CHRISTCHURCH FC (Hurn Bridge Sports Ground)

WESSEX PREMIER LEAGUE, CHRISTCHURCH 1-1 MONEYFIELDS, ATTENDANCE: 65 (h/c)

It was a double header for me today, beginning at Dean Court, the home of AFC Bournemouth. They were taking on Brighton & Hove Albion in Football League Championship.

I last visited Dean Court back in 1999 and it has changed quite a bit in the intervening years, due to the rebuilding of all sides of the ground and the rotating of the pitch 90 degrees.  

It was a very enjoyable game, both sides playing some decent football. Bournemouth will probably rue the chances they missed but on balance of play a draw was a fair result. Both goals were fine strikes as Matt Ritchie gave The Cherries the lead after minutes before an Ashley Barnes screamer levelled things up. I'd say most of the 9,870 crowd went home happy.

Main Stand at Dean Court, home of AFC Bournemouth

Once that game was over a taxi was waiting at the final whistle to whisk us the 5 miles to the main event at The Hurn Bridge Sports Ground....

....which has been Christchurch's home since 1984. They moved here after leaving their Barrack Road recreation ground.

Formed in 1885, they were founder members of the Hampshire FA in 1887. The club joined the Wessex League in 1987, and have remained members ever since.

Today was a Premier League clash with Portsmouth based Moneyfields FC and it was an enjoyable game.

Church lead through a Dan Saul diving header and they enjoyed most of the play in the first period. They created best of the chances and perhaps should have extended their lead. 

However once a Jack Blake-Sullivan free kick had levelled things up, Christchurch were hanging on as Moneyfields could have grabbed the points. In the end a draw was maybe fair enough.

I Really liked the ground, a decent stand and the mix of colours in the woodland surroundings were rather pleasing on the eye. The clubhouse also had two Ringwood Ales on the go, which meant my half time refreshment was sorted!

FORDEN UNITED (Forden Community Centre Ground)

MONTGOMERYSHIRE CUP, FORDEN UNITED 2-5 WATERLOO ROVERS, ATTENDANCE: 66 (h/c)

After yesterday's festivities of a Merseyside Derby (which was a marvellous 3-3 draw) I decided to blow the cobwebs off by taking a trip down the A483 to Powys and the village of Forden (or Ffordun for our Welsh viewers).

Football is back in the parish after an absence of 5 years. Forden United folded in 2008, after 58 years in existence, due to a lack of players. United had been crowned champions of the Mongomeryshire League Division Two in 1984, 1998 and 2002 and the new incarnation of the club also started this season off in Division Two. They are managed by ex-Welshpool manger Neil Breeze, who began his career as a 15 year old at the club.

The ground is a pitch behind the village bowling club, there is no coverage but luckily the rain held off, despite it's best efforts in trying. Behind one of the goals and to the side there is a large embankment, which offers great views of the pitch and also the surrounding countryside.

As you can imagine the game was not technically the best but it was a fantastic watch nonetheless. It was end to end and the scoreline could have been anything given the chances that were created. There were also plenty of 'robust' challenges to say the least.

In the end though the result was as expected as the higher ranked visitors from Welshpool (despite many of the starting XI playing 24 hours previously) saw off the challenge of the homesters.

The club pulled out all the stops today by issuing a basic 4 page programme, which was a huge bonus, and they also had plenty of food and drink for the hungry and thirsty hordes. The homemade soup at half time was excellent.

I hope it was a worthwhile exercise for the club and they made a few extra quid out of the day. I can only speak for myself when I say it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in mid-Wales.

AMPTHILL TOWN (Ampthill Park)

FA VASE 2nd Round, AMPTHILL TOWN 7-0 BARKING, ATTENDANCE: 150 (est)

I had to head south this weekend for a mates birthday party (happy 40th Barney!) so as the gig didn't start until 7pm, this gave me the chance to get a game in prior to the festivities.

As it was Vase day then that it simply had to be a Vase game. The closest tie to my destination was between Spartan South Midlands League Ampthill Town and Essex Senior League Barking.

Ampthill is a small town in Bedfordshire between Bedford and Luton. The town's name derives from Aemethyll, which translates as 'ant infested hill'. The football was founded in 1881 and joined the United Counties League in 1965. They were transferred across to the South Midlands League in 1991, before league reconstruction in 1997 led to a merger with the Spartan League to form the Spartan South Midlands League, where Ampthil Town have remained since.

They finished runners-up in Division One in 2011/12 and were promoted to the Premier League where last season they finished 5th. At the beginning of play Ampthill were top of their league and Barking were 7th.

On paper it appeared a home banker and boy did the homesters run riot, netting seven goals without reply.  In fairness though Barking were not as bad as the scoreline suggests, it really just wasn't their day. 

Danny Watson headed home for Ampthill after 4 minutes but the first half was pretty even after that, with both teams having chances, but Watson added his, and Town's second just before the interval.

Barking went for it at the start of the second period and they were awarded a penalty, which could have made it 2-1. Dumebi GB-Dumaka's spot kick was saved and from then on the Barking heads seem to drop. Ampthill played some brilliant counter attacking football and everything they hit seemed to go in. Watson completed his hat-trick after 59 minutes and Gary Ridgeway smashed home a superb volley after 62 minutes.

Phil Draycott hit home an even better volley into the roof of the net after 77 minutes before a bullet-header from Tyrone Taylor made it six after 80 minutes. Christian Lester burst through after 87 minutes to complete the scoring for Ampthill.

Cracking set up at Ampthill Park and I really enjoyed my afternoon at the ground.

Ampthill with be at home to Beckenham Town in the next round as they look to better last season's run to the last 16.

BODEDERN ATHLETIC (Cae Ty Cristion)

FAW WELSH CUP 2nd ROUND, BODEDERN ATHLETIC 5-1 TYWYN/BRYNCRUG , ATTENDANCE: 108 (h/c)

I missed out on a visit to Bodedern when they reached the dizzy heights of the Cymru Alliance in 2005 so today seemed a perfect opportunity to put that right.

The overnight weather in North Wales was wretched but there were no problems on the Island and the club club 'tweeted' early in the day to say the game was definitely ON.

I did have slight concerns travelling down the A55 as the rain and hail showers battered my car but upon reaching Bodedern the sun was beating down on the village.

Bodedern is 7 miles east of Holyhead and a football club has been in existence since 1946. After winning the Welsh Alliance in 2005 Bodedern FC were promoted to the Cymru Alliance and finished 9th in their debut season. 

After finishing 2006/07 in 13th position, the following season club ran into difficulties and it all came to a head in October 2007 when they were unable to fulfil a fixture at Queens Park due to a lack of players. The club took the decision to resign from the Cymru Alliance on the 16th October 2007 and their reserve team in the Gwynedd League then became their first team.

The club changed their name to Bodedern Athletic and began the process of climbing the pyramid once more. They were promoted from the Gwynedd League in 2010 and made it back-to-back promotions in 2011 by finishing runners up in the Welsh Alliance Division 2.

The club are now established in the Welsh Alliance and sat 4th at the beginning of play. They were taking on Tywyn/Bryncrug of the Mid Wales League, who sat 12th in their league at the start of play (both the Welsh Alliance and Mid Wales Leagues are Step 3 in the Welsh pyramid).

Anything is possible in a cup tie but on paper it looked a home banker and that is how it turned out with the homesters comfortably progressing to the next round.

Bodedern found themselves 3-0 up after just half an hour. The impressive Ryan Taylor opened the scoring after 7 minutes when his cross-shot squirmed under the Tywyn 'keeper. Chris Evans (13) was played in to put Bodedern 2-0 up, again the Tywyn 'keeper got something on the shot but couldn't prevent it going in.

James Burgess (30) toe poked home a cross from 2 yards out to put the home side firmly in control going into the break. Bodedern looked threatening every time they went forward but, in fairness, Tywyn did have their moments too, but were lacking any sort of finish to their attacks.

The game was effectively over just after the break when Joe Peebles (47) glanced a cross into his own goal. Tywyn finally got on the scoresheet after 50 minutes when Ben Richards ran through the heart of Bodedern's defence, played a one-two and shot home for a mere consolation. Substitute Iwan Jones scored with 8 minutes remaining as the homesters went nap.

Cae Ty Cristion has been Bodedern's home since the club re-formed in 2007, having previously played on pitch behind the local secondary school.  The ground is fully enclosed and has a seated stand behind the goal, towards the corner. The club secretary introduced herself and told us about the work that had gone into improving the ground over the past 7 years. She was rightly proud of what had been achieved so far. With that in mind, I hope Bodedern get a big club at home in the draw for the next round, they would be deserving of a glamour tie.