After missing out on a game on Tuesday, mainly down to the weather putting paid to every game on my list, I was very pleased to find that there were a couple of matches happening on Thursday evening. I'll be honest, Horndean v Christchurch was on top of my list, but when that was called off in the afternoon, I decided to head off to the second game on my list, Fareham Town v Baffins Milton Rovers. I was not to be disappointed by my choice.

The Ground
Fareham's Cams Alders Stadium is situated just to the South of the town of Fareham and is part of a larger sports complex which also incorporates Rugby (Fareham Heathens) and the Palmerston Indoor Bowling Club.There is plenty of parking on the service road alongside the ground or in the large car park just beyond it. Entrance is through a single turnstile which brings you into the ground between the halfway line and the car park end goal. As you enter, just to you left, set back from the pitch, is the main feature of the ground, a very interesting, looming stand that dominates the stadium. The stand houses 450 seats, a tenth of the total capacity. Under the main stand is the clubhouse and bar, which features a rather ornate patio area, more reminiscent of a hotel than a football ground. A great feature of the ground which must make it a ground-hopping favourite. Just to the side of the main stand there is a snack bar. The dugouts are directly opposite the main stand, straddling the halfway line. The ground has a good feel to it and clearly shows that the club once played at a higher level - they resigned from the Southern League in 1998.

​The Background
On the face of it, this game did not have a lot resting on it apart from local pride. The teams are less than 10 miles apart, separated by Portsmouth Harbour and the town of Portsmouth. Fareham started the evening in 8th place with games in hand over the teams above them but, in all honesty, too far back to have any influence on the title race. Rovers sat 15th, below the halfway mark but so far clear of the drop zone that they had no relegation worries. The sides had previously met on the first midweek of the season, a topsy-turvy game in which the sides took turns taking the lead before a second-half melee led to two Rovers and one Town player seeing red. Fareham then went on to win the game with the last kick of the game. Last season saw Baffins earn a 1-1 draw at the Cams Alders, whilst winning 3-1 at home. The season before, Baffins first in the top flight, saw them win 5-2 in this fixture and, although Fareham won the away game 2-1, the Creeksiders had never beaten Baffins on their own patch.

​The Game
We had a delayed kick off due to Baffins getting held up in traffic on their way to the ground. However, once we kicked off there were certainly no hold-ups. Right from the off Baffins launched an attack which ultimately proved to be fruitless. They were then immediately pegged back by a Fareham attack down the left which culminated in Josh Benfield turning inside his marker and hitting a low shot that forced Cameron into a smart stop. This was to be a pointer to the rest of the game.
On 8 minutes Tom Tierney's persistence, forcing his way through a couple of tackles into the Fareham box, paid dividends when the ball fell to Callum Dart who made no mistake with the finish. 0-1
The lead only last 6 minutes as The Creeksiders stormed back at their visitors. Josh Benfield broke through the defence and finished with some ease to level it up. 1-1. Fareham were now controlling the game and a further six minutes on they took the lead when Connor Messenbird hit a thunderous effort from the right-hand angle of the box into the far corner. Great strike. 2-1

If Fareham thought that taking the lead would give them the edge, they were wrong. Baffins were having none of it and immediately set about the home side with renewed vigour. It was great stuff to watch as a neutral, as both sides slugged it out from one end to the other.
Just past the half-hour mark a Baffins corner from their right was met at the far post with a looping header which Ethan Whyte, in the home goal, could only push onto the bar. The ball did not go out of play, maybe due to the wind, instead it just dropped into a group of players almost on the goal line. After what seemed like numerous scuffs and mis-hits it was hacked away, but not before the assistant's flag had been raised and several blue shirts had appealed for a goal. The assistant indicated that the ball had completely crossed the goal line. From where I was standing there is no way that I could verify this, or who got the last touch, but the assistant had a clear view and was 100% certain. The stadium announcer credited the goal to Callum Dart for his second of the night. 2-2

The goal gave even more energy to the away side and they were immediately back on the offensive. Two minutes after equalising they regained the lead. Some neat interplay through the home defence culminated in the ball being played to Tom Tierney who finished very well to make it 3-2. The breathless action continued with both sides still in the hunt for more goals. Neither could manage one before the break. However, Tierney did have a very late effort that curled past the keeper and struck the upright.

HT Fareham Town 2 Baffins Milton Rover 3. Absolutely fantastic action for any neutrals in the crowd. I doubt that either coach saw it that way, but great entertainment nevertheless.

​It was only when the action had stopped that it became noticeable just how icy cold it was, mainly due to a bitter wind sweeping across the ground. However, the players were soon back out again and, true to form, we didn't have to wait very long at all before the entertainment started all over again. Six minutes to be exact. That's when Baffins won a corner on their left, which right-back Rob Taw went to take. His delivery, most likely with some wind assistance, curled in towards the far post and, despite the Whyte getting a hand to it, the ball found its way into the home net. 2-4
Fareham were rocked but certainly not going to let going two behind bother them too much. The home side pushed Baffins back from the restart and we were then treated to 20 minutes of classic football, where one side was desperate to get back into the game, piling forward at every opportunity, whilst the other side sat back but then were more than happy to break quickly themselves. Fareham just couldn't seem to find a goal to pull them back into it, and Baffins counter-attacks were also posing a serious threat.
Then after 70 minutes we had what looked to be the final blow for Fareham when they conceded a penalty after Tyler Moret appeared to be tripped in the box. Who's going to take it? Goalkeeper Cameron Scott of course. Scott absolutely hammered the ball past Whyte to extend the lead. 2-5.

Game over? Don't be so silly. Fareham certainly weren't listening to the fat lady singing just yet. Almost immediately from kick-off they launched an attack that saw substitute Luke Slade go down under a challenge from two Baffins defenders. It looked soft to me and the Baffins defenders clearly agreed, but penalty it was. Tom Settle made no mistake from the spot and it was 3-5 with 18 minutes remaining.

To be fair to Fareham they really had the bit between their teeth at this point. Wave after wave of attacks came at the Baffins defence although, just as earlier in the half, Rovers still looked to be a threat on the break. Fascinating stuff for all watching.
With 8 minutes go the home side then put the game on a knife edge when Luke Slade latched onto a through ball, out-muscled his defender and slotted past Scott to make it 4-5. Was a dramatic comeback on the cards? The Fareham team certainly thought so. The pressure on the Rovers backline was now relentless.

With a minute left on the clock another home raid saw the ball eventually fall to the feet of Josh Benfield who fired it low past Scott to level it up. 5-5. What a game! 
A great comeback from the home team but it was almost all undone in added time as Baffins went in search of all three points. First of all they saw a shot dragged wide, then with almost the last kick of the game they squandered a sitter, their striker (whose number I didn't catch) putting the ball wide of the mark with just the keeper to beat. From a neutral's perspective I was glad that no-one managed to snatch victory. After such great entertainment it seemed fitting that the spoils were shared.

FT Fareham Town 5 Baffins Milton Rovers 5. Tremendous entertainment and, as I tweeted at full-time, a great advert for the Wessex League. It was bitterly cold and, for me, a 200 mile round trip but it was absolutely worth it. Thanks to both teams for a great evening of football.

Fareham Town: Whyte, Settle, Breed, Tattersall, Wilcox, Moody(c), Messenbird, Robbins, Benfield, Austin, Stockford. Subs: Jones, Cooper, Slade, Woods, Davis
Baffins Milton Rovers: Scott(c), Taw, Blankson, Burns, Froggatt, Spranger, Tierney, Burgess, Mason, Dart, Dean. Subs: Grimshaw, Chandler, Emery, McLean


Att: 65
Ground Number: 232
Entrance: £6.00
Programme: £1.00

After predicting that they would lose at Wroxham last weekend, then making them my Step 5 Team of the Week after their resounding 4-0 win in the aforementioned game, I thought that it was about time that I checked out Vase semi-finalists Bitton AFC for myself. So, after checking that the game was going ahead I set out on the arduous and long trip through rush-hour M4 traffic and the South-West outskirts of Bristol.

The Ground
Bitton's Bath Road Recreation Ground, or the WDS Associates Legal Services Stadium to give it its full name, is situated to the South West of Bristol, between the city and Bath (the clue is in the ground name). This is an area of the West Country that is a bit of a mecca for followers of non-league football especially if. like me, you gravitate towards Steps 5 & 6. Aside from Bitton, there is Oldland Abbotonians, Keynsham Town, Longwell Green Sports, Hengrove Athletic and Brislington all within a few minutes drive. I was at Oldland earlier in the season but have plans to visit all of these grounds at some point in the near future.
The ground is tucked up against the A431 Bath Road about half a mile outside the village of Bitton. There is parking available at the ground but it's not extensive. However, there is plenty of space to park on Bath Road itself (it's a real shame that the garden centre opposite doesn't leave their gates open in the evening. Access to the ground is through a single turnstile between the changing rooms and a small covered standing area. The main stand is opposite this and has seating for around 50 spectators and is backed by a row of trees. There are also trees behind the goal at the far end of the ground. The pitch does have something of a slope from the Bath Road end.
The clubhouse and snack bar are situated outside the ground, between the turnstile and the car park. However, it's no problem to get back out of the ground at any time.

​The Background
Bitton were back in action for the first time since their amazing FA Vase exploits over in East Anglia in which recent signing Liam Bishop grabbed all four goals in their 4-0 win, although six changes had been made to Saturday's team. In league terms the club sat in 8th spot before kick-off with 44 points from their 23 games. Visitors Hallen were in third place, 56 points from their 27 games, and in with a shout of going top of the table with a victory. The sides met on the opening day of the season at the Hallen Centre with Bitton racking up an emphatic 5-1 victory, carrying on from last season where Ton had done the double winning 1-0 at Hallen and 3-2 at home. However, the previous season saw a Aaron Anglin hat-trick secure a 3-0 win for Hallen in this fixture.
I'd never seen either of these sides play before but Hallen did feature in a recent Programme Notes article about nicknames, What Did You Call Me - Part 3.

​The Game
Hallen, kicking up the slope in the first half, started the game well taking advantage of a lack of fluency in the Bitton side, possibly caused by the six changes from Saturday. Hat-trick hero from two seasons's ago, Aaron Anglin, came close to opening the scoring in this game when he glanced a header just wide in the 9th minute. Ten minutes later the away side came even closer when Jordan Ricketts managed to slip the ball past Burgess in the home goal only to see his effort come back off the post.
Following the unsteady first 10 minutes, Bitton gradually started to get themselves back into the game but for close to 20 minutes neither side managed to really trouble the goalkeepers too much. Not that it wasn't an entertaining game. In fact, I was quite surprised at how quickly the first half seemed to be disappearing.

Then on 38 minutes came a real flash point and possibly turning point in the game. Hallen left-back Tom Bradley scythed down home number 7 Harrison Kyte right in front of the main stand. It was a bad tackle, no doubt. However, I am not sure that it warranted what happened next (maybe some existing dad blood?). Whilst Kyte lay stricken pretty much every player from both sides, both benches and a few locals got involved in what could only be described as posturing and handbags. To be honest, it was little more than that. There were a lot of people involved but it never really 'kicked off' so to speak. What did happen though was that Bitton's Alex Grimshaw and Hallen's Scott Thomas both took the skirmish one step further with some pushing and shoving. Both raised their hands but Thomas probably pushed a little harder than the Bitton man. Neither threw a punch that I could see. Once it had all calmed down the referee, in consultation with his assistants, produced a red card for Thomas but nothing for Grimshaw. This all happened right in front of me and I have to say that I didn't see any real difference in the actions of the players. If it was a red it should have been a red for both. 

Hallen certainly felt aggrieved at the decision and to make matters worse they then went behind just five minutes later. The ball found its way to left-back Matt Tanner on the apex of the 18 yard box. He weaved his way past his marker and absolutely hammered a cross-shot past MacFarlane into the Hallen net. 1-0 and a really great finish.

HT Bitton 1 Hallen 0. Hallen had looked the better team for the first part of the half as the much-changed Bitton side struggled to gel.The red card and late goal may well have swung things in favour of the home side.
​

​As in the first half, Hallen started quickly in the second, taking the game to their opponents despite the uneven numbers. Very early in the half they created a couple of chances, one of which was scrambled off the line by home captain Scott Brice. It was to be as close as they would come and, eight minutes into the half Bitton struck the killer blow. Bishop's enterprising run down the right was picked out and when he found Karim Rendall just inside the box the Bitton number 9 swivelled sharply and curled a lovely finish past MacFarlane to make it 2-0.

Down to 10 and now 2-0 down Hallen were never really going to get back into the game. However, they certainly did not give up the ghost and kept digging in trying to find a way back into the game. To be fair, Bitton may well have taken their foot off a little and were inviting Hallen on to them. but the away side again looked to be the better side for a while in the second half.
Their fate, if not already decided, was sealed in the 80th minute when after already making all of their substitutes, Matt Davis was helped off the field with an injury. Down to 9 for the last 10 minutes, this was now a case of limiting the damage which Hallen manged to do until the very last minute when Harrison Kyte sealed the victory with a nice finish to make it 3-0.

FT Bitton 3 Hallen 0. In the end a fairly comfortable victory for Bitton, especially after the red card in the first half. Hallen miss the chance to go top but you have to admire the way they continued to battle right to the end, even when down to 9 players for the last few minutes. Bitton have left it too late to influence the top two but their league form, 16 points from the last 18 available, could well see them challenge Hallen for a top three spot. Of course, their main aim now will be to get through the FA Vase semi-final stage against either Atherstone Town or Consett and book their place under the arch in May.

Bitton: Burgess, Grimshaw, Tanner, Brice(c), Fletcher, Tippins, Kyte, Whittaker, Rendall, Bishop, Groves. Subs: Bath, Gissing, Robinson, Brown, Williams
Hallen: MacFarlane, Davis, Bradley, Stowell, Thomas, Hill, Hall-Cousins(c), Gibbons, Simpson, Ricketts, Anglin. Subs: Latham, Mills, Reid, Bamfo, Johnston


Att: 72
Ground Number: 231
Entrance: £6.00
Programme: £1.00

​I'll be honest, I had originally planned to go to an FA Vase game this Saturday. My U10s game was postponed on Friday night but as I had a prior arrangement in Birmingham on Saturday lunch time my only Vase possibility was Atherstone, and that went the same way as my girls team's fixture. So, where to go? Well, after a brief visit to my mother-in-law there were a couple of games still on locally, thanks to their 3G pitches. My choice was the short hop over to Castle Vale for Romulus v Newark Flowserve. A new ground for me and, although I had seen Romulus play before (CV-Rom), Newark were a new team for me to watch.

The Ground
Romulus are now into their second season back at Castle Vale Stadium. The ground is situated just to the East of Birmingham almost alongside the M6. There is plenty of parking adjacent to the stadium which was particularly welcome on such a cold and blustery day. The ground is very typical of the newer style of football stadium, with a 3G surface surrounded by green mesh fencing and tarmac walkways. There is a single 300-seater stand which also incorporates the club house on the top floor with commanding views over the pitch. Tea and snacks are provided by a portable kiosk also on the car park side of the stadium. Although I couldn't see anywhere that team sheets had been displayed, the club did tweet out both team sheets well in advance of kick-off, something I am sure all neutrals and visitors find most welcome.

​The Background
One of the reasons that I chose this game, apart from the Vase game at Atherstone being postponed, was that both sides were having a good season and were close together in the league. A recipe for a closely contested and entertaining game. Well, I got one but the conditions rather scuppered the other. Before kick-off Flowserve were holding sway as far as league position went. The Highwaymen, who two seasons ago were in the Central Midlands League, sat in third position with 51 points from their 27 games. Two places and two points below them were Romulus, having played the same number of games. One pointer towards predicting a result for this game was that Romulus had won the reverse fixture 2-0 up in Nottinghamshire in October.

​The Game
As is normal for me, I headed to the furthest point of the ground to watch the first half. The problem with this plan was that it took me away from the shelter of the stand and the assorted offices and storage sheds on the car park side and over to the open, windswept side of the ground. Despite the clear blue skies earlier in the day, Storm Jorge was beginning to make its mark. The wind was definitely getting up and it had a biting edge to it. We were also treated to a very brief shower of hail. Frankly, it was bloody freezing.

It was clear from the outset that the weather, especially the unpredictable gusts of wind, were going to prevent either team from getting any real rhythm going. Obviously, keeping the ball on the deck was going to help but, to be fair to the teams, even on the floor the wind was controlling the path of the ball more than the players were. This was highlighted on a number of occasions during the game when players struggled to take dead balls because the wind kept moving the ball before the could kick it.
From a scrappy start it was Newark who were the first to show and came mightily close to taking the lead as early as the 9th minute when a short corner routine gave Lewis Brownhill a sight of goal from just inside the corner of the penalty area. His shot beat Fenney but crashed off the bar and flew to safety. Little did we know that this would be the only effort on goal in the first half.

The remainder of the half became more of a battle against the elements rather then the teams. Both battled in vain to get some momentum going but on every occasion the wind won the day. They were, however, very clearly quite evenly matched sides who given better conditions would have provided an entertaining clash.

HT Romulus 0 Newark Flowserve 0. Aside from Brownhill's early effort that struck the bar neither keeper had  a save to make.

​There was no let up in the conditions for the second half. However, after moving back to the car park side of the pitch, I did at least find a little bit of respite from the biting wind.
Ten minutes into the half Romulus should really have gone in front after a move up the right provided Kieran Donnelly with a gilt-edged chance some 8 yards out. However, his effort lacked power and easily held by Smith-Eccles in the Flowserve goal.

The next real piece of action, certainly from my perspective was in the 77th minute. Seven months and 31 games into the season and I finally got to see my first sin-bin offence when home captain Alex Tomlinson was ordered off by the referee for what I can only imagine was a second case of dissent. Anyone who thought this may give the advantage to Newark would have been wrong though as the home side appeared to be galvanised by the loss of their number 10. They pushed forward and four minutes later forced a corner on the right. The ball was swung in with the wind towards the back post where Callum Rudd rose highest to power a header back towards the goal. The ball was hacked clear by a defender but the assistant's flag was up immediately to say that the ball had crossed the line. No VAR here, so it was 1-0 to the home side.

There was still time for me to see my second sin bin of the season when Newark also had a player ordered off after 86 minutes, this time for comments made to the assistant referee.

FT Romulus 1 Newark Flowserve 0. Two fairly evenly matched sides both defeated by Storm Jorge. The wind ruined the game but Romulus won't really care after lifting themselves into fourth spot in the table. I need to find time to watch both of these sides again on a day when they are not hampered by the conditions. I have a feeling that both are capable of much more than they showed this weekend.

Romulus: Fenney, Llonga, Haynes, Weale, Rudd, Clarke, Donnelly, O'Callaghan, Willis, Tomkinson(c), Archer. Subs: Spink, Rowe, Devgill-Cross, O'Neill, Nadat
Newark Flowserve: Smith-Eccles, White, Potts(c), Gorman, Greenwood, Hollis, Meadows, Dixon, Hutchinson, Brownhill, Goodson. Subs: McDonald, Barrow, Phillip, Robinson, Cotton

Att: 
Ground Number: 230
Entrance: £7.00
Programme: £1.00 (normally £2.00 but this week black & white edition only)