Llantwit Major 3 Penrhiwfer 1

Saturday 17th August 2013

The opportunity to meet 2013 Apprentice star Alex Mills [the one with the distinctive eyebrows] at Costa in Cowbridge took us to South Wales for the day. Once we’d had our coffee and cake, chatted to Alex and taken photos, as well as given our donation to the Costa Foundation, I made the short journey towards the coast to Llantwit Major’s Windmill Lane ground. Pleasantly surprised to bump into two familiar faces from my part of the world, we saw a feisty Welsh Cup tie in which Llantwit Major of Welsh League Division Three defeated Penrhiwfer 3-1 with Stewart Lindsay scoring twice. Inevitably in a contest littered with bookings, someone was going to see ‘red’ and it was the visitors from the South Wales Senior League who finished with ten men.

Llantwit Major 3 Penrhiwfer 1
Welsh Cup First Qualifying Round
At: Windmill Lane, Llantwit Major
Kick-off: 2-30 pm
Admission: £3 including 40 page programme
Weather: showers sometimes heavy

Llantwit Major (blue/blue/blue): 1. Jack Lansdown, 2. Wayne Faux, 3. Andy Shaw, 4. Lee Jones, 5. Rhys Gould, 6. Nicky Cox, 7. Christopher Rees, 8. Max Morgan, 10/9. David Hartley-Smith, 9/10. Stewart Lindsay, 11. Jordan Phillips. Subs: 12. Barry Whitlam (not used), 14. David Bevan (for Phillips, 74), 15. Jack Grahame (for Rees, 86). Manager: Barry Whitlam.

Penrhiwfer (red/black/red): 1. Michael Davies, 2. Jeffrey Glenn Price (capt), 3. Kyle Honeyfield, 4. Lee Michael, 5. Rhys Hughes, 6. Cefyn Harris, 7. Gareth Moyle, 8. Jordan Wilcox, 9. Stephen Bassett, 10. Craig Lee Jones, 11. James Trembath. Subs: 12. David Baker (for Harris, 52), 14. Steele Wathan (not used), 15. Ben Morrisey (not used), 16. Paul Gregory (not used), 17. Nigel Jones (for Jones, ht).

Referee: Steven Bayliss.
Club linesmen.

Attendance: 20 (headcount)
Duration: first-half: 47:10; second-half: 48:58

Goals:
1-0 Jordan Phillips (18)
1-1 James Trembath (23)
2-1 Stewart Lindsay (32)
3-1 Stewart Lindsay (83)

Cards:
Llantwit Major: Wayne Faux (YC, 76)
Penrhiwfer: Rhys Hughes (YC, 9), Gareth Moyle (YC, 43), Stephen Bassett (YC, ht), Nigel Jones (YC, 53), Jeffrey Glenn Price (RC, 76), Michael Davies (YC, 84)

Doncaster Rovers 2 Blackburn Rovers 0

Friday 16th August 2013

I was delighted when Aussie groundhopper Mark Taylor suggested meeting up this weekend during his extensive tour of England and several European countries plus Dubai on the way out and Thailand on the way home. He was planning a Yorkshire ‘double’ tomorrow at Leeds United and York City to follow tonight’s game at Doncaster Rovers. As I’d not visited the Keepmoat Stadium, I bought two tickets online for collection and met up with Mark in the centre of Doncaster for some ale [Acorn Forester for me] at the Old Angel before making our way to the ground. Watching from the West Stand, we saw Doncaster record their first league victory of the season with a goal in each half from new signing Theo Robinson and James Husband.

Doncaster Rovers 2 Blackburn Rovers 0
Skybet Championship
At: Keepmoat Stadium
Kick-off: 7-45 pm
Admission: £23 (seat); Programme: £3 (84 pages)
Weather: sunny spells

Doncaster Rovers (red and white hoops / black / black): 1. Ross Turnbull, 32. Reece Wabara, 14. Bongani Khumalo, 5. Rob Jones (capt), 3. James Husband, 26. James Coppinger, 19. Richard Wellens, 18. Paul Keegan, 11. David Cotterill (Syers 90), 22. Theo Robinson (Duffy 76), 9. Chris Brown. Subs: 13.gk Jon Maxted (not used), 2. Paul Quinn (not used), 6. David Syers (for Cotterill, 90+3), 7. Mark Duffy (for Robinson, 76), 8. Billy Paynter (not used), 12. Luke McCullough (not used), 23. Kyle Bennett (not used). Manager: Paul Dickov.

Blackburn Rovers (blue and white halves / white / white): 34. Jacob Kean, 2. Todd Kane, 5. Grant Hanley, 16. Scott Dann (capt), 3. Tommy Spurr, 25. Alan Judge, 8. David Dunn, 19. Chris Taylor, 6. Jason Lowe, 11. Jordan Rhodes, 45. Tom Cairney. Subs: 13gk. Simon Eastwood (not used), 7. Joshua King (for Dunn, 66), 9. Leon Best (for Taylor, 66), 21. Alex Marrow (not used), 24. Josh Morris (not used), 29. Corry Evans (for Cairney, 60), 31. Gaël Givet-Viaros (not used). Manager: Gary Bowyer.

Referee: Geoff Eltrigham
Assistants: Joe Hull and Ross Joyce
Fourth Official: Declan Ford

Attendance: 8707
Duration: first-half: 46:16; second-half: 49:26

Goals:
1-0 Theo Robinson (37)
2-0 James Husband (58)

Cards:
Doncaster: Chris Brown (YC, 32)
Blackburn: Tommy Spurr (YC, 11), Grant Hanley (YC, 61), Chris Taylor (YC, 64)

Ratinger Spvg Germania 3 VfL Rhede 0

Sunday 11th August 2013

The delightful town of Ratingen, a few miles north-east of Düsseldorf, provided the setting for the third and final football leg of my German break. ‘Delightful’ because of the pleasant Marktplatz area I spent time in before heading back to Cologne and ‘delightful’ because of a warm friendly club who ticked all the boxes [apart from one]. Oberliga Niederrhein sits at the fifth tier of German football and today a hat-trick from summer signing Chamdin Said gave homesters (also known as Ratingen 04/19) a comfortable 3-0 victory over struggling VfL Rhede. At half-time, the tea bar provided a real treat of mandarin gateaux complete with cake fork and the only box not ticked during the whole day was most of the ground out of bounds to spectators apart from the large main stand.

Ratinger Spvg Germania 3 VfL Rhede 0
Oberliga Niederrhein
At: Stadion Ratingen, Am Stadion, Ratingen
Kick-off: 3-00 pm
Admission: 8 euro; Programme: free (4 pages)
Weather: sunny spells

Ratinger Spvg Germania (yellow/yellow/yellow): 1. Marcel Grote, 6. Patrick Fiedorra (capt), 7. Sascha Meier, 8. Yannic Melis, 9. Pier Schulz, 10. Daniel Rehag, 11. Chamdin Said, 12. Stefan Prengel, 13. Dennis Ter Haar, 14. Lukas Fedler, 17, Ali Can Ilbay. Subs: 25gk Alexander Pleß (not used), 2. Christoph Hub (not used), 3. Stefan Rott (for Ilbay, 78), 4. Björn Rohpeter (for Fiedorra, 82) 15. José Cervino Panero (not used), 20. Yusuf Keser (for Meier 78), 21. Kris Leipzig (not used). Coach: Alfonso del Cueto.

VfL Rhede (black/black/black): 23. Marc Tebroke, 3. Benedikt Spieker (capt), 6. Christopher Wilting, 8. Bodo Seeger, 10. Martin Schüring, 11. Simon Lechtenberg, 15. Raphael Bauer, 18. Frederik Arnold-Hallbauer, 20. Christopher Refke, 24. Florian Girnth. Subs: 1gk. Marvin Radüchel (not used), 2. Tobias Keil (not used), 13. Nico Frömmgen (for Refke, 61), 17. Felix Amler (for Girnth, 81), 19. Florian Hahm (for Schüring, ht). Coach: Javier Garcia Dinis.

Referee: Alexander Schuh.
Assistants: René Donné and Axel Böhme.

Attendance: 300
Duration: first-half: 45:06; second-half: 45:00

Goals:
1-0 Chamdin Said (23)
2-0 Chamdin Said (57)
3-0 Chamdin Said (68)

Cards:
Ratinger Spvg Germania: none
VfL Rhede: Simon Lechtenberg (YC, 66)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3 SC Freiburg 1

Saturday 10th August 2013

Once I’d established a few days ago that tickets were available for this top-flight game, there was really no need to look elsewhere for a Saturday afternoon fixture. It was certainly worth the effort to once again sample the unique atmosphere of a top-flight Bundesliga game inside a modern stadium with what I consider a rather impressive roof. My ticket in block F4, booked online with print@home, put me among a group of predominantly Freiburg fans who ultimately went home despondent after their side lost 3-1 to an impressive Leverkusen side. Managed by ex-Liverpool defender Sami Hyypiä, the home side took the lead through a looping Stefan Kießling header but Mike Hanke levelled for Freiburg shortly before the interval. By the time the second half was nine minutes old, Leverkusen had scored twice through Korean Heung-Min Son and Sidney Sam. The visitors had a penalty saved and this ended their hopes of salvaging a point.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3 SC Freiburg 1
1. Bundesliga
At: Bay Arena
Kick-off: 3-30 pm
Admission: 23 euro seat; Programme: free (84 A4 pages)
Weather: warm and sunny

Bayer 04 Leverkusen (red/red/red): 1. Bernd Leno, 21. Ömer Toprak, 5. Emir Spahić, 26. Giulio Donati, 17. Sebastian Boenisch, 18. Sidney Sam, 8. Lars Bender (capt), 3. Stefan Reinartz, 27. Gonzalo Castro, 11. Stefan Kießling, 7. Heung-Min Son. Subs: 25gk. Palop (not used), 4. Phillip Wollscheid (not used), 6. Simon Rolfes (for Son, 70), 13. Jens Hegeler (for Sam, 80), 14. Roberto Hilbert (not used), 15. Levin Öztunali (for Castro, 87), 23. Robbie Kruse (not used). Coach: Sami Hyypiä.

SC Freiburg (white/white/white): 1. Oliver Baumann, 3. Fallou Diagne, 25. Oliver Sorg, 28. Matthias Ginter, 17. Jonathan Schmid, 23. Julian Schuster (capt), 4. Gelson Fernandes, 11. Hendrick Zuck, 20. Francis Coquelin, 14. Admir Mehmedi, 9. Mike Hanke. Subs: 21gk. Alexander Schwolow (not used), 27. Nicolas Höfler (not used), 30. Christian Günter (for Zuck, 68), 31. K. Guédé (not used), 35. Sebastian Freis (for Mehmedi, 76), 37. Sebastian Kerk (for Coquelin, ht), 41. Immanuel Höhn (not used).

Referee: Gunter Perl.
Assistants: Georg Schalk and Michael Emmer.
Fourth Official: Bibiana Steinhaus.

Attendance: 27136
Duration: first half: 47:00; second-half: 47:58

Goals:
1-0 Stefan Kießling (21)
1-1 Mike Hanke (40)
2-1 Heung-Min Son (47)
3-1 Sidney Sam (52)

Cards:
Leverkusen: Stefan Reinartz (YC, 83), Emir Spahić (YC, 88)
Freiburg: Fallou Diagne (YC, 35), Mike Hanke (YC, 55)

1FC Köln U21 1 Fortuna Düsseldorf U23 4

Friday 9th August 2013

Back in Cologne for the first time since 2011 and, after finally conquering my nemesis the Cologne Dom tower, tonight my shortlist of games consisted of either Fortuna Düsseldorf v TSV 1860 München in 2. Bundesliga or this game just seven stops from my hotel on line 18. Choosing the easy option, the Franz Kremer Stadion is located in the middle of a large wood and includes a stand down one touchline and open terracing around the other three sides. Early table toppers Köln went into this game with a 100% record of two wins but proved no match for a skilful and hungry Düsseldorf side who put the outcome beyond doubt with four unanswered first-half goals. Tuğrul Erat and Tom Golley both scored twice with Köln’s second-half consolation coming from Jannis Nikolaou.

1FC Köln U21 1 Fortuna Düsseldorf U23 4
Regionalliga West
At: Franz Kremer Stadion
Kick-off: 7-30 pm
Admission: 10 euro (seat) or 5 euro (standing); Programme: free (4 pages)
Weather: sunny spells and showers

1FC Köln U21 (white/white/white): 1. Marcel Schuhen, 2. Koray Kacinoglu, 4. Jannik Müller, 5. Stefan Schwellenbach (capt), 6. Danilo Wiebe, 8. Mario Engles, 9. Marco Ban, 11. Marius Laux, 18. Vojno Jesic, 21. Fabian Schnellhardt, 23. Jannis Nikolaou. Subs: 20gk. Sven Bacher (not used), 7. Fabio La Monica (for Jesic, 80), 10. Robin Hömig (not used), 15. Sven Engelke (for Müller, ht), 16. Lukas Scepanik (not used), 17. Fabian Poß (not used), 19. Steffen Schäfer (for Schwellenbach, 42). Coach: Stephan Engels.

Fortuna Düsseldorf U23 (red/red/red): 22. Robin Heller, 6. Jens Langeneke, 7. Tuğrul Erat, 8. Christian Weber (capt), 17. Eren Taskin, 18. Marcel Hofrath, 19. Tim Golley, 26. Muhammet Karpuz, 28. Christian Gartner, 29. Ben Halloran, 30. Juanan. Subs: 1gk. Tim Boss (not used), 5. Robin Urban (not used), 13. Samuel Piette, (for Weber, 66) 14. Kaan Akca (for Golley, 80), 16. Aliosman Aydin (not used), 20. Megim Fejzullahu (for Taskin, 63), 23. Bastian Müller (not used). Coach: Taskin Aksoy.

Referee: Dominik Jolk
Assistants: Benjamin Bläser and Waldemar Ebel

Attendance: 750
Duration: first-half: 45:02; second-half: 45:07

Goals:
0-1 Tuğrul Erat (18)
0-2 Tim Golley (24)
0-3 Tuğrul Erat (34)
0-4 Tim Golley (38)
1-4 Jannis Nikolaou (85)

Cards:
Köln: none
Düsseldorf: Eren Taskin (YC, 35)

Hanley Town 2 Chadderton 2

Saturday 3rd August 2013

Following something of a pattern from the past few seasons, I opted to watch a newly-promoted side play their first game at a higher level and so this afternoon made a first visit to Abbey Lane in over 20 years. Hanley Town, Staffordshire County Senior League champions, hosted Chadderton for their first-ever North-West Counties League game and began life at step six with a 2-2 draw. Following a goalless first half in front of a decent gathering of locals and groundhoppers, Hanley twice took the lead through Joel Stair and Danny Tainton. Twice, however, they were pegged back by equalising goals from Chadderton’s Matthew Russell and Naill Sultan. The only disappointment on an excellent afternoon being the programme sell out long before I arrived 80 minutes before kick-off.

Hanley Town 2 Chadderton 2
North-West Counties League Division One
At: Abbey Lane
Kick-off: 3-00 pm
Admission: £4; Programme: sold out
Weather: warm and sunny

Hanley Town (blue/blue/blue): 1. Dave Jackson, 2. Josh Goodall, 3. Tom Hall, 4. Josh Thorpe, 5. Joel Stair, 6. Michael Machin, 7. Philip Parkes (capt), 8. Ben Blowers, 9. Danny Tainton, 10. Theo Stair, 11. Sean Mallin. Subs: 12. Neil Edwards (not used), 14. Nathan Grice (for Hall, 90+3), 15. Philip Ben Sambrook (not used), 16. Phillip Mannion (for Mallin, 76), 17. Thomas Cawley (not used).

Chadderton (red/black/black): 1. Nathan Beckett, 2. Benjamin Fletcher, 3. Christopher Pauley (capt), 4. Benjamin Greenidge, 5. Keith Melvin, 6. Michael Cheetham, 7. Sean Sherwood, 8. Macauley Harewood, 9. Niall Sultan, 10. Matthew Russell, 11. Joseph Jacombs. Subs: 12. Clive Best (for Jacombs, 67), 14. Sean Nolan (not used), 15. James Fawcett (for Harewood, 76), 16. Matthew O'Keefe (not used).

Referee: D. Critchlow.
Assistants: G. Wild and S. Winley.

Attendance: 203
Duration: first-half: 45:28; second-half: 50:15

Goals:
1-0 Joel Stair (49)
1-1 Matthew Russell (54)
2-1 Danny Tainton (74)
2-2 Niall Sultan (84)

Cards:
Hanley: Josh Thorpe (YC, 68)
Chadderton: Michael Cheetham (YC, 30)

Newcastle Town 0 Port Vale 4

Sunday 7th July 2013

My longer-than-usual summer hiatus from football briefly ended this afternoon for a very special personal reason. I’d previously seen at least one match on 352 of the 366 days of the year though, for some reason, 7th July had always proved elusive. And what a pleasure it was to add date number 353 to my tally watching this excellent pre-season fixture. In very warm conditions more suited to cricket, Port Vale scored two unanswered goals in each half to record a comfortable 4-0 victory. Gareth Tomlin, a summber signing from Southend United, bagged a brace during the second half to add to first-half strikes from Tom Pope and Louis Dodds. Newcastle Town, undoubtedly, won off the field with a decent attendance of 1446, all of whom I’m sure went home happy like me!

Newcastle Town 0 Port Vale 4
Pre-Season Friendly
At: Aspire Stadium, Buckmaster Avenue, Clayton
Kick-off: 2-30pm
Admission: £7 seat; Programme: £1-50 (48 pages)
Weather: hot and sunny

First Half
Newcastle Town (blue/blue/white): 1. Dave Parton, 2. Matt Lowe, 3. James Askey, 4. Warren Holmes, 5. Aaron Carter, 6. Andy Nicholls, 7. Kyle Diskin, 8. Dan Skelton (capt), 9. Tom France, 10. Nathan Sutton, 11. Tim Sanders. No first half substitutions.

Port Vale (yellow/black/black): 1. Chris Neal, 6. Richard Duffy, 4. Chris Robertson, 5. Joe Davis, 2. Adam Yates, 7. Jennison Myrie Williams, 14. Chris Lines, 8. Doug Loft (capt), 11. Louis Dodds, 9. Tom Pope, 10. Ben Williamson. No first half substitutions.

Second Half
Newcastle Town (blue/blue/white): 1. Dave Parton, 2. Matt Lowe, 3. James Askey, 4. Warren Holmes, 5. Aaron Carter, 6. Andy Nicholls, 7. Kyle Diskin, 8. Dan Skelton (capt), 14. Leon Ashman, 15. Jordan Cole, 17. Ash Hill. Subs: 12. Josh Gordon (for Diskin, 55), 18. Luke Askey (for Nicholls, 55), 11. Aaron Brady (for Skelton, 70), 16, Trialist (for Holmes, 76), 1. Josh Foxall (for Parton, 80), 10. Trialist (for Lowe, ???).

Port Vale (yellow/black/black): 12. Sam Johnson, 6. Richard Duffy, 23. Liam Chilvers, 5. Joe Davis (capt), 2. Adam Yates, 15. Chris Shuker, 18. Ryan Lloyd, 16. Gary O’Neill, 3. Kaid Mohamed, 20. Liam Dickinson, 22. Gavin Tomlin. Subs: 25. Price (for Davis, 61), 19. Shay Alexander (for Duffy, 61), 14. Ben Jefford (for Yates, 61), 24. Jordan Hugill (for Lloyd, 72).

Referee: Steve Rushton.
Assistants: Simon Bennett and Mark Murfitt.

Attendance: 1446
Duration: first-half: 45:44; second-half: 45:30

Goals:
0-1 Tom Pope (5)
0-2 Louis Dodds (14)
0-3 Gavin Tomlin (52)
0-4 Gavin Tomlin (61)


Cards: None