Tostock Pirates v Borussia Martlesham 2.2.20

122: Sun 2 February 2020, 10:30am, Gainsborough Plating Fields BSE, Suffolk FA Sunday Cup Quarter-Final, Tostock Pirates v Borussia Martlesham

Borussia Martlesham strike three times in the final nine minutes to fight back from a first half Tostock goal to knock out their Bury Sunday League opponents as they advance to the Suffolk Sunday Cup Semi-finals. 

The home side, who sit 4th in Division One of the Bury Sunday League, though we're on top in the first half and arguably could've made went into the break more than just the single goal up, with Theo Barnard hitting a well hit strike just wide of the top corner in the second minute, prior to seeing a low shot from close range denied on 19 minutes. Tostock's long throws did cause a little bit of trouble for the Martlesham defence on a few occasions, one seeing Tom Fenner head on but was easy for the keeper on 20 minutes. The aforementioned Barnard was quite influential for the hosts, seeing a lot of the ball especially in the opening 45 minutes, the forward's latest attempt seeing a half-volley inside the box deflected wide for a corner on the half-hour mark. 

Although the Bury side had a lot of the ball, having a fair amount of chances there weren't a great deal of clear cut chances with the 2nd placed visitors in the Ipswich Sunday League seeing a shot on the edge of the area blocked well by the chest of Tom Fenner nine minutes before the interval, in a rare notable chance for the away side in the first half. Tostock meanwhile forced a good diving save out of the keeper a minute later after a low shot from outside the box forced the keeper to dive across and take a good catch. 

Last year's County Cup finalists did break the deadlock however on 38 minutes, Theo Barnard's long throw in on the right evaded the keeper at his near post before bounces off the inside of the same post falling to a Tostock man close to the back post who was on hand to finish well into the top left corner, 1-0 Tostock going into the interval. 

HALF TIME: Tostock Pirates 1-0 Borussia Martlesham 

The second half by contrast saw the visitors dominate somewhat more of the ball certainly more in the latter stages of the half, in search of an equaliser as a shot had to be deflected wide for a corner shortly after the break. The hosts though still had some great opportunities on the counter to double their advantage with Barnard's shot on the byline inside the area going narrowly wide of the bottom far corner on 48 minutes. Martlesham meanwhile saw a header from close range headed away twice from just ahead of the goal-line 6 minutes later, whilst Barnard almost doubled Tostock's lead once more in the 55th minute. 

Again through dangerously on the byline the forward shot low across the face of goal but again just passed the far corner, despite feeling he was being fouled in the process. Up the other end, Martlesham did have a decent chance on 65 minutes but the low shot was easy for Dan Stobbart. Tostock though had a fantastic chance to increase their advantage three minutes later, as a back pass led to an in-direct free-kick 13-yards from goal, as well as a sin bin for the visitors, though the shot riffled at goal from the lay off was deflected over the bar, with Martlesham getting plenty of bodies on the line.

As the game entered its final 17 minutes it was Tostock who went close again, Barnard's free-kick outside the box was blocked as far as the Tostock number 9 whose shot towards the bottom corner was deflected on its way through for the keeper to gather diving down. 

With the scoreline still 1-0 the game was very much still there for the taking for either side, with the visitors looking to take advantage of their hosts missed opportunities, going close twice in the space of as many minutes with 13 minutes remaining. Martlesham's corner in found a yellow head close to the back post to direct the ball towards the top corner across goal but was headed well off the goal-line, followed by a Martlesham low strike inside the box going an inch wide of the bottom far corner. 

Martlesham then restored parity with 9 minutes remaining as a corner in out on the right picked out a man from close range at the back post whose bullet header nestled into the bottom right corner, 1-1. From that point on the game's momentum switched in favour of the away side, who almost quickly turned the game around had it not been for a terrific reaction save from Dan Stobbart, coming three minutes after the equaliser. The shot inside the box was deftly lifted towards the top corner, seemingly dipping over the keeper and into the net until the goalkeeper leaped up well to tip the ball over his crossbar to keep the scores level. 

The Tostock stopper however was unable to prevent Martlesham from going in front with 4 minutes remaining after a corner in on the left found a man unmarked at the left post to finish easily into the top left corner, 1-2 Martlesham. Tostock did have a half chance though to draw level a minute later, but the cross was too near to the keeper to parry away on his goal-line at his near post. On the stroke of the final whistle meanwhile, Martlesham made the game safe with a cracking finish from yet another corner. The set-piece, again from the left, fell perfectly to a man 8-yards out at the far post to fire home a great volley past Stobbart and into the roof of the net to seal Martlesham's comeback win and ensure the visitor's passage through to Thursday's Semi-final draw, leaving their hosts ruing some fairly crucial missed chances. 

FULL TIME: Tostock Pirates 1-3 Borussia Martlesham 

Tostock

1 Dan Stobbart

2 Tom Fenner

14 Chaplin

26 Theo Barnard

32 Seymour

Subs 

3 Buckmaster

8 Will Stobbart 

Booked: Barnard (64'), B (73')

Sin binned Langfield (67'),

Goals: T (38'), Aaron King (86'), Marcus Taylor (81', 90'). Goal Log: 38mins 1-0, 81 mins 1-1, 86 mins 1-2, 90 mins 1-3.

Needham Market v Hednesford Town 1.2.2020

121: Sat 1 February 2020, 3pm, Bloomfields, Bet Victor Southern League Central Premier Division, Needham Market v Hednesford Town

Needham Market pick up their third straight win in the space of a week with a topsy-turvy encounter with Hednesford.

The Marketmen went in front a minute in, Adam Mills' shot was saved as Callum Page bundled in on the follow up for his third goal in as many games. The lead didn't last long however, as the Pitmen equalised in the tenth minute as Bailey tapped home from a corner. Hednesford though saw a fierce shot deflected just wide of the top corner on 14 minutes with the scores level at 1-1, whilst King headed wide from point blank range five minutes later.

Needham though regained their lead 11 minutes before the break, Callum Page squared across to Adam Mills who fired into the roof of the net from close range.  The hosts then made it 3-1 8 minutes before the interval as Billy Hunt ran onto a back pass to finish into the net past the onrushing keeper. The Marketmen therefore going into half-time 3-1 up. 

HT: Needham Market 3-1 Hednesford Town

The second half saw Needham go close to a fourth early on as Billy Hunt's low shot from inside the box on 53 minutes was saved well whilst Noah Collard's half-volley went just the wrong side of the post on 66 minutes, coming two minutes after Glover headed a cross in over the bar for the visitors. Hednesford though reduced the deficit on 74 minutes as King headed home from a cross into the box, followed by Hodge restoring parity just 4 minutes later firing home into the bottom far corner after finding space just ahead of the edge of the box.

The hosts meanwhile scored the winner with 6 minutes to go as James Baker flicked home Hunt's low cross, not before some great last ditch defending saw Glover's goal bound shot cleared off the line. The visitors however had one final chance to grab a point a minute into stoppage time but the shot from an unmarked position went just wide of the bottom corner as Needham did the double over their opponent's, moving up to 14th in the process. 

FT: Needham 4-3 Hednesford Town

Needham Market:-

1 Finlay Shorten

2 Jake Dye

3 Callum Sturgess

4 Noah Collard

5 Keiran Morphew (capt)

6 Daniel Morphew

7 Joseph Marsden (82' Baker) 

8 Callum Page (90'+2' Santa) 

9 Billy Hunt

10 Craig Parker

11 Adam Mills

Subs

12 James Baker

14 Jordao Diogo

15 Jamahl Godward

16 Jose Santa

17 Nathan Munson (GK) 

Hednesford Town:-

1 Shaun Rowley

2 Matthias Curley 

3 Samuel Griffiths 

4 Ben Bailey (capt) 

5 Charlie Gatter

6 Babtomiwa Solanke (68' Hallahan) 

7 Ben O'hanlon

8 Reece King

9 Daniel Glover

10 Soiyir Sanali (57' Hodge) 

11 Osebi Abadaki

Subs:

12 Izak Reid

14 Elliot Hodge

15 Jack Hallahan

16 Thomas Fry

17 Jose Veiga (GK) 

Booked: Glover (40'), Sanali (42'), Hunt (45'), O'Hanlan (75').

Goals: Page (1'), Mills (34'), Hunt (37'), Baker (84'); Bailey (10'), King (74'), Hodge (78').

 

Star man/MOTM Noah Collard

Entertainment 4.5

GROUNDHOPPING: 25 to 28 January 2020

Over the last few days I've went to back three venues I've not been to that regularly, with Saturday seeing me make my second trip to Redditch United's TRICO Stadium, whilst Sunday was also my second visit to Whelnetham's Community Centre, followed by my first visit to AFC Rushden & Diamonds' Hayden Road, for my first midweek away game of 2020 and first new ground of the new decade.

Starting with Saturday, I joined the Needham Market coach onto Redditch United for the club's second away trip of the new year for their Southern Central Premier Division clash. After getting on the coach at 10:15am, we arrived at Redditch at quarter-past-one, as I stood to watch a few minutes of the end of a young MK Dons side taking on a Redditch youth side- not sure what the score was but it was right at the end. After making my way to and from the bar, which was upstairs, above the main stand (which held a fair amount of seats either side of the tunnel), overlooking the pitch I then returned downstairs for a quick few minute look in the club shop to look at the programmes. As per usual for me, I purchased more than originally intending to- with the bundle including a Malta v England 2018 World Cup Qualifier, an Ipswich v Spurs programme from 2000 and a bundle of Manchester United programmes- all dating around the 2000s, including 2 away ones v Stuttgart (2003) and Wimbledon (2000), will include pics of each trip either at the bottom of this or in a separate post.

Anyway, after paying for the programmes I returned to the bar where our matchday secretary was waiting to hand me the lineup to post onto the league website. Between then and the teamsheet being printed I went downstairs and back up randomly a few times before finding Redditch's secretary with the teamsheets, who told me that our keeper's been injured so he's going to talk to the referee. Second time lucky, he then handed me the new version as I went back upstairs to inform everyone on the change, whilst also being lucky to pick up a matchday programme whilst in the bar.

The ground I thought was quite nice, with the club shop on the left as we entered the gate with the right-hand goal on our right along with the terrace stand on our right. Also quite liked the stand that stood behind the dugouts on the far touchline, serving as a handy terrace covered stand which got a fair bit of use during the game. Behind the far goal however there wasn't a great amount of space but enough to stand behind the goal, should you wish to like we did- but overall a nice ground.

Closer to kick off, I then spoke to the Needham keeper whilst watching the team retreat inside following the warm up, before chatting to supporters whilst waiting for the teams to take to the field. The teams then arrived as the game got underway. First half I thought Needham could've really had 6 or 7 at half-time, the post was really their major nemesis that afternoon as 3 good goals from Craig Parker, Billy Hunt and Callum Page saw Needham 3-0 up comfortably at the interval, with league debutant, first team wise, Fin Shorten untroubled but did what he had to well.

Second half, Redditch came out with a bit more fight, controlling a bit more possession though again they still never really tested Shorten, who kept a shut out, with the score remaining the same despite Needham having a few more clear cut chances to add to their advantage. After that it was back onto the coach where I looked through the various programmes I had got from the day whilst waiting for everyone else to return to the coach. We then departed the ground at the normal time of 6pm and made our way back to Suffolk.

Sunday meanwhile, I was offered a lift to go to Whelnetham and watch a Bury Sunday League Division One encounter between reigning champions Gym United, currently fifth, and bottom of the division Mellis. I quite like the Whelnetham set up there, with the changing rooms building next door beside the near goal with steps up the pitch with a small stand around the centre circle which was perfect to watch the game from, so we did just that. The only negative is that, despite the slope and wooden fence behind the goal, you parked your car at your own risk- as even the car I arrived in got close to being hit despite being right in the corner. Anyway, for the first 65 minutes or so I would say Mellis looked more like the team higher in the table as they had a lot of the ball and did have chances to add possibly another goal or so- deservedly taking an early lead in the eighth minute.

Although Gym hit back well to pick up a 5-1 win, the scoreline I feel isn't really a fair reflection on the game, as although Gym did alright I felt Mellis deserve a bit more credit for their performance than what people will assume from the scoreline.

Tuesday, now last night, as mentioned above I enjoyed my first visit to Hayden Road as Needham Market again had back to back away games. After getting on at 4:30pm and stopping off at Histon and seeing off the rush hour traffic we arrived at Rushden at 6:15pm as we parked up outside the ground, right next to the turnstiles where we went into the ground. Immediately in front of us, on the left hand side was the night's match programme though reduced from £2.50 to £1.50 as it was dated from the postponed fixture on my birthday two weeks previous. Very nice programme I thought, but tiny bit disappointing that it was out of date but that's how it goes.

The ground is very nicely set up, with stands, both terraced and seated situated around the ground, with gravel terracing behind the goal outside the clubhouse and in front of the clubhouse. Overall the ground is one of my favourites and well worth a visit. The clubhouse is situated inside a door round the corner behind the goal, which once you know your way around you're fine but I'm not criticising. After going around like usual, I went briefly into the boardroom to help our matchday secretary upload the team lineup onto the league website before again going around and finding a printed teamsheet before waiting for kick off. First half, Needham were on top well for the first 20 minutes with some fun and interesting conversations taking place, as like every Needham 1st team game in 2020 I updated the twitter during the game, as well as for away games like the last 2 trying to record match footage (successfully recording all three of the game's goals (2 for Needham) as well as the second Saturday) to add to a highlight video. Saturday's video is available here (please note video, write up and all photos here are (c) Copyrighted by myself, as stated on my blog) (last night's I will try and do in the next few days). Rushden though levelled during their 25 minutes spell on top, as both went in a goal apiece.

Half time I decided to buy some chips at the very reasonable price of £1.80, which tasted really nice and took no time at all, so I tucked into them whilst talking to some of the visiting contingent and checking the notifications on the club Twitter account. It has to be said, those chips were NICE! Second half was fairly similar to the first but bit more end to end though Needham were on top for the first portion of the half, whilst Diamonds chased an equaliser to no avail thanks to some resolute strong defending from the determined Marketmen to make it back to back wins, as well returned back to the clubhouse to look back on the game between ourselves and the players, whilst also selecting a MOTM to then post on Twitter. We then returned to the coach at half ten when we then departed for home, not arriving back until half one in the morning after having a 'enjoyable' detour round Cambridge with one of the slip roads shut! Eventually though I did arrive home after a nice 40 minute walk. Photos/videos from these games are below: