Steve B the Groundhopper

2pm 25 February 2023 North East Wales League, Championship Saltney Ferry 3 Aston Park Rangers 1 (att 36) A prompt finish to the day's earlier game left me just enough time for the short drive to Saltney Ferry, a suburb of Chester that's across the border into Wales. I arrived just as they players were lining up ready to kick off, and within five minutes I'd seen a goal, as visitors Aston Park Rangers went in front. They held the lead until around the half-hour mark, when two goals in quick succession, the first a penalty, turned the match around. A third Saltney Ferry goal, in the opening moments of the second half, ensured the home side got all three points. The North East Wales League's Championship division is part of the the fifth tier of domestic Welsh football. In this part of the country it's also the lowest level there is. The standard was reflected in the quality of the game, which was scrappy and often fractious. That said, in common with many matches when

12 midday 25 February 2023 Chester and Wirral League, Premier Division Waggon and Horses 1 Blacon Youth Club 5 (att 46) I needed to stay fairly local this weekend, so the first half of my day's entertainment was an easy decision once I spotted that Chester-based Waggon and Horses were kicking off at noon. They've moved a few yards along the road since I saw them in 2021 , to an artificial pitch at Blacon's new King George V Community Sports Hub. The early kick off was to allow a second game on the same pitch at 2pm. Blacon Youth Club began this season as a reserve side, but became a de facto first eleven when the club's Cheshire League side folded. I don't know how many of their players have Cheshire League experience, but they won this local derby at a canter. The visitors were ahead early, and 3-0 up by half time. A fourth goal came in the opening moments of the second period, and they were well worth their handsome win. The venue is a typical 3G set up, but not a

2pm 18 February 2023 Caledonian League, Division One Westerlands 5 Glasgow University reserves 2 (att 8) We'd been staying in Scotland for a few days, but this match was plan B after the unsurprising news that Storm Otto had led to the postponement of BSC Glasgow's West of Scotland League fixture. No such problems at the Garscube Sports Complex where Westerlands' home pitch - 'synthetic pitch number two' - is one of several at the Glasgow University sports facility. Westerlands are a club for Glasgow University alumni, and with the students' Caledonian League second team also based at Garscube this was a local derby in more ways than one. It went the way of the hosts, but it took until the second half before they finally saw off tricky opponents. The university scored first, early on, but their lead was a brief one. Westerlands then went ahead but it was soon 2-2. There was only just over 30 minutes gone by the time it was 3-2 to the hosts. The goals didn't

2pm 11 February 2023 York League, Division One Duncombe Park 0 Rufforth United 5 (att 20) Duncombe Park is a stately home and estate in Helmsley in North Yorkshire. It also gives it's name to the town's cricket and football clubs, who both play at Helmsley Recreation Ground. It's a pleasantly rustic venue, with a sloping sports field that accommodates both sports, and a nice pavilion. The cricketers also get a scoreboard, and bowls and open-air swimming are also on site. Duncombe Park and Rufforth United were both promoted from division two last season. It's fair to say the step up has been challenging, and neither had managed a league win going into this fixture. By the end Rufforth, who'd managed a solitary point from seven games, moved off the bottom and above Duncombe Park, who now have just two draws from 13 matches. The visitors went ahead early and never looked back, although it took some committed defending, and good goalkeeping, to stop Duncombe Park from s

11am 11 February 2023 EFL Youth Alliance, North East Harrogate Town U18 3 Scunthorpe United U18 0 (att 53) In 1999 I saw  Nestlé Rowntree beat Horbury Town 4-1 in the West Yorkshire League at the company's Mille Crux sports ground in York. The ground has changed hands since, and is now run by York St John University. The former Nestl é football pitch is now an artificial rugby pitch, but football is played on a couple of 3G pitches to the north of the sports centre buildings. One of the two is where Harrogate Town's youth team play. It's not bad for a 3G pitch. There are spectator areas on both touchlines but, as is usual practice in the EFL Youth Alliance, those watching have to stay on the side opposite the dugouts. Harrogate Town are going well at this level, and deserved their comprehensive win against Scunthorpe. A well-taken goal gave them a first half lead, but the visitors were still in the game and got on top after the break. Their resistance was effectively ended

1pm 5 February 2023 Premier League Cup, Round of 16 Bristol City U21 2 Everton U21 1 (att 250) I doubt many people realise the Premier League has its own cup competition. They can be forgiven for not knowing about it, as it features under 21 sides from the country's leading academies. This and other last 16 knock out ties come after a group stage. Bristol City won their group, and progressed to the last eight after seeing off Everton's youngsters. These days under 21 level is the closest most professional clubs have to a reserve team, so a win against Premier League opposition was a great result for Bristol City. They had the perfect start, attacking from kick off and immediately winning a penalty. By the time it was taken, and scored, barely two minutes were on the clock. A second goal quickly followed, leaving the visitors with a mountain to climb. Everton got a goal back early in the second half, and most of what followed was Everton attack against Bristol City defence. The

2.30pm 4 February 2023 West Yorkshire League, Division One Wyke Wanderers 2 Featherstone Colliery 0 (att 19) After the rare treat of being able to go home for lunch in  between games on a Saturday, I headed into West Yorkshire and a visit to Wyke Wanderers' new home ground. The Wyke Community Sports Village is a very impressive facility which opened for the start of this season. It's main feature, from a football perspective at least, is an enclosed and floodlit artificial pitch. Not surprisingly it has much in common with other such venues, but plus points are a good-sized spectator area, and that the dugouts are sensible positioned on the opposite side of the pitch. I don't know if the new ground has been a factor, but Wyke are having a very good season. They went into this fixture clear at the top of the division, and stayed there thanks to two second half goals. They'd looked the better side throughout but Featherstone, who had just 11 players and no substitutes, pu

10.30am 4 February 2023 South Manchester and Cheshire Christian League, Division Two City Church Albion 2 People's Church 5 (att 2) City Church have a team in each of the league's three divisions but, as far as I can tell, their division one side, City Church Athletic, never play at Seymour Park. The ground is used by division two Albion and by City Church United, who play in division three. Regularly getting a trio of sides out on a Saturday morning is an impressive feat for a club at this level. Seymour Park is a traditional public park in the Old Trafford area of Manchester. The pitch is close to the Seymour Grove entrance and is enclosed by a low fence, which is probably more to deter dogs than to keep football crowds in place. People's Church are unbeaten in the league and kept that record intact after a win that was ultimately comfortable but not without a scare or two along the way. They scored first but it didn't take Albion long to level. A second goal for the