After seeing my girl's team come from a goal down to win 7-1 in the morning, I was in a buoyant mood as I set off for Hatherop, looking forward to the Cricklade Supreme Shield Final between Stratton United and Swindon AFC. Having very recently watched Hatherop play on their ground and only a day or so ago posting my preview of the Final, this match blog is going to follow a different format to my normal blogs where I try to give a little background to the game and provide some insights to the ground and location for any groundhoppers that may want to visit. IF you want to read the preview then click on this link: CSTP21 Shield Final Preview. If you want to know a little more about the Hatherop Playing Field then check out the match blog from an earlier round: Rop Spot On

The last time I was here there were dark skies and slightly chilly temperatures set in during the game. However, today there was none of that. Blue skies and soaring temperatures made for a very pleasant location for the spectators, not so comfortable for the players and officials who must have found it quite hard going at times.

​The Game
Stratton were on their game from the very first second of this match. Immediately setting about Swindon and seemingly unsettling the Maroons, who maybe didn't expect United to fly at them so early in the game.
Only 5 minutes into the game Joe Brett pulled down a loose ball in the centre circle, took a few strides and then, seeing the keeper out of position tried his luck from all of 45 yard. Although the strike was not as clean as he would have hoped, Will Miller was still trying to make his ground and was beaten by the pace and a wicked bounce. 0-1. What a start to the game!
​Paying no heed to the four division gap between the teams, Stratton continued to dominate possession and cause plenty of problems for Swindon. Sylvester Anaisie, leading the line, was keeping the Swindon central defenders fully occupied whilst Joe Brett, starting out on the left, was increasing dropping deeper and conducting play from midfield. The Stratton display put me very much in mind of the way Swindon played at Ludgershall in the Quarter-Final. Very much on the front foot and preventing their opponents from playing by keeping their own tempo high and splaying, as much as possible, in the opponent's half. As I remarked to the assistant referee during the drink break though, could Stratton stay the pace in this heat especially as Swindon seemed to respond very well to being behind or under pressure. Time would tell.

Just on the half hour came a period of 10 minutes that changed the whole course of the game. It started with a piece of individual magic from a set-piece that got Swindon back in it. Stratton conceded a free-kick just outside their box and to the right of the goal as the keeper viewed it. Nathan Smith lined it up, producing a superb effort, over the wall and into Michael Wright's top right hand corner. 1-1
Swindon were back in the game and had suddenly seemed to awake from their early slumbers. Five minutes after going level Swindon were awarded another free-kick in an almost identical position. Nathan Smith was once again behind the ball. Wright lined his defence up and, being aware of where the first effort went, maybe edged along to his right a little. Smith then dug out another peach, curling an effort into the opposite corner this time. 2-1. Two absolute bangers from Smith.
Almost immediately after the goal Stratton were on the attack, looking for a quick equaliser. Brett chased a long bouncing ball as the keeper came out to meet it. The two collided heavily inside the box, with Brett looking to have come off the worse. 

Anyone who may had a thought that this game was as good as over with Swindon in front were in for a surprise quite early into the second period. Only 6 minutes had passed when Brett managed to curl an effort past Miller and in off the far post to make it 2-2. Another very good finish, made to look even better a few minutes later when Stratton were forced to substitute the same player because he was still feeling groggy after the first half collision.

Losing both Anaisie and Brett, the two players I had picked out as potential game winners, certainly took some pace out of the Blues attack but it didn't stop them from being a threat. Jack Jeffries took over leading the forward line and was still capable of keeping the Swindon defence on their toes. 
​
The majority of the second half seemed to pass by very quickly, the sign of an entertaining match. Both sides were pressing for a winner but a combination of solid defending on behalf of both teams, and a a couple of wayward finishes, left both goals intact as we approached the final few minutes. The prospect of penalties loomed. A few of the Stratton supporters near to where I was standing commented that they had taken off four of their possible five penalty takers, but as it happened they need not have worried. Stratton's fantastic efforts were finally finished off in the 87th minute. Swindon won a free kick way out on the left and only just inside the Stratton half. Sam Carter went to swing a ball into the penalty area but didn't quite catch it right, sending the ball in low towards the front post. Tom Whitham was quickest to react to the ball, getting ahead of his marker and poking the ball past Wright. 3-2 with very little time left for Stratton to react. There were still a few minutes of added time to play but the Swindon goal remained relatively unthreatened, and the Maroons were crowned 2021 Trophy Winners.

​FT Swindon AFC 3 Stratton United 2. A very close contest just about edged by Swindon with the late goal. The way the fixtures have fallen has meant that I have seen Swindon play more than any other team in this competition and I have been impressed with them in every game. They were not at their best today in my opinion, but that was largely credit to Stratton who kept at them for the entire 90 minutes. 
A hard one for Stratton to take after putting up such a good fight all through the game. If this is what a team who were in the lower half of Division Four last season looks like then all I can say is the Stroud & District League must be one hell of a strong league.

Swindon AFC: Miller, Buckingham, J.Sawyer, Reece Cass(c), Carter, Good, Bradfield, R.Sawyer, C.Street, Whitham, Smith. Subs: B.Wells, C.Wells, Regan Cass, Fisher, A.Street

Stratton United: Wright, Keylock, Corhan, Musa, Lindsay, Brereton(c), Anaisie, Brett, Timbrell, Cook. Subs: Oliver, Clarke, Simmonds, Hemmings, Field

Ground: Revisit
Att: 85 (approx. manual count)
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A

It may be approaching the middle of June but there are still quite a few matches to found around the country. This Wednesday I had the choice of a very tempting Cup Final in Derbyshire or a Thames Valley Division 4 game with implications at the top of the league. Both games had some appeal but in the end it became apparent that there was no way I would get to Sherwood Colliery in time. Besides, who could resist a trip to a ground called The Cauldron? So, TVPL it was for Reading YMCA Rapids v Henley Town Development.
​
The Ground
Reading YMCA play their home games in Padworth, a village some 10 miles South-East of Reading. The ground is to the rear of the local  Village Hall and has the wonderful title of The Cauldron. The ground is easily accessible from being just off the A4 and M4. There is parking available at the ground (be aware, the parking spots are quite narrow) on either side of the Village Hall building. The pitch is behind the Village hall bordered on one side by trees and then the River Kennet, and on the other side by, quite uniquely, a caravan site. This alone should be a reason for any groundhopper to pay a visit. There cannot be many grounds out there that have a caravan park running down one side of the pitch. They are literally within touching distance of the dugouts. Wonderfully quirky.
Food and drink is available from a serving hatch at the back of the Village Hall and there is also a kids playground next to the Village Hall. The pitch, despite the grounds name suggesting a bowl of some sort, looked to be pretty flat and in good condition.

​The Background
Before the start of play Rapids sat in third spot and were one of three teams still in with a shot of the title, albeit in their case a very outside chance. In pole position were Reading City with 38 points and three games to play. Burghfield Reserves sat second with 26 points and three to play, although one of these games will be away at Rapids. Reading had a game in hand, tonight's match, and were on 30 points after their 16 matches. Effectively Reading needed to win all four remaining games and hope that Reading City didn't take more than three points from their remaining three, whilst they needed Burghfield to lose at least one of their other games.
The sides met at The Triangle just over a month ago with goals from Shane Guidera and Matthew Thatcher giving Rapids a 2-0 win. 

​The Game
Henley, kicking towards the Village Hall in their white shirts, certainly started the brighter of the two sides. However, the first talking point came at the other end of the ground in the 11th minute when Rapids had a loud penalty claim waved away by the referee who was in a decent position to see the incident. This at least served to wake the home side up a little but, in some ways, Rapids pushing into the Henley half a little more led to the opening goal for the visitors. When a home attack broke down inside the Henley half the Red Kites launched an incisive counter-attack. A superb cross field ball in between the centre-half and the full-back split the home defence and allowed their right wing-back (sorry I didn't have a team sheet) to get in behind them. Reading's Kyle Longmate reacted to the threat but his attempted tackle was just slightly too late bringing the Henley player down just inside the box. Penalty.
Fred Kirby stepped up and converted the spot-kick to give the away side the lead. 0-1
The lead, however, only lasted for 6 minutes. Reading won a corner on their right side and, when the ball was played into the box, James Coker rose highest to power a header into the net. 1-1

​Given the league positions, I expected the equaliser to signal the start of a Reading onslaught. However, it disn't transpire. In fact it was Henely who came closest to another goal when Number 9 was put through. His shot beat Froude but struck the keeper's right-hand post and bounced clear.

HT Reading YMCA Rapids 1 Henley Town Development 1. Henely looked dangerous when attacking down their left, which is how they got their goal. Reading looked as if they didn't get out of first gear. Although I had seen them play before, I had the feeling they had far more to offer than they have shown in the first half.
​

​Henley were again quicker out of the blocks in the second half, but for a much shorter time than the first period. The home side had clearly been asked to step it up a gear at half-time and were now starting to get the ball down and play more. Their attacking threat was aided by the introduction of Jhamal Robinson and Jason Bye. Robinson, in particular, showing plenty of pace and trickery and giving the Henley defence a lot more to think about.
Henley, however, were not without some threat of their own. Just past the hour mark Kirby saw a lovely effort just clip the top of Thatcher's bar before going to safety.
Three minutes after that minor scare though, the home side took the lead for the first time in the game and it was substitute Robinson who made the difference, latching onto a loose ball just inside the Henley penalty area guiding a low effort through a mass of bodies into the bottom corner of the net. 2-1
That goal seemed to finally release the shackles from the home side and they were almost immediately on the hunt for more goals. It didn't take too long. On 69 minutes another home substitute, Jason Bye, was on hand in the six yard box to turn in a low cross from the right and make it 3-1

​Six minutes ater that Rapids conjured up the gaol of the game and it was the goalscoring substitutes who combined to produce it. Robinson, out on the left, beat his man and swung over a perfect cross, behind the defensive line but just too far out for the keeper to easily claim it. Bye was alert enough to get in behind his defender, just getting a toe to the ball before the keeper coudl react, stabbing the ball into the net. 4-1
Unfortunately, both Bye and the Henley keeper picked up knocks in the goal incident and both had to be replaced, with the Henley Captain taking over between the sticks.

FT Reading YMCA Rapids 4 Henley Town Development 1. It took over an hour and a few substitutes but Reading finally stamped their authority on the game and eventually won the game reasonably comfortably. 
The result leaves YMCA in third spot, three pinits behind Burghfield and five adrift of Reading, but with Burghfield appearing to already know they have three points on Saturday (Full-Time has them down as a walkover against Farnham Royal Mavericks), it would seem that the title will go to one of these two. Of course YMCA's game against Burghfield at the Couldron on the 19th could still end up being the title decider, depending on results this coming Saturday.

If you haven't visited The Cauldron I suggest you put it on your list for next season or maybe even get there for the Burghfield game, which could be massive.


Reading YMCA Rapids: Thatcher, J.Coker(c), Sinclair, Churcher, Grundey, Miles, Longmate, Cousins, Johnson, G.Coker, Froude. Subs: Russell, Lemm, Bye, Robinson, Naisbitt
Henley Town Development: 


Ground Number: 270
Att: N/A
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A

This was something of a last minute decision to make the trip down to Gloucestershire. However, after a morning of open water swimming with my daughter was cut a little short because the water was so called, I realised that I still just about had time to make it to Wickwar for the Cricklade Cup Semi-Final with Malmesbury Vics Development. As luck would have it, I already knew that the only Ref in Swindon (I know, he's not), Andrew Lincoln, was running the line today. So, a quick DM to let him know I was on my way meant that I could get the team sheets DM'd straight to my Twitter account. Knowing an official is an absolute godsend when watching games at grassroots level where it is so difficult to get hold of team sheets a lot of the time.

The Ground
Wickwar Wanderers play their home games at the Wickwar Playing Fields just to the West of the village. The ground is accessed via a single track road which has very limited passing places. There is a small car park at the ground itself but for bigger games, such as today's match, I guess may will have to do as I did and park in the village, which is a good 5-10 minute walk away. This accounted for me missing the kick-off by a couple of minutes.
There is a small building housing the changing facilities and toilets a kids playground and a very interesting looking small, squat tower behind the far goal. I also noticed on the way out that there is a traditional beacon hidden amongst the trees behind the village end goal. The pitch has a slight slope back towards the village end but is otherwise reasonably flat. All in all, a very pleasant location to watch football especially on a warm Summer's day.

​The Background
This Semi-Final pitched together the lowest ranked and highest ranked clubs left in the competition. Wickwar, who play in the Stroud League Division One were in tenth spot at the close of play last season. The other Semi-Final will see Step 8 Hatherop take on Chesterton, who play in the same Division as Wickwar but were sitting pretty on top of the league when the season was prematurely ended. Opponents, Malmesbury Victoria Development, play in the Wiltshire Senior League and are the only Step 7 team left in the draw. It's a tough test for the home team, up against a side from 3 leagues higher but after beating Cricklade Town's Reserve side, also of the Wiltshire Senior League, 4-1 in the last round, they'll certainly be up for the challenge. To give some context to this result in regards to today's semi-final, Malmesbury drew 2-2 with Cricklade Town Reserves in the group stage. 

The Game
As I said, I got to the match a few minutes after kick-off but luckily I was already in position on the far side of the ground when we were treated to a couple of minutes of mayhem at both ends of the pitch
On 11 minutes Wickwar were awarded what looked like quite a soft penalty from my position towards  opposite end of the ground. However, a visiting referee, who had a much better view, confirmed at half-time that it was indeed a foul and a good decision from the referee. Rob Haines fired home the spot-kick to give Wanderers the lead. 1-0
They say teams are at their most vulnerable when they have just scored, and this appeared to be the case when, within a minute of the goal going in, home keeper and captain, Lee Bindon, slightly mis-timed his dive at the feet of a Vics striker, bringing the player down and giving the referee no option than to point to the spot again. Kyle Witt took the ball but Bindon made up for his error, diving low to his right to save the kick.
​
HT Wickwar Wanderers 1 Malmesbury Victoria Development 1. A fascinating game of football. Wanderers took the lead and then seemingly were happy to concede possession and play on the break. Malmesbury had what seemed like at least 80% of the ball but only managed to get one goal. Wickwar, despite playing the majority of the game in their own half, did look dangerous on the odd occasion they managed to get forward.

A quick wander around the pitch to grab the promised bottle of water from Andrew (team sheets and refreshments. This is the life) after leaving my own in the car when rushing to make kick-off, and it was time to get the second half under way.
​In terms of possession stats, the second half was nowhere near as one-sided. Maybe the heat had started to take its toll on the Vics players after bossing the first half? Maybe the the Wanderers players, after holding their opponents in the first 45 minutes, sensed a cup shock on the cards and found that little bit extra? Whatever the case, it is testament to Wickwar that the three division gap between the sides was not at all evident.

Just past the hour mark Bindon again got down very sharply to parry a goal bound effort. Tranter was quick to latch on to the rebound, sliding the ball into the net only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
​​There was a tension in the air as we approached the dying embers of the game. Both sets of players knew that one mistake would probably end their cup run. This, almost inevitably, boiled over on the pitch at one point. I didn't get a clear view of what started the confrontation, but a couple of players got involved on the far side from where I was standing. This was pretty close to the small but very partisan and vociferous local support, which maybe also had a bearing on what happened. The referee, aided by some hands-on local captaincy from Bindon, who physically removed Haines from the melee, calmed matters down quite quickly.

Malmesbury continued to try to press forward, urged on by defender Josh Curtis who, it has to be said, seemed to be everywhere on the pitch for the last 10 minutes. The Wickwar front-line, even with a few changes in the second half, continued to cause problems for Vics with their non-stop running into channels. However, despite their efforts, neither side could break the deadlock inside the 90 minutes and we headed straight into a penalty shootout situation.




FT Wickwar Wanderers 1 Malmesbury Victoria Development 1. A wonderful game from a neutral's perspective. Two teams fully committed to the game who both gave everything they had despite the very warm conditions. There really was nothing to separate them, especially in the second half. It was actually a shame that anyone had to lose this game.

The Shootout
Penalties, whilst a great spectacle for the crowd (especially neutrals), are a nerve jangling way to decide a football match. You have to admire any player that volunteers to be one of the penalty takers in these situations.

It was Malmesbury who took the first kick, Aaron Sanghera making no mistake. 0-1
Rory Morgan then scored his kick for Wickwar. 1-1
Interesting that he first two penalties were taken by substitutes.
Joe Tranter made it 1-2 for Malmesbury before Haines repeated his first half kick to equalise. 2-2
Malmesbury's Josh Curtis made it 2-3 and Ellis Cox made it six from six. 3-3
Joseph Ogugua, ignoring the stick he was getting from the locals, made it 4-3
Tommy Gilder kept his nerve to make it 4-4
Next up for Malmesbury, Kyle Witt who had missed the first half spot-kick for them. No mistake this time though. 5-4
Another Wickwar substitute, Tom Cranwell, took the next kick but, unfortunately for him and the home team, put it over the bar. Such a hard way to end a game.

Malmesbury go through 5-4 on penalties and will face either Chesterton or Hatherop in the Final.

Wickwar Wanderers: Bindon, Sands, Abbott, Lingham, Leahy, Dix, Gilder, Cox, Haines, Simmons, Aston. Subs: Morgan, Drew, Beale, Cranwell, Howe
Malmesbury Victoria Development: Brown, Witt, Cook(c), Fortune, Lyon, Curtis, Ogugua, Cole, Tranter, H.Archer, J.Archer. Subs: Scull, Laidlaw, Sanghera, Porter


Ground Number: 269
Att: N/A
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A

​After watching the first Cricklade Shield Semi-Final last Saturday, I was keen to get to this re-arranged second semi-final to see who, out of Stratton United and Kingswood Reserves, would be facing Swindon AFC in the final.

The Ground
The game was not plated on Stratton's normal home pitch. Instead it was switched to nearby Deer Park School on the Western perimeter of Cirencester. There's not too much to say about the ground apart from the pitch was flat and looked to be in good condition. There was also a hole in the net of the goal at the end furthest from the carpark. More of this later.

The Background
Both of these sides ply their trade in the Stroud & District League, Stratton in Division 4 and Kingswood Reserves in Division 7. At the early close of play last season, Stratton were 11th of 13 teams having won two of their eight games, scoring 9 and conceding 25. Kingswood Reserves were propping up Division 7 but had only played 5 games in total, winning one, drawing two and losing two. They too had scored 9 goals but had conceded 22.
The sides have already met in this competition, having been drawn together in Group C. Stratton came out on top that day, winning 3-1 at Kingswood with goals from Brett, Aniasie and Tysom.

The Game
The first meaningful piece of action in the game almost saw the away side take an early lead. They hit Stratton with a quick break down the right side and when the low hard cross was driven in it presented Ibrahim Musa with a real problem. Running back towards his own goal but knowing that a Kingswood player was coming in behind him, he had to try to get to the ball. He managed to get a toe on it but only succeeded in diverting the ball, at pace, back towards his own goal. Luckily for Musa goalkeeper Mike Wright was alert and managed to turn the ball against the bar before gratefully grabbing the rebound. Something of a scare for the home side.
Four minutes later, however, Stratton were in front. A free-kick from the right-flank was played deep towards the back post where Sylvester Anaisie did well to keep it alive, turning the ball back across the goal for Joe Brett to volley home from close range. 1-0.

​Stratton were hungry for more and only two superb saves from Tyler Hopkins, getting down low to an initial effort and then reacting brilliantly to turn the rebound out for a corner, kept the score at 1-0. His heroics, however, were only a temporary reprieve for Kingswood. Two minutes later, following a right-wing corner, Jack Jeffries rose highest to power home a header for 2-0.
Kingswood responded well to going two down in such a short space and were unlucky not to get one back in the 19th minute when they saw an effort come back off the post. This, however, was as close as they were to come in the first half. Not long after that, in the 21st minute, we had what, at first, seemed to be a moment of some controversy. Sylvester Anaisie was put through on goal, running diagonally left to right. He hit a low shot past Hopkins towards the far corner of the net which, from mine and the Kingswood benches perspective, looked to have gone narrowly wide. However, Anaisie immediately wheeled away to celebrate the goal and referee Andrew Lincoln (another name check. Those royalties are growing), signalled that the ball had indeed passed through the hole in the side of the net (see introduction). At half-time he confirmed that the net rippled and that a Kingswood player had confirmed that it did go in. The joys of grassroots football!. 3-0.
Five minutes later and Kingswood pushed the self-destruct button, conceding a penalty with a rash challenge in the box. No complaints from the defenders as Andrew Lincoln pointed to the spot. Brett took the ball and calmly slotted home his second of the evening. 4-0

There was no more scoring in the remainder of the first half. Stratton kept pushing forward, Kingswood defended well but didn't really pose any threat to the home side on the break. 

HT Stratton United 4 Kingswood Reserves 0. A solid first half from the home team who, in all fairness, bossed the game. The combination of Brett and Anaisie for Stratton was too much for the visitors to deal with.

​When the game resumed Stratton were straight back on the offensive, Aniasie hitting the post within the first two minutes after springing the offside trap. However, the home side failed to add to their tally and, as we hit the hour mark, it was actually Kingswood who almost got the first goal of the second period. Ryan Gorman-Williams was put through down the left flank with a clear run towards goal. Wright came out of goal to narrow the angle and the Kingswood striker slid his shot narrowly wide of the post. Five minutes later Stratton made the away side pay for their missed chance when Anaisie burst through their defence before smashing the ball past Hopkins. 5-0
There was another lull in the scoring and it was a further 15 minutes before we saw the sixth goal. Joe Brett putting the icing on his personal performance, launching himself at a delightful cross and heading past Hopkins for his hat-trick. 6-0.

The game was starting to get a little niggly now. Kingswood knew they were well and truly beaten and were getting wound up by a bit of Stratton showboating. To be fair to the home side, their captain audibly issued instructions for them to see the game out with no messing around.
With four minutes remaining one of Stratton's substitutes, Jay Griffiths, was played in behind the defence by a lovely little reverse pass. He calmly finished the move to make it 7-0. Three minutes later the same player got another opportunity inside the Kingswood box. This time, as he managed to get a toe to the ball, he was tripped, and although the ball found its way into the net, the referee had already blown for the offence. Griffiths was handed the ball and he duly obliged from 12 yards. 8-0

FT Stratton united 8 Kingswood Reserves 0. Stratton just had too much for Kingswood on the night. The visitors never gave up trying but, in all honesty, were beaten by a much better team who played to their strengths. The power, pace and skill of Brett and Aniasie was just too much.
Stratton will now play Swindon AFC in what promises to be a good Final game.


Stratton United: Wright, Lindsay, Musa, Coker?, Cook, Brereton(c), Jeffries, Vallance, Brett, Anaisie, Timbrell. Subs: Woods, Keylock, Clarke, Oliver, Simmonds, Griffiths

Kingswood Reserves: Hopkins, Piper, Newnes, Gorman, Pierre, L.Hewer, Gorman-Williams, Toop, K.Walker, Dean, Johnson. Subs: Bezar, Bishop, Ford, R.Walker, B. Hewer

Ground Number: 268
Att: N/A
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A

​No game for my girl's team this weekend but plenty of tidying up in the garden to sort out before I could jump in the car and head back down the A420 to Swindon. My destination this Saturday was the Cricklade Shield Semi-Final between Swindon AFC and Jovial Monk FC. Having seen these teams in the group stage and in the knockouts, and been impressed by both, I was very much looking forward to this game.

The Ground
The Maroons play at St Joseph's College on Ocatal Way. I'd driven along this road numerous times before, normally on shopping trips to the Outlet Centre with my family, and never really taken any notice of the name. It was only today that I saw the twinning sign on the way into Swindon and realised that Ocatal is actually a town in Nicaragua. See. Following grassroots football can be educational as well as fun. The ground itself is fairly unremarkable, being part of the college sports grounds. It was, however, flat and looked to be a decent playing surface. The first thing I noticed when standing on the Ocatal Way side of the pitch were the four floodlights of The County Ground looming above the college buildings. It really is not much further than a long goal kick from the grounds. Seeing the County ground always reminds me of my days following West Brom home and away. One Saturday we experienced blazing sun, rain and then hail in the space of one game. Not much fun in an away end with no roof and with the majority of the Albion following in T-shirts. I have a feeling we lost the game too.

​The Background
The sides had not met before today, but they had both come up against Nalgo Sports in earlier rounds of this competition, which maybe could give some indication of how the game would go? I had also had the pleasure of seeing both sides in action on a number of occasions in the last couple of months. This is how the two teams had got to today's Semi-Final (along with links to my blogs if they were games I attended):
​

Swindon AFC
Group F
Nalgo Sports 5-4 Swindon AFC (Only Ref In Swindon?)
Purton 3-1 Swindon AFC
Redhouse 3-1 Swindon AFC (Swindon Resistance Torpedoed By Subs)
Swindon finished bottom of a very tough group but had shown that they were more than capable of competing with teams from two divisions above, something they would prove beyond doubt in the Quarter-Final.
Last 16 - Swindon Centurions H-W Swindon AFC
Quarter-Final - Ludgershall Sports 0-4 Swindon AFC (Marooned)

Jovial Monk
Group E
Jovial Monk 10-0 Swindon Centurions (walkover score awarded)
Hatherop 2-2 Jovial Monk
Chesterton 5-1 Jovial Monk (Smith Makes Jovial Monk Frown)
The results meant that Jovial Monk finished third in the group, missing out on Cup qualification on goal difference to Hatherop.
Knockout
Last 16 - Jovial Monk 1-1 Nalgo Sports (3-2 pens)
Quarter-Final - Siddington 1-5 Jovial Monk (Monks Get Winning Habit)

I arrived at the ground and saw a message from Shaun Smith, Jovial Monk's player-coach, sating that they had had a nightmare with the kit. They had been informed that Swindon played in yellow, which is also Jovial's home kit colour, and had had a lot of difficult sourcing a change kit. They had eventually managed to cobble together a set of white shirts and various shorts. However, they did not have numbers on all of the shirts, so the team sheet had a number of ways to identify players, shirt numbers and short numbers. Proper grassroots stuff. I love it. Thanks to Shaun for sending me a handwritten explanation of their team sheet. Thanks also to Swindon for DMing their team sheet to me. The is very much appreciated.

​The Game
Both of these sides had come through the tournament wearing underdogs rosettes, seemingly relishing the opportunity to cause an upset. So, it was interesting in this game to see how Swindon would cope going into a match as the probable favourites (although I have to say, I would not have liked to put a wager on who would come out on top of this game). The answer to the question was immediate. Swindon clearly had a plan to take control of the game as early as they could, and they did. With only two minutes played they won a penalty. Tom Whitham stepped up but his spot-kick was well saved by Jesse Seward-Nice in the Monk goal. An early warning for Jovial Monk but Swindon were not down-heartened by the miss and continued to look the stronger side. Jovi were not able to get a foothold on the game with Swindon doing exactly what they had done to Ludgershall last week, stifling their opposition, stopping them for playing and then mounting attacks of their own.

Jovial Monk, though, are made of stern stuff and, although they were not playing as well as they did against Siddington (mainly because Swindon are a very well organised side), they kept digging in and gradually started to get a toehold on the game. Then on the half-hour mark, Jovi sprang the first of two surprises for the home side. The ball found its way to Mike Sutton some 25 yards out and unleashed a stinging volley, beating Miller in the home goal. 0-1. A great strike. Before Swindon could recover from this they were hit again, this time after a bit of a scramble in the box, a Monk striker was pulled down to Miller and the referee, after initially trying to allow advantage, pointed to the spot. Liam Kearns took the spot-kick, making no mistake. 0-2

​Maybe this was the spur that Swindon needed? Maybe they once again felt like the underdogs? Whatever the case, they knew that they needed to hit back before the break if they were to make anything of this game and this they duly did on 40 minutes, Tom Whitham's snapshot taking a deflection to take it past Seward-Nice into the net. 1-2.
Swindon were now on the prowl, looking to get back on level terms and Seward-Nice had to be on his toes in the final minute to tip a goal bound header over the bar.

HT Swindon AFC 1 Jovial Monk 2. Swindon edged it on possession and were really in control for the first 20 minutes or so. Then Jovial Monk hit them with two quick goals, but the late goal back for the Maroons gave them something to go at in the second half.

​Within 6 minutes of the restart The Maroons were back on level terms. Sam Carter played in a dangerous left-footed free-kick from way out on the right, curling in towards the goal. The ball evaded everyone and drifted in at the far post. 2-2. We really did have a game on our hands now and despite the rising temperatures, players on both sides were giving it all they had to win the game. In their previous game, Jovial Monk's pace on the break through Luke Richards and Jono Peachey-Score had ripped Siddington apart but today, with Richards missing and Swindon a lot pacier and better organised at the back, JM were finding it more difficult to break down their opponents. Not for the want of trying though.
​

​Sixty-Five minutes into the match Swindon finally got their noses in front for the first time, Tom Whitham rising highest to nod home a right-wing corner. 3-2 and things were starting to look ominous for the Sunday league team. Their task was made even harder a few minutes later when Maher Ali was sin-binned for kicking the ball away. He was clearly frustrated with his own player rather than the referee but, as he had already been spoken to for disputing another decision just a few minutes earlier, the referee decided to pull out the yellow card and give him 10 minutes to cool off. A somewhat harsh decision in my opinion. Even from the opposite side of the pitch it was clear that his frustration was aimed at his own player and not the official.
The away side still managed to hang on, even with 10 men and, to their credit, even made attacking substitutions at this point. They were clearly not going to go down without a fight. However, their cup run was finally extinguished in the 81st minute when Tom Whitham latched onto a loose ball and rammed his third and Swindon's fourth into the net. 4-2

FT Swindon AFC 4 Jovial Monk 2. Two penalties, six goals, a hat-trick and a sin-binning. Once more, as they have done throughout the tournament, these two sides produced a thoroughly entertaining game of football, played in good spirit for the entire 90 minutes.
Swindon will now take on the winner of next Wednesday's other Semi-Final between Stratton United and Kingswood Reserves, which will hopefully be the BotP game of the week. Jovial Monk will take heart from the fact that they already have a Cup Final line dup next Sunday when they take on Division One side Marios FC at Pewsey Vale in the Swindon Sunday League Chairman's Cup Final. Ko 10:30 if you fancy going along. I am sure all support would be greatly appreciated.

Swindon AFC: Miller, Buckingham, J.Sawyer, R.Cass(c), Carter, Good, Bradfield, R.Sawyer, Street, Whitham, Smith. Subs: Fisher, R.Cass, Wells
Jovial Monk: Seward-Nice, Dent, Pres, Heawood, Collett, Redford, Ali, Lennard, Sutton, Peachey-Score, Kearns

Ground Number: 267
Att: N/A
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A

It felt a little bit weird not to be heading for Wembley on Non-League Finals Day but having made a decision, earlier in the week, to leave the limited tickets to those with a connection to the clubs involved. So, I turned my attention back to the Cricklade Supreme Trophy & Shield, a competition that I have become increasingly fond of the longer it has gone on. With a number of Quarter-Finals taking place in both Cup and Shield competition there was plenty to choose from. I chose a Shield game between Wiltshire Premier League Ludgershall Sports and, from two divisions lower, Swindon and District Division One outfit Swindon AFC.

​The Ground
This was my first visit to Ludgershall but, having previously visited both Andover clubs, Kintbury and Amesbury, I was quite familiar with most of the route down the A34 and through the Wessex Downs. Sports play at the Ludgershall Sports Ground just on the Western side of the village and South of the 11th Century Ludgershall Castle. There is parking available at the ground, alongside the pitch, adjacent to the reasonable sized clubhouse and changing facilities. The pitch is edged on three sides by a fairly new white tubular fence (erected in 2019 if the label on the piece I was standing next to is anything to go by). There are also two very new looking dugouts on the opposite from the clubhouse. The pitch looked to be reasonably flat but, on this day at least, in desperate need of a trim which seemed to be making the ball run inconsistently, something the home side would fall foul of later in the game.

​The Background
As stated before, there are two league divisions between these sides. Sports play at Step 7 whilst Swindon are currently at Step 9 in the pyramid. However, that does not tell the entire story. At the close of play last season Swindon were sitting seven points clear at the top of Division 1 of the Swindon & District League, unbeaten in 10 after winning 9. Ludgershall, in contrast, were probably glad to see the back of the season, stranded at the bottom of the league with 1 win in 12 and having conceded 62 goals in those games.
In the Cricklade cup group games, Ludgershall had lost 2-0 at Swindon before conceding their other two group matches, leaving them bottom of the table. However, in the last 16 they progressed by beating Quedgeley Wanderers Reserves 4-3 in what was reportedly a very entertaining encounter. Swindon also finished bottom of their group but had shown some very promising performances, almost producing a stunning comeback at Nalgo (Only Ref In Swindon?) and then holding Redhouse for 80 minutes before finally going down to two late goals (Swindon Resistance Torpedoed By Late Subs). In the knockout phase they were awarded a bye in the last 16 after Swindon Centurions pulled out very late on in the day.

​The Game
Swindon made a very strong start to the game, penning Ludgershall in their own half for the first couple of minutes. Their attacking intent seemed to take the home side by surprise and it took them a while to get their composure. However, they weathered the initial maroon storm and began to play themselves into the game. At this point I thought Swindon may have gone out of the blocks too quickly and would get picked off by the higher placed team. In fact it was Ludgershall who had the first really good chance of the game when their Number 9 (sorry I didn't have a team sheet) latched onto a loose ball and fired narrowly wide from an acute angle.

Ludgershall's brief period of dominance was just that, brief. Swindon soon recovered their composure and began to look the better team again, without unduly worrying the Sports goalkeeper. What they were being very successful at was completely stifling any moves that Ludgershall tried to start. I have no insight into the Swindon game plan but if it was to hold prevent Ludgershall from playing by keeping the ball in the opponents half, it was going exactly to plan.
As we approached the end of the first half the away side launched a very quick break down their right flank setting the speedy Callum Street free. He took his shot quite early, maybe seeing the keeper a little off his line, but his effort sailed just over the bar.

HT Ludgershall Sports 0 Swindon AFC 0. Aside from a short period early in the first half, Swindon were in control of the game, shutting Sports down early and not letting them settle into any kind of rhythm. The difference in league standings was certainly not evident in the first 45 minutes.

​Within 30 seconds of the restart the pitch conditions came to haunt the home side. With no danger on at all Number 2 attempted to roll the ball back to his keeper from the right-back position. However a bobble took it over the keeper's foot and everyone looked on as it dribbled over the line. 0-1. A very unfortunate own-goal.

The goal seems to unsettle Ludgershall even more and at the same time, gave Swindon an extra boost. Although the home side tried to get themselves back into the tie, they increasingly were misplacing passes a and leaving their front players looking isolated as the ball just kept being returned by the resolute Swindon midfield and back line.
Despite that, we approached the hour mark still at 0-1. Swindon looking more likely to extend their lead than Ludgershall getting back into the game.

Sports  were being forced to push more players forward in search of the equaliser and this played into the hands of Swindon. On 65 minutes Tom Whitham rose highest to get a superb flick to a ball downfield. His header was directed perfectly into the path of Sam Bradfield who took a touch, steadied himself and shaped a lovely finish around the keeper. 0-2
With Ludgershall now throwing caution to the wind in terms of positioning, but still not really making too many impressions on the Swindon goal, they were leaving themselves more and more exposed at the back. With 18 minutes remaining, Swindon broke down the right flank, Whitham again latched onto the before playing an in perfect pass into the path of Callum Street who unleashed a fantastic volley past the keeper for 0-3. Six minutes later Street returned the favour, breaking clear on the right before sliding a pass across the box to the unmarked Tom Whitham for a tap-in. 0-4.
Ludgershall were now well and truly demoralised but managed to keep Swindon at bay for the remainder of the game, which unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your view) prevented me from using the blog title Maroon 5.

FT Ludgershall Sports 0 Swindon AFC 4. Not just a cupset but a complete destruction from a team two divisions below their opponents. Nothing at all against Ludgershall. I am sure that they will regroup and come back stronger but, on the day, they were outplayed and out-battled by a Swindon team which grew in confidence throughout the game.
Swindon now go on to face Jovial Monk in the Semi-Final after Monk saw off Siddington in their Quarter-Final (Monks Get Winning Habit). This promises to be an intriguing game between two sides who have seen off higher-ranked opposition already.

Swindon AFC: Miller, Buckingham, Carter, Cass, J.Sawyer, R.Sawyer, Good, Smith, Street, Bradfield, Whitham. Suns: Wells, Hillier


Ground Number: 266
Att: N/A
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A

Once again this week I had swapped my usual Tuesday night for a Wednesday night game. This gave me the opportunity to visit a new ground and take in a competition that I had not sampled before. The ground in question was New College, home of Allexton & New Parks FC and the competition was the Everard's Tiger Bitter Leicestershire Senior League Cup and Allexton's Semi-Final against Earl Shilton Albion.

The Ground
Allexton & New Parks play at New College, just to the West of Leicester city centre. They moved into the new facility, which boats the floodlit senior pitch, a full-size 3G training pitch, a number of other grass pitches for junior football and a large clubhouse, in 2007. There are numerous car parks around New College but please, if visiting, take time to visit the club's website and ensure you park in the correct spot.
New College is a multi-sport venue with football appearing to be the predominant feature. However, I think this is the first football location I have visited that has a cycle track next to it, complete with a peloton whizzing around this evening too. 
The main football pitch is accessed through a turnstile just behind the clubhouse. The pitch itself looked flat and in good condition. There are dugouts on the far side, the city centre side and a small covered standing area just to the side of the goal on the Glenfield Road end. The closest side of the pitch, where the spectators tend to congregate, is backed by the fence surrounding the 3G pitch. All in all, a very good set-up which looks to be capable of hosting football at a higher level than Step 7 with a few adjustments.

​The Background
Despite having visited a number of teams in the Leicester area and having attended the Leicestershire & Rutland Senior Cup Final a couple of years back (Lucky Heather?), I must admit to not knowing a lot about the Leicestershire Senior League, and even less about the League Cup competition. Clearly a little research was needed (so please excuse, and send corrections, if any of these stat are wrong).
When the last league season came to a premature close both of these sides sat fifth in their respective divisions, Allexton in the Premier and Earl Shilton in Division 1. Allexton won the Premier League, which has been in existence since 1896 (exactly 100 years longer than Allexton & New Parks), back in the 2013/14 season, their only Premier League title in their 25 year history. Albion, as far as I can see, have not won the Premier League title. They have, however, won the League Cup, back in the 1982/83 season and finished runners-up in 2014/15.
The other Semi-Final took place on Tuesday evening and was also a Premier v Division 1 clash, with the top flight side, Ashby Ivanhoe Knights, edging out Highfield Rangers by a 1-0 score line.
One non-football related titbit. Back in my youth, when I played in a band, I'm pretty certain we once played a gig in Earl Shilton, possibly the Red Lion?

​The Game
It was the away side who started the game on the front foot, aided by very sluggish opening from Allexton. As early as the 7th minute, Albion came very close to taking the lead when Jack Stafford played in Jordan Creed who saw his shot narrowly fly past the post. Seven minutes later they did take the lead in somewhat fortuitous circumstances. Home keeper Davis Glover came out of his box to clear a loose ball that had dropped in behind his defence. Unfortunately for the stopper, he completely missed his kick allowing Ben Waters to slide the ball into the unguarded net. 0-1
In some ways this was what the home aside needed. They immediately woke up and within a minute or two came close to an equaliser, forcing Chris Smith in the Albion goal to make a good one-handed save to push the ball away. The momentum had now swung as Allexton continued to push forward in search of a goal. It came in the 21st minute after an attack on the right, a couple of efforts were blocked but Jack McHugh fired home from the centre of the box. 1-1.
The early mistake now forgotten Allexton set about Albion, looking to get their noses in front. It took them a further ten minutes of probing but, on 31 minutes following a break down the right, the ball was swung across towards the far post where, amid vociferous offside claims from Albion, Adam Joynson was on hand to apply the finishing touch. 2-1
What happened next caught Albion and myself by surprise. Within a minute of getting in front Allexton extended their lead, so quickly that I was still tweeting the second goal when the third hit the net. 3-1. Shay Brennan was the scorer this time as the home side threatened to run rampant. 
They weren't finished there either. On 41 minutes, Lewis Hurst treated us to a stunning goal, cutting in from the left and arrowing a drive across Smith into what the pundits call the postage stamp. 4-1. It looked to be game over but Earl Shilton had not read the script. They hit back almost immediately, once again while I was still tweeting the previous goal. I looked up to see the ball hit the net, Jake Stafford (I hope) was the scorer. 4-2. I have since discovered that this was an own goal. That'll teach me to look at my phone at the wrong time.

HT Allexton & New Parks 4 Earl Shilton Albion 2. The home side started slowly, allowing Albion too much of the ball and then gifting them the lead. However, after the equaliser, Allexton took charge of the game. The late goal back from Albion may just have given the away side a glimmer of hope.

​Clearly wanting to put the game to bed as soon as possible, Allexton start strongly in the second half. A few minutes in Brennan cut in from the right and hit a dipping left foot shot which Smith did well to get a fingertip to, diverting it onto the bar and over for what should have been a corner but was given as goal-kick.
Albion, however, must have been heartened by their late goal back and, nine minutes into the second half they made it very interesting when they were awarded a free-kick, fairly centrally and just outside the box. Waters lined it up and absolutely hammered the ball into the far corner. Superb strike. 4-3.
It looked as if the away side had got themselves right back in the game but they made life more difficult for themselves when, just before the hour, they were temporarily down to ten men as Underwood got himself sin-binned for contesting a refereeing decision too strongly. They hung in there though and were back up to a full complement before Allexton took advantage of the extra numbers. However, no sooner had they got back to eleven on the pitch, they proceeded to a tempt to shoot themselves in the foot again, this time Beasley seeing a yellow and getting a 10 minute rest.
The lack of numbers didn't seem to phase Albion though, and four minutes into the sin-bin, they were awarded a penalty after Glover bundled over Stafford in the box. Waters stepped up and made no mistake in getting his hat-trick. 4-4. What a game this was turning into for the neutral(s) in the crowd.

Then, just as we were getting ready for a penalty shootout, the home side produced a little bit of late magic. Shay Brennan played a very clever backheel to put Rhys Lelachur in on gaol. He made no mistake with a  cool finish. 5-4.

FT Allexton & New Parks 5 Earl Shilton Albion 4. This one just about went to form in the end but Earl Shilton certainly made their Premier League hosts work for their place in the final. From a neutral standpoint this was a thoroughly entertaining game. I may not have known much about the Leicestershire Senior League before the game, but I'll definitely be checking out more games next season. Finally, a big thank you to the Allexton & New Parks Twitter admin who very kindly got me a parking spot and supplied photos of the team sheets.

Final
Allexton & New Parks v Ashby Ivanhoe Knights. 31st May, 16:00ko at Loughborough Dynamo
I think I am right in saying that there will be a new name on the trophy whoever wins.

Allexton & New Parks: Glover, Swain, Marsh-Brown, Parry, Johnson, Pallett, Lelachur, Hurst, Brennan, McHugh, Joynson(c). subs: Allen, Jones, Haines, Smith, Warren

Earl Shilton Albion: Smith, Robinson, Waters, Underwood, Bates(c), Beasley, Creed, Mangham, Stafford, O'Grady, Pratt. Subs: Brown, Clarke, Hughes, Olner, Sandham

Ground Number: 265
Att: 
Entrance: £5
Programme: N/A

​After my girls team suffered defeat in their Cup Semi-Final in the morning, an hour's drive was what I needed to get my thoughts in order for next week's training session. Whilst it is all about development at their age, losing a semi-final is a tough one to take at any age. Onwards and upwards. Time to start getting them ready for the offside rule next season. That could be fun.
So, after a quick change I headed off to leafy West Berkshire for the Cricklade Shield Quarter-Final between Siddington and Jovial Monk.

The Ground
Although Siddington were drawn as the home side they had agreed to play the game as an away game, so it was switched to Lambourn Sports' ground where Jovial Monk play their games. Lambourn, of course, is famous for being a centre for horse-racing, a fact that is not lost on anyone travelling from Oxford when you pass gallops (I believe part of trainer Nicky Henderson's land) and a signpost reading The Valley of Horseracing, as you approach the village. The Sports Club is on the South East edge of the village. There is parking available at the ground and on Bockhampton Road. There is a fairly large clubhouse building (closed at the moment) which incorporates the players and officials facilities. On the same side of the ground, towards the village end, there is a small covered seating area. The ret of the ground is open and slopes a little from the village end.

​The Background
Siddington, who won the Cirencester league by a point in 2007, were placed in Group B along with Minety, Tredworth and Quedgeley Wanderers Reserves. They went down 8-1 to a strong Minety side and conceded their other two games, putting them in last place and therefore into the Shield competition. In the last 16 The Blues came out on top of a seven goal thriller at Seend United, earning them a Quarter-Final place.
Jovial Monk, who I saw put up a good display against a very useful Chesterton outfit, finished third in their group. by means of a superb 2-2 draw at Hatherop and a walkover against Swindon Centurions. They were only kept out of qualification for h Cup competition by goal difference because Hatherop lost 2-0 to Chesterton whereas Monk were beaten 5-1. In the Last 16 Monk took Nalgo Sports to penalties after a 1-1 draw, beating them 3-1 in the shootout.

​The Game
Jovial Monk started the game extremely quickly, hitting their stride from the first few seconds. They created two very good chances inside the opening two minutes but both went begging. Then after Siddington had responded with a raid of their own, Monk hit them with another break which should have resulted in them taking the lead but Kris Redford's shot from the 6 yard box was well blocked by the feet of Siddington's goalkeeper Charlie Begley. The let off for the Blues was only brief however. Six minutes in and Jovial Monk took the lead. Luke Richards was set free on the right wing, he outpaced the defence before firing high into the roof of the net. 0-1

​At this point, with the away side well on top, it looked as if the floodgates may well open. Monk were retaining possession very well, playing some delightful through balls (something that was to become a theme of the game) but having not grabbed a second goal immediately, started to lose a bit of their early momentum around the 20 minute mark. This, however, was only for a brief spell before they picked up the pace again as we approached half an hour in. Siddington, despite some tidy touches in midfield, had not been able to take advantage of Monk's slowing of the pace and didn't seem to have the fire power available to hurt the Monk backline, even with the pace of Mason Lach.
Just after the half hour, Richards probably shoudl have put his side two up but this time fired wide, albeit from a tigher angle than his goal. A minute later Redford also came close, shooting over when maybe he should havr maade the keeper work. They were getting closer, but it was still only 1-0. A precarious score line. Siddington had not shown too much, but it only took one lapse and they could easily be level. The Jovial bench an coaches were well aware of this, urging their players not to take their foot off the gas.
Ten minutes before the break yet another fantastic through ball opened up the Blues defence but once again Begley did well to block the effort. Then, as we approached half-time, it was Peachey-Score's turn to go close, clipping the bar with Begley beaten this time. It looked as Siddington were going to go into the break just a goal down, after being on the back foot for most of the half when, on 44 minutes, Monk finally managed to put a bit of daylight between the teams. It was a lovely passing move that did the damage, worked down the left before being passed across the face of goal to Peachey-Score to slot home for 0-2.
Relief at giving themselves a to goal cushion could easily have been muted on the stroke of half-time when Siddington gave a warning that they could cause Monk a problem, Griffin firing narrowly over as they created their best chance of the half.

HT Siddington 0 Jovial Monk 2. The away side, playing at home, were well in charge. Some of the through balls played were excellent, slicing through the Blues defence. With some better finishing this game could easily have been completely dead and buried. However at 2-0, an early second half goal from Siddington could make Monk regret the missed chances and they gave notice of their ability with the late effort that sailed just over the bar.

​There's no doubt that the Monk players were reminded that 2-0 was not game over at the break, and they shot out of the blocks again, looking to end the game as a contest as early as they could. They came very close almost straight from the restart and again in the 49th minute when the Begley was again called into action to keep his side in it.
Then just as we approached the hour mark Monk hit Siddington with an almost carbon copy of the first goal. This time Richards burst clear on the left hand side, but the result was the same as the striker slid the ball past the keeper to make it 0-3
It was now just a case of how many goals the Sunday League side would clock up. On 65 minutes they made it four when Richards linked up with Peachey-Score for a sweet 1-2 to complete his hat-trick. 0-4. And what was his reward for grabbing three goals? That's right. He was asked to play centre-half for the remainder of the game. 
That didn't stop the wave of yellow and black attacks though. Peachey-Score was causing havoc on the right with his pace and the flow of excellent through balls was perfect ammunition for his pace and willingness to run into the channels. Siddington's keeper was still doing his utmost to keep the score down, palming away a goal bound header from Veejay Sammi this time.
On 79 minutes, after so many cultured through balls from Monk, it was a good old fashioned lump up field that got them their fifth goal. The long ball evaded all defenders and found Liam Kearns free and bearing down on goal. He duly obliged, slipping the ball past the keeper. 0-5. This was Kearns's last contribution as Monk Manager Shaun Smith finally got himself limbered up enough to put in a cameo appearance up front.

​The only blemish on the Monk performance came in the 84th minute. With the game already well beyond their opponents a clean sheet was the only target left but this was not to be as a lapse in concentration at the back let in Siddington's captain Scott McLeod to blast the ball home for a consolation. 1-5

FT Siddington 1 Jovial Monk 5. In fairness the result was not in doubt from the first minute. Although Monk found it difficult to get the second goal in the first half, they were always in control of the game. Some of their approach play was of a very high standard. If their finishing had met the same quality and the Siddington keeper hadn't made a few decent stops, it could well have been double figures.

Jovial Monk will now take on the winners of Ludgershall Sports (Step 7) v Swindon AFC (Step 9). A tough test whoever they face.

Thanks to Jovial Monk's Shaun Smith and referee Mark Niermirski for the team sheets.

Siddington: Begley, Walsh, Holness, Griffin, McLeod(c), M.Richards, Lowe, J.Richards, M.Lach, Reeves, Dodson. Subs: S.Lach, Clark, R.Lach, Miller

Jovial Monk: Seward-Nice, Redford, Peachey-Score, Richards, Sammi, Dent, Lennard, Hughes, Ali, Kearns, Edwards, Smith, A.Burroughs, L.Burroughs, Lewis


Ground Number: 264
Att: N/A
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A

​For once the title of the blog does not refer to the game or an incident in the game I was watching. It also has nothing to do with Chelsea FC. It is purely because I spent most of the day prior to the game dismantling my old back garden shed.

The Ground
Yarnton play at Littlemarsh Playing Field on Yarnton Lane just across the A44 from Yarnton village. In fact, if you go past the ground, over the train line that runs right next to the ground, and drive for around a mile, you will come to Kidlington FCs ground, just as Yarnton Lane becomes Yarnton Road. There is a decent sized car park and, just inside the main gate, a very smart, new-looking, clubhouse. It does not have a Shed End but does have a On car park side, where the majority of spectators congregate. There are two blue painted dugouts, labelled Yarnton and Visitors. The opposite side of the pitch is open, forming part of the cricket ground in the summer.

The Background
The game this evening was an Oxfordshire Senior League Premier Cup group tie. With seven teams competition, each team has six group games, and this was the fifth for both of these sides. The top four after six games go through.
A win in this game was important to both teams. Yarnton were beginning the evening in third spot and a win would confirm their place in the final four. They had won three of their four games, only losing to table-toppers Kennington Athletic. Garsington needed the three points even more as they started the night just outside the top four but knowing that a win would put them into contention.
In the last, abandoned, Premier League season Yarnton were placed second when it was brought to an abrupt end. The sides had already met once, at Littlemarsh, with the home side coming out on top of a 5-4 score line.

The Game
After an initial few minutes of eyeing each other up, it was the home side who made the the early breakthrough. With just 9 minutes on the clock Hasnain Nadeem played a superb crossfield ball to find Josh Redfearn out on the left. His cross was met by Harry Ackland who christened his new boots by guiding his finish past the visiting keeper to make it 1-0.
An early advantage for Yarnton but Garsington were quick to attempt a response. They had a very loud penalty claim in the 12th minute when there appeared to be a trip in the area. The referee, however, was having none of it.

​Nadeem was doing his utmost to control the midfield for Yarnton, getting a few knocks for his troubles along the way, but despite his efforts, Garsington continued to press for an equaliser at every opportunity. Yarnton still posed a threat when they broke forward, with Redfearn and Ackland always keeping the Garsington defence on their toes. Just past the half-hour mark the away side engineered a very good opportunity, Callum Lucas played in the speedy number 15, Elliston Coble, who took a touch and tried his luck from the edge of the box. He beat the keeper but saw his effort come back off the bar.
Having had the lion's share of the play and missed a couple of decent chances Garsington were then well and truly sucker-punched a minute into added time in the first half. This time Nadeem was the scorer rather than provider, latching onto an Ackland through ball and slotting past the keeper. 2-0

HT Yarnton 2 Garsington 0. The home side scored early and late but in between Garsington have probably been the better team. Lucas and Coble for the away side have caused all sorts of problems for the home defence, who are struggling to contain them. The late second goal was harsh on Garsington.

The away side were out of the blocks quickly in the second half. More good link up play from Lucas and Coble, who were continuing where they left off. Ten minutes in, Yarnton respond to Garsington's quick start by producing the best passing move of the game so far, ending with a left-wing cross, headed just over. Nice football from the home side.
The home defence were well aware of the threat posed by the Garsington front two. Maybe that is why they were caught off guard by Joe Ryan on the hour, who, after receiving the ball wide on the left, cut inside on his right foot and unleashed a superb drive across Merritt and into the far corner. 1-2
On 67 minutes, Garsington completed the comeback. Ryan was again in the thick of the action, this time crossing perfectly for Coble to head in from close range. 2-2

Garsington had their tails up now and looked the more likely to take control of the game. However, Yarnton were not done. With 15 left to play they hit Garsington with a quick break. The ball was worked to Ackland on the edge of the box and his well hit strike was to much for the keeper, who got a hand to it but couldn't keep it out. 3-2
After fighting back from 2 down but then falling behind again, Garsington could have been excused for letting their heads drop. They, however, were having none of it. Back they came and within 4 minutes of going behind they were level again. Joe Ryan again, who was having a very effective second half, outpaced the home defence and let rip from just inside the box. His shot was way too hot for the home keeper to hold and there was Callum Lucas on hand to snap up the rebound. 3-3.

As we approached the final couple of minutes we were treated to a dramatic finale and maybe contentious. Garsington were pressing for the winner and the three points that would take them into the top four. With two minutes left of normal time Luke Warmington was played in by a superb reverse pass. In behind the final man he slid the ball past the keeper and into the net. Cue wild celebrations but the referee had already blown thinking that Warmington was offside. After a brief consultation with the Yarnton linesman, he signalled for the goal and it stood. Fair play to the linesman for being honest. 3-4. Yarnton could feel aggreived that the referee blew before the ball hit the net. Maybe the goal should not have stood?

Yarnton were behind for the first time in the match and there was not enough time left for them to hit back.

FT Yarnton 3 Garsington 4. A very good game to watch from a neutral's perspective, especially the second half. Two sides who both have great attacking potential. Yarnton looked to be in control at half-time and again when they made it 3-2. They'll be gutted to have thrown away a lead twice.​ However, great credit to Garsington who just didn't know when they were beaten. Both sides are now in the top four with one fixture left each. Yarnton face  tricky away game at second placed Launton whilst Garsington have, on paper, the easier game as they travel to bottom side Summertown Stars. It could be a fascinating last weekend of the group stage as both Yarnton and Garsington need to win to ensure a top four finish. Any slip up and fifth placed Marston Saints, who entertain group winners Kennington Athletic, could leapfrog them.

Many thanks to Yarnton's Twitter admin for supplying a photo of the team sheets so that I could put names to the numbers, and for clearing up a few errors in my tweets.

Yarnton: Merritt, Abreu, Witcher, Welford, Chesterman(c), Robson, Fegan, Ackland, Nadeem, Redfearn. Subs: Taylor, Wells, Spooner
Garsington: Gaul, Ludlow, Massingham, Smith, Bartlett, Ryan, Chalmers, Warmington, Dolton, Coble, Lucas. Subs: Mutero

Ground Number: 263
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Programme: N/A

​This Saturday, after getting very wet in the morning standing on the side-lines in a coaching capacity I decided I may as well continue the theme as a spectator and risk getting another drenching in the afternoon. Heyford Athletic, who I saw play in the Oxfordshire Senior League a while back, are only a 15 minute drive away so it seemed like a great opportunity to visit their ground and take in their game against Malvern Town Development.

The Ground
Heyford play their games at the King George's Field in Lower Heyford. There is limited parking at the ground, accessed via Mill Lane, and alongside the pitch. Beware that there is quite limited parking nearby as the ground is in the centre of the old, picturesque village, not designed for modern traffic. The club recently (in the past couple of years) has built a great new clubhouse (currently closed, of course) which sits at the entrance to the ground. The pitch is at the lower end of the playing field and does have a slope, from the Freehold Street side down towards the canal and also from the top right corner as you look from the clubhouse. Bordered by trees behind and on the canal side, the Mill Lane goal end is backed by the clubhouse and a children's play area. The club has invested in roll-out dugouts, very useful on a day when the weather was atrocious. Although, the away one did get caught by a couple of gusts and moved backwards a yard or so at one point. The pitch itself, although on a slope. looked to be in pretty good condition. All in all, a nice setup.

​The Background
This was a Bateman Sports Presidents Challenge Cup last 16 game, as opposed to the Chairman's Challenge Cup which, I believe runs each year. The last 16 in this case also being Round 1. I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but it seems this competition may have sprung up to provide a little more football after he season was aborted. If I am wrong, and there have been previous competitions, please can someone tell me where to find the history? Both of these sides had only managed to play four games in their respective league seasons. Malvern sat in third spot at the close, five point off the leaders but with to games in hand after winning three and drawing one. Athletic meanwhile were et cursing their luck after winning all four of their game and topping their division. The prospect was for a close game this afternoon.

​The Game
Although the rain had slowed a little towards kick-off, the wind was still gusting and causing havoc. Just ask the local who had turned up with his own chair and umbrella. He soon gave up on the brolly after it got turned inside out for the third time. Great effort with the chair though. I wish I had thought of it (note to self, put a fold up chair in the boot).
The first big chance of the game fell to Heyford quite early on, but the close range effort was well turned over the bar by the visiting goalkeeper. In fact, it was Heyford who seemed to have settled quicker and mastered the conditions better. Which is why it was something of a surprise when they fell behind. A somewhat fortuitous goal when Malvern's Jack Cullity decided to try his luck from outside the box and to the right of centre. He dragged his effort which evaded everyone but fell very kindly into the path of Jack Davies on the back post, who fired home from close range giving the Athletic keeper no chance. 0-1.

​Heyford, noting that the wind was playing havoc with the longer balls, tried to play out from the back to get back into the game. Every time they did try to find their forwards, the wind was taking the ball out down the slope towards the canal. Malvern had the opposite problem. Every goal-kick or long ball was being held up in the wind.
Heyford really were not helping their cause by getting caught offside time after time. These decisions can always be a bone of contention in games where a member of each team is running the line. Athletic started to get a bit annoyed at the constant flagging. From my position on the opposite side of the pitch, it was impossible to tell how close they were, but the referee seemed happy enough with the decisions and to be fair, the Heyford complaints were fairly muted.
In the latter stages of the half there was a strange incident near the dugouts where an altercation seemed to break out between the Malvern coach and a Heyford player. No idea what started it and it got no further than some raised voices and a yellow card for a member of the home squad.
The constant offsides cost Athletic dearly on 44 minutes when they got the ball in the net, headed in at the far post from a left-wing free-kick. However, the flag was already up and, again, there was no complaint from Heyford.

HT Heyford Athletic 0 Malvern Town Development 1. Not a lot to choose between the sides. The conditions certainly not helping either team. One or two bits of niggle were creeping in towards the end of the half which the referee would need to keep a lid on in to stop it boiling over.

​The second half very quickly got into a pattern of play. Heyford trying everything they could to get back into the game. Looking particularly dangerous when attacking down their left. They switched the team around, pushing number 10 into midfield, which immediately seemed to give them an extra attacking dimension. Malvern appeared content to mop up the attacks and then use the conditions to attempt long balls over the top for their forwards to chase. Their defending was pretty solid but the long balls were not that effective though with most balls either running through to the keeper or drifting out for a Heyford throw-in.

Heyford started to turn the screw more and more as the half wore on, with their visitors, who only had a single substitute in the squad, starting to tire a little. Then, just when it looked as if their efforts would go unrewarded they finally made the breakthrough. A cross from the right travelled through the Town 18 yard box, eventually finding the home number 15 who steadied himself and fired a crisp drive back past the keeper to make it 1-1. A very clean strike and deserved equaliser for Heyford based on their second half display.

However, the drama was not over. Just as I was trying to work out if the game would go to extra-time or straight to penalties, Malvern won  free-kick some 25 yards out and fairly central. Cullity, who's mis-directed strike had led to the first goal, certainly did not fluff this effort. He struck it superbly over the wall and into the top corner of the Athletic net. 1-2. Almost as soon as the ball hit the net the referee blew for the end of the game. It was, literally, the last kick.

FT Heyford Athletic 1 Malvern Town Development 2. A cruel way to lose for the home team who, on the balance of play, probably deserved to win the game. Having said that, you cannot argue with the quality of the strike that won it for Malvern. They now go on to play Hungerford Town Swifts, who had walkover awarded in their tie against Headington Amateurs, in the Quarter-Final.

Other score:
Swindon Supermarine Development 2  Kintbury Rangers 3
Newent Town Reserves 3 Cricklade Town Reserves 8
Yately Town 7 Wallingford Ton Reserves 1
Chinnor 3 Abingdon United Development 2
Cove U23 5 Holmer Green Development 3
Chalfont Wasps 2 Hazlemere Sports 2 (4-5 pens)

Ground Number: 262
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