Tideswell United 1, FC Bolsover 3 (05/11/2016 14:00)

There were a number of firsts today: 1) the first Central Midlands Football League North (Tier 11) game I had seen, 2) my first proper North Derbyshire derby and 3) the first time I had seen either of these clubs play.

Both clubs are new to the league this season. Tideswell have made their way up through the lower leagues, whereas FC, a newly formed club, have been allowed straight in at this level. FC have some ambition to progress and at the time of writing sit top of the league. Tideswell themselves are in the top half after making a respectable start to the season.

The ground itself, 'The Tideswell Sports Complex' is very tidy. The standard of the facilities are so high that it has been used by the academies of both Sheffield league clubs. It sits under the shadow of the tower of 'The Cathedral of the Peaks' adjacent to the village school.

It was a lovely drive from my home along the Peak District's lanes to get to Tideswell and from the ground itself one can see the rolling hills and their dry stone walls.

At the ground I chatted to a scout from New Mills FC. It has been sad to see this North Derbyshire team fall down the footballing pyramid. And it is sadder still that they have been forced to look at tier 11 players as potential recruits for their team.

Standing under the roof of the small stand I sheltered from the cold November breeze as I watched the game unfold. The pitch sloped very slightly and FC had the 'downhill advantage' in the first-half. FC were deserved winners in this game. They looked dangerous on the attack and the big Ian Ormondroyd style centre forward acted as an excellent target and link-up man. In addition to the goals FC hit the woodwork twice and they could easily have won by a clearer margin.

The goals are summarised below:

0:1 - The ball was fired in from the byline of the FC right wing and was sliced, at the near post, by a Tideswell defender into his own net.
0.2 - A great 20 yard shot on the turn beat the Tideswell  'keeper.
1:2 - Shot from the angle of 18 yard box took a deflection off a defender over the 'keeper.
1:3 - A 35 yard low driving shot from a left field position found the bottom right hand corner of the goal after the 'keeper was out of position following a poor clearance.

A Weekend in Malta

This weekend saw me add the Maltese top flight to my collection of UEFA affiliated leagues. I have now seen top flight league games in 32 out of the 55 nations.

Malta has a population similar to that of Bristol and, as you would expect for such a small nation, the Football Association tightly manages the league, teams and available playing surfaces. Only a small handful of grounds are used by the 12 teams in the league and the Saturday and Sunday fixtures are played as double-headers, two games are played back to back at the same venue. For fans of football, like me, this is fantastic, as great value is had by witnessing two games for the price of 1 (7 Euro) ticket.

The standard of football is difficult to judge but I would hazard a guess at levels ranging from tier 5 to tier 7 English equivalent. Birkirkara, one of the better teams, actually dumped Heart of Midlothian out of the Europa League this year, indicating it is not a standard to be sniffed at.

On the morning of the Friday flight, from East Midlands Airport, I checked the weather forecast to find that I would need to pack a shower-proof and brolly. A prearranged taxi took us from Malta airport to our harbour front hotel in Sliema.

On the Saturday morning, ahead of the first double-header, we did some sightseeing in Valletta. I managed to find a small shop selling scarves and I picked up, at 7 Euros each, a Hamrun one and a Birkirkara one. We then walked to the Hamrun ground.

The one-sided Victor Tedesco stadium, with its plastic pitch, was compact and functional. Functional that is if there is no rain (an unusual occurrence in Malta). But rain it did, and blow it did, and our 2 umbrellas, along with at least 3 more belonging to other fans, were completely destroyed. For the second match we found some shelter by the turnstiles but our view was obstructed. My father actually missed a goal because of it.

For us English fans, watching football in the wind, rain and cold is common and we prepare ourselves accordingly. For the Maltese this is not the case. They seemed quite happy to stand or sit out in all conditions in their shirt-sleeves.

The number of fans watching Saturday's matches were in the dozens.

On the Sunday we headed to Mdina to see the pretty walled city before the matches at the National Stadium. The stadium complex can be seen from the city walls and a short walk got us to the ground well before kick-off.

In order to protect the playing surface of the National Stadium no warming up / training is done on it ahead of the games. The teams have to use the adjacent Centenary Stadium, a ground that hosts tier 2 matches. As we waited to get into the West Stand we saw the Mosta players head over there. The National Stadium itself is a multi-sports venue and we noted the similarity to Iceland's National Stadium which we visited in the summer.

The first game was very much an appetiser for the main event, the second, and televised, match. The number of fans watching the Sliema vs. Mosta were in the dozens. Their ranks were swelled from half-time onwards as they were joined by the Birkirkara and Hibernians fans. We found ourselves with the Sliema and Birkirkara fans. I fitted in quite well for the second game as I donned my rather natty yellow and red Birkirkara scarf.

Sliema, for the first game, had a club band consisting of two drums, cymbals, trumpet and french horn, and they played some well known tunes throughout the game. Birkirkara's fans were more colourful. They hung banners, waved flags, let off a smoke bomb and sang songs to encourage their team (to no avail).

A good few hundred fans witnessed the latter match.

At the bus stop after the game we noticed a family of Scottish Hibernian fans resplendent in their green and white colours. They must have been delighted to see their namesakes beat the team that beat Hearts!


Hamrun Spartans 2:1 Pembroke Athleta
BOV Premier League
29/10/2016 15:00
Victor Tedesco Stadium
Grech 14' (H), Triganza 18'(H) Maveski 55' (P)

Mid-table Hamrun started the game much better than their bottom of the table opponents and they took control of the match within the first 20 minutes. A shot from a central position, some 20 yards out, was going wide until a big deflection took the ball past the stranded 'keeper. Hamrun's powerful number 99, operating down the left caused all sorts of problems for the Pembroke right back and it was his run and cross which created the second goal. His cross was met on the far edge of the box and the right winger, with a deft touch, laid the ball back into the middle for the striker to slot the ball past the keeper's left hand from 17 yards.

Pembroke's first chance came on 32 minutes but the effort, from 6 yards, was fluffed by the striker.

Pembroke performed better in the second half and were soon back in the game when a good through ball found the striker, who calmly placed his shot from 12 yards out.

As the minutes ticked down, and as the players of the second match warmed up behind the goal, Pembroke had two good chances to level the score but could convert either.

Tarxien Rainbows 2:2 Balzan FC
BOV Premier League
29/10/2016 17:15
Victor Tedesco Stadium
A. Nilsson 11' and 51' (T), Alan 55' (B), Serrano (B) Red Card 81', Nafti 91' (B)

Lowly Tarxien deserved their lead in this game against the league leaders. An early lead was achieved from a good left of centre shot from 15 yards out after a through ball opened up the Balzan defence.

The lead was extended early in the secondhalf after some nice control by the number 8 was followed by a defence splitting pass to find the number 9 who found the back of the net from a narrow angle out left. Soon after however Balzan were back in the game when a hopeful ball into the Tarxien box caused panic. The flapping 'keeper could only push the ball out to the edge of the box to be met by an onrushing player who fired his shot through a couple of defenders.

The wins and rain niggled at the players and the players niggled at each other. A number of yellow cards we brandished by the referee and each tackle by Balzan was met with a chorus of 'Yellow Card!' from two ladies stood in from of us. The ladies got their prize on 81 minutes when a second yellow was shown to a Balzan player.

10 man Balzan pushed on to get their equaliser and a last gasp chance was offered to them when a late tackle occured on the edge of the Tarxien box. From the dead ball position, to the left of centre, the Balzan free-kick taker struck an unstoppable shot past the 'keepers left hand and into the top corner of the net. The goal was met with wild celebrations from the league leaders.

Shortly after, at the referee's final whistle, more wild scenes were witnessed as the niggled players all came together with as lot of pushing, shoving and 'handbags'. The cause of this I didn't see but I am sure that there will be some repercussions.

Sliema Wanderers 1:1 Mosta FC
BOV Premier League
30/10/2016 15:00
Ta'Qali National Stadium
Salomon 24' (S), Priso 57' (M)

Mid-table Sliema looked the more accomplished side against lowly Mosta. Mosta's game looked to be based around the energy and pace of the strikers. When the Mosta front line did break forward their was little in the way of support and little in the way of final quality.

Sliema took a deserving lead midway through the first half following some good play down the right. The winger pulled back a cross which was met 10 yards out, in a central position, by the forward who placed his shot past the 'keeper.

Sliema should have wrapped the game up before halftime. A clever chipped freekick caught the defence napping but the free header from 6 yards was soft and the 'keeper comfortably saved the effort.

Mosta levelled shortly after the break. The winger did well down the right to get to the byline and pull back a cross to a team mate. The 12 yard shot took a slight deflection which took the ball beyond the 'keepers right hand.

Sliema had a couple of late half chances but the spoils were shared.

Birkirkara FC 0:1 Hibernians FC
BOV Premier League
30/10/2016 17:00
Ta'Qali National Stadium
Failla (Pen) 78'

This game should have been the pick of the weekend but these teams, second and third in the league respectively, cancelled each other out and a rather dour game was the result.

Birkirkara has the best of the first half. Sustained pressure on 23 minutes resulted Hibernians clearing the ball off the goal line. Hibernians best chance in the first half came on 32 minutes when a free header from 7 yards was comfortable collected by the 'keeper. The fire, some way off behind the Main Stand, looked more dangerous than either of these teams' skrike forces.

As the game was beginning to look like a bore draw Hibernians were awarded a penalty. A needless outstretched arm of the Birkikara left back brought down a Hibernians player, 10 yards from the byline. The decision was controversial. Was the outstretched arm worthy of a foul being awarded? Was the foul actually in the box? Anyway, the left footed penalty taker put the ball to the 'keepers left and the game was won.

The Hibernians goal scorer undertook his celebrations in front of us and the Birkikara fans which resulted in a lot of booing and cat calling from those around us.

Sandiacre Town 1, Awsworth Villa 2 (22/10/16 15:00)

This afternoon saw myself and my father travel east, towards the Nottinghamshire border, to see a tier 11 match. Sandiacre Town, a Derbyshire team in the Nottinghamshire Senior League Premier Division, were entertaining Awsworth Villa in a league game at their St Giles Park ground.

Sandiacre are, at the time of writing, sitting mid-table; a respectable start to the season for the newly promoted club. Awsworth, however, had made an excellent start to the season, being unbeaten in their first 10 league games.

We were impressed with Aston United of the same league, when we saw them a few weeks before, and we were keen to see how these representatives of the league compared.

Arriving at the ground we were struck by the excellent standard of the facilities, which included floodlights and a covered standing area behind one goal, the latter being handy as it sheltered us from the drizzle which unexpectedly fell during the first 20 minutes of the game. The £2 entry fee was good value and included a simple match day progamme.

Awsworth started the game attacking the goal in front of the covered area under which stood. And in the first-half they looked much the better team with their classy looking numbers 7 and 10 causing problems for the Sandiacre defence down the right hand side. Awsworth, although troubled at times by the Sandiacre set pieces, went into the break two goals to the good.

The first goal came from a poor clearance by the Sandiacre 'keeper who could only find an opponent on the left angle of the 18 yard box. A simple ball back across goal left the stocky number 9 a simple tap in from 5 yards.

The second goal came by way of some nice play which resulted in the captain, number 10, getting into the box, left of goal, and firing a shot past the 'keeper's left hand from 8 yards.

Awsworth didn't look as threatening in the second-half and Sandiacre got a deserved goal back. A throw in from the right wing, by the corner flag, found the Sandiacre number 9 on the angle of the six yard box. A spinning shot crashed off 'keeper and post before crossing the line.

Late pressure by Sandiacre could have brought an equaliser but the substitute, number 20, fired over from close range late on.

The 30 spectators were entertained by the game and myself and my father have been left impressed by the standard of football that this league has to offer.

Hilton Harriers Seniors 2, Ashbourne FC 3 (08/10/16 14:30)

As a community club Hilton Harriers must be one of the finest in Derbyshire. It has all the age groups represented, all the way up to a veterans team. Arriving at the Mease Pavilion this afternoon I was heartened to see an overflowing car park, meaning that sporting facilities were in full use, and as I made my way to the Senior's pitch I passed the secondary pitch full of youngsters training and playing small competitive matches.

The game I wanted to see was the Senior's match. This, today, was an unusual one. It was a Derbyshire derby in the Staffordshire County Senior League Premier Division. Hilton were hosting Ashbourne FC in this tier eleven match up. Ashbourne are new to this level and they have real ambitions as a club. They currently play their home games at Rocester's ground as a new home is developed for them. It was Ashbourne that I particularly wanted to see as they are a team which I had not yet seen.

This game was never going to be a classic. Both teams started the day in the bottom six of the league, which, for Hilton especially, is a disappointing start to the season.

The match kicked off five minutes late as the Hilton team were a little late coming out of the pavilion, some 130 metres from  pitch itself, and because some fox poo had to be removed from the playing surface.

Hilton started brightly and won of free kick 19 yards from goal after the goalkeeper brought down the onrushing striker. Number 9 struck a fierce dead ball shot at the wall. A deflection took the ball passed the 'keeper.

Ashbourne went into the break 1:2 to the good however. Both goals came about from good play on the right hand side and poor Hilton defending. Both goals were scrambled affairs from close range.

Ashbourne soon extended their advantage in the second half through a disputed penalty. Number 11 was brought down in the box but their were lots of complaints that the defender had taken the ball first. Number 11 himself took the penalty but struck his effort straight at the 'keeper. The 'keeper could only parry the ball straight out into the feet of number 9 who calmly found the net.

Hilton pulled a goal back with the best goal of the game. Number 8, out left, took the ball into the Ashbourne box with great control, and with a great shot, across the 'keeper, found the bottom corner of the net.

30, reasonably well entertained, spectators witnessed an away win. And this now leaves me with 5 tier 10 or 11 Derbyshire teams left to see.

Holbrook St Michaels 3, Aston United 8 (01/10/16 15:00)

This afternoon saw myself and my father head north to watch Holbrook of the Central Midlands Football League (tier 11) entertain Aston United of the Nottinghamshire Senior League (tier 11), in the grounds of Holbrook Hall, in the first round of the Derbyshire Senior Cup.

The two teams have been having quite different 12 months. Aston were promoted into tier 11 and are, at the time of writing doing well, and sitting fourth in their league. Holbrook however are struggling, having been easily beaten in their six leagues game. This match up would therefore allow a good comparison in the standards of the two respective leagues to be made.

This game, for myself and my father, had additional interest. My father had played against both these teams in the 1960's for Sinfin Utd.

Arriving at the ground we were met by a girl taking the admission money. She struggled with the mathematics of admitting my father and myself, the cost of a raffle ticket (which I didn't check to see if I had won anything) and subtracting these costs from a £10 note. We parked behind the goal close to a classic, mint, sky blue Ford Escort mk1 and wandered around the pitch before choosing to sit close to the half-way line, undercover, in a tiny 'stand' of 10 seats, between the dug-outs, which sheltered us from the autumnal rain.

The game started as expected with Aston quickly racing into a two goal lead and we expected this to be an embarrassing walkover, but as Aston took their foot off the gas Holbrook came back to level the scoreline. Aston picked up the tempo again and, as Holbrok tired and chased the game, ran away with it.

Holbrook looked a poor team with only a powerful number 10 and a flame haired number 7 being standout players. Aston looked an all-round better team but it was their number 9, McCormack, who was man of the match, The 'Saints' could not cope with his runs, crosses and shooting ability. His team mates called him 'Bale'. I guess he is the 'Gareth Bale' of the Nottingham Senior League.

Based on what we saw today, Aston thrashing Holbrook, just as The Saints had been thrashed by the teams in the Central Midlands League, I think it is fair to say that the CMFL is of a comparable standard  to the NSL.

A summary of the goals is summarised:

0:1 - 'Bale', with a jinking run into the box, puts a right foot shot to the 'keepers left
0:2 - A cross from the left (after a corner from the right) finds the centre-half unmarked for a header from 6 yard
1:2 - The number 10 shoots past the 'keepers right hand from 20 yards
2:2 - 'Keeper parries a shot, with the number 8 stabbing in from the left hand side of the goal
2:3 - Number 8 is brought down in the box after a nice bit of control. Number 7 puts a left footed penalty to the 'keepers right
2:4 - An in swinging free kick finds the striker unmarked from 5 yards to convert his free header
2:5 - Number 10 whips in a cross to find 'Bale's' head in front of the 'keeper
3:5 - A great freekick from Holbrook's number 7, from 25 yards, finds the top left hand corner of the goal
3:6 - Good work from 'Bale' on the right provides a chance for number 4 to tap in from 6 yards
3:7 - A whipped in freekick causes the 'keeper to parry the ball straight out to 'Bale' only for 'Bale' to put the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the goal
3:8 - Defender needlessly throws an elbow at the ball in the box. Number 10 places his penalty kick to the 'keepers left

Swanwick Pentrich Road 3, Askern FC 1 (17/09/16 15:00)

This afternoon saw myself and my father head the 30 minutes north to the Derbyshire town of Swanwick to witness a CMFL Challenge Cup (sponsored by Buckingham Insurance) tie.

The Challenge Cup is for teams in the northern and southern sections of the Central Midlands Football League (Tier 11) and today Swanwick Pentrich Road (CMFL South) took on Askern FC (CMFL North) at Highfield Road. Both teams are mid-table in their respective leagues and as such a close game was anticipated.

Upon arrival at the ground we appreciated the homely club house and tidy roofed standing areas. The ground itself was well positioned on the edge of the town, with a playground and allotment down its flanks, with lovely views over to Ripley and of Swanwick's church tower. The pitch sloped gently down away from the club house with the far corner of the pitch dipping quite dramatically.

Swanwick made the best of the slope and gentle breeze on their backs in the first-half and comfortably went into the break two goals to the good. The first was scored early in the half when, following build up play on the left, the number 7 shot right footed to the top left hand corner of the goal from 10 yards out from a slightly right of centre position.

Swanwick's tricky number 8 scored their second after a jinking run into the box, taking the ball right, and finding the net from the edge of the 6 yard box.

To be honest Swanwick created several good chances in the first half and a could have gone in 4 or 5 goals to the good.

Askern, with the advantage of the slope and the breeze did better in the second half and got a goal back late on following some scrappy play in the Swanwick box. But Swanwick got back their deserved two goal cushion with minutes to play when the tricky number 8 fed a ball through the middle for the substitute striker to latch onto, and he calmly placed the ball under the onrushing keeper from 20 yards.

An enjoyable afternoon was had by myself and my father and the majority of the other 25 or so spectators.

Mickleover RBL 1, South Normanton FC 2 (10/09/16 15:00)

My first game of the 2016/17 season saw me take the short trip to Mickleover to watch a Central Midlands Football League (South) game. Mickleover Royal British Legion were entertaining South Normanton FC. This game was a double first for me... 1) my first visit to 'The Poppyfields'; and 2) the first time I had seen South Normanton FC.

Tier 11 South Normanton FC have some sort of association with Tier 10 South Normanton Athletic, the exact relationship I am yet to fathom, but the relationship is close enough for today's visitors to Derby to wear the same colours as their ground-sharing north Derbyshire namesakes.

RBL had the better of the first half and deserved their 15 minute lead. The nippy number 6 was set free down the right hand side and a good cross to the far post was met by his only RBL colleague in the box. The striker slotted the ball passed the onrushing keepers left hand.

South Normanton struck back shortly before half time, following the winning of a free kick on the right hand side mid-way in RBL's half. The free-kick taker whipped a quality ball into the box and it was met by the head of an attacker.

At half time I had a cup of tea (made by myself, with an honesty box contribution to the club of 50p) and got back out to watch the second half.

South Normanton looked better in the second-half as the home team tired but RBL still managed to create the better chances. South Normanton stole the game with a ball through the middle with the diminutive number 11 breaking clear of the defence. The attacker nicely placed his left foot shot to the keeper's left.

An entertaining afternoon was had at a club with lovely facilities. I thought it would be nice to return here and watch a game from the bar's balcony.