Today's choice of game was a no-brainer really. The Semi-final of a national competition, a good old fashioned South v North encounter, with a place at Wembley up for grabs. What more could you ask for?
Chalfont ply their trade in the Spartan South Midlands League and currently sit 4th with 17 wins this season whilst Glossop are from the North West Counties League and also sit 4th with 20 wins this season. I have to confess that i have seen Glossop play a few times this season (the last time is chronicled on this very website) and have always been mightily impressed with their play, so that did also have a small bearing on my decision to visit Mill Meadow.
Mill Meadow is a pretty basic ground, situated behind the community centre as you enter the very posh Chalfont St Peter. It has a covered seated stand behind the goal and a tiny bit of cover over the terrace next to the clubhouse. I can assure you neither offered full
protection from the weather today as we had four seasons in a day, sun, wind, hail and rain! There is another old wooden stand but this was not in use and has, apparently, been condemned.
The ground was heaving today and I suspect most of the home support had never set foot in the ground before today. The official attendance today was 1,185. The attendance for Chalfont's previous home game was 65. Glossop brought at least 400 fans with them and it was the Hillmen supporters who were making all the noise in the ground.
The game itself was a scrappy affair, with neither side really settling down and producing flowing football. Admittedly, the windy conditions didn't help. However, it was still an incident packed game. It was Chalfont who drew first blood on 21 minutes when a throw in from the right was not dealt with by the Glossop defence and Charlie Strutton toe-poked home after his initial shot was saved. They were two up after 32 minutes when Glossop 'keeper Ashlea Gotham flapped at a corner and John Carroll prodded home.
Chalfont ply their trade in the Spartan South Midlands League and currently sit 4th with 17 wins this season whilst Glossop are from the North West Counties League and also sit 4th with 20 wins this season. I have to confess that i have seen Glossop play a few times this season (the last time is chronicled on this very website) and have always been mightily impressed with their play, so that did also have a small bearing on my decision to visit Mill Meadow.
Mill Meadow is a pretty basic ground, situated behind the community centre as you enter the very posh Chalfont St Peter. It has a covered seated stand behind the goal and a tiny bit of cover over the terrace next to the clubhouse. I can assure you neither offered full
protection from the weather today as we had four seasons in a day, sun, wind, hail and rain! There is another old wooden stand but this was not in use and has, apparently, been condemned. The ground was heaving today and I suspect most of the home support had never set foot in the ground before today. The official attendance today was 1,185. The attendance for Chalfont's previous home game was 65. Glossop brought at least 400 fans with them and it was the Hillmen supporters who were making all the noise in the ground.
The game itself was a scrappy affair, with neither side really settling down and producing flowing football. Admittedly, the windy conditions didn't help. However, it was still an incident packed game. It was Chalfont who drew first blood on 21 minutes when a throw in from the right was not dealt with by the Glossop defence and Charlie Strutton toe-poked home after his initial shot was saved. They were two up after 32 minutes when Glossop 'keeper Ashlea Gotham flapped at a corner and John Carroll prodded home.
Glossop managed to claw a goal back just before half time when a corner was powerfully headed home by an unmarked Jay Gorton. Chalfont made it 3-1 after 49 minutes when Barry Brosnan put away a cross from the right and thus, it would seem, one foot in final. Not so! On 73 minutes a long ball was latched onto by Dave Hodges who coolly lobbed the advancing 'keeper and then just five minutes later another long ball down the left hand side was taken in his stride by Tom Bailey who slotted home to level the tie. Glossop did have a chance to snatch an unlikely winner in stoppage time but a combination of good goalkeeping and desperate defending meant the tie is level going into the second leg next week. The only blot on the day was the fighting that broke out between fans when Glossop made it 3-3. I don't know who started it but the scenes were ugly and it is not what non-league football is all about. The non segregation of fans and the opportunity to mingle freely is part of the charm and hopefully this won't be ruined by some mindless idiots.
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| The "out of bounds" stand |
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| The team line up for the pre-match handshakes |
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| Glossop (in blue) put pressure on the Chalfont goal |
Saturday 28th March 2009
FA Vase Semi-Final 1st Leg
Chalfont St Peter 3-3 Glossop North End
Attendance: 1,185
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