CHORLEY FC (Victory Park)

FA CUP 2ND QUALIFYING ROUND REPLAY, CHORLEY 3-1 RUNCORN LINNETS, ATTENDANCE: 603

As it was nearly 18 years since my last visit to Victory Park (when I saw Chorley lose a Boxing Day derby 1-0 to Bamber Bridge) I decided tonight was the perfect opportunity for a revisit. I'm happy to report that in the days of Arena stands and 3G cages, Victory Park still remains a proper ground and full of character.

Chorley began life as a Rugby club in 1875 but switched to football in 1883. Victory Park has been home since 1920 and was named to commemorate the end of the First World War.

Chorley are mainstays of the National League North, the second tier of non-league football, and regularly make the end of season play-offs, though they have only won them once, back in 2019, to earn promotion to the National League. Of course, season 2019/20 then ended early due to the covid pandemic and Chorley were relegated back to the National North on a points-per-game average.

Tonight The Magpies were hosting Northern Premier League West Runcorn Linnets in an FA Cup replay, after Jack Hazelhurst scored a 72nd minute equaliser at the Millbank Stadium.

Tonight though Chorley eased into the next round with a routine win. All of their goals came in the first half courtesy of headed goals from David Moyo (24) and Harvey Smith (32) then a penalty kick converted by Carlton Ubaezuonu (39).

Like most of the crowd I was expecting a second half onslaught but it never materialised as Chorley settled for what they had and The Linnets upped their game. The final goal of the tie arrived in the 93rd minute and was the best of the bunch as Max Woodcock curled an absolute beauty into the top corner, this was not long after Runcorn's Lewis Doyle had recieved a second yellow card.

Chorley will now travel to Curzon Ashton in the next round on September 30th.

RADNOR VALLEY (The Bypass)

FAW WELSH CUP 1st ROUND, RADNOR VALLEY 0-4 GRESFORD ATHLETIC, ATTENDANCE: 102 (h/c)

After travelling to Kington in midweek, I found myself travelling along the A44 once again this afternoon, this time though I remained firmly on the Welsh side of Offa's Dyke, in the former county town of Radnorshire.

The first round proper of the Welsh Cup drew me to the village of New Radnor, where Ardal North East Radnor Valley were hosting Cymru North Gresford Athletic at The Bypass. This was the first ever meeting between the two clubs, so you could say it was an historic occasion.

The Bypass has been home to The Goats since 2021 when they were forced to leave their previous home at School Lane. The ground is accessed from the A44 and fortunately, for me, the entrance was marked with a couple of high-viz poles otherwise I would have driven straight past the ground. The new ground has a small seated stand, plus hard standing down two sides of the pitch, and is a vast improvement on their previous home.

Gresford started as favourites for the tie and those predictions were justified as The Colliers eased into round 2. That said Radnor put up a spirited performance and did have a couple of half chances before James Smith bundled in the opener after 37 minutes.

The game was effectively over just after half time when Toby Gallagher-Keenan (49) made it 2-0. Smith headed home his second goal on the hour mark and Gresford were then on easy street. 12 minutes from time Radnor were awarded a penalty and a chance of a consolation but Joe Price's spot kick was sent over the bar and into the tree behind the goal. Haci Ozlu (81) then made it 4-0 to make it a comfortable win for Gresford.

I was definitely glad to get back in the car after the game after standing out in the cold and wet - this was the first time this season the woolly hat made an appearance - it felt ridiculous after burning in the heat of the hottest day of the year last Saturday!

KINGTON TOWN (Mill Street)

HEREFORDSHIRE FA COUNTY LEAGUE, KINGTON TOWN 3-2 CLEE HILL UNITED, ATTENDANCE: 82 (h/c)

A midweek journey into Herefordshire as I headed to Kington, just on the English side of Offa's Dyke, for some Tuesday night action as Kington Town hosted Clee Hill United in a Herefordshire League encounter.

The town is off the A44, two miles from the border with Wales and the club at one stage played in the Mid-Wales league (where they were champions in 1955, 1964 and 1966). Kington Town, founded in 1875, have also been members of both the West Midlands Regional League (champions in 1999) and the Hellenic League but joined the Herefordshire League in 2022.

They play at the Mill Street Ground, which is in the town centre, and the set up is superb. This is a ground is definitely ready return to a higher level, should that be on the agenda.

It was a drizzly evening and the wet surface helped produce an excellent end-to-end encounter where Kington Town beat Clee Hill United by the odd goal in five. In truth the scoreline could have been anything both teams created plenty of opportunities. It was a great game for the neutral.

Jack Gittoes and Mike Ruckledge gave the homesters a 2-0 interval lead before Josh Bowen replied for United seconds after the restart. George Andrews restored Kington's two goal advantage before Euan Morgan set up a grandstand finish, however the equaliser did not arrive. I think a draw would probably have been fair result as neither side deserved to lose.

A classic counter attack from Clee Hill

to make it 3-2. Unfortunately for them the

equaliser would not come.

CORRIS UNITED (King George's Field)

ABERYSTWYTH AND DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE, CORRIS UNITED 5-3 PENPARCAU RESERVES, ATTENDANCE: 41 (h/c)

This afternoon I took a trip to visit a ground that has been on my "bucket list" for quite a while - King George's Field, the home of Corris United. 

Wales is famous for it's grounds with stunning views and Corris' home regularly appears in books, pictorials, articles, or high up in polls, as one of the best, most scenic, grounds in the country. Today the stars finally aligned and I finally headed down to into Mid-Wales to see for myself. It certainly didn't disappoint!

Corris itself is a former slate mining village in the county of Gwynedd and is around 5 miles north of Machynlleth. It is now more famous for the Corris Railway, a preserved narrow gauge railway, with steam trains, that runs on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire. It was originally built to carry slate from quarries in the Corris area and it first opened in 1859. This was my first port of call pre-match and was an enjoyable way to spend an hour or so.

Corris United are the local football team and they reformed in 2019, after eight years in abeyance. Given the history of the village they are nicknamed The Quarrymen. They play in the Cambrian Tyres Aberystwyth and District League, which is the 5th tier of Welsh football. There are just 10 teams in the division so, despite this being the second weekend of September, this was actually the opening day of the league season.

As the village is in the Dyfi Valley and the pitch can been seen from the A487, and also from the Corris railway, which both overlook the ground. It all makes a stunning location and an amazing vista. It looked even better in the glorious sunshine that beat down.

Admission was by donation and included a 4 page programme, which was a very pleasant surprise. As for the football, it was a good game to watch as The Quarrymen beat current Aberystwyth League champions Penparcau Reserves 5-3. Credit to both teams for producing such a watchable game in the blistering heat.

It was the visitors who opened the scoring through Lee Jones (32) before a Dion Kohler double (35 & 41) put the homesters in front. A penalty from Liam Lewis in first half stoppage time ensured it was all square at the break.

Charlie Jellet (62) fired Corris into the lead before an incident in the 77th minute saw both teams reduced to 10-men with Ryan Jones and Liam Lewis shown straight red cards.

Jake Hinge (82) extended Corris' lead before Jones grabbed his second for Arky deep into stoppage time. Any thoughts of a dramatic comeback were quashed moments later when Kohler scored once again to complete his hat-trick. Excellent stuff indeed.

It was a wonderful afternoon in mid-Wales and, if you haven't been here before, I would certainly recommend you putting a visit to Corris United on your groundhopping "bucket list".

EDIT: On 30th September 2023 Penparcau folded their reserve team due to "lack of commitment and attitude shown to managers in recent weeks". Therefore this was one of the games that was declared null and void and expunged from the records. Revisit required then?