Picture This...A Round-Up of Sorts

The new shelter at Andover New Street.

It's all over for another season. I've brought you more words and pictures, and you keep coming back to see whassup. I don't post about every match I go to, for my own sanity more than anything. I don't even take photos at every game - sometimes excitement has to come before art. But I do have a few pictures to spare from games that I didn't cover on here, so I thought maybe you'd like to see some? All of these photos were previously published on the HAH Facebook page. If you follow the blog on there, you'll be familiar with most of these, but not everyone is on Facebook.

So, would you like to see the new shelter at Andover New Street? Yes? Well, here it is, pictured in December last year. Plenty of places to stand under cover at the Wessex Premier's new boys. You'll never get wet at New Street.

Lymington Town at night.

How about a pretty picture of a church tower at night, taken at Lymington Town's ground in January? It rained that night. It rained every single day for three months...

Danny Phillips puts Infinity in to the cup final.

There was a league cup semi-final at Locks Heath in early February between Paulsgrove and Infinity. I'd seen top photographer Paul Paxford a few days before at Windsor. I asked him where the best place was to take penalty photos. He suggested behind the goal. He was right. The match went to a shootout, which Infinity won to send them in to the Hampshire League Cup Final.

Bush Hill go close against Sway at Hythe & Dibden.

The second semi-final was held at Hythe & Dibden a couple of weeks later. Bush Hill were cruising at 2-0 up with 15 minutes to go, but Sway came back to draw the game and win on penalties. They then beat Infinity in the final in May in what was a minor shock. I took this photo whilst stood on a raised platform behind the goal at the entrance end. Sway's number 7 heads off the line here. If that had gone in, it would have been 3-0 and game over.

The Mighty Havant & Waterlooville in action at Oxford City.

I follow the mighty Havant & Waterlooville when I'm not doing HAH. Here they are (in orange) at Oxford City's Marston Road in March. A hard-fought 1-0 victory for the Hawks.

Step art at Whitehawk at the Battle of the Hawks.

On Easter Monday, Havant & Waterlooville travelled to Whitehawk in East Brighton. They were possibly fortunate to come away with a 0-0 that day, but every point counted after 42 matches, as they finished level with Dartford, winning the league on goal difference.

The sun sets on Romsey Town's promotion hopes.

As clubs battled to finish their fixtures in April, one week it was possible to go to six matches in six days (a rare opportunity as there are very few Thursday night fixtures under normal circumstances). The week started at Romsey Town, who beat Laverstock & Ford 3-1 at the Bypass Ground. Unfortunately, a home defeat by Tadley-Calleva a few days earlier had put paid to their promotion hopes for this season. There's always next year...

Andover New Street's promotion party starting at Totton & Eling.

One team that never faltered - and surprised everyone - was Andover New Street. They were promoted after a 5-0 win at Totton & Eling. After being at (or near) the bottom of the Wessex since forever ago, no-one could begrudge them their success this season. Incredibly, they'll be playing in the division above neighbours Andover Town after the Portway side were relegated by the FA for refusing promotion to the Southern League.

Beneath the high rise at Team Solent.

My third game of this busy week was a Thursday night encounter between Team Solent and Alresford Town. Neither side had anything to play for, but it was an entertaining affair nevertheless. Alresford came back from two down to draw. They probably should have won.

Shock victory for Follands in their final home match.

The Friday night entertainment was at Follands (in yellow above). Rock-bottom, with one home victory all season, you would never have known they'd struggled as opponents New Milton Town were hammered 5-1. Most unexpected.

The home dugout at Fareham Town.

Blackfield & Langley won the Wessex this season. One of their final games was a visit to Fortress Cams, home of Fareham Town. It wasn't much of a fortress that evening as a visibly tired home team were easily beaten after they'd played approximately a zillion games in the previous fortnight. You can see the subs' shirts hung up in the home side's dugout at half-time here.

Paulsgrove rent the Front Lawn facility in Havant for their league match with Sway.

I don't think it counts in my season's match total if I only see half a game, does it? After watching the Hawks beat St Alban's City at Westleigh Park, I caught the last 40 minutes of a 4 o'clock kick-off at Hampshire FA's Front Lawn facility in Havant. It's a 4G pitch which was rented for the day by Paulsgrove for their Hampshire League game against Sway. The "home" club won that game fairly easily.

Ed Harris cadges a lift on Rory Williams' shoulders. This was an exciting moment, but not as incredible as what happened in the last minute.

Did I mention that I follow Havant & Waterlooville? And that they won the National League South to take their place in non-league's top division next season? Here they are celebrating their second goal against Concord Rangers on the final day of the season. 2-0 up against a team with nothing to play for? It's all over with an hour still to play, surely? Well, it wasn't, as the club from Essex somehow scored twice in the second half. Heading for the play-offs with a minute to go, Jason Prior scored with the coolest side-foot volley you'll ever see for the most exciting moment of 2017/18. There was a lot of leaping around right there and then, I can tell you.

One more post this season, and that will be the ever-unpopular roller round-up.

Corinthian v Alresford Town

Corinthian's electronic scoreboard, after it stopped working in the second half.

I read this book about a year ago - the name escapes me right now - it was about people and places which don't appear on any maps. The author wrote about shanty towns, nomadic tribesmen, and the numerous newly-built cities in China where almost nobody lives, because 90% of the houses have been sold to speculators purely so that they can sell them on to each other to make a profit (the same "businessmen" do the same with new flats in London, by all accounts, helping to push up house prices even further here).

The most interesting case study in the book was that of the North Korean city of Kijong-dong, which is visible from the border with South Korea. Apparently, this ghost city (it's completely empty of any inhabitants) is fully lit at night, with gaudy flashing lights advertising heaven knows what pointing straight at their southern neighbours. It uses up half the electricity supply of the North (the other half will undoubtedly be used by Kim Jong-un and his acolytes in Pyongyang). This city is virtually the only thing you can see in night-time satellite images of North Korea.

Kijong-dong was built to demonstrate to the citizens of South Korea that their northern neighbours are having a wonderful time, just like them. Maybe even better. However, it only takes a pair of binoculars to nail the lie. It's quite obvious that nobody lives there if you look hard enough. No movement other than the flashing lights - no people, no cars, nothing.

Respect for the fallen before kick off.

Details:
Corinthian FC (2) 3 v 2 (1) Alresford Town FC
Buildbase FA Vase Second Round
Saturday 12th November 2016
Attendance: 52
Admission: £7
Programme: £1
Colours: Celtic v All yellow
National Grid reference: TQ5967

A prefab stand, which is a common enough sight - but this one is resting on a flat bed from a hay wagon to give it some elevation.

The North Korean city reminded me of all the liars and fantasists I've met over the years, albeit on a much larger scale. The bragging mate who's had all the girls (although you've never seen him ever talk to a woman, let alone "score"); that other bloke you talk to occasionally in your local who's been to every landmark gig since punk broke, despite the fact he always seems to be sat in the same seat in the same pub every single night (he let slip he'd just celebrated his 50th birthday the last time you saw him, which meant he would have been 10 when he saw the Pistols play at the 100 Club...).

Your hardnut football mate who tells you preposterous tales about his time in the 657 Crew in the 80s. You know he can't have been ambushed in the back streets of Mansfield by their Shady Express firm, because Pompey never played Mansfield in the 80s, but he'll still insist he was there. And you know that nothing went down at QPR the day that Ian Baird scored his only goal for the club (a tap in from a yard out), because you were there, but he'll still brag about taking the home end virtually single-handed.

Corinthian's first goal. The changing rooms with flats above in the background.

There's the individual fantasists, and then there are the corporate and political fantasists. We'll leave recent elections aside here and concentrate on Sky's constant Premiership hype. Have you ever been to a match at which the Sky cameras were present? Did you watch the bombastic build-up to the game before you set off? Did you watch the game again on catch-up later to see the meagre highlights? Then you'll know the disconnect between the hype and the reality of the best league in the world. It's all just like your bragging mates, but bigger, louder and even more unbelievable.

Corinthian Sports Club are the antithesis of all this nonsense. They're the reformed continuation of one of the original exclusive gentlemen's amateur football clubs of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Based at Gay Dawn Farm between the villages of Fawkham and Longfield in Kent, their story is expertly told by David Bauckham in his superb football blog Exposure. I highly recommend reading this piece, it's a real treat. And David is a great photographer, so there are many more ground photos on Exposure to complement the pictures that I took on Saturday.

Highlights from David's story include the fact that the club only played friendlies during the first thirteen years of its existence, including against the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City; the club have remained strictly amateur from their formation in 1972 until the present day; and that people live in flats above the dressing rooms - players are reminded to be quiet and respectful to the neighbours.

One of the four bus shelters.

My journey to Kent from Southampton was stressful, driving along the monochrome motorways of southern England. Grey skies, grey tarmac, grey cars splashing grey spray on my windscreen. Slowly does it. Would the match be postponed? No news on Twitter before I left, so I stopped at Liphook to check. No signal. Stop again 15 minutes later after Guildford - game on! Off of the M25, past Brands Hatch, turn left...and we were suddenly in a glittering golden tunnel, driving along the country lane towards Gay Dawn Farm, glorious autumn foliage overhanging our route.

Having parked the car, a ginger farm cat sauntered towards me. Could I stroke her? "No, I'm a farm cat, nobody touches me!"

Corinthian's football ground is part of a wider sporting complex. There's another full-size football pitch, a golf course, an artificial five-a-side pitch, and a kindergarten, amongst other facilities.

As you enter the ground, to your left is the pavilion containing the dressing rooms and a small tea bar. There are three rows of blue plastic seating beneath a balcony, presumably used by the residents of the flats above. Between the entrance and the pavilion is a row of sunflowers, now starting to look a little sorry for themselves in the November drizzle.

By the entrance is a brick and wood sheltered stand with a corrugated plastic roof containing two rows of numbered white seats which must have been shipped in from a professional club, the numbers on the backs randomly placed. There was the number 10 - next to it was 66 (and all that). I conversed with a fellow who visits Corinthian when Ebbsfleet are away - we wondered if the seats had come from Spurs.

There is a toilet block in a container at this end, above which is an electronic scoreboard, which worked in the first half, but went on the blink in the second.

Along the right-hand side are four plastic bus shelters and a prefabricated seated stand which has been placed on the back of an old truck, giving it some welcome elevation. The far end is hard standing, but with overhanging trees giving some shelter from the light rain which fell throughout the match. The remaining side contains plastic dugouts and a latticed TV tower, but is out of bounds for spectators. The whole ground has a rural feel (Gay Dawn Farm is a working farm - some of the countryside smells wafting around the pavilion proving it!).

Chasing a loose ball during first half injury time.

Alresford Town travelled to Kent having knocked out Chippenham Park, Cowes Sports and Lingfield in the previous three rounds. Corinthian had seen off Sevenoaks Town and Alton, having had a bye in the first qualifying round. The two teams looked evenly matched on paper, and so it proved on the day, as either club could have made a case for victory.

Corinthian took the lead with their first dangerous attack after ten minutes. Michael Hagan chipped the ball over advancing keeper Wayne Shaw, Robert Flooks hooked the ball off the line, but it fell straight to Conor Johnson, six yards out on the left, who knocked the ball back in, Flooks helpless this time as he tried to regain his balance in vain.

Alresford were the better team, but they fell two behind eight minutes later from Corinthian's second serious attack. Again, Johnson was involved, nipping in behind the right-back to shoot low and hard across the goal. Shaw saved, but the ball fell in to the path of a Corinthian player, Luke Tanner, who was able to slot the ball in to an empty net from close range, in a similar manner to the first goal.

Despite being two down so early, Alresford kept pressing, Chris Mason having a screamer from 25 yards headed off the line before he slid home Town's first from the penalty spot after 22 minutes. Simon Everrett was upended as he tried to trick his way past a Corinthian defender and Mason was cool-headed as he beat keeper Hagan low down to his right.

Town continued to have the better chances but couldn't force an equaliser before half-time.

Sunflowers beginning to droop a bit now it's November. This corner led to Alresford's second goal.

Discussing the match at half-time with my new friend from Ebbsfleet, we both agreed that there would be more goals in the second half, and that Alresford would definitely score at least one of them. I argued that they would go on and win, but he wasn't so sure, thinking that there would be extra-time and possibly a replay to settle the tie.

There was no need for extra-time in the end, as Corinthian played much better after the break. They looked more likely to extend their lead as Shaw was forced to work a lot harder to keep his team in the game, making several decent saves. However, Alresford did get their equaliser, as we'd predicted, when Aaron Blaxall was on hand to chip the ball in from three yards when it fell to him after a corner wasn't cleared properly after 62 minutes.

Mason missed a great chance soon after the goal, but the rhythm of the game was generally with Corinthian, especially after they brought on 17-year-old winger Louis Clarke, who was a constant menace to Alresford's overworked full-backs. It was he that sped past Tom Richards after 73 minutes to fire in a low cross for the unmarked Tanner to volley in from close range for the eventual winner.

Sam Burt should have equalised with a few minutes remaining, but he shot straight at a grateful Hagan. The amateur club from the Southern Counties East League had done just enough to earn themselves a place in the last 64. Alresford will be kicking themselves, as they could and probably should have earnt at least a replay.

On my way out, I saw the aloof farm cat again. She ignored me, instead creeping through a gap in the hedge near the elevated stand. As the floodlights went out, no doubt the countryside creatures of the night were taking over the farm's football ground. Tonight, the farm cat will feast upon football ground mice.

Thank you to the reporter from the excellent Kentish Football website, without whom I would have struggled to fill in some of the names of the players involved in the action on Saturday. His lengthy report is here.

There are another 30+ photos from Corinthian on the HAH Facebook page here.

The third area of covered seating at Corinthian.

Other than Alresford, here are the other local results from the FA Vase this weekend:

Croydon 2-1 Andover Town
Eight man Moneyfields 0-4 Thatcham Town
Portland United 1-2 Blackfield & Langley
Shaftesbury 1-3 Team Solent
Hartley Wintney v Melksham Town was postponed, but the away side won the rearranged match yesterday evening by 2 goals to 1.

Newport (IW) lost away to Buckland Athletic, whilst Bemerton Heath Harlequins beat Cullompton Rangers in a replay on Tuesday evening, which means that only three Wessex League clubs are  through to the last 64.

The draw for the Third Round was made on Monday. The two remaining Hampshire clubs were paired with opposition from the south-west:

Exmouth Town v Blackfield & Langley
Team Solent v Bodmin Town

A trip to Exmouth on December 3rd is very tempting. We'll see what the weather's like!

The next HAH will be from a Hampshire Premier League ground on November 26th.

Bridport v Alresford Town

The main entrance at Bridport FC. There won't be a friendlier welcome all season.

Back again for another season of thrills, spills and - no doubt - the odd bellyache. No more friendlies, no more swapping the entire team around at half-time, no more cramp or stitches through lack of fitness. Football was back on Saturday - proper, no holds barred, competitive football was here again for another season, and it felt great.

Before I get on and describe the match and Bridport's ground, I'll just spend a little time letting you know HAH's plans for the season ahead:

I've been writing this blog since January 2011. The initial aim was to visit and report on every football club in Hampshire down to the tenth level of English football (the bottom divisions of the Wessex and Combined Counties Leagues). There were 42 clubs in all, and it took me until the end of the 2012/13 season to achieve this aim. The following season, I had to do something else, so I decided to follow the county's clubs in the FA Vase until they were all knocked out. I chose a good season, because Sholing went all the way to Wembley and won the cup.

It was during 2013/14 that I branched out and started visiting grounds outside of the county - I had to when some of the Vase ties were played in other parts of the country. But there has always been the one overriding rule that I will feature at least one club from Hampshire in each match report - this rule will remain in force until the blog eventually fades away (or goes out with a bang...).

During 2014/15 and 2015/16, I posted reports from all the clubs that were in the Wessex League at the time that I'd not previously visited, so that at the end of last season, I'd written 100 match reports in total, visited every club in Hampshire down to a certain level, and completed the Wessex League.

The secret back entrance.

Details:
Bridport FC (1) 1 v 2 (1) Alresford Town FC
Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Saturday 6th August 2016
Attendance: 146
Admission: £6
Programme: £1
Colours: Red / black / black v All yellow
National Grid reference: SY4692

Alresford Town warming up.

So, what to do this season? Do I do something completely different, or carry on as before? I was giving this some thought over the summer, when I came up with a reasonably good idea - I usually report on 17 matches in a normal season - why not feature matches in 17 different competitions and call the series "17 for 16/17"? Looking at the practicalities, I calculated that there were well over 30 different competitions that Hampshire non-league clubs would enter this season between them - depending upon how far down the pyramid I went, there would be at least 12 leagues/divisions, and many more cups, at national and county levels, as well as various league cups. And as I intend to feature at least one women's match this season, the total would increase even more dramatically.

However, the more I thought about it, the less appealing the idea became for several reasons, one of which is the number of cup competitions that are played midweek (midweek games are difficult for me to get to, and photography under floodlights tends not to be great). Also, I want to recomplete the Wessex League, and I'd need some luck with cup draws to feature all of the new clubs in different competitions.

Bridport's substitute jerseys hanging up inside their dugout, spick and span and ready for action.

And so, there are four new clubs in the Wessex League that I've not previously featured (Baffins Milton Rovers, Hamble Club, Shaftesbury, and Weymouth Reserves) - I clearly have to visit all of these between now and April.

Last season, I also attempted to feature each Hants non-league club that I'd previously only reported on once for a second time. I nearly did it, but failed to feature just the one club for a second time - Combined Counties League Eversley & California, so expect to see one of their matches on here at some point.

As I'm not doing "17 for 16/17", that leaves me with another twelve games to cover, so I've decided to start the season with as many FA Cup and Vase ties as I can practically get to, at grounds I've not yet visited. I'd also like to report on at least four Hampshire Premier Football League clubs and at least one local women's match throughout the season.

Hence, the trip to Bridport for an FA Cup match on Saturday.

Bridport's seated stand.

I'd envisioned a grand day out. I'd heard that Bridport had ambitions to be to record collectors what Hay-on-Wye is to antiquarian book lovers. Upon prior inspection, it appeared that there were three record shops in the town, plus a regular record fair (which I would be missing by a week - it returns to Bridport this Saturday coming). That would do me - a morning of record shopping, a bite to eat in an independent cafe, then off to the match. And if Bridport turned out to be a boring town, there was always the beach at nearby West Bay to explore. Make a day of it, that's what we'd do.

However, I'd forgotten how heavy the traffic is on a Saturday in August travelling west. We set off at 9:30, hoping to arrive in Bridport by 11am. At 11am, we were barely out of the New Forest - caravans and Panzerwagens nose to tail all along the route, stopping, starting, stopping again. First gear, second gear, third gear, stop. Hence, we eventually arrived in Bridport at around 1 o'clock.

There's a public car park attached to Bridport's Beehive ground, for which we paid £2 to park for the rest of the day. All proceeds from parking go to the club, and with there being very few spaces in the car park on Saturday, they probably made just as much money from visitors parking as they did from the 146 football spectators.

We only had an hour or so to wander round Bridport before I left my companions to go to the match, so we set off past the ground to the shopping area. I stopped by the entrance to take a couple of photos, when one of the club officials called me over. He was sat at a table full of souvenirs - club shirts, badges, scarves, and a pile of old programmes. When I asked if I could take a picture of his table of treasures, he called his friend out from the nearby turnstile and they posed together for the photo at the top of the page. I was immediately made to feel welcome, and this carried on throughout the afternoon. What a friendly club!

I bought a pin badge.

The square tower of St Mary's Church.

I need to go back to Bridport to fully appreciate the town, but in the short time I had, it appeared to be full of second-hand and antique shops. I found two record shops, one selling new merchandise, the other selling old. In the second shop, the owner was bemoaning the fact that no-one collects Elvis records any more, as the generation that venerated him slowly dies off. Sad.

On my way back to the ground, I stopped and had a good look at some vintage knobs and knockers, but decided that we didn't really need any more of those at home.

Now, let's take a virtual walk around The Beehive...

By 2:15, the merchandise table had been packed up and moved so that it was the first thing I saw on my left as I entered through the smart red clickable turnstile. However, the table was now bare, but would be used during the game as a seat by one of the club volunteers, residing in the corner to open and shut the gate. Upon the cream-coloured breezeblock wall of the turnstile block was a plaque to indicate that Bees Fans Live Here.

Walking clockwise around the ground, there is hard standing behind the near goal. Around the first corner there is a shallow grass bank. Upon the bank is a red park bench with a Reserved sign. This is where my chum from earlier sat during the first half with his friends, cheering The Bees on.

Further along is an Arena stand with sun-bleached red and black plastic seats, erected in 2003. This replaced the original stand which came with Bridport Town when they moved from their previous ground in 1953. After fifty or more years, I guess it was getting a bit mouldy and rotten with age and had to go. I know the feeling well.

Still moving along the same side, we come to the brick-built, whitewashed tea hut, serving all your favourite football food at reasonable prices. Next to the hut is a round, wooden table with a parasol and several wooden chairs.

At the far corner is the changing room block, with the clubhouse beside it, behind the goal. There is space for cars to park at this end, but not for very many. The groundsman's shed lives in the next corner. Outside the shed is a wheelbarrow with grass growing in it. On the grass is an orange hard hat. Behind the shed is a disused entrance cubicle.

All along the final side is a road, presumably so vans can access the clubhouse and deliver delicious and satisfying barrels of beer, which means that the second piece of cover in the ground needs to be tall, like a barn with one side sawn off and the doors taken out at each end. Along this side is netting strung up on poles to prevent balls flying out of the ground and in to the River Brit (next stop, West Bay and then the English Channel).

Penalty for Alresford Town.

For Alresford Town, they started their Wessex League season last Monday evening in the rain at Team Solent. They were 2-0 up after 27 minutes when two opposition players collided, one fell awkwardly and broke his leg. Lying in the rain for half an hour, Myles Burrows was covered in tin foil like a roast chicken whilst waiting for an ambulance. With a 10pm floodlight embargo, by the time the poor lad had been stretchered off the pitch, there was no time to finish the game, which was abandoned, so Alresford had less than half an hour of competitive football in their legs going in to the FA Cup's initial round on Saturday...which was half an hour more than Bridport, who play in the yet-to-start Western League.

You wouldn't have known that the home team hadn't played in anger yet, as they hit the bar early on, and then, after a good 15 minutes of pressure, took the lead as Dan Peach received the ball from the left, then shot home low and hard from ten yards.

However, that was that for concerted pressure from the home team, as Alresford came back in to the game, hitting the post three minutes after going behind, then equalising soon afterwards. Tom Sands ran on to a through ball, just beating the onrushing home goalkeeper to the ball just outside of the penalty area. The keeper grabbed Sands, but he stayed strong and chipped the ball in to the empty net. If the forward had gone down, Bridport would almost certainly have been down to ten men and without a goalkeeper for the next 65 minutes.

Alresford must have had at least ten corners during the latter part of the first half, but couldn't force a second goal. As the teams walked off at half-time, a group of purple-clad young girls came on to the pitch to dance along to Gangnam Style whilst waving big white fluffy pom-poms around for our half-time entertainment. They were raising money to go to Jersey to take part in a dancing competition. I gave them a couple of quid towards the £2,000 they needed. Several family members were there, looking on proudly.

Alresford generally controlled the game during the second half, although Bridport came close to scoring again more than once. Their best chance came after 53 minutes, two forwards being denied by a tremendous double save from Dan Kempson. Three minutes later, Sands was tripped in the box as he wiggled his way past a pair of home defenders. Chris Mason hit the resulting penalty low and hard towards the bottom corner, but Jason Hutchings dived to his right to push the ball away for a corner.

Alresford won the game with a second goal after 68 minutes when they broke down the right, and after a couple of quick passes, Craig Harding drove the ball home through a crowd of defenders.

Collecting the Toolstation League-branded corner flags post-match.

Thank you to Bridport Football Club. I'd recommend a day out in the town and thence to the football club to anyone. Probably best to avoid a holiday weekend in August though...

Alresford Town will travel back to Dorset to play Wimborne Town in the FA Cup Preliminary Round on August 20th.

Other clubs from Hampshire who played in the FA Cup over the weekend:

Lymington Town 0-0 Hamworthy United
Sholing 4-1 Bournemouth FC
Spelthorne Sports 4-3 Hartley Wintney (disappointing for Hartley after doing so well last season)
Camberley Town 6-1 Cove
Andover Town 5-2 Royal Wootton Bassett Town
Moneyfields 4-3 Christchurch
Cadbury Heath 7-0 Folland Sports
Lydney Town 0-6 Team Solent
Bradford Town 1-3 Fareham Town (great result for the Creeksiders)
Whitchurch Town 0-0 Cribbs
Brockenhurst 2-1 Laverstock & Ford
US Portsmouth 2-1 Melksham Town (one of the results of the round!)
Bashley 2-1 Horndean (two wins in a row for Bash after 20 months without a victory!)
Blackfield & Langley 2-0 Hallen
Fawley 0-3 AFC Portchester
Highworth Town 2-1 Tadley-Calleva

I've posted another 39 pictures from Bridport in the HAH Facebook group here.

Here's a couple more photos which I posted on Twitter and which don't appear in the collection on the Facebook group:

The entrance to the club car park, Bridport FC's cash cow.

A powerful cross fired in from Bridport's left which came to nothing.

If you'd like to read a competent, professional match report, you can find one here, and another one here.

Next time, another FA Cup game. I'm just waiting on a replay in deepest Dorset on Tuesday evening before making a decision on where to go...

Postponements

Pewsey Vale. Dangerous.

There have been many postponements recently. There always are at this time of the year. You hear various influential people calling for a winter break, but what if we had a month off during December and January and the weather was fine? It can rain non-stop for a month at any time of the year now that the climate has changed. Three years ago, we had frozen pitches in March. So, unless football becomes a summer game, we should carry on scheduling fixtures all through the winter. In my opinion.

I have no problem with postponed games. If the referee decides that a football pitch is dangerous, he has to call the game off. Whether or not the ref can be sued if a player sustains a bad injury due to the state of the pitch, I don't actually know, but this is the excuse given in marginal cases.

There were many games called off on Saturday morning. I had planned on going to Hythe & Dibden for the first HAH report of 2016, but I heard through social media that the match had been postponed at around 10.30. The early postponement was good, as it prevented opponents Andover New Street from travelling and wasting their time.

When it got to lunchtime and I'd seen that Pewsey Vale's match with Ringwood Town hadn't been called off, I decided to change tack and go there instead. I intentionally arrived there early, parking up in Pewsey by 2.15, just in case there had been a late postponement - I could then have got back in my car and driven to nearby Devizes or Westbury to watch their one of their matches instead.

Gaerwen. Not dangerous.

And so, I was the first paying customer at Pewsey on Saturday. I chatted to the gateman and congratulated him on the state of the pitch. He said they'd worked really hard to get the game on that morning, and I could tell. If ever a pitch resembled a bowling green at this time of the season, it was Pewsey's on Saturday.

The players were warming up at either end of the pitch, happily passing balls to one another, one touch, two touches, pass, just like the professionals. The ref was chatting to his two assistants, but I thought nothing of it. I went in to the clubhouse and had a cup of tea. I wasn't charged, as the woman pouring the tea out said that the urn wasn't quite hot enough yet (it tasted great to me). On the table in front of the urn was a large pile of rolls, all ready for today's hungry spectators. I finished my tea and wandered outside. It was twenty to two and the players were still warming up.

I pootled slowly round the pitch, looking for potentially interesting angles to take photos from during the match. It was as I reached the far corner that I noticed one of the club officials picking up one of the corner flags. He then walked across the pitch and pulled out another. I thought it was odd, but it was ten to three and the players were still warming up.

Being a bit dim, the penny still hadn't dropped as I got back to the clubhouse and saw the gateman waving at me. He was giving me my money back - it still hadn't clicked what was going on. I asked if today's match was now free, but he replied (of course) that, no, the game had just been called off because the surface was too dangerous to play on.

It transpired that a tiny area by one corner flag was still a little frosty. This part of the pitch was so dangerous that Pewsey's team carried on with what had turned in to a training session down by this corner as Ringwood's players trudged off, disconsolate, having spent well over an hour travelling to this distant corner of Wiltshire. They'd wasted their time, I'd wasted my time, but mostly, Pewsey's club officials had wasted hours of their time working to get the match on and believing that they'd produced a perfectly playable surface.

Alresford Town. Not dangerous.

It wasn't the only game called off late on Saturday - Pompey fans had reached Birmingham by the time that Accrington called their game off at 10am. Bashley's players were boarding their coach to Cheltenham when the news came through from Bishop's Cleeve that their game had fallen foul of the frost.

Okay, these things happen. But, shouldn't there be a rule to the effect that if a game hasn't been called off by the time that the away team have set off, then it should go ahead regardless (unless conditions have dramatically changed in the meantime). Thus, at Pewsey, the away team's travelling time + an hour's changing and warming up time once they'd arrived would be about two and a half hours. The latest time that this game should have been called off (and communicated to Ringwood and the league) was half past twelve.

The contrast between Alresford Town's frozen pitch against Phoenix Sports last season; the mudbath at Gaerwen FC on Anglesey last weekend (where I'd been whilst taking my son back to university) and this weekend's bowling green at Pewsey was stark. Nobody got injured at frosty Alresford or puddle-strewn and muddy Gaerwen. On the contrary, the players just got on with the game and loved every minute of it. If refs really can be sued over injuries sustained on barely frosted pitches, then modern life really is rubbish.

In the meantime, Pewsey Vale have only played twelve league matches all season. They have another 22 to fit in with only 15 Saturdays left to go. And they're not the only ones suffering from this 21st century insanity.

I shall try again next week...

There or Thereabouts

Sholing celebrate in front of their Ultras after beating Wisbech Town in the Vase in 2014.

It's time for Part Three of HAH's Summer Stats Spectacular! The last two posts have featured the Hampshire clubs that could have done a little bit better when HAH has been present. This latest post spotlights twelve clubs that have either won more often than they've lost when on HAH, or have mid-table records with positive goal differences in my special league table. They're there or thereabouts, but not quite in the top ten.

Okay, okay, it's just an excuse to publish more pictures whilst waiting for the new season to start, but what the hey!

Hartley Wintney attempt to waste a few precious seconds towards the end of their FA Cup draw with Clevedon Town.

Here's the latest table, running from number 22 (of 46) through to number 11. As previously, two points awarded for a win:

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Pts/Game
22.	AFC Portchester	2	1	0	1	6	5	+1	2	1.00
21.	Havant & Ville	5	2	1	2	11	10	+1	5	1.00
20.	Alton Town	4	2	0	2	8	6	+2	4	1.00
19.	Basingstoke Town	2	1	0	1	5	2	+3	2	1.00
18.	Tadley-Calleva	3	1	1	1	8	5	+3	3	1.00
17.	Alresford Town	2	1	0	1	6	2	+4	2	1.00
16.	Hartley Wintney	4	2	1	1	4	6	-2	5	1.25
15.	Andover New Street	3	2	0	1	7	6	+1	4	1.33
14.	Fareham Town	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1	3	1.50
13.	Ringwood Town	2	1	1	0	4	0	+4	3	1.50
12.	Petersfield Town	4	2	2	0	8	3	+5	6	1.50
11.	Sholing	6	4	1	1	12	7	+5	9	1.50

Havant & Waterlooville's seated stand, as reflected in a Foster's lager advert.

And here are the clubs' individual records:

22. AFC PORTCHESTER
Aug 2011 v Cove (a) 2-0
Nov 2011 v Team Solent (h) 4-5

21. HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE
Jan 2011 v Eastleigh (a) 2-4
Oct 2011 v Farnborough (h) 5-0
Apr 2012 v Staines Town (h) 3-2
Feb 2013 v Farnborough (a) 1-1
Nov 2014 v Preston North End (h) 0-3

20. ALTON TOWN
Jan 2012 v Blackfield & Langley (a) 2-0
Aug 2012 v Winchester City (a) 0-3
Mar 2013 v Hayling United (h) 4-0
Aug 2014 v Horsham YMCA (a) 2-3

Portchy featured in the highest scoring game I've covered on HAH, yet I haven't written about them since. Maybe next season after a four year gap? I regularly watch the Hawks when I'm not writing HAH. I've featured them in every calendar year so far, except 2015 (see also, Hythe & Dibden, but nobody else).

Tadley-Calleva's stand.

19. BASINGSTOKE TOWN
Oct 2011 v Hartley Wintney (h) 4-0
Apr 2014 v Eastleigh (a) 1-2

18. TADLEY-CALLEVA
Feb 2011 v Andover New Street (a) 3-4
Mar 2012 v Ringwood Town 0-0
Apr 2013 v United Services Portsmouth (a) 5-1

17. ALRESFORD TOWN
Feb 2013 v Fawley (h) 5-0
Dec 2014 v Phoenix Sports (h) 1-2

I declared at the end of 2010/11 that Tadley-Calleva's match at Andover New Street was the most exciting I'd seen all season. I don't recall seeing a more thrilling contest since. Conversely, their 0-0 draw at home to Ringwood was mind-numbingly tedious. You never know what you're going to get with Tadders!

Fareham Town on the attack at Downton in February 2014.

16. HARTLEY WINTNEY
Sep 2011 v Bashley (h) 1-0
Oct 2011 v Basingstoke Town (a) 0-4
Sep 2013 v Bracknell Town (a) 2-1
Oct 2013 v Clevedon Town (h) 1-1

15. ANDOVER NEW STREET
Feb 2011 v Tadley-Calleva (h) 4-3
Nov 2013 v Fleet Spurs (h) 2-1
Jan 2015 v Laverstock & Ford (a) 1-2

14. FAREHAM TOWN
Jan 2011 v Romsey Town (h) 1-1
Feb 2014 v Downton (a) 3-2

Considering how low down the league Andover New Street usually finish, it's remarkable that I'd never seen them lose until their trip to Lavvy in January. Oh, and I must return to Fareham Town this coming season - Cams Alders is a fine ground and I really didn't do it justice the first time around.

Petersfield Town's subs warming up during their promotion-winning game against Lymington Town in April.

13. RINGWOOD TOWN
Mar 2012 v Tadley-Calleva (a) 0-0
Nov 2012 v Hythe & Dibden (h) 4-0

12. PETERSFIELD TOWN
Mar 2011 v Stockbridge (a) 1-1
Apr 2013 v Stockbridge (h) 4-0
Mar 2015 v Hamworthy United (a) 2-2
Apr 2015 v Lymington Town (h) 1-0

11. SHOLING
Jan 2011 v AFC Totton (a) 1-2
Dec 2012 v Tiverton Town (h) 2-2
Jan 2014 v Hullbridge Sports (h) 3-1
Mar 2014 v Wisbech Town (h) 1-0
Apr 2014 v Eastbourne United Association (a) 4-2
May 2014 v West Auckland Town (Wembley) 1-0

Ringwood Town are the only side I've covered more than once that have yet to concede a goal. Petersfield Town are one of eight clubs that I've featured four times or more, and I'll be very tempted to cover them again this coming season in the Southern League. There is nobody that I've featured more often than Sholing, primarily because of their run to the Vase final in 2014 when I was concentrating on that competition. Hang on a minute...did I say Andover New Street v Tadley-Calleva was the best match I'd written about thus far? Scratch that! Sholing's semi-final victory at Eastbourne was a belter!

The sun sets over Ringwood Town.

Top Ten next! To be fair to some of the teams featured this time out, the top ten includes six clubs that I've only featured once, so the likes of Petersfield and Sholing can feel they're morally up there with the best.

As an aside, I created a Pinterest board with some of my non-league pictures on it, if anybody's interested. You can find the link on the right-hand side of the screen if you're reading this on a PC or tablet. Not sure why I did it, as my e-mail inbox has been mega-spammed by Mr Pinterest pretty much every day since I created the board. Oh, well...