Southwest Challenge Cup Results 15/07/09

Wednesday night (last night) saw the 2nd round of the Group Stage games of the SW Challenge Cup, it saw the holders Eastleigh, Grimsby Town, Luton Town and Rushden and Diamonds play their opening games. Below are the results:

Eastleigh 1-0 Ilfracombe Town

Luton Town 3-0 Bideford AFC

Blackpool 1-1 Rushden and Diamonds (R+D won 4-2 on penalties)

Grimsby Town 1-0 RRFC Montegnée

It means the final games to be played on Friday 17th all have something on them for the teams who are trying to qualify for the Semi-Finals:

Group A – Exeter City vs Eastleigh (winner goes through, simples)

Group B – Yeovil Town vs Grimsby Town (I’ll be at this game for the Group B decider, winner here goes through)

Group C – Wycombe Wanderers vs Luton Town (again, winner goes through)

Group D – Rushden and Diamonds vs Barnstaple Town (if Rushden win, they go through, if Barnstaple win – then Blackpool go through)

I’m looking forward to tomorrows game at Torrington to see who goes through in Group B – report coming Friday night/Saturday morn

Yeovil Town vs RRFC Montegnée (13/07/09)

Match 48

Ground #: 23

Ground: Marshford (normally used by Appledore FC)

Competition: Errea Southwest Challenge Cup 2009 Group Stage

Kick Off: 6pm

Cost: £5 (day ticket – allowed entry to all 4 matches being played that day)

Programme: £1 (tournament programme)

Attendance: 85

Yeovil Town 5

Razak 32’, Mason (pen) 60’, Jones 65’, Downes 75’, 77’

RRFC Montegnée 0

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I’ve begun to notice how short this summer break is for football. With the domestic season ending around the end of May and pre-season games kicking off the beginning of July, that leaves about a month of holiday for everyone involved. Luckily I had the Confederations Cup this summer to keep me occupied and my 2nd year University exams too. Now they were out the way and I had a summer of doing not a lot, I was glad that the Southwest Challenge Cup had arrived so my 09/10 season could get underway. I had blogged on the Southwest Challenge Cup here: http://thetravellingfan.blogspot.com/2009/07/southwest-challenge-cup.html (for those reading this on the archive). The rules of the Group Stage were 40 mins each way, with rolling subs and the points scored would be: Team winner = 3 points, Team loser who scored = 2 points and Team loser who were goal-less = 1 point. Any matches ending in a draw would be decided on penalties.

While some may not enjoy these pre-season games, I like the relaxed atmosphere and the working out you need to do to see who is that un-named trialist your club seem to have pulled in last minute. I decided upon the game at Appledore, right on the North Devon coast. Appledore is famous for a few things, the big shipbuilders which is still there today. Hawking’s ice cream, which is based in Appledore and is extremely nice and also famous for the Jackson’s coming to live there for 6 weeks last summer. The ground itself, is on the road into Appledore so its hard to miss. It does have parking there but tonight this was reserved for players and officials only so I had to park across the road on a field. Marshfield is a small, but adequate ground with it being railed off on all sides, but with cover down one side where the clubhouse is. Appledore, who normally play here, play in the South West Peninsula League Division 1 East (which is Level 11). They seem to finish in mid-table a lot so are most likely not going to leave that Level for a while.

The first team to come here were Yeovil Town who play in League 1 (Level 3), and are near enough the local area to have brought a decent travelling contingent to the game. They finished 17th in the league last season, however I feel a mighty struggle for them this season looks likely as League 1 has a lot of “big” teams in it this season. Under boss Terry Skiverton (who said hello to the fans, he looks about 10) a season of survival might be seen as successful. They had brought a load of trialists to the game, including two goalkeepers, as they currently have none on their books so it would be interesting to see how this squad would perform. Their opponents were the reason why I had chosen this game. RRFC Montegnée play in the Provisional County D1 in Belgium (the lowest national league – thanks to dottirofhod for that information). However, they are slightly different, as their mission states, they aim “to provide student athletes an opportunity to reach their optimal playing performance, while pursuing a professional degree.” Their team are made up of youngsters from worldwide who study while playing professional football at some level. Some of their new recruits this season have come from clubs like Villarreal, FC Hollywood, Academia FC and Toronto Lynx amongst others. It would be interesting to see these players here and a club/university hybrid and see how they perform.

When I arrived at Appledore wet would be an understatement. Peeing down and then a bit more would be how to describe the weather and the first time I took the picture above, it was blurry due to my camera lens getting wet. The hardy band of supporters (a decent turn out from Yeovil) took shelter under the only bit of cover at the ground to watch both sides train and warm up. The food on offer was either a chip van, a Hawking’s ice cream van (in this weather!?) or something from the clubhouse. However the entrance to it flooded early on, so I stayed away and played safe with chips before kick-off.

The game kicked off with it still peeing down, and actually getting heavier still as both sides tried to get the ball down and have a play. While the quality wasn’t great from either side, there were some good honest tackles coming in from both sides. Montegnée tried to force themselves into the game and at times early on got themselves into good positions only to waste the chance through lack of support or no final ball. It took them a while to get going Yeovil but when they finally did, the chances started to come. Firstly Gavin Tomlin was put through but the Montegnée goalie did well to block the shot with his legs, however the defence began to look more static and it was no surprise when a good passing move from Yeovil put on trial striker Hamdi Razak through on goal and slotted the ball under the goalie to give Yeovil the lead. The young Belgian side needed to stay strong here till half-time yet they began to fall apart as Yeovil began to batter them with Razak first missing a brilliant overhead kick which unluckily went past the post and he also missed another good chance just before half-time. Montegnée had survived to get in at 0-1, but only just.

The second half kicked off with no rain and with Yeovil having changed their squad entirely for the 2nd half and Montegnée tested new goalie Arran Lee-Barrett with two decent efforts at the start of the half. The rain didn’t hold off for long however as the heavens opened again soon into the 2nd half and Yeovil began to dominate as they looked to put this game beyond the Belgians. Firstly, the Provisional League side struggled to deal with some decent crosses being put in, however it was soon over as another through ball put through another striker on trial, Sam Williams (who featured at Brentford last season) who took the ball around the goalkeeper and was brought down for a penalty. Ryan Mason (who is on loan from Spurs) stepped up and easily scored to make it 2-0. Here Montegnée began to fall apart with a great passing move opened up the Belgian defence with ease and Nathan Jones (Yeovil’s Assistant Manager/Player) finished the move off by placing it around the keeper for 3. Another goal was scored soon after when a great curling shot from Dean Bowditch (also on trial) was well saved by the Montegnée goalie, however he spilled the shot in front of Aidan Downes and he couldn’t miss. The end of scoring was completed near the final whistle as another good cross was put in by Nathan Jones who found Aidan Downes again, who had got in between goalie and defender, and he volleyed home to make it 5-0. Game over.

While seeing 5 goals on the opening game is fairly good, it did seem a tad harsh on the Belgians who had matched Yeovil for most of the first half and had created a few chances of their own. They will look to do better tomorrow (Wednesday 15th) when they take on Grimsby Town at Barnstaple’s Field Mill. Yeovil will be pleased with the run out and look good to qualify for the semi-finals from this group when they take on Grimsby Town in the decider on Friday 17th at Torrington (a game I will be at). As for the weather…… Strange. Rain, sun, it was still fairly warm and even a rainbow (check my other photos) were all here at Appledore. A decent start to the Southwest Challenge Cup although only 85 was the official attendance (it looked much more) and I hope it continues on Friday. Its good to be back.

Southwest Challenge Cup Results: (from 13th July)

Yeovil Town 5-0 RRFC Montegnée

Barnstaple Town 0-5 Blackpool FC

Ilfracombe Town 1-4 Exeter City

Bideford AFC 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers (Wycombe won 5-4 on pens)

Photos from Yeovil Town vs RRFC Montegnée

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Match Ratings:

- Match: 5/10 (decent start to the season, nice early goal boost)

- Value for money: 5/10 (£5 for one game isn’t value for money, however the opportunity to go to the other day’s games is)

- Ground: 4/10 (fairly basic)

- Atmosphere: 4/10 (hard to create a good atmosphere here, but a decent turn out from the Glovers fans)

- Food: 5/10 (the chips I had were only 99p, but not that great. Nearly had the audacity to buy an ice cream in this weather)

- Programme: 9/10 (the tournament programme is only £1 and is well detailed and good looking too)

- Referee: Marvyn Amphlett – 7/10 (fair play to Marvyn for realising this was only a friendly and was very wet after a few flying tackles)

Southwest Challenge Cup

While pre-season games are not everybody’s cup of tea and pre-season tournaments are even less popular, when the Errea Southwest Challenge Cup was announced last year I had fancied trying to get to a couple of games. I managed zero. This season I won’t be making the same mistake as North Devon isn’t known for its football, so it is good to see something like this on my doorstep.

Last years tournament was contested by 8 teams; Crystal Palace, Yeovil Town, Torquay United, Kidderminster Harriers, Eastleigh, Chertsey Town, Bideford and Barnstaple Town. With the games being held over 3 grounds, Bideford’s Sports Ground, Barnstaple’s Field Mill and Appledore’s Marshford. Blue Square South team Eastleigh ended up winners after being Torquay United on penalties after a 2-2 draw. This season’s tournament looks a lot better with 12 teams entering (detailed below) and two other grounds added to host games, Ilfracombe’s Marlborough Park and Torrington’s Vicarage Field. I do plan to get to two games, both with reasons for going to them, rather than just a random day out. Here are the teams contesting:

Group A: - Eastleigh (holders) – Conference South team, finished 3rd last season

- Exeter City – League 1, promoted last season after finishing 2nd

- Ilfracombe Town – Western Premier, finished 14th last season

Group B: – Grimsby Town – League 2, survived thanks to Luton Town’s unfair penalty last season (22nd)

- RRFC Montegnée – Belgian Provincial League, dark horses

- Yeovil Town – League 1, finished 17th last season

Group C: – Bideford AFC – Western Premier, finished 6th last season

- Luton Town – Blue Square Premier, relegated from League 2 last season

- Wycombe Wanderers – League 1, promoted last season after finishing 3rd

Group D: – Barnstaple Town – Western Premier, finished 18th last season

- Blackpool – Championship, Ian Holloway back to his part of the World

- Rushden and Diamonds – Blue Square Premier, finished 11th last season

The two games I will be going to are both in Group C (thats just how the draw worked out!), firstly on the 13th (tomorrow), I will be going to Appledore to watch RRFC Montegnée vs Yeovil Town. I wanted to see this Belgian team as soon as their entry was announced, I’ll detail about them in my blog report as its quite an opportunity to see a club run the way they are to come to this region. The 2nd game I am planning to go to is on the 17th which is Grimsby Town vs Yeovil Town. Not very exciting I know, however that is being played in the village I live in of Torrington, a small place of around 2000 people (if that) so to see two Football League teams play at the local ground will be quite surreal.

More details of the grounds and games after I’ve been, and I might even do a tournament report for all you lucky people. The games should be good way to kick off the season even though they are 40 mins each way in the Group Stage, with the 4 Group Winners meeting in the Semi-Finals. Good luck to the 12 teams taking part!

Silverstone (05/07/09)

Apart from football, I have two other sports that I really love. One is tennis and as I couldn’t get tickets for the Wimbledon final between Federer and Roddick, my other favourite sport (2nd behind football) would have to be viewed instead. That is motor racing, well Formula 1 in particular. I have been a fan of the series since around 1998, with Mika Hakkinen (my all time F1 hero) winning the World Championship with McLaren (my all time F1 favourite team). I now try and view every race of the season, even if that means getting up at 5am to view the Australian GP! Therefore when Renault announced that their World Series tickets were to be free for the British leg of the series at Silverstone, I jumped right on it and ordered tickets.

For those who don’t know Silverstone, let me explain. Silverstone circuit, in Nottinghamshire and Buckinghamshire, was built on the site of a former WW2 bomber base, RAF Silverstone. It hosted the very first Formula 1 World Championship race in 1950 which was won by Giuseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo. He went on to become the very first winner of the F1 Drivers Championship with 3 wins that season out of 7. It had hosted the British GP regularly since 1950, however it has been announced that Donington Park would host the British GP from 2010. However with Donington not looking ready for then (major improvements are needed), Silverstone could host one last hurrah next year. Silverstone still hosts major events, such as the Le Mans Series and Moto GP (from 2010). It is also the home of British Motor Racing with even a stand built just for its members.

For the Renault World Series, many events are held across the weekend, however due to the fact we live 4 hour away from the track, me and my Dad made the journey for the Sunday only and arrived in fairly nice weather (a change for Silverstone) to view my first racing event. We first sat at Nuffield, one of the final corners of the track where the main event, Formula Renault 3.0 race was about to take place. Here is my view of the track:

I also got some decent shots on my digi camera of some of the cars coming round in the formation lap:

And also caught the cars coming round on Lap 3 on film, now on Youtube:

(Apologies for some shoddy filming!) The race was won by Charles Pic who was driving for Tech 1 Racing. Championship leader Marcos Martinez came 6th. After that race we headed towards the pit straight for a wee wonder about, before picking up something to eat. Sadly, my cheeseburger cost £4 and that was cheap! We headed up to Woodcote curve where you come onto the start/finish line, for the 2nd race – the Eurocup Mégane Trophy which was quite entertaining, with spins (not in our part of the track sadly) I caught the start on film too:

This race was won by Dimitri Enjalbert who was driving for Boutson Energy Racing. We walked around after that again, over the bridge to the attractions, demos and exhibitions that Renault had put on, such as classic cars like this F1 Car driven by Alain Prost:

The final place we stopped to watch was at the Chapel turn where here we sat Nigel Mansell drive around in a classic F1 car and also this season’s Renault F1 car do a demo run. We decided to sack off the final race, a touring car race, and head for the car park. I’ll be honest now, I had read and heard some people’s experiences in trying to leave Silverstone but I did not expect to be stuck in a field for 2 hours going nowhere. That said we did finally get out and made the long journey home. An enjoyable day out at my first motor racing experience and hopefully Renault will change the track for the 2010 World Series leg in the UK so I can see more.

Photos From Silverstone

Personal Season 09/10 Preview

Its far too early in pre-season (which for most teams hasn’t even started yet) to start making my yearly predictions (and see how laughably wrong they are). Therefore this post is to detail some upcoming events and changes to the blog.

Firstly, the pictures that have been taken during games will now be trusted to my new phone. As I am a phone geek and enjoy new phones, this season’s pictures will be taken by:

The LG Arena. Before I turn this post into a phone love fest, I’ll stop here. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference between the pictures the Arena takes and my old phone, LG Viewty.

Its first real test will be on the 5th July to my mystery non-football location. Which I’ll now reveal is….. SILVERSTONE! The home of British Motor Racing will host the UK leg of the Renault World Series on the 4-5th July and I’ll be going on the Sunday to view some motorsport action. I’m looking forward to writing the report about that day.

I’ve also got some early season fixtures planned, the box over on the left details the ones coming up soon, but here is a provisional list of games I hope (and I stress hope) to attend over the course of the season.

13th July - RRFC Montegnee vs Yeovil (Southwest Challenge Cup – played @ Appledore FC)

17th July - Yeovil vs Grimsby (Southwest Challenge Cup – played @ Torrington FC)

16th August – Barnstaple Town vs Tavistock (FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round)

29th September – Preston NE vs Reading (English Championship)

10th/17th October – Annan Athletic vs Montrose/Stranraer (Scottish 3rd Division)

5th December – Hamilton Academicals vs Hearts (Scottish Premier Division)

2nd January – Exeter City vs Carlisle United (English League 1)

23rd January – Queen of the South vs Dundee (Scottish Division 1)

20th February – Wigan vs Spurs (English Premiership)

10th April – Torquay United vs Rochdale (English League 2)

8th May – Morecambe vs Aldershot Town *last game at Christie Park* (English League 2)

These fixtures are provisional of course and I’ll know more games to see when the non-league fixtures start coming out over the coming weeks. While writing this it has also come to my attention that Plymouth Argyle are set to host a leading SPL club on the 29th July. That club is heavily rumoured to be Hearts. KA-CHING.

I hope to this season plan to write at least a post a week, even if it is utter dross. So I’ll be returning to more football snapshots and famous players articles whilst also trying to get some of my sporting articles published in other places.

With the 09/10 season officially about to start (it started yesterday to be fair), good luck to all teams this season (except Hibs) and enjoy the football.

New Fan Project

I knew my blog would look a little lonely over the summer as I took a break from football, however I did come up with a little feature that I may use over each summer break (I intend to keep this blog up you know!). Titled, “New Fan Project”, its basically me e-mailing clubs from a certain country telling them how I am a supporter of said league and club and hope they send me some free stuff. Now I know straight away what you are thinking, “what a cheeky sod”, however if clubs do send me stuff that I don’t really want or have space for then I intend to somehow sell it for charity (on eBay or another medium).

This summer, I decided to ask Germany and the Bundesliga, 2.Bundesliga and also try the 3.Bundesliga clubs to see what they sent. With the help of my German speaking friend Julian, I am currently in the process of e-mailing all the clubs I intend to. However, I decided not to ask for anything from the Bundesliga clubs (except Bayern, as they appear to have no general e-mail address) which may have backfired as I have so far had 7 lovely e-mails thanking me for my support but nothing else. At least they replied I suppose, so well done to the following clubs so far:

Hamburg SV

Hannover 96

Schalke 04 – actually wrote to me in English

FSV Mainz 05

Vfl Bochum – wrote a funny e-mail also congratulating me on my German

FC Koln

Borussia Dortmund – the first to reply

I’ll be sending the rest of the e-mails out (with an updated sentence asking for stuff!) in the hope that clubs might do. I’ll keep the blog updated on any response I get.

Speaking of charity, I urge you to go read “Journey to the 92” which can be found in the blog list links on the left, or visit http://tothe92.blogspot.com/ . It details how a Gillingham fan is travelling around each of the 92 clubs and donating it all to a worthy cause, a great read. When I finally get some coffers in the bank I will donate to his cause, the Great Ormond Street hospital and hope you all do too.

I’ll write a preview of the upcoming 09/10 season detailing the changes that will happen and hopefully where I will be going to. Also, I’ll reveal where I am going on July 5th to this mysterious non-footballing event, it is that exciting!!

Grounds for 2009/2010

Here is the list and reasons of the various grounds I hope to visit next season and the reasons why. How many will I get to? Who knows, but these are at the top of the list.

NORTH DEVON:

Exeter City (St James Park) – While I have visited the real St James Park twice before and saw 8 goals in the process, a blog report will be done here next season. Hopefully I can get to see Carlisle United when they come down to Devon.

Torquay United or Plymouth Argyle (Plainmoor or Home Park) – Another ground down in Devon and a choice needs to be made. Its extremely likely I won’t have the time and/or money to get to both Torquay and Plymouth, so which one? Torquay will have the cheaper price, but Plymouth (in theory) will play the better football, but at a more expensive price. The fixture list will help me with this one. Plymouth vs Newcastle maybe?

Barnstaple Town (Mill Road) – Could be my first competitive fixture of the season and one I hope to see early on. Easy to get to and affordable too.

Elmore (Horsdon Park) – Tiverton’s other team, who play in the Western League Division One should be another one that I’ll get to. Most likely over Easter.

NORTH WEST:

Morecambe (Christie Park) – I’ve been many times to Christie Park also, however a blog report should be nice there and its also the Shrimps’ last season there so I hope to get to the last ever match at CP in late April/May.

Preston (Deepdale) – This is a must. It should be my last year at Lancaster and the biggest team in the area is a must see. Regardless of the more expensive price I will have to pay, hopefully will get to see a decent team or even better, the derby vs Blackpool.

Bamber Bridge (QED Stadium) – Another must, with Bamber Bridge just South of Preston, would be better to visit with Lancaster City but beggars can’t be choosers.

Chorley (Victory Park) – Another ground on the line between Lancaster and Manchester, so Chorley could be another ground to visit with Lancaster City.

Bolton Wanderers or Wigan Athletic (Reebok Stadium or JJB Stadium) – Yet another choice, due to Premiership prices and I’m swaying towards Wigan as I don’t really fancy paying £30+ to sit in a soul-less, plastic ground watching crap football. If Spurs play Wigan when I have a day free, I’ll be at that thanks to my Spurs supporting friend.

Rochdale (Spotland) – A groundhopper’s favourite, hoping to see Rochdale as another friend who I live with has offered many times before to go. Should be a good day out whenever I get to go.

 

Penrith (World Group Stadium) – A trip to rural Cumbria could be on the cards to visit Penrith’s new ground in the Northern League.

Gillford Park (Milltec Stadium) – Another trip to Carlisle to visit one of Carlisle’s non-league teams. Gillford Park also issue programmes as far as I’m aware so this could be an easy ground to see given my ties with Carlisle.

Barrow AFC (Holker Street) – There will only be one game that I will go and see at Holker Street and that is Barrow vs AFC Wimbledon due to me living with a Wimbledon fan next season. Most likely they’ll arrange this fixture for Boxing Day knowing the Blue Square.

SCOTLAND:

Gretna 2008 (Raydale Park) – With the reincarnation of Gretna 2008 and with them now playing at their old ground at Raydale, Gretna 2008 is now a must see for next season.

Annan Athletic (Galabank) – Another must see as the Division 3 newboys performed exceptionally well this past season. I’ve heard good things about Annan and Galabank and the distance isn’t too far away either.

Queen of the South (Palmerston Park) – Another possible trip to the Scottish boarders to see a possible promotion push from the Dumfries side this season. Fixture list will largely determine if I visit Palmerston this season.

Kilmarnock (Rugby Park) – I first selected this ground as geographically Kilmarnock is parallel to Hamilton (where I went this season), however on further inspection it takes an extra 30 mins to get there, (so 3 hours in total) and it appears no parking is anywhere near the ground. So sadly, this looks unlikely.

So thats it, my “wish list” for 09/10, it will be interesting to see how many of these I get to. I have a project or ‘plan’ for entertaining this blog and its readers over the summer – more on that next week. While my first blog report will be a special event on the 5th July (more on that later – its not football though! :o)