Having never been to the EBB Stadium before, this was also an opportunity for me to tick off another ground. Looking back through my match list this season, it has been spent predominantly watching Step 6 football. So, The EBB Stadium is considerably bigger then the majority of new grounds that I have visited since last August with covered spectator accommodation on all sides and a capacity of just over 7,000.
​I have to say that the stadium ticks all of the boxes as far as I am concerned. It has clearly grown organically and, therefore, none of the stands are the same. It's not just a sterile box, it has character and a good feel to it. Yes, it probably needs a bit of TLC in places and the facilities are not up to the comfort levels of say The Etihad, but it's a proper football stadium in all it's glory. The stand that was open for the evening had a mixture of seats and standing areas, another thing that endears the ground to me. I much prefer to stand to watch football, especially as I have usually been sitting behind the wheel of my car for hours to get to the ground in the first place. I appreciate that many do want t sit down, and I have no problem with that at all but, for me, standing is better.

​My knowledge of the Aldershot Senior Cup was, and still is to a certain extent, limited. However, a glance at the programme showed me that it has been around since the 19th Century and that Hartley Wintney, one of this evening's teams, were the beaten finalists last season, going down 3-0 to Fleet Town. The Row have, as far as I can see, won the competition twice previously, beating Hale FC 2-0 in the the 1975/76 season and apparently beating themselves 3-1 five years later (1st team v reserves maybe?).
What I already did know was that Eversley & California, Hartley's opponents in the final, had got there in a strange manner, losing the semi-final 5-0 to the Army, who had to pull out due to other commitments. Presumably, something they need to get used to when you have Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary? As Ben Elton would say. "Ooh! A little bit of politics there".
This also appears to be The Boars first appearance in the Final of this competition.

​Hartley Wintney were coming into the game on the back of a second successive promotion season, with the club attaining Step 3 football for the first time in their history. So, with The Boars finished mid-table in Division One of the Combined Counties League, the 2018-19 season would kick-off with three steps between the sides. 

The Row started the game very brightly and within 2 minutes captain Dean Stow had curled a free-kick over the Eversley wall and narrowly over the bar. A warning shot for The Boars. Hartley continued to lok thrteatening, calling the Eversely keeper into action on a number of occasions in the open 10 minutes.
There was, however, a sting in the tail of this opening period. After 13 minutes, Eversley broke forward and a lovely pass split the Hartley back-line allowing the Boars number 9 (apologies, I have no team sheets) to run onto the ball. It looked as if he had missed his opportunity to score but when the ball broke off the keeper and a covering defender, he was on hand to stroke it home for a goal totally against the run of play. 0-1

The goal seemed to rattle Hartley for a few minutes, temporarily putting a halt to the constant raids on the Eversley penalty area. However, less than 10 minutes after going behind, they did manage to pull themselves level when Paul Hodges latched onto a ball in the penalty area and beat the keeper with the aid of, what looked from my angle, a deflection. 1-1.

Hartley were now back in control of the game and it was just a matter of time before they got their noses in front. However, it took a set-piece for them to break down the Boars stoic defending. Stow, after his earlier range-finder, stroked home a free-kick from a seemingly impossible position some 25 yards out and well wide of the penalty area. His effort over the wall and into the near post seemed to catch out the Eversley keeper. 2-1

HT Hartley Wintney 2 Eversley & California 1. The Row have been on top for most of the half but are being made to work for it by a battling Boars side.

​The Row continued to have the lion's share of possession after the break but could not quite find the finish that would put the game to bed. In fact, it took until the 76th minute for them to finally get the third goal when a right-wing corner was met in the box. The first effort was cleared off the line by an Eversely defender but substitute Nic Ciardini was on hand to head home the rebound. 3-1

The game, as a contest was over at this point. Eversley had fought a hard battle but there was no way they were going to come back from 3-1 down. They continued to give everything they had though and must take credit for not surrendering at this point.
two minutes into added time, Hartley put the icing on the cake with their fourth goal. The goal was very harsh on their keeper who, after performing very well throughout, spilled a ball in from the right allowing Hodges to stab home for his second of the night. 4-1

FT Hartley Wintney 4 Eversley & California 1. All over at the EBB. The Row deservedly win the Aldershot Senior Cup.
Best of luck to both sides next season. It will certainly be interesting to see how The Row fair in Step 3 and I'm sure I will get the chance to see them in action at some point. No doubt that I will also be paying a visit to Eversley at some point next season. Their ground has been on my list for a while and I didn't get chance to visit this year.

Hartley Wintney: Harris, Stow (c), Hutchings, Webb, French, Ball, Noakes, Everiss, Baxter, Tennant, Hodges
Goals: Paul Hodges, Dean Stow, Nic Ciardini, Paul Hodges

Att: 
Ground Number: 158
Entrance: £6.00
Programme: Included

Having lived in the town for over eight years and having served on the committee at the club in the past, the plight of Bicester Town saddens me. I am fully aware that they situation is not as simple as it may first appear but with a perfectly usable stadium in the town, it seems ludicrous that the club cannot accept promotion because they do not have a suitable venue for their games.
Bicester's former ground, Oxford Road, sits there almost unused whilst the club scratches around looking for a place to call home again. 
Now that Ardley have achieved promotion, their ground, which Bicester have shared for the past couple of years, is not going to be able to withstand the extra games in the Premier league and therefore is not going to be available to Bicester next season. The only other local ground that could come up to Step 5 grading is Oxford Road.
Bicester Sports Association, who own Oxford Road, was set up in the 1930s to provide the sports teams and people of Bicester with good sports facilities. So, why does it seem to be beyond the wit of these people to work out a way of bringing football back to the town? As I said, I fully understand that it is not quite as simple as it seems on the surface, but is it really that difficult to work out some sort of agreement?

The cynic in me thinks that the location of Oxford Road, adjacent to the ever-expanding Bicester Village outlet centre, has something to do with the decision. I hope my cynicism is unfounded.

It would be great to get Bicester Town playing in the town again. Bicester is very much a town that is growing in population and stature. It needs a successful football team playing in the town.

​There are still games coming thick and fast in some Step 5 & 6 leagues. This Thursday was no exception and, as I already had some business to take care of near Tamworth, an extra 50 minutes up the M42 to Nottingham seemed like too good an opportunity to miss out on. So it was that I found myself heading into uncharted territory for BotP. A new league, the East Midlands Counties League and a new stadium, Clifton All White's Norman Archer Memorial Ground. The occasion was a (very) local derby between All Whites and league leaders from across the Trent, Dunkirk.
The Boatmen were coming into the game knowing that the league title was in their own hands and on the back of a 12 game unbeaten run since losing 2-1 at Barrow Town in March. During that run they had won 11 of the 12 games including a 2-1 victory over second-placed Teversal and a superb 2-1 win at Anstey Nomads. Last time out Dunkirk had smashed eight unanswered past Radcliffe Olympic. 
Clifton, down in twelfth spot, certainly could not match the overall form of their neighbours but could better their last result having hammered Arnold Town 10-1 on their own patch. So, with eighteen goals between them in the last week I think this game had little chance of finishing 0-0.

Clifton, promoted as Champions from the Nottinghamshire Senior League last season, had already held their rivals to a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture back in August and, without doubt, would not want to be handing the championship on a plate to them in this game. I have to admit, although I knew a little about Dunkirk (they played Stourbridge in the cup a couple of year's ago, and gave a very good account of themselves), I knew next to nothing about Clifton. It has to be said that they have a very impressive list of former players, including Garry Birtles, Jermaine Jenas, Keith Alexander and Darren Huckerby. I've not seen too many other Step 6 sides with such an illustrious list.

The All White's stadium,The Norman Archer Memorial Ground, is situated on the Eastern perimeter of Clifton, just off the A453 route into Notingham. There is a reasonable sized car park which, with this being a derby, was pretty full by the time I arrived. The club house, players and officials facilities are outside the main stadium, as are all of the facilities, toilets and tea bar. The playing area is accessed through a single gate just off the car park.
As you enter, from the car park end, to the left is the main stand which runs for approximately a third of one side and features covered seating and standing. The dugouts are situated opposite the main stand. The pitch, when you consider how late in the season it is and just how much bad weather we have had this year, was in superb condition, a massive credit to the club and all the volunteers helping to keep the ground in shape.

So, we were ready to go. All Whites in all white and Dunkirk in their change kit of all blue. A quick glance at the league table showed that Dunkirk had a four point lead at the top but, with both Teversal and Anstey playing this evening as well, nothing short of a win would suffice.

Top Three at the start of play:
Dunkirk Pl 37 - Pts 82
Teversal 37 - 78
Anstey Nomads 35 - 74

​The game started at a very high tempo. Within a minute, visiting keeper Mitchell found himself having to react quickly to prevent Shannon-Lewis from putting All Whites in front. Within a couple of minutes, Clifton keeper McDonald was at full stretch to keep out a deflected Potts free-kick, as Dunkirk looked to get in front.
A quick glance at Twitter showed that both Anstey and Teversal had scored very early in their games at Holbrook and Holwell respectively.

Ten Minutes in:
​Dunkirk 38 - 83
Teversal 38 - 81
Anstey Nomads 36 - 77

Suddenly the table was looking a lot tighter.
Both sides were showing some lovely touches on the ball as well as snapping into challenges, as you would expect in a derby game. As we progressed past towards the halfway mark in the first-half, Dunkirk had started to go through the gears somewhat and were beginning to push their opponents back more and more. On the half-hour mark Potts met a deep cross at the far post and volleyed home only to see the assistant's flag up for offside.
Despite Dunkirk beginning to get on top, things looked to have taken a turn for the worse for them in the 38th minute when their defence was caught out by a direct ball. Shannon-Lewis go onto the through ball only to be upended by the advancing goalkeeper. The referee immediately pointed to the spot and dealt a yellow card out to Mitchell.
Shannon-Lewis picked himself up and took the kick himself. However, Mitchell made up for his foul by making the save, diverting the kick over the bar with his legs. 

All White's were made to regret their miss just four minutes later when, after great work by Chaplin on the right, the ball was pulled back to Ben Moore just inside the box. Moore showed a cool head to stroke the ball, with precision, inside McDonald's left hand post. 0-1.
Dunkirk had their four point gap back at the top of the table and, just as well they scored, because at this point Anstey were three goals up and Teversal already 4-0 up at Holwell.
Just as The Boatmen were getting ready to go in with their noses in front, however, they suffered a lapse of concentration at the back. A long Clifton punt forward was misjudged by two defenders, leaving Scott Litchfield with just the keeper to beat, which hid did with some composure, sliding the ball under the advancing stopper. 1-1.

HT Clifton All Whites 1 Dunkirk 1. A good half of football. Very entertaining for the neutral and a typical hard-fought local derby. Home keeper has been busier but it's all square at half-time. Dunkirk's lead at the top was down to two points but, with their much superior goal difference, the title was still in their own hands at this stage.

​Three minutes into the second period though the situation had changed again as Clifton and, in particular, Scott Litchfield, restarted with a bang. Litchfield picked up the ball some 30 yards out and, when no-one closed him down, let fly with an unstoppable effort that flew past Mitchell into the top corner. A superb effort. 2-1.
The league title was now, no longer in Dunkirk's hands. Should Anstey win all of their matches, they would take the trophy.

The goal galvanised Dunkirk again and they immediately set about getting the goal back and re-establishing their title credentials, a task that they achieved on the hour mark. The goal was testament to the perseverance of striker Stephen Chaplin who battled through a couple of 50-50 challenges before finding himself one on on with McDonald and finishing neatly low past the stopper's left side. 2-2.

With one hand back on the trophy, Dunkirk set about re-establishing their four point gap and, from this point onward it did feel like just a matter of time before they got the winner. However, despite the away side's possession dominance, they had to be aware of Clifton on the break because the All White's still posed a threat when they got the ball in the Dunkirk half.

Clifton were employing every game management trick in the book in an attempt to prevent their neighbours from securing the three points, slowing the game down at every opportunity, much to the ire of the Dunkirk players, bench and support. To be fair, I could see their point and they weren't getting a hell of a lot of backup from the referee (who could have been stronger IMO). However, these sort of tactics are part of the game and, I am sure that if Dunkirk had been in a similar position, they would have done exactly the same. The big problem though was that, because the referee had not stamped his authority on the players, frustrations were building on both sides and the little niggles from the first half were starting to become more noticeable as the game progressed. There were one or two,a s Danny Dyer would say, naughty challenges going in as well as a lot of harsh words fro the referee, who was forced to start handing out cards.

With 77 minutes gone another foul, just on the edge of the Clifton box, saw Dunkirk line up a good opportunity. Potts curled the ball over the wall, beat the keeper, but saw his effort crash against the bar and bounce to safety. They were getting closer though.
Sure enough, with 5 minutes of normal time remaining and the All White's defence under increasing pressure, Dunkirk forced them into a mistake that altered the outcome of the match. High pressing by Dunkirk forwards forced the Clifton defence to play the ball back to McDonald. Hos clearance was not well struck and, with the stopper out of position, Oliver Clark was able to control the ball and loft it back into an empty net from 25 yards. Yet another accomplished and calm finish, a feature of all three Dunkirk goals. 2-3.

The action wasn't quite finished though. We had had a missed penalty and a comeback from both teams but what local derby would be complete without a sending off? Not this one. For, on 88 minutes, the referee felt in necessary to issue a straight red to Clifton's Seaton after a clash near the centre circle. From my position the clash didn't look worthy of a red, bit I didn't have a very clear view. I heard mention of a leading elbow but I didn't see it. There didn't seem too many Clifton complaints though, so I am assuming something untoward happened.

FT Clifton All Whites 2 Dunkirk 3. From a neutral's pint of view, a fantastic advert for the East Midlands Counties League. This was my first experience of the league and, based on this game, it certainly won't be my last. Obviously, it was a very local derby, so there was added intensity but, overall, the standard of football was very good and the entertainment level very high. With both Anstey and Teversal winning, Clark's late winner was even more important for Dunkirk, who stay top of the league with two games to go. Clifton can hold their heads high after giving the league leaders a hell of a game.
Finally, I make no apologies for the cliched title of this blog. I guess it has been used many times before, but it fitted so well, I couldn't resist.

Top Three after Thursday's games
Dunkirk 38 - 85
Teversal 38 - 81
Anstey Nomads 36 - 77

Clifton All Whites: McDonald, Kelly, Hardy, Anderson (c) , Miles, Seaton, Shannon-Lewis, Ball, Crosby, Clark, Litchfield. Subs: Hawkes, Griggs, Wood, Shaw, Kennerdale
Dunkirk: Mitchell, Robinson, Rawdon, Clark, T. Moore, Burton (c), B. Moore, Hickey, Chaplin, Potts, Berridge. Subs: Wilcox, Gowing, Lang, Howes, Massingham

Att: 59
Ground Number: 157
Entrance: £4
Programme: £1

Tuesday evening and the fixture computer had thrown up a game that was like Manna from Heaven. A new ground and a match that both sides, Codicote and Southall, were desperate to get a result from, albeit for entirely different reasons. Home side Codicote, with one more game to play after this, required a single point to assure Step 6 football next season. Southall, on the other hand, were already promoted but needed a point to take the league title and consign Baldock Town to a second-place finish.

Codicote play at the John Clements Memorial Ground, named after John Clements, who was headmaster at Sherrardswood School in nearby Welwyn Garden City. Clements, who was born in the village, was tragically killed in a fire at a ski resort in Sappada in 1976, after he tried to rescue others from the blaze. He was subsequently awarded the George Cross.

The football ground is part of a larger sports centre situated on the edge of Codicote village, accessed via a narrow service road off Bury Lane. Payment for entrance to the ground is taken upon entry to the, good-sized, car park. There are no turnstiles or gates between the car park and the playing area. In fact, it is one of those grounds where you could watch the game from the comfort of your car if you parked in the right place.
The football pitch is bordered by the car park behind one goal and a large hedge on two other sides. The other side of the ground is completely open as it is shared with the cricket club.
As you look from the car park end, there is a covered seating stand on the right hand side and, a first for me, pop-up dugouts situated on the cricket pitch side of the ground. The clubhouse, which look sand feels quite new, is situated to the left of the football as you look from the car park. This block also houses the players and officials area.

​As I said, this evening's opponents were Southall. When the sides met at The Gore earlier in the season, Southall ran out 7-1 winners. They didn't need such a resounding scoreline this evening, but I was still expecting them to want a win so that they could take the league title in some style. Having been informed that kick-off had been put back from 7:30 to 7:45, I wandered over to the club house for a cup of tea, noticing on the way, something of a rarity in Hertfordshire. A gentleman wearing a Stenhousemuir jacket and hat. This reminded me that I had seen this guy before, at an Arlesey Town v Stourbridge game at the Armadillo in April 2013, to be exact.

When I returned to pitch side, just before kick-off, a number of Southall officials and supporters had arrived and, to add to the atmosphere, some members of, what I assumed was Codicote's youth team, had taken up residence behind one of the goals with two red & black flags and a drum.

And so it was, with a backdrop of jets on final approach to Luton Airport, we kicked off one a crucial game for both clubs.
Despite their lowly position, it was Codicote who started the brighter. Southall looked a little nervy and were struggling to find any consistency in their play. After a quarter of an hour it was still 0-0 but the home side were certainly looking the more likely. However, you did get the feeling that they needed to capitalise on their advantage and get a goal before Southall, inevitably, found their rhythm.
The first big chance of the game came on 21 minutes when Codicote's number 10 received the ball with his back to goal some 12 yards out and just to the left of centre. He turned very sharply, getting a yard or two on his marker, but Southall's keeper reacted well to smother the effort. Two minutes later the same Codicote striker had an even better opportunity when the ball fell to him, almost centrally, well inside the box. However, he could only fire tamely straight at the Southall stopper.

That could well have been the turning point in the game. On the half-hour mark, Southall finally fired a warning shot over the Codicote bows when their number 8 fired narrowly over with a powerful drive from outside the box.
The away side were gradually starting to get into their stride more as we approached half-time and, on 43 minutes, they came very close to taking the lead when Harewood broke down the right flank. His deflected cross looped over the keeper but clipped the bar before rebounding to safety.

HT Codicote 0 Southall 0. Codicote have been the better side for most of the half but have not made the most of their chances. Southall noticeably improved towards the end of the half.

​By the time that the second half got under way it was noticeably colder. Usually, come the last few games of the season, we get lovely spring evenings where we can watch games in T-shirts. Not this year though. Three layers, including a winter jacket, and I could still feel the chill in the air.

Maybe the fresh air had woken up the Southall players too because they started the second period with a lot more intensity than they showed in the first half. So much so that, seven minutes into the half, they won a penalty. The home players and supporters thought that the award was harsh and, I have to say, from my angle it certainly looked like a soft one but the referee had a much closer view of the incident than any of us, so a penalty it was.
Aaron McLeish stepped up and confidently stroked the ball pass the keeper to make it 0-1.

Before Southall could bask in the prospect of the league title, however, Codicote went straight up the other end and had a penalty shout of their own. The incident happened on the far side of the pitch at the opposite end to where I was standing, so I can't comment on the claim. However, again, the referee was in a good spot and did not award anything.
Then, on the hour mark, Southall made the game safe and put one hand on the league trophy. Harewood was released down the right. He drove towards the by-line, cut inside his man expertly and laid the ball on a plate for McLeish to tap home his , and Southall's, second of the night. 0-2.

Codicote, to be fair to them, never gave up the game and managed to create a couple of half-decent chances themselves. However, as each chance came and went you could see the game ebbing away from them. Southall slowed the tempo of the game down whenever possible, as any good team would do at this juncture, seeing the game out with some ease in the end.

It was good to bump into Gurmail Dhaliwal just before the end of the game. Gurmail is the Southall Club Secretary and, last season, was kind enough to include one of my match reports in the Southall programme. I was pleased to be able to offer my congratulations to him and the rest of the Southall team.

FT Codicote 0 Southall 2. Southall only needed a point but they got all three to become Champions of the Spartan South Midlands Division One. Broxbourne's 2-1 defeat of London Lions means that Codicote still need to get at least a point at Baldock on Saturday to be sure of survival.

I also managed to speak to Stenny man before I left. He remembered the Arlesey game when our paths first crossed. It turns out that his mate is also a Stenhousemuir supporter. You have to love the diversity of people you meet at non-league games. Two Stenny supporters watching a Step 6 game in Hertfordshire.


Codicote (from): Andreos, Brennan, Dimmock, Dolan, Foster, Heaps, Massey, Morgan, Rice, Robinson, Thanni. Subs: Dixon, Voller, Cook
Southall (from): C. Austin, G. Austin, Bennell, Bennett, Gradwell, Harewood, Hope, Lewis, Long, McLeish, Rhone. Subs: Brown Dioum, Morgan, Sharples, Atwell

Att: 58
Ground Number: 156
Entrance: £5
Programme: Included