On an evening where games were getting called off left, right and centre it was somewhat ironic that I ended up at a ground that has the River Thames as its neighbour and has a history of flooding. The original plan, to visit Pershore Town, had to be shelved because of timing and distance so after some searching of the internet it was a Berks/Bucks Intermediate Cup game between Abingdon Town and Letcombe that caught the eye.
Culham Road has long been on my list of grounds to visit but, since Town dropped into the North Berks League, opportunities have been very limited (I am mostly restricted to midweek games and North Berks League doesn't play midweek league games). All the way down the A34 and into Abingdon, the rain continued to come down and it was with some relief that I discovered the floodlights on and the game was going ahead.
Entry this evening was free, so value for money was guaranteed before kick-off. Culham Road stadium belies the current Step 7 position of the club and would certainly not look out of place at Step 3 (the highest that club ever achieved). The main stand, which is opposite the club house, snack bar and changing facilities, will seat around 200 and is flanked on both sides by covered standing areas. The goal at the far end of the ground from the car park and entrance, is also backed by a covered standing area. The car park end has an uncovered, three-tier terrace. Opposite the main stand is another smaller seated stand that can house around about 50, a media centre and covered standing outside the clubhouse and snack bar. All in all, there are covered areas on three sides of the ground which, on a night like Tuesday, was a relief to everyone. It really is a lovely ground (even in atrocious weather) so, for any ground-hoppers reading who haven't been, check it out. I don't think you will be disappointed.
After being informed that kick-off time was 7:30, I was quite surprised to find, at 7:25, both sets of players still out warming up. It clearly wasn't going to start at 7:30. As it happened the game kicked off at 7:40 with an official referee and makeshift assistants, one from each side. It was unclear how this had come about but presumably the two sides had come to an agreement to allow an official from each side to assist the referee in order to get the game on. With the rain still hammering down, you have to admire the dedication of these individuals to volunteer their services and get soaked into the bargain.
For the first half I chose to stand under one of the covered areas alongside the main stand. As I tweeted at the time, standing under a corrugated iron roof, with rain drumming down above your head, is quite exhilarating in a strange way. It certainly emphasised the fact that I was watching grassroots football. Real football. Sharing my corrugated roof in the first half were two gentlemen from Abingdon (one of whom had spent his day draining the pitch of standing water) and a supporter (possibly an official) of away side Letcombe. We don't do segregation at this level.

To be honest, within a few minutes of kick-off, the one division gap between the sides had become apparent. Letcombe, playing in all purple, were dominating possession from the first minute and it looked like just a matter of time before they opened the scoring. Just a few minutes into the game, the inevitable happened. Another through ball saw Letcombe break the home side's offside trap when Dan Hoskin ran onto a Claydon pass. The assistant flagged for offside but the referee, rightly in my opinion, over-ruled him and the Letcombe forward slotted it past the keeper for 1-0. Now, at this point it is only right to point out that the Abingdon assistant had already flagged for a number of offsides at this point. Most of which, I hasten add, were correct decisions. However, on this occasion the Letcombe forward was just about level and, as such, was not offside. I can see why the assistant flagged and I can see why the referee over-ruled him. Needless to say the assistant was not best pleased with the referee's decision and let him know his frustration. This, in a few minutes time, lead to a situation whereby the referee did blow for an offside that the assistant flagged for and the assistant sarcastically cheered the decision. The referee then pointed out that, any more and he would have him replaced. Never before have I seen an assistant being threatened by a red card. Only in non-league.
With the rain still pouring down and the centre of the pitch getting ever more sticky Letcombe continued to apply pressure to the home goal, missing a number of chances along the way. Abingdon's best efforts came when they got the ball out to the flanks, particularly their left, but even then they couldn't force the Letcombe keeper into any serious action.
After 24 minutes Letcombe doubled their advantage. Another straight-forward ball split the home defence allowing Hoskin to run on unchallenged and slip the ball past the keeper for his second of the night.
The big surprise of the half was that it took another 23 minutes for Letcombe to go three up. However, when they did, it was with the best move of the night. An interchange of passes down their right lead to a deep cross. This was collected by the left-sided midfielder who turned his defender inside out before laying the ball back for an onrushing Faircloth to hammer the ball home from 18 yards.
So, at half-time Letcombe were comfortably cruising through to the next round with a 3-0 lead. The only worry they had was the referee deciding that the pitch had become unplayable during the break.
Both teams clearly wanted to get the game played and were out early for the second half which kicked off with just a 10 minute interval.
Noticeably, within the first few minutes, Abingdon had upped their game, or Letcombe had dropped off a little. Either way, it was the home side who were having more of the ball in the opening exchanges, managing to create a couple of half chances.
However it was, once again, the away side who came closest to scoring with Adam Claydon's audacious 40 yard lob. The effort beat the home keeper but stopped in the goalmouth mud before it could cross the line.
However, 9 minutes later it was 4-0. A lovely chip to the far post was controlled by Adam Claydon and slipped past the keeper. If it was game over at 3-0, it certainly was at 4-0.
To be fair to Abingdon though, heads did not drop and they continued to keep battling away, forcing the Letcombe keeper to go full length to maintain his clean sheet. In fact, it could be said that they actually lasted the distance better than Letcombe. Maybe the away team had taken their foot off the pedal a little but for the last 15 minutes it was the home side getting to the ball first.
I did find myself hoping that Abingdon could at least get a consolation but it wasn't to be and the referee brought an end to proceedings with the score still at Abingdon Town 0 Letcombe 4.
A fully deserved win for the away side who go on to play Finchampstead in the quarter finals.
Well done to everyone who worked so hard to get this game played and good luck repairing the pitch after the game. The centre circle especially was a total mess by the end of the game.


Abingdon Town - @abingdontownfc
Letcombe - @letcombefc

This Tuesday saw a return to The Eyrie, home of Bedford Town and the ground that kick-started the BotP site. It was back in October 2012 that I first made the journey eastwards to watch Stourbridge play The Eagles. The Glassboys lost 2-0 that evening but, at a time when I was rapidly losing interest in the pro game, the match rekindled my appetite for football and jump-started my ongoing adventure in the non-league game.
I noted in my original blog that The Eyrie was a very well maintained ground with polite and friendly staff. I am pleased to say that in the intervening 2 and bit years, nothing has changed. The ground is still very well maintained and all of the staff that I encountered were friendly and a credit to the club. A testament to the standard of the ground up-keep is the fact that this game went ahead. I think the Eyrie drains very well but, even so, with the amount of rainfall we have had and taking into account that a number of games in the vicinity were called off, the club did a magnificent job to get the surface playable.
The ground itself is a fine example of a non-league stadium. In fact, in my eyes, it is one of the best I have encountered. There are covered areas on all 4 sides of the pitch. Covered standing areas behind both goals, a covered standing area behind the dugouts and, on the car park side of the ground, two covered seating areas. There are two snack bars available, one of the car park side next to the main stand and clubhouse and one in the far corner of the ground on the opposite side. This is quite a rarity these days but, I am sure, is something welcomed by supporters. The down side to maintaining these two snack bars, and the only small complaint I would have about The Eyrie, is the cost of a cup of tea which is higher than any other ground that I have come across. Still, I suppose this is a small price to pay for not having to queue throughout half-time for a drink.
The Ducks were coming into the game having not played since before Christmas when they drew 1-1 with Northwood. Bedford narrowly lost to Rushden & Diamonds between Christmas and New Year but had not played since. With Aylesbury sitting just above the drop-zone and Bedford in mid-table, you could say that the Ducks were in greater need of the points. Having said that, it would only take 3 or 4 wins on the bounce to put Bedford into the playoff contention. So, plenty to play for on both sides.
The opening 10 minutes of the first half passed by with little incident. The home side looked the more confident on the ball and were trying to mount attacks, especially down their right side. However, it was Aylesbury, with their shoot on sight policy, who were looking slightly more threatening when they did get the ball. In fact, in the opening 30 minutes, it was The Ducks who mustered two or three decent shots on target whilst Bedford never really troubled the away goal too much.
When finally Bedford did get a shot on target it was dealt with comfortably by the Aylesbury keeper Zaki Oualah.
Just before the break came the highlight of the first half when an Olesumo drive from 25 yards was acrobatically turned around the post by the home keeper, Siwe.
So, no score at half-time and despite the home side having the majority of possession it had been Aylesbury who had come closest to scoring.
Bedford started the second half at a higher tempo than the first and created a couple of good scoring chances in the opening 10 minutes the second of which, a glaring miss from 12 yards out, was the best opportunity of the game so far.
Following a crunching challenge in midfield there was an altercation between the two number 8s, Josh Beech for Bedford and Paul Lyon of Aylesbury. Both players earned a yellow card but the feud had clearly not finished. There was an exchange of words off the ball straight from the restart and, presumably as a precaution, Aylesbury replaced their player very soon afterwards.

In the 65th minute the home side got the breakthrough, albeit a slightly fortunate one. Obafemi, out on the left flank, hi a low hard cross which was deflected into his own net by the unlucky Alex Collard. It was harsh on Aylesbury who had been holding their own up to this point. However, they didn't let their heads drop and almost got a spectacular equaliser on 78 minutes. The ball dropped to Shaun Owens well outside the Bedford box and his dipping drive beat the keeper but crashed off the bar. Fortunately for the home side the Aylesbury player following the shot in couldn't get the rebound on target and they survived.
Just a few minutes after this scare, Bedford made the game safe. Diop collected a pass on the left side of the Aylesbury box and drilled a low hard shot past the keeper and into the far corner. Then, in the final minute, a deep cross from the left was header back across the box for Beech to simply tap the ball over the line for 3-0.
The final score was somewhat harsh on the away side. Although over the 90 minutes you could say that Bedford edged the game, 3-0 made the result sound far easier than it actually was. If Aylesbury keep up the work rate they showed in this game they should be safe from the drop.
I got the impression from their supporters that Bedford did not show their best form on the night but they did show some glimpses of being better than a mid-table team and they are now just 8 points adrift of the play-off places.

Bedford Town - @bedfordtown
Aylesbury United - @aylesburyutdfc