Match 2. Hadleigh United v Ely City

Saturday 18^th August 2012 @3pm

Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties Premier Division

HADLEIGH UNITED 2-0 ELY CITY

The Millfield, Duke Street

Admission: £6

Programme: £1 (40pp A5)

Attendance: 70

Food: £2.10 Bacon bap

Drink: £3.40 Guinness

A late decision on where to go today as earlier plans were thrown away as my Mother-In-Law was admitted into hospital on Friday but was well enough for visitors so, after getting the OK nod from my good wife, I dropped the family off at the hospital and decided to go to Hadleigh via the M11/A120 to avoid the V festival traffic on the A12.  Coming back was much quicker and easier on the A12.

There seems to be much choice for lunch in the High Street and I spotted 3 chip shops in the town.  There are plenty of parking spaces available in the club car park.  Coming in through the turnstile, the tea bar is on the left and the club building is on the right.  There is a large area of standing cover in front of the building and the dugouts are also in situ.  There is just hard standing behind both goals with a small grass bank behind one of them.  On the opposite touchline are a seated stand and a training area and junior pitch behind it.

The first half was dictated by the home side whereas the second half was the complete opposite.  Hadleigh took full advantage of the defensive lapses on 10 minutes when no11 drifted in from the left and shot right footed from the edge of the area low in the corner, despite an Ely claim for a foul in build up.  Hadleigh carried on the first half dominance and added a second a minute before the break when an error on the halfway line allowed the right winger to run onto the ball from the right.  The low cross reached the no11 despite attempts to clear and he calmly slotted the ball into the opposite corner.  A spirited second half performance from Ely was prevented by wayward shooting and a great performance from the home keeper, denying 2 goal bound efforts with his legs.  In 30+ degree heat, the players had regular water breaks and I was glad for the available shelter.

Match 1. Peacehaven & Telscombe v Banstead Athletic

Saturday 11th August 2012 @ 3pm
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
PEACEHAVEN & TELSCOMBE 2-1 BANSTEAD ATHLETIC 

The Sports Park, Piddinghoe Avenue

Admission: £6
Programme: £1 (28pp A5)
Attendance: 80
Food: £2.70 Egg & Bacon Sarnie, £1.20 Chips
Drink: £3 Carling Shandy

I had a restriction of 90 minutes from home so chose this FA Cup tie on the Sussex coast.  Luckily I left in plenty of time as I got caught up on the M25 for 45 minutes due to an accident tailing back from Jct 9.  I still arrived at 2.35pm in the sunny and warm Sports Park in time for a refreshing drink before kick off.

Outside the ground there is a bowling green, skateboard park and car park (full), and I parked on the access road to the ground without any problems.  The turnstile entrance is built onto the Main building, which has covered standing accommodation in front, with the clubhouse, tea bar and changing rooms behind.  The seated stand and dugouts are on the opposite touchline, with hard standing throughout the railed pitch.

The lineups on the blackboard included numbers 17 & 20 among the stating 11.  Is this squad numbers down at Step 5?  Also the Banstead squad were entirely devoid of caucasian players, something I don't think I have seen in England before.  A few of the players looked as if they needed a couple more weeks of pre-season to get rid of the summer excesses, but the game was played at a lively pace with Peacehaven particularly taking control from start to finish, restricting Banstead to 3 shots in target in the whole match, while having at least 2 dozen shots on goal.  On 20 minutes, a free kick from the left was crossed over to Ashley Reece, who volleyed in from 8 yards without a challenge.  On a rare attack 5 minutes later, a through ball over the top allowed the Banstead No9 to run on and dispatch the ball past the keeper into the corner.

In the second half, Peacehaven had many opportunities to go in front and should have had the game sewn up before scoring the winner on 75 minutes.  A shot was deliberately handled by the defender, who was cautioned.  The penalty was converted straight down the middle of the goal by Ryan Bigley.  I was impressed by the home sides build up play and they could be successful this season if they find their shooting boots.

Local fan invades the pitch!

Why I started this blog

I became interested in watching and playing football as far as I can remember.  I started watching football as a spectator in the mid 70s, watching my local teams Gillingham and Chatham Town (aka Medway).  My first affinity to a club however, was Crystal Palace around 1976, with their diagonal red and blue stripe on their shirt, followed by the flair brought through the coaching of Terry Venables, then finally watching them from the Homesdale Terrace in 1982.  I followed Palace regularly until the tragedies of Heysel and Bradford in the mid 1985, coupled with the rising hooligan interest in visiting South London.  This put me off going to league games until I met a football friend who watched Maidstone United at Watling Street around 1988. After the 1990 World Cup, my friend and I wanting to visit all London clubs, then began my journey of visiting firstly all league grounds and subsequently as many non league grounds as possible.  In 1993 coming back from an Ipswich Town match, we decided to visit Carshalton Athletic.  The seeds of non league football were sown the following week as the Robins won 6-1.  Despite my friends choice to just follow Carshalton a few years ago, I still look to visit a new ground each Saturday.  I now count 492 grounds visited, a stat among many kept among "groundhoppers".  As season 2012-2013 commences, I've decided to start this blog, to share my rambling about each visit and occasional views on the fascinating game.