South West Peninsula League "Double Header"

Easter Monday, a traditional time of year for a football "double header" and today was no exception. However for me today it was a double that I never planned on doing! Thanks to storm Katie wreeking havoc across the South West, my original plans went out of the window whilst I was tucking into my breakfast. Therefore, as I had stayed over in Exeter the previous night, it made perfect sense to remain in Devon for a few more hours.....

11am, South West Peninsula League Division One East
Coombe Valley
Teignmouth 1-2 St Martins
Attendance: 56 (h/c)

Teignmouth confirmed very early that their game with St Martins would definitely be going ahead, so it was through narrow lanes I made the journey from Exeter to Coombe Valley. As the name suggests, the ground is set into a valley overlooking the town and it is a fantastic set up and vista is tremendous. The ground is effectively two-sided and there is a small stand/overhang from the teabar, and a length of open terrace alongside the pitch.

The game kicked off in glorious sunshine but within 10 minutes the heavens had truly opened. The pitch, which had obviously took a battering from the rain overnight, suddenly became a bit of a quagmire. I began to doubt whether this game would be played to a finish. Teignmouth led 1-0 at the interval thanks to a Geoff Breslan (38) penalty.

St Martins equalised soon after break thanks to a shot from (the fabulously named) Ace High, which just managed to crawl over line before it stopped in the mud. St Martins, despite being down to 10 men, clinched the victory with a goal in the last minute of the match, courtesy of a header from High. Credit to both teams for producing a very good game in very difficult conditions.

2pm, South West Peninsula League Division One East
Recreation Ground
Newton Abbot Spurs 5-0 Appledore
Attendance: 57 (h/c)

After confirmation via twitter this game was definitely on, I decided to take in a visit to the Recreation Ground for my second installment of the day. I was greeted with a cheery smile by a couple of club officials, one of whom happened to clock my Everton badge. She told me she was also a blue, so time was spent discussing the "merits" of Mr Martinez. Disappointingly there was no programme due to a printer error (stop me if you think you've heard this one before) but this was actually genuine for a change! The chap said he would kindly forward one on when the problem was sorted and, a few days later, said programme did indeed land on my doormat. Thanks again.

The Recreation Ground is shared with cricket but it is a fine set up. The pitch is fully railed off and there is a seated stand behind one goal, plus the small covered 'Willie Boyd' terrace behind the other goal. In another corner of the ground there is also a seated memorial area in memory of former players. A nice touch.

Considering the rain that had been falling the pitch looked in good condition, if a little heavy. The game turned out to be a very comfortable win for the home side, though clearly Appledore had one eye on their upcoming Devon Premier Cup Semi Final. Newton Abbot led 1-0 at the break thanks to Shaun Bowden (24) and further second half goals from Matt Williams (53) Carl Bradley (67) and  Adam Dyson (73 & 88) ensured the three points for Spurs.

Cornwall Combination League Cup Final 2016

CORNWALL COMBINATION LEAGUE CUP FINAL (PLAYED AT GALA PARC, PORTHLEVEN) ST AGNES 2-3 CARHARRACK, ATTENDANCE: 263

I stayed in Bude after the last hop game with the intention of heading to Boca Seniors v Appledore in the North Devon League, but I was given the heads up at Bude Town that the Cornwall Combination League Cup Final was taking place at Gala Parc, the home Porthleven. I decided to double back down the A39 and take in another SWPL ground. 

Once again the the weather was a little wet, so it was touch and go as to whether game would be on with standing water on the pitch, but the groundsmen did a fine job getting the pitch playable.

Pre-match was spent in Portleven harbour at the Ship Inn (5 ales on offer) and Atlantic Inn (4 ales on offer). Adjacent to the ground is the Out of the Blue bar where, they were selling Spingo ales, which I had enjoyed considerably in Helston on Friday gone.

The final was contested between North Cornwall based St Agnes and Redruth based Carharrack. St Agnes reached the final with victories over Porthleven Reserves (7-0) Ludgvan (2-0) and Helston Athletic Reserves (4-3). Carharrack's route to the final saw wins over Holman (2-0) Mullion (5-1) Falmouth Town Reserves (8-1) and Newquay Reserves (1-0).

The game was most enjoyable, with some fine goals scored in the process. Carharrack scored first through a Jake Shaw (15) header before St Agnes came back to lead 2-1 thanks to Sam Mansfield (20) and a fabulous strike into the top corner from Alec Penrose (22).

The game was all square at the interval, when Ryan Stephens (25) levelled. However Carharrack did have a chance to take the lead again just before half time through Bradley Leivers, but he blasted his penalty high over the crossbar (pictured right).

The Carharrack winner came just after the break when Luke Osborne (47) and they managed to keep St Agnes at bay to claim silverware in their first season at this level of senior football, a well deserved victory.

Carharrack will now play Bodmin Town Reserves in the Evely Cup final after they beat Torpoint Reserves 2-1 in the East Cornwall Premier League Cup final.

Carharrack AFC, Cornwall Combination League Cup Winners 2016.

South West Peninsula League Groundhop 2016

Like many other Groundhoppers this Easter weekend I made my way to Cornwall as, for the first time since 2011, there was South West Peninsula League (SWPL) Groundhop taking place. A three day extravaganza featuring seven games of football in a wonderful part of the world, that no doubt delighted the hordes of fans that gathered. 

Proceedings kicked off on Maundy Thursday at Poltair Park, the home of St Austell AFC...

7.30pm, Thursday 24th March 2016
South West Peninsula League Premier Division
Poltair Park
St Austell 4-0 St Blazey
Attendance: 451

After a meet up with some fellow groundhoppers at the local Wetherspoons for a couple of beers and a good natter, it was a walk up the hill to a very wet Poltair Park. Upon arrival at the ground the main stand was pretty much full as people sheltered from the rain. St Blazey have struggled this season and are currently in the relegation zone, whereas St Austell are well in the mix for the title with Bodmin Town. It was therefore no shock when St Austell ran out comfortable winners. The goals came from Josh Grant (4) Liam Eddy (33 & 60) with Martin Watts (90) wrapping up proceedings.

11am, Friday 25th March 2016
South West Peninsula League Division One West
Oxland Parc
Illogan RBL 3-1 Penryn Athletic
Attendance: 369

It was a lovely spring morning as I headed to Illogan, which is not far from Redruth, for the first game of today's trilogy. Illogan are relative newcomers to the SWPL having joined in 2014 from the Cornwall Combination League. The football team are actually representing the Royal British Legion, hence the RBL in the name. The ground has a smart little stand, but as the sun was beating down I opted to watch from the grass bank behind the goal. Penryn Athletic came into the game on the back of a 15 game unbeaten run so it was a bit of surprise when mid-table Illogan put them to the sword.  Gavin Boon (43) gave the home side before Dario Disano (57) levelled for the visitors. Further goals from Stuart Peters (64) and Steve Abbot-Smith (69) ensured the three points for Illogan.

3pm, Friday 25th March 2016
South West Peninsula League Division One West
Underlane
Wendron United 1-1 Porthleven
Attendance: 427

From Illogan it was south to Underlane, the home of Wendron United. The ground is not actually in Wendron, which is about 5 miles away, and is closer to the village of Rame. The roads were winding and narrow and in my head images of the ground were that of a roped off farmers field. Upon parking up at the ground I was utterly shocked. And in a good way. There was a covered stand running the length of the pitch. Not bad when you consider the club have never played higher than step 7. There was also some great food available, with the beef stew and dumplings going down very well. The game was a bit of a drab affair with Porthleven taking the lead through Matt Best (23) before Chris Mulroy equalised in the 8th minute (of about 12 minutes) of stoppage time, a result of an injury to the Porthleven 'keeper.

7pm, Friday 25th March 2016
South West Peninsula League Premier Division
Kellaway Park
Helston Athletic 1-0 Falmouth Town
Attendance: 514

There was plenty of time between games allowing one the chance to make a quick diversion to The Blue Anchor in Helston, where their Spingo ales were in fine form. It was then a 15 minute walk up the hill to Kellaway park for the final game of the day. It was not the greatest. Very few chances were created and it seemed to have the dreaded 0-0 written all over it when, in the 70th minute, the Falmouth keeper dropped a cross and Helston's Jason Roberts poked home the winner. The ground is enclosed by a wooden fence and the seated stand is of the pre-fab variety, with the only other cover the overhang from the clubhouse. I then made my way to my base in Mullion where a few more Cornish ales were sank.

10.30am, Saturday 26th March 2016
South West Peninsula League Division One West
Burngullow Park
Sticker 6-1 Wadebridge Town
Attendance: 372

From the point of view of the weather this was the day I had been dreading and I wasn't let down, with rain falling for most of the morning and afternoon. Fortunately, to lift spirits, it was also raining goals!

Sticker are another recent addition to the SWPL, joining in 2012 after finishing runners up in the East Cornwall Premier League. Playing with the wind behind them, Sticker simply blew Wadebridge away with five goals without reply, thanks to a Sam Kenny hat-trick (9, 24 & 33) a Liam Dingle penalty (16) and a strike from Mike Body (36).

I was grateful to take sanctury in the clubhouse at half time to get some respite from the rain. Luckily for the second half I was able to squeeze into the stand where I witnessed two further goals as Tom Marks (71) pulled one back from Wadebridge before Body (76) grabbed his second.

1.15pm, Saturday 26th March 2016
South West Peninsula League Division One West
Boscawen Park
St Dennis 6-4 Millbrook
Attendance: 306

It was a short journey from Sticker to St Dennis but as I was driving along the rain was getting heavier and heavier. I was starting to wonder if this game would be going to go ahead. Upon arrival at the ground, the groundsmen were busy forking and raking litres of water off the pitch. It was looking very ominous. Fortunately, the game went ahead and, well, what a game! Credit to both teams as they produced an absolute humdinger of a match. St Dennis raced into a two goal lead with goals from Martin Sleeman (6) and Joe Stone (10) before Millbrook came back to lead 3-2 at the break thanks to a Sean Evans penalty (21) and a brace from Sam Chitey (36 & 45).

St Dennis' cause was not helped when Kyle Friendship was shown a straight red card for violent conduct but this didn't hinder them as they stormed (ahem) back to claim the three points. They were level within a minute of the restart thanks to Mikey Davies and he then put Sticker into the lead on 53 minutes. Evans scored his second (68) to equalise for Milbrook before two goals from Lee Rickard (71 & 85) ensured victory for 10 men St Dennis.

4.45pm, Saturday 26th March 2016
South West Peninsula League Division One West
Broadclose Park
Bude Town 5-1 Holsworthy
Attendance: 409

The seaside town of Bude, about 40 miles from St Austell, was the setting for the final game of the hop as Bude Town hosted Holsworthy. The ground is on a housing estate to the North of the town centre, tucked away behind a School. There was a very small piece of cover and an overhang from the clubhouse so thank goodness the rain finally stopped for this game! 

The match was a very one sided affair as the home side were 3-0 up at half time.  Goals from Billy Hopcroft (7 & 45) and Tommy Stratton (27) put the hosts in a commading position. Holsworthy's cause was not helped when skipper Carlo Chandler was sent off after 37 minutes for a dangerous tackle. Second half goals from Chris Hill (55) and Luke Potter (82) ensured Bude went nap but Nathan Bonney (80) did net a consolation for Holsworthy.

Post match I headed into Bude, where I was staying the night, and sank a few ales and reflected on another fabulous SWPL groundhop. A massive thanks to the organiser, Phil Hiscox, and all the officials and players of the clubs involved. I look forward to 2018 and a trip to Devon!

Cheers everyone!