A Happy Valley?

Rugby Town  2  Sporting Khalsa  1

Midland Football League – Premier Division

I defy anyone to walk into Rugby Town’s Butlin Road stadium and fail to be impressed.

There is clearly a history behind the club, which I’ll come onto shortly, but in terms of football grounds, this is a set up that in my opinion would be fit for National League football, and we aren’t just talking the regional divisions. I’m no ground grader, but I’ve seen plenty of grounds and this is right up there with non-league’s best.

Set on the very Eastern edge of Rugby, Butlin Road sits at the end of a lengthy drive which leads off the main route into the town centre, with the West Coast Mainline running parallel . Once in the car park you can start to see the scale of the place. The clubhouse has a very impressive façade and behind this sits a tall seated stand that is reasonably new, or at least has certainly been added since my only previous visit in 2000 when I saw them play Burnham in their guise of VS Rugby.

Behind the North goal is a vast covered terrace complete with crush barriers, while behind the opposite goal is a further smaller covered terracing area. Opposite the main stand is another shallower seated area which is flanked to both sides by small covered areas of terracing. In fact, anything that isn’t under cover, is properly terraced with barriers, add to that they have segregation capability, and a clubhouse that is accessible from within the ground, modern floodlights and a very good pitch, and you are talking one hell of a football stadium.

I’ll let the pictures tell the true story, but this begs a huge question, and I mean this with the greatest of respect, but what the hell is this doing in Step 5 football?

The history behind Rugby Town is not straightforward. In fact to understand it, you have to get to grips with the evolvement of football in the town itself.

Rugby Town were historically the principal club in the town, up until 1973 when they ceased to play, which is very different to going out of business, I suppose the phrase you would use is that they were "In Abeyance" as a senior club. They reappeared in 1993, but disappeared again mid-way through the 1995-96 season with their playing record expunged. Back they came again in 2000, but by 2004 they had once again vanished.

Across town VS Rugby (Valley Sports) were the junior of the clubs but following the demise of Town in 1973, they took on the mantle of the senior team and had success. The FA Vase was won in 1983 and the heady heights of the Southern League Premier Division were achieved. Along with that the Proper rounds of the F.A.Cup were reached on several occasions.

The club changed their name to Rugby United in 2000, much to the annoyance of the VS faithful, but then upon the demise of Rugby Town in 2004, the club that was United and formerly VS, decided to take on the name! Their time in the Premier Division came to an end, a move to the Northern Premier League followed, and then at the end of last season the club were relegated to Step 5 and the superb Butlin Road ground was to host host the lowest level of football it's witnessed since the early Eighties.

That’s the facts, but behind all of this are no doubt further strands to it, around ownership, finances, politics etc, as you get at most football clubs, the detail around which I’m not familiar with. But, the harsh reality is we have a Step 1 ground at Step 5.

Step 5 does not look like it’s going to be exited in a hurry either, they sit in seventh place in the Midland Football League with promotion not on the radar, but what’s the reality in terms of perhaps mounting a challenge next season?

They have some good players, Ruben Wiggins-Thomas is someone who I’ve seen playing regularly for Belper Town, and he knows where the net is, as does David Kolodynski who’s been banging them in for a few seasons now at Butlin Road. Add in Stuart Hendrie (brother of Lee) who was prolific at Basford United and you’ve got some serious ammunition at your disposal.

Just 96 spectators turned up on a night where it was all about the pitch inspections again, and in the first half they saw a Sporting Khalsa side who sat above Rugby in the table take the lead via a Mikel Beckley penalty kick. Rugby had been poor in the first period, creating very little, and that theme continued into the second period, until we saw a double substitution.

Wiggins-Thomas got his head to the ball to equalise in the 68^th minute and then Hendrie scored seven minutes later to give the hosts what was an unlikely lead, the game had been turned on its head.

Khalsa, somewhat shell shocked by the fact they were losing a game they were seemingly in control of, poured forward but couldn’t find a way through. Despite several minutes of added time, Rugby held on for three points that if I’m honest, looked unlikely as we tipped over the hour mark.

So as the spectators, players and officials made their way out of Butlin Road and the gates were locked again for another evening, you could be forgiven for wondering just when the status on the field starts to match the facilities.

It will be a step by step process and it won’t happen overnight, but when the giant oil tanker does start to turn, you wonder just where it might stop?

Domestic Licence

Llanelli Town  4  Monmouth Town  1

Welsh Football League – First Division       

Football in Wales always gets quite interesting when we move into the latter stages of the season.

Not only is it the time of year when promotion and relegation issues are resolved, but in recent seasons it’s the time when clubs find out whether they’ve been awarded with an appropriate Licence.

Licences fall into two categories, you can get a UEFA Licence combined with a FAW Tier 1 Licence, and that in effect allows you to not only compete in the Welsh Premier League, but also in either the Champions League or the Europa League.

You can also be awarded just a FAW Tier 1 Licence, and as you can imagine, that entitles you to play in the WPL, but, of all of the applicants for the said Domestic Licence next season, three of them withdrew their application, namely Prestatyn Town, Porthmadog and Penybont. While a further three were declined, namely Bangor City, Connahs Quay Nomads and indeed Llanelli Town.

Iconic Late Seventies Design - The Main Stand At Stebo

I found this information out the night before I was due to pay a visit to see Llanelli Town. My plan was to keep an eye out as to who looked favourites for promotion out of the Welsh Football League in the South, and when it looked a reasonable shout that barring a disaster it was going to be Llanelli, I made my mind up to go and watch the last home game of the season against struggling Monmouth Town.

While the exact reasoning for Llanelli’s failed application had yet to be revealed, the club were appealing the decision and remained confident it would be successful. In recent seasons I’ve seen this happen on a few occasions, and in virtually all cases I’ve seen the decision overturned. Quite often it is something administrative or indeed bureaucratic that causes they issue, as opposed to something fundamentally wrong with the club or its practices, but more on that later.

Llanelli, while very much a Rugby Union town with the famous Llanelli Scarlets playing out of the magnificent Parc Y Scarlets, and prior to that Stradey Park, has got a rich football history.

In the period from the Thirties to the early Fifties, Llanelli AFC made numerous applications to join the Football League without success, but the real halcyon days of the club came in the period from 2005 to 2011 when thanks to heavy investment they were League Champions, Welsh Cup Winners and also played in Europe for seven successive seasons. Games were won in Europe against Gefle, KF Vetra, FK Ventspils, Motherwell and Dinamo Tbilisi, however only once did they win a round on aggregate.

The Chapel Overlooks

The club as they were known were wound up in the High Court in April 2013, but a new club was formed and started the 2013-14 season as Llanelli Town, still playing at Steboneath Park, albeit in the fourth tier of the Welsh Pyramid.

Five seasons later and they are on course to win their third promotion and return to the level once held by their predecessors. It’s a great story, and one not that dissimilar to the one at Barry Town United that I covered last season, so it was time to go and have a look.

Three and a half hours after leaving home I was pulling into the car park at Stebo, a ground located just East of the town centre and not far from Parc Y Scarlets which was hosting the Scarlets v Glasgow game later that day, albeit due to the staggered kick off times, traffic both before and after wasn’t going to cause me an issue.

The ground is a big complex. At the end of the car park is the very smart clubhouse and function room facility, which sits adjacent to the turnstiles which bring you into the stadium right opposite the iconic structure that is the main stand.  On the turnstile side is the TV Gantry and Corporate Viewing Area, while next to this is a bank of uncovered seating, opposite as I’ve said is the 700 seater main stand which offers a fantastic elevated view. The dressing rooms are underneath, while the refreshment facilities are to one side, with a further bar area to the opposite side.

Cracking Vantage Point - Looking At The Gantry & More Seats

Formerly an athletics stadium, the running track is long gone, but the oval shape is still in existence so it’s not viable to view that game from either end of the ground, albeit I guess if you really wanted to you could.

Developed in the late Seventies / early Eighties, it still has that charm and style to it that’s synonymous with the era in question. Capacity wise it’s more than big enough based on the crowds Llanelli get, but as for Europe, they have had to play games elsewhere, namely the rugby stadiums or indeed Swansea’s Liberty Stadium.

Playing upfront for Llanelli is Lee Trundle. He may be 41 now, but the Swansea City Legend turns out for Llanelli when his commitments as a Club Ambassador and Junior Coach at the Liberty allow. 

Last season he scored nine hat-tricks in all competitions for the club, while today against Monmouth he scored one, created one and was simply a joy to watch with his first touch and vision.

In front of a crowd of 248, Llanelli took the lead through Trundle who’s shot from the edge of the box was too hot for the visiting goalkeeper to handle .However just before half time the visitors equalised, and deservedly so based on the way the game had developed, through Lewis Clare who bundled the ball home following a corner.

The second half was very much about Llanelli. Jordan Follows curled a lovely shot from twenty yards into the back of the net, and the with ten to go Trundle set up Kurtis March to score from close range to make it 3-1.

Behind The Goal - No Mans Land

As the game moved into injury time, some neat play found James Loveridge and he despatched a well struck shot into the corner of the net, leaving the final score 4-1.

The result effectively means Llanelli need three wins from five games, and that assumes Haverfordwest County win all seven of their remaining games. I would say they have one hand on the prize, but no one will be celebrating just yet.

So, that Licence issue. It was commented on in the programme and it appears it’s something to do with the Clubs Auditors and work they have done / not done on behalf of the club. No more detail was forthcoming but you sense the club are confident all will be ok.

Llanelli Town will be a fantastic addition to the Welsh Premier League, and following the troubles over recent years of the likes of Llanelli AFC, Barry Town, Neath and Port Talbot Town, it is great to see a big name returning to its rightful place.

The Mark Of Champions

Manor Hotel  1  Burngreave  3

Sheffield County Senior League – Division Two

I really wasn’t expecting to get to a game tonight, because as the afternoon wore on, games were being called off left right and centre. When I looked at 4.30pm I effectively had two choices, the Central Midlands League Cup Semi-Final at Clipstone, or, Loughborough University. It turned out that the heavy rain that landed around 6.30pm caused late postponements in both cases anyway.

I had all along intended on going across to Maltby to watch the game between Manor Hotel and Burngreave that was scheduled to be played on the outside pitches at Muglet Lane. But, I never really gave it a prayer of being on, until I sent a speculative tweet to the visitors to enquire about the game, and the very swift response confirmed that on the basis they hadn’t heard to the contrary, the game was on!

It didn’t take long to get to Maltby, and arriving around 45 minutes before the scheduled kick off it was clear to see that there was no problem. The pitch was soft, but not waterlogged, and with both teams and a referee in place, it was time to visit one of my all-time favourite haunts, the Maltby Miners Welfare.

Maltby Main To The Rear

Suitably sustained, on arrival at pitch side it also became clear that we were going to have the highly unusual sight of a scheduled 6pm kick off happening bang on time. More often than not 6pm ends up being fifteen or twenty minutes later as the stragglers turn up, but not tonight, well done everyone.

Burngreave have been going very well this season, and sat top of the league, while the hosts were nicely placed in third position. I would expect given the way the County Senior works, both will end up getting promoted, but in any case, it had the makings of a decent game, and one that could easily have a bit of edge to it, and so it turned out!

Within fifteen minutes of the game starting, the rains came, and they came a bit more, and they continued to keep coming until about ten minutes before the end. With no umbrella and no cover, I had to be innovative, and that meant walking into Maltby Main’s ground, climbing up onto the wall that sits at the edge of the covered Kop, and then shuffling along to the back wall of the stand, gripping the barrier, and peering round the corner to get a view of the action. To be fair, it wasn’t the most comfortable vantage point, but it did keep me dry.

Pitch Perfect At This Stage

More on the game in a moment, but as we moved into the second period the pitch was getting decidedly messy. The middle area was starting to become something resembling a swamp, and players simply couldn’t keep their feet on it. That said, the rest of the pitch was fine, no puddles were forming, and in fairness to the referee, he adopted the stance of having started the game, he was going to finish it. Whether anyone can play on it again this season though is perhaps somewhat debateable.

As for the game, it was very entertaining indeed. Burngreave have got some very skilful players, and on their home artificial pitch they play some fantastic football, but on tonight’s surface that wasn’t going to be quite so easy. Manor on the other hand can play football, but they also like to put a tackle in, and are more than adept at mixing it if required. Against Burngreave, the approach appeared to be to get in their faces at every opportunity, and not give them time on the ball.

Burngreave took the lead mid-way through the first half via a goal that did have a suspicion of offside about it, this seemed to rile Manor and in amongst the ‘dark arts’ that they seemed happy to employ, they did identify that the visitors goalkeeper wasn’t the biggest and neither was he the most confident.

The Black Clouds Looming

An equaliser came just before half time, and was probably deserved on balance of play. The hosts started the second half with the momentum that came from the equalising goal, but Burngreave held firm and started to look threatening on the break. With the pitch worsening all the time, from two of those breaks it was the visitors who exploited their pace and numbers to score twice, sealing a vitally important win and three extremely hard earned points.

But, the entertainment didn’t end there. With seven minutes to go a late tackle went in somewhere in the quagmire, and as the referee moved in to sort it, an altercation took place between two players away from the incident. Within seconds it kicked off and before you had chance to blink, all of the players, management, substitutes, some spectators and a couple of women had joined in the melee. It was hard to pick out who had done what to whom, but I did see a Burngreave substitute launch something that resembled a martial arts move on an opponent, while what appeared to be a supporter finished up flat on his back on the touchline with numerous people around him showing concern. Quite how he ended up prostrate I don’t know, but he seemed to come round and was helped back to his feet appearing to be none the worse for the incident.

From My Gantry - The Swamp Is Forming

When it did finally calm down, a Manor player got a yellow, and the Burngreave sub got a straight red. To be fair, it was one of those where you could have dished out as many cards as you liked, but where do you stop it? At one point I did wonder if the referee might choose to abandon the game, and a weaker one could easily have done, but in fairness to him he let the players sort it out amongst themselves and then dealt with the disciplinary side.

In fairness to both sets of players, it was handshakes all round at the final whistle, and no sign of any afters, but that aside, you have to credit both sides  for putting on a great game of football under the circumstances of the conditions.

I’ll leave the final word to the Burngreave Twitter feed…

“Who said we can’t do it on a cold and rainy night in Maltby!”

The mark of champions if you ask me!

Curiosity

Illogan Royal British Legion  0  Wadebridge Town  0

South Western Peninsula League – Division One West

Probably around thirty years ago, I came across a football programme, I’m not sure how I acquired it, but it caught my eye because I’d never heard of the home team, despite considering myself to be an oracle of non-league football, even at fifteen years of age.

The club was Illogan Royal British Legion, it was from 1972 (the year of my birth) and it was for a friendly game against Crystal Palace, who in hindsight were probably on something of a pre-season vacation in the South West. It involved some research back then in pre-internet days and by using some old non-league directories I found a side that had been in the South Western League, and indeed the FA Vase during the mid to late Seventies.

Ok, so it was in the South West, but where precisely?

Atlas time (ask your parents kids), and it came to light that Illogan was a village on the edges of Redruth in Cornwall. But from a footballing perspective, at the time I looked into them, they were playing in the Cornwall Combination. To be fair I’d never heard of the Cornwall Combination, so please forgive me Illogan, but because I couldn’t see you in the South Western League tables in my most up to date directory, I kind of assumed you’d gone belly up and disappeared. Ok, I claimed to be a font of knowledge, but it only went as far as the publications at the time allowed it to go.

Cornwall Football Encapsulated

Every few years I’d have a sort out of the programmes, moving house three times was usually the trigger, and more often than not the Illogan issue would re-appear, but once again, it would end up being filed between Ilkeston Town and Ilminster Town.

But then, like a phoenix from the flames, I was perusing the usual non-league football websites as I regularly do, when I read that Illogan had been accepted join the South West Peninsula League. So, they did still exist after all, and apparently if I’d made the point of looking at the Cornwall Combination history then I would have picked up on the fact they’d won it four times in the previous eight seasons. It seemed a sleeping giant had awoken…..

I’ll be honest though, and I’m not going to lie and tell you that a flame had been ignited and I had a burning desire to go and watch them play. It was a more a case of some old curiosity being settled, and that programme was part of something that still existed today, it just took me a while to find it.

Where Booze Lives

Yep, from that point onwards I kind of forgot about them, until recently when I was trying to put together the fixtures for our Cornish trip. You see, because so many games were scheduled to be played on the Good Friday, Easter Saturday was looking a bit barren, and the only game I could find that was a realistic option was indeed Illogan RBL v Wadebridge Town. If that went by the wayside, somewhat ironically, it was going to have to be the Cornwall Combination!

Naturally the weather was going to be key, but the plan was in place, we decided to drive up to the wonderful St Ives for the morning, and it was while Mrs H and Junior H were having a paddle (I’m not that daft – freezing cold – weaver fish – sand between the toes – no thanks) that I saw a tweet that said the game was on. Oh days of happiness!

Once we’d navigated our way out of a very busy St Ives (I’d hate to go when it’s a nice day) and got back on the A30, finding the ground was fairly simple. Oxland Park sits close to the centre of the village, which in itself is just North of the dual carriageway, and to be fair it probably sits equidistant between Redruth and Camborne, although it does seem to associate itself more with the latter.

In Progress...

What a lovely little ground. An old bench seated stand sits on the half way line, with a small tea bar to the side of it, while behind the goal stands a very smart clubhouse (Royal British Legion to be precise) and the requisite changing facilities. It was very different to what I’d encountered before on this trip, but I got the sense that this was a typical Cornish football ground.

Yes, I was happy, and even happier with a pint in hand, while the locals were friendly and chatty.

I’ll be honest, the game was awful. It finished 0-0 and probably would have still been goalless if we’d played until Easter Monday. Both sides had the endeavour, but they didn’t have the craft and guile on the day to fashion a goal. No criticism is intended of either side, but sometimes you just cancel each other out and that’s how it develops. But, after twenty minutes played I thought a goal looked unlikely, and that feeling only grew as the game wore on!

Dugouts

But, I liked Illogan, it felt like a trip back in time, almost like a trip back to the old South Western League that I overheard some locals lamenting the loss of. I haven’t anything like the local knowledge they have to be fair but I’m not sure what the difference is between that and the Peninsula West?  Other than maybe it’s perhaps not as strong?

So, four games down, and one to go, but that final fifth game didn’t happen. The plan was to go to Ludgvan but the overnight monsoon put paid to that. I’d resigned myself the previous evening to a blank Easter Monday, which to be fair I shouldn’t have done, because by the time I discovered 

Bodmin Town’s game was on it was too late to make it. Bude Town was an option but the travel time and the risk factor with the weather meant it would have to wait for another day.

But that was Cornwall, what a superb experience, what a great holiday, and what a way to spend your honeymoon. I would strongly recommend it, if you think you can get away with it!

Match Action

The Stand

Wendron United  0  Porthleven  4

South West Peninsula League – Division One West

It was going like a dream, mid-way through the game at Helston Athletic, and I spotted a tweet that said my afternoon game at very close neighbours Wendron United was on!

I love it when a plan comes together, and with Mrs H and Junior booked in to see a film at Falmouth flicks, it meant a quick trip back down the A394, a farewell in a bus bay (parking was limited) and then back for the very short journey to Carnkie.

Carnkie is probably not a place many people outside of Cornwall have heard of, I’d certainly not heard of it, and it was only when I was scouring Google Maps trying to find the home of Wendron United, in Wendron of all places (obvious you would think!), that I found myself drawing a blank.

Aesthetic Beauty

Of course, a quick trip to the Peninsula League website put me straight, I was looking in the wrong place. Wendron don’t play in Wendron, they play in Carnkie, which is a very small village almost on the outskirts of Falmouth. That solved that one then, I soon located it on the map, it was just off the main road, and, in the event of me arriving and finding the game was in fact postponed, I could get to Truro City in good time who were playing Hemel Hempstead Town.

I remember everyone getting very excited about Wendron United a few years ago. They were on one of the Peninsula Hops, and if my memory serves shortly afterwards they were featured in the magazine Groundtastic.

The Clubhouse Below Pitch Level

So why the excitement? Simple really, they have a quite amazing stand that was erected only three years ago, and to be fair, it is a pretty unique structure at any level of football, let alone at Step 7.

I may be doing a disservice to the rest of the ground which is very good indeed, by singling out the stand, but allow me to explain.

The natural barrier to the pitch along the North side is a dry stone wall, but the hard standing that starts at the East end climbs up a slope behind the goal to a point where it effectively runs along the top of the wall.

View From The Stand

Built on top of this is an area of cover with a roof that slopes downward (complete with solar panels on top), and this runs the full length of the pitch. The middle section contains some seats and at this point the roof is slightly higher than the rest of the stand. This is also the only section of the stand that has a back to it. The standing areas are on two levels, the lower level atop the wall, and then a further level that steps up behind it. Quite frankly, it looks stunning and is worthy of the honour of being described as ‘Stand Porn’.

They’ve also got a very smart two storey dressing room complex behind the goal which is Football Foundation funded, while the side opposite the stand is accessible, but not without walking in front of the dugouts to make it from one end to the other. The West end of the ground in flat standing while behind it sits an artificial 5-a-side court that is floodlit.

Not Bad!

The ground itself doesn’t have floodlights, but it does have a very large clubhouse that is shared with the neighbouring cricket club, and today it was something of an Easter Family Day, so with lots of stalls set up in the club, and lots of families around, space for the casual football fan was somewhat limited!

Wendron United started life as Wendron Cricket Club United and became members of the Cornwall Combination in 1998, but then in 2007 when becoming founder members of the Peninsula League they became plain Wendron United.

The 2009-10 season saw the club resign mid-season and they then spent a further four years back in the Combination, before returning to the Peninsula in 2015, complete with new stand, where they remain today.

Porthleven on the other hand also joined the Peninsula League when it formed and have remained in the First Division West ever since, which is perhaps something of a surprise given that for eight seasons from the mid-Nineties to the Mid-Noughties they never finished lower than third in the old South Western League. Indeed it was during this period that they became known for their FA Vase exploits. I guess though that a decline in fortunes on the field coincided with the formation of the new league, and since then promotion has never really been on the cards, until now….

Wendron sat just below mid-table, whereas Porthleven knew a victory would take them top of the table, leapfrogging another Cornwall giant in the shape of Liskeard Athletic.

Match Action

A seasons best crowd of 77 saw a first half played on a good surface under the circumstances, and despite the 0-0 score line, Wendron gave as good as they had been given by Porthleven, but you did feel the visitors had the edge.

That edge turned to dominance in the second period, whereby two goals from Matt Drummond, and one each from Matt Thackeray and Rob Carey saw the men sponsored by Rick Stein cruise to a 4-0 victory.

Porthleven, you sense are a club on the way back, whereas Wendron, with their simply magnificent stand, might not be going up this season, but in terms of awards for aesthetic pleasure, you’ll struggle to find anything to beat it.

Pornography!

The A394 Derby

Helston Athletic  0  Falmouth Town  2

South West Peninsula League – Premier Division

It was quickly becoming apparent that if I wanted to achieve my five game Honeymoon plan, I was going to need a good slice of luck, not strictly from a matrimonial point of view, but from a weather point of view.

The weather on Wednesday and Thursday had been very indifferent, but ultimately it continued to be wet. My Friday plan had some variables within it, but for it to work to its best effect I needed the 11am kick-off at Helston Athletic to be on.

The game on the previous Tuesday had been called off, and I was half expecting to be having to travel further afield, possibly Penzance, but once again the Peninsula League, its clubs, and Twitter came up trumps, the local derby against Falmouth Town was very much on.

Kellaway Park

Helston is a sizable town in Cornwall, just under 12,000 call it home, and that compares well with the likes of Penzance, Bodmin, Launceston and Redruth, but up until recently, it wasn’t a particularly big name on the footballing front.

A South Western League side in the Fifties and Sixties, they eventually dropped a level into the Cornwall Combination where they had mixed success until the Noughties when some consistent highly placed finishes culminated in the championship at the end of the 2010-11 season.

The next port of call was of course the South West Peninsula League, and in four seasons they finished runners-up twice, third and finally first in 2014-15, which in turn lead to promotion and Step 6 football.  Helston Athletic had officially become the most westerly team in the top six tiers of the English non-league pyramid.

The Facilities

Located West of both Falmouth and Truro, it was a short fifteen minute drive from base camp to the neatly appointed Kellaway Park ground which sits just off the ring road. Driving in through the gate and past the chaps collecting admission, we were fortunate to get one of the remaining parking spaces in the ground.

Kellaway Park is like Poltair Park, very much a ground where all of the facilities are down one side. A modern stand sits just to the West of the half way line, while the large clubhouse and dressing room complex stands next to it and runs all the way up to the East corner. Hard standing is limited to just two sides of the ground, while it’s fully enclosed and as you would expect at Step 6, it has floodlights.

While Not Obvious - The Boggy Bit

It did the job, and with a decent crowd expected for the local derby, the bar and the tea bar were doing a brisk trade, and it was while I was ambling out from the bar that I bumped into my old pal from the East Midlands, Rob Hornby, who was cramming in a good number of games on his two week holiday in the Duchy.

Visiting team Falmouth Town, now talk to any Belper Town fan of a certain age about the day we played at Falmouth and they’ll go misty eyed on you. To this day, the FA Vase Fifth Round tie at Bickland Park in February 1995, is the best football match I’ve ever been to. Not just for the fact we won 5-1 against a fancied side, in front of a vociferous home crowd, but also because of the event itself. 

Slightly Less Boggy Bit - But Still Quite Boggy!

Travelling down the day before with the players and officials, staying at the Greenbank Hotel, the hospitality from Falmouth Town Football Club, our large travelling support setting off at 5am, the outstanding performance and of course the joyous but long journey back that night. Memories that will never be forgotten, and something that is unlikely to be repeated.

Since that day, neither myself nor Mrs H (she was also at the game in 1995), have never seen Falmouth Town play, so I’m sorry Helston, I’m afraid to say we were Falmouth fans for the day, apologies, it was nothing personal!

Helston sat in mid-table before the game, while Falmouth knew a win would take them into the top three. A crowd of 179 assembled to see an entertaining game on a pitch that was certainly heavy in places, and to be fair it was the visitors who started the brighter and it came as no surprise when Rob Wearne opening the scoring after 30 minutes. This coming just a minute after Marcello Jones saw his weak penalty, awarded for handball, saved by Helston goalkeeper Barrie Wyatt.

David Broglino doubled the lead ten minutes into the second period, and from that point onwards the outcome was never really in any doubt. Helston battled hard throughout the game and despite putting plenty of the ball into the Falmouth penalty area, they couldn’t find the finish to breach the visitors defences.

Dugouts

Another entertaining game, another great club in Helston Athletic, and another good advert for the league, Furthermore, you have to give a big hand to the hosts for getting the game on in what have been incredibly challenging circumstances, especially in this part of the World.

The A394 Derby had gone the way of the men in yellow and black, and along with their merry band of fans, we headed back East, the day was not over yet…..

Tribute

AFC St Austell  2  Tavistock  3

South West Peninsula League – Premier Division

The massed ranks of the groundhopping fraternity were heading West for the Easter weekend, because Phil Hiscox, the General Secretary of the South West Peninsula League, had organised another of his legendary hops, that was to take in seven fixtures in three days.

I’ve spoken about Phil before in this blog, he’s a hugely well respected man who’s league I feel is one of the best in the Country, if not the best. Why is that though?

Its run superbly well, the information it provides is excellent, and its use of social media and the web is fantastic for a league of its standing, and would indeed put many of a higher standard to shame.

But, for me, the opportunity to visit games and grounds in the league only ever arises through holidays, so careful planning needs to go into it, and with both dates and kick off times posted nice and early, and more importantly not subject to change, it does make life somewhat easier.

Just throw into the mix the superb little grounds, the fantastic scenery, the great football and the wonderful hospitality, then you’ve got the perfect mix!

So, bearing in mind the holiday in Falmouth was meant to be our Honeymoon, I chose to restrict myself to just the five games in seven days, don’t want to push it in the early stages do I? I wasn’t partaking in the organised hop as that was located too far East in Devon, but I was able to plan a Cornish one of my own.

Character

On the day of arrival the weather Gods had not been overly kind, I noticed one or two games going by the wayside due to waterlogging, but my game of choice at St Austell’s Poltair Park was very much on, and again, thanks to the leagues social media, it was very easy to keep an eye on things.

A mere 45 minute drive from base camp, locating the ground was easy enough, and thankfully I was in time to grab one of the remaining parking spaces inside the ground.

What a super ground Poltair Park is, located high up on a hill, adjacent to the famous St Austell Brewery, the home of Tribute, all of the furniture is situated down one side. A tall, old, but characterful main stand sits on the half way line with the dressing rooms underneath, while behind this is the smart and busy clubhouse.

The tea bar is located to the side of the stand, while the remainder of the ground is hard standing, but what did stand out was the gradient on the pitch that went from the stand side down to the opposite side, it was quite a drop.

Looking Downhill

AFC St Austell are one of the biggest names in Cornish football. Originally plain old St Austell, they were members of the South Western League when it formed in 1951, right through to the formation of the Peninsula League in 2007. The championship was won just the once and indeed in the latter years times were tougher than they would have liked on the pitch, and consequently the final placing the year prior to the inauguration of the Peninsula League meant they were to start life in Division One West as opposed to the Premier Division .

However, in 2010, now called AFC St Austell, a runners-up place saw them promoted for the first time in their modern history and from that point onwards things have looked pretty good. The championship was won in 2015 while runners-up spot along with two fourth place finishes in a five year period can only be classed as a success. Indeed in the championship season, the club came within a whisker of a place in the FA Vase Final at Wembley, losing narrowly at the semi-final stage against Glossop North End.

Looking Towards The Brewery

This season, the club sat just inside the top six, whereas visitors Tavistock knew a win would take them into second place. They won the league last season but this time around Plymouth Parkway are so far ahead the competition would need snookers to overtake them.

With crowds averaging just under 200 this season, 160 turned out for the game with a decent number having made the journey West from the town North of Plymouth. Very good for this level of football.

I phoned Mrs H at half time to report in that the score line was 0-0, but, it had certainly not been a poor game, in fact it had been a very entertaining, end to end spectacle. That said, a goal for either side could make it very interesting.

The goal came early in the second half for St Austell via Liam Dingle, and then within a few minutes it was 2-0 to the hosts when Tom Chambers found the back of the net. At that point you could have been forgiven for thinking Tavistock were down and out, and as one of their fans commented, “It’s just one of those evenings…”

Looking Uphill

He was right, it turned out to be a night not to forget for the visitors, with it all happening in a seven minute spell.

Warren Daw pulled a goal back, and by now Tavistock had the momentum, this lead to increased pressure and then we got an equaliser thanks to Jack Crago.

The game then moved into the final minutes and Josh Grant popped up to turn the game on its head completely and secure the three points for the visitors.

It had been a fantastic game, with both sides giving their all, and you could argue neither side deserved to lose it. But for St Austell, as they sank to their knees at the final whistle, you had to admire what they had put into the game. As for Tavistock, they have a winning mentality, and it was that that saw them achieve what the vast majority of teams in this division would probably have not been able to do, come from two goals down away from home against one of the better teams in the league.

A superb nights entertainment, and a great start to the Cornish adventure.