It's been another busy season, 3881 miles travelled witnessing 47 matches. During these games there have been 192 goals, including sixteen in one ridiculous game between Unite MK and Olney Town. Total cost of entry was £290 with the mostr expensive being the non-league day finals at Wembley, £25. The cheapest being two Step 7 games at Marlow and Grendon, which were both free entry. All in all, each goal cost me £1.51. Not a bad return on investment.

Teams of the Year (by Step)

Step 6 - Haughmond. Can we use the word meteoric? Haughmond achieved their fourth promotion in 10 seasons and will play in the Midland Football League Premier Division next season. They also defeated Smethwick by a goal to nil in the League Cup Final to complete the double. All of this on, reportedly, a budget of practically nothing. A tremendous achievement. Honourable mention must also go to Bromsgrove Sporting who, after just falling short last season,  also achieved promotion to Step 5 and had a superb FA Vase run.

Step 5 - South Shields. What can you say about the season that The Mariners have had? Back to back promotions. Chased down and overtook their local rivals to win the league. Smashed the same local rivals 5-0 in the League Cup Final and then, to top it off, went to Wembley and beat Cleethorpes 4-0 in the FA Vase. Not to mention the 32 game winning streak. All backed by record-breaking crowds. If it was a Roy of the Rovers plot line you would think it was too far-fetched. Along with South Shields, mention also has to be made of Peterborough Sports, Alvechurch and beaten Vase finalists Cleethorpes. All three achieved promotion and had wonderful seasons.

Step 4 - Shaw Lane. The Ducks secured the NPL South title to make it five promotions in seven years and will play at Step 3 next season for the first time in their history. The title was even more poignant following the untimely death of Dan Wilkinson in September. Great credit to the staff and players for pulling together and winning the league in honour of their colleague. Honourable mention has to go to Hereford. A second straight title and promotion, wrapped up before the end of March, and no-one will bet against them next year.

Step 3 - Stourbridge. I feel like a junior team manager picking my own child as captain with this choice but, The Glassboys deserve the recognition for a superb season. A tremendous FA Cup run all the way to the Third Round, where they almost pulled off another shock. Making it into the NPL Premier play-offs, only to go down to Spennymoor in the final and significantly increased attendance at the War Memorial Ground. The club has put the town on the map in recent seasons, but especially this season. Pride of the Black Country. Mention has to be made of the Glassboys' conqueror in the play-off final, Spennymoor Town. The Moors capped a fine season to earn back to back promotions and earn their first taste of Step 2. Likewise Chippenham Town. A League record 103 points giving them the league title and promotion to the National League South.

Step 2 - AFC Fylde. The Coasters, after a second and third place finish, finally managed to stay clear of the play-offs and win the National League North. There was a slight stutter in March and April, with two defeats and two draws in five games,  but Fylde saw it through, the 1-0 defeat of Halifax being a pivotal point, and gained a well-earned promotion with a record attendance thrown in along the way.

​Best Match - Biggleswade 3 Baldock Town 3. What a game! The Spartan South Midlands Division One title race had already been whittled down to three teams, these two and Harpenden Town. At the start of play only goal difference separated Biggleswade, on top of the pile, and Baldock in second. Biggleswade took the lead in the against the run of play and held on until half-time. Soon after the break Baldock grabbed an equaliser only for Biggleswade to almost immediately re-take the lead. Baldock then hit the hosts with two goals to go in front for the first time and, if the score remained the same, to go top of the league. Then, in the 95th minute, Biggleswade snatched an equaliser to stay top of the league, which is where then stayed for the rest of the season. A fabulous game of football between two highly committed sides which was a credit to the clubs and to Step 6 football.

Best Peformance - Kidlington. I went to Yarnton Road in mid-January more to see Southern Central leaders Royston Town than the home side. Royston were on a run of thirteen consecutive league wins and Kidlington had lost their last three whilst shipping 16 goals. It was a nailed on away win in most people's books. The Greens had other ideas, despite going a goal behind after 30 minutes. They immediately hit back to draw level and then outplayed the leaders in the second half, taking the lead with just under 20 minutes to go and never really looking like letting the advantage slip. An absolutely superb result that may well have been a pivotal point in the season for Kidlington who, with another defeat, would have been dropping alarmingly towards the relegation zone.

Favourite new stadium - Cinder Lane, Fairford Town. This ground had been on my radar for some time and I finally managed to get there on a evening when the home side had the chance to land themselves the Hellenic Division One West title. The whole setup at Cinder Lane is wonderful. Plenty of parking in the field behind the ground, two very tidy covered seating areas, a very friendly and welcoming clubhouse and some superb non-league quirkiness. This last point is demonstrated well by the padded bench seats in the stand adjacent to the club house and the outdoor laundry area, complete with washing machines and tumble dryers. You could do your weekly wash whilst enjoying the game. The stadium has a great feel to it. One of those things that is hard to put your finger on. Of course, the evening was something of a celebration (the duly wrapped up the championship with a 5-0 win) but I got the feeling that Cinder Lane always felt that way. A club where football and supporters come first. If you haven't been, go and visit. I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Best Goal (that I have witnessed live) - Liam Marshall, Corby Town v Stourbridge. This was a very hard category to decide. There were a number of great goals to choose from, team efforts and individual strikes. Eventually I settled on a fine free-kick from the then Corby left-back which curled over the Stourbridge wall and in off the inside of the post. Marshall has since left The Steelmen and joined Stamford.

Best Support - South Shields. An average home crowd of over 1,200, massive away following and close to 15,000 at Wembley for the FA Vase Final. Incredible support for a Step 5 (soon to be Step 4) side. I also experienced their support first hand at Coleshill in the semi-final and found them to be vociferous in their support but, generally, a really great bunch. Knowledgeable about their football and passionate about their club and town.

​Friendliest Club - Coleshill Town. From start to finish, the match day experience for the FA Vase Semi-Final first leg was superb. I had never been to Pack Meadow before but I did know the town and the location fairly well. I wondered how they would cope with the influx of such a large crowd to what is, effectively, a ground situated on a small country lane. The answer? With exemplary organisation. Every single person that I met on the day, from the informative and very friendly car park attendant, through people in the town, the club members greeting everyone at the turnstiles, staff on the snack bar and the stewards around the ground, seemed very happy to see everyone and to show off their club. They created a wonderful atmosphere and, even though they lost the tie, they and their local community should be very proud of the way that they conducted themselves.

High point - The Third Round of the FA Cup and a chance to watch my team, Stourbridge, making club history. Despite the ultimate defeat on the day, it was a truly memorable day out. Over 2,000 Glassboys and Glassgirls sang and urged on the team for the entire 90 minutes and they were so close to pulling off a shock. For much of the game Stourbridge were the better team. They certainly scared the life out of a pretty good Wycombe Wanderers side. Only a momentary lapse of concentration, maybe a lack of big game know-how, allowed The Chairboys to punish them. To be fair, the winning goal was a great cross and a bullet like header. Stourbridge, as a club, made a lot of friends that day. I know that many Wycombe fans look out for Stourbridge's results and there were plenty of good luck wishes during the NPL play-offs.

Low point - The lowest point came when Tommy Tonks' cross/shot came back off the underside of the Wycombe crossbar in the FA Cup Third Round tie. With the scores tied at 1-1 and Stourbridge having had the better of the game, one inch lower and we would have been talking about a famous Glassboys FA Cup win. Yes there was plenty of time left and we will never know for sure but at the time I felt certain that, if that had gone in, Wycombe would not have fought back. That's football I guess.

Cuppa - Hook Norton. Freshly made in a whopping great urn. Biscuits (if you wanted one) and all free. There was never going to be another winner this year.

Time to re-charge the batteries and prepare for the 2017-18 season.

​Having never visited Scours Lane in the Reading Town days or since Highmoor Ibis moved in, the opportunity combined with a Reading Senior Cup semi-final was too hard to ignore. It was also a chance to take a look at Bracknell Town who had, at one point, had looked like they might go on to win the Hellenic League.
Scours Lane, or The Rivermoor Stadium as it is now known, is sandwiched between the Great Western Mainline and the River Thames on the outskirts of Reading, less than a mile and a half from where Elm Park once stood. There is plenty of parking on site but, if it does fill up, there is very limited space anywhere else around the ground. The ground itself has three covered areas, a main seated stand on the IBIS Club side, a stepped covered standing areas behind the car park end goal and another smaller standing shelter behind the dugouts. Entrance to the ground is through a double turnstile from the car park. There is a clubhouse just to the right of the entrance.

I didn't know a lot about the Reading Senior Cup before this game and, to be honest, I still know little about it. What I do know is that Wokingham & Emmbrook have won the trophy five times since 2008/09 season, including four times on the bounce between 2011/12 and 2014/15. As far as I can see, Bracknell have not won the trophy in the past (at least there is no note of it on the Wiki page).
Wokingham suffered relegation from the Hellenic Premier League last term, so they have not played their local rivals in the league this season. However, last season the sides met three times, twice in the league and once in the cup with The Robins coming out on top on every occasion.

The first half offered very little in the way of goalmouth action for the first 39 minutes. In fact, neither goalkeeper was stretched at all in this time. I have to say, I was a little disappointed with Bracknell. They had pushed Thame so hard this season that I was really looking forward to seeing them in action. Maybe the season had been that bit too long? Maybe the Reading Senior Cup isn't the biggest incentive? Either way, The Robins didn't show much in the way of Hellenic Premier title contenders. 
Having said that, credit must go to Wokingham & Emmbrook who battled really hard and at no point in the game looked like a team from a lower division than their opponents.
One thing that I can say is that the Great Western Mainline is very busy. The number of trains passing the stadium far outweighed the incidents in the first-half. That is until the 28th minute.

That was the point when the referee and one of his assistants decided to alter the path of the game. A Bracknell break through the middle was halted illegally by Sumas centre-half Luke Giles. No doubt whatsoever that it was a foul and certainly worthy of a yellow card. The referee, however, deemed that the tackle had prevented a goal-scoring opportunity and produced a red card. There was no input from the assistant who had a clear view. Yes, Giles was the last defender but the tackle was outside the penalty area and other defenders were trying to get back. By the letter of the law, I guess, it was a sending off offence. In my eyes, it was harsh.
As it happened, this was the first major decision to go against Wokingham but not the last, on a night where nothing went their way.
With 39 minutes on the clock tricky Bracknell winger Kensley Maloney cut inside, into the penalty area. A defender went to challenge and just clipped the winger. To his credit the player did not go down but the referee had seen the clip and immediately pointed to the spot. Once again, by the letter of the law, the referee had the decision right but Sumas must have felt hard done by. That incident could have happened anywhere else on the pitch and, probably, nothing would have been given.
Seb Bowerman stepped up and sent Sean Woodward the wrong way to give Bracknell the lead. 0-1.
That' the way it stayed until half-time.

Ht Wokingham & Emmbrook 0 Bracknell Town 1.

The second half started with, as you would expect, Bracknell in the ascendancy. Sumas, a man light, were leaving one player up front and trying to hit The Robins on the break. You certainly couldn't say that they were pinned in their own half but they were, understandably, seeing less of the ball than in the first half. They did have a big shout for a penalty just before the hour mark but, much to the ire of the Sumas support, the referee waved play on. I'll be honest, I didn't have a clear view of the incident so I can't comment on the penalty claim. However, judging by the way most decisions were going against them, I wasn't surprised that it wasn't given.

Less than 10 minutes later they suffered yet another miscarriage of justice. What looked like a dangerously high tackle on a Sumas defender went unpunished and when the victim launched into the follow-up tackle, a lunge born out of frustration, he clearly fouled the Bracknell player. This free-kick was awarded but the play should have been stopped a few seconds earlier for the first foul. The run salt into the wounds, when the free-kick was delivered it was met powerfully by the head of Carl Withers to make it 0-2 and, effectively, game over.

To their credit, Wokingham & Emmbrook never gave up on the game. They fought on until the final whistle but couldn't force even a consolation goal. Bracknell saw out the game and will go on to play at The Madejski Stadium on Saturday against the winners of Binfield and Woodcote

FT Wokingham & Emmbrook 0 Bracknell Town 2. Probably seen as a harsh result by the Sumas, who did not get the rub of the green at all on the night. However, none of that was the fault of the Bracknell side. They played the game as it should be played and in no way applied any pressure to make the referee give the decisions that he gave. It was just one of those nights.

Wokingham & Emmbrook - @wokingham_sumas
Bracknell Town - @bracknelltownfc

Challenge Vase Final - Sphinx Drive

Thursday evening isn't just the realm of the Europa League. So whilst many were at home watching Manchester United plotting their back-door Champions League entry, the good people of Burbage and Northfield were making the journey South to Sphinx Drive, Coventry, where their teams were about to go head-to-head for the Midland League Challenge Vase.
Having visited Sphinx Drive before (but never yet to see the landlords play there), I won't go into a ground description. I don't beleive that a lot has changed since my last visit in November 2015, when I saw Coventry United beat Southam United.

Instead, let's take a little look at the history of the Challenge Vase, a competition that seems to have been around since the 1980/81 season when it was won by the aforementioned Southam United on penalties after a 4-4 draw with Kingsbury United.
Since that time the most successful Challenge Vase team has been Enville Athletic who have won the trophy twice and finished runners-up once. Three other sides, Earlswood Town, Handsaker and Marston Green, have all also won the trophy twice. Some notable names who have played in the Challenge Vase Final and gone on to much higher leagues are Stratford Town (winners in 1981/82) and Rugby Town (runners up in 2000/01). Stratford currently play in the Southern Premier and Rugby have just been relegated from Step 4 back into Step 5.

This year's final was to be competed by NKF Burbage and Northfield Town both of Midland League Division Three although, in NKF's case, not for much longer having won the Division by nine points. Northfield finished in fourth spot but only after a Midland League ruling put Moors Academy above them on a points per game basis. This came after Barton United resigned with one game to play, against Moors. The recalculation gave Moors a points per game of 2.16 and Northfield, 2.076.
Burbage after transferring from The Leicestershire Senior League have gone through the entire season unbeaten and were, this evening, going for the treble. League title, Leicestershire Intermediate Cup and Challenge Vase.
One last thing about Burbage. Until I started researching before the game I had always thought that NKF moniker sounded rather Eastern European and that, maybe, they originated from a works team. I found out that NKF in fact stands for National Kidney Federation and that the club aims to raise awareness of the NKF. A much, much better reason for the prefix than my made-up works team idea.

​In contrast to the last time I was here, on a cold and wet November evening, there was some Spring sunshine reflecting on the yellow of Northfield and the Palmers-esque Orange and Black NFK kit as the teams made their way onto the pitch.

Northfield started much the stronger of the two sides, playing with just Daniel Lawrence up front but getting plenty of support up to him very quickly. In particular David Glaze looked dangerous, getting in two early efforts at goal, one over the top and the other straight at NKF 'keeper Alex Hill.
Having said that, after 19 minutes it was actually Burbage who came closest to, and really should have, opened the scoring when Jack Whitehurst headed over from an unmarked position in the six yard box. 
Three minutes later Glaze had yet another attempt from the edge of the box, this time firing just over the bar. Burbage then went straight up the other end and were only prevented from taking the lead by a fine save from Shaun Hayes.
Northfield were still looking the better team even though Burbage had created the two best scoring opportunities.

With half-time fast approaching it was looking like a goal-less first half until, on 43 minutes, a through ball found Burbage strike Tom Smith running into the Northfield box. He rounded the Hayes, who did well not to concede a penalty and get a certain red card, before finishing confidently. 1-0.

We still had time for a little more action in the first half when a Northfield player went down holding his head after a challenge with Burbage centre-half Jordan Pickering. The Northfield players immediately indicated that an elbow had been used. The referee consulted with the fourth official before handing out a yellow to Pickering, much to the ire of the Northfield players and bench. (Thanks to @TomTomCOYY for immediately posting a Ronnie Pickering GIF at this point. Made me smile and gave me a blog title)

HT NKF Burbage 1 Northfield Town 0. A little bit harsh on Northfield who looked the better side for much of the half, although Burbage started to come back into it in the latter stages. The yellow card incident towards the end had clearly left a bad taste with the Northfield players and there were words exchanged as the players left the field. 

​Burbage were very quick out of the blocks for the second half, immediately putting Northfield on the back foot and creating a couple of half-decent chances. Northfield responded with a break of their own, ending with a shot flashing across the Burbage goal and wide for a goal-kick.
After the initial burst, the half settled down a little with Burbage now having the edge on possession.
After 50 minutes a free-kick from the Burbage right was met by a glancing header but the ball went narrowly wide of Hayes' right-hand post but, in the main, there followed a fifteen minute period of fairly evenly balanced play.

On 67 minutes Northfield, trying to play their way out of defence, gave the ball away cheaply and were made to pay. Alx Coultas played a lovely ball across the Northfield box and Oliver Bradshaw was there to stroke the ball home. 2-0.

The goal seemed to shake Northfield and almost straight from kick-off they almost conceded again. This time, after giving away a free-kick on their left, they completely switched off to the quickly taken kick. The ball was drilled across the box for Whitehurst who, somehow, managed to miss his second sitter of the game. It really wasn't his day in front of goal.

The Northfield bench and their captain were quick to respond, getting out a message to the players that there was still 20 minutes left and they were still in the game.

On 82 minutes they very nearly got a foothold back in the game, forcing Hill to make a very good save to prevent them from scoring. Then, on the 86th minute we had another couple of minutes of extraordinary action. Following the award of a corner to Northfield there was a bit of jostling in the box and a Burbage player was left on the ground. It was at the far end from where I was standing, so I had no clear view of the incident. The referee, however, had no real hesitation in showing a red card to Northfield's Wayne Boyce. There wasn't too much in the way of complaints, so I am guessing that it was a deserved dismissal.
Even while the dismissed player was still walking around the edge of the pitch to the changing rooms his team got themselves a goal back from the corner. The ball was cleared to the edge of the box where Will Parker was on hand to fire it back past Hill. 2-1

This was the fillip that Town needed and, even a player light, they proceeded to take the game to their opponents, coming very close to an equaliser in the last minute when a header appeared to glance the post on it's way out for a goal kick.
In the end it was one step too far for Northfield and the referee blew to end the game.

FT NKF Burbage 2 Northfield Town 1. Congratulations to NKF Burbage. Treble winners and a whole season without defeat. A great feat at any level.

Northfield's defeat, their second successive Challenge Vase Final loss after losing 1-0 to Redditch Borough last season, puts them in a group with Thimblemill Rec and West Midlands Police Reserves who have also been beaten finalists twice. Interestingly, Northfield's reserve team have won the trophy, beating Sedgeley Rovers 3-2 (aet) in the 1983/84 season.

Best of luck to both sides for next season. I will endeavour to visit both home grounds during the regular season if possible. Thanks also to Coventry Sphinx for hosting the Final. Maybe I will also get to see Sphinx play at their home ground soon?

NKF Burbage - @nkfburbage
Northfield Town - @northfieldtown
Coventry Sphinx - @coventrysphinx
Midland Football League - @midlandleague

Having missed out on the North Beds Charity Cup Final on Tuesday night, I decided to take advantage of an early evening game in the Thames Valley Premier League on Wednesday evening. A 6pm kick-off between second-placed Marlow United and unbeaten Champions Reading YMCA.
As it happens, I was not the only person that had marked down this game. I discovered when I got home that none other than serial ground-hopper Tony Incenzo was also present. However, he was ticking off ground number 2,133 whereas I am a mere amateur on ground number 126.

When the game kicked off, with the home side kicking up the slope away from the A404 towards Gossmore Lane, it was they who looked the more lively. However, the fact that Reading played the first 5 minutes with 10 men may have had something to do with it. The early start was good for me, especially as I had only come from Bracknell this evening, it was clearly more of a challenge to the players who, I assume, had struggled to make the kick-off after a day at work.

Despite Marlow having the upper hand possession-wise, it was Reading who made the two best opportunities in the opening minutes, stinging the Marlow keeper's hands with one effort from outside the box.
After 13 minutes a switch of play by Reading found one of their players unmarked on the left flank. As he tried to cut inside he was pulled down and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
YMCA captain Dan Donegan swept the ball home to make it 0-1.

To emphasise the fact that this was a Step 7 game, Donegan's next touch of the ball was when he had to run into the adjacent car park to retrieve it after a shot was deflected for a corner.

Despite having the lead, Reading did not take a stranglehold on the game. In fact, the remainder of the first-half was pretty even. Reading, in fairness, continued to make the better chances but Marlow still posed a threat, particularly through the pace and quick feet of winger Liam Bushey. On 39 minutes it was Bushey who came closest to levelling the scores. A mazy run from the halfway line ended with the winger clipping the post with a shot that had the Reading keeper beaten.

HT Marlow United 0 Reading YMCA 1.

​At half-time I went in search of team sheets and the use of the players facilities (the local public toilets were closed). After I got home and did a bit of Twitter research, I discovered that I had missed what sounds like a major incident. Apparently, one of the referee's assistants took offence at something that was said, refused to carry on and left the ground (source: the aforementioned Tony Incenzo's twitter feed). After half-time, I wandered over to the other side of the pitch and, I must admit, I did not notice that the opposite linesman had been changed. I really should be more observant.

On the hour mark we had what, I thought at the time, was the bizarre incident of the game. Marlow were awarded a free-kick midway into the Reading half. As Marlow midfielder James Tripp prepared to take the kick he must have said something to the referee. The referee obviously didn't like it and produced a yellow card. As the official walked away Tripp must have made a further comment because the referee immediately turned around, showed a second yellow and a red card. I don't think I have ever seen a player get two yellows after being awarded a free-kick before.

Down to ten men, the task got even harder for Marlow three minutes later. A superb cross-field ball was controlled on the left-flank by Cox who then found the unmarked Johnny Adey running into the 6-yard box to tap home. 0-2.

To give credit to Marlow, after going two goals behind and being a man short, they gave it a really good go and took the game to Reading for the next 15 minutes or so. They had a coupel of half-decent chances but never really made Jamie Froude, in the Rading goal, stretch too much.
With just under ten minutes to go Reading put the icing on the cake when another left-wing cross was delivered perfectly for substitute (and Birthday Boy, I believe) Mark Lemm to head home. 0-3.

FT Marlow United 0 Reading YMCA 3. Reading go into their last game still unbeaten for the season, which is a great achievement at any level. Marlow still aren't certain of second place but a win against Mortimer on Saturday would all but guarantee it.

An eventful evening in which I managed to miss the most notorious and famous ground-hopper in the country and a change of assistant at half-time. Should have gone to Specsavers!

This was my first taste of the Thames Valley Premier. I don't think it will be my last.

Marlow United - @unitedmarlow 
Reading YMCA - @ymca_fc
Thames Valley League - @readingleague