Friday Snippet

So Exmouth Town's trip to Willand Rovers in the Devon St Lukes Bowl on wednesday night was postponed.

Arsenal assumed they were going to go through in the Europa League after winning the away leg against Olympiacos. The match started with Arsenal playing a lazy Sunday afternoon after lunch style. Olympiacos were faster, sleeker and more accurate with their passing. They took a deserved lead and held on to it so the match went into extra time.

In extra time Aubameyang scored the goal with a scissors kick. He was only in a central position because Lacazette had been taken off. The 1-1 scoreline was sufficient to put Arsenal through but now a single goal for Olympiacos would put them through on the away goals rule. Arsenal held on up until the 119th minute. With a minute to go Olympiacos scored the winner and some blame must go to Bernd Leno who had needlessly dallied and given away a corner.

Scoring in the last minute is usually enough to win but there was still time in injury time for Auba to get another chance. It seemed easier to score but he hit his shot wide and Arsenal were cut free from the Europa Cup and can now concentrate on the Premier League and of course the F.A.Cup.

Arsenal travel to Portsmouth on Monday night for their F.A.Cup trial.

At the matches listed below ladies are entitled to ask their boyfriends to marry them:

Brentford are away at Cardiff.

Southend are away at Oxford.

Exeter are at home to Crawley.

Torquay are at home to Chorley.

Weymouth are at home to Maidstone.

Tiverton are away to Swindon (the Supermarine variety).

Barnstaple seem to be missing a fixture.

Exmouth are away to Clevedon Town.

Elmore are at home to Plymouth Marjon (a college where an ex girlfriend studied).

Liverton are away at Teignmouth. Some nice pubs down there.

Cronies are away at Colyton.

The other matches are far too unimportant for you to bother with.

Who am I kidding? All matches matter to the players involved in them.

Catching up with results

On Saturday I was able to watch Brentford 2 Blackburn Rovers 2 and with Blackburn going 2-0 up that has to be seen as a good recovery. A magical strike from Ollie Watkins got things back on track.

Southend United continued a miserable season with a home defeat to Burton Albion. Burton won the game 3-2 to keep Southend in prime position for relegation.

Exeter suffered a rare defeat away at Northampton. Northampton won that match 2-0 but I am pleased to say that in the rugby on Sunday revenge was gained as Exeter beat Northampton 57-7.

In the Vanarama National League Torquay took on FC Halifax at home. A 1-0 home win was the end result.

Weymouth entertained Billericay Town in the National South but that match finished 0-0. No goals to report. No news to report.

Tiverton were at home to Wimborne Town in the Southern League Premier Division South. These leagues are getting more and more complicated. All just to satisfy the limited thinking of the Football Association who want a 2-4-8-16 formation that does not match the geography of the country.

Barnstaple against Thatcham Town was postponed due to the weather. Rain? What rain?

Exmouth entertained Wellington (not the Duke) and won their home match 2-0. The season continues on a good path with a chance of promotion.

Elmore were due to play at Dartmouth but I think the Dartmouth pitch was similar to the picture above.

I did not know about it as the Devon League website is so far out of date that planning even a week ahead is just not possible. Liverton took on the University of Exeter and managed a 4-4 draw. Given the season to date this is a good result that may well see my local village safe from relegation. The team must have a few new players as the early season team showed little footballing ability.

Only three of the local league matches went ahead and the results were one of each. Cranbrook beat Central, Broadclyst drew with Awliscombe and Lympstone 2nds lost 7-1 to Devon Yeoman 2nds.

I enjoyed the match on Sunday now that I have access to Sky Sports via Now TV. Arsenal took on Everton so Mikel Arteta should have known all about both teams. Bukayo Saka once again proved to be a match winner with a fantastically placed cross for Pepe to run onto and produce a Henriesque flying finish with his leading foot ahead of him in mid air.

Everton had taken the lead in the first minute because Arsenal still go to sleep whenever there is a dead ball situation. I cannot believe that they do not practice defending such situations.

At this point the match was 1-1 with Everton having the early play and Arsenal coming back strongly after recovering from their exertions (and win) against Olympiacos. Things felt great when David Luiz played one of his long through passes that found Pierre-Emeryck Aubameyang who timed his run to perfection, and in another Henrieque moment opened his body shape and scored in the far corner. Thierry Henri was back in the shape of Pepe and Aubameyang.

Arsenal then conceded from a corner and I was entertained by watching David Luiz come out late thus playing Everton onside and then heading thin air miles from the ball. Brilliance and lunacy from the same player which I was warned about by my Chelsea supporting friend Jen.

Halftime saw both teams going in with the score at 2-2. This match could go either way.

The match was one by a well placed cross from Pepe who found Aubameyang near the penalty spot. His well directed header found the net and whilst it will never make goal of the season it was enough for the win.

Everton had many chances to equalise after that but they wasted them all.


In the Luton v. Brentford match last night an early own goal gave Luton the lead. According to the highlights Brentford then had many attacked before Luton scored again. Brentford then had more attacks eventually scoring a consolation prize. The match finished 2-1 to Luton.

Tough Weekend

I listed the matches that I want to watch this weekend last night.

SAT 12:30 Brentford v. Blackburn SKY SPORTS
SAT 12:30 Chelsea v. Tottenham BT SPORT

We were out shopping : Family comes first : Got back to see Blackburn 2-0 up.
My Championship pick came back to 2-2 via an Ollie Watkins screamer and a penalty.

SAT 14:15 Italy v. Scotland Rugby ITV

Italy played some good rugby to gain ground several times but Scotland won 17-0.

SAT 16:45 Wales v. France Rugby BBC

As I write this the French have just scored the first try and the score is 3-7.

SAT 17:20 Sutton United v. Barrow BT SPORT

Foreign Football late into the evening but I think I have to give the wife the TV for the evening.

TOMORROW

SUN 12:00 Women's rugby as Wales take on France and England take on Ireland

That will have to be cut short as I try and watch using both my computer and the television:

SUN 13:00 Exeter v. Northampton Rugby BT SPORT
SUN 13:00 Arsenal women v. Lewes women BBC Red Button & F.A.Player

SUN 15:00 England v. Ireland Rugby ITV

SUN 16:30 Arsenal v. Everton SKY SPORTS = Three Line Whip, cancel other plans.

Foreign Football continues late into the evening but I have agreed to go and watch "Yesterday" with the wife.

France have just had a try disallowed for a forward pass. The score is now 6-10.

Winter Break

So I have completed my mid winter break.

YOU can go and find out what happened while I was away. Some very interesting results I can tell you.

This week Southend United lost 1-0 at home to Gillingham. They are in deep trouble.

I managed to watch Portsmouth v. Exeter as I now have access to Sky Sports via Now TV. I refuse to pay Rupert Murdoch directly but I have to admit that Sky Sports provides what people like me want.

The match was a tight game for 78 minutes. Jake Taylor battered the ball into the net to put a very young Exeter side ahead in what had been a tight game. This should have been enough and in most cases would have been. Portsmouth equalised in the 86th minute and that should have been it. We were now expecting a penalty shootout. Exeter kept chasing the game and a well placed cross led to an own goal in the 89th minute. Surely that was it. Exeter had just achieved a famous victory against a very strong Portsmouth team.

The fourth official indicated that there would be 5 minutes of injury team although nobody could work out where that had come from. Was this Fergie time? Kenny Jackett may have taken on the mantle and now influenced the fourth official from his position close to the touchline. In the 91st minute Portsmouth equalised. OK, So we will have to accept the lottery of a penalty shootout. Nope! In the 96th minute of a 95 minute match Portsmouth scored the winner. This young Exeter side had produced a brilliant performance but it was not enough. They will have to learn fast.

Portsmouth 3 Exeter 2 - (96th minute of a 95 minute match).

The Exmouth match away at Odd Down was postponed. Perhaps it had something to do with the rain?

We were discussing the first knockout match this season in the Europa League. A narrow defeat would be acceptable but I was only going to be happy with a 0-0 scoreline. The new Arsenal under Mikel Arteta needs to recreate the Arsenal of old where we DO NOT CONCEDE. As it happens we did not have to worry. Olympiacos attacked strongly at the beginning of both halves but could not break our leaky and wobbly defence. What is more Bukayo Saka is proving to be the find of the season as he created a number of chances the best of which led to Alexander Lacazette scoring the winning goal. Laca is Backa! I hope he scores many more in the weeks to come.

This weekend the matches to look forward to are:

1) Arsenal v. Everton on Sunday.

2) Brentford v. Blackburn Rovers.

3) Southend v. Burton Albion.

4) Northampton Town v. Exeter.

5) Torquay v. FC Halifax Town.

6) Weymouth v. Billericay Town.

7) Tiverton v. Wimborne Town.

8) Barnstaple v. Thatcham Town.

9) Exmouth v. Wellington.

10) Dartmouth v. Elmore

No match listed for Liverton but that has become more the norm as the season goes on.

The local league matches are my business and not yours so I will only mention exceptional performances.

Enjoy your weekend wherever you are watching your football.

Results @ Brexit Weekend

Brentford beat Hull City 5-1 away as we found out earlier.

Southend United produced a good result beating Lincoln City 2-1 at home.

Exeter City suffered their second defeat in a week going down 2-1 at Swindon Town.

Torquay United travelled to Barrow and went down to the same score as Exeter, 2-1.

Weymouth visited Braintree and went 1-0 down but drew level to finish the match 1-1.

Tiverton went 2-0 up away at Salisbury but then allowed the home team to come back for a 2-2.

Barnstaple went 2-0 down at Moneyfields. They never recovered and finished the match losing 5-2.

Exmouth performed worse than Tiverton going 2-0 up at Roman Glass St George. Roman Glass then produced three goals of their own to win the match 3-2.

Elmore had no match this weekend.

Liverton are showing something of a revival winning 2-1 at Topsham Town. Should I go back and watch my home village or do you think it is my lack of support that results in these wins?

There was a good set of results in my local league matches but Elmore 2nds and 3rds are flying.

Elmore 2nds beat Clyst Valley 2nds 11-0.

Elmore 3rds beat Otterton 2nds 15-1.

Sorry Broadclyst but a 4-0 win is just not good enough for a mention.

Twitter On

Just playing with Twitter and it seems to be a useful source of football scores.

As at 3:30pm ...

Swindon are leading Exeter City 1-0.

All my other Football League and National League matches are 0-0.

Tiverton are beating Salisbury 2-0.

Barnstaple are losing to Moneyfields 2-0.

Exmouth Town are beating Roman Glass St George 2-0.

Twitter on.

Hull 1 Brentford 5

Happy Days.

The BMW up front for Brentford fired on all cylinders and produced a marvelous performance at the KC Stadium. Said Benrahma (B) scored a hat-trick and looked the part although he was booked for removing his shirt to show the message "Je t'aime papa" or "I love you dad". His father died recently so he is going through the pain that many of us have been through.

Bryan Mbeumo (M) had his chances and missed at least one golden opportunity. He was, however, instrumental in causing mayhem amongst the Hull defenders.

The final jigsaw piece of this front three is Ollie Watkins (W) and he scored his goal heading in a superbly placed cross from Rico Henry.

The only goal for Hull was a blooper by David Raya that will be played again and again and will be on Question of Sport's "What happened next" before too long. He elected to kick rather than pick up the ball and it slipped between his legs and into the net.

The result puts Brentford into third place in the league but Nottingham Forest have yet to play.

Good start to the day.

I had two screens working so was able to keep my eye on Leicester v. Chelsea as well.

Now for some international rugby union.

Saturday Morning : February 1st

So, on the day that England, Wales and Scotland leave the EU and Northern Ireland are placed in the unenviable position of either building borders and restarting the violence or remaining in Europe and risk reunifying Ireland, football goes on unchanged.

On Monday night I had the pleasure of watching Arsenal secure a win against Bournemouth early on but then missing the excitement of "the fear of losing" gave away a goal in injury time at the end of the second half to try to create panic amongst the fans. Thankfully we held on for the win. 2-1.

Tuesday night for me saw three defeats and a win.

Brentford lost 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest.

Southend lost 3-1 away at Doncaster Rovers.

Exeter suffered a surprise defeat 3-1 away to Port Vale.

The only victory for my teams came as Weymouth travelled to Hemel Hempstead Town. Victory was by one goal to nil. Weymouth are having a good season.

On Wednesday the match between Tiverton and Chesham United was postponed.


Tomorrow Arsenal travel to Burnley.

Today Brentford travel to Hull and as the match is at 12:30 it must be on television somewhere.

Other matches today are:
Southend v. Lincoln City
Swindon Town v. Exeter
Barrow v. Torquay
Braintree Town v. Weymouth
Salisbury v. Tiverton
Moneyfields v. Barnstaple
Roman Glass St George v. Exmouth

No matches listed at levels 10 or 11 but as there have been so many postponements I will check the internet to see if any matches have been rearranged for today.
<check complete>
No match for Elmore but it seems that
Topsham Town v. Liverton United
is now a match available for watching.

A full set of local league matches is also scheduled.