Steve B the Groundhopper

6.15pm 30 April  2024 Huddersfield and District League, Premier Division AFC Lindley 3 Britannia Sports 4 (att 38) Two years ago I saw AFC Lindley  at the Birchencliffe Sports and Social Club, but not all their home games are played there. Some, like tonight's, are on a pitch at nearby Celandine Avenue. It's a single pitch in a small public recreation ground on the outskirts of Huddersfield. There's no changing rooms, and players get changed at Birchencliffe before heading to the ground. AFC Lindley were playing their final league fixture, safe in the knowledge that, barring a defeat of well into double figures, they were unlikely to fall into the bottom two and possible relegation. There was little danger of that against bottom side Britannia, who began the evening without a league win all season. The home side opened the scoring. Britannia equalised but the game still seemed firmly in Lindley's favour. Two goals, the second just before half time, gave them a 3-1 advan...

2pm 27 April  2024 West of Scotland League, Division Four Thorn Athletic 2 Glenvale 2 (att 220) Apart from being one of the handful of grounds I had left to visit to complete the West of Scotland League, this was also one of the day's outstanding fixtures. Not just a local derby, but a potential title decider with Glenvale needing three points to take the title away from second placed Thorn. In the end the champagne stayed on ice, but it's surely just delayed rather than cancelled. Glenvale couldn't have wished for better start. They dominated from the off and were ahead in the second minute. But Thorn recovered well and, with just 15 minutes played, they scored for 1-1. After that bright start the excitement, unsurprisingly, dipped. The teams were evenly matched and neither could create more than half-chances. The scores remained level deep into the second half. But Glenvale and their supporters were celebrating just minutes from the end when a corner evaded everyone and w...

10am 27 April  2024 Saturday Morning Amateur League, Development Section Cumbernauld Athletic 2 Moorlands 3 (att 27) I didn't have a wide choice of morning games that'd provide a new ground to visit, and to be honest I was a little wary of opting for a fixture in the lowest of the Saturday Morning Amateur League's six divisions. But Cumbernauld Athletic and Moorlands, locked in a battle for what is likely to be a second place finish, provided an enthralling 90 minutes, and a game with a string in its tail. The first half was bookended by a goal apiece. A shot from distance gave Moorlands the lead in the opening minute, before Cumbernauld levelled with the final kick of the half. The standard of football was higher than you'd expect at this level, and there was little between the sides. It appeared to be heading for a draw until the away side retook the lead with seven minutes left. The home side's hopes of equalising were dealt a a blow when they had a player red-ca...

7pm 26 April  2024 Club Academy Scotland, Elite League, Top Section Celtic U18 2 Hamilton Academical U18 3 (att 90) From the day's earlier game I just had time to check into my hotel before heading back out in search of Celtic's impressive training centre at Lennoxtown. I had directions, which was just as well as it's not signposted and would be hard to find if you didn't know where you were going. Eventually, after driving along a narrow private road with a 'no unauthorised vehicles' warning, I arrived. It couldn't be more secluded and, with the Campsie Fells as a backdrop, there can't be a more scenic training ground anywhere in the UK. As you pass the security gate there are first team training pitches on the right while on the left, close to the car park, is a synthetic pitch where Celtic play their youth team games. Spectators stand on the car park side, with dugouts on the opposite touchline. This was an excellent game between two young sides. Unli...

3pm 26 April  2024 Club Academy Scotland, Elite League, Bottom Section Queen's Park U18 4 Motherwell U18 2 (att 80) A Friday off work and I made the most of it, from a groundhopping perspective at least, by heading north in time for the first of two games at the 'elite' level of Scotland's professional academy system. The 11 competing teams have been split into a late season top section of six and a bottom one of five. Queen's Park and Motherwell are evenly matched in the lower group, so I expected a close game.  Motherwell started well but failed to create a clear chance. Queen's Park were sharper in their attack and took the lead, against the run of play, about midway through through the first half. Then about a minute later they added a second. The visitors looked far from out of it, and got themselves back into contention when a fine free kick reduced the arrears. But shortly before half time a penalty gave Queen's Park a 3-1 half time lead. After the br...

6.30pm 25 April  2024 Huddersfield and District League, Division Five Brook Motors 1 Allerton 1 (att 25) Allerton missed out on the chance to secure a second-placed finish when they failed to hold onto an early lead at Brook Motors. They went ahead in the opening minute, but didn't manage to build on that despite creating the majority of the game's best chances. A Brook Motors goal midway through the second half levelled the score and that's how it stayed. It was the home side's final league fixture. Allerton complete their matches on Saturday, and will now need to beat champions Deighton A to leapfrog Honley reserves and finish as runners-up. Brook Motors are a club with a long history. Their current home is the Jagger Lane Recreation Ground in Honley, near Holmforth. There are two parallel pitches, with a side-to-side slope. This game was played on the one closest to neighbouring Honley Cricket Club.

6.30pm 24 April  2024 Wigan and District Amateur League, Division Two White Lion 0 Bolton Young Boys 2 (att 18) Bolton Young Boys went into this fixture needing four more points to secure the league title, and got three-quarters of the way there thanks to two second half goals. Given their league record so far, failing to win just one match, I'd expected them to have an easier evening, but they made hard work of overcoming White Lion. The home side almost scored in the opening moments. Bolton Young Boys hit a post not long later, but a scrappy first half finished without a goal. The visitors broke the deadlock early in the second period, despite a suggestion of handball. Ten minutes into the half they scored again, and White Lion never looked like changing the outcome. This was a Bolton derby in the Wigan League. White Lion play at Queens Park, not far from the town centre. It's a pitch on the edge of a pleasant public park, with changing rooms and a car park.

6.15pm 23 April  2024 Huddersfield and District League, Division Two Wooldale Wanderers 1 Grange Moor Saints 2 (att 14) There's no shortage of scenic rural venues in the Huddersfield and District League, and Wooldale's West Fields Park is up there with the best. It's also up on a hill above Holmfirth, so even on on a relatively mild spring evening there was a cold wind to contend with. I imagine it could be a challenging place to watch or play football in the depths of winter. The pitch is surrounded by lanes so narrow it's best to take advice on where to park (on a grass verge by the track behind the top goal), and the final approach is easier if you don't meet another vehicle coming in the opposite direction. The players change a short walk away in the village of Wooldale, where the club have a base that doubles as a community facility. The ground itself is just a pitch, with a steep slope. Grange Moor Saints have enough games left to turn a more likely mid-table ...