TT REPORTS 2019-20 updated on 16/03/20 Click here to view TT REPORTS INDEX 2019-20 TT No.122: Brian Buck - Saturday 14th March 2020; East Ruston v Hickling; Walcott Lighthouse Inn North East Norfolk League Division 2 Section 1; Result: 3-1; Attendance: 20 approx. With most of fixtures at Step 6 and above called off because of the dreaded Coronavirus, it was down to one of the feeder leagues to get my fix today. So, not wanting to catch anything on public transport, apart from a train or two of course, I elected to drive to my game and I picked one that is, as far, as I know, very difficult to do by public transport. It took me just over two hours to get here and the ground is adjacent to the village hall, not that they really need one, as this is a very small village. The changing rooms are wooden and here I bumped into the jovial home management team, who pointed me in the direction of the local pub. After my recent experience of paying £4 for a pulled pork roll at the Hampshire FA ground, I thought that I couldn’t do any worse here. I was wrong. The chilli con carne with pasta with garlic bread (two slices) for £4.50 looked tempting and when it arrived it tasted nice. Problem was that it came in a large coffee mug! Back at the ground I mentioned this to my ‘trip advisor’ who told me, “I forgot to tell you that the food’s not very good!" Perhaps the clue was that no one came around to ask me if I was enjoying my meal, possibly because I didn't give them time, as I ate it in a few mouthfuls! Anyway, by now we were ready to go and once the rotund ref had finished off his fag the game soon got underway. The pitch, a bumpy one, was rather hemmed in on all sides, but it was not unattractive and daffodils dotted around made it look quite pleasant. They also have a small wooden stand here, but recently its roof got blown off! Eventually though I watched the match sat on a tree stump. It was a good honest game contested by players of varying ages and ability. But both sides gave their all and this was an enjoyable afternoon. The first half saw Hickling start well, but without being able to score from the chances they created. Then the hosts took over and they took the lead on 31 minutes with a close-range effort. In the second half I was joined by the home lino who offered me some of his biscuits! ‘His’ side saw off the game with two goals in a minute on the 60-minute mark, the first of these coming from a good one touch passing movement, difficult on a pitch like this. On 79 minutes Hickling got the goal they probably deserved, from the spot, given for what I would call, an ordinary foul, but in the ref’s eyes serious enough for the perpetrator to be shown a yellow card. Soon the game was at an end and after having a farewell chat with the home manager and a visit to the WC in the away dressing room, where I might have caught the virus off this lot, I made my way home. As I left the ref was having another fag! When will my next game be? contributed on 17/03/20 TT No.121: Keith Aslan - Saturday 14th March 2020; AFC STONEHAM v Solent University; Wessex League Premier; Kick Off: 14.59; Result: 2-2; Admission & programme: £3 for ancients (a bargain); Attendance: 108 official – (131 accurate(ish) - 118 home, 4 away & 9 neutral) Plane tickets; check. Accommodation booked; check. Jersey here I come. Westside however didn't fancy the trip and less than 24 hours before kick-off they decided to stay at home to 'protect players safety'. Visiting an island with no cases of Coronavirus is dangerous. Let’s just spend the day shopping, going to the pub, travelling round on public transport etc. Far less risk there. So, my marquee trip of the season went down the chute and I found myself in more prosaic surroundings. Although Stoneham is about a mile from Southampton Airport Station as the crow flies, unless you've got wings it's a very long, circuitous walk. Eastleigh is the station you want with a door to door bus service, number 2, every 15 minutes. Waterloo was in meltdown with a signal failure closing three quarters of the station and cancelling the same ratio of trains. You'd have thought that the number of weekends the place is shut for 'Rail improvement work', they might have improved the signals a bit. On the underground an announcement came over the ‘tannoy’ that Waterloo has fourteen escalators. All very interesting but hardly relevant to my journey. Stoneham only moved into their current ground a couple of months ago. It's a sports complex, like Skelmersdale last weekend there's nothing wrong with it, just a bit samey from the neutrals point of view. Much has been made about not being allowed entrance unless you've filled out a form on a computer and printed off a bar code to scan yourself in. 'Not working today mate' so people were freely going about their business without hinderance. Does it ever work? Once inside, the cafe was the selling point for me. Food, drink and chat with hoppers I hadn't seen for ages while you can watch the lunchtime football on a big screen, or you could if there was any to watch. The ground is surrounded by a green fence with an Atcost stand, you get the picture. No handshakes of course, but the players all went into a pre-match homo-erotic huddle, no chance of catching an infection there then. A good sporting contest (in spite of missing out the 'Respect' bit), a draw just about the right result although Solent’s equalizer came in the time referees add on to the end of games for no particular reason. Stoneham are going great guns in the league, two points behind the leaders, not that it matters much now. They were formed in 1918 and in their very thorough history highlighted in the programme, I learned this was previously the old Ordnance Survey club. I have fond memories of visiting them because the programme had a photograph of an Ordnance Survey map on the cover, I'm really into that sort of thing. Can't remember anything else about the trip though. Must look up the programme. Waterloo back to normal on my return so an early arrival home. Shocked to find Match of the Day has been replaced by Mrs. Browns Boys. Things really are getting serious. I shall be spending the week ensconced in my country dacha. This isn't self- isolation, I just don't have much of a social life. contributed on 15/03/20 TT No.120: Brian Buck - Saturday 7th March 2020; Hazlemere Sports v Stokenchurch; ulhsport Hellenic League Division 2 South; Kick-Off: 3pm; Result: 1- 0; Attendance: 7. My second game was an unhurried 25-minute drive away and not too far from Holmer Green. On my arrival, shortly before 1pm, there weren’t too many people around. This was a situation which didn’t get much better for the whole of my stay here! I was concerned that the game might not be on, so I found a door which took me to the first-floor bar. There was a bloke here, behind the bar with the shutters down. He might have been in the process of robbing it for all I know, but he didn’t know if the match was on or off! Anyway, I went and sat in the car and about half an hour later a few people started to arrive. One home person said that he was going to leave it to the ref to decide if the match was on or not. I asked him if he was the secretary and he told me that the pitch had passed an inspection on the previous evening. He replied, “Oh no, he’s away watching football today. We’ve got about ten people missing today, both players and committee!” Soon the ref did arrive. He was a late appointment and was slightly put out that his golf had been interrupted. He also added that, he was more used to officiating at ‘proper’ grounds rather than at recreation grounds like this. Anyway, he inspected the pitch in his shiny brown shoes and as he came back without any mud on them, so it was game on. At this point I headed off to the pub, for what was now a truncated slurp, before returning for the match on a pitch, roped off on two sides. Most of the ‘crowd’ sat on the two subs benches, which had vacant spaces because neither side had any subs! Furthermore, the visitors didn’t even have a lino. That was until soon after the match started and the visiting goalkeeper noticed a father and son taking their dog for a walk and he offered the latter, (no not the dog!) to run the line for £20. This he did and for such a young lad he was very good. The game was awful. Eventually I found a park bench to sit on some distance from the pitch and from here I had more fun stroking passing dogs.