MALMESBURY VICTORIA (The Flying Monk Ground)

HELLENIC LEAGUE DIVISION ONE, MALMESBURY VICTORIA 2-0 DEVIZES TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 127

I found myself in the historic town of Malmesbury for some Friday night football. I missed out when they hosted a "groundhop" game last year.

Malmesbury is famous for it's Abbey, a monastery famed for its learning. It was later home to one of Alfred the Great's fortified burhs for defence against the Vikings. Æthelstan, the first king of all England, was buried in Malmesbury Abbey when he died in 939.

After a very brief stroll around the Abbey, I headed along the banks of the Tetbury Avon to the fabulously monikered Flying Monk Ground, which was named after the previously adjacent pub, which in turn was named after Æthelmær, an 11th-century English Benedictine monk known for his early attempt at a gliding flight using wings. The pub is now gone and is now a Co-Op store.

The ground is compact and quirky to say the least. Right up my street!

The club was established in 1898 as Malmesbury Town but folded in 1936. The club was reformed in 1947 and then renamed Malmesbury United in 1968. In 1975 they merged with Swindon Victoria to become Malmesbury Victoria, taking Swindon Victoria's place in Division One of the Wiltshire Combination in the process. In 1976 the club were founder members of the new Wiltshire County League and remained there until the were promoted to the Hellenic League in 2000.

They remained in the Hellenic League until 2014, before returning to the Wiltshire League due to financial difficulties. After being crowned champions in 2015 they opted to remain in situ but they were then promoted to the Western League the following year. In 2018 they were laterally transferred back to the Hellenic League where they have remained.

Tonight it was a Wiltshire Derby as Devizes Town were the visitors. An own goal after 5 minutes and a second half strike from Harvey Scholes secured the win for Malmesbury, who remain unbeaten in the league so far this season (P5-W4-D1) and sit top of the table tonight.

It really should have been 3-0 when, deep into stoppage time, Malmesbury broke away and their player rounded the keeper, skipped past two defenders, then fired his shot high into the Co-op car park rather than the open goal. Worse than Neal Maupay! 😂

BRECHIN VICTORIA (Victoria Park)

SCOTTISH JUNIOR FA EAST REGION MIDLANDS LEAGUE, BRECHIN VICTORIA 3-2 DUNDEE VIOLET, ATTENDANCE: 64 (h/c)

I headed up to north east Scotland for a couple of midweek matches, the second being in Angus as Brechin Victoria hosted Dundee Violet at Victoria Park.

Founded in 1917, Brechin Victoria are part of the Scottish Junior FA and were inaugural members of the Midlands League when it was established in 2021.

Tonight was an entertaining encounter but the visitors from Dundee will be wondering how this one got away. They were far the better team but somehow found themselves 2-0 down, Kieran Longmuir (18) and Mitchell Smith (35) scoring for The Vics. Classic counter attacking play at it's best.

Violet did get it back to 2-2 courtesy to two penalty kicks, both converted by A.Lonrente (37) and A.Kelly (67) respectively before Brechin went on to grab a winner when Murray Smith (78) prodded home after being left unmarked in the six yard box from a corner. It's a funny old game.

For me that was the second night in succession that the homesters had won 3-2 despite the visitors scoring two penalties (click here).

Speaking to The Vics chairman pre-match and it seems there is a possibility they may be going off to groundshare at Glebe Park once the new 4G pitch is installed. Ironically Brechin City played on the adjacent Nursery Park before moving to Glebe Park in 1923.

Should the move materialise, I'd definitely put this wonderful wee ground on your "to do" list before it does happen...

CULTER FC (Crombie Park)

SCOTTISH JUNIOR FA NORTH REGION PREMIER DIVISION, CULTER 3-2 ROTHIE ROVERS, ATTENDANCE: 104 (h/c)

I headed up to north east Scotland for a couple of midweek matches, the first being in the suburbs of Aberdeen as current North Region champions Culter FC hosted Rothie Rovers at Crombie Park.

Culter FC are based in the village of Peterculter, which is about 8 miles from Aberdeen city centre. The history of the football club can be traced back to 1891 when the local newspaper, the Bon Accord, reported that Culter played out a 2-2 draw with Stanley on New Year's Day 1891.

Culter were founder members of the Aberdeen Amateur FA in 1947/48 and in May 1948 the pitch at Crombie Park was opened. The club won its first major honour in 1971, the North of Scotland cup and were a top amateur team in the decade that followed, winning 25 titles.

Culter ended 40 years as an amateur club by joining the junior ranks in 1987/88 and won promotion in it's debut season. Culter won four back-to-back Superleague championships from 2004 to 2007 and, as 2007 champions, they became one of the first four junior clubs, and first from the North Region, to be entered into the Scottish Cup. They beat Hawick Royal Albert and Vale of Leithen before losing to Huntly.

It was the Scottish Cup that provided Culter with arguably the biggest day in their history when, in 2011 after winning the Superleague for the 5th time, they ended up playing the mighty Partick Thistle at Crombie Park and, in front of a capacity crowd, held the then first division side to a 1-1 draw. They lost the replay 4-0 at Firhill. The club won another Superleague in 2013 and once again in 2023.

The game tonight was a bit of a slow burner but Champions Culter soon grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and found themselves 2-0 up thanks to goals from Cammie Fraser (34) and Jack Henderson (45).

A penalty kick from Stuart Hodge (73) looked to get Rothie back into the game but any hopes of a comeback seemed extinguished when Hodge (78) put through his own goal. However another Hodge penalty (87) from Rothie made it 3-2 but this time the visitors went for it, especially with 7 minutes of added time.

Culter, from being in cruise control, were now hanging on and Rothie can consider themselves very unfortunate not to come away with a draw at least. I guess Culter proved the mark of champions by digging in to win when not completely at their best.

NFA FC (Ffordd Derwen)

FAW WELSH CUP 2nd QUALIFYING ROUND, NFA 4-1 LLANDYRNOG UNITED, ATTENDANCE: 82 (h/c)

I stayed close to home this weekend and headed down the coast to Rhyl.

NFA FC was formed in 2018 with the purpose to give players a fun, friendly & professional environment to enjoy their football. NFA originally stood for North Football Association but to avoid confusion with any governing bodies, Association was changed to Advance in 2020.

The club are based on land off Ffordd Derwen, which is about a mile or so from Rhyl train station. The pitch is fully railed and dugouts are in the process of being built. There is no cover for spectators but that was fine today as, despite the strong wind blowing across the pitch, sunny Rhyl lived up to it's nickname.

It was NFA who played the conditions best and it was no surprise when James Stead (37) gave The home side an interval lead.

The tie was sealed thanks to three goals in five second half minutes from Antonio Jacovelli (63, 68) and substitute Jordan Bellham (65). Nathan Rose (75) managed a consolation goal for Llandyrnog.

An enjoyable afternoon of football, all for the bargain admission price of £2.

James Stead opens the scoring for NFA