Steve B the Groundhopper

7.15pm  25 June 2018 Catforth and District Summer League, Division One Anchorsholme 7 Plungington 1 (att 15) The 131st and final game of my 2017/18 season was a first visit Fleetwood Town's very impressive training complex at Pool Foot Farm in Thornton Cleveleys. It won't be my last visit to the venue though, as Fleetwood's youth team play on one of the grass pitches and there are two enclosed 4G grounds. This game was played on the second pitch, furthest from the main building. I expected a close game between two sides who have made solid starts to the summer league season, but an early red card for the visitors left them at a disadvantage they couldn't overcome. The 10 men actually equalised Anchosholme's early opener, but the home side regained the lead before half time and the second half was one-way traffic. The Plungington keeper did well to keep the score down. The ground is a standard artificial venue, with a floodlit pitch surrounded by a fence...

23 June 2018 Khalsa Football Federation Tournament at Aylestone Playing Fields, Leicester Three years ago I had my first taste of a Khalsa tournament, at Sinfin Moor Park in Derby , and really enjoyed it. Since then I've been keen to watch another one, and this year the Leicester competition was the ideal opportunity. A series of Khalsa tournaments, for Sikh-based teams from across the UK, are held each summer, with games spread over a Saturday and Sunday. They're on a straight knockout basis, with successful sides facing a hectic programme of four games in just two days, putting the leisurely World Cup schedule into perspective. The Leicester competition is hosted by local side Guru Nanak Gurdwara FC. Eight pitches were used for the senior games on the opening day, six at Aylestone Playing Fields supplementing GNG FC's main ground and their adjacent 3G pitch. Having already seen a game at GNG FC  I decided to base myself at Aylestone Playing Fields, for three out...

7pm  21 June 2018 Catforth and District Summer League, Division Two Warton 3 Chipping 1 (att 8) The Catforth Summer League can usually be relied on to provide new venues to visit each year, and I ticked off the first of this year's crop in Warton, a village near Preston that's best known for the BAE Systems factory. The Harold Bridges Playing Fields has a rural feel and is a pleasant if slightly windswept spot, with space for a couple of football pitches. It's Warton's debut season in the Catforth League, at least in recent years, and this win kept their 100% league record intact. They had to work hard for it though, edging ahead thanks to the only goal of a tight first half. Chipping's second half equaliser was deserved, but it prompted the home club to step up a gear and they netted twice to claim all three points. Warton's third goal was the game's final kick. Map of Warton FC

11am  17 June 2018 Leeds Sunday League, Play-off Cup, Group A Thorner 0 Bramley Town 4 (att 14) After spending all day Saturday sitting on the sofa watching World Cup matches on TV I felt a need to get out to see some live football. Like its Eccles counterpart, the Leeds Sunday League has a summer season, putting it onto my groundhopping radar. There's only eight teams, and Thorner are unique as they not only provide two of them, but are alone in staging home games on their own ground rather than council pitches. The Sandhills ground is shared with the local cricket club, although the undulating football pitch is beyond the cricket outfield and bordered by a car parking area. For a Sunday league venue it's not bad at all. Thorner, who I think compete in the Harrogate-based Claro Sunday League during the winter, have had a tough side to their summer campaign. Having lost their two opening league games, including a 5-1 reversal against today's visitors Bramley, thi...

7pm  14 June 2018 Ashbourne and District Summer League Lime Kiln 1 Doveridge 2 (att 40) Earlier this month leaders Doveridge dropped their only points so far when they lost 2-0 at home to Lime Kiln, but there was no repeat of that surprise scoreline in the return fixture at Wirksworth Recreation Ground. It was a close thing though. Lime Kiln, named after a Wirksworth pub, took a first half lead and, thanks to heroic defending, a linesman's flag and some poor Doveridge finishing, they held it until the closing moments. Doveridge finally equalised with less than five minutes to play, before a powerful header from a long throw in edged them in front deep in stoppage time. A harsh climax for Lime Kiln, although the better side won. New venues in Ashbourne's summer league are few and far between these days, and this was first time I've watched a game to recomplete the league for three years. The standard seemed higher than I'm used to, and Doveridge in particular ...

3pm  9 June 2018 Skye and Lochalsh Amateur League Gairloch/Aultbea United 7 Portree 2 (att 19) I didn't get to Aultbea before the club joined forces with Wester Ross rivals Gairloch. Since the merger most games have been played in Gairloch, but currently there's no changing rooms there so the club have relocated, temporarily I assume, 13 miles north. It meant an even longer trek for Portree, who faced a 260 mile round trip on slow Highland roads to fulfill the fixture. That's some commitment for amateur football, and I wasn't too surprised that the game kicked off a little late and Portree arrived with just 11 players and no subs. That may have cost them the game. They scored first and looked marginally the better side in a first half that ended 1-1. But just as the half time whistle was about to go a Portree player suffered a nasty-looking injury. He was unable to continue and so his team mates were a man down for the second half. They battled well, but co...