Match 7. Ashford United v Corinthian

Saturday 26th September 2015 @3pm
Southern Counties East Football League
ASHFORD UNITED 1-1 CORINTHIAN
Homelands stadium, Ashford Road, Kingsnorth, Ashford TN26 1NJ

Admission: £7
Programme: £2 (A5, 32pp double issue)
Attendance: 190
Refreshments: Guinness India Porter, £3.60. Sausage Roll 60p, Chips, £1.50. Chicken Cup a soup, £1.30

Another revisit for me as the family went to the nearby Outlet Centre.  I had watching both Maidstone United and the former Ashford club hear but this was the first game here with the 3G pitch laid.  The perimeter also has 4 x¾ size goals for the weekday evenings 5/6 a side bookings that bring in the extra income for the club.

This is a nice place to watch football, with a large main stand with the incorporated facilities behind the stand.  There are 3 steps on covered terracing behind each goal and the ground is suitable for a higher level of football if success follows the obvious bigger income.  The tea hut is good as well. There is even Pie, mash & liquor on offer at £4.50.  Something I will go back for again next time.

The match was dominated by the home side and the ball went in the net from a corner via the head of Kingwell but was disallowed for a soft infringement in the box.  Within 5 minutes Ashford went 1-0 up on 32 mins when Welford turned the centre back and drove the ball into the bottom corner.  Ashford had a handful of good chances plus dominated the rest of the game with Corinthian defending in numbers with the odd counter attack.  Against all the odds they levelled with a minute to go when a scuffed shot by Axell somehow managed to slide under the keepers’ body and trickled into the net.  Ashford had another chance on stoppage time but yet again the shooting was inaccurate

Match 6. Hurstpierpoint v AFC Vardeanians

Saturday 19^th September 2015 @3pm

Southern Combination Football League Division 2

HURSTPIERPOINT 0-3 AFC VARDEANIANS

Fairfield Recreation Ground, Uckfied Road, Hurstpierpoint BN6 9SD

Admission: free

Programme: donation (A5, 12pp)

Attendance: 12 h/c

Refreshments: Red Stripe £2.50. Mug of coffee: £1.  Crisps: 50p

Hurstpierpoint were resurrected from the ill-fated merger last season with Burgess Hill Albion, with the latter reforming in the Mid Sussex League as the merged club were more or less bankrupt.  Hurst are run by a 4 man committee with Dave, Jake, Jamie and manager Dudley Christensen, with Dudley slowly assembling a side which only contained 2 players from last season.  The ground has a small car park in front of the club building but there are spaces in the main road near the track to the ground.  The Fairfield ground is shared with the cricket club and the football pitch is on the far side of the ground. A metal rail is down the tree lined side with dugouts also in situ.  The other 3 sides are fully roped off with no hard standing so I was grateful that it was a warm sunny afternoon.

One of the problem positions is that of goalkeeper and the second keeper so far filled in between the sticks.  Unfortunately he collided with the Vardeanians striker after 20 minutes, injuring his shoulder.  He continued and handled well but when the first goal went in soon before half time, the despairing dive to his right was the final straw.  The slightly built sub took over in goal despite having little experience. The original keeper was on the way to hospital at half time with a suspected broken collar bone.

The away side have adjusted well to the step up and dominated the second half although Hursts heads never dropped. They conceded a further 2 goals in the half.  The first was a cross goal shot following a corner and the final goal a well taken hit from 20 yards into the corner.  Both goals would have beaten most keepers at this level.

I hope they get volunteers and sponsors to alleviate the workload of the small committee but with a team only a few short of a decent side, a sponsor now on board and a club linesman volunteered from the local college, the club should be on the rise in the near future and worth a visit on a dry day.

Match 5. Billericay Town v Enfield Town

Saturday 12^th September 2015 @3pm

FA Cup 1^st Qualifying Round

BILLERICAY TOWN 1-1 ENFIELD TOWN

New Lodge, Blunts Wall Road, Billericay

Admission: £10

Programme: £2 (A5, 44pp)

Attendance: 333

Refreshments: Guinness £3.60. Chips £1.50. Twix 60p.

Wanted a cup tie and chose a revisit having last been to New Lodge some 20 years ago.  The ground has a small car park and cover of sorts on all four stands. Standing cover behind each goal and a mix of standing and seating cover on both sides, with the Main Stand straddling the halfway line with the clubhouse behind and adjacent.

The match didn’t live up to expectations and the game was fractious both on and off the pitch including a bald headed Enfield supporter who walked from behind the away goal to behind the home goal, to incite the opposition by removing an orange home bib. Who knows his reasoning, but he was spoken to by stewards after a kafuffle and was allowed to remain.  The home skipper meanwhile was determined to get sent off and managed to achieve this within the first half hour for 2 bookings, for verbal and a late challenge.

The best player on the pitch was the home no10 Sodje who opened the scoring after 13 minutes by receiving a through ball and lifting it over the advancing keeper into the empty net.  After being down to 10 men, Billericay sat back relying on quick counter attacking but found to be pushed into defending more than they would like.  The equaliser came when a free kick was half cleared only for Devyn to control the ball and shoot home without being challenged.  There was almost a late winner for Billericay but after catching the defence square, missed a chip over the keeper as it rose high over the crossbar.  

Match 4. Glebe v Crockenhill

Saturday 5^th September 2015 @3pm

Kent Invicta League

GLEBE 1-2 CROCKENHILL

Foxbury Avenue, Chislehurst, Kent.

Admission: £5 including Programme (A5, 16pp)

Attendance: 85

Refreshments: Guinness £3.50. Kit Kat 60p.

Stayed local due to family commitments this weekend.  Despite Glebe being chucked out of the FA Vase on ground issues, they were still at home in a rearranged league fixture in what was their first Saturday home match at the spruced up ground at the bottom of Foxbury Avenue. Just a 10 minute bus ride on the 160 from Sidcup Rail Station or about a mile walk to Chislehurst Rail Station, although it’s a steep hill from that Station.

As you enter the Sports Ground there is a pitch in front of you where the vets were playing then you see beyond it, the club building and the newly erected fencing surrounding the main pitch.  The clubhouse has a main room and a function room. It also has the bar and a food kiosk behind on the way to the toilets.  The England rugby was on the several TV screens and as I arrived at 2.40pm the gateman was just inside taking admission, before opening the admission gate 15 minutes before kick-off.  The ground is fenced off on 3 sides and has trees behind the far goal completing the enclosure.  The pitch is in good condition and is railed with dugouts on one touchline and a 100 seater stand on the nearer touchline, of which 50 seats was delivered only 2 days beforehand.  Still floodlights and a covered standing area to complete this season and a protected walkway from dressing room to ground to be constructed to progress higher I imagine among other things. But perfectly acceptable for Step 6 apart from the aforementioned list.

Glebe started the match in dominant mood and should have been a goal up after 15 minutes but the referee and assistant didn’t spot the ball hitting the wheel on the bottom station half a yard inside the goal before bouncing back into play. Both teams thought it had been awarded only for the referee to point for a goal kick!  This decision galvanised the away side into action and they had the better chances before, on 36 mins a corner wasn’t cleared properly by the Glebe defence and the 2^nd cross to the far post was directed across the goal into the far corner by Dalrymple.

Early in the second half and Glebe didn’t learn from their first half mistakes by again failing to completely clear the lines in defence and the return was stabbed home from close range by Johnson,  So Glebe found themselves 2 goals down against the run of play.  They did bombard the visitors for the last half hour, with bookings escalating, language on the field deteriorating as Glebe reduced the arrears with a ¼ of the game left when a free kick was headed in.  Despite the pressure and about 5 minutes stoppage time, Crocks stole the 3 points against a good Glebe side who should be up there about at the end of the season.