Travels with my Ostrich ....

[TheOstrich]

Your reports are much better than some of the drivel in the Sunday papers. Keep it up

LOL - I'll try to keep focused on the more humorous and the unusual aspects of the Ostrich's travails ...

Frank, there was a bit of a moan going around yesterday that Coleshill had upped their prices by £1 this season (£5 adult, but I qualify for oldie concessions now). But the bottom line is that the home club has to pay their way; for example, the referee and linos' fees and travel expenses can be upwards of £100, perhaps even £125 for a single game at this level. On average crowds of 50-75 (yesterday's attendance was boosted by a fair few down from Heanor, you can soon see the attendance money disappearing ..... of course, your common or garden non-league club has far more sources of income (and expenditure) than admission charges (and the cost of officials) but if you want to keep solvent, sometimes the prices just have to go up. A particular problem Coleshill have at the moment, being in exile, is - no matchday bar / food income. That's all presumably gone to Tamworth, along with pitch hire ......

[TheOstrich]

Saturday 29/08 – Vanarama National League (Step 1)
Kidderminster Harriers 0 Forest Green Rovers 2
Admission £11, programme £3, the Legendary Aggborough Soup £1.50 (a sort of vegetable and shredded beef affair, and quite palatable )
Attendance – 1,905

So, to the top of the Non-League pile today, with the visit of Forest Green Rovers, from Nailsworth, Gloucestershire to Aggborough Stadium, Kidderminster. This is an easy ground for the Ostrich to travel to; my OAP bus pass has a rail add-on that gets me to Stourbridge Junction for free, and it’s only £2.95 with a Senior railcard for a return from there to Kiddy. The ground is just 5 or 6 minutes’ walk from the station, but first I journeyed down into the town for a quick look around. If you’re not a local, finding out how to get around the place is quite difficult; information is sparse, and the bus services, since Worcestershire County Council implemented draconian cut-backs in grant, seem to be even sparser. In fact, I thought I might get stranded in the town centre and have to walk back up the (very steep) incline to the ground, but thankfully a 125 service eventually turned up around 13:50 at the Town Hall (with its statue to Sir Rowland Hill, and stencils of Victorian penny postage stamps on the pavement) and the driver admitted, under interrogation, that he was going back past the railway station.

Just time to pop into the busy Severn Valley Railway terminus for a quick poke around the shops and a viewing of Great Western Railway steam locomotive no. 2857 on the 14:15 to Bridgnorth before a gentle amble down to the football stadium.

Kidderminster Harriers must dread my appearance! Last year, they were riding high in 6th place around Christmas when the Ostrich announced he was going to watch them play half-a-dozen home matches in the second half of the season. By Easter, with the bird in attendance, they’d slumped to 16th!

Assuming you were paying attention when I wrote my preamble to this blog , you’ll recall that Forest Green Rovers are owned by a vegan millionaire, Dale Vince, who was previously a New Age traveller and has banned the sale of meat pies at the club’s home games. He has also been involved in a bit of a landmark divorce case …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Vince

Forest Green Rovers came into this game top of the table, no points dropped in 5 games, 10 scored and 1 conceded. Kidderminster were 22nd with just 2 points out of 15. And the game went entirely to form. Not much happened in the first half, I spent the time swotting a plethora of pesky intrusive wasps , and we were goalless at the break.

Harriers never looked like troubling the scoreboard, apart from one brief 5 minute spell just into the second half. All that did was rouse Forest Green to greater effort; they’d threatened frequently but probably felt they’d better now translate superior midfield possession into goals. The first arrived on 63m when a Kidderminster defender catastrophically failed to cut out a cross from the left, giving Marsh-Brown an unmissable chance in front of goal, and the second was scored on 71m when Parkin, who’d just come on, managed a headed deflection of a long free kick from Pipe which had been aimed at the far post.

An absolutely fair result. Forest Green are a good, if somewhat robust side, but this was hardly a challenge. The bad news for Kidderminster was that they were quite toothless up front today and look to be in for a long hard season. The even worse news for them is that, according to my 2015/16 season plan – I’ll be back for a further 5 matches!

[Ally]

Thanks for report Ossie - and I love the sound of the soup!!

[Ally]

Your reports are much better than some of the drivel in the Sunday papers. Keep it up

Hear hear!

[TheOstrich]

Thanks for report Ossie - and I love the sound of the soup!!

Indeed, there will be more about the "Award Winning Food" at Aggborough Stadium at a later date!

It wasn't chunky, but it was quite a thick soup, and actually rather spicy. There was a bit of a yellow residue left around the polystyrene cup, though, wondered if they'd added curry powder into the mix but I don't think so .... more oily, perhaps ...

[TheOstrich]

Monday 31/08 – Midland League Division 3 (Step 9, sort of)
Boldmere Sports and Social Falcons 3 Smithswood Firs 4
Admission free, programme no, very welcome cuppa coffee 60p and bag of crisps 70p
Attendance – 22

If you imagine the non-league footwall scene as a village pond, last Saturday we were floating with the dragonflies. This afternoon, we are down at the bottom with the mud-worms ... On a rainy Bank Holiday Monday, I decided to "stay local" and knock off the nearest ground in the non-league pyramid to the Nest that I hadn't previously visited. What I hadn't reckoned on was (a) a Sunday bus service so it took me well over an hour to meander two and a half miles (as the crow flies) to the Boldmere Sports and Social Club and (b) that the predicted easing of the rain wouldn't occur by 3:00. There is nothing like standing in incessant drizzle at the side of a railed field with absolutely no cover wondering whatever possessed you to choose this particular venue. As I remarked to the nearside linesman, a 40-something-yo Asian gentleman, before the game got under way: "We must be mad". He just grinned.

Up the driveway between two houses on the Boldmere Road (and I walked straight past it first time of asking), stands the old timbered social club, with its polystyrene ceiling tiles and disco glitterball, which was open for business. Next is a newer brick-built clubhouse / bar, which was closed, and the changing rooms, and walking on, you pass a small-size netted artificial pitch, and then arrive at the main grass pitch, which slopes slightly between the goals; there’s a grassy area to the right which I think used to be a junior pitch but isn’t now, and the Cross City railway line runs along the far side. The social club (opened by Sir Norman Fowler in 1987) was doing quite a good trade, and not all in relation to the soccer.

Boldmere Sports and Social Falcons have, I believe, been going for a number of years as a junior boys club with a Birmingham AFA affiliated adult side, but a couple of seasons back took the plunge to enter a Saturday team at the bottom of the pyramid which means in theory they could be hosting Manchester City in around 20 years time, given the requisite number of promotions. Smithswood Firs started their journey to fame in 2008, again in the Birmingham AFA. Neither side has much of a social media presence, so I'm not too sure of the history.

The game itself was a cracker, and had virtually everything. Smithswood served early intent with a Weeks shot narrowly wide, and then ran up a 0-3 lead in the first 17m – a Thomas drive from the edge of the area (10m) before Russell rounded the defence on the left at some speed and swept the ball home (14m), and the same player repeated the move three minutes later, only this time it seemed Lynch put Russell’s shot into his own net (although FullTime, the FA-run non-league results service, credits it to Russell). Boldmere made a tactical substitution to steady their midfield and the game was flowing quite evenly until 38m when Firs’ Thomas fell awkwardly in a tackle, resulting in a lengthy delay while he was helped off the pitch. Boldmere pulled a goal back through Tydlacka on the stroke of halftime.

The injury was serious enough for an ambulance to be summoned, which turned up by the end of half-time, and there was a further delay whilst the injured player was attended to by the dugout, and given a pain reliever before being wheeled off. We restarted the game 21 minutes down, with Boldmere immediately aggrieved that they weren’t awarded a penalty. Chances abounded at both ends. Boldmere defender O’Connor cleared a corner by heading it off the underside of his own bar before the home team pulled a goal back with a beautiful direct free kick from Leeney that faded into the top nearside corner of the net (56m) and equalised through a weaving O’Neale run through the middle and cool finish (61m).

The game could have gone either way at this stage, but Firs clinched the points when Russell repeated his first half feat of rounding the back of the defence and lashing home a drive that left the Boldmere keeper grasping at thin air (69m). The match finished with Boldmere laying seige to the Firs goal in search of an equaliser, but it never came.

Home for a quick meal and then …

Monday 31/08 @ 19:45 - Evo-stik Northern League Division 1 South (Step 4)
Romulus 1 Chasetown 2
Admission: £4 Programme: £2 (40pp glossy, and immeasurably better in both content and presentation than in previous seasons. Immeasurably!) Refreshments: none
Attendance: 103 (league website)

A “now’t on the telly” match tonight; I couldn't be bothered to watch that Lenny Henry thing, so a late decision to trundle down to my local Step 4 ground, Sutton Coldfield Town, to see tenants Romulus FC take on local rivals Chasetown, which turned out to be quite an entertaining affair.

There is a huge contrast between landlords Sutton Coldfield Town ("The Royals", founded 1879) and tenants Romulus ("The Roms", founded 1979). The stewards at the former once nearly threw me out of the ground when I challenged their admission policy of concessions for females at 60 and males at 65 on Sexual Discrimination grounds. Absolutely no sense of humour. On the other hand, the Roms are the only club who have ever given me a complimentary bowl of fruit salad for attending a game (some muck-up with event caterers, and they had a mountain to dispose of ...)

The only major close-season improvement work at Coles Lane appears to be a properly laid out car park with bays, arrows and no-entry signs, replacing the previous free-for-all. The Royals will probably be employing their own traffic wardens, mind ..

Chasetown were 0-1 up in 8m with a fine opportunist goal from James Dance. The Roms keeper parried a cross and Dance, back to the goal, had the presence of mind and skill to hook the bouncing ball smartly over his shoulder and into the net. Plenty of cut and thrust in a quick-fire first half, but no further score.

Roms equalised on 48m through MacDonald, the keeper possibly losing sight of a scudding shot. But Chasetown won it with an emphatic 57m Dance penalty after Evans had bundled over an attacker on the bye-line. Roms pressed, but Chasetown held on competently to the end of the game. Neither side will probably set the division alight, but it's early days yet.

[Kaz]

I rarely venture into any shed - cyber or otherwise - but really enjoyed reading this thread Ossie

[Ally]

I rarely venture into any shed - cyber or otherwise - but really enjoyed reading this thread Ossie

Ossie's reports are the only reason I do come in here!

[Kaz]

[TheOstrich]

LOL Kaz, you'd better get Mick reading this thread because there'll be some grassroots rugby union reports coming up a bit later on. In the meantime ....

Saturday 05/09 – Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 Central (Step 4)
Leighton Town 1 Ware 2
Admission £5, programme £1.50, muffins (!!) 50p each (I had two, don’t tell Mrs O ), coffee and tray of chips £2.50
Attendance – 94

Personally, I blame WM and Crommers. It’s those canny Northerners, you see. For a number of seasons now, grass-roots soccer clubs oop north, with a firm eye on their finances, have been refusing to put themselves forward for promotion up the pyramid.

Promotion, which is not necessarily automatic (you have to apply, pass ground grading requirements, and finish, of course, in one of the top places of your league), means more travelling costs and less money-spinning “local derbies” in what would be a bigger, geographically more spaced out league. So in consequence, far more southern clubs have opted for promotion than northern clubs – and this has led to midlands-based clubs increasingly finding themselves “switched north”. Back in 2009/10, my two local Step 4 clubs, Sutton Coldfield Town and Romulus, plied their trade in the Southern League Central Division. But since then, the boundary between the Northern Premier League and the Southern League has shifted inexorably towards Calais, and now, to see a Southern League Central game, the Ostrich has to migrate a long way towards warmer climes – my closest Step 4 Southern League Central team is now flippin’ Aylesbury! And I have five newly-promoted Southern League teams to see this season ….

Well, two down already in the shape of AFC Rushden & Diamonds and Petersfield Town, and today the Ostrich caught up with a third of those five clubs by visiting Leighton Buzzard to see Ware. Now I cannot recall ever visiting Leighton Buzzard before. For those not in the know, it’s south of Milton Keynes and north of Watford Junction, on the West Coast Main Line, although the actual station is in the neighbouring conurbation of Linslade. Trains run direct from Birmingham via Northampton, taking around 90 minutes, and with a bit of judicious ticket-splitting, it only cost me £15.50.

Attendees of the next Birmingham meet will be amazed at the transformation of New Street Station. It’s supposed to be opening next week and I got a sneak peek through an open door in a hoarding into the new atrium. They’re still fitting it out (probably desperately trying to source a bench for WM to sit on! ) and everywhere’s still a mess, but the new reflective front facade on the John Lewis’s side is going to be quite a feature.

On arrival at Linslade, I found I had to communicate in sign language with a foreign gentleman in the station shop, pointing to a chocolate pastry – he promptly served me a croissant and I deemed it best not to argue! A 20 minute walk to the football ground, according to Google, but I had time to saunter, stopping off at the Linslade chippie for a piece of battered cod, well recommended, and a viewing of an intricate sculpture by the side of the main road of a bronze propeller, commemorating the original Vickers Vimy bomber on which Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in 1919, and which had been built in the town. My stroll took me through the “old quarter” of Leighton Buzzard, with its thriving street market, more than a few jewellery shops, and a pavement dance exhibition (I know my SCD, they were doing the jive!), arriving at the ground with enough time to spare to watch a bit of the cricket match on the pitch next door, visiting Cumnor CC from Oxfordshire advancing from 75 for 5 to 119 for 7.

As for the game, a very watchable ninety minutes of thud and blunder, in which tempo came first, skill second and finesse a distant third. The home keeper threw a huge hissy fit aimed at his defence after only 50 seconds , and the only surprise of the first half was that it remained goalless. For example, after 21m Leighton defender Hall totally mishit a clearance direct to Ware’s Crilley in front of goal, who shot straight into the keepers arms; Leighton went straight down the other end and Semeniero, well placed, blasted a good chance over the top of the trees behind the goal.

Three goals in 5 minutes ensued after the break. Bishop put Ware ahead with a first-touch conversion of a deep cross from Da Costa (54m) before Leighton keeper Bufton’s poor clearance kick only found Oyibo, who took him on one-on-one, managed to evade him and centred for Bishop to push the ball into the net from close range (54m). Leighton pulled a goal back on 59m with a spectacular flying header from Hatch after Almond’s cross had evaded the defence.
Both sides continued to create chances, but Ware eventually started blatantly time-wasting by the corner flags a good five minutes before the end, and Leighton’s number was duly up.

I discovered on the return journey that there is in fact at least one direct bus service from ground to station which saved the walk back, and with a judicious change of trains at Milton Keynes Central, I was able to get back hme just after 19:30 after another enjoyable day out.