Steve B the Groundhopper

10.15am 7 March  2026 Ballymena Saturday Morning League, Rainey Cup, 2nd Round Waveney Swifts 0 Sixmile Athletic 2 (att 18) A day trip by plane to recomplete the Northern Ireland Football League, but an early arrival meant I had time to take in a game in the Ballymena Saturday Morning League ahead of the main event. The Rainey Cup is the league cup, featuring sides from all three divisions. Both these are midtable in the second tier, but Antrim-based Sixmile started as favourites having lost only once in the league so far. Two goals, after 15 and 55 minutes, were enough for them to ease into the third round. Their progress was rarely threatened, although they came close to conceding as the game became scrappy in the closing minutes. Waveney are based, unsurprisingly, at the Waveney Playing Fields in Ballymena. There are two football pitches, on a plateau beyond a modern community centre. This game was played on the furthest pitch, which looked to be the larger of the two. It's just...

2pm 28 February  2026 Wensleydale League Askrigg United 1 Hawes United 5 (att 42) With two clubs dropping out during this season, the Wensleydale League is now down to just seven teams. There are rumours the competition might fold in the summer, and that  prompted me to head to the North Yorkshire village of Askrigg. Askrigg United are currently seventh in the table, and so bottom of the remaining teams. Their only points are the three they gained in an opening day win at Hawes. They failed to add to their tally against the same opposition today, and got off the worst possible start by conceding in the first minute. The visitors added two more early goals and at that stage it looked likely to be a very one-sided afternoon. But Askrigg United, urged on by a good turnout of local supporters, eventually got back into the game. It was already too late to affect the outcome, but they created chances and didn't concede again before half time. The second half was similar to the first...

10.30am 28 February  2026 The Saturday Morning League, Plate Group C Wigton Moor 2 Barugh Green 1 (att 7) West Yorkshire's Saturday morning league has gone through a number of different identities in the last few years. What was the Yorkshire Christian League became the West Yorkshire Fair Play League, then last summer it announced it'd become the Yorkshire and District Saturday Morning League. But apparently, for reasons unknown to me, the FA objected to that name. So instead the league quickly rebranded again to the even more geographically indistinct title of The Saturday Morning Football League. It's single division league competition is called the Yorkshire Premiership, but this game was in the Plate, one of two cup competitions. The Plate begins with a group stage, and lowly Wigton Moor pulled off a surprise result in Group C. They're struggling in the league while Barnsley-based Barugh Green are challenging for the title. But cup fixtures can be a leveller, and W...

2pm 22 February  2026 North West Under 21 Development League, Premier Division Warrington Town U21 5 Avro U21 1 (att 28) This was my first experience of the North West Under 21 Development League, but I was tempted by the fact that, unlike most teams in its three divisions, Warrington use a different venue to their first team. They're also top of the premier division and, as far as I know, don't currently have an 'official' reserve side, thus making their under 21s their second most senior men's team. As table toppers they were always going to be favourites against Avro, who do have a reserve team playing in the Manchester League. The home side's task looked even easier at kick off as the visitors only had 10 players. Two goals in the first quarter of the game suggested it was going to be comfortable if low-key Warrington win. But they eased up a bit too much and Avro pulled a goal back before half time. Warrington were consistently thwarted by Avro's discip...

2.45pm 21 February  2026 Cheshire League, League Two Wigan Town 6 Sandbach Town 2 (att 10) When I last saw Wigan Town at home, in April 2024 , they were using the well-appointed ground of amateur rugby league club Ince Rose Bridge. At the start of this season they moved a short distance to the new Leisure United William Foster facility. It's typical of such venues, with a building housing changing rooms, toilets and a café alongside a pair of 3G pitches. Both have a spectator area running the length of one side, while 'pitch one' also has partial access at one end. Grounds like this often come in for criticism, but on an afternoon of constant heavy rain there's almost no chance this fixture, or the Wigan Amateur League fixture on the adjacent pitch, would have survived. My plan was to watch whichever match was on pitch one. Having previously visited what was then William Foster's Playing Fields in 2012 , the single grass pitch back them mostly overlapped what is now...

11am 21 February  2026 EFL Youth Alliance, North Morecambe U18 3 Shrewsbury Town U18 0 (att 53) After such a turbulent summer for the club I was surprised that Morecambe made the start line for this season's EFL Youth Alliance. On the pitch they've struggled, but have picked up enough points to remain above the foot of the table. They added another three with a win over Shrewsbury that wasn't as easy as the final score might suggest. The visitors dominated first half possession but without any cutting edge up front. Midway through the half Morecambe were gifted a goal when the away keeper made a mess of an attempted clearance outside his area, leaving a grateful opponent with the simplest of chances. The goal was very much against the run of play, and the home side held the lead into the break. Shrewsbury began the second half on the front foot, but Morecambe - growing in confidence - were threatening on the break. Moments after Shrewsbury thought they'd equalised when ...