Steve B the Groundhopper

2.30pm 15 June  2025 Mayo League, League Two Achill Rovers 1 Glenhest Rovers B 0 (att 55) Achill Rovers had a perfect league record going into this game, and knew that a 12th victory in their 12th fixture would be enough to win the Mayo League’s fourth tier. They got the result they needed, but made hard work of it. I’d expected them to have no problems against Glenhest’s second team, but a single goal seven minutes before half time was the slim margin of their victory. The hosts always looked more likely to score again than to concede, but despite coming close once or twice they failed to do do. Glenhest worked hard and had their moments, but an equaliser was never likely. Achill Rovers represent Achill Island, and were formed in the 1980s when two local clubs merged. Their ground, Father O'Brien Park, has a very rural setting, with sheep grazing round the perimeter. The playing area is enclosed by a combination of wall and mesh fence, there are dugouts, advertising boards and por...

11am 15 June  2025 Mayo League, League One Partry Athletic 3 Snugboro United 3 (att 13) The Mayo League fixture list provided a choice of Sunday morning games. I headed to Partry after first calling in at nearby Ballyheane, only to find the ‘back pitch’ I saw them play on last summer in use again, and that it’s had the recent addition of a stand. Partry’s ground, just off the main road, is more basic but pleasant enough. There is ample car parking, the pitch is fenced off on three sides, and has dugouts and advertising boards. From a pre-match glance at the league table, via the FA of Ireland’s excellent Connect app, I expected Snugboro to win this. However, they suffered a frustrating morning. Partry took a 17th minute lead against the run of play. It took the visitors a while to recover, but they did and deservedly equalised with half-an-hour played. But having got level they gifted the hosts a second goal just five minutes later. The away side equalised for a second time soon a...

6.30pm 14 June  2025 Mayo Premier League Iorras Aontaithe 2 Crossmolina 0 (att 36) Groundhopping was only part of the reason for heading to Ireland’s west coast for a long weekend, but the Mayo League’s summer season does make it an attractive destination when competitive football is thin on the ground elsewhere. It’s not the sole attraction though. The drive to Belmullet from our Westport base was wonderfully scenic, and the views from Iorras Aontaithe’s Carne Nash ground aren’t bad either. It’s a few miles outside Belmullet, and very much off the beaten track. If it hadn’t been for useful road signs I might have doubted my satnav as it took me down a series of narrow lanes. On arrival you find a decent ground. The main pitch is enclosed, has plenty of advertising boards, a pair of imaginatively-decorated dugouts and a large stand. My previous Mayo League matches have been in its top flight ‘super league’, but this was a second tier premier league game. Both sides were mid-table, ...

2.15pm 8 June  2025 Burnley Summer League at Mount Carmel High School, Accrington Globe FC 14 Hyndburn 2 (att 22) From my lunchtime game in Nelson it was a short drive to Accrington, where the playing field at Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School was due to stage its second fixture of the day. I arrived about 20 minutes before kick off to find some confusion, and the goals being wheeled away from the main pitch. It turned out that heavy rain during the earlier match had left the pitch waterlogged. Rather the postpone the fixture it was moved, just a few yards, to a much smaller pitch on the edge of the playing field. The alternative pitch was way too small for an adult 11-a-side game, but with a bit of improvisation, including training cones used to indicate part of the touchline, there was a least a playable area to host the match. If my earlier game had been one-sided, this one was a complete mismatch. Hyndburn conceded the first goal in the opening minutes, and by half time t...

12 noon 8 June  2025 Burnley Summer League at Nelson and Colne College Dewhurst 6 Peel Park 1 (att 11) The Burnley Summer League, or at least this version of it, is a new addition to the off season this year.  It provides competitive football for 10 teams in a league format that will also determine the qualifiers for cup competitions later in the summer. A previous Burnley Summer League was a short-lived and ultimately doomed attempt to keep the town's Saturday league going, by switching to a summer season, more than a decade ago. This incarnation features predominantly, and possibly entirely, local Sunday league sides. Both Dewhurst and Peel Park were in the 2024/25 Burnley and District Sunday League, although the latter played as AFC Accrington, before recently coming under banner of Peel Park. As both sides had spent the season in the same division, finishing just three points apart, I expected a close game, but it turned out to be a stroll for Dewhurst. They scored three g...

11am 1 June  2025 Eccles Sunday League Parkwyddn 8 Wellington 3 (att 12) It's early days in the Eccles Sunday League's summer season, and both these sides began the day having won two and lost two of their opening four fixtures. A close game looked likely, and the action got off to a quick start when Parkwyddn took the lead with a goal timed by the referee at just 26 seconds. Wellington equalised though and at that stage there looked little between the sides. Parkwyddn went back in front about 10 minutes before half time, and within a minute they scored again for 3-1. Wellington pulled one back before the break but the momentum was against them. The home side opened the second period with another quick goal, although Wellington soon cut the deficit back to 4-3. As the second half went on Parkwyddn were well on top, but hampered by poor finishing. A goal looked certain though, and they finally got it with nine minutes left. Just a minute later they had a penalty. The spot kick w...

2.30pm 31 May  2025 North Wales Coast East League, Premier Division Cerrigydrudion 2 Penmaenmawr Phoenix 2 (att 125) There was limited choice for what will almost certainly be the final winter league game of my 2024/25 season. Cerrigydrudion was my nearest unvisited ground, and while it was a match with little at stake it wasn't without interest. Visitors Penmaenmawr had won the league in their previous fixture, one of three trophies they've bagged this season, and had an unbeaten record to protect in their final game. Cerrigydrudion formed a guard of honour as Penmaenmawr entered the pitch, and the generosity extended into the start of the match as hesitant defending allowed the visitors to score twice in the opening 15 minutes. The home side recovered from their poor start and it became an evenly-matched contest, but the closest Cerrigydrudion came to a first half goal was hitting the crossbar. They hit the bar again in the second half, before getting a goal back with about 2...