Match 8. Northampton Spencer v Barking

Saturday 21st September 2013 @3pm
FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round
NORTHAMPTON SPENCER 1-5 BARKING
Kingsthorpe Mill, Studland Road, Northampton
 
Admission: £5
Programme: 50p
Attendance: 65
Food: Cheeseburger, £2.50
Drink: Guinness, £3.20
 
I travelled by public transport again to Northampton Rail Station where there is extensive road and construction works outside the station, so it took a while to find The Old Black Lion, my landmark towards the town bus station where bus 17 on Bay 17 took me to the Shell Garage off Thornton Road and 5 minutes walk to Kingsthorpe Mill.  I popped in the pub on the way back to the station after the match and it has changed from the 3 roomed pub 15+ years ago on my last visit to see Sixfields, the pool table room is replaced by a childrens play room!
 
The track leading to the ground is found on the corner of Studland Road, where I walked past the allotments, training pitch and changing rooms to the club bar and entrance.  The bar is large and is hired out regularly. Once through he entrance, a small Atcost style seated stand is immediately to the right, with the covered standing area to the left, attached to the club bar. The tea hut is further down the touchline.  The dugouts are opposite and the 3 other touchlines have trees to give the ground a rural enclosed feel despite being in an industrial area of town.
 
Northampton Spencer came out of the blocks at full speed, hitting the cross bar and then taking the lead after 12 minutes with a fierce long shot.  At that point no-one would have imagined how the rest of the match would turn out.  Five minutes later, Barking equalised when a cross from no11 found no9 unmarked to tap in the cross.  Then the game defining moment.  Spencers goalkeeper came charging out racing with the no9 to get to the ball, was 2nd best and resulted in the forward flicking the ball past him and colliding into the keeper.  The resultant red card and left back picking up the vacated green jersey, only for the resulting free kick to be parried to the no6 who slotted home the rebound.  The tricky no11 collected the ball 25 yards out, then dribbled past 2 players and shot through the keepers legs to make it 3-1 on 32 minutes.  The referee then played a good advantage from a foul in midfield as the no9 took the ball forward and blasted into the bottom corner 5 minutes before the break.

A deflated home side came out in the second half and got frustrated with wave after wave of attacking from Barking.  Surprisingly the only goal in the second half was on the hour when a low drive from no8 flew past the sub keeper.  The rest of the game was a case of wasteful chances by Barking and collecting 3 bookings by Northampton Spencer.

Match 7. Barnet v Lincoln City

Saturday 14th September 2013 @3pm
Football Conference Premier Division
BARNET 1-1 LINCOLN CITY
The Hive, Camrose Avenue, Edgware
  
Admission: £16 standing
Programme: £3
Attendance: 1,913
Food: None
Drink: Stowford Press Cider: £3.80

A short journey by train and tube to see Barnets new set up away from Underhill at their training base in Edgware.  I got off at Queensbury for the 10 minute walk up Turner Road at the end of and to the right is the Main entrance to The Hive. There are no pubs near the ground but 2 of the many curry houses near the station did have a bar and TV on if you are desperate for a pre match beer before heading to the ground.  A better option is to get off at Baker Street, or Finsbury park where there is a Wetherspoons above the cinema outside the station.
 
From the driveway, there is the artificial pitches to the left, behind the home terracing, where the not obvious grey painted ticket office and secondary club shop is situated. There appears already to be a brick built ticket office in the near corner underway to replace the temporary building. The Main Club Building is alongside the right touchline from where the home terracing is situated with the club offices, shop and club bar.  The club bar still has a problem with service, as it took 15 minutes to be served and at one point only 2 bar staff were serving.  You could order a posh burger from the food hatch if you want to pay £5-7 for the privilege. The decor is nice with sofas and plenty of screens dotted around, but standing areas were at a premium, even though no away supporters were being admitted.

Inside the ground a seated stand about 7 rows deep is bolted onto the back of the club building, with an overhang roof which would keep the back row dry.  The 2 covered standing areas are identical behind each goal and about a dozen rows deep.  The Main Stand looks good, with orange and black seats and a large cover.  The food kiosk is next to the turnstiles and offers hot dogs and a combination of sausage, bacon & egg rolls for £3-5. They do bovril as well as Tea/Coffee. Temporary toilets are situated behind the home terrace.
  
This was the poorest game of football so far this season for me.  The first half was dreadful, probably not helped by watering the pitch 15 minutes before kick off after only just having 24 hrs non stop rain?? The second half improved a little, and a mazy run inside the box from Marsh-Brown opened the scoring for Barnet around the hour mark, even though Lincoln had about 2/3rds of the possession and a handful of opportunities to score before going behind.  Barnet were happy to see out the last 10 minutes plus 6 minutes stoppage time and were playing the keep ball in the corner. However, in the last minute of stoppage time, they conceded a free-kick where the ball found Nolan in the area to fire past Graham Stack for the last kick of the game.

Match 6. Bradford Town v Portishead Town

Saturday 7th September 2013 @ 3pm
FA Vase 1st Qualifying Round
BRADFORD TOWN 5-0 PORTISHEAD TOWN
Trowbridge Road, Bradford-On-Avon
 
Admission: £5 including programme
Attendance: 74
Food: Cheese Roll, 80p. Small hot dog, 80p
Drink: Thatchers Gold (Can), £2
 
With the hopmobile still out of action, the family went on a day trip to Bristol using the Groupsave offer with FirstGreatWestern.  With the girls heading off to Cabot Circus, I took the short train journey to Bradford-On-Avon, as the Trowbridge Road Ground is only 10 minutes walk from the Rail Station.  I took a quick walk around the Town Centre which has nice looking restaurants, green area and I presume the Avon running under the bridge at the Town Entrance.  Walking to the ground there is only one pub, called The Plough which although uninviting from outside, is not so bad inside with attentive barmaid and the locals did chat about football with me at the bar. There are 2 hand pumps and I had for the 2nd Saturday running, a nice pint of Stowford Press Cider. The gatekeeper/carpark attendance at the Ground had his hands full redirecting attendees to a Fringe Music Festival at a leisure area beyond the Football and Bowling Complex. They were presuming that the parking was in the club car park.  Also the clubhouse is only open at half time due to the club sharing with the neighbouring bowls club and no-one available to man the bar. At the gate, the raffle seller (Nikki?) did run to the bowls club and find out for me.
 
Inside the ground there is portable cabins for the changing rooms and tea bar, painted green behind the goal.  The dugouts are on the open side next to the 2nd pitch.  The Covered seating ans standing is along the road touchline as well as 2 out of use buildings which I presume were the former club buildings and looked like dugouts used to be situated there as well.  Les the Chairman confirmed there is permission to build new facilities but need to raise funds to carry out the work. The Chairman also is recovering after a bout of ill health but did walk around and chat to many people before and during the match.

This match was as one-sided as a match could be, with Portishead really only making up the numbers as Bradfords superior passing and movement in the first hour demolished the opposition.  The first goal was a cross from the left hand side from Keiran Baggs which was put away by Sam Jordan after 22 minutes.  Five minutes later a 2nd goal scored by no9 after good work down the left from Baggs and no8.  The home side no10 was a well build target man and he worked to win a corner then from the cross flicked it into the bottom corner just before half time.

In the 2nd half, another attack on the left was followed by a clever 1-2 including a back heal and low shot into the far corner.  The 5th goal on the hour was a great goal from outside the area by no9 shooting into the top corner.  With the work done, Bradford made all 3 substitutions on 65 minutes, taking off 3 of their best players.  This evened up the teams but the only noteworthy addition is the 10 minutes shower and the supporters showing a good turn of speed to congregate under the covered shelter.

 A friendly club, who hope to improve facilities off the pitch to match this seasons good form.

Match 5. Larkhall Athletic v Tiverton Town

Saturday 31st August 2013 @3pm
FA Cup Preliminary Round
LARKHALL ATHLETIC 1-0 TIVERTON TOWN
Plain Ham, Charlcombe Lane, Larkhall

Admission: £6
Programme: £1
Attendance: 164
Food: Cheese Roll, £1.30
Drink: Stowford Press Cider, £3.20

  
With the hopmobile injured for the next 2 weeks it was a trip on First Great Western Trains to Bath Spa and a short bus ride on the no7 bus from the bus station next to the Rail Station Exit.  I got off at Hill View Road and walked up the narrow steep hill with a regular supporter to Plain Ham, home of Western League Larkhall Athletic.  There is plenty of parking available inside the ground but be wary of the limited access for entry/exit.

The clubhouse and paybox/turnstile is inside the grounds and leads to the clubhouse, which has been updated several times over the last 15 years and now encompasses larger changing rooms, toilets, hospitality area and refreshments kiosk as well as the bar. At the end of the clubhouse building, the players have a staircase to reach the pitch, with is several metres below the Changing Rooms and Main stand, apparently there used to be a large slope from one side to the pitch to the other.  Today the pitch is level and in great condition.

  
Tiverton are a Step higher in the pyramid but I was impressed by the quality and team spirit in the home side, especially as they are without their manager, Wayne Thorne, who has just been released from hospital after horrific injuries in the summer. This was a typical cup tie with more than a few niggly challenges, which I thought the referee was very lenient with. The only goal came with 20 or so minutes left as good work on the left hand side allowed the cross to be steered home by Rob Hobbs.  Larkhall settled for the 1-0 and played out the game for the last 15 minutes which could have backfired with Tiverton counter attacks but they held on for a deserved progression to the 1st Qualifying Round.

Match 4. Lagos v Cova Piedade

Sunday 25th August 2013 @5pm
Portugal Campeonato Nacional Group H
LAGOS 1-1 COVA PIEDADE
Estadio Municipal Fernando Cabrita, Lagos
  
Admission: Euro 7
Attendance: 225 (h/c)
Drink: Small Super Bock 1 Euro
  

The set up in Portugal this season has changed at Level 3 where below the Primeira Liga and Liga de Honra is the revamped Campeonato Nacional Level split into 8 Groups, A-H.  Lagos find themselves in Group H with 2 other Algarve sides, Louletano and Quarteirense. The ground is located to the North of the Lagos Marina and Train/Bus stations.  A McDonalds is on the roundabout about 200 metres from the Ground.

  

I was holidaying in Alvor and as matches are usually played on a Sunday, the Bus and Train Services are scarce and I had to pay for a Taxi (33 Euros) on the trip back.  The bus ticket there however was only around 4 Euros. The last bus back is 6pm so when the league reverts to 3pm kick offs in October there should be no problem.

  

As it was very warm, the game started at a slow pace but after 12 minutes, Lagos went ahead when the number 22 headed in at the far post.  Both teams played a 4-2-3-1 formation until the No17 needed to be substituted after falling badly with what looked like a dislocated shoulder on 33 mins. The away side then played with 2 up front and were awarded a penalty on 40 minutes for handball by the left back (no29) as he tried to chest a cross clear.  The no10 fired the penalty into the top of the net.

  

The second half was an even affair with the best chance from the away header from a free kick hitting the crossbar with 20 minutes left.  The home keeper also flicked a shot onto and over the bar and from the corner made a double save, one at close range.  A reaction save right at the end kept the scores level at full time.