​On Tuesday evening BotP made the trip down the A34 to take in a Hampshire Premier League - One game between newly promoted Sporting Wessex(their second promotion on the bounce) and newly relegated Stockbridge. Sporting, making their home league debut at their new Oakwood Park (former home of Colden Common) ground, were looking to get their first Hampshire League points on the board after losing 3-2 at Mob Albion on the opening day. Stockbridge, who were relegated from the Senior Division along with Andover Town last season, also lost their first game, 4-1 at Nursling & Shirley. With only a little over 13 miles between the grounds, this was also something of a local derby.
This would be my first visit to Oakwood Park and my first time watching Sporting Wessex, although I have visited Stockbridge before, back in 2021. That evening The Robins, then playing a division higher, were 4-0 victors over Liss Athletic (Bad Omens For The Blues)
Thanks to referee Richard Diggle for the Stockbridge team sheet and to the ladies in the clubhouse who had already written out the home team on the whiteboard that is placed outside the clubhouse before kick-off.

​This game looked like it was going to be a close encounter right from the start with neither team taking a firm grip on proceedings early on. The first clear sight of goal came in the 11th minute when Ewan Stevenson's pace got him in behind the home defence on the left. Seeing that home keeper Josh Powell was off his line, the winger went for the first time lob, only to see his effort clear goalkeeper and crossbar.
Sporting's first meaningful effort came five minutes later when Callum Williams volleyed over without troubling Kieran Chaplin too much.
Sporting's style of play means that they want to play the ball out from the back which, at times, must have had their supporters hearts in their mouths as defence and goalkeeper took risks instead of launching the ball clear. Stockbridge's approach was a little more direct, looking to get the ball forward and utilise the pace of Stevenson. However, neither side managed to seriously trouble the opposition keeper until midway through the half when Stockbridge earned a corner on the left. The ball was delivered into the 6-yard area, where a group, including the keeper, challenged at the near post. The ball eluded everyone, falling perfectly for Robins captain Lewis Newbury to apply a relatively simple poke over the line. The home side complained that there was a foul on Powell, but the referee was having none of it. 0-1
If the goal rocked Sporting they didn't show it. In fact, their response took only four minutes to arrive. Conversely, given their measured approach, the goal came from a route one ball straight up the middle from Josh Powell. It caught the Stockbridge defence by surprise allowing Nathan Roles to run on and apply a clam finish past Chaplin. 1-1. 
Two goals in four minutes could have signalled for the floodgates to open, but once again the game fell back into a midfield battle, with chances at a premium. Sporting did have a period of some sustained pressure late on when a series of corners and long throw-ins were all dealt with by the Stockbridge defence.
Then, just before the half-time whistle, an event that I had not witnessed before. The referee penalised a Stockbridge player for taking too long to take a throw-in, giving Sporting the throw instead. Whilst I don't like to see teams wasting time on throw-ins, goal-kicks etc, I'm not a big fan of this new rule. It just leads to more calls to the referee to penalise the opposition every time the ball goes out of play.

HT Sporting Wessex 1 Stockbridge 1. A half of few clear cut chances at either end. Two well-matched teams slugging it out. Sporting's admirable propensity for playing around at the back, with Powell acting as an additional defender, is dangerous at times. They take a lot of risks.

As with the first half, there were few chances early on in the second. It took eight minutes before Sporting created an opportunity with some good work down their left. This released Zach Hesp inside the left-hand side of the penalty area with a clear sight of the goal. Unfortunately for the winger, the ball too a little hop just as he was about to strike, making him send the ball wide of the target.
Hesp was involved again just after the hour when he slid across a ball into the path of Roles and a rare clear-cut chance. However, Chaplin was across quickly to make the block with his feet. 
With just over 20 minutes remaining Wessex substitute Sam Mears saw his shot deflected wide but that, for a while, saw the pendulum swing towards the visitors.
The Robins began to exert some pressure on Sporting. In the 75th minute Jonny Martin, who had been introduced on the right flank, did well to create a little space before feeding the ball into the right side of the penalty area for Chris Pye. The striker had to stretch to get a shot off, diverting the ball across goal but  without enough pace to trouble Powell. 
As Stockbridge ramped things up Keenan Farrant was called upon to make a very good last ditch block to keep out Ryan Sanger and then, with 10 minutes to go, the visitors produced possibly the best passing move of the game which culminated in Pye, just inside the box, getting off a shot under pressure that flew over Powell's crossbar.
At this point it felt that if anyone was going to grab a winner it would be Stockbridge but Sporting were having none of that. They rolled up their sleeves and came back at their visitors. Another substitute, Kieran Brockway, did well on the right before clipping over a cross with the outside of his right foot. The ball found Sam Beale who met it with a powerful header that beat Chaplin but thundered off the underside of the bar and was hacked away. A couple of minutes later, Sporting created another half-chance but this time a ball across the face of goal was inches too far ahead of Matt Harrington's lunge.
So, after looking like they had run out of steam, Sporting came very close to nicking it at the death. That said, when the referee blew the final whistle, it felt like a draw was the right result.

FT Sporting Wessex 1 Stockbridge 1. A hard fought game with a limited amount of clear-cut opportunities. In all honesty, as a neutral, it felt as if both sides lacked a cutting edge. Maybe it was more down to two well-organised defences, but often the final ball seemed to be missing. Nevertheless, it was  good game to watch and well worth the 150-mile round trip.
Next up Stockbridge take a trip to the New Forest to take on Sway before taking on current leaders, Andover Town, at home on Tuesday. Sporting do not have a game at the weekend, but travel to BTC Southampton on Wednesday.

Sporting Wessex: Powell, Davies, K.Farrant, N.Farrant(c), Toomer, Tonner, Hesp, Williams, Baker, Beale, Roles. Subs: Mears, Harrington, Brider, Abrahams, Brockway
Stockbridge: Chaplin, Pike, Bailey, Sanger, Charles, Newbury(c), Osbourne, Mortimer, Pye, Bourne, Stevenson. Subs: White, Scrimiger, Plowman, Miles, Martin

The Ground
Oakwood Park Recreation Ground is situated between Otterbourne and Shawford, just off the M3 between Winchester and 
Eastleigh. It was the home of Colden Common before they moved up a division and began a ground-share with Winchester City. Located on the edge of a small estate, parking at the ground is quite limited. There is parking available in the nearby streets but the club are keen for visitors to ensure they park responsibly so as not to annoy their neighbours.
There's a small clubhouse next to the car park with white fencing and hard-standing along this side of the ground. The opposite side of the ground is open apart from the line of trees backing the far goal.
The playing surface looked to be pretty much flat with no discernible slope. Although dry, given the recent harsh weather, the pitch looked to be in pretty good shape.

Ground Number: 491
Att: 
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A

Saturday saw me making the 176-mile round trip to Herefordshire for the opening day of the Hellenic League season. A long-awaited first visit to Bromyard Town, a ground that has been on my shortlist many times in the past few years. Bromyard Town were promoted into the Hellenic League Division One after winning the Herefordshire Premier League last season. That signalled a return to Step 6 for the first time in a decade, when the club was relegated from the West Midlands Regional Premier at the end of the 2015-16 season. Today's opponents, Wantage Town, were a Step 4 side in those days and, aside from a brief return to Step 5, were still playing Step 4 until 2022. They were relegated from the Southern League Division One Central at the end of that season, slipping back to Step 6 at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Having not come through the same feeder leagues this game was, as far as I can tell, the first league meeting between the teams and they've also not met in any major FA competitions.

​Wantage, playing in their change kit of pink and blue shirts even though their normal green kit should not have been a clash with Bromyard's all blue kit, were quick to manufacture and opportunity when Kenzie Taylor swung over a cross from the left. The ball found the head of Seth Humphries, unmarked, but he could only plant his header wide of the upright. An early warning for the home team.
Wantage continued to push their opponents back early on and, when they won a corner inside the first 10 minutes, demonstrated Arsenal-like tactics, crowding out the goalkeeper to make it very difficult for him to collect the cross.
It wasn't all one-way traffic however and the game was opening up. Bromyard began to look livelier up front and when Ollie Thompson broke quickly down the right, it took some good defending to clear his cross for a corner. That was cleared by Wantage, for Callum Crook to break down their right flank. His low cross didn't find any Freds in the box and, once again, Bromyard were able to clear.
A few minutes later, Bromyard were threatening again and, once more, it was Ollie Thompson who was causing consternation for the visitors. After the home side won a freekick just outside the box, their number 7 took aim for the bottom corner, drawing a great flying save from Thomas Rees.
There was a brief lull in goalmouth action before two astounding events, one at either end of the pitch. Wantage were first to come close when Barder's cross was headed back across the face of goal by Tom Griffiths where Humphries met it inside the 6-yard box. Somehow Ryan Williams got across his goal and made a point-blank stop with his feet. The question was a bad miss or a fantastic save. I'm going with the latter. Credit to the keeper for throwing himself in front of the ball. Whatever, the case, there wasn't time to dwell as Bromyard broke up the other end and, with the keeper out of his ground, looked odds-on to score into an empty net before Gary Smith appeared from nowhere to make an excellent tackle.

​The action, at this point was relentless. Two minutes after the Smith tackle, the ball was at the other end with Kenzie Taylor on the left. His cross, slightly miscued, sailed over Williams before coming back off the far post.
A quick drinks break broke up the end to end play and, for a few minutes afterwards, there was another lull in goalscoring chances. 
However, into the final ten minutes of the half, Bromyard went on the hunt for a goal through the lively Thompson once again. A snappy exchange of passes on the edge of the box generated a small sight of goal but Thompson couldn't get enough on the shot to trouble Rees. Once again, Wantage immediately broke forward with a long ball for Fred Morlock to chase down the left. He pulled the ball back to Humphries, on the edge of the box, but he could only steer his side-footed effort wide of the target.
Wantage had created more chances than their hosts but it was Bromyard who had the last two half-chances of the first 45 minutes. Firstly Matt Patrick-Rivers turned and fired at goal without troubling Rees too much, then Thompson bustled into the box and had two bites at the cherry  before his second effort was headed out for a corner by a diving defender.

HT Bromyard Town 0 Wantage Town 0. A good half of football. Both teams had chances but the visitors will feel they should be at least one goal ahead. Would they be made to pay for it?

​Back on the pitch, it was Bromyard who came out looking the stronger in the early encounters of the second half. Just two minutes in they broke up their left before working the ball into the centre where Patrick-Rivers was lurking. He did everything right, turning his defender one way and then the other to open up a shooting space before, unfortunately for the home team, blasting the shot over the bar.
Two minutes later, with Bromyard exerting some real pressure, substitute Lucasz Cembruch must have thought he'd opened the scoring when he sent a powerful header towards the Rees's top right corner. The Wantage keeper had other ideas, throwing himself across his goal to acrobatically tip the ball over the bar. Great header matched with an equally great save.
Wantage had ridden out the home side's early second half pressure, fighting back to create a couple of chances themselves. Morlock, in particular, can count himself unlucky to find Rhys Williams in such good form. A one-handed tip over the bar was an especially good save to keep out the nippy Wantage winger.
Just as the game looked to heading for a stale mate, Wantage finally broke the deadlock when Callum Crook got some space on the right-hand side of the Bromyard box before sending a low drive across the face of the goal into the far corner. 0-1
The goal rocked the home side back for a while, but they gradually began to build up a head of steam again as the Wantage players fell back to defend their lead. The Yard came very close to an equaliser from a right-wing corner but some excellent defending from Wantage's rock at the back, Gary Smith, saved the day for the Freds. The experienced defender even managed to win his side a freekick to further ease the pressure.
Their remained one final roll of the dice for Bromyard when the dangerous Cembruch came close again with another header that cleared Rees's crossbar, before referee Oliver Chanot blew the final whistle.

FT Bromyard Town 0 Wantage Town 1. Ultimately Wantage's greater experience at this level won them the day, in what was a pretty close encounter over the 90 minutes. It's way too early in the day to make any kind of predictions for either team but both showed a willingness to compete and both teams possess players that can influence games.
Next up for Bromyard is a Tuesday evening trip to Gloucestershire and a visit to Lydney Town, who won their opening game 1-0 at home to Bewdley. Wantage, meanwhile, are also on the road on Tuesday as they make the shorter journey to Carterton, who were beaten 5-1 at home by Sharpness on Saturday.

Bromyard Town: Williams, Green, Higgins, Myers(c), Cembruch, Humphries, Thompson, Bellamy, Patrick-Rivers, Barnes, Cowlishaw. Subs: Lewis, Davis, Holliday, Wood, Clarke, Griffin
Wantage Town: 1.Rees, 20.Dawson, 2.Miller, 6.Lee, 15.Smith, 4.Griffiths, 8.Barder(c), 10.Humphries, 9.Crook, 7.Morlock, 11.Taylor. Subs: 12.Tomlin, 16.Cusack, 14.Ballard, 3.Jones, 17. Reeve

​The Ground
It's 40 years since Bromyard Town moved to Delahay Meadow. The ground is situated on the north-eastern outskirts of the town, heading towards Bromyard Downs. It's accessed via a fairly long service road protected by double gates bearing the clubs name. Spectator parking is off to the right of the driveway, just a very short walk up to the ground entrance, a single turnstile. This brings you into the ground around the halfway line and next to the clubhouse, which also houses the snack bar. A little sidenote: having spoken to the man on the gate, a lady in the snack bar and a couple of people in the bar area, I can safely say that Bromyard is a very friendly and welcoming club. I also managed to get sight of the team sheets from the officials who were enjoying a cup of tea in the bar area before the game.
The main stand is also on this side of the pitch, just along from the clubhouse. There's a small covered shelter on the opposite side of the ground. There's also a grass bank behind one of the goals that gives a good vantage point over the pitch. The playing surface slopes slightly from right to left as you look from the clubhouse. The pitch was dry, as you would expect in the current climate, but wasn't as yellow as some playing surface in have seen recently.

The Programme
The matchday programme at Bromyard is a rudimentary, photocopied, mainly black & white, 12-page booklet, priced at a pound. It contained the two squad lists, a message from the Bromyard manager, club details and some advertising pages. There were no additional articles in it.
Note: If anyone at the club wants a few articles as fillers, help yourself to the programme notes articles on my site. There's not a massive selection, but I'm sure one or two may fit.


Ground Number: 490
Att: 31
Entrance: £5.00
Programme: £1.00