SOUTH SUFFOLK HOP

Another early start! Another long day!
Today I headed to Suffolk for a cheeky treble, which meant a 6am start. The things you do in the name of this wonderful (mental?) hobby of ours!

12pm NOTTCUTTS PARK
EASTERN COUNTIES LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
WOODBRIDGE TOWN 2-2 STOWMARKET TOWN
ATTENDANCE: 134

The Eastern Counties Suffolk Hop finally got underway at Nottcutts Park, the home of Woodbridge Town. It was due to start 17 hours earlier but the Friday evening game at Felixstowe was called off just before kick due to fog, much to the amusement of some and the disappointment of many.


We arrived in Woodbridge with plenty of time to pay a visit to The GBG listed Cherry Tree for some pre-match lubrication, where we met up with a few like-minded hoppers.

This was an entertaining game with Stowmarket somehow finding themselves 2-0 down after dominating the early proceedings.  Aaron Greenwood (15) and a superb free kick from Alex Greggor (17) gave Woodbridge the advantage before Stowmarket eventually clawed their way back to take a point.

Goals from Ben License (37) and Sean Rea (64) levelled things up, which was the least they deserved. The Woodbridge goalkeeper Luke Kingham-Jones was by far and away the man of the match , making some stunning saves to keep his team in the game.

3pm 'BLOOMFIELDS'
ISTHMIAN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE NORTH
NEEDHAM MARKET 3-0 CRAY WANDERERS
ATTENDANCE: 279

The hop now headed onto Ipswich Wanderers for the next game but, having visited Humber Doucy Lane previously, I diverted to Needham Market for their Isthmian League clash with Cray Wanderers.

As with the previous game, there was time to have a few pre-match slurps in the GBG listed Rampant Horse, which was a few minutes from Needham Markets's ground, Bloomfields. The ground was named in honour of club stalwart Derrick Bloomfield.

Needham have had a storming start to the season winning nine out of ten games and today they were too strong for Cray Wanderers, who were relegated to this league back in April. I think this season may also be a long and hard one for Cray.

Captained by former Colchester United stalwart Kem Izzet, Needham scored three without reply thanks to a hat-trick from Sam Newson (14, 39 and 90). They do look worth a punt for promotion.

6pm BRANTHAM LEISURE CENTRE
EASTERN COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
BRANTHAM ATHLETIC 2-2 FC CLACTON
ATTENDANCE: 150

The final game of the day saw us head to the Brantham Leisure Centre where Brantham Athletic were taking on FC Clacton.

The ground is shared with the local cricket team but is a tidy ground for this level. At this point I must also highlight the food on sale in the clubhouse which was fantastic. The baked potato looked great but being a creature of habit I opted for a breakfast bap, well it had gone 5.30pm!

After a bright start by the home side, Clacton scored against the run of play and from that point on never looked like relinquishing the points as they raced into a three goal lead and missed numerous other chances.

A 'royal' goal from Billy Wales (9) gave Clacton the lead before a brace from Aaron Condon (60 & 71) made the three points safe.


Brantham's consolation goal was probably the best of the day as a long range effort came back off the crossbar and went in off the diving Aaron Reid's head (76).

The game was very 'tasty' to say the least with some, err, robust challenges being made by both sides. The referee just about managed to keep a lid on it.

An enjoyable end to a great day's hopping. Roll on next March when we all head to Swaffham, Thetford, Mildenhall and Newmarket.

This is the leagues take on the weekend proceedings;
http://thurlownunnleague.co.uk/foggy-start-to-south-suffolk-hop/

AUCHINLECK TALBOT (Beechwood Park)

SCOTTISH CUP 1ST ROUND, AUCHINLECK TALBOT 5-0 BUCKIE THISTLE, ATTENDANCE: 800 (est)

A painting in the ground to
commemorate Auchinleck's record
10 Scottish Junior Cup wins

This weekend, possibly for the last time with Scotland as part of the UK, I made my way north to East Ayrshire, 

In my eyes this was the tie of the round as the West Superleague Champions Auchinleck Talbot took on Highland League heavyweights Buckie Thistle. 

The Bots have good recent form in the Scottish Cup reaching the 3rd round in 2010 (losing 2-1 at Stirling Albion) and the 4th round in 2012 (losing 1-0 at Hearts).

Auchinleck is a former mining village a couple of miles north of Cumnock. As I drove through the main street to the football ground there did not seem to be a lot going on. The football club though was absolutely heaving with people and clearly seems to be at the heart of the community.

The club are named in honour of Richard Wogan Talbot, the 5th Baron of Malahide, who died 1921, who gifted the then fledgling football club a football ground, hence the name Auchinleck Talbot.

Beechwood Park is still their home to this day and is certainly up there in the list of top Junior grounds I have visited. 

The main stand was once part of Hamilton Academical's Douglas Park and was purchased in the mid 1990's when the Accies old ground was demolished.

The Bots have had a fine start to their season winning 10 out of 10 in all competitions, whilst the The Jags have had a mixed start in the Highland League, winning 4 out of their 8 games so far and last week drew with perennial whipping boys Strathspey Thistle.


The Highland league team started brightly and it was somewhat against the early run of play that Auchinleck took an 8th minute lead courtesy of Graham Wilson's 16th goal of the season. 

Buckie had a couple of half chances but would have considered themselves lucky to be only one goal down at the break after Auchinleck hit the post and squandered a hatful of chances to extend their lead.

They weren't so lucky in the second half as the home side went nap. Once Martin McGoldrick (54) had scored to make it 2-0 the floodgates well and truly opened. 

Further goals from Steven White (60) Gordon Pope (69) and substitute Kenny Connolly (75 - the pick of the bunch) made it 5-0 and, in truth, it could easily have been double that.

A pretty comfortable win for Auchinleck where they will now face a trip to Edinburgh City in round 2.

HOLKER OLD BOYS (Rakesmoor Lane)

FA VASE 1ST QUALIFYING ROUND, HOLKER OLD BOYS 3-0 NORTON & STOCKTON ANCIENTS, ATTENDANCE: 54

After initial plans for a trip across the English Channel to Guernsey fell through, I decided to revert to my original plan which was a trip north to Barrow-in-Furness for some FA Vase action.

I had been meaning to visit Holker Old Boys for years but for some reason I just never got around to it, so today it was finally time! The clash was North West Counties v Northern League (two of my favourite leagues) as Holker took on Norton & Stockton Ancients.

Holker Old Boys’ Football Club was founded in 1936 as an under 16 side from the 'Old Boys' of Holker Central Secondary School on Holker Street in Barrow-in-Furness. The school has long since gone but the name lives on through the football team.

The club became an 'adult' club in 1939, joining the West Lancashire League in 1967 before joining the North West Counties League in 1991.

The club play at Rakesmoors Lane, having moved there in 1971. The ground has a small stand in the top corner of the ground and the pitch has a very pronounced slope. Today though both teams played some of their best stuff playing up the hill.

It was a comfortable win for Holker as they scored three goals without reply. If it wasn't for the woodwork and some poor finishing the scoreline may have been worse for the Ancients. 

Their cause wasn't helped by playing the last quarter of the game with 10 men after substitute Steven Barker was dismissed for kicking out at a Holker player.

Jordan Brough gave The Stags the lead after 15 minutes before second half goals from 

Nathan Reid (60) and Jamie Pattinson (89) saw Holker through where they will now play another Northern League team, Durham City, in the next round.

1.FC NEUBRANDENBURG (Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Stadion)

DFB POKAL 1, 1.FC NEUBRANDENBURG 1-3 KARLSRUHER SC, ATTENDANCE: 3,500

After waking up with a somewhat sore head, I boarded a train at Berlin hauptbanhof going north to Neubrandenburg (at this point I will shatter some illusions as the train journey took longer than expected due to delays, track closures and bus replacement services). 

The town of Neubrandenburg is about 85 miles north of Berlin and is an old medieval fortification and you can enter the town through one of four gates.

Ticket booth outside
1.FC Neubrandenburg's
normal home venue

Oberliga Nord 1.FC Neubrandenburg were taking on 2.Bundesliga Karlsruher SC in the DFB Pokal, my final game of my European jaunt. The reason for choosing this game above any others was the chance of a very rare "tick"

Neubrandenburg's Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Stadion (another stadium named after the 19th century German gymnastics educator) was being used today for football for the first time in years. 1.FC Neubrandenburg normally play on the 2,500 capacity Liga Platz adjacent to the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Stadion but because of the expected large crowd, the game was switched to the main stadium.

The club have only been in existence for the last decade having been founded in 2004, when the clubs FC Neubrandenburg, Neubrandenburg Tollense  and SV Nevag Neubrandenburg all came together as 1.FC Neubrandenburg.

The roots of 1.FC Neubrandenburg can be traced back to 1947 with the formation of SG Fritz Reuter Neubrandenburg. The club underwent various name changes and reached the second tier of  East German football in 1954 as BSG Turbine Neubrandenburg and then reached the top flight in 1964 as SC Neubrandenburg. 

In 1965 the club changed it's name once more to BSG Post Neubrandenburg and played at the main Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Stadion until the mid 1980's before moving. To the best of my knowledge, please correct me if I am  wrong, competitive football has not been played on this ground until today's game, hence the rare "tick".

The first half was pretty much a non-event with very little goalmouth action. Neubrandenburg took the lead after 48 minutes through Christoph Fischer but their joy was short lived as the visitors were level within three minutes when Gaetan Krebs (51) equalised.

Karlsruher were then awarded two (in my opinion) soft penalties converted by Jan Mauersberger (55) and  Ilian Micanski (67).

This game brought an end to another great European jaunt, hopefully another will follow later on in the season courtesy of Everton's Europa League campaign!

Ye olde scoreboard, sadly not working

The Karlsruher fans