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Post by eppinggas on Aug 2, 2022 8:36:58 GMT
Back on topic. And back in the West Country for the first time since New Year and back for football. Some people had assumed I was back for the Bristol/FG Rovers derby. Incorrect.
Yate Town 0 Bath City 2 pre-season friendly. Yate have a nice set up, good pitch and are now in a higher league than Mangotsfield Utd and Bristol Manor Farm. Yate/Sodbury is a pretty decent size and also within catchment are Frampton and Winterbourne. So obviously quite a bit of potential. Missed the first goal as was late getting there having walked up Kelston Round Hill early afternoon (recommended for stunning views of Bath, Keynsham, south Bristol and the Severn crossings). Well taken header for the 2nd and Bath were never in any trouble. 2nd half should have been 3-0 from a 25 yard 'screamer' which the Yate keeper did well to stop. Chris Lines had a very good game. Some bursts forward and still has an eye for the right pass. He hit one 40 yarder to absolute perfection. Sits in front of the back four and splays the ball about from there. He certainly didn't look 38 years old. Ex-Gas GK Ryan Clarke was an unused sub for Bath. Best named player was Yate's Prince Henry. I understand he is not a member of the Royal Family.
Decent Clubhouse, good service and Thatchers Dry. A very pleasant afternoon. Good luck to both local teams for the season ahead.
Result
Yate Town £14.50 (£7 entry, no programme, 1 can of Doom Bar, 1 pint of Thatchers Dry).
Bristol Rovers FC £0
No official attendance given. Est 150.
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 7, 2022 8:28:03 GMT
To the glory of the FA Cup (extra-preliminary round). By the looks of it steps 8 & 9 is where the action starts. Buckhurst Hill 2 Walthamstow 1. BH were promoted to the Essex Senior League in step 5 last season, Walthamstow went up from the ESL as champions. So Walthamstow were definitely favourites. The last time they had played in the 1st round proper of the FA Cup was 1985-86 as Leyton Wingate - one of their numerous previous incarnations. Glorious sunshine at the newly named Myrak Park. An additional new small covered stand was put up in the summer. Imagine that - a Club improving the infrastructure for the supporters without the need of tents. A historic day for BH as they had never played high enough to participate in the FA Cup. Both teams started well with attacking intent. BH took the lead with a well taken curling shot into the keepers bottom left hand corner. BH under a bit of pressure and as the ball was lofted into their box and a BH hand very clearly patted the ball away. Pen. Obvious. All day long a pen. As ever the officials were the only ones not to see it. W'stow then missed a free header. BH then went two up from a corner with a header looping into the keepers bottom left hand off of the post. Very end to end and entertaining in the 2nd half and W'Stow scored with a decent run and shot from distance. As W'stow pushed they were left exposed at the back and BH really should have put the game to bed as they missed 2 or 3 one on ones. W'Stow had a player sent off for denying a goal scoring opportunity late on. Game over. FT whistle and the 'giants' had been slain. Very good afternoons entertainment. BH No 7 was the stand out player. They shouldn't have any problems establishing themselves in the ESL.
Result
Buckhurst Hill FC £15 (£8 entry including souvenir edition programme, 2 cans of San Miguel)
Bristol Rovers FC £0.
Attendance: 366
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 14, 2022 8:48:57 GMT
Ilford FC 4 White Ensign 5. Essex Senior League (tier 9, step 5). Bit of a drag though heavy traffic to get to Ilford, but well worth the journey. Free parking always a bonus in London. Ilford has a long and very interesting history. A big non-league side they won the FA Amateur Cup twice, twice losing finalists. They competed at the last FA Amateur Cup at Wembley in 1973-74 (lost to Bishop's Stortford) and reached the second round of the FA Cup proper in 1974-75. Ilford hosted games at the 1948 Olympics and India played their first ever game as an independent nation at their ground (lost to a late French goal, almost certainly off-side or a handball involved). In the 1970-80's they went through various mergers to end up a part of Dagenham and Redbridge. In 1987 fans thought the DNA had been lost and set up Ilford FC once more. They've play at Cricklefields since 1993, a council site with a running track. On entering the clubhouse you get a a very professional 'time-line' of key events in the Clubs history. Big good quality pictures and worthy of a Premiership Club. More big pictures, history and memorabilia were upstairs and this was seriously impressive for a tier 9 Club. The only thing I've seen close to this is at Arsenal! To the game - White Ensign (based near Southend) took a 3-0 lead and it looked bad for Ilford. A penalty got the score back to 3-1. A neat finish early in the 2nd half saw WE 4-1 up. A couple more Ilford goals made it interesting. As the clock approached 5pm (lots of water breaks) and deep into injury time Ilford nicked an equalizer from an own-goal. Scenes. Only for WE to attack in the last minute, win a corner, and score from it.
Result
Ilford FC £17 (£7 entry, a flimsy programme for £2, 2 cans of Bierra Moretti a cheeky £8. But to be fair the 'museum/memorabilia' was probably worth £5).
Attendance: 56. That was the only disappointing part of the day. Only 56 people turned up. Maybe it was the heat (36c). You have to wish Clubs like Ilford well. They are competing with West Ham in this part of London (and a lesser extent Daggers and other non-league sides). History and tradition must be preserved. It's more important than what division you play in. I am a bit of an anorak.
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Post by warehamgas on Aug 15, 2022 21:53:04 GMT
Ilford FC 4 White Ensign 5. Essex Senior League (tier 9, step 5). Bit of a drag though heavy traffic to get to Ilford, but well worth the journey. Free parking always a bonus in London. Ilford has a long and very interesting history. A big non-league side they won the FA Amateur Cup twice, twice losing finalists. They competed at the last FA Amateur Cup at Wembley in 1973-74 (lost to Bishop's Stortford) and reached the second round of the FA Cup proper in 1974-75. Ilford hosted games at the 1948 Olympics and India played their first ever game as an independent nation at their ground (lost to a late French goal, almost certainly off-side or a handball involved). In the 1970-80's they went through various mergers to end up a part of Dagenham and Redbridge. In 1987 fans thought the DNA had been lost and set up Ilford FC once more. They've play at Cricklefields since 1993, a council site with a running track. On entering the clubhouse you get a a very professional 'time-line' of key events in the Clubs history. Big good quality pictures and worthy of a Premiership Club. More big pictures, history and memorabilia were upstairs and this was seriously impressive for a tier 9 Club. The only thing I've seen close to this is at Arsenal! To the game - White Ensign (based near Southend) took a 3-0 lead and it looked bad for Ilford. A penalty got the score back to 3-1. A neat finish early in the 2nd half saw WE 4-1 up. A couple more Ilford goals made it interesting. As the clock approached 5pm (lots of water breaks) and deep into injury time Ilford nicked an equalizer from an own-goal. Scenes. Only for WE to attack in the last minute, win a corner, and score from it. Result Ilford FC £17 (£7 entry, a flimsy programme for £2, 2 cans of Bierra Moretti a cheeky £8. But to be fair the 'museum/memorabilia' was probably worth £5). Attendance: 56. That was the only disappointing part of the day. Only 56 people turned up. Maybe it was the heat (36c). You have to wish Clubs like Ilford well. They are competing with West Ham in this part of London (and a lesser extent Daggers and other non-league sides). History and tradition must be preserved. It's more important than what division you play in. I am a bit of an anorak. Love reading your Saturday visits epping. 👍 Sounds as if it ended a bit later than usual with all the drinks breaks, you’d have struggled to hear Sports Report!! (Sorry, cheap jibe! 😉) As much as I dislike Rod Liddell he did a good piece about the BBC in the Sunday Times yesterday. It’s not often I agree with him. UTG! |
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 16, 2022 11:57:17 GMT
Ilford FC 4 White Ensign 5. Essex Senior League (tier 9, step 5). Bit of a drag though heavy traffic to get to Ilford, but well worth the journey. Free parking always a bonus in London. Ilford has a long and very interesting history. A big non-league side they won the FA Amateur Cup twice, twice losing finalists. They competed at the last FA Amateur Cup at Wembley in 1973-74 (lost to Bishop's Stortford) and reached the second round of the FA Cup proper in 1974-75. Ilford hosted games at the 1948 Olympics and India played their first ever game as an independent nation at their ground (lost to a late French goal, almost certainly off-side or a handball involved). In the 1970-80's they went through various mergers to end up a part of Dagenham and Redbridge. In 1987 fans thought the DNA had been lost and set up Ilford FC once more. They've play at Cricklefields since 1993, a council site with a running track. On entering the clubhouse you get a a very professional 'time-line' of key events in the Clubs history. Big good quality pictures and worthy of a Premiership Club. More big pictures, history and memorabilia were upstairs and this was seriously impressive for a tier 9 Club. The only thing I've seen close to this is at Arsenal! To the game - White Ensign (based near Southend) took a 3-0 lead and it looked bad for Ilford. A penalty got the score back to 3-1. A neat finish early in the 2nd half saw WE 4-1 up. A couple more Ilford goals made it interesting. As the clock approached 5pm (lots of water breaks) and deep into injury time Ilford nicked an equalizer from an own-goal. Scenes. Only for WE to attack in the last minute, win a corner, and score from it. Result Ilford FC £17 (£7 entry, a flimsy programme for £2, 2 cans of Bierra Moretti a cheeky £8. But to be fair the 'museum/memorabilia' was probably worth £5). Attendance: 56. That was the only disappointing part of the day. Only 56 people turned up. Maybe it was the heat (36c). You have to wish Clubs like Ilford well. They are competing with West Ham in this part of London (and a lesser extent Daggers and other non-league sides). History and tradition must be preserved. It's more important than what division you play in. I am a bit of an anorak. Love reading your Saturday visits epping. 👍 Sounds as if it ended a bit later than usual with all the drinks breaks, you’d have struggled to hear Sports Report!! (Sorry, cheap jibe! 😉) As much as I dislike Rod Liddell he did a good piece about the BBC in the Sunday Times yesterday. It’s not often I agree with him. UTG! Thanks Wareham - I post them as a bit of a personal blog, but good to see they get read. Aha - Sports Report. TalkSport actually delayed the classified results til about 5:10pm. I presume they knew about the additional drinks breaks and put it back, so I did hear every result. They also laid it on thick. I paraphrase: "Welcome to TalkSport - the ONLY station that carries the FULL classified results. We care about ALL supporters. We care that people have gathered around the kitchen table for generations to hear the results. We care about tradition. We care about supporters whether they're in the Conference South or the Premiership etc etc" Apparently their advertising has gone into overdrive on the back of the idiotic decision by the BBC. When you start agreeing with Rod Liddle - you know something must be very wrong somewhere! |
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Post by warehamgas on Aug 16, 2022 14:19:29 GMT
Well, it shows how out of touch the BBC is. They spend a hundred years building up a “brand” of being trusted, being traditional, providing what the normal person wants. They like the traditions of how we live our lives yet they decide (or someone did somewhere) to stop a long-standing Saturday afternoon tradition of Sports Report. Within less than two weeks it allows Talk Sport to start branding themselves in the way you say they did. I mean Talk Sport, blimey! Honestly, you couldn’t make it up.
And no, I’m not a hypocrite in this issue. I wasn’t too worried about what they did because I rarely managed to hear it, I just think they should have pushed it back by 5 minutes which may have made the difference. I suspect it may yet change again. We’ll see.
Where to Saturday epping? I’m off to Fratton Park to see us, my first away since lockdown, and then Shrewsbury the following Saturday to see my first home game for some time. Saturday with the train along the south coast will be an old fashioned day out. Its rather sad to say I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll have to behave myself though as I’ve got a ticket with the Pompey fans. Oops!
UTG!
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 17, 2022 11:51:39 GMT
Well, it shows how out of touch the BBC is. They spend a hundred years building up a “brand” of being trusted, being traditional, providing what the normal person wants. They like the traditions of how we live our lives yet they decide (or someone did somewhere) to stop a long-standing Saturday afternoon tradition of Sports Report. Within less than two weeks it allows Talk Sport to start branding themselves in the way you say they did. I mean Talk Sport, blimey! Honestly, you couldn’t make it up. And no, I’m not a hypocrite in this issue. I wasn’t too worried about what they did because I rarely managed to hear it, I just think they should have pushed it back by 5 minutes which may have made the difference. I suspect it may yet change again. We’ll see. Where to Saturday epping? I’m off to Fratton Park to see us, my first away since lockdown, and then Shrewsbury the following Saturday to see my first home game for some time. Saturday with the train along the south coast will be an old fashioned day out. Its rather sad to say I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll have to behave myself though as I’ve got a ticket with the Pompey fans. Oops! UTG! I've always enjoyed my trips to Fratton Park. Good supporters, decent atmosphere (one of the best of the all-seater stadiums). Hope you have a good couple of away days. I have no idea when I'll watch Rovers again. I've totally lost the connection. But that was my decision. It will be after Barton has gone, that's for sure. Next up either Saffron Walden (Essex Senior League tier 9) - 100% fan owned and with average gates of 300 last season, or Frenford (tier 10) - cheap and cheerful and a lot nearer home... Edit: Saffron Walden aren't at home this Saturday. The titans of Frenford (based near Gants Hill) - here I come. |
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Post by warehamgas on Aug 18, 2022 8:57:38 GMT
You enjoy epping. Train strike so not the calm drive along the south coast, now a drive down and a pain to find parking! Enjoy Frenford I’ll google it to see where and what. 👍
UTG!
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 21, 2022 8:41:00 GMT
Frenford 3 Wormley Rovers 1 (Thurlow Nunn League First Division South, tier 10). Frenford is just east of Valentines Park in Ilford. Valentines Park is actually the "Itchycoo Park" as referenced by the Small Faces. About a 12 mile cycle down the Epping New Road and sort of turn left when you get to Wanstead. Frenford was formed in 1928 as a boys club, developing into a sports and social Club. The Clubhouse sits on the first floor in the main sports complex and overlooks the cricket pitches and football pitch. The visitors are based in Hertforshire and were formed in 1921. Arriving hot and thirsty I was very disappointed to hear that the bar only opened at half time! Madness. The 4g pitch sits in a big cage, a couple of small stands hosting a small attendance. Wormley took the lead with a neat cutback and finish against the run of play and against the wind. HT 0-1 and finally time for a cold beer. A very disappointing tirade of abuse from the Frenford front-line (and bench) towards the officials, the opposition and even their own players. In level 10. These men/children need to grow up. There is a "Keep it down for the kids - Family Friendly Football Club" initiative for this League. I stood by the lino and every time his decisions were questioned I backed him up. Regardless of whether the decisions were right or wrong. Without officials these leagues wouldn't exist. Players and management need to get this into their tiny brains. There were almost no children in a thin crowd. Anyway, to the second half. The pathetic sweary players were subbed and Frenford actually started playing some football. The equalizer mirrored the Wormley first goal. Frenford went ahead after a missed GK punch, a game of ping pong in the box, and a decent finish. Frenford wrapped it up with a well taken break away goal. FT 3-1 and was a bit harsh on Wormley.
Result
Frenford £11 (£5 admission, free small programme as the inner pages were printed upside down, 2 cans of Carlsberg).
Attendance: est 25. Will update if it's released.
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Post by warehamgas on Aug 23, 2022 16:23:25 GMT
Sounds a decent afternoon epping.
Your officials sound a tad better than those I watched at Fratton Park. Sitting in the home in the front row I also had to tolerate some potty language. Mine came from 11-12 year olds trying to sound like teenagers. Trouble was they were sat with their fathers who were just as bad. Oh dear. You can imagine what they said when we were yelling for a pen in the second half.
I love the estimated attendance of 25. Come on epping with that few couldn’t you count with some accuracy! The programme you described sounds a lot like ones from the early 60s in my attic.
UTG!
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 24, 2022 9:24:28 GMT
Buckhurst Hill 3 Stansted 0. FA Cup Preliminary Round replay. 20 minute drive down the Epping New Road to Buckhurst Hill and my first mid-week game in the lower leagues. Buckhurst Hill have been struggling in the league and sit rock bottom after 3 games with 0 points and a -7 goal difference. Narrow defeats to recently relegated Romford and a long away trip to Clacton. They got stuffed 6-1 at West Essex though. I thought mid-week and a replay there would be no problems parking - wrong. Main (big car-park) was full by 7:30pm and just managed to get into the overflow. £8 entry with free programmes, but they had run out of programmes. Long, but quick moving queue to grab a pint can of Stella and just caught kick off. Both sides very physical and up for it (though not preparing for "war"). Early yellow for BH centre back as he won a ball and couldn't help but go though. Bit harsh I thought. Stalemate at HT 0-0 with BH the better side. Bumped into an acquaintance who does coaching at BH and acquired his programme. BH brighter in the 2nd half and better at keeping it on the floor. BH stand out player (No 10 Sonny Shilling) got the ball about 30 yards out, beat a couple players as he drifted wide and beat the keeper with a quality finish. As Stansted pushed for an equalizer they were lacking defensive numbers and the BH No.9 slid home the second. Stansted heads dropped and they never really threatened the BH goal. Last couple of minute the BH No.9 was making a nuisance of himself - harassed a defender as he tried to defend the ball back to the keeper, and the No.9 thrust out a leg and toe-poked it home. Comedic finish to the game. 3-0. Game well and truly over. 2 games down and it's time to check when the Wembley final is being played. Only 27 more games to go. I made that bit up.
Result
Buckhurst Hill £11.50 (£8 entry, free programme if you got there early enough or cadged one, £3.50 pint can of Stella).
Attendance: Really hard to estimate. 300? Definitely no prospect of counting them individually. Update to follow.
Edit: Official attendance: 286.
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 28, 2022 8:32:54 GMT
Cannons Wood 0 Benfleet 4, Thurlow Nunn League First Division South, tier 10. An 8 1/2 mile cycle ride through the back lanes to the Harlow Arena, home of Harlow Town FC in tier 8. I had actually been there before for a pre-season friendly against Orient. An unconvincing Orient stuttered to win ahead of their 1sr season down in the Conference. Cannons Wood has a short, but troubled history. Formed as DTFC in 2019 by AFTV (Arsenal TV) contributor Liam Goodenough - he posted contributions as "DT". The club initially entered the Essex Alliance League (tier 11 and won it). In January 2022, the club announced they had cut ties with Goodenough and applied to the Football Association to rebrand the club. Goodenough had been convicted of domestic violence and was imprisoned. Imagine having a character like that connected with your football club? Mmmm. Anyway, £6 entry and no programmes. "Cash or card"? "Card". Opens wallet to realise that the missus had failed to return my bank card from a Tesco shop. A tenner and shrapnel on my person. Phew. £4 for a pint of locally produced Redchurch lager. Cannons Wood play in Arsenal colours, I noted still with the DTFC badge. Benfleet in blue and the better side. Benfleet took the lead from a poorly defended corner. HT and I desperately scrambled though my loose change. I had the princely sum of £2.09p. Checked at the bar - a half was £2. Jobs a good'un. 2nd half CW looked sharper and were the better side for 10mins. Unfortunately the ref gifted Benfleet a soft penalty after the CW 9 needlessly barged into a player from a corner. 0-2. Heads dropped. Two further goals, the pick being the last, break away goal and good 1 on 1 finish from the Benfleet No. 9. The fairly sparse crowd were giving the referee some grief. I thought this unwarranted, and really - is it going to help? 0-4 a bit harsh on Cannons Wood, but they were never really in the game and remain rooted to the bottom of the division. Anyway, back on the bike and a quick visit home to pick up my bank card. I needed this because I went to the pub to watch the Arsenal game. And apparently 9p doesn't get you very far at the bar these days.
Result
Cannons Wood £12 (£6 entry, no programmes, 1 1/2 pints of Redchurch lager)
Attendance: I counted 32 I think. I'll update if official figures are given out.
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Post by eppinggas on Sept 4, 2022 8:09:27 GMT
Waltham Abbey 7 Buckhurst Hill 2 (FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round). Just 4.6 miles to Waltham Abbey, the nearest Club door to door from Epping (4.8 miles to Buckhurst Hill). Caught the end of the Spurs game in the Supporters Club Bar. A pint of San Miguel was a very reasonable £4. Grass pitch in good condition. I am beginning to really dislike the 3g/4g pitches, they're just not 'right'. Waltham Abbey was founded in 1944. Quite late for a big town with a long history, it's famous for being the last resting place of King Harold. Waltham Abbey (WA) are an established tier 8 side and Buckhurst Hill (BH) have only recently been promoted to tier 9. WA play in green & white hoops, BH in black & blue stripes - so Celtic vs Inter Milan. WA started brightly. BH had a rare forage forward after 15 mins, picked up a free-kick just outside the box which was neatly dispatched. A few minutes later another break into the WA penalty area and a defender toe-poked past his keeper to put BH 0-2 up. Upset on the cards? Not for long. The BH keeper failed to deal with a routine cross, 1-2. Next up he palmed another aimless cross straight onto a WA head (2-2). A needless penalty made it 3-2 (keeper appeared to dive right over a weak pen) and non-existent defending from a corner saw a shot sail into the corner with the keeper rooted to the spot (4-2). The BH bench were not happy and I don't think directly calling out their players helped the cause. HT and a well-timed trek across the car park to the SC bar, picked up a beer and took it back pitch-side. 2nd half and a BH goal could have made it interesting. Didn't take long for another poorly dealt with cross for WA to score again (5-2) and game over. The last 30 minutes was just target practice for WA and could easily have been double figures if they'd got some of their frequent goal attempts on target. So I'll be travelling to (or with) WA for the next round. WA were just clearly quicker, fitter and more comfortable on the ball. Back to the Essex Senior League for BH and I hope their confidence hasn't taken a battering.
Result
Waltham Abbey £18 (£8 entry, £2 for a small but glossy programme, 2 pints of San Miguel).
Attendance: 301. Waltham Abbey usually only get around 150. I reckon around at least 80-100 from Buckhurst Hill made the short journey.
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Post by eppinggas on Sept 18, 2022 9:00:16 GMT
Waltham Abbey 2 Brightlingsea Regent 3 (FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round). Brightlingsea Regent can trace their origins back to Wesley Guild in 1908, who went on to be called Brightlingsea Athletic. Brightlingsea United were formed in 1928 as a result of a merger between Brightlingsea Athletic and Brightlingsea Town. Finally Brightlingsea Regent were formed as a result of a merger of Brightlingsea United and Regent Park Rangers in 2005. It is nothing to do with George IV. That's quite a bit of history for a tiny town / big village (population 8,000) in the wilds of Essex, and worryingly close to Jaywick. Brightlingsea also hit the headlines in the mid-90's as there were big protests against the export of live animals from it's harbour for slaughter on the continent. BR play in tier 8, Isthmian Premier Division. BR have a fantastic away shirt - a purple diagonal cross against a white shirt. Very fetching. Grabbed a couple of beers beforehand to watch the end of the Haaland show. BR started brightly and their No. 7 is a real star. Looked a bit like an Essex version of Mbappe. He opened the scoring with a quality finish. HT 0-1 and a beer walked back to pitch-side having traversed the car park. 30 seconds into the 2nd half - BR doubled their lead. Game over. WA managed to get one back though. BR regained their 2 goal lead... and WA scored again to make it 2-3 with a bullet header from a corner. Scored by their joint manager and captain Billy Holland. He had been poor up to that point, but strangely enough he didn't sub himself off. A lot of huffing and puffing ensued, but WA didn't really threaten an equalizer and BR were clearly the better side. Hopefully they will get drawn closer to Epping as I don't really want to trek out to Brightlingsea. But it is the glory of the FA Cup. And Wembley is getting closer.
Waltham Abbey £34. £8 entry, £2 for a small but glossy programme (95% of which was copy & pasted from the previous programme), 6 pints of San Miguel. My son came with me and had a few positive comments from BR supporters as he was wearing the Rovers quarters. Sipping a cold beer in the sunshine by the pitch and watching some decent football - yeah - a good day out.
Attendance: 196. Brightlingsea brought a fair few around 70-80, quite a long trip for them.
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Post by oldie on Sept 19, 2022 7:59:49 GMT
Waltham Abbey 2 Brightlingsea Regent 3 (FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round). Brightlingsea Regent can trace their origins back to Wesley Guild in 1908, who went on to be called Brightlingsea Athletic. Brightlingsea United were formed in 1928 as a result of a merger between Brightlingsea Athletic and Brightlingsea Town. Finally Brightlingsea Regent were formed as a result of a merger of Brightlingsea United and Regent Park Rangers in 2005. It is nothing to do with George IV. That's quite a bit of history for a tiny town / big village (population 8,000) in the wilds of Essex, and worryingly close to Jaywick. Brightlingsea also hit the headlines in the mid-90's as there were big protests against the export of live animals from it's harbour for slaughter on the continent. BR play in tier 8, Isthmian Premier Division. BR have a fantastic away shirt - a purple diagonal cross against a white shirt. Very fetching. Grabbed a couple of beers beforehand to watch the end of the Haaland show. BR started brightly and their No. 7 is a real star. Looked a bit like an Essex version of Mbappe. He opened the scoring with a quality finish. HT 0-1 and a beer walked back to pitch-side having traversed the car park. 30 seconds into the 2nd half - BR doubled their lead. Game over. WA managed to get one back though. BR regained their 2 goal lead... and WA scored again to make it 2-3 with a bullet header from a corner. Scored by their joint manager and captain Billy Holland. He had been poor up to that point, but strangely enough he didn't sub himself off. A lot of huffing and puffing ensued, but WA didn't really threaten an equalizer and BR were clearly the better side. Hopefully they will get drawn closer to Epping as I don't really want to trek out to Brightlingsea. But it is the glory of the FA Cup. And Wembley is getting closer. Waltham Abbey £34. £8 entry, £2 for a small but glossy programme (95% of which was copy & pasted from the previous programme), 6 pints of San Miguel. My son came with me and had a few positive comments from BR supporters as he was wearing the Rovers quarters. Sipping a cold beer in the sunshine by the pitch and watching some decent football - yeah - a good day out. Attendance: 196. Brightlingsea brought a fair few around 70-80, quite a long trip for them. The 6 pints of San Miguel made me smile. I go to watch Cinderford Town in the Southern League Div 1 South often. |
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Post by eppinggas on Sept 19, 2022 9:33:41 GMT
Waltham Abbey 2 Brightlingsea Regent 3 (FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round). The 6 pints of San Miguel made me smile. I go to watch Cinderford Town in the Southern League Div 1 South often. It was 3 pints each for my son and me. As he had his Rovers shirt on he had a few chats with Brightlingsea / Millwall fans who were giving plenty of positive feedback about the Rovers. "Travel in good numbers, make a lot of noise" type thing. It's good to hear Rovers are still 'liked', as long as the B word is not brought up in conversation. I'm really enjoying the friendly, non-confrontational nature of the lower league stuff. |
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Post by oldie on Sept 19, 2022 10:28:35 GMT
The 6 pints of San Miguel made me smile. I go to watch Cinderford Town in the Southern League Div 1 South often. It was 3 pints each for my son and me. As he had his Rovers shirt on he had a few chats with Brightlingsea / Millwall fans who were giving plenty of positive feedback about the Rovers. "Travel in good numbers, make a lot of noise" type thing. It's good to hear Rovers are still 'liked', as long as the B word is not brought up in conversation. I'm really enjoying the friendly, non-confrontational nature of the lower league stuff. Yes, I enjoy the lower leagues for the same reason. Rovers have a fan or two in the Cinderford area, so often discussed when I go. Pity about the "6"😉 I was impressed. |
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eppinggas
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Ian Alexander
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Post by eppinggas on Oct 2, 2022 9:07:52 GMT
Wormley Rovers 2 Basildon Town 1. Thurlow Nunn League First Division South, tier 10. Short trip over the Lee Valley to a little place just north of Cheshunt. Quite a big Sports Complex with big bar and cafe. Went into the bar, where a burley chap said - 'you here for the football', which I was - he then said 'well you can't come in here, you obviously have to go through the turnstiles first'. Due to lack of psychic awareness I was not aware of this. Not very welcoming. The bar was doing brisk trade after the Arse/Spurs game. Clientele were, let's just say there isn't a Wetherspoons in Wormley. Loud and laddish. Wormley were formed in 1921 and moved to their current ground in 1948. Wormley red shirts & black shorts, Basildon Town all blue. A 70's Manu/Chelsea if you will. The sides are both mid-table, though Basildon have games in hand. Pitch was grass and in great condition. Basildon brought a dozenish supporters who were a bit sweary and accused the referee of cheating. Well. They are from Basildon. Basildon looked a bit more comfortable on the ball. Wormley took the lead from a corner that was headed back across the box for an easy finish. Basildon equalized around 35 mins from a break and a well taken strike from outside the box. Then the deciding moment. Basildon made a clumsy challenge in a not very dangerous area of the box and the referee had no choice, penalty. 2-1 just before HT. The bar was still very busy but managed to pick up a pint of Bierra Moretti for £4.50. That's cheap for these parts. 2nd half the football never really got going. Way too many niggly fouls and protestations from both sides. A competitive game, but spoilt by the antics of both sides in the second half. Both captains should have stepped in. I find the lack or respect for officials at this level very frustrating.
Wormley £15 (£6 entry, 2 pints of Birra Moretti @£4.50, programme available on-line).
Attendance: Estimate 50? Not sure how many of the regulars in the Sports Club bar would have paid to watch the game. They were a bit more beer-orientated.
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eppinggas
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Ian Alexander
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Post by eppinggas on Oct 8, 2022 14:48:45 GMT
A fresh breath of air from the Arthurian League.
Old Brentwoods 2 Old Carthusians 5
The Arthurian League is an English association football league for teams consisting of old boys of public schools. It is affiliated to the Amateur Football Alliance and is not part of the English football league system. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthurian_League. These Clubs do not exist, or want to exist in the pyramid. A quick check on the teams implies they are all based in or around London, and in the south east.
Old Carthusians are the 'current' champions having won the league in 2018-2019. Covid-19 and the aftermath looks like it took out the next few seasons.
A very pleasant 20 minute drive in Autumnal sunshine, along leafy country lanes from Epping to Bentley (just north of Brentwood). A 12 o'clock kick off to watch Old Brentwoods (OB) take on previous FA Cup winners Old Carthusians (OC) - they beat Old Etonians 3-0 in 1881 (No VAR). Old Carthusians are Charterhouse Old Boys. I would imagine the school fees are eye watering. OC did seem to have a bit more of a public school air about them. Very well spoken and polite. OB had a bit more of an Essex edge to their accent, and demeanour.
Brentwood host a very good quality Clubhouse, a couple of football pitches, a rugby pitch and a fenced off area in between for the cricket strip.
One referee, and no linesmen. Old Brentwoods (all red) had two subs, Old Carthusians (white with pink trim) just the one.
The game was played in a very good spirit, in contrast to some of the kicking and swearing competitions I've had to endure recently. It was still quite physical, but without the 'nastiness' that you often get down in step 5&6. The tiny bit of backchat to the referee was dealt with quickly. A reminder that there is a 10 minute sin-bin for disrespecting the referees decisions. Amen to that!
OC looked a little more comfortable on the ball. They went 1-0 from a long throw that was flicked on. 2-0 from a well taken cutback and 3-0 before HT from a corner. A Bierra Morretti at HT was a reasonable £4.80. The clientele at the bar mostly wore blazers. Some didn't even have a trace of a London or Essex accent. I wonder what the chaps at Wormley Rovers would have made of it all.
Two quick goals after the restart and OB were back in the game. OC a bit slow out of the blocks and were under pressure for 15-20 minutes. A well taken 4th by OC put the game to bed. A further contentious goal made it 5-2, because it wasn't clear if the ball had crossed the OB keepers line. The referee was 40 yards away. From my view - it was a goal. The keeper initially accepted it, then started arguing when other OBs started to object. It spoilt the game a little bit. What was the referee supposed to do?
Was chatting to the OC sub(s) in the 2nd half. Apparently subs quite often run the line, I guess not enough around today. I would happily have done it. A couple of the OC's have played at a higher level - for Hartlepool and Wimbledon I think. The sub was 'rolling' and at least 3 players came off, only to re-join the action later. Players commented on the 'honesty' of the Arthurian League. They play because, they enjoy playing. There was some frustration from OB - but their limited swearing was reserved for swearing at each other.
I thanked the referee after the game. He said it was a bit more feisty than usual - that OB were obviously getting a bit frustrated as they tried to get back on level terms with stronger opposition.
In all the football I've seen (I dread to think how many live & TV games I've clocked up in 57 years), I would say this was football in probably it's purest form. Nearer the Corinthian spirit than you're going to find anywhere in the defined pyramid (down to tier 11, step 7 if you prefer). OK - it was very niche, but it was a very pleasant niche.
Result
Old Brentwoods: £4.80 (free entry, no programme, 1 Bierra Moretti)
Attendance n/a. Probably around 20-25 people watching from the Clubhouse and around the pitch.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2022 11:03:10 GMT
Up to 422 grounds now. Popped to Albania last month to watch their Nations League match against Iceland. Tirana is great, up and coming and I really advise people to go. Off to Sarajevo for the derby next month which, should be pretty spicy. Also tentatively planning a trip to Georgia and Armenia next November. Domestically I'll look to polish off everything locally again. Picked up AEK Boco, Cwmbran Celtic and off to Nailsea and Tickenham tomorrow. Lovely old job.
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