Salford City v Grimsby Town. Tuesday 17th September, 2019

Salford 1 Grimsby 0

My wife doesn't watch much football these days. This wasn't always the case, when we were first courting she seemed to enjoy coming to watch Rovers with me. There was one problem though. She was a jinx. Incredibly it wasn't until her 17th attempt that she actually saw Rovers win! To be fair we weren't living in Bristol at the time so most of the games were away - but still.

I'm not quite at this level with Grimsby, but I'm certainly no lucky charm. Tonight was my 7th game watching the Mariners and I'm yet to see them win.

This is the third season in a row I've teamed up with Pete to go and watch his beloved Grimsby Town. Usually our mate Tom is in tow. But the pull of league two action and a midweek overnighter wasn't enough to tempt him on this occasion.

So it was just me and Pete who enjoyed a pleasant 3 hour train ride from Bristol Temple Meads to Manchester Piccadilly. Sipping on coffee and enjoying the sunshine on green and brown september fields out the window. I also spent a fair chunk of the journey trying to get my tickets in order. In the pursuit of thriftiness I'd booked my journey through a site that broke down the long journey in to lots of short ones to save money. This was all well and good but it left us with no room for anything else on our pull down tables.

On arriving in Manchester at lunchtime it was time for a beer. Our first stop - The Piccadilly Tap. This was a stones through from the station and came highly recommended from internationally renowned groundhopper - Matt Losboyos. What a lovely bar this was, Pete and me supped on an IPA and a pilsner respectively whilst taking in a bit of Manchester out the window. Fair play to the homeless bloke who spotted a couple had left two half finished pints on the outside table. In he swooped in the blink of an eye and downed them both.

I went vegan at the end of last season. So far I'm not regretting it. I even managed two weeks in France without wavering. Following a plant based diet isn't always that compatible with a day out at the football though. We'd arrived in Manchester at 1pm and the priority before kick off was site seeing and a drink or two. Faffing about looking for a vegan cafe wasn't on the agenda. Thus we were picking up what we could on the go. By the time we finished a bit of culture at The People's History Museum, I'd only managed to source two bags of crisps and a vegan sausage roll from Greggs.

There was much to mull over from our trip to the People's history museum as we walked north towards Salford. We'd seen an excellent exhibition on the 18th and 19th century events that led to the Peterloo massacre of 1819. This included a biography of feminist philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft who we learned had a lover called Fanny Blood.

Fittingly we stopped for a rest at a lovely old pub called The Starr Inn which may well have been standing at the time of Peterloo. Ten years ago it was bought by it's locals and remains a community owned pub to this day. We arrived just after 4 to find the door locked and a few twitchy looking locals waiting outside. The sign said it should be open at 4pm. One bloke, who we would later find out was called Tommy, was absolutely livid. by ten past 4 he was pacing up and down coming out with some choice words about the work ethic of the yet to materialise barman. As ten past turned in to quarter past his rage was at fever pitch. Dropping C bombs left right and centre, he noticed Pete's Grimsby shirt and tried to enlist us in the injustice of it all: "These lads have come all the way from Grimsby and they still can't get a fucking pint!" A brave local encouraged him to "chill your boots". Thankfully at this point the barman arrived, clearly having come straight from a job on a building site and opened up.

Inside the Starr inn was beautiful. Resplendent with curved green leather clad benches, little nooks and crannies and a well stocked bar. Remarkably, after a few sips of his first pint, Tommy calmed right down and like the other few locals in there made us feel very welcome. They were interested in the Bristol Rovers - City derby and asked lots of questions about Grimsby. In turn, they regaled us with all sorts of tales and educated us on the footballing geography of greater Manchester. Tommy revealed he was a Salford season ticket holder but said he wasn't going tonight as he was on the piss. I guessed he'd had a couple before the Starr had opened and almost pointed out to him that he still had 3 hours of drinking time before kick off, but thought better of it. Another regular had wondered in by this time. He was greeted by one bloke with the words "Knock off Ron you cunt" which seemed to be said with genuine affection. Ron also showed an interest in us. He was definitely friendly but I could understand very little of what he said due partly to his strong accent, and because he was absolutely steaming. Pete's ear was better than mine though and they bonded over fishing stories.

Inside The Starr Inn

So warm the welcome at the Starr that we could have happily hunkered down for the night but it was time to go to the game.

The meteoric rise of Salford City from the Northern Premier League Divison One North to the Football league in 5 years is well documented. This is thanks largely to the two part BBC documentary that aired a couple of years ago and the profile of the 'Class of 92' who took ownership of the club and have pumped in millions. This is their first season in the football league and unsurprisingly the ground, Moor lane, has undergone a complete transformation.

We were to be in the away end of what is now called the Penisnular Stadium. Over a thousand Grimsby fans had made the long trip across from North Lincolnshire and they were in fine voice from the off. Tommy had assured us we could "get a scoff" at the ground but my veganism tripped me up again. Whilst Pete enjoyed a pie I had another bag of ready salted crisps.

Moor lane is a neat modern stadium, it's near symmetrical with two equal size terraces behind the goals and two all seater stands along the sides. The flood lights are in the shape of the club new logo and there is what appears to be a permanent studio box in one of the corners of the pitch for pundits. Over the last few years Salford have been on the TV a lot and it looks like the Nevilles and Becks et al are expecting that to continue. The ground looks unrecognisable from the one that featured on the documentary and they are getting upwards of 2000 for every game, adult tickets of £10 must certainly help with this.

Grimsby were going in to this as the more in form team and there was lots of optimism behind the goal. One nice feature of the ground is that the stands are very close to the pitch. A fan in front of us was able to lean over the advertising hoardings and reach the poles holding up the back of the net to put a sticker on it. The atmosphere was good and Grimsby started well. They had the promising looking trio upfront of Moses Ogbu and veterans Matt Green and big man James Hanson. Green had a free header early on from a deep cross but could only find the centre of the goal and Salford keeper Lethren was able to tip it over.

Salford had a good outlet in their left back Touray, he was happy taking the ball down the wing at pace and looked a threat. The home team went 1-0 up with a free kick after twenty minutes. Long serving Grimsby keeper Mckeown either lost the flight of the ball in the wall or it took a slight deflection, as it flew past him as he was leaning the other way.

Shortly after the restart everyone thought Grimsby had equalised. They had a free kick infront of us just outside the area. Jordan Cook found the bottom corner with a beautiful curling effort. Cook celebrated with a knee slide right in front of us and the away end was a sea of limbs. The Salford players moped back in to position and as the Grimsby players got ready for the restart, the ref was just about to blow his whistle when the fourth official caught his attention. Apparently Matt Green had committed a foul by pushing part of the wall out of the way. The goal was disallowed much to our dismay.

Grimsby continued to dominate but the Salford centre backs were dealing pretty well with the high crosses in to the box. The disallowed goal seemed to deflate the away side a bit, but we still felt if they got an equaliser they'd go on and win it. They had plenty of corners and got themselves in to good positions but couldn't find the finish. Centre back Waterfall came closest right at the end, leaning backwards he managed to send a half volley towards the top corner but Letheren was there again to tip it over.

1-0 at the final whistle. We wondered off back to our hotel. In search of food we found a take away where I settled for a salty portion of chips. Coupled with my crisp eating I began to feel a bit shrivelled up. The next morning I bought a lettuce to much on to make amends.

Another enjoyable but winless trip to watch Grimsby. Hopefully they'll have me back again.

Welton Rovers v Bath City. Tuesday 12th February 2019

Welton Rovers 1 Bath City 1 (Welton win 5-3 on penalties)

How far away is Welton? That was the question I was frantically asking myself on this Tuesday evening. I'd originally planned to go to Cinderford for their game with Bristol Rovers development squad. That had succumbed to a water logged pitch so at 6.30pm, I was scouring the fixture lists looking for a game within an hours drive. Football league action was on offer at Newport and Swindon but I fancied a new ground. Seeing Welton were hosting Bath City in the Somerset Cup, I checked Google maps and discovered they played in West Clewes, near Midsomer Norton and within an hours drive of Gone for a Burton's Bristol HQ. Game on.

Nestled in the Radstock and Midsomer Norton area, Welton have been main stays in the Western League for over a century. They were set up as a sporting club in Victorian times for the local mining community. Judging by the ample size of the club house I expect they still serve as a main focal point in the community. With a well furnished bar I imagine the club house does a brisk trade even on non match days situated as it is on the main road. This is probably just as well because I doubt Rovers generate much money from ticket sales. Not because they don't draw in the crowds on match days. For tonight's game a few hundred were in and I gather that Welton are a well supported team at the Western League level. Their ground though is very porous. This is because it doubles up as a recreation ground and thus has entrances all over the place. It has two different play parks on the site, one directly behind a goal and another just behind the main terrace down one side of the pitch. Even walking in the main entrance practically waving my wallet around looking for a turnstile, I almost missed the man near a shed at the side of the car park who took my ten pound note and struggled to muster change from the £6 entrance fee.

The ground inside is a beaut. There's not much behind the goals apart from a car park on one side and the afore mentioned play park behind the other. On the length of the pitch nearest the entrance though, there's the big club house complete with pitch facing tea hatch, two covered stands side by side and then a good size uncovered terrace beyond them. On the other side of the pitch were the dugs outs and a raised walkway that went the length of the pitch and separated it from the gardens of near by houses.

It was clear Bath City had bought a decent following and there was a good buzz around the ground. A Bath fan I encountered, who seemed to be in the know, said they were putting out a strong team as a lot of the players were "on the naughty step" after a 3-0 defeat at the weekend in the league. I was pleased to see Ryan Brunt in the starting line up. Still only 25, I remember the big centre forward being a cut above - and the main man for at least one season 5 or 6 years ago in a struggling league 2 Bristol Rovers side. Injuries have taken their toll and now he is back playing regular football hoping to help Bath get promoted in to the National League. 

After an impeccably observed minutes silence and an appearance from the Mayor of Midsomer Norton who was wearing a quite fantastic rainbow coloured blazer, the game kicked off. With Welton being in the Western League Divison One, there is 4 divisions between the clubs and as Bath were putting out a strong team - I presumed this might be a one sided affair. 

I should have known better. The Cup is a great leveller and the teams settled in to a full blooded and pretty even opening set of exchanges. I'd wandered over to the play park behind the goal that City were attacking presuming I might see a lot of action. The Welton keeper quickly struck me as a character. He was roundly ignoring the manager and much of his team telling him to kick his goal kicks to his left and kept on driving them down to his right, the side that all the big Welton players had vacated.

City were struggling to create much of note so i ambled on down past a short piece of running track and round to the dug outs. By the time I got there, the Welton bench were still offering constructive feedback to their keeper re his goal kicks:

"I can't kick it to the left - the floodlights are in my eyes"

"Fuck the lights - get a cap".

Welton had some quality and were undoubtedly well up for it. As the half progressed they were growing in to the game. Their number 6 in midfield was impressing and had a good chance to give them the lead when he headed just wide after he'd had a shot blocked out to the wing.

Towards the end of the half it all got a bit heated between the two technical areas. One of Bath's star players - Ross Stearn went on a run through midfield and was hacked down. The City bench erupted, taking issue not just with the challenge but also claiming that a Welton player had yelled "foul him!" just before he was bought down. The Welton management duo were in no mood to be peace makers and the resulting bad blood niggled on for the rest of the game.

It would be ungentlemanly of me to quote too much of it, not that it was particularly unsavoury. Highlights included Bath City being accused of being "big time Charlies", Welton were accused of lacking class, "oh and that's class is it?" came the retort. Someone got called Des Lynam apparently as an insult and then there was a bizarre exchange between Gerry Gill the Bath manager and a Welton kit man about which club had the most volunteers.
"That's why these games are a waste of time" was all the increasingly frustrated Bath manager could offer up as a rallying cry as the game progressed. 

At half time I had a nice cup of tea and a warm in the club house and enjoyed the tanoy man reading out the half time draw. I couldn't see him but his voice was beautiful, the kind of accent you only find on a rural Somerset man of a certain age. The way he encouraged the crowd to "come and support the first team - down the Gorge - at Cheddar - on Saturday" had me reaching for my diary.

Tough in the tackle, composed in possession, Welton were well organised and they continued to compete well in to the second half. Their centre forward was wearing a Petr Cech style hat and was full of running, defending from the front, he never gave the Bath back 4 time to pass it out of defence. On a rare occasion when Bath did get a clear sight on goal, the still capless Welton keeper pulled off a great save, tipping over from a pile driver to keep things at nil nil.

With a few minutes to go the dead lock was finally broken. Target man Brunt, who had largely been kept quiet to this point, showed a bit of class and bought the ball down with back to goal before turning his man and getting a quick shot away. It was saved by the Welton keeper, but he could only parry to Tom Smith who put the rebound in to the net. 1-0 Bath City.

A final throw of the dice came from the Welton managers as they chucked on Aaron Seviour as a late sub. They won a free kick on the right and after it went in to the mixer, the Bath keeper failed to gather and Seviour was first to react, slotting the ball home with his first touch. Wild celebrations in the terraces and in the Welton dug out which drowned out the final whistle seconds later. 

There's no extra time in the Somerset Cup so it was straight to penalties. I walked round behind the goal just in time to see 5 great pens from Welton and one blasted over from Ryan Brunt which meant the home team emerged victorious by 5 to 3. The crowd and players were as delighted as you would expect having knocked out a strong Bath City who are 4 divisions above them.

I felt privileged to be part of the crowd that I found out later witnessed Welton beat Bath City in a competitive fixture for the first time since 1950. A cracking cup tie in a decent ground. 

   

   

Northampton Town v Grimsby Town. Saturday, 24th November 2018

2 Northampton v Grimsby 2

Having enjoyed our selves so much at Blundell Park last season, my Grimsby supporting pal, Pete, willing accomplice Tom and me, thought it would be a good idea to join the Mariners on an away day.

Thus we ended up booking a weekend in Northampton for this league two clash. Northampton was chosen due to being a weekend we could all make more than anything else. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting much from Sixfields, or as it is now called for sponsorship purposes, the PTS Academy Stadium. From the little I knew about it - that it's a modern all seater in a retail park, I assumed it was the kind of place that suited a bland corporate name such as the PTS Acadamey Stadium. I am pleased to say however it exceeded expectations. Partly this was because being in a packed away end with the passionate Grimsby fans would make for a decent atmosphere anywhere. But on arrival at Sixfields, it was clear that the place had more character than I'd given it credit for.

The history of Northampton Football club is not without scandal, financial hardship and political skulduggery. They have been at Sixfields, their current ground, since the mid 90's. Before this they played for a hundred years or so at the County Ground, a home they shared with Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. It's funny to think that as recently as 1994, within the premier league era, there was a football league club playing on a cricket pitch. In the latter part of the twentieth century, the owners of the ground made it clear that the cricket team were their favourites. The cricketers were charged a pepper corn rent whilst the football team were not allowed to put a stand on the side of the pitch nearest the wicket, but were still expected to let the football pitch be used as a car park during the cricket season. After the Bradford fire of 1985, the football team were ordered to dismantle their main stand, the only stand of any note at the ground.

By the early 90's the club was near bankrupt. Step forward multiple saviours. First came the groundbreaking intervention of a group of supporters who would go on to form the first ever supporters trust. They had two clear objectives - to raise money to save the club and also to seek genuine involvement and representation for supporters at board level and below. They remain active and have served as the template for the multiple supporters trusts that have emerged over the last 25 years. The local council then stepped in to the breach. Flush with cash from the sale of the local bus company, Northampton Borough Council paid for the building of Sixfields as a community sports complex. It was intended to be used for football, rugby league, gridiron and athletics with a track built alongside the main stadium.

This was not a happy ever after moment however. In recent years, the club has been rocked again to it's foundations by more scandal and financial turmoil. In 2014, the council again stepped forward, this time giving the then owners a loan in excess of £10 million to redevelop the stadium. The then leader of the council, became a tory MP shortly after and was later investigated for receiving a large donation for his election campaign from a firm paid to develop the ground. He has since stood down and the council has spent most of the last 4 years trying to find out where the hell the missling millions have gone. It is clear not much of it went on the ground. As far as I understand, all the stadium has got to show for the £10 million is one stand being ripped down and replaced with a half finished one. It has the same amount of seats as the old one though lacks a proper roof. Plus, the athletics track has been closed for 4 years as a result of being used as a dumping ground for the building work.

Enough history. Having watched Coventry at the ricoh the night before, we'd checked in to our hotel in the centre of Northampton late on Friday. In an act of prudence I'd booked a cheap room consisting of a double and a sofa bed meant for under 12's. I won the game of paper, scissors, stone and took the sofa bed leaving the lads to enjoy the double. 12 year olds must be pretty big these days because I had ample room and slept like a baby. It was also pretty cold as we couldn't work out how to shut the window so being tightly packed in worked out well.

Come Saturday, after a big breakfast we spent the rest of the morning half heartedly trying to find where the Grimsby fans would be congregating pre match. Generally though, we were just ambling about and seeing what Northampton had to offer. After admiring it's very fine town hall, we stumbled across the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery but it was closed for a refurb. We had a nice coffee within the cultural quarter and then it was midday and time to look for a pub whilst Pete went shopping. Despite being in the undisputed boot and shoe capital of Britain, Pete, ever the contrarian, went in search of a pair of fingerless gloves.

The Northampton Museum and Art Gallery. FYI closed for a refurb until 2019

Our first port of call was a lovely micro pub called the St Giles Ale House. After a quick couple of beer bats, or beer tapas as they called it here, we picked up Pete and slowly made our way to the ground, stopping occasionally for a beer and to put a bet on Grimsby to win. 

Sixfields is, I think it is fair to say, on the outskirts of Northampton rather than genuinely 'out of town' and the walk there wasn't too arduous or devoid of stuff to look at. Our half hour stroll took in a couple of nice pubs, the towns rugby union stadium, a reptile shop, a big Church's shoes factory and a strange giant chimney like structure which apparently is a lift tower. Eventually arriving at the ground we approached it through a retail park and then came over the brow of a hill to look down at the ground below us. It was a lovely sight. During Coventry's unhappy spell exiled here, many of their fans watched the games from this vantage point and probably had a half decent view, minus one of the goals as the incline is pretty steep.

Before descending down to the pitch. Our eyes were drawn to the athletics track that is directly behind the new unfinished stand. It had an eerie and long forgotten feel about it. I was amazed to find out that it had been closed for only 4 and a half years. There was something quite poignant about seeing it all overgrown and fenced off, resembling something from a nuclear wasteland. The juxtaposition of the football stadium right next to it blaring out pre match music and generally full of life was quite something.

 If Chrenobyl had an athletics track, it probably looks something like this now.

We made our way down the hill and around to the away end behind the far goal. We passed the main stand which had a fully glass fronted concourse at the top making it look a bit like a giant green house. It also reminded me of the leisure centre from The Brittas Empire. The Grimsby fans had travelled in their masses and by kick off the away stand was packed. As a Bristol Rovers fan I was looking forward to seeing ex players Andy Williams and John Joe O-Toole turning out for Northampton.

It seemed like a good number of the Grimsby fans had had a drink or two and they were all in high spirits. A few friendly stewards stood in front of us including one young female with a bee hive hair cut. She showed a good sense of humour when an "Amy Winehouse - She's back from the dead" shout went up.

Meanwhile the game had kicked off and it wasn't long before Grimsby conceded an unnecessary corner. The ball came in and after a short rally of head tennis, veteran striker Andy Williams was at the back post to smash the ball home - 1-0. Grimsby's heads didn't drop and they equalised through Charles Vernam when he took down a looping cross, stepped in side a defender and finished neatly with his left, low in to the net. Just before half time, Williams almost gave Northampton the lead with a header, but long serving Town keeper James Mckeowan made an incredible save, pushing the ball on to the inside of the post before it was hacked away leaving the scores level at the break.

After a half time mince pie, the second half set off at a frantic pace with both teams creating chances. The Cobblers took the lead through a sweet free kick from Van Veen. Grimsby came back stongly though and after a scramble in the box following a free kick, Harry Cardwell was able to bundle home to bring the game to 2-2. Grimsby were now looking likely to go and win it and the excitement in the away end was ratchetting up. It all got too much for one bloke in blue at the front. After hugging the stewards and jumping the hoardings once too often, he was wrestled out of the ground in a blur of limbs and hi-vis jackets.

 On the pitch, young Akheem Rose had come on as sub for Grimsby and had a good chance with a header 5 minutes from the end, he couldn't keep it down though and it sailed harmlessly over the bar. From the resultant goal kick, Grimsby's James Collins was sent off for a foul. This killed the last few minutes as Grimsby took their foot off the gas and looked to settle for a point. It remained 2-2 at the final whistle. A strong showing from Grimsby, especially compared to the desperate performance we witnessed last season when they were in the middle of a record run of games without a win. Manager Michael Jolly has clearly got them believing in them selves and playing some nice stuff.

We slowly made our way back to town before enjoying a lovely curry at Aladdins Balti. Next we settled in for the evening in the cosiness of The Malt Shovel Tavern. What a cracking pub! It turns out that Carlsberg have a giant brewing plant in Northampton which was right outside the Malt Shovel. I've never been much of a fan of Carlsberg but drinking it at source made for a pleasant drop.

Another fine weekend following the fortunes of Grimsby Town Football Club. I recommend a trip to Northampton, the stadium and the town were not as boring as I was led to believe.

QPR v Bristol Rovers, Tuesday 28th August, 2018

QPR 3 Bristol Rovers 1

After Chelsea and Fulham in 2016 and 2017 respectively, this was Rovers third annual outing to West London in the league cup. Tonights 'glamour tie' involved a trip to Championship QPR. Hopes were high amongst us travelling fans, although Rovers had had a poor start to the season, QPR's had been even worse and included a 7-1 mauling at West Brom and a recent 3-0 defeat at home to Bristol City.

My last visit to Loftus Road had been a bit of a disaster by all accounts. It was back in 2007 for a league game against Ipswich. At the time I was working in a hostel for rough sleepers. QPR were kind enough to donate half a dozen tickets to the hostel for the game. Myself and a colleague, tempted by the free ticket offered to come in on our day off to accompany the residents accross town. I ended up spending the afternoon with a new Irish resident called Jackie. By the time we got to the ground, she'd already had a few clandestine cans of Tennants and was in high spirits. As we took our seats just before kick off it was noticeable we were surrounded a lot of young children, presumably fellow recipients of QPR's community outreach drive. As the game got underway the youngsters enthusiastically joined in on the "RANGERS, RANGERS" chant. Unfortunately this was too much for Jackie to take. An Irish catholic, she retorted, very loudly, "FUCK RANGERS - CELTIC, CELTIC" etc. My desperate attempts to shush her and explain that QPR had nothing to do with Glasgow Rangers fell on deaf ears and she carried on with her choice observations. Needless to say we were attracting a lot of looks from the children, the accompanying adults and nearby stewards. It seemed Jackie was relishing the notoriety and she showed no sign of toning things down. We left before half time. Probably just before we were asked to. Me back home with my tail between my legs and Jackie to a nearby off license.

Tonight I was in esteemed company. In the car were Harley of Gas Cast fame and my pal Tom, retired blogger and now official photographer for Bristol Manor Farm. Briony and Paul were the other knowledgeable gas heads sitting in the back. We zipped up the M4 and arrived in Shepherds Bush in plenty of time, allowing an enjoyable pint or two in The Queen Adelaide before heading to the game.

Loftus Road is a lovely old ground. It doesn't appear to have changed at all since my last visit over a decade ago and probably hasn't changed much since long before that. Tightly surrounded by terraced streets, it's made up of stands all the same height with three being two tiered and one being a steep single tiered affair. The claustrophobic concourse under the stand made this feel like a classic old ground. I also like how blue it is. I heard one Rovers fan moaning that it felt like one giant corrugated iron shed. A bit rich considering the state of the Memorial stadium. A recent visiting Millwall fan memorably quipped - 'A tent, a cricket pavillion and a cow shed - and that's just one side of the ground'!

For the home side this was very much not a glamour tie and this was borne out by the attendance of 5,000 of which Rovers accounted for almost 2,000. One side of the ground was closed but being in the packed away end in the upper tier behind a goal meant the atmosphere was pretty good anyway.

I'm writing this some time after the game so my recollection of the match action is pretty limited. I do remember us going 1-0 down, then 2-0 down very quickly in the first half. QPR were kicking towards us so at least we had a good view of the goals. James Clarke, Rovers popular utility man was tasked with doing a job at right back and had a torrid time trying to deal with Rangers left winger. Clark cut a comical figure as with chest puffed out, he ran back towards goal whilst trying to look over his shoulder at the on rushing winger who would then go past him as if he wasn't there. Adam Smith in the Rovers goal looked dodgy as well and it was a mild relief that it was only 2-0 at half time.

Rangers went 3-0 up in the second half when giant striker, Matt Smith was left unmarked and picked his spot with a header. Ed Upson scored a late consolation for Rovers to make the score line look a little more respectable. Off we trotted back to Bristol. An enjoyable summers evening in West London at a classic old ground, but not a performance that will live long in the memory.

Clevedon Town v Brislington. Wednesday 8th August, 2018

Clevedon 4 Brislington 3

Not many teams at this level have 'out of town stadiums' but Clevedon's  impressive home is a mile or two away from the seaside town in a place called Kenn. Formally known as The Hand, it is now called The Everyone Active stadium. There is a gym and a full size floodlit astro on the complex but apart from that and the car park, the place appears fairly isolated, down the end of a long lane.

This was the second round of fixtures for both teams in the Toolstation Western Premier league. Brislington have been main stays of the Western League since the early 90's. Clevedon meanwhile were higher up in the pyramid in the Southern League until 2015 when they resigned from that level. That the club have recently played at a higher league is evident from the size of the Hand stadium. Built in 1992, the club clearly had ambitions to play in the upper echelons of the non league game. On one side of the pitch is the main stand pictured above. High walled and covered, it has several blocks of raised seats giving a good view of the pitch over the dug outs. Opposite is an impressive covered terrace that stretches the entire length of the pitch. Whilst both sides of the pitch wouldn't look out of place in the National League, the ends behind the goals are more modest uncovered terraces.

I was travelling alone tonight, my occasional ground hopping companion Bryan pulling out due to dog training commitments. As play got under way, it was clear this was going to be a fast paced game. The pitch looked in great condition, a lot greener than the surrounding countryside and the ball was behaving itself, allowing the players to pass with confidence.

I've seen Brislington a couple of times over the last year or so and was disappointed to see no Niekel Plummer up front. The big target man, part of the renowned Bristolian footballing and Goggle box Plummer family, has been good value when I've seen them play in recent seasons.

Both teams looked young and fit, just as well as the game really was being played at a thunderous pace compared to a pre season encounter.

Brislington had a tall pacey young number 9, Louis Britton, who was evidently a lot quicker than the home sides centre backs. He raced on to an early through ball and was denied by the out rushing keeper who saved at his feet. Clevedon's number 11, Jack Sell, looked lively from the off and he opened the scoring with a cool finish. Finding himself one on one with the keeper, he feigned to shoot with his right, allowing the keeper to wrong foot himself before sliding it in with his left. 1-0 to the home team.

Not long after, Brislington were level: The number 9 beat the off side trap, running on to a ball over the top, dinking it over the keeper and then tapping it in to an empty net for a very well taken goal. 1-1.

Another fine goal saw Clevedon retake the lead. Brislington half cleared a rapid counter attack but the Clevedon number 8, Nicholson, tackled his opposite number just outside the area and almost in the same movement smashed the ball in to the top corner.

Brislington came back again however and quickly equalised with another fine goal, a left foot strike from their number 10. 2-2 at half time.
One of the things I enjoy most about watching live football at any level is seeing how the players and management interact with the officials. Watching someone skilled in the 'dark arts' of getting inside the ref's head and trying to make sure the 50-50's go his way can be as entertaining as a 30 yard screamer. With this in mind I took up a position in the seats directly above the dug outs for the second half. 

I was pleased to recognise a familiar face on the Brislington bench, I'm not sure if he was injured or has retired from playing, but Jason Hughs who has been the marshal of the Brislington defence in recent seasons was tonight barking orders from the touch line. Constantly in the refs ear with 'advice' he gets the balance between politeness and pressure just right. The game maintained a nice flow with a fair bit of verbal from both bench's towards the ref, without anyone blowing a gasket or getting sent off; Usually a good sign that the refs done alright.

The goals continued to fly in in the second half. After a lovely passing move, the home side went 3-2 up with a shot from the edge of the area that went in off a post. A Clevedon fan told  me that on the previous saturday he'd worked out the average age of the starting 11 to be about 18 and a half. On this showing 'The Seasiders' have some fine young players on their hands. The pick of them for me was number 11 - Sell. He seemed to be limping for the whole of the second half but still managed to run at pace in to the box with the ball stuck to his feet and was unlucky not to add to his goal from the first half.

Brislington were not ready to roll over and die and made it 3-3 through Clarke Taylor. A deep cross came in from the left and Taylor managed to get a volley away before the keeper was able to set himself.

Clevedon continued to dominate though Brislington were also looking dangerous on the counter attack. The game was settled however with another screamer, Clevedon's Lucas Vowles scoring a fine free kick with a few minutes to go.

A cracking game of football with seven great goals. If Clevedon can tighten up the back they should be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Chipping Sodbury Town v Yate Town. Tuesday 24th July, 2018

Chipping Sodbury 1 Yate 3

The long hot summer of 2018. What a time to be alive! Day after day of glorious sunshine and a thrilling World Cup to boot. As much as I've enjoyed following the goings on in Russia on T.V., I was itching to get some fresh air and get back on the terraces.

Thus I found my self in South Gloucestershire on this Tuesday night, at The Ridings, home to Chipping Sodbury Town of the Western Premier League. Tonight they were hosting local rivals, Yate from the league above. Despite being a pre season friendly, I joined a big crowd who had turned up to see this local derby. The rivalry is referred to as 'El South Glossico' (by absolutely no one, much to my disappointment) and just two and a half miles separate the clubs.

The Ridings is nestled in the cradle of the Chipping Sodbury sporting scene, with the market town's rugby and cricket clubs both adjacent. It's a fairly open ground, with a club house on the near side of the pitch, with the dug outs and a couple of seated stands alongside. The first thing the struck me when I arrived apart from the bumper crowd, was the state of the pitch. It actually looked better than I expected considering the weather we've had, but despite a fair bit of green, it was undoubtedly rock hard and both teams were struggling to stop the ball bouncing up from under their feet.  

I was also a big fan of 'The Sods' kit, a black and white striped shirt with black shorts, both with big Kappa logos, very much ala Juventus. It was a last minute decision to come to the game so I hadn't done much in the way of research. I was aware that Yate had Ben Brooks in the side, a classy number 10. I've seen Brooks play a few times and remember him most from a game where he scored two goals for Larkhall in a game they lost 10-2! I also found out that The Sods are a club on the up, having been promoted twice in the last three years.

Looking out over the sun drenched pitch, I gradually settled in to the poetic rhythm of the game. By the time a Yate defender bellowed out "18 AND NO FUCKING DEEPER", I felt at one with my surroundings and was relishing the prospect of the 2018/19 season stretching out before me.

As the first half progressed, Yate were looking like a team from a division above. They kept on finding space down the left flank and it was no big surprise when they took the lead, courtesy of a thumping header from Langworthy.

Langworthy about to open the scoring

Yate hit the bar from a cross / shot, again from the left before the ref stopped play for a drinks break, taking in to account the 8pm heat. The ref had evidently had a relaxing close season and was clearly enjoying himself and not taking things too seriously. Any aggro that came his way seemed like water off a ducks back and he kept proceedings flowing along nicely.

Yate continued to dominate possession but the score remained 1-0 at the break. The Sods number 6 who I think was called "Demo", caught the eye with a few mazy runs and the hosts also had a couple of chances against the run of play, but Yates giant centre backs managed to intervene just in time.

By a strange quirk of nature I ended up getting a free cup of tea at half time.  Panic had broken out as I arrived in the bar as someone ordered a rum and coke, the barmaid realised that she and everyone else around her was too short to retrieve the rum from the top shelf. To my surprise I found myself ushered forward when the call went out for "someone tall". Behind the bar I used everyone of my 5 foot 9 inches to good effect and safely fetched the Captain Morgan's. I was rewarded accordingly with a lovely cup of tea.

Chipping Sodbury made several changes in the second half and started to come in to the game more and more. Eventually their endeavour was rewarded and they scored a deserved equaliser. A pacey right winger had been bought on at half time who was happy to run at the Yate defenders. After a few promising looking runs with little end product, he again got near the edge of the area, this time he skipped past a defender before getting a shot away. His effort lacked power but luckily for the Sods, their number 10, the appropriately named George Box, was lurking near the penalty spot and the shot ended up at his feet, he turned neatly and managed to poke it home past the keeper. 1-1.

The last twenty minutes saw both teams looking to win rather then settle for a friendly draw. A few tackles were flying and the ref was trying to keep a lid on things, putting one protesting player in his place with a measured "Shut up will you". Yate hit the bar again with a header from a Brooks corner. A couple of minutes were left on the clock when the visitors won a free kick 30 odd yards out. Big Nick Peare stepped up and wrong footed the keeper, beating him at his near post with a wonderful strike. 2-1 Yate.

In the final minute, another strong challenge went in on the edge of The Sods area. The foul was given, there were some halfhearted protests from the home team, though no one really argued with the ref when he explained "It was a bit fucking late!" Peare came forward again and beat the wall and the keeper again, finding the same bottom corner. 3-1 Yate at full time.

A very enjoyable way to start the new season. Lets hope it's a good one.