Steve B the Groundhopper

2.20pm 29  October 2023 Pickard Cup, First Round Park United 1 Boca Seniors 4 (att 65)  A lack of teams meant the end for the Kingsley Football League a few years ago, but happily its cup competitions continue. The Pickard Cup and the Hutchings Cup are now invitation cups for teams in the north Devon and north Cornwall area. The bonus from a groundhopping perspective is that ties are usually played on Sundays. Both Park United and Boca Seniors are in the top division of the North Devon League, and a glance at the league table suggested this would be a decent game. Park, unbeaten and top, had the potential advantage of a day off on Saturday when their game was postponed, whereas Boca played and suffered their first league defeat. Perhaps the visitors were inspired to shake of the previous day's disappointment, as they ran out comfortable and deserved winners. Hesitant goalkeeping gave them an early lead but it didn't take Park long to equalise. Barnstaple-based Boca were back i...

3pm 28 October 2023 South West Peninsula League, Premier Division West Mullion 2 Liskeard Athletic 7 (att 65)  Mullion’s online programme predicted a tough game at home to unbeaten league leaders Liskeard. The author wasn’t wrong. The home started brightly and a well worked move gave them the lead inside five minutes. But that was as good as it got for Mullion. Liskeard were soon level, and soon after that they were in front. They’d stretched their lead to 5-1 inside half an hour, and that remained the score at half time. With the outcome settled the second period was quieter, but two more goals underlined Liskeard’s superiority. Mullion kept plugging away, and received some consolation by scoring the game’s final goal in stoppage time. Mullion’s Clifden Parc home is a fairly new addition to step six of the pyramid, after the club won promotion from the St Piran League in 2021/2. The ground is floodlit, and spectators have the option of a small covered standing area between the dug...

7.45pm 25 October 2023 Northern League, Division One Boro Rangers 1 West Auckland Town 2 (att 124)  Back in 2015 I visited Trinity College in Middlesbrough for a game in what was then still called the Teesside League. That game was on a grass pitch, but now the nearby 3G has been turned into somewhere capable of hosting Northern League football. Renamed Phoenix Park and now home to Boro Rangers, the ground, which only opened this season, is a far cry from the more traditional Northern League venues of old. It ticks all the required boxes for for step five football, with seats and covered standing for spectators, and no one is going to build a brand new ground that includes crumbling terracing and stands far larger than needed. It's a three-sided ground for those watching, with the far side of the artificial pitch out of bounds and where the dugouts are situated. After days of wet weather the surface at least meant little threat of a late postponement. Boro Rangers have made made r...

3pm 21 October 2023 Sheffield and Hallamshire FA, Saturday Trophy, Second Round SESKU Miners 4 Shelley reserves 4, 1-3 on penalties (att 34)  Both the county FA and league websites, plus SESKU's Twitter feed, listed this tie as a 2pm kick off, which meant I arrived more than a little early for what turned out to be a 3pm start. As a result I had time for a wander around South Elmsall town centre, and a fish and chip lunch, before returning for a game that was well worth the wait. Both these sides play at what is, in theory, the same level. The hosts in the third tier of the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Senior League and Shelley's reserves in the third level of the West Yorkshire League. Shelley had the upper hand and deserved to progress, but both sides played good football in an incident-packed 90 minutes. There was an early sign of what was to come when Shelley went ahead in the opening minutes. Before long it was 1-1, and the game was still inside the first half-hour by ...

10.30am 21 October 2023 Sheffield and District Fair Play League, Division One Beerhouse 3 Sheffield West End 1 (att 7)  With the weather causing uncertainties I settled for an easy day and a pair of matches on artificial pitches. First up was 'pitch two' at St George's Park Graves in Sheffield. It was back in 2018 when I last visited, to see Chesterfield's youth team on 'pitch three', the only grass surface at the football hub. Beerhouse's pitch is the further of the two 3Gs from the entrance, and has a spectator area that runs the length of one side. The home side looked the better team, but even a neutral observer would have to admit that controversial refereeing decisions played a large part in their win. It was 1-1 going into the second half. The goal that put Beerhouse 2-1 up was scored while the West End keeper was prone on the ground having been injured in a challenge moments before. The visitors' complaints fell on deaf ears, while the keeper ne...

3.30pm 18 October 2023 Coppa Sicilia, First Round, First Leg Noto Calcio 0 Real Belvedere 2 (att 170)  My fourth and final Sicilian game was another Wednesday afternoon cup tie. As far as I can tell, the Coppa Sicilia is for teams in the island’s six prima categoria leagues, which form part of Italy’s seventh tier, or ‘serie G’ if you prefer. I assume the cup is regionalised, at least early on, as both these sides play league games in group E. Noto head the table with four wins from four matches, so defeat against mid-table Real Belvedere was a surprise. To say the home side never got going would be an understatement. The visitors started on the front foot and looked much the better side. Perhaps Noto are concentrating on the league this season. Goals after 38 and 55 minutes settled what was, in truth, a lacklustre game. Noto had a great chance reduce the arrears on 65 minutes, but their tame penalty was comfortably saved. Noto’s stadium, part of a sporting complex that also caters...

4pm 15 October 2023 Serie D, Group I Siracusa Calcio 1924 6 San Luca 1 (att 2,500)  Siracusa is a lovely place and being just 30 minutes drive from our holiday base it was an easy choice for my highest level game while in Sicily. The biggest challenge, other than finding somewhere to park, was obtaining a ticket. They are sold online, but only in the day or two before the game and by then I had no way to print them. The club’s Facebook page helpfully listed venues where they could be bought from, including a café near the stadium. I found it, joined a short queue, handed over my passport so my ID could be confirmed, and for 13 euros I had a ticket. It got me a place on the sun-baked open side of ground, opposite the main stand and a safe distance from the end where the club’s ultras gathered. To be fair they provided a good atmosphere, with non-stop singing, flag waving and the occasional firework. The opposite end is officially for away fans, but there weren’t any. Whether the jou...