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Citizens Cane United

19/8/2015

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PictureThe main stand at Second Meadow
The players, officials and supporters of Biggleswade United may not welcome me to any more of their games. Twice in the last year I have reported on one of their games and both times they have lost, despite being favourites in both matches. Last October I was at Kingsthorpe Mill to watch, the then Step 6, Northampton Spencer perform a giant-killing in the FA Vase. This
Tuesday evening it was the turn of newly promoted Welwyn Garden City to turn the tables on United.
Second Meadow, United's stadium, lies just off the A1M to the north of the town and is very easily accessible from the North or South. There is a reasonable amount of parking available directly in front of the stadium and a friendly staff member to guide you to a spot. The same staff member was also working the turnstile on this evening and helpfully pointed out that the club house was outide the perimeter of the ground so, if I wanted to grab a cup of tea, it may be best to do it before entering. I took his advice and got my cuppa before paying the £5 entry (plus £1.50 for a programme).
There is not that much about Second Meadow to describe, although I would not like this to sound like a negative point. It is a perfectly good stadium, completely surrounded by a metal fence, it is a tight, compact ground. There are covered seating and standing areas on both sides of the ground with the rest given to hard-standing. The pitch looked in pretty good condition
although I did think the grass looked a little on the long side for a team who, when I last saw them, liked to play a short passing game.


Picture
Welwyn, after winning Division 1 by seven points last season, were playing back in the Premier for the first time in 5 years. With this also being a fairly local derby, they were backed by a sizeable travelling support.
Both sides were coming into this game on the back of successful starts to their FA Cup campaigns, Biggleswade overcoming Desborough Town and Welwyn seeing off Haverhill Borough.
There were a few minutes of jousting at the start of the game where the sides got a measure of each other but it didn't take long for the game to spark into life. It took just 7 minutes for 17 year-old debutant Nathan Dimmock to open his senior goal-scoring account when he latched onto a ball on the edge of the Biggleswade box and smashed a shot past Mortas.
However, the away following had barely stoppped celebrating the goal when, 3 minutes later, Biggleswade struck back. A ball played in from the left fell to Lee Bilcock who slid it confidently under the City keeper. So, 1-1 after just 10 minutes but the early scoring was not to stop there. With 15 minutes played Welwyn forced a corner on their left. The ball was hoisted to the far post where it was met by Yasin Boodhoo. His looping header back across the goal eluded everyone and dropped into the corner of the net.
With the Citizens 2-1 up and bossing the game, there was a slight lull in events for a few minutes before, on 28 minutes, a bad clearance from Mortas went straight to a Welwyn player who slipped the ball into the path of an onrushing forward. This time, however, Mortas made up for his mistake, getting a fingertip to the shot and pushing it onto the bar.
Biggleswade swapped their wingers over in an attempt to unsettle the solid Welwyn defence but, despite getting a few balls down the line, they couldn't make any real inroads and Welwyn continued to look fairly comfortable.
Just before half-time came the two minutes that, effectively, killed the game off. First, on 43 minutes, a long ball somehow eluded everyone allowing Josh Bronti to run onto it and finish very neatly past the onrushing Mortas. Then, straight from the kick-off, Biggleswade conceded possession again. The ball was knocked to Craig Arnott who looked up and unleashed an unstoppable 30-yarder over the keeper and into the net.


PictureForlorn flag
1-4 at half-time was, perhaps, a little harsh on Biggleswade but Welwyn had worked very hard for their lead and certainly did not look like a newly-promoted team. Biggleswade, you felt, had more to give but were struggling to get their game together. Maybe credit should be given to Welwyn for preventing the home side from getting any rhythm going?
It may have been interesting to have heard Cristian Colas' half-time talk. At 2-1 down with a minute remaining in the half, he would probably have been preparing a pep-talk to urge them to step it up a little. However, I am sure that those two goals in a minute would have significantly changed the tone of the conversation.
Whatever was said, Biggleswade came out for the second half with a renewed determination. Pulling three goals back was going to be a very difficult task especially against a well organised and very confident Welwyn side. Welwyn, as they were entitled to do, sat back a little and let Biggleswade come at them, seemingly content, at least for the first 10 minutes, to see how far out of the ground they could get their clearances to go. This is not to knock them though, they had earned the right to break the game up with their first half performance.
Biggleswade huffed and puffed but struggled to get through the Welwyn defence. When they did get a chance they found substitute keeper Jamie Jackson was equal to everything they had.
Welwyn were happy to play the second half on the break and did force a couple of chances but, overall, the second period was a much quieter affair than the first. Biggleswade's initial onslaught started to subside after around 10 minutes and, much as they tried, they could not seem to raise the tempo again.
With five minutes remaining Welwyn hammered the final nail in the Biggleswade coffin. An Aron Cato effort was blocked by Mortas but the ball fell to Caswell who made no mistake.
Welwyn, on the night, were very impressive. Calm and confident at the back, organised throughout the team and they displayed some excellent finishing. On this showing they could upset a lot of teams this season.
As for Biggleswade, this was just one of those games. They showed enough to believe that they have a lot more about them than was apparent in this game. They made some errors and were soundly punished for them by a team that was on great form.

As a neutral this was an entertaining match. A very enjoyable first visit to Second Meadow. Best of luck to both sides in the coming season and I look forward to seeing them both perform again (although United may not want to hear that).

Biggleswade United - @biggleswadeutd
Welwyn Garden City - @wgcfc




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The Weekend in Numbers (15/08)

16/8/2015

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9 - Number of goals in the Nantwich v Stamford game. The home side running out 6-3 winners after being 2 goals down.

109 - The number of years Penistone Church played before entering the FA Cup. It didn't last long as they went out 2-0 to Pontefract Collieries.

11 - The number of goals scored by Coleshill Town in the FA Cup match at home to Ellesmere Rangers.

333 - The crowd that witnessed Barnoldswick Town lose 5-0 at home to Colne in the FA Cup.

5 - The personal tally of Shoreham's Melford Simpson as they thrashed St Francis Rangers 8-0 in the FA Cup.

12 - The number of hours it took for Stourbridge to get to and from Whitby in their opening game. To top it all, they lost 4-0.

6 - Number of first half goals scored as AFC Liverpool romped home 9-2 at Chadderton.

72 - Number of minutes that Lee Hughes last on his league debut for Ilkeston. The veteran striker received his marching orders for a second yellow. Ilkeston went down 3-1 at home to Skelmersdale.

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Saint Charlie's Last Minute Thunderbolt

14/8/2015

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Picture
Well, that wasn't a bad game to start the season with!
For the first live action of the new season I finally made it to Brackley Town Saints. Newly promoted Saints play at St James
Park, home of their National League North first team. Having visited the ground before, this trip was completely about the football rather than another tick in the ground-hop catalogue. What I will say about the stadium is that, the first thing I noticed upon entry, was how good the playing surface looked. The perfect pitch for keeping the ball on the ground and knocking it around.
Saints got themselves into the Hellenic Premier with, I am told, some particularly good football last season. Kidlington, I
know from seeing them a couple of times last year, can play a bit themselves. So, I was filled with optimism of a good match. I was not to be disappointed.
From the kick-off, Saints in their red and black stripes, showed their intent. Their passing was crisp, players all seem to
have exceptional balls skills and are very comfortable in possession. For the opening 3-4 minutes I think this took Kidlington by surprise and they struggled to get hold of the ball. However, The Greens are a well established side at this level, expected to be pushing for promotion and they soon began to get with the pace of the game. The match settled into a fine rhythm. Both sides more than capable of stringing passes together but neither really creating any clear-cut opportunities.
Nevertheless, a really pleasing game on the eye with plenty of neat footwork to admire.
When a chance finally appeared it was the greater experience of the away side that created it. However, the home keeper was
more than equal to the effort. As the half wore on, despite Saints continued neat passing, it was Kidlington who were looking the more likely to score. Twice more Saints keeper made good saves to keep them at bay. Saints did manage a couple of half chances and one fairly decent opening, but couldn't really trouble the Greens keeper.
An entertaining half drew to a close with the scores level at 0-0.



PictureThe corner that lead to the opening goal
The second half began with Kidlington again creating a couple of chances only to be foiled by the Saints keeper. Just after the hour mark, however, Kidlington finally broke the deadlock. A left wing corner was only cleared to the edge of the box, and the waiting Lewis Brownhill, who smashed it back past a crowd of players into the net.
Five minutes later, on 72 minutes, Kidlington doubled their lead. Brackley lost the ball in midfield, an incisive pass split
the defence and, when the ball was rolled to Lewis Coyle, he made no mistake with a very composed finish.
I'll be honest, at this point I thought it was game over. Despite Brackley's excellent passing game, I could see no way back
for them. However, they did not waiver from their brand of football and visibly started to up the pace.
With just over 5 minutes left Saints won a free-kick 25 yards out and slightly left of the Greens goal. Matt Hammond stepped
up and curled a stunner into the keeper's top right corner. Game on?
It is testament to Brackley that, from this point onwards, Kidlington were on the ropes and were constantly looking for ways
to slow the game down and run down the clock. Saints kept plugging away with their pass and move style. Then, in the very last minute, came the game's most stunning moment. As the Saints captain Charlie Wise advanced from the halfway line Kidlington backed off him a little, presumably expecting more short, incisive passing. However, instead of playing a short ball he struck it from 40-45 yards over an astonished Greens keeper and into the net for a last-gasp equaliser. Cue scenes of jubilation from players and fans alike. You had to feel sorry for the Kidlngton keeper. He had barely had a stop to make all game but was beaten twice, from distance, by pretty much unstoppable efforts.
There was hardly time for a restart before the referee blew for full-time and ended what had been a very enjoyable 2-2 draw.
Kidlington must have thought they had the game in the bag but Brackley, to their credit, never stopped playing their football and never lost belief in themselves.
I have seen quite a bit of Hellenic League football over the past 5 years and, in my opinion, both of these sides have the
potential to be up there at the end of the season. It will be interesting to see how Brackley fare when the weather changes and the pitches get heavier. This will not suit their style of play and, if I had to say anything negative about them, they may be a little lightweight for this league. Kidlington appear to be a good, solid team with a mixture of experience and youth. On this showing I think they are rightly one of the favourites this season.

Brackley Town Saints - @btfc_pdc @btsaintsfc

Kidlington FC - @kidlington_fc



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The Weekend in Numbers

9/8/2015

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The weekend's action....in numbers.
4,060 - The number of people who turned up to watch Hereford FC's first competitive game, a record attendance for a Midland League fixture. The Edgar Street faithful witnessed the Bulls record a 4-1 victory over Dunkirk.
7 - The number of goals scored by newly-promoted Winchester City on their opening day Southern League South & West fixture against Bridgwater. City eventually ran out 7-2 winners.
5 - Warren Bentley's contribution to Winchester's victory. Incredibly, all five goals were scored in the first half.
8 - The number of goals shared between Bideford and St Neots Town. The away side also lead 4-1 with 8 minutes remaining.
1 - The number of minutes it took Corby Town to open their account on their return to the National League North. Eventually the Steelmen were held 2-2 by fellow promoted team, Curzon Ashton.
6 - The number of goals scored by Welwyn Garden City on their return to the Spartan South Mids Premier. City running out 6-0 winners at London Tigers.
32 - The minutes between goal number 1 and goal number 6 as Cinderford Town hammered Bashley 6-0 on the opening day.
60 - Number of seconds between Bedworth United's 2 goals at home to Biggleswade Town. It was still not enough to prevent the Greenbacks going down 4-2.
40- The age of former Villain and Fox Julian Joachim who has joined East Midlands Counties side Holwell Sports. Sports lost 3-0 to Kimberley MW on the opening day.
9- Number of goals shared by Bristol Manor Farm and Bridport in the Western League. Manor Farm edged a tight encounter with the decider in stoppage time.

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