Steve B the Groundhopper

2.30pm  29 March 2014 West Yorkshire League, Premier Division Ripon City 2 East End Park WMC 3 (att 54) Ripon's Mallorie Park is a ground I've been keen to visit for some time, and for those that haven't been (and care about such things) the clock is ticking, as the club hope to sell the ground and move to a site better-suited to progressing up football's pyramid. While more modern facilities would certainly benefit the club, grounds like this, with its large seated stand, are becoming a rarity, and it'll be a shame when it's no longer staging football. Apart from the stand, the remainder of the pitch is surrounded by flat grass standing, with a car park and small clubhouse behind the goal at one end. Nearby houses mean the chances of getting floodlights, necessary for promotion, are probably slim. One the evidence of my visit there's certainly interest in local sport among Ripon's residents. Crowds of 50 plus are unusual in the West Yorkshire...

2.30pm  23 March 2014 East of Scotland FA, Qualifying Cup Final at Craigroyston FC Spartans 2 Whitehill Welfare 2 aet, 4-5 on penalties (att 352) The East of Scotland FA's policy of staging cup finals on Sundays, and of sharing them between various neutral venues, provides excellent opportunities to combine weekends away with extra games and new grounds. Craigroyston's ground, St Mark's Park, isn't far from Edinburgh city centre, and while it's not the best in terms of facilities the clubs officials did a good job of staging this showpiece tie and coping with the larger than normal crowd. The playing surface looked good, which suited two teams who play Lowland League football, but essentially it's just a railed off pitch. There's no cover for spectators, but there is plenty of grass banking, which helped allow supporters a decent view of the action. There was plenty of action to see, although the game took a while to get going. Welfare went ahead ...

2.30pm  22 March 2014 East of Scotland League, Division One Duns 0 Burntisland Shipyard 2 (att 37) Duns' penultimate home game of the season, and so also the penultimate match at their current home ground at Berwickshire High School, before they move across the road to a new site for 2014/15. A pitch in an exposed playing field at the back of a school, on the western fringes of Duns, isn't one of Scottish football's more memorable venues, but I don't often visit the Borders and the scenic journey made up for the basic facilities. The club's more traditional former home is in fact a couple of miles away in Gavinton, where their reserves play in the North Northumberland League. I can't think of another club that operates teams in both Scottish and English football. Duns is just in Scotland though, and the club is a recent addition to the senior ranks in the East of Scotland League. Officials work hard to turn the venue into a football ground, with dugou...

3pm  15 March 2014 Wessex League, Premier Division Verwood Town 1 Newport (Isle of Wight) 2 (att 40) I don't often choose to visit floodlit grounds on Saturdays as they're better left for midweek matches, but I've never fancied the thought of a long late night drive home from Verwood, in Dorset, especially if I've got to be up early for work the following morning. Visiting at night would also have denied me the chance to enjoy the New Forest, or at least that part of visible from the A31 heading west from Southampton. The views around Verwood Town's Potterne Park aren't bad either, at least on a sunny day, set as it is in a busy public park on the edge of the town. Facilities inside the ground are rather less appealing, with a small seated stand and a separate section of cover, both kit-style constructions that make so many grounds looks the same at this level. If that's a criticism of the ground, it's not a criticism of the club, as everyone wa...

11.30am  15 March 2014 Football League Youth Alliance, South East Conference Portsmouth U18 0 Colchester United U18 3 (att 50) I saw Portsmouth's youth team play a home match back in August, but the ground they used that day, the St John's College Playing Fields in Farlington, proved to be just a temporary base as they've since moved again. The University of Portsmouth sports ground, part of the Langstone Campus in Furze Lane, is the third ground I've been to to see Pompey's youngsters. All extra grounds I guess, but the south coast isn't the easiest place to get to from Manchester for a morning kick off. At least this match was a top-of-the-table clash, although Youth Alliance South East Conference placings are now complicated by being decided on a "points per game" ratio rather than a traditional league format. Portsmouth went into the match lying third, with 2.00 points per match, one place and 0.13 points behind Colchester, who trailed l...

7.30pm  11 March 2014 Northern League, Division Two Heaton Stannington 1 Chester-le-Street Town 3 (att 101) Despite a rather tortuous journey to the north east, thanks to an accident causing the closure of the M62 in West Yorkshire, I made it to Heaton Stannington's Grounsell Park ground in time for kick off to recomplete the Northern League. My efforts were rewarded with a decent game, the visitors ultimately convincing winners against a home side whose promotion hopes seem to be dimming. Heaton Stannington have adapted to Northern League life well though, since their elevation fro the Northern Alliance during the summer. There's a buzz around the club, with plenty of helpers and a tidy venue that has seen a small seated stand and floodlights the most recent additions. There's also a small covered area, in front of the clubhouse and hard standing around all four sides. It was an even first half before a goalkeeping error presented Chester-le-Street with an ope...

10.15am  9 March 2014 Ceredigion League, Division One Bargod Rangers 3 Maesglas 3 (att 238) After a pleasant overnight stay in Newcastle Emlyn it was a short drive to reach Bargod's home ground in time for a 10.15 kick off (early enough to allow the hop's final match, at Ffostrasol, to be completed before the Six Nations rugby later in the afternoon). Any fears that an early start, after a Saturday night, might mean some sluggish action on the pitch were quickly dispelled. Bargod went ahead after just a couple of minutes, and the sides then traded goals in a great first half which ended with the visitors 3-2 in front. The second half was never likely to live up to the first in terms of goals, but the entertainment continued with Bargod netting a deserved equaliser and the teams finishing level. Bargod isn't a place, at least as far as I can tell, but the club plays at Parc Puw in Drefach Felindre, just over the border from Ceredigion into Carmarthenshire. It has ...

4pm  8 March 2014 Ceredigion League, Division Two Cilgerran Rovers 1 Llanon 0 (att 226) Final game of the day and after a pair of Division One matches this game was a dive into the Division Two of the Ceredigion League. There was a noticeable drop in the quality of the football, but at these levels is more about effort and endeavour anyway, and while it wasn't the greatest 90 minutes of football I'll ever see it was still entertaining. Having seen only my second goalless draw of the season last weekend I thought I was heading for another one here, until a second half penalty was expertly dispatched to earn the home side a narrow win against struggling Llanon. Cilgerran only recently reformed, and their Parc-y-Dre ground is on the edge of the village with a very rural feel. Again the pitch was roped off, and again I suspect it wouldn't be if it wasn't a "hop" match with such a large crowd. View Cilgerran Rovers in a larger map