
Ayleul Dill 90,
Referee: Oliver Morton. Attendance: 134
Admission: OMGDS £5.00 (£8). Programme: NONE
Eldest son, Jim and grandsons, Sonny and Kingsley, were definitely impressed with their first visit to The Holywell Stadium – as, indeed, they should be! There were no programmes, but a teamsheet was posted in the clubhouse behind the main stand. Poor old Hucknall are already somewhat adrift at the foot of the table and, they were lucky to catch their high flying hosts in a generous mood. Two goals in each half and several other acceptable chances spurned, before the visitors grabbed a ninetieth minute consolation.
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Sonny and Kingsley preferred to lurk behind the goal …….
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……. Ed and Jim preferred to view from up in the stand!
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Sunday 31st December 2023
JD Cymru North
Mold Alexandra 3
Steve Watkins 39, Jake Roberts 68, Daniel Warren 74,
Prestatyn Town 0
Referee: Aled Williams. Official Attendance: 224
Admission: OMGDS £3.00 (£7). Programme: NONE
Alyn Park is an old fashioned ground with a high traditional stand on one side and club house and bar, but that is the extent of the facilities. There is a huge car park, but the only realistic spectator viewing is down one side of the ground. The hosts are handily placed fifth in the league, but the visitors are struggling at the bottom, some five points adrift of safety. For all that, the visitors made the better start, but by the interval, they were a goal down and two further second half strikes sealed their fate! With John Main and a good gathering of hoppers.
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