BOLDMERE St MICHAELS (The Trevor Brown Memorial Ground)

MIDLAND FOOTBALL ALLIANCE, BOLDMERE St MICHAELS 1-0 COLESHILL TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 102

Unlike previous August Bank Holiday Mondays, there were very few appealing "doubles" on offer today, so it was just a solitary game for me today.

Boldmere St Michaels was the game of choice today as it was the easiest ground to reach, that I needed, from the centre of Birmingham. The reason is obvious to all who regularly read my blog.

I decided to take the train today so predictably I ended up in the city centre visiting the usual stop off points of The Wellington (16 handpulls) and The Post Office Vaults (8 handpulls). 

That was enough to keep me going until I had to get the train to Chester Road, which is 15 minutes from New Street. The ground itself is then a further 15 minute walk from Chester Road station, so I was there by 2.35pm.

Boldmere is part of Sutton Coldfield and the football club was founded in 1883. The began life as youth team attached to the local church of St Michaels, hence the name. The club were founder members of the Midland Football Alliance in 1994 and their home ground of Church Road was re-named The Trevor Brown Memorial Ground in honour the club's former Chairman.

Today 'The Mikes' were entertaining Coleshill Town in a Midland Alliance clash. It is early days of the season but both teams have had similar starts with just a point between them at kick off time.

There was nothing between the teams in the first period and it was a strike from Lee Osborne, who fired a shot across goal, low into the corner after 4 minutes that separated the teams at the break.

In the second period Coleshill pushed The Mikes further back as they searched for the equaliser their overall play probably merited.

James Beeson in the Boldmere goal made some fine saves and in the dying moments an effort was scrambled off the line to clinch the points for the homesters.

An enjoyable day at a most friendly and welcoming club.

 

 

CPD PENRHYNDEUDRAETH (Maes Y Parc)

FAW WELSH CUP 1st QUALIFYING ROUND, CPD PENRHYNDEUDRAETH 3-1 CPD LLANFAIR PG, ATTENDANCE: 32 (h/c)

After the long journeys of recent weeks, it was something a little closer to home that caught the eye this weekend. The early rounds of the Welsh Cup always throws up some interesting ties and this one stood out for me.

CPD Penrhyndeudraeth (which roughly translates as Peninsula with two beaches) of the Welsh Alliance Division Two were taking on CPD Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch of the Welsh Alliance Division One in the Welsh Cup.

I don't need that many grounds to complete the Alliance but Maes Y Parc was one of them. However with the benefit of hindsight maybe I should have waited until a more drier day (yes, I know that could be a long time in North Wales).

The rain was persistent all afternoon and did not let up for more than a few minutes. At the end of the game I was so wet it was like someone had poured a bucket of water over me!

The village of Penrhyndeudraeth is on the main A487 road and most people will pass the football ground as they enter the village en-route to Porthmadog or to the village of Portmerion, where cult 60's TV show 'The Prisoner' was filmed.

Despite the weather, the game was entertaining enough and Penrhyn thoroughly deserved their place in the next round of the cup.

The homesters took the game to their higher ranked visitors from the off and never gave them a chance to settle, Penrhyn playing some lovely stuff and deservedly 2-0 up at the break.

After 21 minutes a cross was headed home at the back stick by Matthew Hughes and the same player scored with another header after 39 minutes.

Llanfair came out for the second half fired up, no doubt after a good rollocking, and halved the deficit almost immediately after 48 minutes when a shot took a wicked deflection and looped over the helpless 'keeper.

They began to dominate proceedings and an equaliser looked inevitable but Penrhyn held firm and effectively sealed the tie after 72 minutes to go when they scored a third, a long range effort from Tom Hughes.

Both teams hit the woodwork but there can be no complaints about the result.

There is no football furniture at Maes Y Parc, though there is a tea hut and the welcome was warm and inviting from the chap on the gate. The pitch is just roped off and there is no hard standing. I could not wait to get home at the final whistle as I was absolutely soaked through to the skin. If I end up with pneumonia and trench foot it won't be a shock, summer football eh? Don't you just love it! 

WICK ACADEMY (Harmsworth Park)

SCOTTISH HIGHLAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE, WICK ACADEMY 2-0 BUCKIE THISTLE, ATTENDANCE: 400 (est)

After New York last weekend, it was back home for another lengthy journey this weekend but, ironically, it actually took me longer to get here!!

I decided to head north via public transport, so I left home on the Friday at 8.30am and arrived in Inverness around 5pm.

This allowed a chance to visit some of the superb real ale outlets in the city, Blackfriars and The Castle being particular favourites.

The journey to Wick itself actually began at 9.30am on the Saturday when I took the X99 bus for a three hour jaunt up the A9. The bus did pass plenty of football grounds including Brora Rangers and Golspie Thistle, two grounds I will have to do at some point no doubt.

Wick Academy have been in existence since 1893 but were only admitted to the Highland League in 1994 after Inverness Caledonian and Inverness Thistle merged to join the Scottish Football League along with Ross County. Last seasons 3rd place finish was their best ever placing. This season they are hoping to do even better.

Harmsworth Park has always been the clubs home but up until the 1920's it was known as Harrow Park. It was bought and gifted to the town by businessman Leicester Harmsworth, and was renamed in his honour.

The ground is the most northerly senior ground in the United Kingdom and now has a capacity of 2,000. The record attendance was 2,400 for a friendly versus Hearts in 1984 (Wick lost 6-1). There are two stands at the ground, a seated stand with 433 seats and a covered terrace, though at one point this was seated (click here to see a photo on the excellent Scottish non-league site).

It was a lovely sunny day in the Royal Burgh of Wick but a strong wind blowing across the sloping pitch was never going to help with free flowing football. 

As a consequence the game was largely forgettable as Wick overcame a stubborn Buckie outfit. A goal in each half from Gary Manson (36) and Richard MacAdie (74) gave the points to the homesters, stretching their undefeated home record into a 21st month. Wick also had the luxury of missing a penalty, when Gary Weir hit the post on the half hour mark (pictured left). 

Only one GBG entry in Wick and it was a pretty uninspiring Wetherspoons, The Alexander Bain, so I was more than happy to get back to Inverness for a couple of late beers. 

A long journey, but in my eyes a corking tick!

NEW YORK RED BULLS (Red Bull Arena)

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER, NEW YORK RED BULLS 4-3 REAL SALT LAKE CITY, ATTENDANCE: 18,604

Season 2013/14 began competitively with a game 3,000 miles away from home. The seeds of this trip were sown last Christmas when, after watching Everton succumb to a goal from Fat Frank, resulting in a home defeat by Chelsea, my friend and I sat in the pub discussing potential January reinforcements.

She questioned the possibility of Tim Cahill, who had recently left, returning on loan for 10 games like Landon Donovan did a couple of years back. I thought it very unlikely and said the only way we would ever see Tim Cahill play again is if we went and watched him play for the New York Red Bulls.

There was a pause, we looked at each other and you could see the respective cartoon light bulbs begin to flash. Game on.

The Major League Soccer announced their fixtures in January so flights and hotel were booked and it was off to the 'Big Apple'

Since the World Cup in 1994, football, sorry soccer, has grown in popularity but is still lacks behind the major American sports, though a recent ESPN survey did rank soccer as the 2nd most popular sport with 12-24 year olds. This could possibly down to the influx of Latin American migrants, where Soccer obviously rules.

The MLS began in 1996 and currently has 19 teams and the average attendance is around the 18,000 mark indeed the crowd tonight was just over that figure but if you compare that to the Baseball, where we were last night, that crowd was around 44,000.

I remember watching soccer in the USA in it's early days when I was a student, staggering in around 3am in the morning, and used to find it funny at some of the names I was watching, such as Mo Johnston and Preki, both ex-Everton, both not the best players ever to pull on a blue shirt.

However things took a turn for the better with the arrival of David Beckham in 2007 and since then, coupled with the USA national teams having some great runs in the World Cup, the MLS is no longer the footballers graveyard it was once perceived as. Big names such as Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane and the aforementioned Cahill now ply their trade in the USA.

So it was Tim that effectively brought us to the purpose built Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. It was a 20 minute or so train journey out of Manhattan to Newark, which was $5 each way, and a free bus was laid on to take you from Newark station to the ground.

The ground is a typical new build stadium, built in the middle of nowhere, and there is very little in the surrounding area. Our pre-match drinking took place in a bar on Newark station, where the barmaid was impressed by my selection of 80's indie music on the jukebox. She particularly enjoyed The Smiths, so there!!

Tim Cahill

It took just 11 minutes to see what we had seen him do on numerous occasions for Everton, when Tim Cahill ghosted in to score a trademark header, from a Thierry Henry cross.

Fabian Espindola scored a cheeky penalty when he chipped the ball over the diving 'keeper to give the Red Bulls a 2-0 lead.

The Red Bulls really should have extended their lead with a few other decent chances but on the stroke of half time they conceded a penalty, duly converted by Alvaro Saborio (right).

It was Saborio who then took the game by the scruff of it's neck by scoring two further goals in the second half to complete his hat-trick and give Salt Lake a 3-2 lead with just 8 minutes to go.

However the homesters were not to be denied and Espindola scored his second penalty in the 89th minute to level things up. A draw seemed a fair result but The Red Bulls were not finished and Dax McCarty scored a diving header in the fourth minute of stoppage time to take all three points in dramatic fashion.

Espindola scores with a
cheeky chip

My first (and probably last) taste of MLS 'soccer' was an enjoyable experience. Although the pace and intensity was not there, the standard of play was surprisingly good. It was great to see Tim Cahill play again and even better to see him bag a goal.

Cahill was always superb in a royal blue Everton shirt and gave nothing less than 100% every game. Time waits for no man, but It was a genuinely sad day when he left last summer. He will always be one of my all time favourite Everton players.

After a visit to Salzburg and now New York, I think the "Red Bull hat-trick" will be completed at Leipzig at some future point. I think their clubs in Ghana and Brazil may be somewhat out of the question for now!!!