How do you solve a problem like Budleigh Salterton?

When the final whistle blew at the University of Exeter’s Topsham Road ground on 30th April, Budleigh Salterton had secured 2nd place in the Southwest Peninsula League Division 1 East for 2010/11 and therefore obtained promotion that they had applied for some months previously. However, a statement released later that day announced something different:

“We have today received written notification from Budleigh Salterton AFC requesting that their previously submitted application for promotion to the Premier Division be withdrawn.

As todays results have decided, we now know that Budleigh Salterton have completed the season in 2nd place. Under rule this means that the club finishing in 19th position in the Premier Division is no longer due to be relegated.  Rules do not allow for a side finishing in 3rd place being promoted instead of Budleigh Salterton AFC.

How this affects the constitution of Division One and the boundary lines in the two East & West Divisions can only be fully considered by the board once all other promotion & relegation issues have been taken into account and this will be on the boards agenda for their next meeting on Monday 9th May.

A further statement will be issued after that meeting.

P A Hiscox (Company Secretary)”

This then blew a massive discussion open about Budleigh Salterton as a team, the other teams they affected and the state of football and ambition in the Southwest as a whole. This blog post (tries) to get into this and offers my two cents on the whole situation. I would love it if you added your comments below.

Budleigh Salterton have now applied and then withdrew from promotion now twice in the past 4 seasons which has probably angered SWPL onlookers as they have previous in this regard. One other sticking point to other fans that have given Budleigh stick is they have affected other clubs. Firstly, Stoke Gabriel FC who finished 3rd this season in SWPL Div 1 East have been denied promotion due to finishing just behind Budleigh and will be stuck in Div 1 for another season. They have also (at this moment) stopped Okehampton Argyle from transferring from Div 1 West to East by staying in this division. This anger from fans has been clearly seen on the SWPL Forum here with people calling for a punishment ranging from no prize money received all the way up to points deduction and slightly OTT throwing them out the league.

Before you throw Budleigh to the wolves and start e-mail the SWPL demanding justice, you do have to consider Budleigh’s reasons for withdrawing their promotion bid. Their treasurer responded with:

“We at Budleigh Salterton try to act in a responsible way in relation to all things. This includes the financial well being of the club which is of course not ‘just’ a football club. The situation we faced was that to play in the higher league would require additional financial support. We were also aware that the existing sponsor was at the end of his three season contract and unlikely to be able to renew.

We have been making an earnest endeavour to obtain fresh sponsorship for several months. We had a date by which application for promotion had to be lodged. Should we give up on sponsorship search on that date, or lodge the application and continue the search? We chose the latter because an untenable situation would have been that we did not apply and later found the financial backing we sought.”

So the reason they are giving is financial factors as well as the increased costs in travelling (e.g – they will have a trip to Penzance if they take promotion to the SWPL Premier – a 248 mile round trip. Although, this would only be made once a season in the league) and the possible lack of a main sponsor which could severely hinder them and put them into financial difficulty for 2011/12. One point on that statement though (if you look at the SWPL Forum thread) is Budleigh officials seem to be giving different statements which probably shows a slight guilt on their part for creating this mess.

Finally, before I give my two cents about what I would have done, we have to remember that the SWPL Secretary has stated that the league has accepted Budleigh’s withdrawal completely and no sanction has been placed on Budleigh (and it is probable that after the May 9th board meeting, still no sanction will have been placed). What the problem is here is not just a SWPL problem though, its arguably a regional southwest problem with a lack of teams moving up AND down the pyramid and so leagues start to stale and the football suffers. With SWPL Premier Champions Buckland Athletic not taking promotion to the Western Premier, the Western Premier Champions not taking promotion to the Southern League (slightly different as their ground failed grading) as well as Champions of the North Devon League, South Devon League, Plymouth & West Devon Combination League… I could go on. It may seem like I’m picking on the Southwest leagues here, but that’s only because I know the situation well. Only 3 teams this season can come out with any positive attitude to their future (Truro City, Bideford AFC and Camelford/Callington Town) after setting new ground in the leagues they were in. How do you solve a problem like Budleigh Salterton? I would have given them a final warning on doing this again and promoted Stoke Gabriel up anyway. (It has happened from Level 11 to 10 before by not picking a Top 2 finishing side) One bigger question is how do you solve a problem in Southwest football? Financial help is a must from the FA and other bodies and more encouragement to stop the football going stale. As they will probably be only one winner if that happens and that is rugby union. Something we really don’t want to see.

P.S – Please comment! I’d love to hear different opinions on this, even if you completely disagree with mine. And lets be honest, you probably do.

Bovey Tracey AFC vs Witheridge AFC (30/04/11)

Match 118
 
Ground #: 85
 
Ground: Mill Marsh Park

Competition: Southwest Peninsula League Premier (Level 10)

Kick Off: 2:30pm

Cost: £4
 
Programme: £1

Attendance: 58

Bovey Tracey AFC 3

Barker 28’, Gerring 42’,57’

Witheridge AFC 1

Ebdy 42’

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Sadly, there were no local games around (bar Torquay and even that was an evening KO) on the 29th April for the Royal Wedding. So a day of work and avoidance was the order of the day. The following 24 hours though still saw the news masturbate furiously over the ceremony and so I was out of here and off to a game. At first it was to be a debut dip into the Devon & Exeter League with a visit to nearby Hatherleigh Town. However, I saw that the nearest SWPL team that I had yet to visit, Bovey Tracey were at home and as they were still fighting relegation, this looked to be an interesting game. Off I went then!



Bovey Tracey is a small town in Devon on the edge of Dartmoor, its proximity to which gives rise to the "slogan" used on the town's boundary signs, "The Gateway to the Moor”. Bovey Tracey was an established Saxon community and takes its name from the River Bovey. The town gained its second name from the de Tracey family who were "lords of the manor" after the Norman Conquest. One member of the family, William de Tracey, was implicated in the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. It is thought that de Tracey rebuilt the parish church of St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury as penance for the murder. The church still stands today and has an unbroken list of vicars from 1258. Bovey Tracey is noted in the cycling community as the start point of the Dartmoor Devil bicycle ride, an annual event held in late October taking in over 2000 m of climbing and over 100 km around and across Dartmoor. Other sights to see in the quaint town include the House of Marbles and the Devon Guild of Craftsmen headquarters.

  

The town’s football side play right next to the A382 on the north side of the town at Mill Marsh Park. (Also named as the Western Counties Roofing Ground for sponsorship reasons) The ground has been home to Bovey Tracey since 1979 (although they did have to sell some of the land in 1984 to assist in the “Bovey Bypass” construction) and is slowly being brought up to a decent ground. Two metallic stands now straddle the near touchline and both structures are barely two weeks old (at time of writing for this game) as their first use was for the SWPL Hop match against Buckland Athletic on the 23rd April. Views from both stands are fairly good and with floodlights being put in over summer, Mill Marsh Park will easily achieve SWPL Premier ground grading to stay in the league. There is also a spacious refreshment room on site selling normal hot food and drinks as well as alcohol which went down very well with the decent contingent that had travelled from Witheridge. As this was the first game after my meat free lent I absolutely nailed a decent cheeseburger for £2.50 on the patio section before the game.


While off the pitch things look good, on the pitch, it has been a tad of a struggle for Bovey’s first team this season as they had still not secured their Premier status for 2011/12. Going into this game down in 17th, they were 4 points clear of 19th place Elburton Villa with both of them having two more games to play in the league. 18th place Dartmouth who were also in relegation trouble heading into this game were on 30 points with Bovey, but had a game in hand on their two rivals. If Bovey won this game, they were safe no matter what, and with Dartmouth having a tough away game at Falmouth Town and Elburton Villa hosting inconsistent Penzance, this looked like it would be an interesting day in the relegation battle to see who would be joining already doomed Wadebridge Town in SWPL Division 1 next season. In between Bovey and a vital 3 points was Witheridge AFC who I had seen twice already this season (home vs Tiverton and away @ Royal Marines) and on those two occasions they had been managed by different people. Coming into this game then it was no surprise that Witheridge had another manager! This time Mike Taylor had taken over the reins. After finishing 10th last season, 2010/11 had offered so much but they were down in 15th and had just escaped from the relegation fun. With Steve Ebdy grabbing 18 goals this season (Witheridge have scored 61 after 35 games) that’s probably the reason why they avoided the relegation battle. But with attendances slightly down at Edge Down Park (the 10/11 average is actually higher because they played one more game and had a hop game which drew a crowd of 423) these look to be testing times for the side from North Devon.


With Withy having not much to play for it was interesting to see how they would start this game as the home side had so much to play for. As it happened, they should have scored within the opening 10 seconds when straight from kick off, a long punt forward put Jordan Charran through but he fired well wide. Bovey came back into it though and while most of the football was being played in Withy’s half, the away team were dealt a blow when one of their players was forced off when he landed badly challenging for a header with a Bovey striker. The fact he was taken off and his top being used as a sling to carry his arm, suggests its a broken arm or dislocated shoulder so best wishes to him and hope he has a speedy recovery! One thing I didn’t understand though is Withy took so long to get a sub on and could have paid the price being one man shorter needlessly for around 8 minutes. Ironically, Bovey took the lead when Withy were back to full strength on 28 minutes after a fantastic diagonal ball from right to left set Nick Barker on his way and he took one touch to take the ball away from the defender and his 2nd was to crash the ball into the bottom corner and gave John Wannell no chance. Charran then had another chance straight again from the Withy kick off but he missed the target again. Barker forced an excellent save from Wannell before we had the most bizarre moment I had ever seen at a football match on 42 minutes. Withy were awarded a drop ball just inside the Bovey half and so to get on with the game, Steve Ebdy punted the ball towards goal quickly so Bovey keeper Tom Buckler could get on with the game. However, Buckler had gone for a wander and was nowhere near his goal so could only watch Ebdy’s punt bounce in. Ebdy look horrified to have “scored” and referee Mike Edworthy said he had to give it. Bovey then demanded to score unchallenged to regain the lead they shouldn’t have lost and Withy let them so Ben Gerring took charge and jogged up the other end of the pitch from kick off to score. Had Gerring missed or Wannell accidentally saved, we could have had a very interesting moment but Bovey had “re-gained” the lead. At HT, the Withy players were unhappy with Mike E as one of their players had been taken out off the ball and lay in a heap on the floor but the ref just played on. It was 2-1 though, a strange 45 minutes of football.


2nd half saw Withy make a go of it in an attempt to carve out a proper equalizer and when the ball broke in the box, that equalizer looked on, but was fired wide. Instead just 5 minutes later, Bovey made the game safe. A daft free-kick was given away on the left hand side and was floated into the box where Gerring was completely unmarked and easily headed in. Quite shambolic defending and was surprised how bad Witheridge had become since I saw them last. It should have been 4 just two minutes later when a quickly taken free kick caught Withy out but the chance was fired over. The rest of the half was a bit of a non-event as Bovey were happy to sit back on their two goal lead and let Withy attack, which bar Ebdy, they seemed incapable of doing. As it happened, Bovey easily saw the game out with a 3-1 win and with that left just two teams in the relegation battle it seemed…


… that was until it was announced that elsewhere, while Budleigh Salterton had won at the University of Exeter to secure 2nd place in the SWPL Div 1 East and therefore won promotion, they were not going to take it and withdraw their offer. That means (as I write this on May 3rd) only one team will go down from the Premier (Wadebridge) into Div 1 West and only 1 team will come up from that division (Camelford or Callington Town). It means at the moment that Dartmouth and Elburton Villa are safe and opinion has been split about Budleigh’s decision with some calling for points docked or fines and trying to get 3rd place Stoke Gabriel (who had also applied for promotion) into 2nd so they could play Premier football next season. That’s for another post though! (coming soon) While at Bovey, I enjoyed this ground, another scenic setting with some decent infrastructure in place to see the club go from strength to strength. With floodlights due to be in place for the start of next season they can now enter FA Competitions and so trying to qualify for a 2012/13 Vase place should be there aim for next time out. As for Withy, I’m slightly concerned. Maybe its just end of season laziness where they had nothing to play for, but they were poor in this game and if Ebdy was to leave for a better side in the summer, Withy would look nailed on for relegation. We’ll see.

Photos from Bovey Tracey vs Witheridge

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Match Ratings:

- Match: 6/10 (faded badly in 2nd half)

- Value for money: 7/10 (good value)

- Ground: 6.5/10 (could look very impressive in the future)

- Atmosphere: 5/10 (dribs and drabs)

- Food: 7/10 (good burger and had lots on offer at good prices)

- Programme: 5/10 (bought better for £1, but bought worse)

 - Referee: Mike Edworthy – 5.5/10 (slightly inconsistent with decisions)

Camelford vs Foxhole Stars (23/04/11)

Match 117

Ground #: 84

Ground: Trefew Park 

Competition: Southwest Peninsula Division 1 West (Level 11) 

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £3

Programme: £1

Attendance: 333

Camelford 4

Gusterson 34’,77’,88’, Andrew 70’

Foxhole Stars 0

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My final part of “3 in 3” would be at another close ground that was on my “hit list” as well as a team seemingly on the up. With many leagues at this late stage of the season, a lot of games were now “dead rubbers” with neither side having anything really to play for. Luckily, Camelford were going for the SWPL Division 1 West title still and had applied for promotion to the Premier so this game had a lot riding on it. They couldn’t win the league with this game, but they could take a big step forward to it by winning.

Camelford is a town in North Cornwall and around 10 miles north of Bodmin. Due to its name, it has been linked to the legendary Camelot, and even Camlann, but historians have been quick to refute these suggestions. The origin of the name is probably from the original name of the river (Allen) in combination with cam = crooked and the English 'ford', though this is not accepted by all. In July 1988, the water supply to the town and the surrounding area was contaminated when 20 tons of aluminium sulphate was poured into the wrong tank at the nearby Lowermoor Water Treatment Works on Bodmin Moor. An independent inquiry into the incident (the worst of its kind in British history) was started in 2002, and a draft report issued in January 2005, but questions still remain as to the long-term effects on the health of local residents.

Another prime reason for picking this game was the larger than normal amount of traffic that could possibly direct me to the ground as Google Maps was really not much help at all. With the outlines of a football pitch found on satellite view and the directions to there noted, I made my way to Camelford with ease and turned up at the ground… to find it was someone’s house. Luckily a man washing his car outside so asked for directions and was given near perfect ones to turn up at Trefew Park – the modern looking home of Camelford FC. I had actually arrived at Tregoodwell, the home of their old ground which according to the programme, they had left in 2006 for their new modern home at Trefew Park. Despite being on the edge of nowhere Trefew is a lovely little ground and again the home club were well organised and ready for the masses of hoppers. Two metal stands overlooked the pitch on one side, one for seating and one for standing. Behind one goal (see above pic) was a small grass bank where you could sit and enjoy a good view of the action. The pitch was railed off all the way round with more than enough hard standing for Trefew Park to be a welcome addition to the SWPL Premier. All that would be needed is for floodlights to be put in which they already have the planning permission for approved.

Since their founding in 1893 (as one of Cornwall’s oldest clubs) they have spent most of their time playing in the lower ends of the pyramid down in the SW in the East Cornwall Premier and South Western League. Now one of the best (if not the best) sides in the SWPL Div 1 West, they were going for promotion this time out. Manager Reg Hambly is in his 20th year in charge of the club and Camelford will be trying to get into the Premier under his leadership. Going into this game, they were top of the league on goal difference as close challengers Godolphin Atlantic had lost the Newquay derby 2-1 to their local rivals. They also had major games in hand due to an appalling winter when they hardly played. With this in mind and fellow promotion appliers Callington Town hot on their heels, they had to keep winning otherwise they would really begin to feel the pressure. On 19th April, Camelford had actually played their opponents for this game, Foxhole Stars and whooped them 7-1. Foxhole, hailing from the little town to the west of St Austell were down in 12th for this game and had played 5 games more than Camelford. With not really much to play for except entertaining a big crowd, most punters would have put money on Camelford winning this despite the games coming thick and fast at them in these past weeks.

The big crowd wondered how long it would be before Camelford got going and the answer was 4 minutes when Mark Gusterson was put through and despite having a man over in a great position, he decided to shoot and fired wide as his team-made had a go for being selfish. The Cams kept going though and soon Foxhole goalie Ryan Holland was called into action for the first time to make a great save from a Kevin Murt effort. Foxhole were beginning to frustrate the home side as they had zero threat going forward but were putting up a stubborn fight in defence. Who can blame them after losing 7-1 to this side barely a week before. Holland got more plaudits on 31 minutes when he brilliantly tipped a Gusterson effort onto the post before he got a wee bit lucky as Gyles Reynolds airkicked the rebound and it was cleared. It was all one way traffic now basically and the goal did come on 34 minutes. A brilliant long diagonal ball from David Andrew found Paul Menhinick scamping down the left. His cross was met by Gusterson who had beaten Holland to the ball to power his header in and give Cams a deserved lead which they kept at HT.

Ryan Holland was still on form in the 2nd half as he made two saves from 1 on 1 chances within a minute to keep his side in the game. This gave the away side encouragement as they actually started to leave their own half and cause some problems. This did put them liable to the counter attack however and when a cross found Reynolds all alone in the box, it looked all the world for goal #2, but he amazingly shot wide under no pressure at all. The 2nd goal was going to be the all important one and it came on 70 minutes. David Andrew was running onto the ball just inside his own area when he tried his luck from about 50 yards out. I had just sat down right behind that goal and thought the ball would just clear the bar, however it dipped right at the last second and dropped in out of Holland’s reach for a sensational 2nd goal. A massive cheer and applause from the crowd even though, lets be honest, it was a fluke. Camelford could sense blood now and smashed a post 4 minutes later after good build up play on the edge of the area. Gusterson got his 2nd of the game though on 77 minutes when another through ball cut the Foxhole defence apart and he easily finished past Holland. I did wonder if Foxhole heads would drop now but they responded well and forced home goalie Josh Colwill to make two excellent saves to keep Camelford comfortable. Right on the full time whistle Gusterson scored his hat-trick. Another through ball weighted perfectly, allowed the Gus machine to let the ball go across him and shape up to place the ball past Holland again. 4-0 the final score and Camelford’s league charge continued.

Camelford are a lovely little club on the up, albeit with their ground in the middle of nowhere! An entertaining game that showed why at the end of this season Camelford should be top of this league. With players like Gusterson and Andrew, who could easily play higher, should Camelford start 2011/12 in the SWPL Premier they (I feel) quite easily cope at that level and would be a welcome addition. As this was a hop game, there was that strange “Hop Atmosphere” but I did actually chat to a few people at this game including a Hibs fan who had made the journey down from Dundee for the extended weekend. If you can find the place, then its another SWPL team worth visiting, especially in these next couple of weeks as they try and take the title!

Photos from Camelford vs Foxhole Stars

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Match Ratings:

- Match: 6.5/10 (some good afternoon entertainment)

- Value for money: 8/10 (normal at this level and great value)

- Ground: 6/10 (decent enough new ground)

- Atmosphere: 5/10 (a “Hop Atmosphere”)

- Food: N/A – hoppers say the pasties were excellent, but I couldn’t taste them :(

- Programme: 3/10 (certainly not worth £1)

- Referee: George Pattison – 7/10 (can’t remember him, so did fine)

Bickleigh vs Appledore (22/04/11)

Match 116

Ground #: 83

Ground: Happy Meadow

Competition: Southwest Peninsula Division 1 East (Level 11) 

Kick Off: 3:30pm

Cost: £3

Programme: £1

Attendance: 478

Bickleigh 1

Rapo 52’

Appledore 1

Hevingham 66’

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My 2nd part of 3 in 3 was to finally meet up with the SWPL Hop for the 3rd game of their trip with a to a ground that in the past I had been thwarted getting to on several occasions. For this game though, the sun was shining, a massive crowd was expected and I was finally getting to Happy Meadow. The home of Bickleigh FC. And I couldn’t wait.

Bickleigh is a small town in mid-Devon just a few miles south of Tiverton. According to the 2001 census, the village had a population of 239 which means for this Hop game, exactly double the amount of people in the village attended. Bickleigh is home to Bickleigh Castle, the village manor house formerly known as Bickleigh Court, has a Norman chapel and baptismal font. And Farmer Nick Lees and his family have constructed several maize mazes in a field near the village. The subjects include Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee, the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, the bicentenary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and 100th anniversary of the Scouting movement. It is also the location of one of the biggest vineyards in the South West of England, Yearlstone, which has a state of the art winery, winebar and cafe. Yearlstone is now 3.5 hectares, and hosts Devon Wine Week in the last week in May each year, a celebration of local food culture.

Yearlstone overlooks Bickleigh’s Happy Meadow ground in the quant surroundings of Mid-Devon. A team really on the up, their ground shows it and it was great to see the club had really made the effort for arguably the biggest game of their history. The main, permanent, facilities were down one side as a fantastic wooden chalet type building held the changing rooms along with some covered seating thanks to the wooden roof overhanging down the side. There was another area of seating covered by a similar overhanging roof from a metal structure towards the far goal. Food was available from the small tea hut in shot which I believe was available for every game. Behind one goal for this game though was a beer tent, BBQ (again couldn’t indulge in due to Lent) and hopper legend Rob Hornby’s programme stall with all proceeds going to charity. With hard standing in some of the areas, this is a fantastic ground in a wonderful setting. It really was worth the wait.

I had seen Bickleigh twice this season, in two away games (at Exeter Uni and Axminster) and they are an improving side. After finishing rock bottom in 2009/10, they were going into this game up in 12th (out of 16) on 31 points, well ahead of Axminster Town in rock bottom. Clearly improving on every season, it will be interesting to see how high this tiny village team can go. A promotion challenge to the SWPL Premier is still a few years off, but would they even want to go up? Possibly quite happy playing some fun football in Division 1 and getting decent crowds, they may have found their perfect level here. They welcomed Appledore from N.Devon who have also been playing at this Level (technically) for donkey’s years. Formed in 1912 as Appledore & B.A.A.C they played most of their football in the N.Devon regional leagues before making the step up in 1978 to the South Western League. In 1996/97 they joined the Devon County League which then lead them to the SWPL Division 1 East when that was formed in 2007. They do not have floodlights at their Marshford ground so cannot be considered for FA Comps currently. Success has come by their way though as they picked up the Devon FA Premier Cup last season, although crashed out in the 2nd Round this season to Exmouth Town. In 6th place coming into this game on 45 points, they were on the cusps of a promotion challenge if they can get the form sorted out in the future.

As the game was kicked off by ref Larry Cousins, one thing I noticed straight away was despite the 478 strong crowd in attendance, the atmosphere was quite flat as people just chatted away to each other whilst watching the football in a very respectful manner. So with a “Hop Atmosphere” Bickleigh made the early chances as they were wanting to show the crowd what they could do. On 5 minutes it should have been 1-0 when a great through ball saw Jordan Copp hit the opposite post as he rolled his shot onto it and then the rebound was smashed over from about 10 yards as the Bickleigh management stared in disbelief as they were still level. Then Larry Cousins got involved and handed out a needless yellow card to a Bickleigh player from a tackle that I actually thought was fair. This got Larry a lot of stick, including from Appledore manager Geoff Copp who was telling him so on the touchline. This made the rest of the half fairly niggly although Appledore did have a header cleared off the line from a corner. While it was 0-0 at HT, a lot of hoppers were looking at their no 0-0 games run crashing to a halt here.

2nd half started exactly as the first with Bickleigh taking the game to Appledore in an effort to try and find the opener. Bickleigh again blasted over in the box after some good build up work with another groan from the 400 odd hoppers here as that 0-0 was drawing closer. Then on 52 minutes, the home side struck. A through ball completely caught the Appledore defence out and Kieran Rapo easily finished past Appledore goalie Jimmy Thorne to make it 1-0. A goal! Appledore then woke up, and started to batter the home side. Firstly James Bateman shrugged off some weak marking in the box to fire a shot at Ben Mercy and then a couple of minutes later an Appledore defender had a header that hit the bar after Mercy and a couple of his defenders had gone missing at a corner. The warning shots were coming and it was no surprise on 66 minutes when they fashioned an equalizer. A great ball in from the right missed the first set of players but Appledore’s top scorer Richard Hevingham lashed home a half-volley to make it 1-1. Both sides did go out for a winner although only one real chance was created which was a low shot from outside the area which was well saved from Thorne. 1-1 it finished, a fair result.

Maybe it was the sun, maybe it was the crowd, maybe it was even the half pint of cider I’d had but this was a fantastic day out. The ground really is a must see, in a fantastic setting with every club member I spoke to a friendly one. This may be a different thinking if you go on a grim and wet day but with adequate cover at Happy Meadow, this shouldn’t be a problem. As for the hop, nobody spoke to me. (Haha!) But I still had a good time listening into conversations about hopping and grounds to see. I had been a bit concerned about going to games with a fluctuated crowd but it was a good experience and I went to carry that on the next day with my final “3 in 3” game at Camelford. As for Bickleigh, go visit, you won’t regret it!

Photos from Bickleigh vs Appledore

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Match Ratings:

- Match: 5.5/10 (was ok)

- Value for money: 8/10 (normal at this level and great value)

- Ground: 8/10 (really was worth the wait)

- Atmosphere: 5/10 (a “Hop Atmosphere”)

- Food: 9/10 (they did cheese + onion pasties! BBQ smelt excellent too)

- Programme: 6/10 (was ok, don’t think they normally charge £1 for it? ;) )

- Referee: Larry Cousins – 5/10 (early mistake but was ok for the part)

Ipplepen Athletic vs Abbotskerswell (21/04/11)

Match 115

Ground #: 82

Ground: Moor Road

Competition: South Devon League Premier (Level 12)

Kick Off: 6:30pm

Cost: £2

Programme: With Admission

Attendance: 124

Ipplepen Athletic 2

Sparkes 63’, Stacey 75’

Abbotskerswell 3

Shane Gagg 23’, Woodmore 50’, Dodson 78’

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For hoppers, the Easter Bank Holiday weekend is a superb time to cram as many games as they can in. For the past few years too, the excellent SWPL Hop has been running on this extended weekend taking in the mixed and wonderful bag of grounds that currently host Southwest Peninsula League football. Although I’ve been writing this blog for just over 2 years now, I had the chance to go to the previous two but for one reason or another decided against it. Now with the final SWPL Hop coming for this 2011 Easter Weekend, I decided to get a bit involved. Although not straight away as the Thursday evening game was at Crediton United, a ground I had only just visited. So an unofficial “hop” game was sought, and found at South Devon League side Ipplepen Athletic, with their derby game against Abbotskerswell. Keen!

Ipplepen is a small village in South Devon which used to be home to the Ipplepen Priory before it seems disappearing of the face of the earth. (I cannot find, although I didn’t look for long, any real information about the Priory today) W.G Hoskins described Ipplepen in his book “Devon” (1954) as followed, “IPPLEPEN is a grey and rather dismal village, with much bad modern building. The church (St. Andrew) stands well at the head of the village, and is almost entirely a 15th century rebuilding. The Perpendicular windows of the nave are notably good. The font and rood-screen are said to be c. 1430- 50. The pulpit is a magnificent specimen of 15th century art, with canopied niches from which the statuettes have disappeared. There are also two par- close screens.” It sounds like an absolutely rocking place then!

I didn’t actually head into the village as Ipplepen’s Moor Road ground is situated to the north of the village down some tight country lanes. Upon arrival, the ground is certainly an excellent set-up for Level 12 and wouldn’t look out of place slightly higher in the pyramid too. Right next to the cricket club, you enter the ground either through or down the side of the clubhouse to a wide open grassy area and the actual pitch. Inside the clubhouse it is spacious and easily kept the big crowd (big for this league at least!) in and seated if they wished to watch the game from there, although it is set back some way from the pitch. The pitch itself is fairly basic. A wooden and mesh wire fence is railed off all around the pitch and at a good height (for me) too so I could lean on it! There is a small amount of hard standing down a wee bit of the clubhouse side that would probably need to be increased to host a higher level of football (which Ipplepen are hoping to do one day). Behind one goal the grass bank is raised so it can provide a decent view and apart from that there are no other spectator facilities, yet. One final point is behind the other goal is a small training pitch and car park which is surrounded by lights (check other photos). It would probably be fair to presume that they could erect floodlights around the pitch should they need to in the future.

While things off the pitch look good, Ipplepen on the pitch aren’t quite ready to make the charge towards the Southwest Peninsula Leagues just yet as this was their first season back in the South Devon League Premier and were not exactly troubling the top sides. Going into this game in 8th (out of 14) having got 28 points and only 3 (including this one) to play. This was their first season back in the Premier Division though and so they had achieved their target of not being involved in a relegation battle as footballing giants Ashburton and Waldon Athletic looked to be taking the drop. They welcomed Abbotskerswell to Moor Road who had made the short 2 mile journey down the A381 for this derby game. Coming into the match up in 5th, the away side were the favourites for this game and they having only played 19 games up till this one, they could still have a Top 2 position at the end of the season. So not only local pride to play for then!

The game kicked off in glorious sunshine and both teams made a positive start as they wanted to impress the larger than normal crowd who had turned up. Ipplepen did look good on the counter attack early on, but very quickly Abbotskerswell began to get on top, especially through their #3, the left back, Paul Sharland, who rampaged up and down early down and caused the Ipplepen right back all sorts of problems. They then went close from two free-kicks, the first one was quickly taken which caught out the home defence but the shot was fired wide and then Ipplepen goalie Scott Bond saved well from a driven free kick. The opening goal was coming and it was no surprise on 23 minutes when Abbots took the lead from a piece of individual brilliance. A long diagonal ball from the left found Shane Gagg on the right edge who cut inside and beat one man then fired home into the top left corner to give Abbots a great lead. Abbots should have increased their lead further on 34 minutes when a through ball put an Abbots player 1 on 1 with Ipplepen goalie Scott Bond and as he rounded him, the player could only crash his shot onto the underside of the bar and away as he had the goal at his mercy. Sharland then forced Bond into another good save as at HT the away side were looking at an easy win and I was looking at the most one-sided derby I’d ever seen. Ok, 2nd most.

The 2nd half continued in the exact same way as most of the 1st as Abbots only needed 5 minutes to increase the lead as another through ball put beefy striker James Woodmore onto goal. As he had a couple of defenders around him and looked quite big, I didn’t expect much to happen, but suddenly, Woodmore burst away and he had pace! He easily skipped past the last defender a la Maradonna c.2002 before easily slotting home and it looked game over there and then. That is also what Abbots must have felt too as they eased off so much that Ipplepen came right back into the game. At first, they looked fairly blunt up front and so the game was probably drifting to a 2-0 away win when the ‘Pen won a free kick on 63 minutes. The cross was floated in and Stewart Sparkes beat Abbots goalie Chris Jackson to the ball and so his header sailed into the empty net. Game on! Especially when Woodmore thought he scored his 2nd but in the build-up play to the goal, everyone in the ground noticed the blatant handball. On 75 minutes, ‘Pen won another free-kick, in round about the same area as they had scored their goal from so people took notice. This time the ball was hit in with pace and it went through everyone to arrive at the back post where Jack Stacey hammered the ball in from around 5 yards out. The home fans/bench were delighted as they had amazingly come back from the dead. (Insert Lazarus joke here) That revival lasted only 3 minutes though as yet another through ball cut the home defence to pieces and Paul Dodson finished his 1 on 1 chance easily and made it 2-3. Ipplepen came back though, they hit the bar after some head tennis in the box as Jackson looked extremely shaky on crosses and ‘Pen knew this. Abbots though let the game drift away though and won it 3-2 and celebrated at the final whistle like they’d won the World Cup. Would be some banter on those farms on the Tuesday!

So for my first game for the “3 in 3” it was a far better experience than expected. An excellent game played by two attacking teams in an excellent setting. Some good weather too (I wouldn’t like coming here on a wet day) made this a really worth while trip. An ambitious team who want to be some day playing in the SWPL, so while that may seem a fair bit away currently, who’s to doubt their advance in the future. A recommended visit.

Photos from Ipplepen Athletic vs Abbotskerswell

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Match Ratings:

- Match: 7.5/10 (expectantly good entertainment)

- Value for money: 6/10 (ok, but a lot at Level 12 don’t charge)

- Ground: 6/10 (professional in a good setting)

- Atmosphere: 6/10 (lively here and there)

- Food: N/A – still on Lent so couldn’t sample the BBQ

- Programme: 7/10 (was free and had the info you want, good stuff)

- Referee: Allen Johns – 7.5/10 (great game, kept control)

Road to Wembley 2010/11 (Semi-Final)

WEMBLEY! WEMBLEY! WE’VE FINALLY REACHED WEMBLEY! Although as I’ve repeatedly moaned at before, not at the Final stage. This was the “bigger” Semi-Final. Citeh vs United. Blue vs Red. (Add other melodramatic face-offs if you wish) where the winner would have a crack at the FA Cup against either Bolton or Stoke.  

(It’s all love love love)

Unlike in early rounds where only around 150 hardy souls would know (and care) about the result, considering this game was watched around the World by millions, it seems pointless for me to regurgitate any of the action. We all know City won 1-0. We all know Yaya Toure scored the only goal. We all know Paul “can’t tackle” Scholes was sent off for an awful challenge Pablo Zabaleta and we all know the World’s most expensive wind up merchant Mario Balotelli did his job and got Rio Ferdinand riled up like the hypocrite he is.

(Boom! 1-0!)

I managed to catch most of the game on shITV as I rushed back from Wellington and made a few observations. 1 – Paul Scholes needs to retire and retire now. He just looks off the pace and completely ineffective at this level. 2 – The FA Cup needed an “Original Top 4” free Final as I felt (especially with Chelsea and Man Utd) they want to win the bigger trophies like the League and CL so won’t be that fussed about missing out on the FA Cup this time. Andddd 3 – ITV is really shit. BBC please buy the rights to FA Cup games from them. I’m begging you. Good luck to Manchester City and Stoke City on May 14th.

(I told you it was all love love love!)

ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2010/2011:

EXTRA PRELIMINARY ROUND: Elmore 1-5 Hamworthy Utd (Horsdon Park, Att: 247)

PRELIMINARY ROUND: Hamworthy Utd 2-2 Sherborne Town (County Ground, Att: 122)

PRELIMINARY ROUND Replay: Sherborne Town 3–0 Hamworthy Utd (Raleigh Grove, Att: 154)

1ST QUALIFYING ROUND: Wimborne Town 1-3 Sherborne Town (The Cuthbury, Att: 226)

2ND QUALIFYING ROUND: Sherborne Town 1-2 Hungerford Town (Raleigh Grove, Att: 138)

3RD QUALIFYING ROUND: Swindon Supermarine 4-0 Hungerford Town (Webb’s Wood Stadium, Att: 365)

4TH QUALIFYING ROUND: Swindon Supermarine 0-0 Bath City (Webb’s Wood Stadium, Att: 551)

4TH QUALIFYING ROUND Replay: Bath City 3-4 Swindon Supermarine (Twerton Park, Att: 665)

1ST ROUND: Swindon Supermarine 2-1 Eastwood Town (Webb’s Wood Stadium, Att: 1,159)

2ND ROUND: Colchester United 1-0 Swindon Supermarine (Colchester Community Stadium, Att: 3,047)

3RD Round: Swansea City 4-0 Colchester United (Liberty Stadium, Att: 7,005)

4TH Round: Swansea City 1-2 Leyton Orient (Liberty Stadium, Att: 6,281

5TH Round: Leyton Orient 1-1 Arsenal (Brisbane Road, Att: 9,136)

5TH Round Replay: Arsenal 5-0 Leyton Orient (Emirates Stadium, Att: 59,361)

QUARTER-FINAL: Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal (Old Trafford, Att: 74,693)

SEMI-FINAL: Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United (Wembley Stadium, Att: 86,549)

Wellington AFC vs Bishop Sutton (16/04/11)

Match 114

Ground #: 81

Ground: North Street

Competition: Western Premier League (Level 9)

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £5

Programme: With Admission

Attendance: 54 

Wellington AFC 1

Herrod 3’

Bishop Sutton 1

Farmer 61’

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The Western League was easily my favourite football league in this country before I got stuck into the SWPL more and it was sadly overtaken as the majority of WL clubs are situated in and around Bristol which is miles away from me. However, with my current campaign to “clean up” many of the grounds near to me before 2011/12, I was off to Somerset to visit Western League Premier strugglers Wellington and a ground that I had been planning to visit for quite some time.

Wellington, in Somerset (not to be confused with the Wellington in Shropshire or New Zealand!) is a small industrial town situated around 7 miles south west of Taunton, near the boarder with Devon. Known as Weolingtun in the Anglo-Saxon period, its name had changed to Walintone by the time of the Domesday Book of 1086. Wellington became a town under a royal charter of 1215 and during the medieval period it grew as a centre for trade on the road from Bristol to Exeter. Major rebuilding took place following a fire in the town in 1731, after which it became a centre for clothmaking. Wellington gave its name to the first Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, who is commemorated by the nearby Wellington Monument. Local industries, which now include an aerosol factory and bed manufacturers, are celebrated at the Wellington Museum in Fore Street.

The town’s football team play at the local playing fields in the town on North Street. They share the playing surface with the town’s cricket team who have their pavilion just set off from the football pitch. It is this sharing arrangement which is why Wellington’s North Street ground feels only like half a ground. On one side (where you come in) is a covered standing area that also has a few loose seats that can be sat on. (Obviously, or whatever else you would want to do to/with the seats) The dugouts are also both this side as well as the rear entrance to the small clubhouse. 3 sides of the pitch (not the cricket side) are railed off with hard standing around most of this section. Also, to play at this level, a seated stand is needed within the ground and this is situated randomly behind a goal with a plastic atcost structure that doesn’t really look right. The ground is “enclosed” due to metal shielding panels that run along the cricket side. This also looks out of place and while you have to remember the ground is situated in the town’s playing fields, it’s a shame that it doesn’t feel like a permanent structure or a place Wellington can really call home. One final point on the ground, I was interested to see how cricket was played in the summer here with floodlights et al, but in the programme, the club chairman was asking for volunteers to help take them down after their final home game of the season on Good Friday. Question solved.

The team itself hadn’t had a particularly good season on the pitch and were right in the shit, in terms of a relegation battle, to avoid the drop down to Western Division 1. After a shocking start where they didn’t pick up their first league win until 23rd October with a 2-1 home win over Corsham Town, they were playing catch up ever since and went into this game in 18th (out of 19) on 17 points, just 2 ahead of bottom club Welton Rovers and 6 behind Longwell Green Sports, but with a game in hand on them. While talking to a club official just before KO, Wellington are in the dark at the moment in terms of relegation from this league. Last season with 20 teams, two (Calne Town and Melksham Town) were the unlucky clubs to drop into Western D1. This season could be different however with only 19 clubs, it may only be one unlucky team to make the drop. Whatever does happen, Wellington would want to finish above Longwell Green Sports, just to make sure the threat of relegation does not haunt them at the end of the season. They welcomed Bishop Sutton for this game who were at the opposite end of the table as they approached this game in 3rd place (although Ilfracombe in 4th had two games in hand on them and only 1 point down). Located near Bristol at the other end of Somerset, BS is a horrifically difficult ground to get to and from via public transport but a few hardy souls (around 10, I noticed) had made the trip from the small village in the Chew Valley.

Wellington had played BS only recently and won 2-0 at Lakeview and looked like carrying on their recent good form against BS when they took an early lead. It was only 3 minutes in when Alex Pounde put a delightful through ball to set Craig Herrod on his way and his 20 yard chip sailed over BS goalie Chris Blammon for an exceptional start for the home side and the management team on the bench celebrated that goal like they had just won the World Cup. BS didn’t let that bother them however as they came straight back into the game with the vast amount of territory and possession. BS were also helped by Wellington’s midfield going completely missing at important times so the away side’s first barrier of defence they were coming up against was the actual back line which was putting Welly up against it time and time again. They were however still a small threat on the counter attack, although that ended midway through the half as Wellington’s most dangerous player, Jack Adams made a calf strain worse and was subbed, the 2nd sub Wellington had to make due to an injury already. It was nearly all 3 subs on 41 minutes when a frankly awful challenge on Craig Herrod had the Wellington management off the bench and running towards Craig with a first aid pack. The defender only got a yellow card which was a pathetic decision. I’m not one for wishing players get sent off but the tackle was nearly assault! The match was also now beginning to get spicy not helped by an incompetent referee who was ignoring every call his linesmen made and infuriated everyone at the game.

The 2nd half followed much of the same pattern as the 1st half with BS trying hard to get an equalizer that you have to say now their possession deserved. That equalizer did arrive on 61 minutes when a cross from the left found its way to the back post where Liam Farmer was on hand to volley his shot into the ground and bounce away from Ryan Lewis in the Welly net for the equalizer. From then on it was just one end to the other (although not that exciting) as both sides tried to find a winner. It was Bishop Sutton right at the death who had the best chances to take it. Firstly, some last gasp defending in the 6 yard box stopped BS getting a goal bound shot away before in the very very last minute, a free kick from the left again was poorly defended and a BS player somehow contrived to fire over from about 6 yards. 1-1 was the final score. A score that probably doesn’t do either team any good.

Bar the ground set-up (which is hardly the club’s fault), I enjoyed this day out and even got some excellent weather again for the 2nd half. Every person I spoke with involved with the club was extremely friendly and helpful and I hope they win their battle to stay up in the Western Premier. They are at home to Dawlish Town on Good Friday while other relegation candidates Longwell Green Sports are at home to Bitton. Should results go in favour of Wellington on that day, then a relegation crunch match on 30th April where the winners will stay up. And the loser, erm, might not.

Photos from Wellington vs Bishop Sutton

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Match Ratings:

- Match: 6.5/10 (fairly entertaining)

- Value for money: 6.5/10 (normal amount for the league)

- Ground: 4.5/10 (doesn’t really feel like a ground)

- Atmosphere: 5/10 (was decent enough)

- Food: 7/10 (extra points for doing Irn Bru, pasties look good too)

- Programme: 4.5/10 (not great, an ad fest but was free)

- Referee: D.Ricketts – 2/10 (woeful, assistants are there to help pal)