Steve B the Groundhopper

3pm 18 April  2025 National League, South Truro City 0 Torquay United 1 (att 3,306) The Good Friday fixture list provides limited options for new grounds these days, so it was some months ago that I settled on a visit to Truro City's new stadium. It was just as well I decided early, as tickets for the visit of Torquay sold out well in advance. It was not just a local derby, or at least as local a derby as a Cornish team at this level can get, but it was also a crucial game in the battle for promotion. Truro went into the game top on goal difference, just three points clear of fourth placed Torquay, on a day when the teams in second and third were also playing each other. By the final whistle Torquay had narrowed the gap to the leaders to a point, and those leaders were now Worthing, with Truro's defeat seeing them drop a place. Just two points separate the top five. It was no surprise that it was a tense game, not helped by a wet and windy afternoon that made viewing difficult...

6.30pm 16 April  2025 York League, Division Two Hensall Hawks 1 Fulford United 1 (att 50) at Pollington Hensall Hawks went into their final league game of the season needing three points to give them the best chance of finishing as runners-up. Unfortunately for them they were up against title winners Fulford. The visitors may have had nothing to play for, but they were in no mood to give their hosts an easy evening. The home side got off to a perfect start when an early goal put them in front. But they failed to build on that and as half time approached a terrific piece of skill levelled the game. Play was even in the second half but there were no more goals. The draw means Hensall stay second in the table, but the two dropped points mean they could finish as low as fourth if the teams below them win their final fixtures. For reasons I'm unsure of Hensall don't seem to have played any home games in their own village this season. Most matches have been staged on an artificial p...

6.30pm 15 April  2025 Warrington and District League, Division Two Pex Hill 2 Crosfields 1 (att 40) Crosfields went into this game with the slimmest of chances of winning the Warrington League's third tier, but those hopes disappeared as they fell to a late defeat. A well-taken goal had given the visitors the lead early in the second half, but it hadn't taken Pex Hill long to equalise. There was little to choose between the teams, who both played good football. As the final whistle approached Crosfields pushed forward for a winner, but in stoppage time they lost possession on the edge of the Pex Hill penalty area and the hosts broke forward. They didn't score, but they did win a penalty, and that was despatched to settle the outcome with just seconds left. Pex Hill are based at the Leigh Recreation Playing Fields in Widnes. Its a multi-pitch venue that has been used by various teams over the years. This game was on the pitch nearest the changing rooms and car park, although...

7.30pm 14 April  2025 Beckett League, Trophy and Print Cup, First Round Goal Sports 2 Ryedale 0 (att 30) This was my first experience of the Beckett League, although I'm sure a 3G pitch at a sports centre near Scarborough is atypical for a league that's predominantly North Yorkshire village teams. But being a floodlit venue, the later kick off time allowed me the opportunity to get to it after work, on an evening when other games were thin on the ground. It was actually a return visit of sorts. I'd seen short-lived Scarborough Town play on a grass pitch at the same Pindar Leisure Centre back in 2009. That pitch ran parallel to the one this game was on. I'm not sure what the criteria is for teams to enter the Trophy and Print Cup, which is named after the sponsors. Goal Sports, who were in the Scarborough League before it folded, have finished bottom of the division one, while Ryedale may yet finish bottom of division two. Unsurprisingly then it was a game between two si...

2pm 12 April  2025 Northamptonshire Combination, Premier Division Cup, Semi Final Roade 1 Blisworth 4 (att 182) For reasons I can't explain I rarely watch football in the Northamptonshire Combination. Despite it having 'regional feeder league' status from the FA this was only my third ever game, and the last was more than a decade ago. But a cup semi final between local rivals who are also first and second in the league was a tempting prospect. I wasn't alone in thinking it'd be a good game to see, as there was a large crowd at Roade's Connolly Way ground. Ultimately though the visitors, in pole position to win the league, were comfortable winners. They looked the better side and scored twice in the first half, their second just before the break. Roade were hampered by losing their goalkeeper to a first half injury. A Roade penalty early in the second half made it 2-1, and soon after that they came agonisingly close to equalising. But that was as good as it got ...

10.30am 12 April  2025 West Midlands Christian League, Challenge Cup, Semi Final, Second Leg Excel NIS 5 Young Boyz 1 (6-3 on aggregate) (att 14) This was one of two possible morning games when I left home to head south towards Birmingham. My first stop was Warley Rugby Club, where Excel NIS usually play home games, to see which pitch groundsharers West Bromwich Elim were using. As I suspected, they were warming up on the same pitch where I'd seen Albright and Wilson in the West Midlands Regional League more than 30 years ago. Had it been a different pitch I might have stayed, but I knew I had this game just a short drive away in West Smethwick Park. And being a cup semi final it also looked a better fixture. Although they're several places off the top, Excel NIS - whose unusual name reflects both their affiliated church and their sponsors - have enough games in hand to be favourites for the title. But they'd lost the first leg of this semi final 2-1, and Young Boyz, second...

6.30pm 9 April  2025 Staffordshire County Senior League Plate, First Round Longton Area Potters 1 Keele University reserves 2 (att 20) It's been a tough season for Longton Area Potters, or LA Potters as they're usually known. They're winless at the foot of division two north of Staffordshire's county league, with only a theoretical chance of climbing any higher. Keele University's second team are only a couple of places above them though, so LA Potters might have had hopes of progressing in this late season cup tie. The Plate, or Macron Plate to acknowledge the sponsors, is a competition for teams who finished in the bottom places of qualifying groups. Sides who finished in higher positions qualified for other cups. Keele won a scrappy game thanks to a goal in each half. They looked much the better side but created few other clear chances. LA Potters gained a little consolation, and very brief hope, with a stoppage time penalty. LA Potters are based at the Trentham ...