el Queso Grande's Groundhopping Tour 2007-8

The background music is Frank Sinatra's "September Song".

Arngrove Northern League Division 2: Birtley Town 1-2 South Shields

Before the game:

This should be an interesting match, to say the least. Birtley, still unbeaten so far this season, meet South Shields, who were a popular tip for promotion this season.

The game: Over the 90 minutes, South Shields were the better organised and more skillful side, however, once again Birtley were not overawed and took the game to Shields on a number of occasions. There was a lot of niggling throughout the game, right from the first minute; Shields' striker Mark Johnson was deservedly booked inside 20 seconds of the first half for a rash tackle on the halfway line! Birtley, as usual, defended well, although they were lucky to go in on level terms at half time after Simon Fitzpatrick wasted a golden opportunity by sending a weak shot straight into the hands of Andy Mallinson following excellent work by Mark Johnson on the right.

Birtley took the lead against the run of play in the 56th. minute, Barrie Smith sending a hard strike low to the right of Shields' keeper Ben Holden. 9 minutes later, South Shields sent on Lee O'Donovan to replace Stephen Ramsey, which proved to be a master stroke. One of my old favourites, previously at Washington, Durham City and Jarrow Roofing, O'Donovan is a skillful player with a free role and teamed up well with left winger Chris Feasey to cause Birtley all kinds of problems. Shields drew level on 72 when Mark Johnson turned in the box, sending a right-foot strike into the corner of the net. In the 83rd. minute, Shields were awarded a right-wing free kick just inside the Birtley half, from which Feasey sent a lovely forward ball into the area, where O'Donovan, in space, was able send a looping header just under the crossbar.

Nice to see that the programme has improved since the Wearside League days. No bar at Birtley yet, made do with a cup of rather strong coffee at 50p. The area for the new clubhouse has been marked out and work is to begin on the foundations soon. The Committee hope to be able to transport the building from the old Dunlop site in Washington before the end of October.

 

FA Vase 2nd. Qualifying Round: Washington 3-0 Barton Town Old Boys

Barton Town OB are from Humberside and play in the Northern Counties East League Division 1, which is one step below ANL Div.1 in the pyramid, which means nothing, really, it's all down to how a team performs on the day. Also, the hackneyed saying: "The Vase is a great leveller" rings very true. Before today Barton had played 4 league games, having won 3 and lost 1, scoring 12 goals and conceding 7 in the process. They have also scored 10 and conceded 2 in 2 League Cup competitions.

The sun was shining on a decent crowd, including supporters from Barton-on-Humber who had travelled either with the team or under their own steam. Before the game, I was able to enjoy a couple of pints of Cameron's Smooth at £1.50 a pint and a tray of chips and gravy at £1.50 while making use of Washington's new patio area.

I took my place on the north side along with several other groundhoppers who for some reason had made the same choice of game as I had. Washington were the better side by far and took the lead on 37 minutes when Glenn Reay carried the ball across the edge of th 6 yard box to set up Steve Jones for an easy though confident finish. Six minutes later, following a right wing corner, Steve Burns found himself with his back to the goal and the ball at his feet, he turned and shot into goal at the same time.

At half time, Barton made several changes both to their line up and formation; Washington went off the boil for a little while, then substitute Kevin Dixon, on for John Milner, struck a lovely shot into the far corner from about 25 yards. I can only remember 2 occasions when Barton actually threatened the Washington goal and on each occasion, Ben Starford and Lenny French, sub for Starford, made good saves to deny Barton.

Washington will host Shildon, on the 6th. October, in the next round of the competition.

Arngrove League Cup First Round: Dunston Federation 0-2 Seaham Red Star

An excellent match for the neutral observer, probably the best I've seen so far this season. (Do Carlsberg do football matches? If they did .....) 
Andy Jennings opened the scoring 5 minutes into the second half, heading a Warren Byrne cross from the right firmly into the back of the net, shortly after Steve Preen missed a golden opportunity to put The Fed into the lead when he sent a shot over the bar from fairly close in. Too many good individual performances to comment on, but, Seaham's Buddy Halliday took the honours for me, one of the best games I have seen him in, playing a commanding role just in front of the Seaham defence, capping it by winning the ball inside his own half, carrying it through the middle to set up Warren Byrne who took on a defender before shooting past Andy Clark with about 8 minutes left.
Either side could have been ahead after a breathless first half, end-to-end play most of the time, both keepers heavily involved, although some wayward shooting maintained the status quo.
Good pint of Cameron's Smooth for £1.80; very tasty mince and onion pie for £0.80, washed down by a cup of Bovril for £0.60. Once again, I didn't win the half-time raffle. Nice to see The Fed's Chris Laws at the game following his recent injury. Pity there weren't more spectators there tonight, I have been used to being in larger crowds at Federation Park. Newly appointed Sunderland Ryhope CA manager, Neil Hixon, until recently Manager of Seaham Red Star, was at the game and was probably quite proud to see the way his former side performed for his old mate, Stu Gooden, Seaham's new manager.

Arngrove Northern League Division 2: Esh Winning 1-1 Birtley Town

At the last minute, I changed my mind about today's viewing; I had intended to watch the only remaining FA Cup tie which involves two ANL sides, Horden CW and Jarrow Roofing. However, the attraction of visiting Esh Winning's ground at Waterhouses again, which has one of the most picturesque settings in the League, together with a nice little clubhouse and friendly people, proved to be too strong for me to resist. Also, I admit to having a soft spot for Birtley Town, they have done so well since their promotion from the Wearside League. 

Such a peaceful setting!

Birtley dominated the opening stages, but couldn't put the ball in the net. Esh went ahead against the run of play in the 19th. minute, when Paul Bailes set up Dean Hustler who lobbed Andy Mallinson in the Birtley goal from the edge of the penalty area. I thought that Hustler was offside, but the Birtley bench seemed quiet enough, so perhaps I was wrong. (It is possible!). There was a lot of niggling going on from both sides and when Esh substitute Shaun Gregory was sent on in the second half, apparently to unsettled Birtley's Chris Hepple. he succeeded almost immediately but was lucky to remain on the pitch, due to the fact that the Referee's Assistant missed his sly kick. Hepple, however, was not so subtle with his response, flooring Gregory with his next tackle, seeing yellow for his efforts. With 15 minutes left, Birtley assumed a 4-3-3 formation, which paid dividends in that 3 minutes later, substitute, former Teesside Athletic forward, James Kesterton won in the air to head Hepple's right wing free kick into the back of the net. Further strong pressure from Birtley failed to produce another goal in a hectic last 10 minutes.

Birtley's Danny Kind sends in a free kick from the right wing.

Esh Winning keeper Danny Molyneux denies Jed Ramshaw (above) and John Sherlock (below)

Canny pint of John Smith's for £1.80, burger in a bun with onions for £1.20. Once again, I didn't win the raffle! Nice to see a marked improvement in the Esh Winning programme and have a quick chat with it's editors, Peter Mann and Michelle Graham.

I wandered across to the Sports Complex at Birtley, more in hope than any conviction that there would be a game to watch. I found the Durham Sunday League fixture between the Barley Mow pub and the Fiddlers Three pub about to kick off. It was rather like watching a Northern League game, there being so many Northern League players on the pitch! I counted 2 from Dunston Federation, 2 from Birtley Town and 6 from Washington, as well as some others whom I couldn't positively identify. It wasn't bad for a Sunday morning match, apart from the referee who made some strange decisions, to say the least! Barley Mow won 4-0 after both sides were reduced to 10 men due to having players sent off for fighting.

Suddenly finding myself "without wheels", meant a football-less Saturday for me, unless you count the England-Israel match on the TV. I had intended watching the FA Vase 1st. Qualifying Round tie between Crook Town and Ashington, which finished 2-1 to Crook after extra time. My car appears to be in need of some expensive repairs and I don't know when I will be able to afford to have them done.  This will mean some dramatic alterations to my itinerary, unfortunately.

FA Preliminary Round: Consett 4-0 Darlington RA

A last minute decision took me up into the heights of County Durham to Belle Vue, Consett for what promised to be a good game between two sides who have enjoyed good starts to the season. The weather was nice, plenty of sunshine, although not the best conditions for the players, as it was rather warm. Good pint of John Smith's Smooth at £2.10, although I didn't sample the culinary delights from "Kev's Corner Flag Refreshments Bar" as I had enjoyed a large meal before setting out from home. The programme has been vastly improved since my last visit, the presentation and quality of print are excellent, although I did notice the lack of a Penpics section for the visitors. Consett's Matty Moffatt won a Domino Card before the game, so that must have put him in a good mood!

The Consett programme front page shows former ex-Durham City team-mates, former Brandon United player Marc Patterson, now with Consett and Stephen (Buddy) Halliday, formerly of Hartlepool United, Carlisle United and Sunderland Nissan, now at Seaham Red Star.

Nobody could argue that Consett deserved this victory, although, to their credit, RA matched Consett in every area in the first half, a well-taken Jonjo Dickman free kick in the 13th minute was the only separator.

A high clearance out of the RA defence has everyone craning their necks. Hope there's no ice on the ball when it finally comes down!

The second half was to be different as Consett threw everything they had at the RA defence, where Paul Gilmore made some great saves to keep the score respectable. On 59 minutes, Gary Ormston beat everyone in the air to head home a Kraig Wilkinson corner. 9 minutes later, Matty Moffatt, a constant thorn in the RA side saw Gilmore make another good reflex save, only for the ball to land at the feet of Carl Piecha, who made no mistake from close in. When Consett Manager Kenny Lindoe sent on me old mate Marc Patterson with 17 minutes to go, it was obvious he hadn't settled for the 3-0 scoreline and Patta made some good passes to keep up the push on goal. With 10 minutes left, Moffatt was upended just inside the penalty area and took the kick himself, leaving Gilmore with no chance.
Ex-RA forward Steven Johnson linked up well with Moffatt, but, try as he might, he couldn't get the goal he was longing to score.
Good to meet up with Robp and Timbo, regular NLZ-ers from Darlington. Also managed a brief chat with Marc Patterson, ex-Durham City and Brandon United midfielder.

Consett's Craig Robson can't believe his diving header sent the ball that far away, while RA's Mark Wheldon does his best to keep his feet.

Consett's goalkeeper Craig Turns sets off uphill to retrieve the ball which has just been sent wide by a Darlington RA forward.

It looks as though my viewing programme this month will centre around the FA Cup and the FA Vase competitions, with FA Cup games on the 1st., the 15th. and the 29th., as well as FA Vase matches on the 8th. and the 22nd.

My choice for the 2nd. Qualifying Round of the FA Cup on September 29th. might be limited, as there is the slim possibility that only one Northern League team will still be in the competition, with either Marske United, Horden CW or Sunderland Nissan playing hosts to either Jarrow Roofing, West Allotment Celtic, Guisborough Town or Norton & Stockton Ancients in the 1st. Qualifying Round, being the only tie which is "all ANL" at that stage.