PRE SEASON GAMES - FILL IN THE GAPS

[syd_lexic]

Is the Hoddy game at Lowfields ? I thought the cricketers wouldn't allow that ?

[Monkey8]

Is the Hoddy game at Lowfields ? I thought the cricketers wouldn't allow that ?

 

 

Neutral ground Syd!

[Rhodes]

Stotfold v Hitchin Town

I see that Stotfold were well beaten on Tuesday evening which doesn't bode well for the season ahead:

 

PSF

Stotfold (0) 0, Hitchin Town (1) 4

Admission £5, prog; none,

Attendance 120 (h/c by Mr Buck)

 

I was heading to Bedford v Royston but on leaving the A1 at Sandy found the A603 to be blocked both ways. A snarl up of traffic meant a quick diversion back to Stotfold. I saw this fixture last season as well but this time Hitchin fielded the first team. It was a close half with Hitchin having the better of the chances. They established a half time lead on 28 with the impressive Thomas Mustapha robbing centre half Morrision and keeping his cool to slot home. Several changes at half time which resulted in a fairly one sided second half.

Hitchin adding 3 more to their tally on 51 & 78 (Bradley Harrison) and 64 (Glen Lamacraft) for a comfortable work out.

[Rhodes]

Fixtures that I am aware of today (saturday) involving SSML Club's:

 

Pitstone & Ivinghoe v Aylesbury United

Bedford v AFC Kempston Rovers

Wellingborough Town v Bedford Town Reserves

Croxley Guild v Berkhamsted

Buckingham Athletic v Buckingham Town

Wokingham & Emmbrook v Chalfont St Peter (12.15pm)

Metropolitan Police Bushey v Cockfosters

Cranfield United v Wooton Blue

Crawley Green v Biggleswade United

Shoreham v Colney Heath

Offley v Dunstable Town

Ely City v Hadley

Harefield United v Potters Bar Town

Haringey Borough v AFC Hayes

Hertford Town v Waltham Abbey

Clevedon Town v Hillingdon Borough

Harold Wood v Hoddesdon Town

Kentish Town v St Margaretsbury (2.00pm)

Cogenhoe United v Langford

London Colney v Reading Town

Haverhill Rovers v Royston Town

Eynesbury Rangers v Stotfold

Mursley United v Stony Stratford Town

AFC Dunstable v Tring Athletic

[efc]

Fixtures that I am aware of today (saturday) involving SSML Club's:

 

Pitstone & Ivinghoe v Aylesbury United

Bedford v AFC Kempston Rovers

Wellingborough Town v Bedford Town Reserves

Croxley Guild v Berkhamsted

Buckingham Athletic v Buckingham Town

Wokingham & Emmbrook v Chalfont St Peter (12.15pm)

Metropolitan Police Bushey v Cockfosters

Cranfield United v Wooton Blue

Crawley Green v Biggleswade United

Shoreham v Colney Heath

Offley v Dunstable Town

Ely City v Hadley

Harefield United v Potters Bar Town

Haringey Borough v AFC Hayes

Hertford Town v Waltham Abbey

Clevedon Town v Hillingdon Borough

Harold Wood v Hoddesdon Town

Kentish Town v St Margaretsbury (2.00pm)

Cogenhoe United v Langford

London Colney v Reading Town

Haverhill Rovers v Royston Town

Eynesbury Rangers v Stotfold

Mursley United v Stony Stratford Town

AFC Dunstable v Tring Athletic

 

Pitstone & Ivinghoe 3 Aylesbury Utd 2

Edited July 24, 2010 by efc

[Rhodes]

Cogenhoe United v Langford

Somewhat of a surprise this one, Cogenhoe United 4 Langford 1

[C.A.A.]

Cogenhoe United v Langford

Somewhat of a surprise this one, Cogenhoe United 4 Langford 1

 

Why is it a surprise?

Cogenhoe are a well established, top half of the table Step 5 team.

Langford are a team trying to rebuild after a dreadful season, by their standards.

[efc]

Cogenhoe United v Langford

Somewhat of a surprise this one, Cogenhoe United 4 Langford 1

 

'Rhodes' did you get off your backside and go to a game?

[Rhodes]

Pitstone & Ivinghoe 3 Aylesbury Utd 2

This makes very sad reading, what can possibly be wrong with Aylesbury United:

 

PSF

Pitstone & Ivinghoe 3 Aylesbury UTD 2

£1 to get in with a teamsheet

Att 100ish

Aylesbury played only with 11 players no proper keeper, coach in goal Glyn Creeser

[wisezola]

London Colney 1 Reading Town 0

 

Good game in the weather, Hellinic league Reading Town the better team in the fist half, lots of the ball, kept it and moved it very well. 0-0 Half time, Second half after a number of Reading changes and after a change of shape Colney the better side. Goal scored by Dave 'Bullet' Parkinson 15 minutes from the end. Decent game played in good spirit

[thecoldend]

Hertford Town 0 Waltham Abbey 0

 

Not a great game....Standard sort of PSF with Abbey fielding a change of kit and most of the team at HT....

 

The pitch at Hertingfordbury was very dry and bobbly... Abbey had best chance of the few created - drew a good save from the Town keeper in first 10 minutes. Pictures and video highlights now on THE COLD END which was one year old today!!

[ref off ref]

PADBURY UNITED 4 v 2 DUNSTABLE TOWN

PADBURY UNITED 4 v 0 BICESTER TOWN

PADBURY UNITED 8 v 2 AFC DUNSTABLE

DAVENTRY UTD 1 v 2 NEW BRADWELL St PETER

[Horace]

Hertford Town 0 Waltham Abbey 0

 

Not a great game....Standard sort of PSF with Abbey fielding a change of kit and most of the team at HT....

 

The pitch at Hertingfordbury was very dry and bobbly... Abbey had best chance of the few created - drew a good save from the Town keeper in first 10 minutes. Pictures and video highlights now on THE COLD END which was one year old today!!

 

Happy Birthday to The Cold End! Great work.

 

The problem with the pitch at Hertingfordbury Park is that the ground is served only by a normal domestic sized water main. Imagine trying to water a full size football pitch with just a hose attached to your kitchen tap! Occasionally the Fire Service can be persuaded to flood the pitch by extracting water from the adjacent river (something the football club are prohibited from doing themselves) but otherwise it's down to the weather. This has been the driest summer for years, and, in truth, the pitch looks better than I feared it would. Having a river next to the ground is no help at all - in summer it takes away what moisture there is in the ground and in winter it floods!

[thecoldend]

Cheers Horace.

 

You don't seem to have the best of luck with the pitch at Hertingfordbury. It's either dry like yesterday or flooded when the heaven's open.. It's still one of my favourite grounds in the SSML to visit and my little boy had fun too running about and climbing up and down the steps of the main stand.... I see your playing W&F on Tuesday, there home pitch is one of the best in non-league football so the surface at Hertingfordbury may be a bit of a culture shock for their players even if it is a friendly game. They were a great side last season and have strengthend so they will be right up the top of the Ryman North this season.

 

I'm hoping for some rain in the Hertford area for you...

[Horace]

Cheers Horace.

 

You don't seem to have the best of luck with the pitch at Hertingfordbury. It's either dry like yesterday or flooded when the heaven's open.. It's still one of my favourite grounds in the SSML to visit and my little boy had fun too running about and climbing up and down the steps of the main stand.... I see your playing W&F on Tuesday, there home pitch is one of the best in non-league football so the surface at Hertingfordbury may be a bit of a culture shock for their players even if it is a friendly game. They were a great side last season and have strengthend so they will be right up the top of the Ryman North this season.

 

I'm hoping for some rain in the Hertford area for you...

 

It will need a lot of rain!

[royals26]

London Colney 1 Reading Town 0

 

Good game in the weather, Hellinic league Reading Town the better team in the fist half, lots of the ball, kept it and moved it very well. 0-0 Half time, Second half after a number of Reading changes and after a change of shape Colney the better side. Goal scored by Dave 'Bullet' Parkinson 15 minutes from the end. Decent game played in good spirit

 

I got along to this one too - 'new' ground for me. Good standard for STEP06 - probably the norm for SSM1 - a lot of the clubs at this level nearer me are pretty poor.

I've seen Reading Town two Saturdays in a row now but I would not say I am a follower. Its just that I usually let my mate decide where we are going and he happens to have chosen both of their friendlies to date?

 

Be thankful their 'Barmy Army' didn't turn up - much written about them on the NLM/Tony K forum. Its not that they are ever any trouble (unless of course the home crowd object to what they are singing) - but they can be a bit tiresome - a couple of blokes/kids and a dad singing some pretty cliched songs for nigh on 90' : songs that would probably be found embarrassing in four-figure crowd let alone one's that seldom top 50!

I s'pose at least they care - which is what you want at this level?

 

Agree that RTFC look well coached and can be good on the ball when given the chance but they are certainly more Henley Town than Reading Town in style. From what I've seen of them so far, I'd expect them to struggle at STEP05. Almost the entire squad have followed former manager to Thatcham and the inbound manager (Roddy Slater - him with the extravagant hairstyleee ) has brought a lot of new faces with him from Henley.

 

... enjoyed the little cameo at the end from the Big Lad Marcus Richardson - ex-pro with Bury Camb Utd and quite a few others - don't think he intended to play - got changed pitchside and posed more threat in the last 10' than his team mates had managed for the previous 80'.

 

Thought London Colney looked neat and tidy - worked well with what they've got and made RTFC work hard at the back - which I expect is what you need of a pre-season game.

 

That might be my lot for awhile now in the SSML - I just cannot be 'fugged' to sit on the bleedin' M25 between jn 16 & 21 for ages, wondering whether I'm going to get to a game for KO time. Roadworks signs say expect delays until June 2012!

 

Only just made it yesterday with about 2' to spare. The journey back was bearable but only cos I chose cross country via Hemel, Chesham and Sluff - home by 18:30. Had I opted to try and go back via the M25 I'd have hit delays of over an hour from Watford at jn17 down to the M3.

 

I've read elsehwere that poor old Wodson Park tried to get to 'Krooner' for a double-header with Camberley and didn't arrive til nearly 15:00 - took them over 4 hours!

 

Mind they'd have met other problems on the M3, plus Ascot races, plus Farnborough Airshow - like the chappy from Cambo says on CCL F'Focus - not the best w/e to arrange a home friendly - not least against a side coming from that direction.

[Rhodes]

This makes very sad reading, what can possibly be wrong with Aylesbury United:

PSF

Pitstone & Ivinghoe 3 Aylesbury UTD 2

£1 to get in with a teamsheet

Att 100ish

Aylesbury played only with 11 players no proper keeper, coach in goal Glyn Creeser

There's a far more extensive report on this one from Saturday:

 

Played at Pitstone Pavillion and Sports Pitch which is a couple of hundred yards from Pitstone's normal ground, the ground is usually used by Pitstone & Ivinghoe, Cheddington United of the Aylesbury & District League. It is more or less on the site of the old Castle Cement ground

 

Photo's @ http://picasaweb.goo...illionPICUnited#

 

My headcount was 90 many of whom were from Aylesbury. The teamsheet which was included in the £1 admission was worth 20p or 30p on it's own. Good catering at the ground, teas and coffee 40p each, plus the club was doing hot food, burgers etc. Pitstone put on a good show at this tempary venue and to be fair every time I see them play I find their officals a very friendly and helpful bunch.

 

Pitstone were two nil up but Aylesbury got two goals back in the minutes leading upto half-time. The 2nd period was even to start with but Aylesbury began to tire and the last quarter of the game was all Pitstone. Aylesbury had a man "sin-binned" late in the second half and by this time they had managed to find a sub, it looked as though they may have ended up with 13 players but a few minutes prior to the game kicking off they had only nine men present at the ground. And at the start of play as quoted the very bare XI. A few of them did not look SML Premier standard.

 

In the week I saw that despite cutting everything back to the bone Aylesbury United are very much in debt, rumour today was that manager Tony Joyce has not been seen at the clubs pre-season games. A club in crisis was one quote. Five years ago to the day I visited Buckingham Road for a friendly against Oxford United, the crowd given that day was 605 but after the event Aylesbury fans claimed on an unofficial website that it was in fact much bigger and one report said they thanked the 900 to 1,000 Oxford fans for attending, in the crowd of 605 !. The crowd that day was certainly way above 605 and certain remarks were made on the Website about the then chairman, when I visited later in the season nearly all the players from the start of the season had left and Aylesbury were fielding a number of youth players, in the last five years things have gone from bad to worst for the Ducks and on today's showing sadly they still seem to be on the way down.

 

The Pavillion ground which rumour has it Pitstone and Ivinghoe would like to move to is still some way short of staging senior football, four metres in fact. The pitch is to short, to get it to the correct length either a wooden electricity pylon would have to be moved at one end of the pitch, this would cost around £20,000, or the land behind the near goal would have to be leveled to create extra yardage between said goal and the dressing room complex, this would cost £5,000. To build a bar and function room on the ground would cost £150,000. The club have approached the football foundation for advise and to see if they could get any funding, but it appears they can't. As a club Pitstone do not have much in the bank themselves.

 

The ground at present is quite acceptable, it's enclosed so a gate can be taken, there is room for two pitchs at the current length and there is a tea room and good dressing rooms and for todays game the pitch was roped on two and a half sides. There is a reasonable car park outside the complex.

 

One can only hope Aylesbury United can survive what appears to be yet more problems for the club, though they do still seem quite well supported.

 

The Pitstone assitant manager for this season is Banjo Malcolm, ex Milton United, Launton Sports and Ardley United.

[Rhodes]

Haverhill Rovers v Royston Town

A report on this one:

 

Royston Town (0) 3, Haverhill Rovers (0) 0

Pre Season Friendly played at Royston Heath

Admission/programme; none

 

Decided on another visit to this very pleasant venue at Royston Heath. The game was switched from Haverhill after problems with the Rovers pitch apparently. Not a full strength Royston side but it did give some players of their large squad a full game. An uneventful first with just two efforts on target by either side. The second half was much more entertaining with both sides having a share of goalmouth action. Royston proved to be the more clinical in their finishing and hit the crossbar. Rovers had enough chances to see the game finish level but squandered their opportunities.

It was then down the A10 to Hoddesdon for the Speedway as the Cobras took on Bournemouth. An interesting encounter that the home side lost 42-48 and a referee that proved they are inconsistent in every sport I attend

 

[Rhodes]

It would appear that Camberley Town 'kindly' invited Wodson Park down for a pre-season first team and reserves double header on Saturday, talk about good foresight with the Farnborough Airshow and a high profile race meeting at Ascot:

 

Due to awful traffic problems caused by the Farnborough Air Show and the racing at Ascot Wodson Park took nearly four hours to reach Krooner Park from Hertfordshire. As a result the first match scheduled for 12:30 never happened. At 2pm Camberley 1st's took on Camberley Reserves in a 45 minute match of one half which the 1st's won 2-0 with Michael Smith and Matt Griffiths scoring. The Wodson match started at 3pm with Camberley 1st's taking the first half and the Reserves, the second half. Dan Griffiths opened the scoring before Wodson hit back with and equaliser. Two goals from Matt Griffiths saw Camberley take control and lead 3-1 at the half time break. The second half started with Stacey Thripp making it 4-1 after Rob Lance had fired a penalty against the bar. Wodson pulled another goal back before Rob Lance dispossessed a defender to make it 5-2. Wodson Park gave the Camberley lads a nervy ending, pulling two goals back in the final 10 minutes to make it 5-4.

 

[HTFCew]

Haverhill Rovers v Royston Town

A report on this one:

 

Royston Town (0) 3, Haverhill Rovers (0) 0

Pre Season Friendly played at Royston Heath

Admission/programme; none

 

Decided on another visit to this very pleasant venue at Royston Heath. The game was switched from Haverhill after problems with the Rovers pitch apparently. Not a full strength Royston side but it did give some players of their large squad a full game. An uneventful first with just two efforts on target by either side. The second half was much more entertaining with both sides having a share of goalmouth action. Royston proved to be the more clinical in their finishing and hit the crossbar. Rovers had enough chances to see the game finish level but squandered their opportunities.

It was then down the A10 to Hoddesdon for the Speedway as the Cobras took on Bournemouth. An interesting encounter that the home side lost 42-48 and a referee that proved they are inconsistent in every sport I attend

 

 

I didn't know you liked speedway.