Ites a knockout
I travelled overseas for a non-League match last weekend. When I say overseas, I mean I crossed The Swale to visit the Isle of Sheppey and watch the
island’s premier club, Sheppey United. I was given a warm welcome and had a fantastic day, unlike their visitors, Beckenham Town, who were on the end of a 5-1 defeat. It was a funny game, Sheppey United scored regularly, but Beckenham were on top for periods of the game. At 3-1, the home fans were getting edgy as Town piled on the pressure. Indeed, Sheppey’s keeper, Aiden Prall, was arguably the man of the match.
Becks arrive looking posh
Beckenham’s faithful arrived in a nice bright red coach to celebrate Non-League Day. By the end, I suspect the team’s coach had a bright red face, as the defeat means Beckenham slipped from third place in the Isthmian League South East Division. I was curious about Sheppey’s nickname, The Ites. It’s an easy explanation: the local press referred to Sheppey United as the Sheppeyites when they first played in 1890. Are there more ‘ites’ in the country? Well, there are Burnleyites, Spirites and Durhamites, but all this talk of ‘ites’ has got me walking around my home, impersonating Desmond Dekker singing about the Israelites.
Total Power
I couldn’t help noticing at Sheppey United’s comfortable ground that it is called the Total Power Stadium, although I am sure regulars refer to it by its traditional name of Holm Park. However, the name reminded me of a website domain that Powergen allegedly used briefly for their Italian operation – www.powergenitalia.com was the name. Powergen denied it had anything to do with them. If you’re interested, there are some other funny websites at this link – https://methodshop.com/bad-urls/.
Semi-Final preview
The FA Trophy semi-finals take place on April Fools Day, featuring four National League clubs. Struggling Gateshead are home to playoff contenders Barnet. Even though 16 places separate the two clubs in the National League, Gateshead have conceded fewer goals this season than Barnet. Barnet’s gung-ho approach has them looking certainties to be one of the six sides competing for Football League status through the playoffs. The other semi is between Altrincham and FC Halifax Town, which is a more mid-table affair, although Halifax will need a few more points to ensure safety. Three of the sides won last weekend, with FC Halifax missing out after a 2-0 defeat at high-flying Chesterfield.
Hitting the high notes
The potential of a match between Rising Ballers Kensington and Sopranos FC certainly spurred a couple of readers to get to their keyboards. (See last week’s headline article). Clearly, the article struck a chord (oops, I’ve started again). One reader asked whether adding Highworth Town to Rising Ballers, and Sopranos would make an interesting treble. I doubt it. Another reader told me to stick the topic up my arias. Charming.
Games to die for
It’s not often this review looks north of the border, but a PDM Buildbase West of Scotland League Premier Division team caught my eye this week. The wonderfully-named Kilwinning Rangers drew 1-1 with Cumnock Juniors. If Kilwinning’s name reflects their approach to football, it doesn’t seem to work, as the club sits at the foot of the division with 16 points from 18 games.
Smart work
I had the pleasure of seeing the Comedy Store Players on Sunday evening and meeting Andy Smart. The group of six performed some outstanding
improvisational comedy, which is well worth a trip to London’s West End. Andy Smart is one of the performers, and he has recently become the Kenneth Wolstenholme (Guy Mowbray if you’re under 40) of Farnborough FC, commentating on home games. Farnborough won 1-0 this weekend at Hampton & Richmond Borough, perhaps turning over a new leaf, as their scorer was Jon Page. Incidentally, I’ll forgive HR&B the ampersand in their name as I like the name of their ground: the Rocket Hospitality Beveree Stadium. Don’t launch the messenger.
Red missed
I recently reported a goalkeeper scoring the penultimate goal of a game. However, there was a real rarity this weekend at Burgess Hill Town where Chatham Town‘s keeper, Nathan Harvey, possibly deserves a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Young Nathan, who is on loan from Charlton Athletic, managed to score the game’s only goal, which was followed soon afterwards by a red card. What about that? A goalkeeper scoring the only goal of a game and receiving a red card. Has that happened before?
