Hastings United 2 Whitehawk 0

Isthmian League Division One South East, Monday August 30th

My second game of the Bank Holiday weekend saw me take a trip to The Pilot Field in Hastings, it's a ground I have always wanted to do, so this seemed a good time to go and do it, and it saw Hastings United take a deserved win in the Sussex derby against Whitehawk in front of a bumper bank holiday crowd of 1,214.

Now I had been warned about how hilly the walk from the centre of Hastings up to The Pilot Field was, although it still did not prepare me for the assault that was to come, the first hill was steep but not to long although still tough, however, after getting over that mound and down the other side, the second climb went on for what seemed an eternity, and sadly there was no one at the summit by the lovely turnstile at the ground to give me oxygen, it would have come in handy!!!

What I was given though was free entry to the ground once the turnstile had opened, courtesy of  Hastings United First Team Performance Analyst James McCrossan (twitter handle @MccrossanJames), who had contacted me prior to the game and offered to put my name on the gate as his guest for the day, a wonderful gesture, sadly I did not get to see him but it was very much appreciated and it certainly saved me some money that was for sure, which does help, so thank you James.

Once inside I took my first look at the wonderful old ground that is The Pilot Field, it has a wonderful old stand, and also a lovely old terrace behind one of the goals next to the bar, it was certainly oozing character, that's what these new grounds do not have, character, and history too, I miss old grounds like this, so it was nice to experience this one today that was for sure.

Hastings were taking on Sussex rivals Whitehawk who had travelled the 37 miles from the outskirts of Brighton where they are based, and both sides were searching for their first league wins of the campaign, both had progressed in the FA Cup though, Hastings won 3-0 at Beckenham Town whilst Whitehawk had a walkover win against Whyteleafe, however both sided first two league encounters had yielded a draw and a defeat.

Who would grab the bragging rights here though, as mentioned in the opening paragraph a healthy bank holiday crowd had turned up to watch this one, and no doubt the majority of the crowd inside the stadium would have been encouraged and happier of the two sets of supporters as Hastings had done most of the pressing, but they lacked a cutting edge in the final third.

The visitors did see an effort whistled wide but this was their only real effort in a half in which they were certainly on the back foot for the majority, so they would have been happy to have reached the break level, although they had lost Freeman to an apparent head injury after he took two blows to the head during the first period, the first one saw him needing a Terry Butcher style bandage around his head, but after a second blow he was dragged off as it wasn't safe for him to continue.

It had been that type of game thus far, lots of fouls and niggly scrappy moments, with very little quality shown, but this being a derby neither side was going to give the other much, but as said if we were going to see a goal it looked more likely to be from the hosts, and on the hour mark they broke the deadlock when Sam Hasler swung in a free kick from the right with his left foot towards the near post, catching out keeper Stroomberg who could only help it on its way into the net, and cued mass celebrations amongst the home contingent.

Stroomberg would have been disappointed not to have kept it out if truth be told, but he then made two brilliant saves not long after that, with the second one a magnificent stop from point blank range, the hosts could not quite believe it, and you kept thinking would they rue these chances to probably put this contest to bed.

There was a brief spell thereafter when Whitehawk, who had been rather ordinary up till this point it has to be said, did threaten to maybe force a leveller, but in truth host keeper Louis Rodgers had little to do in the way of saves, and with time running out Hastings again looked to end this contest and saw substitute Sam Adams thump an effort against the post.

With the amount of stoppages for injuries in both halves, a total of ten minutes was added on overall, with four added on at the end of the game meaning the hosts just had to see those four minutes out to take a superb win, but they went one better, sealing the contest once and four all as with The Hawks pressing for a leveller, Hastings saw Ben Pope run through and slot beyond Stroomberg and draw a huge roar from the home fans, what a noise, and what a win for the home side, they have got their league campaign up and running now.

It had not been the greatest of games if truth be told, but the atmosphere more than made up for that, and made it a very enjoyable day out that was for sure, I thoroughly enjoyed me trip to The Pilot Field and also was grateful for the downhill descent back to Hastings station afterwards, no oxygen needed on the way back!!! Not sure Whitehawk enjoyed their journey back afterwards though, they were fairly poor in this contest and have work to do no doubt.

Full Time Hastings United 2 Whitehawk 0

 

Aylesbury United 1 Barton Rovers 1

Southern League Division One Central, Saturday August 28th

I made my first trip to Chesham and The Meadow for a match up between Aylesbury United and Barton Rovers, and it saw a wonder goal from Christophe Regis cancelled out by a second half strike by Sonny French as this decent battle ended all square.

Before this bank holiday weekend I put out a tweet saying "Fancy doing some new grounds this bank holiday weekend, but where..." and got some responses, but the first one was from Dan Harvey (twitter handle @DanHarvey74), who said in response "Stand you a beer if you're at Chesham (Aylesbury v Barton) Pete..." and I thought why not and so began plans for a trip to the Buckinghamshire end of the Metropolitan Line for the Saturday.

After a smooth journey we agreed to meet in The Red Lion in the centre of town to watch the Man City v Arsenal game, and he did indeed buy me that pint as promised, and after the game had finished I walked down to the ground with two of his Aylesbury mates where they explained to me the background to their beloved club. It was very interesting to hear indeed and gave me a great hindsight and background to an historic club.

The club have been nomadic since 2006 when they lost their ground (the ground still stands there today in fact after many proposals to build on it have been rejected, so the club may one day go back if things fall in the right way, well they hope anyway) and they have played at Thame United, Leighton Town and now Chesham United, but they still have a core support who like to shout and holler there encourage to the Mighty Ducks.

The Meadow has such character too, I once remember watching a non league football season video of the 1990-91 season (the season I first got into watching football) and I remember one such game shown early on in it was Chesham United 8-2 Whyteleafe, and the ground hasn't changed much since then and although a bit old and showing its age a bit, it's a wonderful old ground and I love these grounds so much, so it was a pleasure to visit, and it has a nice clubhouse too with friendly faces to welcome you, so that was nice.

Anyway onto the actual football game itself, and the hosts so far this season had lost their opening game here at The Meadow 0-2 to Didcot Town, then won 5-2 at Kidlington before thumping Brimscombe & Trupp 8-0 away in the FA Cup, whilst opponents Barton Rovers, who had travelled over from near Luton way, had drawn their opening game at Wantage Town 1-1, lost at home to North Leigh 1-2, before they beat a familiar side to me in the shape of ESL side West Essex 3-0 in the cup last weekend.

So both had come into this one off the back of morale boosting cup wins, and added a few coffers to the pot in the process too, but how would this match up go?

Well, the hosts looked like they were going to have the perfect start when they were awarded a spot kick after just four minutes when Ezra Anthonio-Forde was brought down inside the box, but Max Hercules saw his penalty saved by Kyle Forster, meaning they could not grab that early advantage, and just past the quarter hour mark, they were to fall behind in spectacular style.

It was pretty much the first real attack Rovers had mounted, but it was all done by one player, Regis, who blasted past Ducks midfielder Mark Riddick who tried to pull him down just inside the hosts half but could not, and the Rovers attacker charged on to beat more players before slotting a wonderful finish beyond James Weatherall for a truly wonderful goal, stunning the hosts, and most of us inside the ground, to give the visitors the advantage.

How would Aylesbury respond? Well, they created quite a few openings with the best one a lovely interchange between Jamie Jellis and Anthonio-Forde, with the former running on and curling a left footed effort off the woodwork, but try as they might the hosts could not find the net and somehow went into the break a goal down.  It was time for a lovely cheese and bacon burger from Bill's Diner behind one of the goals, very tasty and a nice half time 'snack' before the action resumed and the hosts hoped they would be more clinical in front of goal, whilst Rovers were hoping for a second goal and a more routine second period and a first league win.

Five minutes after the break the hosts did finally find the net, and Anthonio Forde was involved again, as after the visitors had given the ball away, Anthonio-Forde fed strike partner French who slotted past Forster to send the home support wild and they now wanted their side to go on and maybe win this game now.

Instead of that they looked like they would quickly find themselves behind when sloppy play at the back almost let the visitors in, but then in Rovers next attack they were awarded a penalty when Bradley Bell was adjudged to have been brought down by Kuda Sangoya although to me it looked like they kicked each other, but a penalty it was, but Regis saw his spot-kick saved by Weatherall, the same end the hosts had missed their spot-kick at, maybe it was that end I don't know, but Rovers had passed up a huge opportunity to restore their lead.

The second period was a far more even affair it must be said, although the best chance other then that missed penalty fell to the hosts but saw the effort slammed over after one of many blocks by the visitors back line, which did not impress the noisy Ducks fans behind me who could not believe it!!! 

This was most certainly a highly competitive affair, and in stoppage time it threatened to boil over when Ducks winger Jellis felt an opponent (I cannot remember who it was sorry!!!) left a boot in whilst he was on the floor, and both ended up squaring up head to head, and it resulted in some heated exchanges and a yellow card for each, so all good in the end.

So the game ended all square, so one more point to each side, Aylesbury could and should have been out of sight after the first half, however a more even second period saw Rovers more of a threat so they may feel a draw was the fair result in the end, but fair or not, it was the result and it was certainly a hard earned one in the end by both.

A superb day though and thoroughly enjoyable, many thanks to Dan Harvey for suggesting this game and for the pint bought before the game. Hastings United on Monday and another superb old ground to visit, looking forward to that immensely...

Full Time Aylesbury United 1 Barton Rovers 1

 

Southend Manor 3 Athletic Newham 4

Essex Senior League, Tuesday August 24th

Tuesday night saw me back at my local ground in the shape of Southchurch Park for an Essex Senior League contest between Southend Manor and Athletic Newham, and a crazy ending saw the visitors net twice to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat and break hosts hearts in the process.

Traffic on the A127 leading into Southend was busy as per usual, which held the visitors up in getting to the ground until 7.15pm, but with no request of a delayed kick off time forthcoming, the match began at 7.49pm, earlier than I had anticipated that was for sure, would it affect the visitors though, they like Manor had been dumped out of the FA Cup at the weekend so were also looking to record a positive result here to try and get that disappointment out of there system.

The hosts were on a three game losing streak themselves in all competitions so needed a positive outcome in this one, and they did start the game in a positive Manor (pardon the pun!!!) but then saw the visitors strike the post before taking the lead soon after on the quarter hour mark when an unfortunate ricochet saw the ball land into the path of Richard Kone who fired past Jack Allen.

It didn't take Manor long to respond though as five minutes later levelled as a cross into the box saw visiting keeper Wilkinson Boateng flap at it and saw the ball loop to the far post where Luka Frankis was on hand to send a looping header into the net, and then just past the half hour mark Alex Jenkins floated a free kick into the danger zone and Boateng got it all wrong and saw the ball sail over his head and into the net, two howlers from the visiting keeper and Manor were now in front.

But, that lead lasted barely a minute as Newham went down the other end and levelled as the brilliant Kone struck home a loose ball into the bottom corner giving Allen no chance at all and it meant this rather frenetic half of football ended all square and leaving us all trying to draw our breathe, it had been a rather breathless half that was for sure.

The hosts then managed to edge ahead just past the hour mark when full back Ben Sargent fired home a loose ball after Jordan Chambers, who put in another brilliant shift for his side, battled away with a defender before managing to get the ball over into Sargent's path, and the hosts had the lead once again, could they hang on this time and take a much needed win.

It certainly looked that way and luck seemed to be on their side after Kone got through and sliced wide, and then Tony Cookey somehow missed when right in front of goal, Manor themselves had moments themselves when they could of wrapped it up but didn't, but then lost Frankis to injury, and this meant the hosts had no one who could hold the ball up at that end of the pitch, and this soon saw the hosts drop deep and invite pressure onto themselves.

This was all happening despite Newham being reduced to ten men in the 78th minute when Joel Appiah was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes after something he said to the linesman, but with a minute of the ninety remaining the visitors grabbed what we thought would be a late point as Louis Hiobi struck a decent effort in off the post, but we were very wrong.

That is because two minutes into stoppage time the still ten men grabbed an extraordinary winner when Reon Ried was fed inside the box to finish beyond Allen and send the visitors wild and see the hosts sink to their knees in disbelief, it was a game they simply could not lose after being 3-2 up with a minute of normal time to go, and also a man up as well, unbelievable, but fair play to the visitors who kept going and got their rewards in the end, making that difficult journey to Southend very worthwhile indeed.

Four defeats in a row for Manor now though, and seventeen goals conceded too, yes they have scored eight goals in that time too but they need to cut out the mistakes at the back if they are to progress any time soon, this defeat will hurt that is for sure, and they need to stop the rot as soon as possible, this after such a good start to the campaign. That toughness I spoke about will certainly needed to be drawn on in their next few games...

Full Time Southend Manor 3 Athletic Newham 4

 

FC Baresi 1 Lymore Gardens 4

Essex Alliance League Senior Division, Monday August 23rd

I was over Barking's Mayesbrook Park on Monday evening to see a rare Essex Alliance contest under the lights for a Waltham Forest derby between FC Baresi & Lymore Gardens in the newly granted Step 7 division, the Senior Division, which got underway at the weekend.

This was both sides first game of the new season, and big season for all fourteen clubs in the division this season with the prospect of promotion to Senior Football for some at least a reality now, so it was likely to be a competitive season for sure, and if this game was anything to go by then we will be in for a lively one too.

There were only seven minutes on the clock when visitors Lymore Gardens grabbed the lead, and it was a special strike from George Dwobeng after he fired an unstoppable effort from range into the bottom corner of the net, and cued rather exuberant celebrations from him and his team mates, not surprising considering this was a derby and under lights in a stadium, so this was a big night for both sides.

Unfortunately the first half would be remembered for the wrong reasons, both sets of players were shall we say rather excitable and on the edge and flashpoints were evitable in my mind anyway, and the first flashpoint happened over on the far side from me in front of the visitors bench, not sure what happened to start it all off but it took a couple of minutes to calm everyone down.

No cards or punishment were handed out on this occasion, but a few minutes later it all kicked off again, this time over in the near side to me in front of the main stand, when FC Baresi's nine and Gardens five came together and resulted in an altercation between the two and another Gardens player, and then all hell broke loose as everyone, including the visitors boss who had charged across the field to get involved, or keep the peace, not sure which one, and it took several minutes for this to calm down and also for all three officials to deliberate over what had just happened (thought the officials handled it very well to be honest so fair play to them).

The result was a red card for the hosts nine and the visitors five, whilst the Gardens manager was also dismissed too for entering the field of play and getting involved in the way he did (to be fair to him he did come up to Rob Parker who is a committee member and the social media man for the league) during the second period to apologise to that was good to see, but the scenes, which threatened to carry on in the tunnel/dressing room area after the sent off men had walked off, were certainly overshadowing the contest, so half time was certainly the time to calm everyone down and actually play a game of football.

Thankfully the second half had no such incidents, but the beginning of the second period saw Bradley Donovan net a twelve minute hat-trick to all but end this contest, netting his first and doubling Gardens lead two minutes after the break when bringing the ball down and firing home superbly, and then three minutes later he had another as after the keeper has saved a shot from the left, he could only parry into the path of Donovan who converted from close range.

And it was 0-4 and a hat-trick for the striker when he took advantage of a stranded keeper after he had come out to try and win a challenge with another attacker, and the loose ball was hooked home from long range brilliantly by Donovan, and you felt the visitors may go on and win this quite comfortably.

Donovan went off just before the hour mark, his work was done, and it seemed that Gardens work was also done too, and maybe some of their players thought this as they took their foot off the gas so to speak as the hosts, who to be fair to them kept going, begin to dominate proceedings but they just did not have an end product and missed some really good opportunities to get back into the contest.

The only time they did finally breach the Gardens back line came eleven minutes from time when a cross from the right was put into his own net by a defender, and if FC Baresi had someone to put the ball in the net they may well have produced an unlikely comeback, but they didn't, so the visitors held on for a superb win in this derby game. That Donovan hat-trick and the hosts poor start to the second period ultimately cost them and won the game for the visitors in the end.  

Waltham Forest bragging rights to Lymore Gardens then, FC Baresi will no doubt want to even it up in the return game later on in the campaign...

Full Time FC Baresi 1 Lymore Gardens 4

Felixstowe & Walton United 5 Southend Manor 3

Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round, Saturday August 21st

Saturday saw me make my first trip over to The Goldstar Ground in Felixstowe as Isthmian League North hosts Felixstowe & Walton United welcomed my local Essex Senior League side Southend Manor to the Suffolk coast for an Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round tie, and it saw the hosts survive a late second half comeback from the visitors to progress in what was a fantastic cup tie.

The hosts were clear favourites to progress, they were a level above and had drawn their only league game so far, 1-1 at home to Basildon United, a club just down the road from Manor as it goes, whilst Manor's solid start to the league and cup campaign had hit the buffers somewhat in the week leading up to this tie after heavy league defeats at Saffron Walden Town and Stanway Rovers, conceding eight in the process, so this seemed a rather difficult assignment here.

This is the cup though and shocks are always possible, but the hosts began well and it was no real surprise when they hit the front after twelve minutes when a lovely diagonal cross field ball found Zak Brown, and his pace took him beyond Manor full back Ben Sargent before his cross into the six yard box found Oliver Canfer who with keeper Jack Allen committed to the ball across goal, saw a simple finish for the hosts striker and they had the early breakthrough.

Instead of this galvanising the hosts though, this seemed to wake Manor up, and for the next five or ten minutes of the game began to cause problems, and Luka Frankis had a golden chance to level when presented with a chance about ten yards out, but his effort was brilliantly tipped wide by hosts keeper Callum Robinson, and then moments later Manor had the ball in the net but the flag had gone up, much to their frustrations.

This was then compounded just past the midway point of the first period when The Seasiders doubled their lead after Henry Barley curled an effort towards the far corner from range, and saw Manor keeper Allen dive over the effort and see the ball end up in the back of the net, perhaps the keeper should have done better but it was a pretty decent strike and the hosts now had a two goal cushion.

Three minutes after this second goal though Manor did find a route back into the contest in controversial circumstances, as a free kick pumped into the box by Alex Jenkins saw it headed into the six yard box where Frankis was on hand to force the ball over the line. The hosts were furious as they claimed keeper Robinson had both hands on the ball before Frankis forced it in, but the goal stood and Manor had a deserved goal it had to be said.

Manor continued to compete well for the remainder of the first half, although they did have keeper Allen to thank for making some decent stops to prevent a third for the hosts, and the early exchanges of the second period saw a very competitive encounter, with Manor far exceeding many peoples expectations so far in this cup tie.

Just past the hour mark though it the hosts increased their lead though and restored that two goal cushion as a result as a ball headed towards goal saw a combination of keeper and defender keep it out, but the ball fell to the back post where Billy Holland was on hand to turn the ball home, and then ten minutes later it looked over as the hosts added a fourth goal when a wonderful pass from MIles Powell released Canfer in on goal, and he made no mistake, slotting beyond the onrushing Allen, and you feared that the hosts would add a few more before the end.

But this young Manor side refused to give up, they certainly have a toughness about them, and they made it 4-2 with just over fifteen minutes to play after some sleepy home defending allowed Jordan Chambers to get in behind and slot home, and then with nine minutes to go it was very much game on when a cross to the back post saw Chambers head into the danger zone and allow Joshua Devlin to convert at the near post, and the hosts were now rocking somewhat.

However, after several tense minutes for the home side, they finally sealed the deal deep into stoppage time when Powell managed to get himself in on goal and slot past Allen to end a spirited and determined Manor fightback and put themselves into the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup.

An absolutely brilliant cup tie and well worth the nigh on six hour round trip on the train to get there, well done to Felixstowe & Walton United on your victory and I must say it was a wonderful set up they have there, and a friendly club too, whereas for Manor they can hold their heads high after a very good performance against a Step Four outfit, they battled right to the end so fair play to them all, it certainly helped making this a very entertaining contest indeed.

Full Time Felixstowe & Walton United 5 Southend Manor 3