Base of the Pyramid
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Moles Dig In

21/1/2015

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Once again I had to cancel a trip to Olney Town. I am beginning to think there is a conspiracy to prevent me from adding them to my list of stadia. However, my second choice venue, Haywood Road home of Aylesbury, was a more than adequate substitute. Although I have visited the ground before, a 10-0 thrashing of Woodford United two years ago, I did not write a blog entry for my visit.
Haywood Way is on the outskirts of  Aylesbury, just off the A41 heading out to Bicester. Parking at the ground is quite limited but it is fairly easy to find a spot on the streets nearby. The first thing you see when approaching the ground is the entrance to the club house. However, entrance to the ground is through the large gates to the right of this building which leads to two turnstiles. The entrance fee for this Southern League Central Division fixture against Daventry Town  was £8.50  As this was a re-arranged fixture, the programme was printed in readiness for the original game (Jan 3rd) and was handed out as a freebie for this game.
To describe the layout of the ground. There are two main structures, a covered standing area behind one of the goals, emblazoned with Welcome to Aylesbury FC, and a covered seating area along the nearside (clubhouse side) of the pitch. This stand also houses the snack bar, toilets, press and reserved directors areas. The remainder of the pitch is surrounded by the obligatory hard-standing. Dugouts, as is the norm, are on the opposite side to the main stand. The pitch looked a little cut up in places but, considering the weather, was not in terrible condition.

Both of these sides were coming into the game on pretty good runs of form. Aylesbury having won 3 and lost 1 of their last 4 fixtures. Daventry won 2, drawn 1 and lost 1 (a narrow 1-0 defeat to leaders Kettering). So, although a win for the home team would see them leapfrog Kettering to the top of the league, it was not going to be an easy game.
Maybe it was the pressure of attaining their highest ever league placing. Maybe it was the conditions (we had snow, hail and rain during the game). Maybe it was a well organised and combative Daventry team. Whatever, the reason, it became apparent fairly early on that this was not going to be a routine victory for the Moles. The first half was a scrappy affair and, as the Daventry twitter account recorded, physio Kelly Davies was probably busier than either goalkeeper in the first 45 minutes. The major talking point of the half came when home stopper Kyle Anthony pulled back Daventry's James Tricks to prevent him breaking through on goal. The referee didn't see it as a clear goalscoring opportunity, presumably because he was still a fair distance from goal, so only a yellow card was deemed necessary. It did, however, signal the start of plenty of off the ball incidents that went on throughout the rest of the game. These never really turned into anything too serious but there was always a sense that something was bubbling just under the surface between Tricks and most of the Aylesbury backline.
At half-time it was still  0-0, a score-line that accurately represented the first 45 minutes.

The second half saw a more urgent approach from the home side. They pushed forward from the kick-off and began to exert a considerable amount of pressure on the Purple defence. However, after weathering the first 15 minutes after the restart, Daventry started to mount some good counter attacks themselves. It would not have been a complete surprise if one of these attacks had lead to a goal.
Then, ten minutes from time and with the home crowd becoming increasingly twitchy, a half hit clearance fell to veteran Mole Davis Haule who hit a low hard, beautifully controlled, shot into the corner of the Daventry net. There was still time for a Jack Howard shot to pass close enough to the far post of the Aylesbury goal to cause some consternation but, the home side hung on to take their place at the head of the table.

Aylesbury FC - @aylesburyfc
Daventry Town - @daventrytownfc



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A Game of Two Halves

14/1/2015

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My original game for Tuesday night was Olney Town v Northampton Spencer. However, after a pitch inspection and subsequent cancellation I decided to swap a team in green versus a team in yellow for another team in green versus another team in yellow, Kidlington against Abingdon United in the Hellenic Premier League. What with Kidlington challenging for the league title and the ground only being 20 minutes’ drive from home, this was an appealing game on two fronts, on an evening where snow was predicted in some areas.
On the two occasions that I have visited Yarnton Road I have been able to park in the car park that runs alongside and behind the clubhouse. If that is full, there appears to be room to park on Yarnton Road itself. The club house entrance is outside the boundaries of the stadium complex so, if you do need to use the facilities, you have to leave the ground to do so. Upon entering the ground (fee for this league game was £5) you find yourself behind one of the goals. Immediately to the right is the tea and snack bar and to the left is a small covered standing area. On the right-hand side of the pitch is a covered seating area and opposite this, on the allotment side of the ground, are the dug outs. Considering the weather there were quite a few hardy souls around for the game on Tuesday evening. This number was bolstered by a sizeable following from Abingdon. Billing themselves as the best supporters in the Hellenic league, the Ultras as they like to be called, kept up a constant barrage of support throughout the entire game, even without the use of their drum. I am not sure if the aforementioned percussion instrument was even present but I take it that the noise would not have been welcomed by at least one local. Onto the game itself. I’ll be honest, I was expecting it to be a one-sided affair. Kidlington, currently second in the league, and pushing hard for promotion looked odds on for a comfortable win against an Abingdon side struggling at the wrong end and with only 4 wins all season. However, the game was not much past the 5 minute mark when it had become apparent that they were not here to make up the numbers. In fact, it was the Yellows who were taking the game to their hosts. Kidlington were finding it hard to get a foothold on the game at all however, against the run of play, they did force the best opportunity of the first 15 minutes. It was the Yellows, though, who deservedly took the lead after 23 minutes. A cross was half cleared to the edge of the area where Frank met it with a crisp left-footed shot past the home keeper. Still no real response from Kidlington as Abingdon continued to boss the game. The, before the break, the away side scored a second goal. A break down the left was finished off with a fine curling effort from the edge of the box from striker and captain Odhiambo. So, totally against the form book, we went into half-time with Abingdon two goals to the good and deservedly so. Surely the second half would see an improved performance from Kidlington? The Greens, presumably after a rocket from the boss, came out early for the second half. The change in the game was immediately noticeable. Kidlington were forcing the pace and having far more of the ball than in the first half. Saying that, the hard-working Odhiambo combined with some tireless central midfield work and the runs of Haines on the right flank, were still causing problems for the home side. Despite Kidlington gaining control of the game, they couldn’t seem to find the breakthrough to get the back into the game. The game changer, when it finally came, was a strange affair. A right wing cross was met by the head of Greens captain Tommy Franklin and looped, seemingly gently, over the United keeper and into the net. Even though there were only 15 minutes left on the clock there was a feeling that the goal had completely changed the game. Suddenly the Abingdon legs were looking tired, the Kidlington players seemed to have gained a yard or two of pace and the single goal lead looked very precarious. With 3 minutes remaining Kidlington got the equaliser. A corner was headed down in the box and fell perfectly for the unmarked Tommy Castle to smash it home. Now Kidlignton could smell blood and straight from the restart they regained possession and set about pushing for the winner. It came in the final minute of the game. A lung bursting run from Lewis Coyle and a calm, calculated finish broke Abingdon hearts. There was barely time for the celebrations to finish and for Abingdon to kick-off before the referee blew the final whistle.

You had to feel for Abingdon. They had run themselves into the ground for 75 minutes and just didn’t quite have the legs to see the game out. Their support, the Ultras, also deserve credit for supporting their team to the bitter end. I think their claim may well be true you know. Credit must also be given to the Kidlington players and management. I’m not sure what was said to the players at half-time but, whatever it was, it did the trick. The players responded well and, once they got one back, there was a feeling that there was only one result on the cards. All in all I thought that this was a thoroughly entertaining game of football. Both sides played some good stuff, with an emphasis on passing and moving. A great advert for the league.

Kidlington - @kidlington_fc
Abingdon United - @aufcOfficial
Abingdon Ultras - @aufcultras

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Poachers pay the Penalty

7/1/2015

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It could be said that Long Buckby are now one of the form teams in the league. Despite not picking up a single win in their first 18 fixtures the Bucks have now won 2 and drawn 1 of their last 4 league outings.
This was my first visit to Station Road, which is part of a large sports complex comprising of the football ground, rugby club and cricket. The football stadium lies behind the rugby and cricket pitches, a few hundred yards off Station Road itself. There is limited car parking available outside the sports club as well as some off-road spots on Station Road itself. However, on busy days, the club advises parking at the rail station a few hundred yards down the road. On this evening I managed to find a spot on the verge outside the rugby club on Station Road and walked across the rugby ground to the football stadium. Entry was £6 with an extra £1 for the programme, a 20 page black & white affair with pretty good content.


Long Buckby is quite unusual in that, when you pass through the turnstile, you actually enter a sort of courtyard rather than the ground itself. To your left is a tea and snack bar and a toilet block. Beyond that is the players and officials only area. Directly in front of you is the entrance to the ground which runs down the side of the main, and only, covered area. This is a three row, seated stand that runs along half of the playing surface. The rest of the ground is surrounded by hard-standing with the dugouts directly opposite the main stand.

The plastic moulded seats in the seated area are bolted directly to concrete steps, reminding me of an Eastern European style ground, specifically the Tehelné pole stadium in Bratislava. Thankfully, in Long Buckby, there were no menacing, balaclava sporting, armour plated, baton wielding police present.

To the game itself. Even at this stage of the season, just into the New Year, this was undoubtedly a relegation six pointer. Long Buckby were to win a home game this season and were 4 points adrift of second bottom, Sileby Rangers. Oadby, only four places off the bottom, were 10 points better off than their hosts and coming into the game on the back of two consecutive home defeats in which 9 goals had been conceded. A crowd of 68, a fair portion of which had travelled from Leicestershire, gathered to see the action unfold.

The importance of the game seemed to be apparent in the first 10 minutes. Both sides struggled to get a grip on the game and the conditions. However, in the 13th minute, the home side were awarded a penalty for a hand ball offence. Despite the Oadby keeper getting a strong hand to Nduna-Ndlovu’s spot kick he couldn’t prevent it going in. 1-0 to Long Buckby. The home side’s joy was very short-lived though. Oadby came straight back at them and after a shot was saved by the home keeper the rebound hit the bar only to fall for Sam Taylor to force home the equaliser.

There was no more scoring during a reasonably even first half. The home side probably had the slight edge on possession but were constantly let down by the final ball. All to play for in the second half.

Thirteen minutes into the second half an Oadby free-kick from just outside the box was parried by the home keeper and Sam Taylor gobbled up the rebound to put Oadby 2-1 up. At this point, with Long Buckby’s record this season, it looked like a case of how many goals Oadby would score. I’m not sure that even the home supporters were expecting a comeback. The players, however, had different ideas and instead of letting their heads drop they upped their game and tried to take the match to their opponents. Just eight minutes after going behind they got their reward with possibly the best move of the game. An Oadby attack was broken down inside the home half. A long diagonal ball found the Bucks right-winger who beat a player and hit a low cross for Nduna-Ndlovu to finish neatly for his, and Buckby’s, second goal. Nine minutes later and a deep left wing corner was powerfully headed home at the far post by Elliott Herbert to make it Long Buckby 3 Oadby Town 2. The Bucks rode out a couple of Oadby chances in the closing minutes and secured only their second win of the season, their first at home. With Sileby Rangers also winning against Harborough and Harrowby losing at Deeping, it has closed up the bottom five so that only 8 points separates the teams now. It could be a tense end to the season for all of these teams. Oadby entertain leader Rushden & Diamonds on Saturday whilst Long Buckby are at home to mid-table Deeping Rangers.

 

Oadby Town - @oadbytownfc




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