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Radstock Town vs Brislington FC Toolstation Western League Div 1 play off semi final at Southfields Recreational Ground

Frenetic forgettable and low quality game where the ball spent more time in the air than on the deck and where entertainment was at a premium. Visitors had the bulk of possession throughout and created the only noteworthy opening in the first 45 which drew a decent save from the home keeper. Second half was no better with Bris having the only two chances - one a fierce shot that was lashed just over the bar from distance and the second which Bris no 9 put away after a strong run into space down the right flank.

Radstock huffed and puffed but did not test the Bris keeper at any point. Bris were the better side on the night so deserved the win, but it will be a bitter pill for Radstock to swallow as they finished the season 11 points and 5 places higher than Bris. Them is the playoffs …..

Bris only got in them because both Bitton and Cribbs reserves were ineligible - I think the former because they demoted themselves last season to avoid travelling costs (lots of clubs in Devon and Cornwall in Toolstation prem) and the latter presumably because there might not be sufficient gap to their first team.

£6 admittance, £2.50 for sausage and chips and free on line programme which was a reasonable read. Attendance 365

A couple of Rovers connections….

Radstock manager is Ray “Razor” Johnston who played one game for us (a 4-3 win at Macclesfield) during Ollie’s tenure as manager, anBris no 10 is Neikell Plummer who was on our books but never made a full appearance. The Plummer family are of course well known in Bristol football circles and a number of them have played for us and/or the sheededs.

Bris will now play Wincanton Town in the final after they best Wells City 6-4 in the other semi tonight

Wincanton Town vs Brislington FC Toolstation L1 playoff final at the Wincanton Sports Ground

An archetypical game of two halves. First half the home side were in total control and they took the lead after 5 minutes when the ball was crossed in and fell kindly for left winger Jamie Thompson who volleyed crisply home through a cluster of bodies. They went further ahead after 25 mins when a run into the box from the left hand side ended with attacker on the deck and a pretty soft penalty awarded. This was despatched and Winky as they are affectionately known had a few more chances to go into the break with an even bigger lead. Next goal was crucial and so it proved. On the hour mark Winky CB gave away a needless foul and the resulting free kick was swung in to the back post eluding everyone and nestling into the corner of the goal.

Ten minutes later Bris sub was clean through and shot tamely straight at home keeper, who allowed the ball to squirm out of his grasp and spin into the net. He will be having nightmares about this tonight. At this point only one team was going to win . Wincanton had offered nothing at all in the second half, their heads dropped and they just ran out of steam. In added on time a free kick was sent into the box and an unmarked Bris runner nodded the ball home. Final score 3-2 to Bris.

Overall they just about deserved the win though I did not enjoy the way that they got it with lots of niggly fouls, shirt pulling, and leaving the foot in. This was the second time in a week that I’ve seen them and they are not an easy watch. They were a bit hungrier and more street wise than Winky who have quite a young side and were missing 31 goal top scorer Matt Garner through injury. Winky do have some good players and I think they will do well next season if they can keep their squad together.

The ground is not much to write home about being open to the elements bar a small stand on the halfway line. Glad we were there on a warm sunny day. The club do have a large and modern pavilion with club house and food outlet. There is plenty of space to make improvements if they progress on the pitch.

Admittance £6 (free for armed forces), reasonable printed programme £1. Attendance 326.

Enjoyable afternoon out and a better game than the play off semi involving Bris on Tues evening.

I was a fool not to waddle up. A ninety-minute walk I could've flown in no time. Sounds excellent. I'll give Wormley Rovers a try early season.

Bedford Town vs Waltham Abbey Southern League 1 Central play off final at the New Eyrie

Bedford is one of those places (like Banbury) that although not that far in terms of miles is awful to get to from Bristol with no obvious easy route. My GPS gave two options without disclosing the route. Short route which would take over 3 hours or the fast route which would take 2 hrs 15. Given that I was 45 mins late leaving we chose the latter knowing that sod’s law was bound to apply and that with hindsight we’d make a poor choice. So it proved. Satnav duly routed us up the M25 some 30 miles longer than the A420 via Oxford. 3 traffic delays for a combination of roadworks and accidents added an extra hour on to our journey so we ended up missing the first 35 mins during which time Bedford scored (their Twitter feed says it was a good goal). We got into the ground just as Waltham launched an attack and as I was trying to find a vantage point they equalised. Two goals missed then. At least my West Ham supporting friend saw it and said it was a ball crossed in from the left which bounced inside the box and which was smashed in on the half volley - another decent goal. Honours even then at HT.

I gave up on the horrendous queue for refreshments as it looked certain I’d miss even more than I already had. Both sides created a few good chances to win it. Waltham keeper had a few dodgy moments but pulled off a world class stop from one of his own defenders who deflected a cross at him from point blank range. 30 mins into the half Bedford retook the lead when a decent cross into the box found the unmarked head of their CB a few yards out and he made no mistake with a firm header. Waltham then had their best chance of the half when a through ball was fiercely struck but straight at the keeper. Bedford had a couple more chances to extend their lead before the final whistle was blown marking their promotion to the Southern League Central Prem. They were slightly the better of two teams who were mostly fair and did not moan too much against ref’s decisions.

Admittance £12 and there was a programme which had sold out before we got into the ground. Att 2052, and the New Eyrie is a trim ground with small stands behind both goals and down both sides of the pitch. It is the sort of place you would be happy to visit if you lived in Bedford. Ignored the Satnav on the way home and went via Oxford and the A420 and arrived back in about 2 Hrs 40. Glad we did it (my 50th game of the season) but in no rush to go back (or visit any other ground on the M25 corridor) because of the awkwardness of the drive from Bristol.

Good decision Epping though the ground is nice and the game was decent.

Had forgotten how awful the M25 can be (usually is?) so a lesson relearned the hard way. One more game to go for me - Sharpness vs Hanham Athletic - my nearest team - in Gloucestershire County League step 7 (level 11) a week tomorrow. Enjoy the ones you have left and yes will all start over again soon. Only two Rovers games for me next season - Rotherham and Huddersfield - unless we draw a team whose ground I’ve not been to before in one of the cups or have a preseason friendly against. Won’t fo the chipmunk cup s**te though

Saturday May 11th May. Waldorf Mannheim 4 Sandhausen 2 (German Liga 3). £33 return to Karlsruhe / Bade Baden. Rude not to. But a faff from the airport. Needs a bus to a poorly served Rastatt or Baden Baden station before a train to Karlsruhe. And then a train to Mannheim where I was staying. Anyway after a morning in Heidelberg, back to Mannheim for the game. Had loads of time on my hand, so wandered for 40 minutes from the station to the stadium. Mannheim has actually spent time in the Bundesliga mid 80's early 90's. Financial mismanagement and sanctions saw them down in tier 5 for a while, before slowly climbing again. They play in blue and black. Their badge is, let's get this out of the way now, does look a little like a reference to the Nazis. Some 'supporters' have doctored the badge to make the reference more obvious. I mean really? Sandhausen is a small village south of Heidleberg and the smallest professional Club in Germany. I have seen them before (won 2-1 away at Magdeburg last season). Sandhausen in black and white, a sort of local derby. Anyway arrived at the Karl-Benz Stadion (Mercedes was the more succesful son) 40 minutes before kick off. Sweltering hot 27c. Let's get a beer. A very very very long queue for beer. At 3:25pm (KO 3:30pm) I am not giving up. 3:36pm big cheer, Mannheim go 1-0. I am now being served, but at 3:39pm another big cheer. FFS 2-0 and not even seen the pitch yet. Get to the entrance. Blocked. People are squeezed into the stand. No way of getting to my seat. All gangways blocked with sweaty, noisy, beered up Germans. Overcrowded on a massive scale and quite dangerous. A rubbish view. But at least I got to see the 3rd goal, nice strike from outside the box. 3-0. At 4:10pm I cunningly move towards the dreaded beer queue. It is even longer than it was before. I give up. As I turn back to watch the final 2 minutes playing time... too slow. FFS 4-0 and I've missed another bloody goal. 2nd half managed to push past enough people to get a decent view. Though regularly buffeted with thirsty Germans going to and from the beer tent. It's still 27c. I am gasping. Sandhausen raise their game a little. They knock one in from a corner. Inside I cheer for them. Late on and a Mannheim goal-keeper fumble leads to another Sandhausen goal. Go on Sandhausen! Sadly not to be. Mannheim win 4-2 and I leave the ground ASAP, my faith in German football and German efficiency somewhat shaken.
Entry: 16 Euros. Bier (hard plastic with 1930's reference) Euros 7:50 (you get 2 Euros back if you return the glass). No sign of programmes, paper or otherwise.
Attendance: 18,379
Fun fact I. Mannheim hold the record for a 5th tier game of football in Germany. As do Bristol Rovers in England.
Fun fact II. Waldorf Mannheim have never won a national championship. But Vfr Mannheim did win it in 1949. Currently languishing in tier 6.

Sunday May 12th. Karlsruher SC 1 Hannover 96 2. Bundesliga 2. I have seen Karlsruher play before, a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Union 8 years ago, which kind of jump started my interest in Deutsche fussball. Another scorching hot day and an hour trip from Mannheim to Karlsruhe. Karlsruher are a bit of a yo-yo Club between Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 over the last 50 years, less success recently though. They won the German championship as Karlsruhe Phonix in 1909. (Karlsruher FV won it the next year, but that is a completely different club currently lost down in tier 7 or 8). My pre-conception of Karlsruhe - Ruhr valley, bombed in WWII, probably grim and industrial. Very wrong. Lovely City and obviously quite a bit of money down here. You can take an ICE train from Mannheim to Karlsruhe which is only 25 minutes, but can cost upto three times as much as the SBahn. I didn't get as far as Karlsuhe main station as loads of Karlsruher supporters got off beforehand. Followed them and picked up anothre SBahn. A 15 minute walk from the Durlacher Tor got me to the stadium well on time. I feared the beer queue. An early kick off for 12:30. Karlsruhe (blue & white stripes) playing Hannover (green & black stripes) in a battle for 4/5th place in Bundesliga 2. Well organised, professional stewarding. The BBBank Wildpark is a very decent stadium, set in parkland. On entering the stadium three people with about 20 pints each approached me to see if I wanted a beer. Am I dreaming? A cold, cheap pint later and I was talking to some very friendly locals. Wearing an old blue DDR shirt attracted attention, particularly whilst worn by an Englander. Fantastic atmosphere. I could only get a relatively expensive seat in the secondary sales, but it was worth it with a great view. Noticed a girl in a bright red Hannover shirt a few seats along - no-one gave her any trouble. 20mins in and Hannover broke, their forward stroking it past the keeper with ease into the bottom corner. Karlsruher didn't threaten much. Around 40 minutes and Hannover played ping pong around the Karlsruher box, I don't know how it didn't go in. Just before half time Karlsruher launched it forward, a header, scrambled off of the line. A VAR check and delayed celebrations as the goal is given. 1-1 HT and a beer. Served quickly and efficiently. More friendly Karlsruher supporters. Second half was pretty even. Around the hour mark very sloppy Karlsruher defending allowed a corner to be volleyed in unopposed at the far post. 1-2. Karlsruher then threw the sink at Hannover. Ball cleared off the line, a free kick just over the bar, a 1 on 1 missed with minutes left. All too much for the Karlsruher manager who was red carded. A thoroughly enjoyable, entertaining game. Played in the right spirit, in glorious summer sunshine. A superb advert for German football, in sharp contrast to the shambles at Mannheim yesterday. I was going to treat myself to a shirt, but sadly all the merch was shut as everyone joined in the 'last home game' celebrations. I left and wandered past the stunning Schloss Karlsruhe en route to the Sbahn, my faith restored in German football and efficiency.
A cracking day out.
Entry: 35 Euros. 2 pints for 11 Euros (no branded glasses). No programmes.
Attendance: 32,140.
Fun fact: Baden-Wurtemberg is the warmest state in Germany, in the south west near the French / Swiss border.

Excellent attendance for tier 11. Sharpness docks - I've had a drink in the Social Club. Bit like the twilight zone. Some of my favourite ever pubs are near there. The Berkeley Hunt Inn (Granny Musslewhites) in Purton went about 30 years ago. The Berkeley Arms (Ted Lords) in Purton was up for sale a few years back, doesn't look like it found a buyer. Stunning views across the Severn from there. So sadly both pubs now gone.

It was basically a house, first one as you went over the canal bridge. You walked into the hallway and there was a tiny bar at the end. I went with an ex-girlfriend many moons ago. She ordered a vodka and lemonade. Granny went to the fridge and pushed out a couple of ice cubes from the freezer compartment with her thumbs. Speciality was the rough cider, served with a pickled egg in a bag of salt & vinegar crisps. It didn't have a sign outside - just "The Berkeley Hunt Inn" written on the wall. The toilet facilities were basically a wall and a trough outside.
I still miss it. There are no pubs like that left.