Groundhopping journeys

 A trip to Billingham Town awaited me as today's team grounshare here, a fairly newly formed club, Yarm and Eaglescliffe are more than holding their own in the northern league. Today, they were in F.A. Vase action vs Colne FC. They had given the match a huge build up and it paid off as they broke their 200 target with a crowd of 209. Fair play to Colne they brought good numbers, but the numbers on the pitch were all Yarms with an empathic victory, running out 5-0 winners on the day and really it was men against boys. The Yarm number 9 was excellent with a hat trick and Colne were just chasing shadows, stationed just behind the dugouts, I could see the Colne management duo had no answers to the questions asked of their team. The ground, Bedford Terrace is an excellent traditional old non league ground, I visited Billingham many years ago when my team, York City played Billingham Synthonia in a pre season friendly, however sadly, their ground is no longer there, probably been bullodo...

 A local trip this week, back in the West Yorkshire League, Harlow Hill vs Rawdon Old Boys. Played on a 4G pitch in the grounds of St John Fisher School, the facilities are excellent, even with floodlights, a rarity in the West Yorkshire League. I think Harrogate Town FC play their development squad there so maybe have had some input.  It was top vs bottom with this fixture with Harlow Hill having won 12 from the first 13, however despite the final score, Rawdon were not disgraced and had some good spells of their own, they can take hope from this performance even if it resulted in 0 points. The first goal came from a mistake at the back Harlow Hill forward ran through and made no mistake, the second followed soon after, an excellent finish, I was sure he would cross from the angle but he took the shot on and scored, two more goals followed, one a piece 3-1 at half time. The weather was atrocious, torrential rain, probably 20-30 people watching with a few from Rawdon.  ...

 One of only two national league clubs I've not visited, the other being Boston. A rare trip to see my team in action, York City, with us being in good form too I was buoyant pre match. I arrived in Brackley far too early, on the plus side the turnstiles open at St James Park (there 3rd one I've visited after Newcastle and Exeter) at midday, so at least I had shelter from the horrific weather conditions, swirling torrential rain and an ice cold wind. On the downside, due to the game being segregated we were not allowed the warmth of the bar, but I was under cover and soaking up all the pre match excitement. I'd not seen city play since Solihull away last season. Unfortunately for me, the club shop at Brackley is also in the home end of the ground, however very helpfully I obtained my obligatory pin badge from the ticket office portakabin in the car park, well done for some forward thinking Brackley! Onto the game I'll try and give my unbiased review, city dominated poss...

 A Friday night F. A. Youth Cup tie vs Walton and Hersham awaited me as I visited Oxford City FC. I've visited Oxford many times as a York fan but always to the Kassam and Oxford United, never to City. As it turned out I was only down this way due to York being at Brackley the day after, still a good opportunity to visit, and for £5 entry very good value. Similar to the Kassam in that it's miles out of Oxford City Centre, too far to walk so the bus it was, however unlike the Kassam, this ground has 4 sides not 3! There was a healthy crowd there of 208, the visitors started well and had a dangerous winger number 20 but couldn't capitalise, a poor clearance fell to the Oxford number 9 who rounded the keeper and scored. A lot of spoiling tactics followed from Oxford which is rare in these youth games or at least the ones I've seen, about 15 minutes from the end and a low cross in was bundled home at the back post, 2-0 and game over. A game poor on quality in my opinion, bu...

 A midweek trip to Manchester and Chadderton FC, for the visit of top of the table Padiham. Very impressed with the ground, excellent parking along the dugout side of the pitch, spanning around to the back of the goal, more than ample for most games I would say. Food wise, Wow, if you ever visit here you have to try some food from Marlowes. It was a bit on the pricey side but the chilli and rice really was immense, tasty and good portion, home made food, not mass produced rubbish. There was a variety of other options, jacket potatoes for one, along with other homemade specials. Onto the game and you could see why Padiham were top, dangerous going forward and solid at the back, Chadderton are not mugs, on the fringes of the playoffs but this one was men against boys, even a red card couldn't knock Padiham and they saw the game out 3-2 winners. Pin badge took some finding but once set up there was a decent merchandise stall at the bottom of the stairs to the bar. A plastic surface, l...

 A break from the norm for me here, as I move from my usual non league fixtures to a Premier League fixture to visit the shiny new and very impressive Bramley Dock Stadium, or Hill Dickinson Stadium as it is named. The opponents Tottenham Hotspur, so I was looking forward to a high quality game. The result was 0-3 to Tottenham, Micky Van der Ven with a brace and former toffee and late substitute Richarlison with the 3rd, Everton never really got going, Beto ploughing a lone furrow, Grealish busy but in effective, some var controversy disallowed a goal, to me this needs scrapping, does nothing for the game at all in my opinion, but it wasn't the reason Everton lost and it was a thoroughly deserved win for Spurs who themselves didn't seem to hit top gear. To get in to the game I had to book a hospitality package, at the princely sum of £204. A world away from what I'm used to, I'd normally do 10-20 games for that kind of money, but I have to say the ground really is spect...