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.

GUISBOROUGH TOWN (King George V Ground)

NORTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE, GUISBOROUGH TOWN 1-2 MARSKE UNITED, ATTENDANCE: 476

Easter wouldn't be Easter without some Northern League action!!

It was an early start as I made my way to North Yorkshire for the first leg of a double header. Guisborough Town were taking on local rivals Marske United in a championship six pointer.

The game had all the ingredients for a cracker. It was a big Derby with Guisborough top of the table (P39,83) and Marske close by in second place (P37, 77). 

The game attracted a bumper crowd and there was a good atmosphere, especially from the travelling Marske fans who set up base, along with their drum, in the covered terrace on one side of the ground.

In reality, though games like this are rarely open expansive affairs. It was tight game which, in all honesty, could have gone either way. You still couldn't take your eyes off it for a second though.

Luke Bythway gave Guisborough the lead after 6 minutes before Glen Butterworth equalised for Marske in first half stoppage time.

In the second Marske hit the bar before Jamie Owens scored what proved to be the winner after 73 minutes. The homesters had a late chance to grab a point but they too were denied by the woodwork.

This defeat may have cost Guisborough the chance of the title as Marske are now 3 points behind them with 4 to play. Guisborough only have 2 games left to play. Shildon and North Shields are also in the mix with games in hand on both teams, so I'm sure there are still plenty of twists and turns to come.