CALDICOT TOWN (Jubilee Way)

WELSH LEAGUE DIVISION TWO, CALDICOT TOWN 1-2 ABERGAVENNY TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 75 (h/c)

After my adventures in Russia I was now back home to join the hordes partaking in the Western League Ground Hop. After visiting Longwell Sports in the morning I decided to pay my £5.60 and undertake a cross border raid over the Severn Bridge for my afternoon game.

Caldicot is the first major town In Wales after the second Severn crossing so the journey from Longwell in Bristol was straightforward enough. However time constraints meant there was no chance to go a see Caldicot's most famous landmark, the 12th century castle.

The football club is not as old as that, of course, and was founded in 1953. They found a base on the King George V playing fields on Jubilee Way and that has been home to this day. There is a covered terrace on one side of the ground and a recently installed pre-fab seated stand on the other side. This is part of the ongoing process to meet the new FA Wales ground criteria.

The club joined the Welsh League in the mid 1980's and have remained members since. They having most of their time in the league in either division two or three but have had the odd foray into the top league, with their best finish in 2009 when they finished 4th in Division One.

Today was a massive Gwent derby as Abergavenny Town were the visitors to Jubilee Way and it was Abergavenny who took all the points with a hard fought victory.

Abergavenny took the lead after 10 minutes when Sean Feeley intercepted the ball and squared to Curtis Methven for a neat finish into the corner of the net.

Caldicot enjoyed plenty of possession in the opening half but in truth rarely troubled Tom Indge in the Abergavenny goal. They did though have an effort that hit the woodwork.

Caldicot continued to press after the break and Indge was called into action to make two fine saves in a matter of seconds to keep the score at 1-0. This proved vital as just five minutes later a defensive howler gifted The Pennies a second goal.

After 65 mins instead of playing a simple header back to the 'keeper, or an agricultural hoof into the trees, Matt James attempted to play his way out of trouble and turned into Aaron Norman who dispossessed the defender and coolly slotted past Gareth Wesson in the Caldicot goal.

On 70 minutes the home side got a goal back when the ball fell to Jason Thorn on the edge of the box who volleyed the ball home from 20 yards straight into top corner. Lovely technique. A sublime strike that deserved to be more than a mere consolation.

At the final whistle I was on my toes sharpish and luckily the roads were clear and I was in the ground at Hallen 4 minutes before the scheduled 5pm kick off.

I must give thanks to all a Caldicot for a very warm welcome, there was even an Evertonian to greet me! I especially must give a big thank you to the chap who made the effort to go back to his house in order to get me a club badge. Diolch.

ABERBARGOED BUDS (Recreation Ground)

WELSH LEAGUE DIVISION TWO, ABERBARGOED BUDS 4-2 CHEPSTOW TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 58 (h/c)

The final part of my Good Friday trilogy took me over the Severn Bridge into South Wales for some Welsh league action. Aberbargoed is a small town in Caerphilly and, like a lot a towns in the area, it used to be a mining town. It once contained the largest ever colliery waste tip in Europe, though this has now been reclaimed and turned into a country park.

A famous former resident is Glyndwr Michael whose body was used in Operation Mincemeat. His name was subsequently added to the war memorial in the town.

The local football team, Aberbargoed Buds, was founded in 1957 after Aberbargoed Town folded in 1949. Buds is an abbreviation for 'Bedwellty Urban District Sides'. The Buds were founder members of the Gwent County League, winning their first Championship in 1986.

That same year, Aberbargoed Town was reformed, playing mostly in the North Gwent League.  In 1999 Town were approached by the Buds committee to amalgamate the two sides, as the Buds team were on the verge of folding.  Therefore some 50 years after Aberbargoed Town folded, it was now the Town who was to save the Buds from going out of existence.

The Town committee agreed to this arrangement which kept the Buds in the Gwent County League and the Town, now known as the seconds, in the North Gwent League. In 2003 the Buds won the Gwent County League but the lack of facilities at the Recreation Ground meant the Buds were not granted entry to the Welsh League Division 3.

After work to bring the ground up to Welsh League standards the club finally gained promotion in 2006. In 2010 they were promoted to Division Two and reached the top flight for the first time in their history in 2013. The Buds stay in the top flight was short lived as they were relegated back to Division Two after one season. 

They are hoping for an immediate return and before tonight's game they were in third place behind (already champions) Barry Town United and Caldicot Town, with games in hand.

It was therefore vital they picked up three points tonight and that is exactly what they did, though it was not as comfortable as it could have been.

The Buds went two goals up early doors but Chepstow battled back and levelled things up. 

The game turned on a penalty decision and a red card, I thought it looked a harsh decision, but the homesters scored the spot kick and then quickly added another to ensure the victory.

That brought to an end a great day of groundhopping. All that was left to do was to retire to my hotel for the evening, not before sinking a couple of well earned pints of Reverend James for my nightcap!