Steve B the Groundhopper

2.30pm 19 July  2025 Brynawel Summer Cup Brynawel 1 Talycopa 0 (att 130) I stayed in South Wales after Friday night's visit to AFC Llwydcoed, but that game being brought forward a day left me with no options for a truly competitive game, on a new ground, for the Saturday. From very few options I settled on a match in the Brynawel Summer Cup. It's a four-team round robin tournament with all the games played at Brynawel's Halfway Park ground in the Winch Wen area of Swansea. With a title, and presumably also a trophy, at stake it's a better option than watching two sides play a training game. There was certainly a competitive edge between local rivals who both play in the Swansea Senior League. Brynawel play in the higher division so I expected them to beat Talycopa. But pre-season football can be hard to predict and, although the hosts won, they made hard work of it. The only goal came three minutes into the second half. Talycopa were never out of the game, but their cau...

12.30pm 1 February 2025 Swansea Senior League, Division Two Rosehill Community 6 Maltsters Sports 4 (att 45) This wasn't my intended destination when I left my Swansea hotel. In fact I arrived at my planned morning game, near Bridgend, to find it was off as the 3G pitch had been double booked! A hastily arranged plan B was a choice of lunchtime kick offs in the third tier of the Swansea Senior League. I picked this game purely because it was closest to a 3pm game and so allowed me to manage a double. Rosehill Community are based in the Townhill area of Swansea. Their home ground, The Ganges Field, features an undulating pitch which was roped off along one side. Being high up, it also offers some good views. Its fair to say this wasn't a game of the highest quality, especially defensively, but from a neutral perspective it was fantastic entertainment. Maltsters, one place off the bottom of the league, started well and before long had a 2-0 lead. Rosehill were soon back level, be...