The Combo Cup Final

Illogan Royal British Legion  2  St Day  1 (at Porthleven)

Cornwall Combination League – League Cup Final

My old mucker Dave is a mine of information.

I was on the phone to him a couple of weeks before the Cornwall trip, bemoaning the lack of games on the Saturday and Monday of the Easter weekend. I’d only got Ludgvan on the Saturday, and on the Monday it was a choice of an early start at Launceston or an even longer jaunt to Tavistock. Neither of which filled me with much glee from a travelling perspective.

I couldn’t understand the dearth of games, until Dave explained to me that Easter is Cup Final weekend in Cornwall, I just had to look in the right places to find the games!

Two options presented themselves to me, I could head to Bodmin on the Monday for the Senior Cup Final, or I could stay a bit more local and head round the coast to Porthleven to watch the Cornwall Combination League Cup Final. I could do both, but to be honest, I’d promised the Hatt’s that I would only do football on one of the days, so I chose Sunday.

I chose Sunday because it was closer, because I’ve always wanted to go to Porthleven and never had the opportunity, plus, I’d heard good things from an atmosphere and an occasion perspective about the ‘Combo’ Cup Final.

Porthleven are one of those clubs that have fascinated me somewhat over the years, probably because back when Belper Town had something of a love affair with the FA Vase, I remember thinking Falmouth Town was a long way to go for a game, even when you win 5-1. But, when I saw Hucknall Town had to go that little bit further to get to Porthleven in the Fifth Round a few years later, I was curious.

Porthleven won the game at Gala Park 1-0, and went on to lose to Taunton Town in the quarter final, but the name stuck with me.

Now then, the Cup Final was being contested by Illogan Royal British Legion, which is a few miles  outside Redruth, and St Day, which is also just outside Redruth, albeit a bit closer! Illogan sat seventh in the league table while St Day sat fifth, it looked on paper to be a tight game, but, St Day went into the game on the back of a fourteen game winning run.

I arrived at the ground forty minutes before kick off and the place was very busy, the car parks were full, buses (including a double decker) were parked outside the ground while the pub over the road looked to be doing a roaring trade. With no spaces in the near vicinity it was back up the hill and onto a cul-de-sac to grab a space.

The weather was still stunning, and with a crowd of over 400 in the ground, it was buzzing with expectation, while sales in the bar of cans of Lager or Dark Fruits were looking very promising indeed! Crowd wise, St Day were in the majority, and certainly seemed the more boisterous, with the Illogan firm seeming a bit more reserved.

The ground is lovely. Once through the entrance, you enter behind the goal with the clubhouse and dressing rooms right next to you, as you move round what is something of an oval, the only stand sits on the half way line with a row of seats to the rear. As you move round behind the far goal the grass starts to bank until you reach the side opposite the stand where you have a steep grassed bank all the way down to the pitch. Not dissimilar to St Blazey, it offered a superb view of the game, and with the bulk of the crowd on the bank enjoying the sun, it was my choice of viewing point.

The pitch was in excellent condition, and with floodlights as well, Porthleven will be making the move to Step 6 next season, a move that is both right and somewhat overdue in my opinion, this is a great club with a great infrastructure.

But today was all about the ‘Combo’ Cup, a game that traditionally is played on Easter Sunday, and always at one of the better appointed senior grounds in the County. Porthleven has been used regularly, as has Penzance, while Helston, Illogan and Hayle have all had the honour of hosting the game in recent seasons. Game wise, to be fair, the first half wasn’t the greatest of spectacles with little in the way of goalscoring chances, albeit St Day did have the upper hand in terms of possession. The one goal that did come went the way of Illogan when a long punt was headed over his own goalkeeper by St Day defender.

St Day came back fighting the in the second half and equalised through a great shot from Chris Dobson. The game continued to ebb and flow with not much in the way of clear opportunities, and with extra time looking a certainty (and me in trouble for a late return), Steve Abbott-Smith powered home a header in the 88^th minute from a corner for Illogan.

Several minutes of added on time were played, and as much as St Day battled to try and salvage something late in the game, Illogan were organised and held firm, victory was theirs.

I made haste at the final whistle as Illogan celebrated and St Day sank to their knees. A really enjoyable afternoon, and indeed occasion, at a great venue, thanks for the heads up Dave!

Now then, how can I work on Mrs H and see if I can swing a trip to Bodmin tomorrow………..

Until The End

Ludgvan   0  Wadebridge Town  5

South West Peninsula League – Division One West

It was when Mrs H asked to have a quick look at the programme that a sense of nervousness took over me.

You see, Mrs H is quite happy to travel the length and breadth of the UK watching football with me, but she has certain criteria. I won’t go into all of the specifics regarding seating, availability of food and drink etc etc, but one thing that she does like to see is a competitive game.

“Oh my God, they’ve lost every game, in fact, they’ve been hammered most weeks, what have you bought me to see?” – was the cry once she got to the results page.

Ludgvan Football Club, on the pitch this season has been something of a horror show, but before I go into the specifics, it would be wrong if I didn’t point out the fact that this is a club that almost resigned from the league on the eve of the season, and even then, when they did start the campaign, very few expected to see them finish it.

The Impressive Clubhouse

So, when I pencilled in the Easter Saturday game, right at the beginning of August when Phil Hiscox released the fixtures, I was utterly convinced it wouldn’t be taking place, probably like many others. 

But the club deserve huge credit because they are still around, despite the hammerings, and with just two games left to go, they were going to soldier on and see the season out.

Clearly they won’t be in the South West Peninsula League next season, restructuring has pretty much seen to that, the destination the Cornwall Combination I would expect, but just what has happened on the field this season?

The record reads as follows, 26 played, 26 defeats (albeit two were forfeited), and as a result they sit on minus six points. Goals scored are 11, goals conceded are 189. Double figures has been conceded seven times, with the record being a huge 20 at champions Liskeard Athletic, although, the week prior to today’s game, Liskeard were only able to score once in the return fixture.

From Atop The Bank

You can kind of see Mrs H’s concern really, but I did point out that recent defeats haven’t been quite so heavy, she seemed mildly appeased!

It was another glorious day in Cornwall that started with a game of golf at Hayle, before a fruitless drive around trying to find a pub that did lunch, we finished up with a Tesco Meal Deal! To be fair though, if you are going to pick any part of the Country to drive round aimlessly, then Cornwall would be it.

Ludgvan is a pretty village just a couple of miles outside Penzance, just off the main A30, and the ground is effectively the village community centre, but the first thing that strikes you as you drive into the car park is the large and impressive facility that’s been built. Incorporating dressing rooms and the like, it has a very smart bar area with balcony on the top floor. I suspected more people were in the bar watching the live sport than had come to watch Ludgvan v Wadebridge Town.

Stand

In front of the building is a perfectly placed grass bank behind the goal, with the pitch down below. A small wooden shelter sits between the dug outs to provide cover, but otherwise it is a large open expanse that’s shared with the local cricket club.

The game had attracted a few members of the travelling fraternity, Lee West from Southam, Lee Vaughan off of Shrewsbury, Andy Langford from Surrey and the absolute bloody legend of football ground photography that is Bob Lilliman had chosen to grace us with his presence. We managed a bit of a gathering at half time, but on a day like today it was about keeping out of the sun and keeping topped up with liquid!

Cricket Side

Ludgvan, who had a player aged sixty in the side, battled hard throughout the game but inevitably fourth placed Wadebridge managed to find the net five times, and even with that they had chances to have scored double. Two quick goals around the tenth minute from Kyle Flew and Dan Jennings set the tone, while in the second period Matt Lloyd, Neal Kinsman and Sam Gerken added to the tally.

Massive credit must be given to Ludgvan though, the club officials were friendly and helpful, they charged admission when it may have tempting not to bother (which I have seen happen before), and they did a neat programme as I mentioned which to be fair I wasn’t expecting.

But ultimately, they’ve survived the season, when many thought it simply wouldn’t happen, and for that they deserve our admiration and respect. Hopefully now they can rebuild at a lower level, and who knows, maybe one day find themselves back in the Peninsula.

I actually think Mrs H quite enjoyed it as well, but I think the sunshine might have had something to do with that!

Lilliman / Vaughan / West / Laughlin / Langford @ Ludgvan

Blaise

St Blazey  1  St Dennis  1

South West Peninsula League – Division One West

Blimey Charlie, it was certainly getting warm as I jumped back in the car at Sticker and set about the short journey across via St Austell to St Blazey.

Cornwall was feeling the heat, it was what the tourist industry dreamt of, the roads were clogged, the car parks had queues all the way out of the entrances and they couldn’t ship enough ice cream in to meet the demand.

That said, the drive down to St Blazey was a fairly straightforward one, because by 1pm, most folk had either reached their destination for the day, or, they’d simply given up!

The second game of the day was one I was really looking forward to, St Blazey are a famous old name in Cornish non-league circles, and the ground, Blaise Park, is a reputed bobby dazzler. I would consider myself to have been quite excited by the prospect of seeing a game there.

St Blazey sits to the East of St Austell and effectively conjoins with Par, indeed Par Station is not too far from the ground. The visitors from nearby St Dennis are based betwixt St Austell and Indian Queens, which sits right on the main A30, the road that takes you home if you are from up North!

St Blazey Football Club have one hell of a history, put very bluntly!

They’ve won the South Western League 13 times, indeed in the Noughties, they won it six seasons out of seven before moving into the newly formed South West Peninsula League. This was a club that in South West circles, was a real powerhouse.

But, for some strange reason, that success didn’t continue into the Peninsula era, because in ten seasons they had a best finish of fourth, and in 2017 they suffered relegation to the Western Division where they remain.

They’ve also had a couple of decent runs in the FA Vase, losing to AFC Sudbury in the Fifth Round in 2003, and then Eastwood Town and Crook Town in the Fourth Round in subsequent seasons. Strangely enough, with Eastwood being one of my local clubs, it was nice to see one of their scarves on display in the trophy cabinet.

So, last season saw a seventh placed finish, and this time around they sit just below half way in the table. It does seem strange to see such a big name floundering, but I guess it goes in cycles, St Blazey are too big a club to stay down for a long time, they will, I’m sure, be back sooner rather than later.

Incidentally, St Dennis went into the game capable of a top four finish, this from a club who only joined the league in 2011, having previously been an East Cornwall League outfit.

The ground is a cracker, not picturesque in the sense of Sticker, but not without scenery at the same time to be fair. What it does have though is lots of character, and indeed history. As you pull into the car park you have two choices, you can either go straight into the clubhouse (have a guess what I did), or, you can head for the main iron gates which have the name ‘Blaise Park’ worked into them.

I did eventually make it to the main gates, where the turnstile sits adjacent, and once inside you’re stood right by the corner flag. An impressive tea bar selling possibly the finest Cornish Pasty I’ve ever tasted is close by, while once beyond the players entrance, which is behind the goal, is a small area of cover set away from the pitch at the back of a sloped grassy area. It looks like it’s been in place for many a year.

Moving around is a wonderful grass bank with a concrete walkway in front of it. Behind the grass bank, over the fence is the river, and indeed the railway line, where the passing trains get a great view of the action.

The end furthest from the turnstiles is just flat standing, while on the side opposite the grass bank is a neat seated stand, which on the day of the game, provided some respite from the searing heat of the sun.

As I said, an absolute belter of a ground, built up over the years, kept very neat and tidy, and not one hint of a prefabricated structure in place. And yes, from the top of the bank, the views were pretty good, not quite Sticker in a rural sense, but good all the same!

The game was a tight affair, and with that it was also one that kept spectators engaged.

Callum McGhee gave the hosts the lead in the fifteenth minute, and that was how it remained at half time. Both sides had chance to find the net in the second period but it was the well organised and determined visitors who eventually found the net with an equalising goal.

It was Michael Davies who found the onion bag from the penalty spot, awarded following a hasty challenge, and in fairness on the balance of play, a draw was probably the fair outcome.

So that was how it ended, a very good game at a cracking venue. I needed to find my way back to Falmouth and hope I was still in the good books, I had a feeling Friday night was going to cost me, I wasn’t wrong, but, it was worth it….

Besides, I’d got a plan in mind for the following day as well!

Sticker

Sticker  1  AFC St Austell   4

South West Peninsula League – Premier Division

I had got myself a superb pass out for Good Friday, with the weather reaching tropical like standards, the Hatt’s wanted a day on the beach, and I don’t do beaches for medical reasons, so freedom was granted!

A double was very much on the cards, with the first port of call being just West of St Austell, not far off the main Truro Road, where Sticker were playing local rivals and indeed friends, AFC St Austell, or, ‘Snozzle’ as they were greeted on the board outside the ground!

Sticker Football Club was another of those venues I’ve taken a detour to have a look at in the past, but never seen a game at. Sticker is only a small village sitting on the South side of the main road to St Austell, but the ground is located quite a way out of the village to the North of the road, and without prior knowledge or a sat nav, you’d struggle to find it.

It's been a tough old season for Sticker, their second at Step 6, as they sit bottom of the Premier Division of the Peninsula League. They’ve secured just one win from thirty six games, thirty of which have been defeats. The goal difference is -109 with 135 conceded, and clearly they won’t be sad to be seeing the back of Plymouth Argyle Reserves who’ve beaten them 11-0 and 9-0 in the two games this campaign!

But credit to them, they battle on, and will remain at Step 6 next season when the top tier of the Peninsula splits into Cornwall and Devon League’s. The visitors though have already secured a top five spot this season, albeit some distance away from the title rivals Exmouth Town and Tavistock.

So, what’s the Sticker story?

An East Cornwall League side until 2011-12 season when they secured runner-up position, and with it promotion to the Western Division of the Peninsula. They finished fourth in their first two seasons, followed by a fifth and then a third before being crowned champions in 2016-17.

Last season saw them consolidate with a 15^th place out of 20, and at the same time carry out significant improvements to the picturesque Burngullow Park ground, namely floodlights and covered accommodation.

Burngullow Park is a real delight, and on a bright sunny morning, it’s hard to imagine a better setting for a football match. I managed to secure a parking space right by the entrance of the drive that runs up to the ground, ideally placed for a quick getaway at the end.

Once up the drive, a small pay hut and cheery volunteers wait to greet you and relieve you of your admission money. Once inside of bereft of a few quid, the dressing rooms and clubhouse sit behind the goal. It’s a modern looking and very smart structure, and with a good crowd in attendance of 230, a seasons best, the bar was doing an excellent trade.

All of the furniture to speak of sits on one side of the ground, where a small seated stand straddles the half way line, with more recently added covered areas sitting to each side of it, with the dugouts in between.

It’s the views though that really make it, along with the very rural setting, it’s a somewhat idyllic place, and perhaps even an unlikely location for Step 6 football. The whole ambience was of friendliness and helpfulness, this is a real community club who goes out of it’s way to welcome visitors. I would heartily recommend it to anyone yet to pay a visit.

I expected the game to be pretty one sided and I wasn’t wrong. Despite Sticker putting in a valiant effort, the visitors were always in control of proceedings. The first goal came after just five minutes through Liam Eddy, while Martin Watts added a second with a powerful header. It was 3-0 just before the break when Aidan Dingle slotted home with just the goalkeeper to beat.

Eddy got his second of the game and Snozzle’s fourth from the penalty spot before an own goal saw plucky Sticker get a consolation.

So that was Sticker, a great start to Good Friday, it was a gentle jog back to the car as the bulk of the crowd went in search of more Strongbow Dark Fruits. I had part two to make my way to…….

Worse Problems

Penryn Athletic  3  Perranwell  0

Cornwall Combination League

The seemingly now annual trip to Cornwall for Easter was upon the Hatt’s, and in between family time, relaxation, food and drinkies, was the possibility of a wee bit of football.

You can certainly fill your boots in the West Country at Easter time, not only with plenty of games in the South West Peninsula League and the Cornwall Combination, but also with Cup Finals scheduled over the Bank Holiday period. I had to see just how much I could get away with!

A 5am start meant we were pulling up into a car park in Penzance just after 10am, it had been a fabulous run, and done without the need for a stop, I was happy with that, and set up very nicely we were for a fantastic experience of watching a play performed at the stunning Minack Theatre. If you haven’t been, and you are in the area, I would encourage it.

Once back in Falmouth and checked into the location of our Honeymoon last year, the Poltair, I produced my first swerve of the week when I dodged the unpacking and elected to take a short drive out of town to the neighbouring town of Penryn, for they had a 6.30pm kick off against neighbours Perranwell!

I’ve often gazed longingly at the floodlights that adorn Penryn’s Kenmire ground as we’ve driven out of Falmouth on the Helston road, wondering whether one day I would be able to see a game. I even called in to have a look at the ground last year when I had some time on my hands, and that only further whetted the appetite.

You see, outsiders always associate Falmouth football with just the one team, Falmouth Town, but to be fair, up until recently, Penryn Athletic, who play only two miles from Town, were not far behind their coat tails in terms of the local pecking order.

They joined the Cornwall Combination in 1977 and by the time they joined the South Western League in 2000, they’d won the championship a very impressive nine times, not forgetting the seven times finishing as runners up!

It wasn’t quite so easy in the higher division, indeed the South Western League, in which Falmouth Town competed, saw them finish nearer the bottom of the league than the top during their seven year spell, but, they were invited to become inaugural members of the newly formed South West Peninsula League.

They didn’t make the cut from the Premier Division (Falmouth did), so were placed in Division One West. In ten seasons they never finished lower than ninth and had two best finishes of third, albeit not enough to secure promotion. However, at the end of the 2016-17 season they opted to take the drop down a level and back into the Cornwall Combination where they remain.

This season, they sit top, and looking at the table, the title is Penryn’s for the taking. They won’t be re-joining the Peninsula League though, besides, that’s being restructured anyway, and I’m not strictly sure they would have been high enough up the pecking order to be accepted?

So, onto the ground. Located close to the Kernick Industrial Estate, it’s directly opposite Penryn Rugby Club, and next door to the Cricket Club. Sport is big in Penryn, and they like to stay close to each other!

A large car park leads to the clubhouse and dressing room building, which on a warm evening was doing a brisk trade. I parted with my £3 at the gate and surveyed the scene. It’s a very picturesque ground, with a small stand perched on the half way line, while some additional cover sits in front of the clubhouse in the form of a overhang.

Netting surrounds a large portion of the ground to prevent stray balls ending up in back gardens and such like, while the floodlights are proper pylons, as opposed to the more common poles. I like floodlights, as readers will know, proper pylons are fast becoming a dying breed!

Penryn are one of the better supported outfits in the league, and with a decent crowd in attendance, they turned in a polished performance to beat a mid-table Perranwell side.

The opening goal came courtesy of a stunning ‘Oggy’ (no pun intended bearing in mind it’s Cornwall!), when a defender managed to divert a cross into the top corner, while the second came courtesy of a strike from Ryan Reeve who found the net for the 39^th time this season.

The third and final goal came late in the game when a tantalising cross from the right was met by substitute Bradley Leivers, his header giving the visiting goalkeeper no chance at all.

A relatively comfortable night for Penryn, and the first game of the holiday in the bag. Turns out they were all in bed when I got back, and the beer I had bought and placed carefully in the fridge, was beautifully chilled, except, we’d forgotten to bring a bottle opener!

Apparently there are worse problems to have, I’m not so sure?

Ecology

Dartford  0  Chippenham Town  1

National League South

A few years ago, I used to get sent to Dartford a fair bit.

It wasn’t a punishment or anything like that, it was merely because we had our Training Centre on the back of an industrial estate, and from time to time I had to go down to carry out some work for them.

It proved quite handy from a football perspective, as from my base at the Dartford Bridge Hilton I was able to get to exciting places like Colchester United and Gillingham, but it never fell when the mighty Darts were at home at Princes Park.

With some time to kill on one mission, I did have a spin over to the relatively new home of Dartford Football Club, and remembered the ‘wooden’ feel to the eco-stadium, but to be fair, oiks like me were never going to be allowed a free run of the place on a non-match day, so I had to be content at peering through the gaps in the walls.

I’m a bit too young to be able to claim to have visited the old ground on Watling Street, the ill-fated venue that ended up being used by both the Darts, and Maidstone United, when they became a Football League club. My only memory of it, other than seeing old photos in Tony Williams Non-League Grounds books, was the commentary on BBC Radio Derby as Burton Albion won 2-0 in 1987 to reach the Final of the FA Trophy.

Make no mistake about it Dartford are, and indeed have always been, a serious non-league football club.

A Southern League side since the War, they won the title in 1973-74, and then again in 1980-81, which in turn saw them promoted to the relatively young Alliance Premier League. This only lasted for one season, but within two further seasons they were back again as champions, this time surviving in the top flight twice as long as before.

They Nineties proved to be a pivotal and ultimately critical period for the club. The ground share with Maidstone commenced in 1988, and with it came the short spell in the Football League for the Stones. Of course, it went inevitably wrong, the club went bankrupt, and the debt the club had built to pay for ground improvements was passed on to the Darts.

The debt was just too vast for Dartford, they sold Watling Street in 1992 to pay off creditors, and just four games into the 1992-93 season they withdrew from the league.

The club reformed, starting in the Kent League, initially sharing at Cray Wanderers, and then Erith & Belvedere. They won the league in 1996 and that bought about a welcome return to the Southern League.

A fire at Erith saw them move in with Purfleet at Ship Lane, and as we moved into the Noughties the clubs new base became Stonebridge Road, the home of Gravesend & Northfleet. Finally though, work commenced on building a new stadium back in Dartford, and in November 2006, now an Isthmian League club, they played their opening game in front of over 4,000 spectators.

As often happens, the new ground bought about an upturn in fortunes, and two promotions later, they took up a place in the Conference South at the start of the 2010-11 season. Two years later and they were in the top flight, for the first time in nearly thirty years. They survived for three seasons before being relegated back to what is now known as the National League South, where they remain to this day.

The FA Cup has only seen a couple of post war victories against Football League sides. Those being against Aldershot and Exeter City, while the in the FA Trophy, as well as the Burton semi-final defeat, they’ve also lost to Macclesfield Town and Grimsby Town at the same stage, although in 1974 they did reach the Final at Wembley, only to lose to Morecambe.

So, there we have the history, and I guess it’s really a tale of a clubs sudden demise, but then one of hard work and dedication to keep going, rebuild, persevere to find a new home, and take the club back to a better level than previously.

Princes Park has been on the radar since before Christmas, what with the 92 (now 91) completed, it was time to have a crack at the National League. I’d planned it well in advance, courtesy of a cheap tickety-split deal, only this time I’d managed to get the fast Virgin train to Euston at dirt cheap prices.

The capital was reached by 10am, and after a very short tube journey to Charing Cross, it was onto the regular service to Dartford that took around 45 minutes. A journey that goes past Millwall’s New Den, before heading out into Kent via Blackheath and Eltham, and finally through Welling and Bexleyheath.

Once in Dartford it was raining, so it was a quick sprint over the footbridge, through the shopping centre and into the planned destination of the local Wetherspoons. I like a good Wetherspoons, and this was a happy place in my World, Carling was just £2.65 a snifter, and compared to most prices inside the M25, this is probably as good as it gets.

The walk to Princes Park takes about twenty minutes, involving a stroll down a bus lanr to the South of the town, and then over the lights and up by the side of the David Lloyd Centre. Having seen the club publicising that they were opening up at 12.30pm so punters could go into the bar to watch the Spurs v Huddersfield game, I decided to time my arrival for around 1.30pm to take advantage.

The first thing that strikes you about the environmentally friendly stadium is the fact that the exterior is made almost entirely of wood. From the back of the four stands, through to the façade of the impressive club buildings that adjoin the main stand.

Once in through the turnstiles behind the West goal, round to the right is the main stand where the seats run along the front, with the walkway that circumnavigates the entire stadium running to the rear, while the clubhouse sits behind. The remaining three sides are terraced, but it’s worth pointing out a couple of the more quirky features.

Opposite the main stand, at the back of the terracing is a wooden sculpture of a giant man, while the stand roofs are effectively living structures (grass) that provide a natural air filtration system. They also have solar panels, and a water recycling system. It may have cost a reported £7 million to build, but Dartford claim to have one of the most ecologically sound stadiums ever built.

Dartford are in play-off contention, while visitors Chippenham were comfortably mid-table. In front of a crowd of just over 1,000, Dartford suffered an early blow when legendary striker Elliot Bradbrooke, who announced he is to retire at the end of the season, left the field injured, he may well not play again this season, which is such a sad way to go out if it is the case.

The first half saw Dartford have plenty of the ball, but Chippenham were well organised and resolute. Chances were at a premium, and the game followed a similar pattern in the second period, however Adriel George pounced in the 78^th minute for the visitors to make it 1-0, somewhat against the run of play.

Dartford threw everything at it in the closing stages but simply could not break through. It hadn’t been their day, and consequently dropped out of the play-off places as other results went against them.

It hadn’t been the greatest spectacle on the pitch, but they often aren’t at this stage of the season with so much at stake, that said, they were a super friendly and hospitable club, and on that basis alone, I would love to see them succeed in the play-off lottery.

The journey back was as straightforward as it was going down, and as always, it finished in the Royal George at Euston, which tends to be a meeting point for supporters of so many clubs heading back to the Midlands and the North West after a game in London.

We’ve closed the Training Centre in Dartford now, which is a shame as it was a handy base for the football. So when the trips to Dartford based VCD Athletic and Phoenix Sports fall onto the radar next season, I might have to start checking the train timetables again………

Dam Park & The Drouthy Neebors

Whitletts Victoria  0  Rossvale Juniors  3

Scottish Juniors Western Region - Championship

I’m still trying to get my head around the Scottish Juniors set up, to be fair though, I think I’ve come a long way in the past twelve months, at least now I don’t have to scratch my head as to why the travelling fraternity seemed to get so excited at what I perceived to be kids football!

I’ve concluded that the Western Region, which is kind of Glasgow and Ayrshire, is the best when it comes to the standard of football and the grounds. The Eastern Region might have had a counter argument but since the bulk of them have buggered off to the Senior set up, it’s lost any debate it might have once had.

So, day two of the Scottish venture and I had some choices, I could have gone to the big game between Clydebank and Auchinleck Talbot, but I went to Maryhill earlier in the season. I could have gone to Renfrew against league leaders Hurlford United, but it was a bit of a swine by public transport (ie 45 mins on a bus!), and it’s a plastic pitch that could come in handy one day.

Whitletts Victoria, once I’d found out exactly where that was, against Rossvale Juniors, in the second tier, was the choice I plumped for, with numerous factors behind it. Firstly, it would give me a chance to take the train down to Ayr (in the same time it would take to get to Renfrew), a place I’ve never visited, and secondly it was only a ten minute walk from the railway station.

Finally, it was an 8pm kick off so it gave me plenty of time to take in the journey and sample some local hostelries.

A pleasant journey it was too, travelling out via Paisley, through Johnstone, down to Kilwinning and then on to the coast through Troon, Irvine, Prestwick, before finally arriving in Ayr. Some beautiful scenery could be witnessed, while the homes of Troon Juniors, Irvine Victoria, Ayr United and of course the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in Troon, all sat adjacent to the train line.

Once in Ayr, I headed for the ‘Drouthy Neebors’ bar which sits opposite the station. Clearly a foreigner, I was made most welcome and enjoyed a couple of pints of the finest Tennants before thinking about heading to the ground.

Whitletts is an area of Ayr that sits on the North East side of town, quite close to the racecourse. The ground is called Dam Park, and it’s effectively an athletics stadium that’s linked to the adjacent University. The stadium isn’t in Whitletts, it’s pretty central to the town, just over the river and to the right, it’s a fairly short walk to be fair.

I left my arrival until a few minutes before kick off, and having paid my £6 admission fee, I took the time to have a look around the place. The main stand is a large brutalist concrete structure with plastic seats attached to the steps. Underneath are the dressing rooms, and a tea bar / bar area that was well populated.

In front of the stand was some steps of terracing, but other than that, it was your typical athletics stadium. Because of the height of the stand though, the views were good, and this counter acted the fact that it was a good distance to the pitch, over the running track.

Whitletts sat in mid-table, whereas the visitors from Glasgow are fighting for third spot and promotion, with both Benburb and Rutherglen Glencairn having promotion in the bag and now battling neck and neck for the title.

Rossvale took the lead in the 35^th minute through Chris Duff who steered home a cross from the left hand side. Despite being the better side, it took some time before the points were sealed though, an 83^rd minute effort from Matt Niven made the game safe when he finished from close range after a header had been parried.

Five minutes before the final whistle, Marc McKenzie made it 3-0 when the goalkeeper and the defence suffered a complete lack of communication, putting the Rossvale player clean through on goal, with no one to beat!

So, three points in the bag, and the Rossvale supporters, who made up a large chunk of the attendance which I would estimate at around 80, travelled North, knowing they sat in the promotion places, with a big game to come at the weekend against Rutherglen.

The train back to Glasgow, was quiet, a light snooze was taken, until a rabble of teenagers boarded at Johnstone to destroy the tranquillity.

One more trip this football season beckons in May, a whole host of games are options, but to be fair, the Scottish Juniors has yet to disappoint, and that’s probably why those of us South of Hadrians Wall seem to flock in droves to watch it.

Cappielow

Greenock Morton  1  Alloa Athletic  2 

Scottish Football League - Championship

Belper Town had just played North Ferriby United at home in the Northern Counties East League, it would have been April 1997, and the game had ended in a 1-1 draw.

Excitement was high though, the promotion bid was still on, and, no sooner had the game finished, myself and my mate Tim were being picked up by my future brother-in-law, Martin, and being driven to Scotland to have a few days away, crashing at his parents mini-mansion in Largs.

The journey up was largely fuelled by alcopops, but then the serious stuff started. Once at Tebay Services it was into the toilets to get changed, because we were having a little stop off on the way up, to go night clubbing in Carlisle!

Yes, that’s right, nightclubbing in Carlisle. The first and probably the last time, the less said, the better. Anyway, we left Carlisle and pretty soon two of us were in the land of nod, until, the car came to a juddering halt and I was woken by Martin…

“I’ve bought you to see something…” he whispered

Still drunk and half asleep, all I could see was a wall, I thought we were at a supermarket.

“Tesco’s? You’ve woken me up to tell me we’re at a Tesco’s?”

“No you dick, look again….”

Turns out just above the wall was the sign that gave it away, we were at Ibrox, the home of Rangers, he’d bought us to see the stadium, albeit at 3am. Great, we’d seen it, now can we go again?

By 5am we’d arrived in Largs and were in bed, it had been a long day, and we had more to follow.

The following day we went into Glasgow, courtesy of Martin’s wonderful parents, Jimmy and Grace. But on the way, with them knowing how much I liked my football, we went via Greenock and had a look at Cappielow Park, the home of Greenock Morton. I liked what I saw, and as always happens, Martin said that next time we went up, we’d have to do it when they’d got a game on, and we could go and watch it.

Typically then, what actually happens is nothing, we never did go back, but I could always remember the dockyard cranes, and of course the floodlights on the old stand roofs.

When those more travelled than me, especially when it comes to Scotland, talk about iconic football stadiums, or ‘porn’ as we like to term it, it’s very rare that you meet anyone who doesn’t put Cappielow Park in their top three favourite grounds. Untouched by modernism, it remains an old school classic, with memories of the Sixties and Seventies oozing from the terraces under the Cowshed.

So, when the gaffer turned round and asked if I would be prepared to have a longer spell than usual North of the border, the initial reaction was to check the fixtures, and guess what? On the Tuesday night, I had a choice of not just one top shelf stadium in the shape of Morton, but two, because the equally admired Ayr United were at home.

I chose Greenock Morton simply because it would be something of a fulfilment, plus, I’d got a Juniors game pencilled in for the following evening in Ayr itself, so I wanted to vary the journeys and locations up a little bit.

Cappielow Park is reached very easily from Glasgow Central, just jump on one of the regular trains to Gourock, which takes you out through Paisley and Port Glasgow, before passing the ground just prior to alighting at Cartsdyke. From the station the walk is five minutes, and before I knew it I’d splashed out twenty quid for a terrace ticket and was on my way to the critically acclaimed Norseman pub at the corner of the stadium.

A couple of swift ones later (£2.50 a pint), and it was time to enter the theatre. Cappielow does not disappoint, all entrances are behind the goal, and this takes you onto an uncovered terrace that is for the homes support. Moving round in a clockwise direction is a seated stand, with GMFC picked out in yellow seats. The old floodlights that attach to the roof of the stand are still in place.

Behind the opposite goal, known as the ‘Wee Dublin End’ that is an old terrace, which is bigger than the opposite end, but now full of bench seats. Behind this sits the iconic crane that adorns many of the pictures you see of the ground. Opposite the main stand is a covered terrace, the Cowshed, albeit at the very front are a couple of areas of seating. This is where the vociferous Morton support congregate, and as the game progressed it got a pretty lively in the ‘Cooshed’.

Cappielow Park is mesmeric, especially at this time of year as twilight falls over it, it looks to have barely changed in forty years, it was how it had been eulogised about, and more.

A crowd of just shy of 1,500, the second lowest of the season, had congregated to see if Morton could ease themselves away from relegation danger against fellow strugglers Alloa Athletic, the only part time team in the Scottish Championship.

The first half was pretty grim viewing, but in the second period it was the hosts who took the lead from a very debatable penalty. Greg Kite was the man who found the back of the net, but within three minutes we had parity when Andy Graham equalised for the men from Clackmannanshire.

Morton pressed, but seemed bereft of ideas as to how to penetrate a well organised back line, and when hesitancy at the back allowed Jack Hamilton to net an 80th minute winner for Alloa, it didn’t go down very well on the Cowshed.

What started out as chants of ‘Time to go, Time to go…’ aimed at manager Jonatan Johansson, turned into a more expletive ‘Gae tae f**k, Gae tae f**k, which for the uninitiated, is a derogatory Scottish term for, err, ‘Time to go’………..

So, boos and jeers greeted the final whistle, relegation to the First Division remains a possibility, but at the minute Partick Thistle and Falkirk Athletic would be favourites to go down, two equally big names heading into part time oblivion.

The train from Cartsdyke left at 10pm, and within half an hour we were back in the centre of Glasgow.

Martin was right, I did finally get to see a game at Cappielow, albeit over twenty years after it was initially suggested.

The wait was worth it, and not a Cumbrian night club in sight!