Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all had a great Christmas and are feeling rested and ready to get going again. With no games to report on, we start this round-up with a short summary of the season so far for each team. Games restart on Sunday January 8th with all eight teams in league action. Matches are previewed below.

Milton United
Unbeaten and with a five point lead at the top, it's been a great season so far for Milton. They are also, by far, the top scorers in the division with 34 in their 9 games. The goals  have been spread around the team, with nine different players on the score sheet. However, at the top of the tree are Charlotte Comley and Mollie Dyer who have with eight apiece across all competitions. With five more league games to come, can they make it through the season without defeat?

Woodley United
The form team in the league going into the Christmas break. Woodley have won their last four games with an aggregate score of 14-0. This included ending Penn's unbeaten start in emphatic style. Their success has been built upon having the tightest defence in the league, only conceding six goals in their seven games. With two games in hand on the leaders they could even go top of the league should they win both. Top scorer is May Hamblin with 9 goal so far.
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Penn & Tylers Green
Despite a couple of heavy cup defeats, Peen looked to be the biggest threat to Milton until their last league game, when they went down 4-0 to Woodley. Top scorers Sasha Smith and Henna Hussain, with 7 each, are ably assisted by the third of their potent strike-force, Ellie Ludgate-Williams, who has five to her name. Their twelve games in all competitions have seen a total of 54 goals between Penn and their opponents, never a dull moment.

Long Crendon
The league's draw specialists. Long Crendon have only lost one league game so far this season but, with four draws in their seven games, they find themselves in mid-table. All three of their home league games have ended all-square. They don't concede many goals and have spread their efforts across the team with Michelle Bailey, Emma Leith and Eleanor Lovelock leading the way with four each.

Kidlington
Tailed off a little after a very promising start to the season that saw them lead the way until mid-October. With only one goal in their last four in all competitions, they need top scorer Courtney Sumner to start adding to her six goals as soon as possible. Having said that, the Greens have stepped up two divisions to be at this level and are still more than holding their own.

Caversham United
The Goats just haven't scored enough goals so far. They have only managed more than one in a game once this season and only bottom side Carterton have scored fewer. On the plus side, the return of Freya Jenkins has seen the winger score four times in the last five games, showing some promise for the remainder of the season. Sumayah Zayadi started the season on fire, with three in four but hasn't managed to trouble the score sheet since. With three of their remaining games against teams below them, the outcome of the season is still very much in the hands of The Goats.

Eversley & California
The Boars have only played six league games so far, fewer than any other team in the league. Both of their victories so far have come against bottom side Carterton. They don't score many goals, just six in six. However, they also don't concede many. Only eight have been let in and they have only conceded more than once in a league game twice. Rebekah Pantony leads the way with four goals and The Boars have won every game in which she has scored.

Carterton
It's fair to say that it hasn't been the greatest of seasons so far for Carterton. They've yet to gain a point at home and yet to win a league game at all. However, it's not all doom and gloom. They got their first league point at Kidlington in their last but one league outing and followed this up with a 4-0 demolition of Headington Amateurs in the County Cup, meaning they still have a Quarter-Final tie with Oxford Athletic to look forward to. Top scorer is Zoe Pugh with six goals, including a hat-trick against Headington.
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League Games 8 January, 2023. 14:00 ko

Carterton v Woodley United
The New Year couldn't really start with a more difficult task for Carterton as they welcome the league's form side, Woodley United, who have won their last four league games, scoring 14 and conceding zero. Carterton let a half-time lead to lost at home to Eversley last time out but, in Zoe Pugh, they have a striker in form with six in her last six outings. This will be their first meeting after the reverse fixture back in October was postponed and, as with that game, I plan to be at this game if at all possible.
Sports Pavilion, Monahan Way, Carterton, OX18 3AN

Long Crendon v Eversley & California
The first meeting of these two this season. Eversley won their last outing, coming from a goal down to win 2-1 art Carterton. Long Crendon are unbeaten in the league since their opening day defeat at Milton United. They will be looking to record their first home win of the season after drawing all of their pervious three.
Long Crendon Recreation Ground, Chearsley Road, Long Crendon, HP18 9BS

Milton United v Kidlington
Unbeaten leaders Milton United face Kidlington for the second time this season. When they met at Exeter Close back in October, Kidlington were top of the table and unbeaten themselves. This came to an abrupt end as Milton ran riot. A Sarah Saunders hat-trick plus goals from Charlotte Comley, Mollie Dyer, Natalie Evans and Jessica Simons, clocked up a 7-2 score line. It's three games in all competitions without a goal for The Greens, so they will be looking to top scorer Courtney Sumner to end the dry run.
Milton Heights, Potash Lane, Milton, OX14 4XB

Penn & Tylers Green v Caversham United
The second meeting of the teams this season. A brace from Ellie Ludgate-Williams and the almost obligatory Sasha Smith goal saw Penn win 3-0 at Mapeldurham in September. Penn will be desperate to 'get back on the horse' after losing their unbeaten run to Woodley in November and then going out of the League Cup at the hands of Premier League Ascot United. United have lost three on the bounce at home and will probably be relishing an away game to break the run.
French School Meadows, Elm Road, Penn, HP10 8LG

It's been something of a strange Christmas period. It's the first one since my father passed away, which was always going to tinge it with some sadness. Also, circumstances had meant that I had only been to a couple of games in the past 5-6 weeks. So, after a somewhat muted Christmas, and dropping my Mum back home, I was more than ready to get back to normal, or what passes for normal these days. I'd already made a list of potential games, all within an hours drive of my Mum's house, but I couldn't make my mind up which game to go to. It was a perfect opportunity to let Twitter decide. The options were all in the Midland Football League Division 2, Bolehall Swifts v Lane Head, Barnt Green Spartak v Fairfield Villa, Sutton United v Boldmere Sports & Social Falcons and Inkberrow v Kenilworth Sporting. It was a close call but, after Inkberrow took an early lead, Bolehall Swifts finally won the day with 34% of the votes. Off to Tamworth I went.

​The Ground
Formed in 1953, Bolehall Swifts have played at their current ground, Rene Road, since 1961. The ground is situated in Amington, just to the North-East of Tamworth town centre. Both Amington and neighbouring Bolehall, after which Swifts are named, were once villages but have been swallowed up by the growth of Tamworth. The ground, in my opinion, is something of a gem in the non-league world because it doesn't follow any standard configuration. The ground is accessed via a narrow service road off Rene Road which leads to a car park that spans both sides of a fairly large clubhouse. The pitch is situtated a good 50 yards off to the left from the car park and is accessed via a gate and path that runs down past another building that houses the player's and official's areas, spectator toilets and a snack bar (drinks can also be purchased from the club). Rene Road has not one, but two, very distinctive stands. To the right of the entrance, behind the goal, is the 150 bench-seat stand known as the "Welcome to Bolehall Swifts Stand", presumably because the phrase is painted in bright yellow letters across the top of the stand. On the far side of the pitch is a very unusual covered standing area, apprarently known as the "Founded 1953 Stand" (according to Wikipedia). This is one of football's more unusual stands, up there with Teversal's Tesco trolley shelter. I believe it started out life as a pig pen and still has open-fronted pens segregated by small walls. It's these sort of quirky features that make visiting non-league grounds so interesting. Of course, it's not just the grounds that make non-league special, it's the people. A big thank you to the Bolehall Swifts committee member who let me take photos of the team sheets before kick-off. It's so much easier to write these blogs when I have the player names to hand.

​The Background
This was the first meeting between the sides this season. At the start of play Bolehall sat in 10th spot having taken 19 points from their 14 games. Lane Head were two places and seven points worse off than their hosts.
Although Swifts had lost 2-1 at Barnt green in their last outing, way back on December 2nd, they had won three of their last six. Lane Head had managed to win two of their last six. Both victories came against Redditch Borough, 3-0 at home and 1-0 in Redditch.
Lane Head joined the Midland League in 2018. Since that time, including the two abandoned seasons, there have been six meetings. Lane Head have won three, Bolehall two with one draw. Last season saw the teams fight out a goalless draw at Rene Road whilst Lane Head clocked up a 3-0 victory at home with Jack Arnold notching a brace

​The Game
The visitors kicked off and almost had the perfect start to the game. They pushed forward immediately and were awarded a penalty within the first 10 seconds of the game. Jack Arnold stepped up but blazed his spot-kick well over the bar. A massive let-off for Swifts. The home side looked a little rattled at this stage as Lane Head, not letting the miss disappoint them, pressed forward towards the main stand. Arnold, trying to make amends for his penalty miss, went on a couple of good runs, causing plenty of concern but, unfortunately for the visitors, with no end product. 
Swifts were gradually starting to get going and on 8 minutes came close themselves. A delightful first time pass from Connor Baikie found Joe Edwards who hit a first time shot towards the top corner, only to be thwarted by a flying save from Lane head keeper Chris Adamson. Bolehall had now weathered the initial storm and were probing the Lane head backline more and more. Another lovely through ball found Jake Allen but, as Adamson raced off his line, Allen stroked his shot just wide of the mark. The respite was brief. A minute later Allen stood over a free-kick out on the left flank. His perfect delivery was met by the head of skipper Lewis Miller, who made no mistake. 1-0. Now it was Lane Head who were under the cosh. Bolehall looked the more likely to score again as they tried to take control of the game. However, the next big chance was to come at the opposite end. The Swifts defence, playing out from the back, gifted the ball to Arnold on the edge of the area just past the half-hour mark. However, the striker took a little too long to get the ball out of his feet allowing just enough time for home keeper Oliver Doyle to bravely throw himself at the ball and save the day. The incident must have given Lane Head some impetus because, just two minutes later, they conjured up an equaliser. A free kick on their right wing was delivered deep towards the far post. The ball evaded everyone except for Kieran Grew, who stroked the ball home on the volley. 1-1

HT Bolehall Swifts 1 Lane Head 1. From a neutral's point of view, an entertaining half of football. Swifts edged the game on possession but could also count themselves very lucky not to have been a goal down inside the first minute. There was a little bit of an edge creeping in towards the end of the half. Although there hadn't been any bad tackles, there was clearly some comments being made between the players. You could see that by the way Lane head celebrated their goal.

​I'm sure the temperature had dropped a couple of degrees before the second half kicked off. The wind which had been gusting in the first half seemed to have an icy chill to it. That didn't matter to Lane Head though, as they came out for the second half looking like they meant business. It was the visitors who created the first opportunity of the half when Arnold once again danced his way past a couple of tackles to create a shooting opportunity. His shot went high and wide, but it was another warning to Swifts, Lane Head were here for three points not one.
Just past the hour mark it was Bolehall who were presented with a golden chance to go in front. Lane Head's stopper Chris Adamson came out of his box to win the race to a long ball. His momentum took him well out of his area where Swifts managed to win the ball back. It fell to Joe Edwards with Adamson in no-mans land but with a couple of covering defenders between him and the goal. His shot evaded the defenders but was just wide of the mark. Good covering from the Lane Head defence, forcing Edwards to snatch at his shot. As with the effort that went close in the first half, the incident seemed to bolster Bolehgall's resolve and they started to press for a winner themselves. With just over twenty minutes remaining they won a free-kick some 25 yards out and just to the left of the goal. Jake Allen once more took the set-piece, this time going for goal himself. The shot bounced just in front of Adamson who got down well but couldn't hold the ball. Owen Nolan reacted quicker than the Lane Head defenders this time, slotting the ball home to make it 2-1 much to the annoyance of Adamson who clearly felt he hadn't been given enough cover by his defence.
There was still time for Bolehall to almost gift an equaliser to Lane Head. Keeper Oliver Doyle inexplicably gave the ball to Kieran Grew on the edge of the box. However, the Swifts stopper was quick to make amends, spreading himself well to make the save.

FT Bolehall Swifts 2 Lane Head 1. A very hard-fought win for Bolehall. The edginess that seemed to be spreading at the end of the first half almost boiled over at the end of the game with a couple of Lane Head players clearly not happy with something that had been said. Thankfully it didn't escalate.
Bolehall climb to 9th and are now a healthy looking nine points clear of the drop zone. Lane Head remain 12th but the gap at the bottom of the table has narrowed after second-bottom Redditich Borough won 4-1 at home to Hampton. Thsi means that two pints now separates Redditch, Coventry Alvis, Barnt Green and Lane Head.
Next up for Bolehall is a trip to The Boggery on January 2nd to face Hampton. Bolehall won the home fixture 1-0 back in August. Lane Head are back at home as they wlecome Inkberrow for their first meeting this season.
All that remains is for me to wish all at Bolehall and Lane Head a very Happy New year.


Bolehall Swifts: Doyle, Brown, Mollison, Brehany, Miller(c), Thurstance, Nolan, Edwards, Baikie, Allen, Adams. Subs: Thompson, Vale, Yonwin, O'Callaghan, Minton
Lane Head: Adamson(c), Giles, Young, Davies, Fellows, Green, Lynex, Follows, Grew, Arnold, Martins. Sunbs: Watkins, Stearn, Embrey, Swan

Ground Number: 339
Att: 40
Entrance: £4.00
Programme: N/A

After recently discussing the expansion of the weekly Southern Region Women's League Division 1 North blog to encompass the whole of the league, it was quite fitting that, having seen all of the D1N matches postponed, I was able to begin the expansion plans early by visiting a Premier League fixture this Sunday. There were a few to choose from but, in the end, I decided to go with the league leaders, Abingdon United, and their trip South to play Wycombe Wanderers.

The Ground
Wycombe Wanderers Women play at Burnham's 1878 Stadium, formerly known as The Gore. For anyone who has followed this blog from the early days, you will know that BotP has been to the ground before and it was not a particularly happy event. in fact, I ended the match blog by stating I would not return to the ground. Not only did my team, Stourbridge play particularly badly and lose 2-0, but on returning to my car in the car park,  I found the back window smashed and much of the contents missing. However, that was just over 9 years ago, so maybe it was time to forget the past? Since my visit in December 2013 there hasn't been too much change structurally. However, they do now have a 3G pitch, hence the fact that today's game was on. There is a large car park (I managed to park much closer to the clubhouse this time, which made me feel a little better) and a reasonably large clubhouse, which is accessed from the car park. Access to the ground is through a double turnstile which brings you in at the corner of the playing area. Pretty much the whole of one side of the ground is dominated by the main stand, which is incorporated into the clubhouse building. Opposite this there is also a covered standing area just behind the dugouts. Obviously, being 3G, the pitch was in a very good condition even though the temperature hovering around the 0 degree mark at kick-off and dropped further during the game.

​The Background
Abingdon were coming into the game sitting pretty at the top of the league and, with a four pint gap, safe in the knowledge that they would be top at Christmas, always a good thing. Having said that, second placed Ascot had a game in hand that could take them to within a point. Just behind Ascot were Bournemouth Sports (in FA Cup action at Cardiff today), only five points adrift and with two games in hand. So, Clearly United could not afford to rest on their laurels. Wycombe started the day second from bottom but four pint ahead of bottom side Winchester Flyers. The problem for Wanderers was that Flyers had four games in hand on them. Consequently, they really did need to get some more points on the board too. The sides only met in the reverse fixture a few weeks ago. Goals from Molly Lygo-Jackson and Lindsay Pinker saw United take all three points with a 2-0 victory. Unfortunately for Wycombe, having home advantage for today's game was probably not an actual advantage. So far this season they had failed to take a single point in four attempts at the 1878 Stadium.  Last time out, however, Wanderers had come out on top of a seven goal thriller, beating Oxford City 4-3 at Marsh Lane with Katie Riddington notching a hat-trick. Abingdon, for their part, had not lost, or conceded a goal, since the 2-1 defeat at Eastleigh in early November.        

​The Game
Despite the freezing conditions it didn't take long for Abingdon to warm-up and get into their stride. Within 2 minutes of kick-off they earned a free-kick close to the Wanderers penalty area, way out on the left hand side. Molly Lygo sent in a cross shot that beat Strange but clipped the top of the bar and went out for a goal-kick. A warning to Wycombe. Two minutes later the visitors took the lead after their quick start to the game payed dividends. Beth Hawtin burst through on the right-hand side before sending in a deep diagonal ball towards the far post. Just as it looked as if it may have been slightly overhit, there was Amy Pipe coming in at the far post to nudge the ball home. 0-1. 
It was very early to goal a goal behind but Wycombe heads did not drop at all. As was to become the theme of the game, they continued to plug away, trying to get themselves back into the game but unable to keep hold of the ball for any sustained periods. The overall athleticism of the United team was proving to be a difficult barrier to Wycombe. Sure enough, just past the quarter-hour mark, the visitors extended their lead. Once again they won a free-kick out on the left, in a very similar position to the one that hit the bar in the first minute. Once again Molly Lygo stood over it but this time drove it towards the near post where Emily Strange could only help the ball on its way into the net. 0-2
Abingdon were now well in charge and, despite Wycombe's obvious willingness to work hard, it was hard to see where they would find a goal from, let alone two. That could have been worse too. Before we had reached twenty minutes Abingdon could easily have been three up. Charlotte Deeley won the ball dep in her own half, drove forward and then played a superb, defence splitting ball for Amy Pipe to run onto. Her ball across the face of goal was just about scrambled clear before falling back to the winger, but she couldn't make the home team pay.
On the half hour mark Amy Chivers decided to show us her passing skills, producing a delightful through ball for Lygo to run onto, but the midfielder slid her effort just wide. Four minutes Beth Hawtin rattled Strange's bar with a drove from the edge of the box, as Abingdon piled on the pressure.
Wycombe, to give them their due, were still giving it a go, driven on by their excellent captain Kara Howes. On 36 minutes they manufactured their best chance so far when Katie Riddington went on a good run before setting up Sally Grimm. Her shot was well struck but equally matched by Hannah Cox in the United goal. Then, just before the break, United thought they had made it three. Lygo was once again played in on the left. She drove the ball towards the far post where Beth Hawtin was on hand to tap in. Unfortunately for Abingdon the assistant's flag had already gone up.

HT Wycombe Wanderers 0 Abingdon United 2. A quick start from Abingdon who showed why they are top of the league at times. They strung together some very good moves and produced some excellent passes to split the Wycombe defence wide open. Wanderers worked their socks off against a physically bigger team, but could not keep possession long enough to give their defence a breather.

​A refreshed Wycombe side started the second half with a renewed vigour. Great credit to them, they were not going to go down without a fight. On 57 minutes Kine Andersen let rip with an effort that was just a few inches from getting them back into the game and they were certainly not letting Abingdon have as much of the ball as they did in the first half. They were frustrating the victors and that maybe showed on 64 minutes when Molly Lygo chased down a through ball. Emily Strange was off her line quickly and easily favourite to win it but the Abingdon player slid in, leaving the goalkeeper in a heap and clearly hurt. The referee pulled out a yellow card whilst Strange had treatment and checks for concussion. Happily, after a fair few minutes, she was able to continue. Lygo, in my opinion, was a little lucky. The referee could easily have seen the incident as a red card offence. It was late, but not quite late enough. To be fair, Lygo did go to apologise to Strange when play resumed. I'm sure it wasn't malicious, just one of those things that happens in the heat of battle.
Abingdon were still finding it difficult to make the chances that they seemed to easily create in the first half. They did get one more chance when Strange spilled an effort. It bounced loose but the the keeper was quick to recover and was able to block Lindsay Pinker's Russo-esque backheel. A minute after this, Wycombe substitute
Charlotte Potter, who had looked very lively since her introduction, was played in by Howes but couldn't quite take the opportunity.

FT Wycombe Wanderers 0 Abingdon United 2. A hard-fought victory for Abingdon which sees them remain four points clear after Ascot also won, 6-1 at home to Oxford City. Wycombe remain four points ahead of Winchester who did not play. Having not seen either of these teams play before, I can't really judge them on today's performance alone. However, in my opinion, Abingdon looked like a very good side. Strong, quick, solid at the back and capable of keeping possession for long periods. Wycombe, whilst lacking some of the athletic abilities and ball retention of Abingdon, seemed like a team full of heart. They had willing runners up front all game, worked hard across the pitch and have a captain who leads by example. Special mention for Emily Strange in goal. A few minutes after taking that knock and having the concussion check, she had to race off her line to win a 50/50 race with Abingdon forward Lauren May bearing down on her. She won the ball. That took a fair bit of bravery.
It was extremely cold by the end but an enjoyable watch nevertheless. Not only that, but my car was in one piece this time. Bonus. I'm looking forward to expanding the blog across the league next season.

Wycombe Wanderers: Strange, O'Leary, Howes(c), McCartney, Leach, Andersen, Sword, Paish, Grimm, Attfield, Riddington. Subs: Newberry, Sage, Potter, Webber, Hesketh
Abingdon United: Cox, Deeley, Hawtin, Boxall(c), Chivers, Crawford, Pipe, Chapman, May, Pinker, Lygo. Subs: Hume, Thorne, Suters, Kirby

Ground Number: Re-visit
Att: N/A
Entrance: £3.00
Programme: N/A

Another weekend and another day of drama, goals and non-stop entertainment for Milton United. They progressed to the next round of the cup after a 4-4 draw with Chichester City and a 9-8 penalty shootout win. Elsewhere the other D1N teams all bowed out of the cup after brave fights. Carterton's woes continued as they lost the big relegation 6-pointer to Eversley. Next week we have the final round of league games before the Christmas break.

League
Carterton 1-2 Eversley & California
A Zoe Pugh goal gave Carterton the advantage at half-time in this crunch battle at the bottom of the table. However, Rebekah Pantony equalised shortly after the break before Gemma Lunn earned all three points for the Boars on 70 minutes. Carterton's search for their first league win of the season continues and Eversley move five points clear of the base of the table.

Cup
AFC Stoneham P-P Caversham United

Ascot United 4-0 Woodley United
Woodley conceded early in both halves and, despite holding their own for much of the match, could not make any impression on Premier title-challenging Ascot. Nicole Brown (2), Tiffany Skinner and Isabel Woods were on target for the Yellawomen. Get further details from the Woodley United website. You can also catch up on the action by checking out the superb photos captured by Oakmist Photography and Andrew Batt

Milton United 4-4 Chichester City (Milton won 9-8 on penalties)
What is it with Milton? It's just non-stop entertainment with this bunch, never a dull moment. Four goals in the game from Mollie Dyer(2), Georgia Winger and April England. They even picked up a red card when substitute Lily Norton got her marching orders. United then went on to win a penalty shoot-out by 10 to 9.

Penn & Tylers Green 0-1 Eastleigh in the Community
A Sarah Bradshaw goal just after the break was enough to edge the Premier League Spitfires past Penn at French School Meadow. Eastleigh's defence managed to keep Penn's potent forward line off the scoresheet for the second game in succession.

Winchester City Flyers 2-0 Kidlington
Flyers welcomed a break from their Premier League struggles, seeing off Kidlington with goals from Charlotte Warhurst and substitute Lia Francis. You can take a look at the action, captured by photographer James Prickett.

Fixtures
Carterton v Woodley United
Life doesn't get any easier for Carterton as they face up to the league's in-form side, Woodley United. The reverse fixture scheduled for early October was postponed meaning that this is the first meeting of the teams this season. Caterton's defeat last weekend left them five points adrift at the bottom and in need of some urgent points. Woodley, on the other hand, could possibly go top if they win their two games in hand on Milton.
Sports Pavilion, Monahan Way, Carterton OX18 3AN
All being well, BotP will be at Carterton on Sunday afternoon to cover this game live.

Long Crendon v Eversley & California
Everlsey pulled clear of Carterton at the weekend, coming from behind to take all three points with a 2-1 win. It was the Boars first win since defeating the same opposition back in October. Long Crendon, meanwhile, are still unbeaten in the league since the opening day defeat at Kidlington. 
Long Crendon Recreation Ground, 9 Chearsley Road, Long Crendon HP18 9BS

Milton United v Kidlington
Back in October went to Exeter Park and emphatically ended Kidlington's unbeaten start to the league season. A Sarah Saunders hat-trick backed by goals from Charlotte Comley, Mollie Dyer, Natalie Evans and Jessica Simons gave united a 7-2 victory. Milton went top of the table that ay and have remained there ever since.
Milton Heights, Potash Lane, Milton, Abingdon OX14 4XB

Penn & Tylers Green v Caversham United
Two Ellie Ludgate-Williams strikes and a Sasha Smith goal gave Penn a 3-0 win at Mapeldurham back in September. Penn will be keen to get back into winning ways after losing their unbeaten record to Woodley two weeks ago and then losing 1-0 to Eastleigh in the League Cup last Sunday. Caversham had a week off after their game at Stoneham was called off last weekend.
French School Meadow, Elm Road, Penn, HP10 8LG

When I left Oxfordshire on Saturday lunchtime it was quite a decent sort of day. Cold and a little damp, but not too bad for November. By the time I got to Leicestershire on the M1, the weather had changed completely. The skies were leaden, there was a persistent drizzle in the air and Winter had well and truly taken over. Arriving at my chosen game, the Midland League Division One clash between Ingles and Shawbury United, the weather was slightly better but I had an inkling that the rain I had driven through wasn't too far behind me.

The Ground
After something of a nomadic lifestyle, Ingles moved to their new home at the Thringstone Miners Social Centre, Homestead Road, at the start of the season, after originally being formed in nearby Shepshed. The ground is signposted from the main drag through Thringstone, which is a nice touch. There's a small car park adjacent to the clubhouse which I managed to get on, but I guess parking is available in the surrounding streets if necessary. Entrance to the ground is through the clubhouse with payment at a small hut just outside the main doors. The first thing that strikes you about Homestead Road is that there has clearly been quite an investment since Ingles moved in. The clubhouse block looks and feels new, there is new fencing around the pitch and new dugouts. Even the wooden covered standing area behind the far goal looks new. Despite that, it retains the feel of a proper old-style football ground. The Bob Simpson Stand, on the right hand-side as you look from the clubhouse, offers covered seating and a small covered standing area. The main covered standing is at the far end of the ground from the Homestead Road end. The pitch, which looked quite heavy after the recent downpour, is quite flat at the far end of the pitch but then slopes down from the halfway line towards the clubhouse.

​The Background
With both clubs hovering just above the drop zone at start of play, this game could certainly be described as a relegation six-pointer. Ingles sat in 18th position, four points clear of Heath Hayes in the last of the relagation places. However, Hayes did have two games in hand. Two places and four pints above Ingles were Shawbury. This was the first meeting of the sides this season. In fact, as far as I can, the first meeting in a competitve match. Ingles came up through the Leicestershire Senior League, East Midland Counties and United Counties divisons, whilst Shropshire based Shawbury have progressed through the West Midlands Regional league system.
Recent form has not been brilliant for either team. Ingles have not won a league game since a 6-1 demolition of Smethwick Rangers at the end of October. Lats weekend's 2-1 turnaround at home to AFC Bridgnorth did nothing to helpm their predicament. Meanwhile, after four defeats on the bounce including a very damaging 4-0 drubbing at Cradley Town, Shawbury bounced back last weekend by beating Smethwick Rangers 2-1. A win today would be only the second time they have strung consecutive wins together this season.
Just before kick-off local photographer Betty Marie walked past and said hello. Her photos of the game can be seen on the Ingles web site.

​The Game
Shocking Decisions! Judging by the Tweet that Ingles put out at the end of the game, they may well have assumed that my choice of blog title was aimed at today's referee. However, it's not so. It is actually a reference to my choice of viewing position. The game hinged on two major incidents and, due to my choice of position I was at the opposite end of the ground for both. At half-time, with the rain still coming down, I swapped my position near the halfway line for a sheltered view behind the far goal. Towards the end of the game, I decided to head down to the car park end in readiness for a quick exit. As it turned out, both were bad decisions, but more of that below. Consequently, no previous league meetings and the same with the FA Cup and Vase.

In all honesty, there was not too much to discuss in the opening 20 minutes. The weather, as predicted, had started to worsen and the darkening skies appeared to have had an effect on the mood of both teams. Neither keeper had had the need to get their knees dirty until Ingles centre-forward tried a curling effort that Shawbury's keeper had to stretch for but saved fairly comfortably. This triggered a reaction from United, who went straight up the other end, forcing the home keeper to make a save, which he spilled, but was up quickly enough to make a second save from the loose ball. 
Just past the half-hour mark Ingles spurned a big chance, the best of the game so far, but their number 11 could not accept the opportunity and it remained 0-0. Then just before the half-time whistle, the same player was sent free down the left hand side of the box. This time, however, the visitor's keeper was quick to dive at his feet smothering the attempt at the cost of corner that came to nothing.

HT Ingles 0 Shawbury United 0. Not the most exciting of games so far. In fact, as I tweeted, it was a game that matched the weather, grey, damp and a bit flat.

With the rain getting more persistent I decided to head up to the far end of the ground and stand under the shelter behind the goal for the second half. I was joined by a groundhopper wearing a West Brom hat which, of course, sparked conversations about our days of following the Baggies around the country (he still has his season ticket, whereas I have not had one for a while now). Nice to have a chat throughout the second half, but also meant that I didn't tweet too much.

Eight minutes into the second period Shawbury took the lead. A controversial fee-kick was awarded just outside home penalty area. As I said before, I was at the opposite end but, but local accounts claim it was a bit of a soft one. Nevertheless, a fee-kick it was. The home keeper saved the initial shot but could not hold on. The ball ran loose and was snapped up by a Shawbury striker following it in. 0-1.
The game continued in much the same vein as the first half after the goal except that Ingles, as you would expect, started to push forward more and more. Despite that effort, they did not unduly worry the Shawbury keeper. That was until three minutes into injury time (by which time I had already headed towards the car park end. D'oh!
A ball into the Shawbury area caused a bit of panic in which the United keeper appeared (from a distant view) to clean out an Ingles striker. The referee waved play on but as the player was completely flat out and obviously injured, play had to be stopped. After fairly lengthy treatment the Ingles player was able to walk off the field but not continue. There was literally seconds left to play at this point and, almost immediately after play restarted, the referee blew for the end of the game. I Bumped into the West Brom supporter again in the car park. He had missed the late incident and asked me what happened. My comment was that it looked like a penalty to me but I was not as close as the referee, so who am I to say?

FT Ingles 0 Shawbury United 1. A difficult one for the home side to take. They clearly felt that the main decisions had gone against them, but from a neutral's perspective, I thought Shawbury just about edged the game overall. 
There are some huge league games coming up for both of these teams in the run-up to Christmas. Ingles have a County Cup home clash with Lutterworth on Wednesday but, after that they travel to bottom side Haughmond on Saturday followed by a trip to second-bottom Cradley Town the following weekend. Shawbury face a League Cup game at AFC Bridgnorth on Tuesday evening before a tricky looking home game with high-flying Bilston Town at the weekend. They then also travel to Haughmond for the first game of 2023.

I always hate leaving a blog in an unfinished so, if and when I get more names and details, I will add them.

Ingles(Squad): Allen, Bickerstaffe, Christie, Felstead, Fowkes, Grimshaw, Rawson(c), Smith, Tansley, Warren, Wesley. Subs: Brind, Corocoran, Tuck, Ward, Light

Ground Number: 338
Att: 40
Entrance: £5.00
Programme: £1.00