Steve B the Groundhopper

1.30pm 25 November  2023 Southern Amateur League, Senior Cup, First Round Alexandra Park 1 Old Finchleians 3 (att 7) I was in north London for non-football reasons and was on public transport. So a rare dip into the Southern Amateur League made sense to visit a ground that was an easy walk from our Wood Green base. Alexandra Park attracts lots of visitors, enjoying the walks, the views across London and, of course, Alexandra Palace. Hardly any come to watch football, but the Southern Amateur League is very much for players rather than spectators. Like many clubs in the league Alexandra Park run multiple teams, and three of them were playing at home. My focus was on the first eleven, who play in division two , hosting first division Old Finchleians in the senior league cup. A minor cup upset looked on the cards when Alexandra Park scored the only goal of the first half. Old Finchleians were hampered in part by a lack of discipline, they had a player sin-binned for 10 minutes immediately

12.30pm 19 November  2023 Scottish Highland League, Under 18 North Balloan U18 7 Nairn County U18 0 (att 31) This was the first time I'd seen a game in one of the Highland League's youth team divisions. It's not a fixture I'd make a special journey for, but having stayed overnight in Inverness it was a good opportunity to tick off another ground. There are two adjacent artificial pitches at Inverness Royal Academy. Neither is home to senior football on a regular basis, although they're often used by North Caledonian League Inverness Athletic when their grass pitch is unplayable. Another attraction was that home side, Balloan, don't currently have an open-age adult team. Their under 18s, who compete as Balloan Thistle, are in effect the nearest thing the club has to a first team. Maybe they will take a plunge into a senior league, as their under 18s are currently dominating this level of football. This was their eleventh win from 11 games, and was achieved with a

1pm 18 November  2023 North Caledonian League Invergordon 3 Fort William 0 (att 55) After years of struggle and finishing bottom of the Highland League Fort William appear to have found their level since relegation to the more forgiving North Caledonian League. A title challenge, and with it the chance of promotion play offs, may be just be out of reach for now, but the club are competitive. They made sure high-flying Invergordon had to work hard for these three points. Invergordon went ahead about midway through the first half. They might have had an easier afternoon had a subsequent penalty not been saved, but the game swung in their favour before half time when Fort William had a player sent off for a reckless challenge. The visitors’ 10 men put in a good shift but were unable to rescue the game. Invergordon doubled their lead after an hour, and a third goal made the points safe. There are two football pitches at Invergordon Recreation Grounds. One is used for summer league football

3.45pm 11 November  2023 West Cheshire League, Division Two Higher Bebington Kelma 0 Hooton 6 (att 47) I was grateful for the prompt finish to my earlier game in Wrexham as it allowed time to head north to the Wirral this match which was listed as an unusual 3.30 kick off. The reason for the time was a veterans fixture, between the same sides, that preceded the main event. I arrived with about 10 minutes to spare but the early game was yet to finish. It ended at 3.30, and so to allow both sides time to warm up the start of the first team game was put back to 3.45. Higher Bebington Kelma only moved into this venue, an artificial pitch at the Co-op Bebington Academy, earlier this season. It's pretty much as you'd expect, although a little surprisingly there's no spectator area. The referee didn't appear to have any issues with those of us watching standing inside the 'cage', but I guess that might change on a game by game, or referee by referee, basis. Hooton have

1pm 11 November  2023 North East Wales League, Championship Division Acton 6 Aston Park Rangers 3 (att 15) The fourth home ground I've seen Acton play on, and the second at Ysgol Rhosnesni. In 2015 they played on a grass pitch , but after a short spell elsewhere they've returned to use a recently-installed 3G. It's a typical set up, enclosed by a high fence and floodlit. There's no designated area for spectators, but there is enough room to stand inside the fence to watch the action. And there was a lot of action to watch. There was little between the teams as they traded goals in a lively first half. Acton went into the break 3-2 up, although I thought Aston Park Rangers had looked just the better side. The turning point was early in the second half, when some robust challenges sparked a melee that involved pretty much everyone on the pitch. For a while I thought the referee, operating on his own without neutral assistants, might have to end the game. Once tempers were

7pm 8 November  2023 Cumberland FA, Senior Cup, Second Round Aspatria 1 Carlisle United XI 4 (att 750) The interest and scope of county cups varies across the country. The Cumberland version has the advantage of encompassing all the local FA's Saturday teams, from those at at the very bottom up to and including EFL side Carlisle United. Technically it's Carlisle United's first team, although the reality is, unsurprisingly, a little different. Apparently they fielded a strongish team in the opening round, yet still needed penalties to see off Northern League Carlisle City. United's manager had made no secret of his intention to field the youth team for the visit to Cumberland County League Aspatria. His fear was the potential for senior players to pick up injuries playing on the rugby pitch at Bower Park. Aspatria's regular home ground, a pitch in a public park, was never going to be capable of hosting this tie. Rather than give up home advantage entirely the club bo

5.30pm 5 November  2023 Somali British Champions League, Group Stage Manchester Powerhouse 4 Streatham 2 (att 58) I enjoyed the games I saw in the last Somali British Champions League so was keen to track down fixtures in this season's competition. Details aren't too easy to come by but I discovered that Manchester's representatives, and winners of last season's final, were at home and playing on a ground I'd not been to previously. Sort of. I say 'sort of' as their chosen venue was one of a pair of new artificial pitches at Hough End, where I saw a game on grass in 2019 . The 3Gs are far enough from the grass pitch that match was on to justify counting this as a new 'tick'. When I saw Manchester Powerhouse in the Somali British Champions League  last year  they thrashed Leicester Atletico. I expected them to do the same to London-based Streatham, who play on Saturdays in the lower reaches of the Surrey South Eastern Combination. But, although they c