Update

Arsenal have just been beaten by Watford in the F.A.Cup.

Halifax and Grimsby are ahead in their semi-finals of the F.A.Trophy.

In the F.A.Vase Hereford beat Salisbury 1-0 while Bowers & Pitsea drew 2-2 with Morpeth.

Some of my selections are now firmly in the relegation zone.

When my real life slows down I will return here to analyse the situation.

Busy Busy

Southend United are taking on Burton Albion on Sky Sports.

Southend scored first with a well taken shot across the goal. Burton have equalised.

A lot else has happened since I last wrote but you can find out all about that somewhere else.

Arsenal failed to beat Hull at the weekend so must now endure a replay.

 

Liverpool v. Exeter

I contemplated a minute by minute blog for this one but I have decided to sit back and just enjoy the match. I hope you enjoy it too. Alternatively you could watch Leicester beat Tottenham.

My teams in December

ARSENAL

I have to be pleased as we are now sitting comfortably at the top of the league.
We beat Sunderland, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Bournemouth in the Premier League.
The best result of the month has to be beating Olympiacos 3-0 away. We maintain the record.
The one blip was being stuffed by Southampton but they fully deserved their win on the day.

BRENTFORD

A mixed bag. Beat MK Dons, drew with Fulham, lost to Cardiff. Beat Huddersfield, drew with Brighton and wait for it ...... no we beat Reading as well. We are now sat in 10th place looking comfortable but perhaps we should be challenging for a play off place.

SOUTHEND

Lost to Millwall in the Johnstone's Paints Trophy before beating Bury and Colchester in the League. Millwall then beat us once again in the League completing an unpalatable double. We are in 7th place just outside where we want to be.

EXETER

 16th place in the league is a drop from early season form. December seems to have been a very bad month for the Grecians. Should I disown them now? The team lost to Luton, Oxford and Wimbledon before starting the new year by losing to Dagenham & Redbridge.

TORQUAY

I can admit that our local rivals are only on my choice list because they are the nearest club. I am quite happy to see them second bottom in the National League although perhaps Helen Chamberlain is not so happy. Defeats to Wrexham, Chester and Cheltenham have not helped the league position and the victory over Forest Green was followed by defeat to the same team at the start of the new year. The one bright note is that following a 0-0 draw with Chesham we went on to beat them in the F.A.Trophy by the margin of 2-0.

WESTON-SUPER-MARE

The weather has caused some postponement recently but the month started with a win over Wealdstone. This was followed by draws with Bishop's Stortford and Hayes & Yeading. The team sit in 19th place just above the relegation zone and in serious danger unless the second half of the season is better than the first half.

BIDEFORD

My Southern League premier choice was also one of location and the team sit in 23rd place, firmly in the relegation zone. A draw with Hitchin Town was followed by defeats to Histon and Paulton Rovers. 2016 needs to be a completely new year if this group are to stay at their current level.

TIVERTON

Tiverton town lost in the Devon St. Luke's Challenge Cup but they were up against Plymouth Argyle who presumably had access to a better class of player. In addition the month started with defeat to Evesham United before victories against Wimborne Town and Wantage Town rescued the month. The month ended with a defeat to Marlow and a draw with Bridgwater Town. We sit 5th in the league in the last of the play off places.

BARNSTAPLE

Barnstaple sit 4th in the league which is comfortable. Bristol Manor Farm are top of the league with Odd Down and Street in between. It is looking like another year in the Western League. There have been a lot of postponements due to the weather but defeat to Odd Down and victory over Cadbury Heath are the two results that led up to christmas.

EXMOUTH TOWN

Exmouth sit safely in 6th place in the league and I now know where to go if I want to watch them as I was in town over christmas enjoying a pub lunch and visiting friends. A win over Witheridge and a defeat to Helston Athletic were followed by a series of postponements. The new year is going to be a busy time as fixtures are played in an attempt to catch up.

Arsenal are now 3-1 up against Sunderland.

DEAD Football Teams

Last night my love of the game returned as I watched my home town Exeter take on the mighty Liverpool in the F.A.Cup. Some of my friends went to get cold and wet but I stayed home and watched the television coverage. We drew 2-2 with young Tom Nicholls scoring the opening goal. He is earmarked for progression in the game but like all young hopefuls he will have to remain injury free.

Today I am listening to Arsenal on Arsenal Player while watching the scores pop up on Gillette Soccer Saturday from Sky Sports. The score is 0-0 and Sunderland have had the first chance but I have been compiling the Pyramid Tables (My Choice) and I thought I would mention some team names that we may never see again as they have dropped out of their respective leagues.

When league teams get into trouble there are usually enough supporters around to save the club with personal saving being put into a "save the club" fund. There are many reasons for lower level clubs disappearing from a mass player walkout to financial misappropriation by the directors. All I know is that football tables that started out with more teams now have less and I have decided to list the names from this season.

The National League (Conference) has seen no dropouts this season so we start looking at levels 7 & 8. I will admit that I am surprised that I can find no dropouts in the three regional leagues.

Level 9 was looking very secure but I have found the first team to fail. Winterbourne United are no longer competing in the Western League. I have found an internet article that indicates:

"Robyn Maggs is relieved that Winterbourne United's first team has been removed from the Western League."

Level 10 may show a few more teams dropping out so let us find out.

Mickleover Royals have dropped out of the East Midlands Counties League.

St Neots Town Saints have dropped out of the United Counties League.

Mickleover had won all four of their matches but dropped out for financial reasons.

St Neots Town Saints "have found it increasingly difficult to carry on for a number of reasons".

Level 11 teams dropping out from pyramid leagues are listed below:

Riccall United - Central Midlands League North

Thoresby Colliery - Central Midlands League North

Tintinhull - Dorset Premier League

Tiptree Jobserve - Essex & Suffolk Border League

Kings Stanley - Gloucestershire County League

Caterpillar - Leicestershire Senior League

Dunton & Broughton Rangers - Leicestershire Senior League

St Andrews Reserves - Leicestershire Senior League

Liver Academy - Liverpool County Premier League

Red Rum - Liverpool County Premier League

Kenilworth Town - Midland League

Aston - Midland League

Ringstead Rangers - Northamptonshire Combination

Gretton - Northamptonshire Combination

Welford Victoria - Northamptonshire Combination

Bletchingdon - Oxfordshire Senior League

Broughton & North Newington - Oxfordshire Senior League

Aylesbury United Reserves - Spartan South Midlands League

Dudley Hill Rangers - West Riding County Amateur League

Bardsey - West Yorkshire League

Andover New Street Swifts - Wiltshire League

Terrington Glory - York League

22 teams gone but there are plenty still going.

Arsenal v. Sunderland is 1-1 at half time.

December belongs to the wife

So, welcome back normality.

December starts with me having to contruct our christmas newsletter to send out with all the christmas cards. We then have to write all the cards and add any extra information on top of the news for selected persons. I am then expected to take the wife shopping and pay for all the presents although give her credit she is happy to choose all the items. We then have to go visiting all the people that we have ignored all year. I have to attend at least one christmas party with work and drink on many other occasions. All this means that you have heard nothing from me throughout December. What do you mean nobody noticed?

The new year has started with football on Friday 1st January. Torquay went away to Forest Green Rovers who beat them 3-1. That is a good place to start as all the matches at lower levels scheduled for Saturday 2nd January were called off due to waterlogged pitches or anticipated bad weather. My cousin's parents in law were flooded out and did not take extra flood insurance of £400 on the basis that for the past 48 years they have had no problems. This was now a costly mistake. Hindsight is a very valuable teacher.

So with just my league teams to tell you about we can start with Exeter who decided to lose to Dagenham & Redbridge at home, the score being 1-2.

Southend United were far more generous, losing 3-0 at home to Doncaster Rovers.

At least Brentford were away as they went down 2-1 to Birmingham City.

That leaves my top team Arsenal, and as I listened to the commentary we were definitely the second best team on the pitch but football is not all about performance, if it were we would win every match, it is about scoring goals and Lauren Koscielny scored the only goal of the game for a 1-0 win.

There. One of my resolutions is complete as I have updated my blog. Maybe I will do a team by team summary of December and the more I think about it that may be a better way to document this blog. It is early days, but now in addition to all my other "things" I have decided to take an open university course on football.

Bring on the new year.

TW3

That Was The Week That Was:

A great night for my picks on Tuesday night -

Arsenal beat Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League and can still qualify.

Southend travelled all the way up to Oldham and came away with a 5-2 victory.

Exeter travelled to Mansfield and were also victorious, this time the score was 2-0.

Finally Weston-super-Mare took on Havant & Waterlooville, winning 3-2 TYVM.


Come the weekend and we find that Arsenal are playing today (Sunday).

Brentford in the Championship are playing Monday night football this week.

Southend United drew 0-0 at home to Wigan.

Exeter City drew 1-1 at home to Bristol Rovers.

Torquay United drew 0-0 away to Braintree Town.

Weston came up trumps for the second time in a week, winning 3-2 at home to Hitchin Town.
This means qualification for the next round of the F.A.Trophy.

Bideford went away to Maidenhead United in the F.A.Trophy and are now out having lost 4-0.

Tiverton Town beat North Leigh 2-1 in the Southern League South & West Division.

Barnstaple beat Bradford Town 3-2 away in the Western League Premier Division.

Exmouth Town travelled to Torpoint Athletic in the South West Peninsula League and lost 2-1.

Now I can settle down and watch the Arsenal match.

Testing Times

I struggled with my open university course this week.

Many matches were postponed due to the weather in midweek and many F.A.Vase matches were postponed for the same reason on Saturday. The midweek match that survived was Tiverton Town's home match against Shortwood United. A 4-1 win sees Tiverton nicely placed near the top of the table in the Southern League South & West Division.

Tiverton followed this up with a 0-0 draw away at Winchester. A point away from home will do.

Barnstaple lost in the F.A.Vase 2-1 to Hengrove Athletic so that is their cup ambitions over for the season. Exmouth Town travelled to St. Blazey and came away with a remarkable 5-1 win. I must get to see this team before the season is out.

Bideford had a nightmare at home in the Southern League Premier Division. Kings Lynn Town turned up and went home happy with a 5-0 victory.

Exeter are very pleased with themselves as they won the local derby winning 2-1 away at Plymouth.

Southend won the battle of the seaside towns, beating Blackpool 1-0 at home.

Brentford produced a third league win in three beating Nottingham Forest 2-1. A good win.

The real failure of this week is Arsenal going to West Bromwich Albion and losing there for the first time since 2005 and to make matters worse Santi Cazorla missed a penalty. It would seem that he cannot score even if his life depends upon it. I would not have let him take that penalty.

Tomorrow is another day, this week sees some European action, and I got 22 out of 24 in my weekly test so the struggle was worthwhile.

F.A.Trophy weekend

With the internationals against Spain and France for the England team there is no football at the highest level this weekend. I shall therefore concentrate my focus on another competition, the F.A.Trophy competed for by teams from level 5 to level 8 (Step 1 to Step 4 of the non league game).

I had two teams in the competition at this stage as the Conference teams have not yet been required to play (just like Premier League teams do not enter the F.A.Cup until the third round). Bideford and Tiverton are up against opposition from levels 7 and 8 so I need to do some research to find out what happened.

Bideford managed to beat Brentwood Town 3-2 so continue their run in the F.A.Trophy. The information that I have been able to find one day after the match is ..... zilch. Interconnectedness on the internet does rely on the enthusiastic followers of football clubs updating the information early. Not every club has the right level of enthusiast attached.

Tiverton Town travelled to East Thurrock and managed to lose 5-0. Not surprisingly the information I have been able to find out online is .... zilch, but then who wants to write up a report about a bad defeat on the road. The enthusiasts are probably still drunk, trying to forget, and on their way home.

So much for the F.A.Trophy then. How about my other selected teams?

Southend and Exeter both drew 2-2. Southend were away at Sheffield United and Exeter were at home to Crawley. Torquay travelled to Barrow and lost 4-0 so relegation is a definite possibility. Weston-super-Mare had one of those days, losing 1-0 away at Gosport Borough. Bideford and Tiverton you know about, well all the information I could find anyway. Barnstaple Town followed last week's 2-0 over Bristol Manor Farm with a 6-0 win over Roman Glass St George. All teams with silly names should be given a damn good thrashing. Exmouth Town entertained Camelford in the South West Peninsula league and won 4-3. There does seem to be some good entertainment down there and I know the pubs are good.

Now, I have to put the bed back together after taking it apart. My Mrs has decided to move rooms.

Where are my teams at the start of November?

Everton have just beaten Sunderland 6-2 and Arsenal Ladies are leading Notts County ladies 2-0 with 5 minutes to go. I should be getting on with my university studies but I prefer to blog about football and at least it keeps me in active mode.

Pick 1) Arsenal are second behind Manchester City and in a good position to challenge for the title.

Pick 2) Brentford are in 11th place, 4 points off the playoff places and 10 points above relegation.

Pick 3) Southend are also in 11th place, 4 points off the playoff places and 8 points above relegation.

Pick 4) Exeter are in 14th place, 4 points off the playoff places and 13 points above relegation.

Pick 5) Torquay are at the top of the four teams occupying relegation places. The drop is possible.

Pick 6) Weston-super-Mare have been bottom but are now one point above the relegation places.

Pick 7) Bideford are firmly in a relegation place and are 7 points from safety at this early stage.

Pick 8) Tiverton are nicely placed in the playoff places and are 5 points from automatic promotion.

Pick 9) Barnstaple Town are in 6th place and 6 points off the only automatic promotion slot.

Pick 10) Exmouth Town are in 12th place, 20 points from promotion and 14 points from relegation.


N.B. Arsenal Ladies are winners of the Continental Cup so that is another chance to celebrate.

6-3-1

Yes, you guessed, I found another unpublicised match.

Barnstaple Town travelled to Horndean and won the match 3-1 so Barnstaple are through to the next round of the F.A.Vase.

With Tiverton through and Bideford still fighting in the F.A.Trophy that is three chances of reaching Wembley. I might even purchase a ticket if one of my teams gets there but the coverage is so much better with a lot more information provided if you watch the match on TV.

So a very positive weekend with a double bonus in the cups.

Now to get on with my open university studies. I see they are now doing a course on football. I have already signed up, as I have a passion for it. I just have to make sure that learning about things does not kill the passion as it always did in school and at university.

5-3-1

It is easy to miss things with so much going on and particularly where the F.A. are concerned. The cups they run are certainly special but the publicity is miserable to the point of non existence.

I found that Tiverton Town were also in the F.A.Trophy away at Peacehaven & Telscombe. A solid 3-0 win has put the Southern League South & West side into the next round, and my score for the weekend just went up.

Now to check the F.A.Vase just in case I missed another one.

Four wins, three draws and one defeat

A second results service and this time ... on the same day ... although it includes the result from last night. Four wins from eight matches played and I have to be happy. Three draws, but that is football, and one defeat (the crowd will be down next week then).

Arsenal travelled to Swansea and beat them 3-0 with goals from Giroud, Koscielny and Campbell. This Campbell is not one of those that killed the Macdonalds but he is the one that killed Swansea.

Brentford won the local derby for the first time in 50 years I am told. The Judge and Djuricin combined to pass judgement. Queens Park Rangers were despatched as 1-0 losers.

Weston-super-Mare have not been having a good season but travelled to Brighton to take on Whitehawk and managed a 2-0 victory in the Conference League South.

The fourth win was by Exmouth Town who travelled south to Stoke Gabriel where they won 2-0 in the South West Peninsula League Premier Division. A level 10 league.

 The three draws were Southend at home to Rochdale, where both sides scored two goals, Torquay away at Altrincham with both sides scoring a single goal, and Bideford in the F.A.Trophy taking on Farnborough at home where the match finished 1-1. A replay in the week will have to be added to my fixture list.

The defeat came for my home town club Exeter, who are expecting to lose to Didcot Town in the first round of the F.A.Cup just like they did to Warrington, and who today travelled to Barnet and lost 2-0.

A, broadly speaking, good set of results. Did you like the comma after one letter?

Results Service

While Arsenal were beating Bayern Munich, Southend United were losing 3-0 at Chesterfield and Bideford were beating Frome Town 2-0 at home. One day later Brentford beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 away and Exeter beat Cambridge United 1-0 at home.

The weekend that saw Arsenal beating Everton had Brentford beating Charlton Athletic 3-0, Southend and Exeter drawing 1-1 with Gillingham and Notts County respectively. Weston-super-Mare went out of the F.A.Cup 2-1 away at St. Albans City. Bideford drew 2-2 away at Bedworth United. Tiverton and Barnstaple both won 2-0 with the opposition being Bashley and Hallen. Exmouth Town travelled to Callington Town and came away with a 3-1 victory.

While Arsenal were jacking in the Capital One Cup Bideford drew 1-1 at home to Cirencester Town and Tiverton beat Slimbridge 1-0.

That brings us up to date and tonight Brentford are beating QPR 1-0 with 85 minutes gone.

Judge and Djuricin

The Brentford pair combine to score the first goal. 1-0.

Part of the QPR team

Part of the QPR team.

Chery, Luongo.

Brentford

Well, as my number one team are obviously rubbish having played in black and blue and performed like a bunch of newly promoted lads who have never played together before ... er .... Arsene? ... I think it is time to watch my number two pick, Brentford who are on Sky Sports tonight against Queens Park Rangers.

Red and White stripes take on Blue and White hoops. It looks good on a green and green surface.

The Brentford team comprises: Button, Yennaris (seen him before somewhere), Dean, Tarkowski,

Bidwell, Woods, McCormack, Diagouraga, Swift, Judge and Djuricin. I will let you know if anyone stands out in the next 90 minutes.

The QPR team comprises: Green Onuoha, Hall, Hill, Konchesky (familiar), Tozser (really?), Henry, Phillips, Chery, Luongo, Emmanuel-Thomas (seen him before as well).

So far there is a lot more enthusiasm than skill and with 10 minutes coming up Djuricin is caught offside but only by about 15 yards, so no problem there then.

Brentford have just had a period of dominance but it only led to a cross and a misdirected header.

I will come back to the game I hope but for now I leave you wanting the result.

Arsenal

Well, I have to be happy this week. So much could have gone wrong, but it didn't.

Three goals away to a team that had only conceded one goal at home all season, proof that Arsene IS capable of learning lessons from other teams as we played second best and beat Bayern Munich, then the beating of Everton, and holding onto the lead after a tough week of competition.

Why come down off my high by checking other results? I can do that when we take on Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup tomorrow night. I have also started an open university course and that will take up some of my time from now on.

The F.A.Cup first round draw took place this evening without Sporting Khalsa but congratulations to them for reaching the fourth qualifying round. Southend United are away to Scunthorpe and Exeter City take on Didcot Town who now have the chance to "do a Warrington".

The week reviewed

The week was boring. I spent most of my time in the office. There has to be more to life than this ... and there is ... Football! Four of my pyramid picks played on Tuesday night and I almost missed the Tiverton Town result as they drew 0-0 with Taunton Town in the Red Insure Cup. This was followed by a 3-0 defeat on penalties. I think penalty practice is the order of the day this week.

Woking hosted my Vanarama team Torquay and an honourable 2-2 draw was played out.

Barnstaple beat Clevedon Town 4-0 in the Western League Premier Division so I am happy with that.

Finally Exmouth Town beat Witheridge 4-2 in the match I almost attended. It would have been good.

And then Saturday comes:

Arsenal beat Watford 3-0 after Watford eventually tired. They played well for the first two thirds. Brentford beat Rotherham 2-1 and Southend beat Barnsley 2-1. Exeter travelled all the way to Carlisle and lost 1-0. Torquay were held to another draw, this time 1-1, by Grimsby. Weston went to Maidenhead United and lost 2-0. Bideford travelled to Chesham United and lost 3-1. Tiverton Town held Burnham 0-0 away. At the end of the list Barnstaple had a second win in a week, this time it was 2-0 away at Bridport.

Now it is time to settle down with my Mrs as we are watching series 5 of Game of Thrones once again. Tyrion and Mormont have just been attacked.

Grand Western Canal

So on non league day I chose to spend my time with friends and family on a horse drawn barge starting from Tiverton and ending in the middle of nowhere with the view of an aqueduct that allows tractors to traverse the water course via a short tunnel. I have photographs.

I did think about the F.A.Cup several times but you know how it is, family and friends sometimes have to take precedence. So how did my teams to this week?

Southend United beat Crawley 3-0 in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Exeter took on local rivals Plymouth Argyle in the same trophy and lost 2-0. So Southend march on and Exeter march out.

Torquay entertained Dover and chose to lose 3-2. My choice for the Conference South next season may have to change from those Seagulls that I have yet to go and watch live.

The Seagulls went away to Wingate & Finchley in the F.A.Cup third qualifying round and managed a 3-1 victory. It was expected as the opponents are an Isthmian League team. Weston-super-Mare can now look forward to the fourth qualifying round when victory may see them up against Football League opposition.

Bideford managed a 1-1 home draw with Stratford Town but when you are in a relegation battle every point is gratefully accepted.

Tiverton Town performed one better by managing a 2-2 draw away at AFC Totton.

 Barnstaple lost 2-0 in midweek to Buckland Athletic but when I check the competition it is only in the Devon St. Luke's Bowl which really does not concern me much. The good news is that the defeat seems to have produced a reaction as my Barnstaple boys travelled to Welton Rovers and thrashed them 7-0. It is a small but gratifying high point in this week's blog.

Exmouth Town who started the season so brightly seem to be struggling at the moment. In midweek the team travelled to Plymouth Parkway and lost 4-2. Yesterday the lads travelled to Tavistock and lost 5-1. I cannot blame them as Tavistock is beyond the back of beyond. They still burn peat there.

I have to report that although I have now covered all of my top ten picks, my number eleven choice, Exwick Villa, who I have watched live managed to beat Tiverton Town Reserves 9-0 in the cup. I have no idea what cup but it would have been a good day to support them once again.

And ..... to end things for today ..... I have just watched Exeter City on television and the TV voodoo seems to have struck again but not so vehemently as a 3-3 draw at home to Stevenage was achieved.

I have matches listed for Torquay, Tiverton, Barnstaple and Exmouth listed for midweek. It is about time I visited the home of Exmouth Town.