Barnstaple Town vs Tavistock (15/08/09)

Match 53

Ground #: 27

Ground: Mill Road

Competition: FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £5

Programme: £1

Attendance: 124

Barnstaple Town 3

Skinner 33’, Paxton 45’, Bell 82’, Frickleton s/off 76’

Tavistock 1

Carter 40’, Carter m/pen 80’

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Back down in Devon I decided to take in the “magic” of one of the oldest cup competitions in the World, the Football Association Cup. While most plastic fans think that the cup starts in January with the 3rd Round draw, or maybe even in October/November with the 1st Round draw, the famous competition actually kicks off in August when the Extra Preliminary Round is played which features the smallest teams entering the competition at Levels 9 and 10 on the FA Pyramid. The 3 major North Devon sides were all in action and I decided on going to Barnstaple Town who were playing South West Peninsula (Level 10) side Tavistock and hoped Ilfracombe Town got through their tie against Falmouth Town as they had been handed a home draw in the next round. (The Extra Preliminary, Preliminary and 1st Qualifying Rounds have already been drawn)

Barnstaple is the main town on the North Devon coast which takes its name from being a “staple port” in the middle ages as it was licensed to export wool. Today it is a quiet town that has benefitted from the building of the North Devon Link Road to link the town to the M5 while the start of the regeneration of the town centre is due to start in 2012. The local football team are Barnstaple Town that currently play in the Toolstation Western Premier (Level 9). The club struggled last season as most of it was spent in the relegation zone but a late run of form managed to drag the club clear and finished 18th. I saw them play last season at local rivals Bideford where they had struggled upfront but managed a decent 1-1 draw. One player who impressed that day was man mountain Darren Hawkings, however, Barnstaple had been rocked by his decision to go back to Bideford, along with top scorer Kevin Squire. Barnstaple though had signed a fair amount of new faces including ex Bideford pair, Robert Gough and Shane Tolley. Their opening two games had both finished 2-2, which included outplaying Western League champions Bitton. The visitors today were local side Tavistock AFC who played a level below them in the SW Peninsula Premier. Tavistock are based in the town near Plymouth so this was a reasonably short journey for the side. Tavistock were currently in 14th place in this division with a 1-5 defeat and a 2-1 win to their name. They finished 6th in the SWP last season and also knocked out fellow North Devon side Ilfracombe Town in the ExP Round last season 4-1, so a tough game to call this.

Parking at the rugby club next to Mill Road and soon in to have a look round, Barnstaple’s ground is quite nice with it being railed off all the way round, and having two areas of cover down both sides of the pitch. 500 seats apparently between them, as well as standing cover down the clubhouse side where I decided to stand. Having got there far too early, I decided to pop into the clubhouse which is very nice and got a lemonade for £1. Behind one goal is a set of large trees which block out the view of the rugby club (which is good, who wants to watch that egg shaped sport?) while the photo above shows behind the other goal where the main entrance is and the changing rooms. While Mill Road is in a fairly quiet part of Barnstaple, just outside of the centre, there are signs of it being in a large town with the multi-story council offices in plain view as well as the Taw Bridge which was built in 2007. Before the match I read that the replay (if needed) would be played on Wednesday 19th at Tavistock, could be a new ground then…

The game kicked off in fairly decent weather as both sides went at each other quite furiously with some tasty challenges coming in, especially from Tavistock, but very few goalscoring chances. The first chance was a Shane Tolley header that just went over as Barnstaple began to become the dominant side. Yet, were lucky to escape when captain Jamie Frickleton brought down Ben Davies and he looked the last man. Only a yellow card was shown as both sides began to get annoyed at the referee’s decisions. If the ref had booked the first or second bad challenge, that probably would have calmed the game down. After an awful 30 minutes the game suddenly got interesting as Tavistock tried to play the ball out from the back and Jamie Skinner stole the ball and skipped past two Tavvy challenges before placing the ball past goalkeeper Andrew Meeds to make it 1-0. Up until this point I was beginning to worry that the game would be an awful 0-0. Barnstaple though tried to throw it away when an awful back pass was nearly intercepted by Adam Carter (who must be one of the laziest strikers I have ever seen), his challenge on goalie Jamie Pow was a little rash and when the ball broke to Lee Bevan, Frickleton had to get a block on the line. Minutes later it was 1-1, when a Tavvy throw in looked to have been helped on by an attacker’s hand, it found Carter alone in the box and he smashed it past Pow to equalize. Barnstaple though got a 2nd right on half-time when a well worked move found Tolley on the right wing and his great cross was headed in by young striker Stan Paxton to give Barum (no idea why they are nicknamed that) a half-time lead.

The second half was almost identical to the first with the first 25/30 minutes being quite awful with no a lot happening before a mental last 15 minutes. On the 76th minute a cross came in which a Tavvy defender clearly handled. The ref was having none of it and so Tavvy lumped the ball forward, Frickleton was penalised for an aerial challenge on the half-way line. A second yellow was shown and Barnstaple would have to play 15 minutes or so with 10 men. They should have made it safe however soon after when a great run and shot from Robbie Gough curled away from Meeds in goal and onto the bar. The game was now fully stretched as both sides looked for the goal they needed and when a Tavistock cross was accidentally handled by Jamie Skinner, the ref gave the penalty. While this was a penalty, the clear hand-ball down the other end wasn’t given and so the decision angered Barum fans greatly as it now looked Tavistock would bag a replay. However, lazy striker Carter saw his awful penalty saved well by Jamie Pow and Barnstaple lived again. The gap in fitness now showed and Barnstaple wrapped up the win in the 82nd minute when another great cross was headed in by Danny Bell to put Barnstaple through to the Preliminary Round. Both sides had one more chance, Tavistock had a header off the line while Barnstaple’s Stan Paxton missed a great one on one. The final score though was 3-1, a deserved Barnstaple victory.

A cracking day out then in the opening round of the FA Cup. Passion, energy and some good football was good to see as Barnstaple now play Wessex League side Poole Town away in the Prelim Round. Ilfracombe let me down by losing 0-1 at home to Falmouth so my next game may not be for over a month. I really enjoyed this game and Barnstaple have definitely improved since I last saw them in April and I will probably now adopt them as my “North Devon” team and hope they get on well. Their away tie at Poole will be extremely tough but if they can do it they will face a 1st Round Qualifying tie against Falmouth Town or Street/Willand Rovers. Here’s hoping they get there.

Photos from Barnstaple Town vs Tavistock

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Match Ratings:

- Match: 7/10 (quite decent entertainment that heated up at the end)

- Value for money: 6/10 (£5 at this level is fine)

- Ground: 6/10 (fairly nice ground in a decent area)

- Atmosphere: 2/10 (none, abuse at the ref though)

- Food: 5/10 (a normal tasting cheeseburger for £2.20, tad overpriced)

- Programme: 4/10 (poor, no information about Tavistock either)

- Referee: Ryan Atkin – 2/10 (awful, lost the plot too as the game boiled over)

Gretna FC (2008) vs Ormiston (08/08/09)

Match 52

Ground #: 26

Ground: Raydale Park

Competition: East of Scotland 1st Division

Kick Off: 2:30pm

Cost: £4

Programme: £2

Attendance: 190

Gretna FC (2008) 5

Nicholson 3’,10’,33’, Carmichael 12’, Renyard 15’

Ormiston 0

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Being up in the North of England on ‘boyfriend duty’ this summer, I was tempted to get a sneaky game in up here. Looking at fixtures, Carlisle were at home to Brentford – didn’t fancy it. Penrith were at home to Morpeth Town – could be interesting. Yet then I found out the new Gretna were at home and at their spiritual home too at Raydale Park. This being a ground I had wanted to see Hearts play at in the SPL, I would have to make do with Edinburgh based (roughly) side Ormiston. They also play in maroon too. It was fate. So made the train journey from Carlisle to Gretna Green, although it was a bus replacement service on. Then took the short, delightful, grim walk through Gretna to Raydale Park.

Gretna is a small town on the Scotland/England border in Dumfries and Galloway which is famous for the “run-away” place to get married. Due to Scottish marriage law being less strict than in England, it was common for young couples to run across the border, get married and then go back home and wait for the inevitable divorce a few years later. (Their fault for getting married so young) Today, as many as 1/6th of Scottish marriages still take place here. Also in Gretna is the shopping complex – Gretna Gateway – a small outlet centre and the football team, Gretna FC (2008). Its hard to mention the club formed last season without mentioning the old club that came before it, Gretna FC. The old club, although Gretna 08’ have no legal connection to the previous club, had been playing in the Northern League until 1992 when it won promotion to the Northern Premier League (or Unibond) where it then decided its future lay in Scottish football. Having previously applied to the SFL in 1993 and 1999, they were finally accepted in 2002 taking the place of Airdrieonians. Then Brookes Mileson started his financial input and the club won successive promotions in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2006, they also reached the Scottish Cup Final where they outplayed SPL side Hearts (it was awful to watch), but the Tynecastle side came through on penalties. Their season in the SPL was a disaster, finishing bottom and then Mileson became ill and Gretna’s financial problems caught up with them and were liquidated. Annan Athletic took their place in the SFL. Ironically, Gretna’s last ever game was against us, when a 90th minute Gavin Skelton winner meant they finished on a high with a 1-0 win. The final programme is below.

The new club were set up in the summer and formed themselves as Gretna FC (2008). They dropped down to the East of Scotland League Division 1 and last season played most of their home games away from Gretna at a public park in Annan called The Everholm, however when a property developer bought Raydale Park, Gretna were allowed back to play but the length of time remains unclear. The new team have had a reasonable start to life. Finishing 4th out of 12 in the EOS 1st Div last season, they also won the Alex Jack Cup as their first piece of silverware. Promotion is the aim this season and with a youthful side who have some talent, they look a good bet to go up. Raydale Park is still a great looking ground and credit must go to the groundstaff who got the ground up to standard. Running down one side of the pitch is a covered standing area, however with nobody there except ballboys, that was probably closed off – or for the vast amount of Ormiston fans. Down the other side was a covered seating area and the open kitchen which served a cracking Scotch Pie and Irn Bru. Behind one goal was a covered seating area called the South Stand which looked up to date and extremely tidy. Behind the other goal was what I presume was temp seating that is no longer there. Now a large grass space is behind the goal allowing for players to have a larger space to warm up.

The team they welcomed to Raydale for their season opener was Ormiston FC. Ormiston were a result of a merger between Ormiston Primrose and Pencaitland in 1998/1999 to become Pencaitland and Ormiston FC, however the Pencaitland name was dropped in 2002. Ormiston are normally towards the bottom of the league, and finished 9th last season with 20 points. Hailing from just outside Edinburgh and playing in maroon, they were maybe the team I supported today, but I just sat with the larger section of Gretna fans and kept my mouth shut. Ormiston would need to be defensively tight to keep Gretna at bay. So when the game kicked off and Gretna won a corner within 20 seconds it was clear how up against it Ormiston would be. They only lasted another minute as Gretna played the ball through again, and when the ball was hooked over and through the defence, Tony Nicholson brought the goalie out before easily shooting past him, 1-0. Ormiston then seemed to collapse as Gretna looked to score on every opportunity. They did on 10 minutes when a long free kick wasn’t cleared properly and Nicholson scored from Dan Carmichael’s cross. It was 3-0 minutes later, an awful Ormiston free kick from the goalkeeper was collected by Carmichael who ran at the Ormiston defence before smashing it in. Then when on 15 minutes, Gretna’s David Renyard decided to take a shot from outside the area that flew straight in for goal # 4, this game looked like an absolute raping would be taking place. So much so, that Ormiston then went 5-4-1 and ultra defensive that seemed to pay off as they stopped Gretna scoring straight after. They also had their first chance when a free kick just missed the top of the bar. They didn’t hold out for long however, as on 33 minutes, Carmichael completed his hat-trick as he collected a cross and volleyed over Ormiston goalkeeper P.Cadger and in for 5. Cadger did make a save towards the end of the half to stop Nicholson adding a 4th. At half time it was then 5-0, Ormiston shell shocked after being completely outclassed.

The second half kicked off with it being clear that Gretna were to take the 2nd half a lot easier but still creating chances as Ormiston player Brian McEwan was the hero after clearing 3 shots off the line and goalkeeper Cadger also making a great save (or lucky) to deny Gretna a 6th. Gretna themselves were lucky to keep their clean sheet when peeing about at the back, an Ormiston striker intercepted a loose ball but lacked the final pass to make it a proper goal scoring opportunity. Gretna fans were also becoming frustrated that no goals were being added to the 5 scored in the first half as Ormiston had managed to steady the ship, shame it had already sunk. The final whistle blew with not much happening in the final 10 minutes. Gretna’s first half romp allowing them to charge to the top of the table and continued their good run on Tuesday with a 3-0 win over Gala Fairydean. While Ormiston managed to bag a 2-1 win away at Eyemouth United. (I dread to think how bad Eyemouth must be)

A good day out then in Gretna with some good weather and decent football, especially from Gretna’s front line. I think Gretna should win this division this season while Ormiston will most likely end up around their 9th place from last season. I’m also glad I managed to make Raydale Park while it was still open. A great ground that should be hosting a higher level of football and may get its chance again as this new club go from strength to strength on much solid financial foundations than its former team.

Photos from Gretna FC (2008) vs Ormiston

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Match Ratings:

- Match: 6.5/10 (1st half was great, 2nd not so much)

- Value for money: 7/10 (not complaints at paying £4 for this level)

- Ground: 7/10 (good to finally see Raydale Park)

- Atmosphere: 4/10 (190 people can’t make that much noise)

- Food: 9.5/10 (Scotch Pies and Irn Bru should be served at EVERY game)

- Programme: 5/10 (what was there was good, but 12 pages for £2 is a tad overpriced)

- Referee: James Carberry – 7/10 (seemed to do well, no linesmen either)

09/10 Season Predictions

With the season now less than a week away for most teams (it starts this Saturday), here are my predictions which are now infamous with my friends for being so laughably wrong. So here are my predictions for the English Football League and Scottish Premiership. Don't worry if I think your club will be going down, it will probably be the opposite way round, again.

Premiership

Champions -- Liverpool - There I said it, I don't like Liverpool as a club or most of their fans, but to me, they seem the best bet out of the Top 4 to take the title. Torres should easily score 20+ and they have a solid back line to help keep the goals out. However, weaknesses remain, with the sale of Xabi Alonso there appears to be no real 'World Class' passer and it remains to be seen if Alberto Aquilani is up to that task. Also, an injury to Torres or Gerrard and its game over.

The Others -- Whilst managed by Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester Utd cannot be written off, although the loss of Christiano Ronaldo is a huge blow which cannot be swept under the rug. Owen and Valencia are not good enough to score enough and with Rooney now looking fat and off form, Berbatov seemingly not wanting to play that leaves 17 year old Macheda as their main form of attack. Chelsea could be the dark horses, with Carlo Ancelotti as boss, clearly the Champions League will be the main event for them, but the problem of lack of width looks to be over with the signing of Yuri Zhirkov, the return to form of Florent Malouda and the return to fitness of Jole Cole. Arsenal need to avoid injuries which they haven't already with Sami Nasri breaking his shin, caused by his own player, otherwise a nothing season of claiming 4th looks to be on the cards. Avoid any other injuries and a quiet title challenge could be there.

Relegation -- Burnley - While getting here was a great achievement, they needn't had bothered. A poor squad, poor attendances and not much money means a return to the Championship very quickly. If your main source of attack is the one footed Steven Fletcher then you know you're in for a struggle.

Hull City - Only survived last season with a poor 35 points is because amazingly, there were another 3 teams worse than them. They won't be so lucky this season. Need a striker quickly and Jozy Altidore is a class signing, sadly need more though.

Portsmouth - Selling all of your class players and not replacing them can only lead to one thing - relegation. Even a protracted takeover may not save them as they will need 10 new players to stay up.

Dark Horses (the teams that could do well, or quite easily do bad)

Sunderland - Steve Bruce has a £40m warchest and so far seems to have bought exceptionally well. I am extremely looking forward to seeing Lorik Cana in the Premiership.

Wigan - While promising to play attacking football is good. Roberto Martinez may find out that playing it on a crap rugby pitch is not. A massive £2m gamble on Jason Scotland could also see them right down there in the relegation battle.

Championship

Champions -- Middlesbrough - By keeping the majority of a squad that shouldn't have been relegated from the Premiership in tact, Boro look good to go right back up. Alfonso Alves should also find his level here, surely.

Promoted -- Reading - Brendan Rodgers already has a reputation for being a good manager despite being in this position for less than a year. A good squad that isn't expected to be promoted automatically could easily play their way to promotion this season.

Ipswich - Could have been a number of teams in this final promotion place but the Keane factor with a decent squad could see them up.

Relegated -- Blackpool - A poor squad that will need to rely on loan signings looks a good bet for relegation. Charlie Adam picking Plymouth over Blackpool speaks volumes about their plight. Ian Holloway has already spoken about how difficult this role will be. Could be even harder in League 1 next season.

Scunthorpe - Poor squad, no money. No chance. Sorry

Coventry City - A surprising choice but a simple one. Losing two out of your four best players would hurt any team. Given that Coventry only finished 17th with these players suggests a struggle is on this season. Keiren Westwood will be a busy man and Aron Gunnarsson needs to drive in midfield. Either of those players go without an adequate replacement and its cheerio.

Dark horses -- Peterborough Utd - Who knows what Fergie Jnr's team will do in the Championship. The drive and passion of his young players could quite easily romp it in a bigger league but could also be a big fat fail. I think the former. A play-off place looks a good bet.

Newcastle Utd - Hear me out. The team is in a mess. The players want to leave. No manager and no real pre-season programme. Low confidence battered further with their raping at Leyton Orient (lost 6-1), this season could be another of struggle against teams who will really want to beat them.

League 1

Champions -- Norwich City - While a major questionmark remains over rookie boss Bryan Gunn, he has signed players who will be hungry to succeed at this level such as Matt Gill from Exeter and Grant Holt from Shrewsbury, it should be a successful attempt to bounce straight back up.

Promoted -- Leeds Utd - Finally should be able to manage the pressure with the drop of 3 other 'large' teams in this division. Simon Grayson should get the team playing well and Elland Road could be a fortress this season. Although with Fabian Delph already departed to Villa, the loss of Jermaine Beckford could be costly this season.

Huddlesfield Town - Big spending Huddlesfield are now under pressure to deliver after some big signings over the close season. Lee Clark now knows he needs to deliver and the help of a big home crowd this season could see them achieve that.

Relegated -- Stockport County - The easiest decision to make this season. They lack a squad, money and have a rookie manager in Gary Ablett who has been thrown right into the deep end. An achievement this season would be to have not been relegated by Easter. 24th.

Yeovil Town - Last season Yeovil looked doomed until new boss Terry Skiverton took over and brought in top loan signings that helped them to finish 17th. Was this a fluke though? With those loan saviours now gone, Skiverton needs to work prove this was no fluke again this season. I doubt he will.

Exeter City - The trouble with a surprise promotion is that the club would then be expected to struggle the next season. I saw Exeter twice last year and still cannot believe they actually managed to achieve promotion with such an average squad. Now that two main players have left in the form of Dean Moxey and Matt Gill, Exeter look doomed and will need to hope manager Paul Tisdale can work more magic.

Carlisle Utd - It would appear that their last day escape last season looks to be just delaying the inevitable. Losing strikers and not replacing them or being unable to replace them. Then losing goalkeeper Ben Williams who looked to be regaining form will not help either. Also a questionmark over boss Greg Abbott. Relegation looks likely I'm afraid.

Dark horses -- Gillingham - Simeon Jackson's last minute winner to get the Gills promoted showed that the Gills could compete fitness wise till the end of the season under Mark Stimpson. They also carry an important factor in football, momentum. That could easily rocket them towards the play-offs or further this season.

Tranmere Rovers - A strange choice from the Tranmere directors to allow John Barnes to manage the club, years after a shocking spell at Celtic. Worrying, Jamaica also allowed him to leave with ease after his short spell managing the national side. Looks like the decision could backfire badly. Its Barnes last chance in management, one more fail and surely no other club will take him on again.

League 2

Champions -- Rotherham Utd - Points deductions have held this club back for the past few years which can now be forgotten and a proper promotion push can now be launched at the weakest looking League 2 in years. Should romp to Champs.

Promoted -- Notts County - Now being backed by a large takeover and a big pile of money, the club have set a goal of being in the Championship by their 150th anniversary in 3 years time. That looks likely with a front line of Lee Hughes and Karl Hawley, however defensive trouble remains and who knows what type of player Sven-Goran Eriksson will bring in.

Hereford United - 'Newish' boss John Trewick seems to have got the right idea that bringing in players on permanent deals seems to be better than bringing in a team on loan. With an early emphasis on defence, Hereford might not be exciting, but will surely be effective.

Bury - My Rochdale supporting friend will probably not like to admit it, but Bury played the best football in League 2 last season and probably deserved to go up as they were a goal away from pipping Wycombe. The loss of Andy Bishop in the first few games through injury may mean a slow start, but should be capable of scoring the goals through other new strikers in Danny Carlton and Ryan Lowe.

Relegated -- Accrington Stanley - This might be the season that Stanley finally hit the drop that they have amazingly so far managed to avoid. A cut in budget means they have the lowest in the Football League. The loss of key players such as goalkeeper Kenny Arthur to Rochdale will also hurt and new players need to be brought in. The money isn't there though...

Macclesfield Town - Another team that suffer from lack of money and fans, the loss of top scorer Gareth Evans which looks to be fatal. Jonny Brain in goal will need to be on top form this season, the Silkmen don't have a 17 point headstart like last year.

Dark horses -- Torquay United - Torquay look set to become this season's 'Exeter' by romping through another league to a 2nd successive promotion. Nobody will fancy the long drive into deep Devon and have the players to take away points too. Torquay though were dire the last time in this league, let us not forget that.

Burton Albion - A real dark horse this season. Looked to be romping away in the Conference last season with a lead of 19 points that by the final day was cut down to 2. No momentum and a new, unknown manager and Burton's first season in the Football League could be their only season.

SPL

Champions -- Celtic - Tony Mowbray already has pulled off something special, a Celtic away win in Europe and now looks good to easily win the SPL this season. New signings, once settled look good and unlike the rest of the league, they have money to spend if need be.

The others -- Rangers, despite having no money should have the squad to get 2nd. I fear for them in the Champions League though as even an easy group will most likely see them finish bottom of it. Dundee Utd and Hearts are the only teams I can see properly fighting for 3rd. Although both have changed quite drastically over the summer so a good start is needed for both sides. Shame they play each other on the opening day. Aberdeen looks laughably bad in defence and I will never say a good thing about Hibs.

Relegation -- Hamilton Accies - When you have such a small squad that a few players shine in, once those players leave then you will struggle. The loss of Brian Easton and James 'diver' McCarthy will hurt the team. Replacements are needed or the Accies will struggle.

Lets see how wrong these are at the end of the season! Enjoy the football!

Plymouth Argyle vs Heart of Midlothian (29/07/09)

Match 51

Ground #: 25

Ground: Home Park

Competition: Pre-season Friendly

Kick Off: 7:45pm

Cost: £5 (concession)

Programme: £2

Attendance: 4,177

Plymouth Argyle 0

Hearts 0

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After a mauling in Southampton on Saturday, we headed to Plymouth slightly anxious that we played a team, on paper at least, that were better than the Saints and so another mauling could be on the cards. Yet, as ever with football, hope not expectation kicking in and we looked forward to seeing the first ever meeting between these two clubs. Plymouth is a major city on the South coast of Devon where the rivers Plym and Tamar meet. It is a major port and also home to a large amount of naval forces, which is one of the reasons for its heavy bombing during the Second World War. Today it is the 15th most populated city in the UK and home to the largest naval base in Western Europe, the HMNB Devonport. The city’s major football team, Plymouth Argyle play currently in the Coca-Cola Championship although have slowly edged towards relegation in recent seasons with a 21st place finish last season which could suggest Paul Sturrock is set for another season of struggle. New signings have been made such as Bradley Wright-Phillips and Réda Johnson amongst others which the Argyle fans hoped to see in their only home pre-season game.

Home Park is a classic ground being made up of 3/4 bowl and the classic Grandstand that has seen improvements made to it in recent times. In 2002, the Devonport, Lyndhurst and Barn Park stands were all improved and made into a bowl much like many of the new grounds today. However the classic element is still there with the Grandstand still standing, although the terracing has had to be removed for being in the Championship and so now, temporary seating has been installed for safety. The Grandstand looks quite similar to Carlisle’s Paddock with different size stands cobbled together, although with Carlisle languishing in League 1 – temp seating isn’t needed there yet. The away fans were sectioned in a corner of the Barn Park Stand and with it being a Wednesday night kick-off, I didn’t expect many Hearts fans to have made the journey, especially after Saturday’s nightmare. We parked up right outside the ground as it has a fairly large car park which is well secured and free which is always a bonus and took a few pics, had a look inside the club shop and then made our way in.

As the game kicked off, it was clear that not many Plymouth fans were out and having all 3 stands open may not have helped them so a lack of atmosphere was present. There was also a small, but hardy bunch of Hearts fans who had made it and were outsinging the Argyle fans quite easily, despite being 400 times more of them. Plymouth made the better start with crosses being whipped in that Hearts struggled to deal with, much like the start of the game at Southampton and Jamie MacDonald needed to be a full stretch to reach a dangerous cross. After a nervy opening 5 minutes, Hearts did start to come back into the game a lot more when the midfield stopped running around like headless chickens and actually got into the game with Michael Stewart quickly closing down attacks. Plymouth still created chances and had their best chance after a succession of corners when Wright-Phillips got an acrobatic volley in which was well saved by Jamie MacDonald. Hearts’ best chance came at the end of the half when we won a free kick on the edge of the area which Larry Kingston lined up for hit…… and flew miles over the bar. The half-time whistle blew at 0-0.

The second half kicked off with the sun still shining and Hearts actually getting right into the game by absorbing everything Plymouth threw at us then hitting them on the break. With a large number of subs being made the play began to get scrappy with both sides now struggling to create any clear cut opportunity with Argyle resorting to taking long shots at Marian Kello which he was dealing with comfortably. Hearts best chance of the match fell to trialist Zezinando who sped away from the Plymouth defence after a great through ball from Jonsson and his shot seemed to go past Romain Larrieu in the Plymouth goal only for David McNamee to get a last ditch block in. Plymouth also made one final chance of note towards the end when Craig Noone got the ball in and Rory Fallon saw his header go over. 0-0 the final score. It wasn’t a defeat!

So although Hearts played 180 minutes in England without scoring there is a platform to build on with the improvement in performance at Home Park. Some new players and hopefully a few more arrivals before the opening game to see how we’ll do this season in the SPL. At the end of the game came an added surprise however as while the Hearts players acknowledged the fans this time, manager Csaba Laszlo came over and thanked the 97 Hearts fans who had made the journey and signed autographs and had pictures taken. Below are the pictures of Csaba over by us and the programme he signed for me. Plymouth fans while generally quiet were cheerful and wished us all well for the journey back – good luck to them this season. A return visit to Home Park for a league game is on the cards one day.

Photos from Plymouth vs Hearts

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Match Ratings:

- Match: 4.5/10 (never really got going)

- Value for money: 6/10 (fairly decent price for a PSF)

- Ground: 7.5/10 (decent, classic ground that can be accessed with ease)

- Atmosphere: 2/10 (bad show from Plymouth fans if 97 can outsing nearly 4100)

- Food: 5/10 (fairly decent, albeit pricy, burger and mineral water)

- Programme: 6/10 (fairly decent effort, 22 pages is slightly short though)

- Referee: Keith Stroud – 7/10 (no complaints really)

Southampton vs Heart of Midlothian (25/07/09)

Match 50

Ground #: 14 (2nd visit)

Ground: St Mary’s Stadium

Competition: Pre-season Friendly

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £5 (concession)

Programme: £2 (joint issue with Ajax game)

Attendance: 5,158

Southampton 3

Lallana 13’, Rasiak 64’, 78’

Hearts 0

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When Hearts announced that their pre-season tour would take them to Germany before playing two Premiership teams in Bolton and Sunderland at home, it was no surprise as the Jambos had travelled over there in the past 3 seasons. However, when a rumour appeared that we would play Plymouth down in South Devon I got a little bit excited. That excitement rose when it was officially announced that Hearts would travel down to the South Coast to play two friendlies against Southampton and Plymouth Argyle. The first game on a Saturday afternoon would be a trip to the Hampshire city of Southampton. A coastal port which is one of the largest commercial ports in Europe also houses The Mayflower theatre and the Hall of Aviation. We made the trip on the train from Tiverton Parkway to Southampton Central to see not many Hearts fans around whilst walking to the Stadium but as we arrived it was clear a decent number had turned out for the extremely long trip from Edinburgh.

I had first visited St Mary’s Stadium last season whilst visiting a friend who lives there. That day, they played out a dire 0-0 draw with Barnsley with both teams unimpressing and then became my tips to both go down. In the end, financial troubles caught up with Southampton and they finished 23rd in the Championship and were ultimately relegated. More troubles were to come to them however as administration beckoned and will start this season on –10 points in League 1, but at least they still have a club to support after new Swiss owner Markus Liebherr came in to save them from liquidation. They play their home games at St Mary’s Stadium which was built in 2001 after their move from their old ground, The Dell. St Mary’s, despite being one of these new “modern bowl” grounds, is fairly popular with fans as it is clear money has been spent on this rather than building a new stadium on the cheap. UEFA also seem to think so as the ground holds a UEFA 4 * award which not many in this country do. The ground is a bowl, connected all the way round with the two stands behind the goal called the Chapel Stand and behind the other where the vocal fans sit called the Northam Stand. The two larger stands that run down the sides were the only two open today for Saints fans which is the main Itchen Stand and opposite it is the Kingsland Stand.

I looked forward to seeing a fairly new Hearts side which can only be described as a “work in progress” with many players leaving over summer and five new guys coming in. Ian Black (Inverness CT), Suso Santana (CD Tenerife), Dawid Kucharski (Lech Poznan), Ismael Bouzid (Ankaragücü) and David Witteveen (Red Bull Salzburg) joined the JT’s. So far, Hearts pre-season results at least hadn’t been that impressive with only one win in four, that against German lower league team SC Goslar, while defeats had been suffered to Slack Wroclaw, St Pauli and Alemannia Aachen. It would be interesting to see how Hearts played in these two South Coast games as the opening game of the season against Dundee Utd on August 17th would be fast approaching. It was also good to see a large travelling support for Hearts, we had been given a small corner in the Northam Stand which was pretty much full as the photo below shows. (Not my photo – from Hearts FC)

The game kicked off with Southampton battering Hearts to be frank, we struggled to get out of our own half and the Saints were playing with no fear as new boss Alan Pardew looked on. Meanwhile, the banter between the vocal Saints fans nearest us and the Hearts fans were in full flow and credit to the Southampton fan who made the effort to buy a Hibs top and sit as near as he could to us. He got dogs abuse but took it well. The Southampton pressure paid off after 13 minutes when Adam Lallana received the ball just outside the edge of the area, the Hearts back 4 did nothing to close him down and he shot low into Balogh’s right corner to make it 1-0. Hearts then proceeded to do little else in the 1st half with David Witteveen up front on his own being provided with no service or support. Southampton were then given a free kick right on the edge of the area after Bouzid had brought a Saints defender down. The free kick though was well saved by Balogh. Half time, we were 0-1 down in quite frankly a terrible half of football and the 300 or so Hearts fans hoped that would be improved rapidly.

The second half kicked off with 4 Hearts subs, as is always the case in pre-season with endless subs. It was also an improved start as Hearts actually managed a meaningful attack on the Southampton goal with Ruben Palazuelos and Suso Santana impressing. The pressure should have paid off when Michael Stewart played a one-two with Palazuelos but was then elbowed off the ball by a Saints defender before he could recieve the ball. What should have been a penalty was ignored by referee Steve Tanner who quite frankly was atrocious today and must have missed the blood pouring down Stewart’s face. Both teams then continued to make substitutions in the 2nd half with Hearts bringing on more reserves and also Andrew Driver who made his first appearance since playing for England in the U-21 Euro Championships over the summer. Southampton then won a free kick after Lallana dived on the edge of the area that Tanner was happy to give. From this free kick Grzegorz Rasiak was left unmarked who headed past the helpless Balogh for number 2. The game then looked to be heading for an uneventful last 15 minutes when a superb attempt at slapstick comedy allowed Saints for their 3rd. Firstly Balogh threw the ball over the left wing which was far too in front of Jose Goncalves at left back and well behind Driver on the left wing. Lallana stole the ball, skipped past Goncalves’ laughable attempt at a block and found Rasiak again who had another free header for number 3. Game well and truly over, thankfully.

In the end, it seems Southampton wanted this more than Hearts who bimbled around with no real structure or urgency. What I didn’t know during the game is that Southampton start their season a week ahead of us on the 8th August and so should now be nearly ready for the start when they host Millwall on that day. Hearts on the otherhand need to improve, and fast, with 3 more pre-season games coming up before our opener against Dundee Utd. Another striker is desperately needed and this looks to be rectified with the announcement that two Portuguese trialists have come to train with us. Hopefully an improvement will be seen at Plymouth, and also a thank-you for coming down, as at full time the players went straight off the pitch without thanking the 300 or so Jambos who made the trip which peed us all off. A “work in progress”. It sure is. Good luck to Southampton this season.

Photos from Southampton vs Hearts

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Match Ratings:

- Match: 3/10 (not the best game or performance)

- Value for money: 6/10 (fairly decent price for a PSF)

- Ground: 9/10 (probably the best of the new type stadiums bar The COMS)

- Atmosphere: 7/10 (good banter between Saints and Jambos - “who’s the poofter in the skirt” is a great chant)

- Food: N/A – Had a Nando’s before the game - recommended

- Programme: 7/10 (joint issue with Ajax game and fairly detailed)

- Referee: Steve Tanner – 2/10 (quite exceptionally bad)

Southwest Challenge Cup Results Final Weekend

The Semi-Final line up was complete. Luton Town, Exeter City, Rushden and Diamonds and Grimsby Town. The Semi-Final results were:

Luton Town 3-2 Exeter City

Grimsby Town 4-1 Rushden and Diamonds

So the final was between Luton and Grimsby! Well no. Grimsby pulled out of the final nearly soon after qualifying for it after raising concerns about the behaviour of the Luton Town fans towards ex manager Mike Newell. It was a rubbish reason frankly and we all know Grimsby only pulled out because they did not want to play 5 games in 5 days. A poor piece of planning from the Grimsby Town board. So the final looked in doubt as all other teams had gone home until Belgian side RRFC Montegnée stepped in and took over the place from Grimsby.

FINAL: Luton Town 3-1 RRFC Montegnée

So Luton Town are the 2009 SW Challenge Cup winners, well done to them! It was a shame that the tournament ended the way it did, but the organisers could not do a lot about the weather and Grimsby Town’s pathetic behaviour when pulling out of the tournament. It was good to see different sides down here in North Devon and I hope a 2010 tournament is being organised in the future.

Yeovil Town vs Grimsby Town (17/07/09)

Match 49

Ground #: 24

Ground: Vicarage Field (normally used by Torrington FC)

Competition: Errea Southwest Challenge Cup 2009 Group Stage

Kick Off: 7pm

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

Programme: £1 (tournament programme)

Attendance: 239

Yeovil Town 2

Tomlin 62’, Williams 75’

Grimsby Town 3

Conlon (pen) 30’, North 42’, Arnold 77’

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Its not everyday that two Football League teams come and play football in your local village. A village that hardly anybody has heard of and where not a lot happens. Therefore, when the SW Challenge Cup games were announced that a game would be played in Great Torrington, I was attending regardless of who would be playing. In the end it was Yeovil Town and Grimsby Town in their Group B decider after both of them had dispatched Belgian side RRFC Montegnée. (Yeovil won 5-0, Grimsby won 1-0). Whoever won this game would go through to the Semi-Finals (more on those later) and have a decent crack at the trophy. Yet, due to a downpour which was torrential, this game nearly never took place. The pitch on the morning of the game was flooded and would have instantly failed a ground inspection if this was a league game but the good drainage system at Vicarage Field and some sun (yes, really!), the pitch dried and drained off the surface water to make the game go ahead. Wahey!

Great Torrington is a small market town in North Devon, near the bigger places of Bideford and Barnstaple, whilst also a good distance away from the beach, it is a nice tourist place to stay if holidaying down here. Actually in the town is, err, not a lot. A major battle in the English Civil War took place here and is celebrated by the ‘Torrington 1646’ experience. Other attractions are Dartington Crystal, Rosemoor Gardens and the several roads to leave the town in search of more exciting things to do. The local team is Torrington FC who play at Vicarage Field, where this game was being held. The ground is railed all the way round, with just standing areas behind the goals, while a small stand runs down a section of one side of the pitch while the other has the clubhouse and a larger stand. Vicarage Field can apparently hold 2000 people. I doubt that, but it can hold a decent amount of people and the trees and houses nearby made it a more picturesque ground than at Appledore on Monday. Torrington FC play their football in the Premier Division of the North Devon League which is Level 12 of the football pyramid. Torrington dropped down to this level after attendances dropped whilst playing in the Western League. Considering it was unlikely I would watch that level of football it made a nice time to visit the ground and see a game here.

Once in the ground, me and my Dad who came with me tonight, had a look inside the clubhouse which was extremely nice and also featured a few Grimsby players having a drink (soft drink – no libel here) before the game. The pitch looked fine to play on, apart from one small corner where the water was drained to and the grass looked a little long so a passing game would have been more difficult tonight. Both teams lined up with mainly their 1st choice squad for this 80 minute match and kicked off in quite nice weather. No hint of any downpour that Devon had suffered over the past week. From the start it was clear the two contrasting styles of play that the teams would adopt. Yeovil would try and pass it through Grimsby despite the long grass holding the ball up, whereas Grimsby would play hoof ball down the wings in an attempt to bring their two fast wingers into play. Grimsby will be hoping for a better season this year after narrowly avoiding relegation to the Conference in 08/09, under Newell that looks unlikely to happen again but they won’t be pretty to watch.

Yeovil during the opening spells had the main possession but could not really do much with it, with striker Hamdi Razak not enjoying his best game, but getting a few pot shots away they were well saved by ex Hibs goalie (boooooooo!) Nick Colgan. Grimsby’s two wingers Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro and Adrian Forbes causing Yeovil’s full backs problems with their direct running. With a game of few chances early on and quite tight it would need something a bit unordinary to get a breakthrough and it was Grimsby who took the lead when Adrian Forbes went on a mazy run on the right wing and darted through the Yeovil defence before being brought down for a penalty. Up stepped Barry Conlon (the most immobile player I have ever seen) who cheekily chipped it down the middle to make it 1-0. Yeovil did have chances to equalise before half-time but Colgan was largely untroubled again.

The second half started with still no rain and looked to be as tight as the 1st half until Grimsby played a ball over the top which sub Danny North ran onto well offside and slotted the ball away. Yeovil expected, as did every fan in line with the player, an offside flag, it never came and so it was 2-0. Even a Grimsby fan stood next to us said “I’m bias and that was offside”. This seemed to wake Yeovil up a little who went a bit more direct in an attempt to get the game back. Yeovil got back into the game eventually as they pushed Grimsby further back and started playing more direct. This paid off on 62 minutes when a straight direct ball caught the Grimsby defence out and Sam Williams controlled and chested the ball to Gavin Tomlin who smashed past Nick Colgan to make it 2-1. Grimsby had chances to put the game beyond Yeovil, with Danny North scoring twice and getting caught offside twice – both deserved and he got booked for kicking the ball away after one of these chances too. The prat. Yeovil did grab their deserved equalizer when a great Gary Roberts cross was put in from the right and Sam Williams headed home at the back post to force penalties it seemed. However a late twist in the tale saw Grimsby trialist Nathan Arnold cut in and take a fairly tame shot towards the Yeovil goal. However, the ball hit a divot and bounced over goalie Richard Martin into the net. Grimsby had stolen a late winner and went marching on into the Semi-Finals.

A decent day out in Torrington then and another entertaining game in this competition. It was lucky that this game even made it through the weather as two out of the four games to be played on the Friday fell to the rain with the games in Bideford and Appledore cancelled. Yeovil won’t be too fussed at going out after this performance, their manager Terry Skiverton saying he would not have fancied playing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a home friendly against Derby County coming up.

Friday 17th SW Challenge Cup Results:

Yeovil Town 2-3 Grimsby Town

Rushden and Diamonds 3-1 Barnstaple Town

Exeter City P-P Eastleigh

Luton Town P-P Wycombe Wanderers

Those results mean that Grimsby and Rushden qualified for the Semis with Exeter and Luton going through on goal difference as their games were called off. I’ll detail what happened in the Semi-Final and Final on Monday/Tuesday. My next game is a trip to the South Coast to watch the mighty Hearts play down here.

Photos from Yeovil Town vs Grimsby Town

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Match Ratings:

- Match: 6.5/10 (decent entertainment for a PSF)

- Value for money: 5/10 (£5 for all 4 games isn’t bad, even though if you went to this, you would struggle to make another)

- Ground: 6/10 (for its level, its very nice – good clubhouse too)

- Atmosphere: 5/10 (Grimsby fans got a bit lively towards the end)

- Food: 6/10 (decent burger at £1.50 and a drink from the bar)

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

- Referee: Ron Ganfield – 4/10 (saw the offside? Surely!?)