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Friday 24 May 2013

The top 10

In the past twelve months I have taken thousands of photographs, the majority of which I never keep for myself  or publish on the internet. It goes without saying that the bulk of my photographs are taken at football games, but also in the past calender year I have tried my hand at photographing three different sports - American Football, Rugby League and Cricket. Along with this I have also started taking photographs of the towns and villages in which the football has taken place - something that I wish I had done before. Taking all this into account, in reverse order my ten favourite photographs of the past twelve months are as follows:

10: 

This was taken back in July last year when on a two day break in Dorset. When standing at the end of the harbour wall in Lyme Regis I waited for the sail boat to get between the two trawlers.

9.

The Olympic Stadium in London. I was fortunate to get tickets for an event inside the Olympic Park itself and as we were leaving the park itself, the stadium was all lit up.

8.

This was taken back in September 2012 prior to the York City - Cheltenham Town football game. 

7.

My first ever and currently only attempt at photographing a rugby league game and this was my favourite capture, with the Coventry Bears player tackling a St. Albans Centurion 

6.

A first ever attempt at taking photographing under floodlights with my new lens, and this shows MDH Knights lifting the EW Foster Cup after a 5-1 victory of KS Leicester Polska.

5. 

This is one of my best football photographs and was taken at a pre-season friendly between Glapwell and Shirebrook Town back in July 2012.

4.

Like the rugby league photograph, this was currently my first and only attempt and photographing american football. This shows the Leicester Falcons player evading the tackle of the Doncaster Mustangs defender.

3.

My favourite football photograph, that in my opinion I have ever taken. This was back at the beginning of March this year and shows the Uttoxeter Town forward being fouled for a penalty kick against Chesterton AFC.

2.

A rare non football Saturday and also even rarer a glorious sunny day!!! This is of my wife (Angela) and dog (Millie) and was taken on a bridge over the Ashby Canal between Moira and Donisthorpe in North-west Leicestershire.

1

One of the most recent photos that I have taken - with having a week off from work I tried my hand at cricket photography for the first time, and this was one of the last photos I took that day (May 22nd). It shows a Notts 2nd XI player being bowled by Claude Henderson of Leicestershire in a three day game at Kibworth Cricket Club.

Thursday 23 May 2013

2012/13 stats and the Rambler Awards

Number of games watched: 86
Home Wins: 40
Away Wins: 33
Draws: 13

Number of new grounds visited: 70

Number of goals seen: 406
Average goals per game: 4.72
Most common scoreline: 3-2 (6)

Highest number of goals in a game: 21 - Swan & Hove Albion v Albion (24th February - Hinckley Sunday League Premier Division)

Biggest home win: 8-0 - Oadby Town v Potton United (18th August - United Counties League Division 1)

Biggest away win: 0-21 - Swan & Hove Albion v Albion (24th February - Hinckley Sunday League Premier Division)

Favourite new ground visited (professional): Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Favourite new ground visited (non-league): Garden Walk, Royston Town F.C. Honorable mentions to London Road (Moreton Rangers FC) and Honeycroft (Uxbridge FC).

Best game seen: Corby Town v Hayes & Yeading United in the FA Trophy - a cracking cup tie played in incessant rain throughout.

Worst game seen: could be one of several, but the Men's Olympic Quarter Final between Great Britain and South Korea was dreadful

Best team in relation to level: Brinklow (Coventry Alliance)

Goal of the season: a choice of three, but Jon Stevenson's first time curling shot for Oadby Town against AFC Rushden & Diamonds was something special. The other two were both of Croxton AFC's goals in the Grantham & District League Junior Cup Final.

Most welcoming / friendliest club: Bridport, but honorable mentions to Dronfield Town, Houghton Rangers and AFC Emley.

Best value for money programme: Oadby Town

Most picturesque ground: Oakthorpe Athletic's ground on Measham Road was very pleasant with views of the surrounding countryside on two sides.

Best food at a ground: Stratford Town

Worst food at a ground: York City

Most dramatic moment: Croxton AFC's second equaliser in their Grantham & District League Junior Cup Final against local rivals CK Dons. It came with about sixty seconds remaining, and only sixty seconds after the Dons had took the lead for the second time.

Favourite town / visited: York

Favourite pub visited: the York Tap

Best pint of beer: Brewers Passion by the Caledonian Brewery

Highlight of the season: Not football, but managing to get tickets for and visiting London for the Olympic Games at the beginning of August.

Cricket

Wednesday 22nd May 2013

Leicestershire 2nd XI v Nottinghamshire 2nd XI
3 day friendly 
@ Kibworth Cricket Club, Fleckney Road, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire

With having a week off from work I decided to try my hand at cricket photography for the first time, and in fact would be the first time I had ever watched the sport live. Fortune would have it that I had two options this week as both the Leicestershire first and second XI's had home fixtures this week, and with the latter being the cheaper option and also less restrictions I made the half hour drive to Kibworth. The ground is set on the western side of the village and it is an impressive set up. There are two pitches at Fleckney Road, with the main one dominated by a large impressive pavilion, while an electronic scoreboard is set on the right hand of the pitch. The second pitch has its own smaller pavilion and manually operated scoreboard.

I arrived not long after the scheduled start time of 11am on day two of this three day match, just as Matthew Hoggard was getting his first wicket of the Notts second innings. Leicestershire bowled out Notts and required ninety to win, and as I left the proceedings were well on course to achieve the victory by the end of the day, having reached twenty five without loss..

Having edited my photos last night I have uploaded 39 online, and they can be accessed from the following link: cricket

Monday 20 May 2013

weekend football

Three games were attended over the course of Saturday and Sunday, two of which I took photos at.

Game 1: 
Barton United 3-1 Coventry Spires
Saturday 18th May 2013
Midland Combination Division 2
Holland Sports Club, Efflinch Lane, Barton under Needwood, Staffordshire



Game 2:
Christ the King 3-1 Highway Coundon Court
Saturday 18th May 2013
Coventry Alliance Premier Division
Norman Place Road, Coventry

Game 3:
Oakthorpe Athletic 3-2 Hilton Old Talbot
Sunday 19th May 2013
Burton & District Sunday League Division 2
Measham Road, Oakthorpe, Leicestershire




Saturday 18 May 2013

narrow win for North

ALFORD TOWN 3-4 NORTH SOMERCOTES UNITED
Friday 17th May 2013
East Lincolnshire Combination Division 1
East Street, Alford, Lincolnshire

With the missus working an afternoon shift and then going out in the evening with friends, I decide to look around for any possible football fixtures, though this was more in hope than expectation. The East Lincolnshire Combination (ELC) is a league that I have only have seen one game in before, but I do know that there are fixtures right up until the end of May. If anyone reading this is unaware, no competitive football under the authority of the English FA is allowed to be played in June. Anyway back to tonight, after checking the ELC's football.mitoo site I noticed that Alford Town had a division one fixture against North Somercotes United. I checked to see if my mum's other half Dave fancied coming with me for the game and if he also would do a fair chunk of the driving, as I would probably not be getting home from work until 7.30 that morning. Also coming along would be my dog Millie and the plan was to head to the coast first, some seven miles from Alford to allow her to have a run on the beach. After which a case of finding a pub to have some lunch before the 7pm kick-off.

Alford itself is a small town in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire with a population of around 3,500 inhabitants. It lies some thirteen miles north west of Skegness and seven miles west of Mablethorpe, while it is a 2 hour 15 minute (83 mile) journey from Leicester.

The town is probably best known for its five sailed windmill, a tower mill that was built in 1937 by Sam Oxley. It operated until 1955, and after standing idle for two years was restored to full working order. It is now used to produce stone ground organic flour and cereal. The windmill is also open to visitors and current prices are £3 for an adult. More details about opening times and other pricing is available on the mill's website: http://www.alford-windmill.co.uk/default.html

More information on the town can be viewed at the town's website: http://www.alford.info/

After leaving home around 1pm it was a case of detouring to Thurmaston to pick up and Dave and we then made our way north east to the coast, taking in a route through Melton Mowbray, Grantham and Sleaford. As we had to go through Alford I pulled in to have a look at the windmill and take a few photographs of it while the light was good. My destination of choice to walk Millie was a place called Anderby Creek as I knew it would be quiet and there being no or few distractions to an inquisitive and curious dog. This turned out to be the case and we pretty much had the beach to ourselves, not surprisingly considering a biting northerly wind made the air temperature a lot colder than it actually was, and added to this is that the children are still at school. We then made our way to Chapel St. Leonards for some chips before heading back to Alford to find a pub. We pulled in to the George Inn next to the church in the town, and after checking that they allowed dogs into the bar settled down for an hour.

I had my suspicions that the game would kick off early so we left the George around 6.30pm and this proved to be the case, with it starting 6.50pm instead of the scheduled 7pm. The rain which was forecast in this part of the country was, according to the forecasts not due to arrive till after dark, but as luck would have it, it started as we were leaving the pub. After trying to take photographs for the first half hour I gave up and put the camera back in the car. Fortunately there is a small amount of cover at the ground in the form of an overhang in front of the clubhouse and changing rooms, and we spent the second half watching the game from here drying out.

With one game remaining North Somercotes went into this with a one in three chance of becoming East Lincolnshire Combination champions. They needed to win this evening and hope that results elsewhere involving the other two title challengers Bluestone and A&G Auto Repairs on the 18th go their way. Alford had nothing but pride to play for with them already relegated to division two, recording only six points from nineteen league games.

The game itself was one of the better and more entertaining ones that I have seen this season at level, and the visitors recorded the victory by the narrowest of margins.

North took the lead inside the opening five minutes, only for Alford to equalise almost immediately with a sweetly struck shot from the edge of the penalty area. The visitors then took control in terms of scoring as they led 3-1, before a penalty for Alford made it a one goal game at the break. Probably around the mid-point of the second half and Alford deservedly equalised with the best goal of the game. Alford broke down the right and when the ball came across it was stroked home first time from the edge of the area, with just enough bend to beat the diving keeper. The game did become a bit scrappy with the visitors, who were clearly rattled resulting in long punts forward, and the home side relying on quick balls out of defence. The winner came with four minutes remaining when the North #12 was unmarked at the far post and headed home a cross from the right. 

At the end it was hard not to feel disappointed for Alford who deserved something from the game.

note: Bluestone and A&G Auto Repairs both won their games on the 18th May 6-2 @ Donington and Louth Town 'A' respectively, meaning that Bluestone are the East Lincolnshire Combination champions for 2012/13.

27 photos taken at the game can be viewed in the slideshow below:


Sunday 12 May 2013

Coventry Alliance - part 2

Brooklands / Jaguar 1-4 Stockton
Saturday 11th May 2013
Coventry Alliance Premier Division
Jaguar Sports & Social Club, off Browns Lane, Allesley, Coventry

Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 10 (head count)

For my second Coventry Alliance (CA) game in the space of a few days I decided to head towards Coventry itself, and more specifically the village of Allesley which is north west of the city centre. Again like my game on Thursday there was no mention of this fixture on the CA's football.mitoo page, but was again listed on Stockton FC's website who happened to be the opposition this afternoon.

Brooklands  / Jaguar Football Club play their home games at the Jaguar Sports & Social Club which is off Browns Lane, adjacent to a large new housing development. The sports & social club is home to a swimming pool, gymnasium, tennis courts and the football pitch, the latter of which is at the back of the building with access to the right. There are no pitch side facilities as it were, while the land is also a public right of way.

The game wasn't too bad with it being played in a mixture of glorious sunshine and heavy showers. The first half was fairly even, but I always felt that Stockton had the potential to be the better side. This was duly confirmed around the half hour mark when Carl Laws drilled the ball across the Brooklands keeper into the bottom corner of the goal. The second half started earlier than I expected and I missed Kyle Walker's equaliser on forty seven minutes. As the half worn on Stockton had enough chances to re-take the lead and put this game to bed. Their second goal of the afternoon came from one of their substitutes on 76 minutes but I missed it due to trying to take cover from the rain under some trees. From what I can gather it was a sweetly struck shot from twenty yards out. With the game coming into the last five minutes Stockton made sure of the points with a third goal. This came from their no. 9 whose shot from the edge of the area deceived the home keeper. To rub salt into the wounds Stockton added another goal in stoppage time which again came from their no. 9. 

47 photos of the venue and the game can be viewed in the following slideshow: Brooklands / Jaguar FC

Saturday 11 May 2013

Coventry Alliance - part 1

If anyone still looks at this blog hoping for proper match reports then I can only appologise, as due to my increasing interest in photography I am spending less time actually watching the game(s) taking place and more time being behind the lens.

With a night off from work on Thursday I took advantage of this and headed to Nuneaton for a game in the top division of the Coventry Alliance. The Coventry Alliance (CA) sits outside the National League System and does not have any formal promotion and relegation agreement with the Midland Combination (MC). That said often teams from the CA will beat teams from the MC in Birmingham FA County Cup and numerous charity cup competitions. I have seen very little football in this league over the years, in fact prior to Thursday I had only seen two games in which the home team were / are members of the CA. The first one was a few years ago when I saw the now defunct Witherley United lose 3-1 @ home to Woodlands WMC, and secondly was this season when Brinklow defeated Mahal of the West Midlands (Regional) League 4-3 in the Birmingham FA Junior Cup. In the games so far I have found the standard to be of a pretty decent level, with less emphasis put on the quality of the grounds. In the top division there are also three officials at the games, something that is very rarely seen at what is nominally step 9 or the 13th level of English football. There is one thing that is a major bugbear of mine about the league, and that is getting up to date fixtures and ground details for the member clubs. The CA does finally have a page on the football.mitoo site but often scheduled fixtures are not shown. For example there are no fixtures for May 11th being listed, but on Stockton FC's website there are sixteen listed across all six divisions. It was also like this for Thursday as well with the fixture I attended not showing on the football.mitoo site, but was listed on the afore mentioned website of Stockton FC.

On to the football...

Like I said at the top of the last paragraph I headed to Nuneaton on Thursday 9th May for the following game...

Ambleside Sports 0-1 Folly Lane
@ Ambleside Sports Club, Ambleside Way, Nuneaton

Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 6

Ambleside Way is located in an affluent part of northern Nuneaton off the Higham Lane, and the sports club is set back behind houses. Unlike other venues I have been to like this, the entrance is easy to spot. A drive way takes you to the car park and social club, with the cricket the football pitch located in front of the social club itself.  The Ambleside Sports Club is a registered charity (no. 512783) and has numerous clubs and organisations affiliated to it. These include Ambleside Bowls Club, Prostate Cancer Support Organisation (Central England), Ambleside Sports FC, Ambleside Cricket Club and Nuneaton Hockey Club. A full list can be found the sports club's website.

The game for the most part was played in miserable conditions weather wise with the only shelter being from a few trees nearest the entrance. Despite this it wasn't a bad game with the only goal coming midway through the first half. Shortly afterwards the Folly Lane #2 was shown a straight red card for throwing a punch at one of the home players during a coming together of most of the players (see last photo on slideshow). Ambleside did not take advantage of the extra man, and in fact it was the visitors who should have added to their lead on more than one occasion during the second half. They were nearly made to pay for this in the final minutes as after a good cross from the right, one of the Ambleside substitutes blazed the ball over from six yards out with the goal at his mercy.

24 photos taken during the first half can be viewed in the slideshow below:


Sunday 5 May 2013

2013 Donington Historic Festival

On the morning of Friday 3rd May I headed up to Donington Park to watch some qualifying sessions at the 2013 Historic Festival. There were six categories of cars during the morning session and slideshows of them can be viewed below:

1) E-types


2) HTCC for 1966-85 Touring Cars


3) Pre-1963 GT's


4) Historic F2


5) Pre-1940 Grand Prix Cars


6) Pre-1966 under two litre touring cars

Completing the UCL

OLNEY TOWN 3-2 OADBY TOWN
Saturday 4th May 2013
United Counties League Division 1
East Street, Olney, Buckinghamshire

As the title of the post says, visiting Olney Town Football Club's East Street ground will mean that I have seen a game of football at every one of the current 39 grounds in the United Counties League (UCL). 

The full list in chronological order is as follows:

1) 24/08/97 The Dovecote
Shepshed Dynamo v Wisbech Town (2-2) Southern League Midland Division

2) 17/01/98 Wigston Road
Oadby Town v Tooting & Mitcham United (2-2 aet) FA Vase 4th Round

3) 07/02/98 Lincoln Road
Mirrlees Blackstone v Desborough Town (1-1) United Counties League Premier Division

4) 18/04/98 Waterworks Field
Desborough Town v Long Buckby (1-3) United Counties League Premier Division

5) 23/01/99 Farley Way
Quorn v Oadby Town (1-4) Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division

6) 16/02/99 Abbey Lawn
Bourne Town v Spalding United (0-5) United Counties League Premier Division

7) 23/03/99 Kingsthorpe Mill
Northampton Spencer v Ford Sports Daventry (1-1) United Counties League Premier Division

8) 05/04/99 Compton Park
Cogenhoe United v Wellingborough Town (2-0) United Counties League Premier Division

9) 05/04/99 Kiln Park
Raunds Town v Baldock Town (1-1) Southern League Southern Division

10) 29/09/99 Bird's Close
Bugbrooke St. Michaels 1-2 Ford Sports Daventry (1-2) United Counties League Premier Division

11) 27/12/99 Sergeant's Lawn
Rothwell Corinthians v Cottingham (0-6) United Counties League Division 1

12) 24/04/00 Fernie Fields
Northampton Vanaid v Wellingborough Whitworths (2-2) United Counties League Division 1

13) 01/05/00 The Hillgrounds
Kempston Rovers v Bourne Town (3-0) United Counties League Premier Division

14) 14/10/00 Sir Halley Stewart Field
Spalding United v Wisbech Town (1-1) Southern League Eastern Division

15) 19/05/01 Dickens Road
Harrowby United v Northampton O.N. Chenecks (3-4) United Counties League Division 1

16) 17/09/02 Recreation Ground
Stewarts & Lloyds Corby v Holbeach United (2-0) United Counties League Premier Division

17) 23/07/03 Station Road
Long Buckby v Cottingham (1-3) Pre-season Friendly

18) 20/12/03 Leading Drove
Yaxley v Raunds Town (6-3) United Counties League Premier Division

19) 08/05/04 Outgang Road
Deeping Rangers v Northampton Spencer (2-5) United Counties League Premier Division

20) 26/03/05 London Road
Wellingborough Whitworths v Irchester United (1-0) United Counties League Division 1

21) 24/09/05 Carters Park
Holbeach United v Newport Pagnell Town (Aban) United Counties League Premier Division

22) 08/10/05 Billing Road Sports Ground
Northampton O.N. Chenecks v Irchester United (2-1) United Counties League Division 1

23) 08/10/05 Jubilee Park
Huntingdon Town v Rothwell Corinthians (3-1) United Counties League Division 1

24) 24/12/05 Alfred Street
Irchester United v Blisworth (0-0) United Counties League Division 1

25) 26/12/05 The Hollow
Potton United v Stotfold (1-0) United Counties League Premier Division

26) 17/04/06 Chestnut Avenue
Peterborough Northern Star v Sleaford Town (1-2) United Counties League Division 1

27) 07/10/06 Weston Park
Wootton Blue Cross v Stotfold (5-0) United Counties League Premier Division

28) 04/11/06 Chancery Lane
Thrapston Town v Daventry Town (2-2) United Counties League Division 1

29) 27/03/07 The Dog & Duck Ground
Wellingborough Town 2004 v St. Neots Town (1-0) United Counties League Premier Division

30) 21/04/07 Latimer Park
Burton Park Wanderers v Olney Town (1-1) United Counties League Division 1

31) 05/05/07 Hayden Road
Rushden Rangers v Moulton (4-3) Northants Combination Premier Division

32) 10/11/07 Willen Road
Newport Pagnell Town v Yaxley (2-0) United Counties League Premier Division

33) 15/03/08 Westwood Road
St. Ives Town v Stotfold (0-1) United Counties League Premier Division

34) 15/09/09 Eslaforde Park
Sleaford Town v Matlock Town (1-2) FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round Replay

35) 23/10/10 Tattershall Road
Boston Town v St. Neots Town (0-5) United Counties League Premier Division

36) 12/02/11 Bowden's Park
Harborough Town v Bourne Town (2-1) United Counties League Division 1

37) 08/12/12 Alfred Hall Memorial Ground
Eynesbury Rovers v Oadby Town (0-1) United Counties League Division 1

38) 06/04/13 The Irish Centre
Buckingham Town v Oadby Town (0-3) United Counties League Division 1 

About Olney Town FC
The club were formed in 1903 and until they joined the United Counties League (UCL) in 1964, they fluctuated between the North Bucks League and the South East Northants League (which became known as the Rushden & District League). Since joining the UCL the club have spent the majority of their time in division 1, with their ground preventing them from making progress.

The ground is located on East Street to the north of the town centre and is, in a nutshell a recreation ground. The club have floodlights installed and there is a small stand and a clubhouse on site, but the pitch itself is only roped off.

The town itself
I found the town to be very pleasant place and one in which would have liked to have spent more time looking round. It has a population of around 6,000 inhabitants and is in north-east Buckinghamshire, close to the borders with Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire. 

More information on the town can be viewed on the wikipedia page: Olney

I went down to Olney with my dad who picked me up around noon and we headed south on the M1 to junction 14. From there it was a short drive north along the A509 to Olney itself. After managing to find a parking space very close to the market place, we went into the Bull Inn for some lunch and a pint. Before heading to the ground we had a brief look around the town, particularly the area around the church.

The game
It was one in which Oadby started off like a team in third place and were on the offensive right from the start. After creating a few chances, Jake Duffy opened the scoring after putting the ball past the oncoming keeper. A minute or two later and it became two nil through Levi Ramsey. The second half was a different story altogether as Oadby played like a team in the bottom three - in fact it was the worst forty five minutes that I have seen them play this season. With mid-table Olney only having pride to play for, they turned this game on its head and deservedly came away with all three points.

Admission: by donation - gave £3.50
Programme: £1.50 - vastly overpriced
Attendance: 63 (head count)

With new teams reportedly joining the UCL for next season it looks like my completing of the league will be shortlived.

37 ground and match photos can be viewed in the slideshow below:


18 photos taken of the town itself can be viewed in the following slideshow: