December 2018

ARSENAL

December started well with a 4-2 win against Tottenham. This was followed by a disappointing 2-2 draw away at Manchester United. Given the season that they have had we should have done better. Two wins by a 1-0 margin followed. Firstly against Huddersfield and then in the Europa League against Qarabag.

The unbeaten run came to an end away at Southampton and overall I think that was a good thing because Tottenham would never have let us forget it if they had been the team to end the unbeaten run. We lost to them in the next match in the Carabao Cup and although it hurt if we have to lose to them the Carabao Cup is the time to do it.

We were back to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Burnley but the injury list which has resulted in an unstable back four has seen us draw away to Brighton and lose 5-1 away at Liverpool.

The new year gives us a new start as we face Fulham in the League and Blackpool in the Cup before taking on West Ham and Chelsea. The F.A.Cup fourth round draw will take place after we have beaten Blackpool and the month is finished off with a match against Cardiff.


BRENTFORD

December started with a 1-1 draw away at West Bromwich. Two defeats to Swansea and Hull were followed by a 1-0 home win against Bolton. The christmas period has seen two draws away from home, firstly 1-1 at Bristol City and then 0-0 at Birmingham City.

The new year sees a couple of challenging matches against Norwich and Stoke at home and these are followed by two away fixtures against Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday.


SOUTHEND

Southend have blown hot and cold throughout December. An F.A.Cup defeat by 4 goals to 2 against Barnsley was followed by a 1-1 draw against Luton in the Checkatrade Trophy. The League form shows as Lost Won Lost Won Lost. The winning teams were Portsmouth, Rochdale and Coventry while the two losing sides were Accrington and Oxford.

The new year starts Home Away Home Away Home against Gillingham, Doncaster, Plymouth, Bradford and Luton. Given the hot and cold nature of December "anything could happen in the next half year."


EXETER

December started with a Checkatrade defeat to Peterborough and continued with a league defeat away at Bury. There then followed a purple patch of green (wins) as Exeter beat Crewe 1-0, Oldham 3-2 and Yeovil 2-1. The month ended with a home defeat to Grimsby.

January sees us away at Swindon and then Lincoln, a home match against Morecambe, another away match just over the newly free Severn Bridge at Newport and the month ends at home to Cambridge.


EASTLEIGH

A 2-2 draw at home to Dover was followed by a 2-0 away defeat at Wrexham. The 2-1 win at home to Harrogate was followed by an away draw 2-2 at Havant & Waterlooville. The month ended with a comprehensive away defeat 3-0 at Ebbsfleet.

January sees the return fixture against Havant & Waterlooville which is almost a local derby. This is followed by a trip to Solihull then matches against Sutton and Bromley.


WESTON

 A poor season saw December start with the third of three wins in a row but it was only against Hengrove Athletic in the Somerset Premier Cup. Defeats to Woking, Chelmsford, Truro, Oxford City and Bath followed broken only by a single point earned in a 0-0 draw at home to Gloucester. Perhaps keeping the defence tight is the way to go.

The new year starts with a visit to Gloucester so that point is something to build on. January continues with matches against Billericay, Eastbourne, Truro and Slough.


TIVERTON

The season started reasonably well but things seem to have turned. December saw defeats to Wimborne and Metropolitan Police. The heavy rain saw two postponements and the team returned to action with a 2-2 draw at home to Swindon Supermarine. The christmas period witnessed a 2-1 defeat at Taunton Town but the year ended with a 3-1 win over Frome Town.

January holds matches against Dorchester, Weymouth, Poole, Hendon and Merthyr.


BARNSTAPLE

My bright red spreadsheet shows six defeats in December. The only yellow on show was in the Devon St Lukes Bowl against Cullompton which ended 3-3 but Barnstaple managed to lose on penalties. The defeats in the league were against Totton, Melksham, Cirencester, Cinderford, Bideford and Moneyfields (I love that name).

The new year needs a completely new approach or Barnstaple will be back in the Western League. The first match in January is against Street (another good name) and this is followed by matches against Bristol Manor Farm, Thatcham Town and Slimbridge.


BUCKLAND

December saw a lot of postponements for the rain but a good victory on 8th saw a 5-3 win over Bridgwater Town. This was followed by a bad defeat 7-2 away at Shepton Mallett. I hope there was a good crowd there for the goalfest. Two draws against Westbury and Roman Glass St George happened either side of a defeat by 2 goals to 1 at home to Plymouth Parkway.

The fixtures in January are against Brislington, Wellington, Hallen and Odd Down.


EXMOUTH

The team are having a good year so it was a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Falmouth Town. Camelford were well beaten 4-2, Bodmin and Newquay were both beaten 1-0 and the only red stripe of the month was against Cullompton. That was a 1-0 defeat on Boxing Day.

January holds matches against Millbrook, Godolphin Atlantic, St Austell and Launceston.


Bonus: ELMORE

Five postponed fixtures is the story of December for Elmore. There is nothing to worry about though as in a good season the two matches played resulted in wins. 2-0 away at Holsworthy and 1-0 away at Torridgeside.

The early 2019 matches are against Saltash, St Martins, Sidmouth and Ilfracombe.


The new year 2019 is going to be a good year. Let there be lots of football.

Boxing Day

No, this is not about the Derby v. Leeds match just posted on the facebook page.

1. Brighton & Hove Albion v. Arsenal

2. Bristol City v. Brentford

3. Oxford United v. Southend

4. Exeter v. Yeovil Town

5. Havant & Waterlooville v. Eastleigh

6. Weston-super-Mare v. Gloucester City

7. Taunton Town v. Tiverton

8. Barnstaple v. Bideford

9. Buckland Athletic v. Plymouth Parkway

10. Exmouth Town v. Cullompton Rangers

And the bonus, just keeping an eye on my Level 11 pick:

11. Elmore v. Crediton United

That concludes the preparation for tomorrow as we are going out for lunch with the family.

Exeter 1 Crewe 0

Check out the only other win for my selections this weekend.

Exeter 1 Crewe 0

Southend 3 Accrington 0

The You Tube video I promised you.

Southend 3 Accrington 0

Loser Weekend

All my selections seemed determined to lose this weekend.

I have just watched my top team end their 22 match unbeaten run at Southampton. The only good thing about that is that Mark Hughes has long gone. Southampton 3 Arsenal 2 was the result and it was two goals for Henrikh Mkhitaryan who has been very unlucky for the past few weeks. I now think he is cursed because he scored two and we still lost. Is there a curse on H.M.?

Danny Ings with two headers and Charlie Austin with one header beat us. Bring back Per Mertesacker. We need a centre half or two that can deal with crosses. We also need a goalkeeper that can deal with crosses so if Petr Cech is anywhere near fit he may well get his place back against Spurs.

Southampton 3 Arsenal 2

I was watching yesterday when Brentford went 2-0 down to Hull City so that was an expected loss.

Hull City 2 Brentford 0

We know from yesterday that two of my lower selections lost. One of these matches was in the F.A.Trophy and my other National League team also lost in the F.A.Trophy.

Hemel Hempstead Town 2 Eastleigh 1

Truro City 4 Weston-super-Mare 0

My Southern league teams might both have lost but Tiverton Town had their match called off as the pitch was unfit. In the other match the two managers were sacked after the game.

Barnstaple Town 0 Cirencester Town 5

Kevin Darch and Dave Griffiths have both left the club following a run of disappointing results. The club has made a quick decision to appoint a new manager, with the implication that it was already set up before this match, and an announcement will be made on Monday evening.

So what else could go wrong?

Buckland Athletic could travel away to Shepton Mallet and lose 7-2.

Guess what.

Shepton Mallet 7 Buckland Athletic 2.

Exmouth Town had their match called off due to the weather conditions so most of my teams either lost or had the match cancelled.

The only chance for wins then are my League One and League Two choices.

Southend United 3 Accrington Stanley 0

Southend must have drunk their milk as they managed to beat the Stanley with goals from Sam Mantom, Taylor Moore and Theo Robinson. Accrington had more of the possession and had four more shots but as we all know it is goals that count.

Exeter City 1 Crewe Alexandra 0

This was a hard fought match but the difference was the goal scored by Lee Martin.

So two wins out of ten is a poor return on a bad week for my selections. Those results fit my mood so I do need to get myself out of this slump in time for the Carabao Cup match against Spurs.

Reader, I married him, no only joking.

Reader, I will make the next blog more exciting, maybe by adding a video from You Tube.

LOSERS

I think I will avoid blogging tonight.

Weston-super-Mare lost 4-0.

Barnstaple Town lost 5-0.

I don't want to check any more results.

Just sulking for a few hours.

Eastleigh Signing

Eastleigh Football Club are delighted to announce the signing of attacking midfielder Jack McKnight from Basingstoke Town.

The 21-year-old has already scored more than 10 goals this season from midfield, and won Basingstoke’s Player of the Month award twice in successive months.

The club have beaten off interest from several National League clubs, as well as sides in the Football League.

McKnight will wear the number 7 shirt at The Silverlake and link up with former Basingstoke Town manager Jason Bristow, who joined as Assistant Manager last month

Ben Strevens said; “We are very pleased to get the deal for Jack over the line. He is an exciting addition, and exactly the type of player we need for both the short term and long term. He’ll offer us something different and will be another option for us in midfield.”

The signing is subject to National League and FA approval.

The coming weekend

Shock, Horror, Probe: Arsenal are playing at 3:00pm on a Saturday. Are we no longer attractive to the TV audience? Has the ban on betting during big games made THAT much difference? Is it winter when mud replaces grass and Stoke become the team to watch? It must be an anomaly.

Anyway ...

Arsenal are at home to Huddersfield in what we hope will be the 21st match unbeaten.

This run has seen 15 victories and 5 draws.

Brentford are at home to Swansea City following a series of 14 matches with only one win.

8 Defeats, 5 draws and the only win was at home to Millwall on 3rd November.

Southend are away to Portsmouth so I am anticipating a defeat.

My spreadsheet is very colourful with reds and greens in the league and yellows in the cup matches.

Exeter are away to Bury at Gigg Lane which is one of the many stadiums I have visited in my time.

My spreadsheet show lots of green followed by lots of red interspersed with much yellow as well.

Eastleigh are away to Wrexham who are flying high.

The early reds turned to a patch of green which has gone on to yellows interspersed with green. The expectation is that Eastleigh will get a red blip against Wrexham but anything else will be a result.

Weston-super-Mare have won three on the trot and now face Woking at home.

It has to be said that only one of those three was a league match. The first was a 3-2 win away to Slough in the F.A.Trophy and the third was a 4-0 win away to Hengrove Athletic in the Somerset Premier Cup. I have the team have taken a liking to winning and continue this against Woking.

Tiverton started the season with quite a lot of green that has turned to a red and yellow circus tent.

Tomorrow sees them away to the Metropolitan Police where they earned a 3-3 draw in the F.A.Cup back in October. They lost the replay at home though so the Met have the upper hand psychologically.

Barnstaple Town are away to Melksham Town tomorrow.

The scores show a huge page of bright red with a purple patch of three green when they took on Paulton Rovers, Winchester City and Yate Town. We must expect the red to continue.

Buckland Athletic are at home to Bridgwater Town and according to my spreadsheet their last three results have been Postponed, Postponed, Postponed. I hope they remember how to play the game.

Exmouth Town shows a good amount of green although the last two home matches have been 0-0 draws. The defence is holding but perhaps there is a problem with the strike force. Tomorrow they take on Camelford but I can think of better things to do than watch a 0-0 draw.

Elmore Eagles, like Buckland, have a last three results of Postponed, Postponed, Postponed and now travel down to Brixham. I wonder if the Mrs would like a trip to Rockfish in return for watching a football match?

They said that writing a blog teaches you a lot about writing and I agree. It does not matter if people read it but if you do then please let me know.

Young Bees progress

The Brentford B team beat the Metropolitan Police in the London Senior Cup.

Young Bees in Action

Did you spot any stars of the future?

Advent approaches

I have started a facebook page called Football Pyramid where I will post some of the more interesting You Tube videos that I come across daily. I hope it entertains those who choose to view the page.

Now I am looking forward to this weekend and where my selections will be playing. Arsenal have their most interesting match of the season, the local derby against Spurs, which takes place in the Emirates Stadium at 14:05 on Sunday. I presume the 5 minutes are to give foreign TV companies time to introduce the match.

Brentford, my Championship pick, seem to have been moved to Monday night. They are appearing on TV more and more recently, although my viewing has gone up as a result of all Championship matches being shown on Sky Sports Football behind the Red Button. Neal Maupay and friends are travelling to West Bromwich Albion. The Hawthorn Ground is somewhere I remember from supporting Arsenal for many years.

So Sunday afternoon and Monday evening are covered. I expect most of my selections to play on Saturday but before any of that I must get an F.A.Cup match in. BBC Two are showing Solihull Moors against Blackpool at 19:55. I presume that this 5 minutes is so that foreign TV companies miss the start and can decide which Friday night match to cover. Cardiff against Wolves is on Sky Sports in a match that matters to both but not to me.

Friday, Sunday and Monday now sorted, what happens at 3 O'Clock on Saturday afternoon?

Southend take on Barnsley in the second round of the F.A.Cup. Exeter, who lost to Blackpool (my Friday watch) in the first round seem to have no match at all. Their next match is in the Checkatrade Trophy at home to Peterborough United.

Eastleigh are at home to Dover Athletic in what should be an easy win as Dover are not doing so well this season despite challenging for promotion last year. Weston-super-Mare are away to Chippenham Town and I have no idea how that one will go but I hope the strong win in the F.A.Trophy gives Weston the boost that they need to start climbing the table.

Tiverton are away to Wimborne Town in the Southern League Premier Division South. Barnstaple are at home to AFC Totton in the Southern League Division One South. I could go to that one but I am staying home to look after my wife who has just returned from hospital after a knee replacement. She is still in pain but she has the painkillers she needs to control it.

Buckland Athletic are away to Bridport (a medium drive) in the Western League and Exmouth are at home to Falmouth Town in the South West Peninsula League.

That concludes levels 1 to 10 but I have been following Elmore Eagles in level 11, the South West Peninsula League East Division. Elmore are at home to Holsworthy and that match is only half an hour away if I can get my Mrs to sleep all afternoon.

From the Top

1) Arsenal

Bournemouth 1 Arsenal 2

One of the best strikes of the season opened the scoring in this match. Jefferson Lerma shot hard and fast past his own goalkeeper to open the scoring for Arsenal. He remained as Arsenal asset giving the ball away at key moments but eventually Bournemouth equalised through Joshua King after a well worked move across the Arsenal defence.

The winner came when Sead Kolasinac made his way down the left hand side and passed inside for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to slide in the goal. A good result for Arsenal in a match that could have gone either way.


2) Brentford

Brentford 1 Middlesbrough 2

Alan Judge scored the one goal for the home side and that led to a nervous last fifteen minutes for Middlesbrough but they were really looking very secure after the two earlier goals scored by Hugill and Tavernier.

The eight minute version with commentary


3) Southend

AFC Wimbledon 2 Southend 1

AFC Wimbledon scored all three goals in this encounter. Firstly Liam Trotter put the ball into his own net and then they recovered the match through goals from Deji Oshilaja and Mitch Pinnock.


4) Exeter

Colchester 1 Exeter 1

From the BBC website: 

Sammie Szmodics' stunning strike was cancelled out by Jayden Stockley's scruffy finish as Colchester and Exeter drew 1-1. A sensational volley from Szmodics gave the home side the lead but they were soon pegged back as Stockley bundled home to level things up. The result leaves Colchester third in League Two, with Exeter a point behind in sixth.

5) Eastleigh

Eastleigh 1 Chesterfield 1

From the BBC website: 

Jordan Hallam's strike earned Chesterfield a point as they fought back to draw with Eastleigh in the National League. Eastleigh took the lead when a Mark Yeates corner was flicked on and Alex Wynter headed in at the back post. Minutes later Chesterfield goalkeeper Callum Burton pulled off a fine reflex save to keep out Paul McCallum's powerful header from another Yeates corner. The Spireites were level just before the break when Hallam placed the ball beyond the reach of Eastleigh goalkeeper Max Stryjek after being set up by Jerome Binnom-Williams. The visitors went close several times in the second half, but could not find a winner.

6) Weston-super-Mare

Slough Town 2 Weston-super-Mare 3

Weston won this F.A.Trophy match by three goals to two. The cup matches seem to bring better performances from Weston than the league matches do. Marlon Jackson got the opener for Weston before Ben Harris equalised for Slough. George Nurse got the second goal for the seagulls before that too was equalised by Ben Harris (again). The winner was scored by Gethyn Hill with a simple tap in.

7) Tiverton Town

Tiverton Town 1 Hartley Wintney 1

From the Tiverton website:

Confidence. It plays a huge part in a teams ability to perform. Go back less than a month and a confident looking Yellows side comprehensively despatched the latest visitors by five to one in an FA Trophy replay after the first ever meeting had ended all square. However, the latest meeting, with the Yellows clearly still reeling from their midweek humbling in South Wales, was a polar opposite.

Granted the pitch condition played a part after the torrential downpour in the lead up had almost put paid to the match in the first place, but as a footballing spectacle, it will not live long in the memory. Man of the Match Jamie Price headed the hosts ahead just after the half-hour mark, getting on the end of a Levi Landricombe corner before Hartley defender Jack Ball bundled in the equaliser from a Tyron Smith corner with just under half an hour to play.

8) Barnstaple Town

Fleet Town 4 Barnstaple 3

The Barnstaple website tell me that the four Fleet goals were scored by Lewis Harvey, Kofi Halliday, Lewis Harvey again and Danilo Cadete. The Barnstaple goalscorers were George Nancekivell, a Stephen Reed penalty and another from George Nancekivell. What else can we learn? The score moved from 1-0 to 1-1 then 2-1 at half time. The penalty evened things up after half time. From 2-2 it moved to 3-2 then 3-3 finishing 4-3 with that last goal in the 80th minute.

The level 9 and 10 teams did not play so that concludes my report.

From the Bottom

10) So although Exmouth Town were due to travel to Bodmin there is a note that the match was called off early and that this was no surprise. Either Bodmin had a shortage of players or they have an easily waterlogged pitch as there has been a lot of rain this week.

9) The match between Buckland Athletic and Cadbury Heath was already postponed so there is nothing to report at level 9.

8) Barnstaple Town are cementing their place at the foot of the table with defeat after defeat. This time they managed to score three goals away at Fleet Town. The problem is that Fleet Town scored four. No information is currently available about the scorers.

7) Tiverton Town could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Hartney Wintney. A goal for the home side from Price in the 31st minute was equalised by Ball for the visitors in the 63rd minute.

6) Weston-super-Mare had a superb result but that is perhaps no surprise as they were not competing in the league. Weston always seem to do better in the cup matches and this one was an F.A.Trophy tie away to Slough Town. A 3-2 victory away from home is a good result and if Weston could only transfer their cup form to the league they might start climbing up the table.

5) Eastleigh fought out a 1-1 draw with Chesterfield. A match entitled the Spitfires versus the Spireites should have produced fireworks but an Alex Wynter goal for Eastleigh in the 11th minute was answered by a 41st minute goal from Jordan Hallam.

4) Exeter travelled across the country about as far east as they can go to take on Colchester United. This match also ended in a 1-1 draw. Colchester took the lead in the 67th minute when Szmodics scored (glad this is a blog and not a commentary). Exeter responded quickly and Jayden Stockley hit the back of the net in the 70th minute.

3)  Southend United travelled to AFC Wimbledon and took the lead in the 11th minute but it was thanks to an own goal from Trotter (Rodney you plonker). Adedeji Oshilaja equalised in injury time at the end of the first half and the winner was scored by Pinnock in the 70th minute. A defeat leaves Southend firmly positioned in the middle of the table which seems to be where they are most comfortable.

2) Brentford took on Middlesbrough last evening and I was able to watch the match on Sky Sports so I can report that it was on reflection a fair result as Middlesbrough looked stronger and bigger then the Brentford team but Alan Judge who scored in the 75th minute had a couple of chances to take at least a point from this one. Goals from Hugill in the 56th minute and Tavernier in the 61st seemed to have put Middlesbrough in complete control but the last 15 minutes were anything but safe.

1) I can now settle down and watch the Arsenal at AFC Bournemouth. It has happened, we are no longer top of the table when all teams are on zero points.

Saturday Morning Anticipation

Saturday mornings used to be so much more vibrant. As a youngster the anticipation of heading out to see my local football team with expectations of a famous victory that often turned out to be a cold wet disappointment ending in defeat was palpable (stops to look that word up). Ah, so palpable means touchable. I used to touch my anticipation then.

These days with vast experience my expectations are of a cold wet afternoon ending in defeat which is probably why I watch most of my football on television. Fortunately I support Arsenal and I am well aware that we suffer fewer defeats than most meaning that very often on a cold wet depressing typically English day I can often reach a high as my team scores goal after goal or, going back a bit, the one goal needed to win.

So I shall look ahead to the weekend and see what it has in store for me.

Arsenal are away at Bournemouth and whilst in the distant past I may have travelled all the way on the day and purchased a ticket at the gate these days with all ticket matches and not understanding the ins and outs of how best to purchase them I shall sit back and watch the match on Sky Sports. I can choose to watch it on their Main Event channel if I want knowing that it is the most important thing happening on Sky at that point in time. That sorts out Sunday at 13:30.

My Championship choice Brentford are also on television so I can watch my top two picks without leaving the comfort of my living room. Brentford are at home to Middlesbrough and the match will not be easy as Brentford are 15th with Middlesbrough in 3rd. Things have not gone well since Dean Smith left and Brentford have fallen down the table but I hope they can pull together and beat those north easterners well at 17:30 today.

My League One team Southend are playing at 15:00 away to AFC Wimbledon. Back in the day that would have been a short trip into London and back, but I will simply follow this on on the BBC website as each goal is scored.

My League Two team Exeter are travelling to my old local rivals Colchester also at 15:00 and the way to follow them is also to watch the BBC website or the Sky coverage (or even BT) and track the situation as each goal is notched up.

In the National League Eastleigh are at home to Chesterfield and it should be a safe home victory as 9th are taking on 19th in the league. For travelling fans Eastleigh have their Lakeside Railway which probably beats admiring the crooked spire. Here's hoping that the Spireites suffer at the hands or feet of the Spitfires.

Weston-super-Mare are not playing in the league today as they are competing in the F.A.Trophy. We have reached the third qualifying round which is where the National League North and South teams join in. Weston travel to Slough Town who are also in the National League South so it should be an even contest except that Slough are mid table in 13th place while Weston remain firmly secured at the foot of the table. This may be the year that Weston return to the Western League.

Tiverton Town inform me on their website that they are at home to Hartley Wintney. This should result in a win as Tiverton beat Hartley Wintney in an F.A.Trophy replay 5-1. The ground is only half an hour away but I think I will stay and keep my wife company as she waits for her operation.

Barnstaple Town are away to Fleet Town in the Southern League Division One South. Barnstaple, like Weston are firmly planted in the relegation zone but the advantage they have today is that they are taking on the only team that are below them in the table. This has to be a six point match. Barnstaple could lift themselves out of the relegation zone if Mangotsfield United lose.

Buckland Athletic were scheduled to take on Cadbury Heath but the match has been marked as postponed so I will not go chasing that result.

The South West Peninsula League website tells me that Exmouth Town have no fixture today. Exmouth themselves tell me that they are away to Bodmin Town. I will check that result later on today.

Now is the time to settle in and look after the wife.

Goodbye AC London

From the Non League Newspaper:

 AC London, the club formed in the wake of the 2011 London riots to keep youngsters off the streets, have been booted out of the Combined Counties League. The decision to blow the whistle on the club came after the conclusion of the F.A. appeal hearing into the decision by fellow league clubs to expel AC London last summer, partially because of their high number of red cards. The club had been given dispensation to start the new season while the appeal process was under way.

 Following an emergency board meeting last Tuesday, the league's board of directors issued a statement which summarised stated that the F.A. had thoroughly investigated and found submissions to be false along with fabricated evidence. They have sanctioned the perpetrator and concluded the appeal.

The Combined Counties League acted in line with laid down procedure and AC London will be removed from the league with immediate effect.

Academic Club London were founded by 16 year old Prince Choudary as a youth team in July 2012 and went open age the following season. Choudary, whose uncle's shop was hit in the riots, then became the youngest manager and chairman in senior football and later the youngest to manage in the F.A.Cup.

AC London joined the Kent Invicta League (now the Southern Counties East League Division One) and later moved sideways to the Combined Counties League Division One.

It was at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) where a vote concluded that the organisation and management of the club had fallen below the standards appropriate to membership of the competition. The team's disciplinary record on the pitch came under fire with 14 red cards shown before last christmas. The club also failed to fulfil two fixtures at the end of the season.

New AC London chairman Paul Armstrong said "We want to keep the club going and I understand the stance of the Combined Counties League, but we will look to carry on and find a new league for next season.

I, personally, support the CCL as too many times in my youth a team that used violence to intimidate the opposition were the ones that won the league while my teams enjoyed socialising with other teams that felt the same as we did about serial bully boys. This, however, is professional football and we hear every time Graeme Souness is on TV that the way to beat a skilful team like Arsenal is to kick them off the park. This is professional advice. Violence wins.

Good luck to AC London as you continue to act on the advice of Graeme Souness.

Results 17th November

From the bottom of the pyramid:

11: Elmore Eagles

Leaders Elmore had a bad day as they kicked off late away at the University of Exeter after both sides wore green and when the game started the Eagles lost 5-3 to a Student side who started the day in 13th place. The chasing pack all won to close the gap with the title race looking as open as it has ever been this season. 

10: Exmouth Town

Following their 0-0 draw at home to Elburton Villa in midweek Exmouth Town had to come from behind to win 4-3 away at Camelford in a seven goal thriller at Trefrew Park with the normally watertight Town defence breached by the Camels.

9: Buckland Athletic

Buckland travelled to Hengrove Athletic and finished the match 4-0 winners thanks to two goals from Ryan Bush, one from Ethan Phillips and one from Lloyd Gardner.

8: Barnstaple Town

Barnstaple continued a losing season by going down 3-1 at home to Evesham United. The only goal for the home side was scored by Stephen Reed.

7: Tiverton Town

Tiverton battled to a 0-0 draw at home to Hendon. No more information is available at this time.

6: Weston-super-Mare

Weston travelled to Welling United for today’s match and lost the game 3-1. According to the Welling Twitter feed it was Tom Llewellyn that scored the goal for the seagulls.

5: Eastleigh

Eastleigh travelled to Barrow and earned themselves a 3-0 win thanks to two goals from Paul McCallum and one from Ben Williamson. Information from the Barrow Twitter feed.

4: Exeter City

A devastating last-minute Northampton equaliser saw Exeter City held to a draw against the Cobblers at St James Park.

City took the lead through captain Jake Taylor, who netted his first of the season, before Billy Waters levelled for the away side.

Jayden Stockley then struck late in the first half to give City a 2-1 lead, but City were pegged back once again on 90 minutes when a Northampton corner seemed to come off a City player and end up in the back of the net meaning the points were shared.

Grecians boss Matt Taylor made four changes to the side that was eliminated from the FA Cup last week by Blackpool, with Christy Pym making his return to the starting line-up, alongside Lee Holmes, while Aaron Martin and Tristan Abrahams kept their places in the starting 11 from the midweek win over Bristol Rovers in the Checkatrade Trophy.

It was City that edged a tight opening quarter of an hour, and first came close when a corner routine saw Lee Holmes’ cross-turned-shot hit the post. However, the Grecians were not to be denied a few moments later, as skipper Taylor surged into space on the inside-right flank of the Northampton penalty area and fired past David Cornell in the Cobblers’ goal with 16 minutes on the clock.

A lively Tristan Abrahams threatened to double the home side’s lead five minutes later, running onto Jayden Stockley’s header, but Cornell closed the angle down well and made the save. It acted as a catalyst for the visitors to grow into the game, and they were soon level through Waters – the visitors broke at speed, and after a great block by Nicky Law from Sam Hoskins’ initial effort, the ball rebounded and fell kindly for Waters, who bundled over from close range.

Only a superb save from Christy Pym prevented the visitors from then taking the lead as a delicate ball was lofted into van Veen, and while his header was powerful, it was straight enough for Pym to get down and make a great reaction save, before Aaron Martin cleared the danger. As the game opened up, there were more chances at both ends when Holmes’ effort from the left-hand side of the penalty area arrowed narrowly wide of Cornell’s far post, before Stockley fired agonisingly wide from just outside the area.

Stockley then made amends just before half-time after a spell of prolonged pressure. Pierce Sweeney’s rasping effort was blocked spectacularly, though City recycled possession, eventually finding Woodman on the other flank, and his cross to the back post was met by Stockley, who headed back across the goalkeeper and into the far corner.

The influential Nicky Law was again involved soon after the restart, shooting from just outside the box with a deflected effort that looked like it would loop over Cornell’s outstretched hand, but it somehow landed wide and the visitors escaped again.

City were then required to defend a flurry of Northampton corners, though threatened to break clear when Forte latched onto a clearance before he was cynically taken down by Shay Facey. It was a period where Northampton probed, but were unable to find a way through the resolute City backline, and the Grecians always looked lively in possession.

The Grecians then had a golden chance to put the game to bed, as substitute Chiedozie Ogbene broke down the right-wing and cut the ball back to Stockley, but his effort flew wide from just inside the area with just under 20 minutes to go.

Chances were again coming at both ends – Hoskins fired wide from inside the area with less than five minutes to go – but there was a cruel twist late in the tale for City. A Northampton corner in the 90^th minute was met by Andy Williams, and the header took a cruel deflection off Jayden Stockley and nestled in the back of the City net. It proved to be the last meaningful action in an eventful game that City will be disappointed they couldn’t come away with more.

EXETER: CITY: Pym; Sweeney, A Martin, O’Shea, Woodman; Holmes (Ogbene 77), Tillson, Taylor, Law; Abrahams (Forte 72), Stockley.

Subs not used: Hamon, Jay, Oates, Croll, Collins.

Booked:

NORTHAMPTON Town: Cornell, Buchanan, Odoffin (Taylor 45), Hoskins, van Veen (A Williams 71), Powell, Pierre, McWilliams, Turnbull (Facey 45), Waters, O’Toole.

Subs not used: Ward (GK), Bridge, Roberts, J Williams.

Booked: Pierre, Facey

Attendance: 4,332 (329 away)

3: Southend United

Southend suffered a third successive league defeat as a late Armand Gnanduillet header secured a 2-1 win for Blackpool at Roots Hall.

Blues went close early on when Michael Kightly hit the inside of the post after a mistake by goalkeeper Mark Howard before Oliver Turton put Blackpool ahead, thumping in a low cross from Marc Bola inside quarter of an hour.

Blackpool almost doubled their advantage early in the second-half when Jay Spearing rattled the crossbar with a deflected effort before the Tangerines captain went close again, curling the ball wide while unmarked on the edge of the area.

Southend would capitalise on that missed opportunity by levelling when Jason Demetriou stooped low to head in Timothee Dieng’s cross, but Blues were undone again when Gnanduillet rose to head in Harry Pritchard’s cross for the winner.

Minutes after Gnanduillet’s header, Blues were reduced to 10 men as Michael Turner was shown a straight red card for an apparent stamp on a Blackpool player as Southend were unable to prevent a third straight league defeat.    

Once again, Blackpool had proven how hard they were to get past on the road – having only lost once away in the league prior to their trip to Roots Hall – and Chris Powell must now pick his side up for Tuesday night’s Emirates FA Cup replay at Crawley Town.

Going into this afternoon’s game, Southend had been lifted somewhat by their midweek Checkatrade win over Southampton following three games without a win and they were gifted a chance to take the lead after a mix-up at the back by the visitors early on.

Goalkeeper Mark Howard’s attempted clearance hit a Blackpool defender allowing Michael Kightly to nip in and, with the goalie off his line, the winger’s lob had Howard well beaten only for the ball to come off the inside of the post and away for a huge let off for the visitors.

Terry McPhillips’ side would take advantage of that good piece of fortune and would make the breakthrough before the quarter-hour mark when full-back Oliver Turton got on the end of a low ball into the box by Marc Bola, powering the ball home from close range to put Blackpool in front.

Blues responded well to early set-back and Stephen Hendrie went close with a low drive that went just wide of Howard's post before Harry Bunn picked out Simon Cox in the area only for the striker’s glancing header to also go wide.

Southend were dealt a blow when Dru Yearwood was forced off injured after half an hour, being replaced by Shawn McCoulsky, but despite the change of personnel and shape, Blues were unable to trouble Howard in the Blackpool goal going into the half-time interval.

After a scrappy first-half which Blackpool had edged, the visitors went within a whisker of doubling the lead early in the second-half after Jay Spearing’s rasping effort from distance took a huge deflection before rattling the underside of the crossbar.

The Blues were in desperate need of a lift and the noise around Roots Hall rose when Kightly’s cross was only cleared as far as Hendrie. The full-back chested the ball down before firing a half-volley towards goal which needed tipping over the bar by Howard.

Southend continued to push forward and had a half shout for a penalty waved away when Harry Bunn went down inside the area before Spearing had the chance to quash Blues’ momentum by shooting just wide when unmarked on the edge of the Southend box.

If Spearing had hit the target it would have been curtains for Blues, but instead Chris Powell’s side immediately went up the other end and grabbed an equaliser. Timothee Dieng’s looping cross found the run of Jason Demetriou who stooped to head Southend level with 15 minutes to go.

Having worked so hard to get back level, Southend’s tendency to concede late goals came back to haunt them once more when Armand Gnanduillet nodded Blackpool back in front. The striker rose highest to get to Harry Pritchard’s cross, beating Oxley from 12-yards out.

Minutes after going behind a second time, Southend’s task of salvaging a point were all but ended when they were reduced to 10 men after Michael Turner appeared to stamp on a Blackpool player, leaving the referee with no choice but to show the centre-back a straight red card.

Blackpool comfortably held out for their fourth straight win in all competitions, condemning Blues to a third straight defeat in the league ahead of Tuesday night’s Emirates FA Cup replay away at Crawley Town.

Blues XI: Oxley, Turner, Kightly (McLaughlin 74’), Dieng, Cox, Yearwood (McCoulsky 31’), Mantom (C), Moore, Demetriou, Bunn, Hendrie (Robinson 87’). Subs Not Used: Bishop, Bwomono, Hyam, McLaughlin, Kyprianou

Blackpool XI: Howard, Daniels, Heneghan, Delfouneso, Spearing (C), Dodoo (Nottingham 70’), Tilt, Turton, Gnaduillet, Guy (Pritchard 60’), Bola. Subs Not Used: Boney, Cullen, O’Sullivan, Taylor, Feeney

Referee: Nicholas Kinseley

Assistants: Marc Wilson & Richard Kendall

Fourth Official: Geoffrey Russell

Scorers:

Southend United: Jason Demetriou 74’

Blackpool: Oliver Turton 14’

Yellow Cards:

Southend United: None

Blackpool: None

Red Cards:

Southend United: Michael Turner 85’

Blackpool: None

Attendance: 6,882 (241 Away)

Ebbsfleet United Theme Park

Check this out.

Financial Problems for Ebbsfleet

Broken Teams

I was updating all my league tables and found another missing club. There are many reasons why teams have to abandon their leagues and I will investigate the ones that have left by the end of October.

The Premier and Football Leagues are usually safe from resignations because of the level of money coming in. They can always sack backroom staff before they have to fold.

The National League appears to be stronger season on season and they are all still in the competition.

Step 3, Level 7 also still has a full complement, as does Step 4, Level 8. 20 teams in each division.

Step 5, Level 9 sees the first loss from any league:

Blyth AFC resigned from the Northern League Division One in August 2018. From wikipedia I have discovered that ......

Blyth Town was established in 1995 as a junior club, initially having three boys teams. They gradually expanded to more age groups, and added both men's and women's adult teams in 2002, with the men's team entering Division Two of the Northern Alliance. The club won Division Two at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division One. In 2004–05 they finished as Division One runners-up and were promoted to the Premier Division. The club were Premier Division champions in 2013–14, and the following season saw them win the treble of the Premier Division, Challenge Cup and George Dobbins League Cup.

In 2015 the first team broke away from the main club to become a separate organisation. After winning the Premier Division and Challenge Cup again in 2015–16, they were promoted to Division Two of the Northern League.

In 2017 the club was renamed Blyth AFC. The 2017–18 season saw them win the Division Two title, earning promotion to Division One. Despite winning their first four league games of the 2018–19 season, the club resigned from the league and folded on 28 August 2018 due to a lack of support and permanent home ground.

So there you have it. Maybe the speed of promotions was too great for the club. It is better to build slowly unless you have the money like Salford City.

I now look at Step 6, Level 10.

The Hellenic League have seen two clubs disappear from their leagues ...

Bicester Town resigned from Division One East when they lost their ground.
Carterton resigned from Division One West. They mention an EGM to vote in the new club structure so my guess is that the old guard pulled out leaving the club leaderless.

The only other loss at this level seems to be Gravesham Borough from the Southern Counties East League. The information on wikipedia is as follows:

The club was established in 1927. The club was originally known as Bowater Thames and joined the Kent County League in 1971. In 1973 they changed their name to Bowaters in 1973 and three years later again to Bowater Sports. The 1985–86 campaign saw the club finish as winners of the Senior Division of the western section of the Kent County League. The following season saw the club play under a different name, this time Bowater Scott Sports & Social. 1987 saw the club again change its name to Scott Sports and Social.

In 1992 the Kent County League was restructured so that the top teams in the east and west sections would now play each other in the newly formed Premier Division and the club was placed in this new division. The club stayed in the Premier Division until the end of the 1994–95 campaign when they finished bottom of the league and were relegated to Division One West. The club in 1996 again changed its name, this time to Beauwater. They achieved promotion back to the Premier Division when they finished as runners-up in Division One West at the end of the 1999–2000 campaign.

In 2005 the club changed their name to Fleet Leisure, when the sports and social club the team is based at was taken over by Fleet Leisure Ltd. At the end of the 2012–13 campaign after finishing fourth in the Premier Division the club gained promotion to the Kent Invicta Football League. For the 2014-15 season the club changed its name from Fleet Leisure to Gravesham Borough. The 2016–17 season saw the club enter the FA Cup for the first time in their history when they entered the competition in the preliminary qualification round. They folded prior to the 2018–19 season after being unable to raise the funding required to continue playing.

Money, Money, Money. Without it football clubs die.

Continuing to look at the leagues with their top division in the top ten, some of them have divisions that extend to Level 11 and 12.

Hellenic League Division Two West have lost two teams.

Carterton Development you can understand as the first team have gone, although in some cases where the problem is players leaving sometimes the second team steps up.

The other missing team is Letcombe. Again I went to wikipedia to find that:

The club were Division One East runners-up in 2003–04, but were unable to take promotion due to a lack of floodlights at their ground. Three seasons later they were moved back into the West division, where the club remained until being moved back into the East division in 2011. In 2012 they were moved back to Division One West. At the end of the 2017–18 season the club were demoted to Division Two West due to the ground not meeting the requirements for their level. However, the club withdrew from the league shortly before the start of the 2018–19 season, with the first team taking over from the reserves in Division Three of the North Berks League.

We should see a meteoric rise over the next few seasons.

The most recent loss is Tring Corinthians who resigned from the Spartan South Midlands League Division Two in October 2018. The reason may appear in time but all of the google references lead to out of date websites.

There will be more as time goes on but for now that is it.

Level 1 = Premier League = Arsenal

MY TEAM.

For all my moaning about my team and failing to make the Champions League in the past few seasons we are always there or close to it and I have never had to worry about relegation to that pit of aggressive football, the Championship.

I think that Arsenal will always be my pick for the Premier League and this season we seem to have been in the market for players. Perhaps our owner, Stan Kroenke, has picked up on the fact that Pethe fans think he takes more out of the club than he puts in. Perhaps he is worried for the safety of his son who he appointed to run things. Anyway it is good to see that we have spent money on players that can improve things for the club.

Pepe is a leading light and Tierney coming from Scottish football has things to prove to both himself and us about the level of Scottish football. I am looking forward to this season as all football fans do when the season begins and a 1-0 win away at Newcastle with Aubameyang setting off in pursuit of the golden boot is a good enough start for me.

Eastleigh - The season so far

The season began for Eastleigh with four away friendlies.

Gosport Borough 0 Eastleigh 2

AFC Totton 0 Eastleigh 3

Basingstoke Town 1 Eastleigh 1   (plus a personal record of the match here)

Leatherhead 1 Eastleigh 3

We then get a home friendly and a final away friendly.

Eastleigh 0 Gillingham 4   (and a personal record of the match here)

Winchester City 2 Eastleigh 0

The Vanarama National League matches then started in earnest. I found a few VLOG entries covering some of the matches but I will not post those here as it is meant to be a quick summary of the season.
O.K. I have posted some as "personal record".

Eastleigh 1 Solihull Moors 2   (personal record of the match here)

Sutton United 1 Eastleigh 0

Barnet 1 Eastleigh 2   (personal record of the match here)

Eastleigh 1 Bromley 0   (personal record of the match here)

Eastleigh 1 Wrexham 3

Dover Athletic 1 Eastleigh 2

Three wins and three losses in the first three matches is a reasonable start, but things got worse.

Eastleigh 0 Ebbsfleet United 1   (personal record of the match here)

Harrogate Town 4 Eastleigh 0

Maidenhead United 2 Eastleigh 0   (personal record of the match here)

Eastleigh 0 AFC Fylde 0   (personal record of the match here)

Hartlepool United 1 Eastleigh 1   (personal record of the match here)

The defeat of the season then came in the Hampshire Senior Cup. Somehow Eastleigh were drawn against AFC Bournemouth.

AFC Bournemouth 8 Eastleigh 1

Back to the league and Eastleigh went on a good run.

Eastleigh 1 Dagenham & Redbridge 0

Eastleigh 1 Boreham Wood 0   (personal record of the match here)

Gateshead 0 Eastleigh 1

The 1-0 victories seemed to be the way forward for Eastleigh. Not for long.

Braintree Town 1 Eastleigh 2   (personal record of the match here)

Eastleigh 1 Aldershot 2   (personal record of the match here)

FC Halifax Town 0 Eastleigh 1   (personal record of the match here)

The last two matches have been a couple of home draws.

Eastleigh 1 Leyton Orient 1

Eastleigh 1 Salford City 1

This latest draw against the league leaders is a good result.


If I find any short highlights I will replace the longer ones above.

I think this team will have to go next season as there is not enough information online.