The annual extravaganza that is the Welsh Groundhop took place over the August bank Holiday weekend and allowed hoppers from all over Britain (and beyond) to take in ten matches in four days. For the second year running the hop featured games from the Mid Wales League and covered parts of Ceredigion and Powys, which if you look at a map of Wales is a pretty wide geographical spread.
As ever it's a great occasion and the clubs do go out of their way to make you welcome and it's also an opportunity to catch up with friends and put the world to right.
There is lots to get through, so I will do my best to keep it brief...
The hop began on Friday evening at the Recreation Ground, Berriew but as I had visited this ground three years ago for a Friendly game against Caersws, which the homesters won 3-2, I decided it wasn't worth taking the day off work. The visitors on Friday were Llanidloes Town, who ran out 3-1 winners and there was a good crowd of 291.
The pictures below are what I took on a sunny July afternoon in 2008 and i'm presuming very little has changed in the intervening years.
11.30am Saturday 27th August 2011Mid Wales League Division Two
Tregaron Turfs 4-2 Machynlleth
Attendance: 231
I picked up the Hop on the Saturday morning and proceedings were kicked off at the Secondary School field, the ground being exactly that, in Tregaron.
It was an excellent end-to-end game but ultimately it was Tregaron's finishing that won them the points. The scores were level at the interval with Turfs' Clint Middleton's 9th minute header being cancelled out by Macynthlleth's Max Jones in the 18th minute.
In the second period Tregaron's more clinical finishing proved to be the difference between the sides as they raced into a 4-1 lead. Goals from Sam Middleton (62), Ismael Abberton (68) and substitute Dafydd Davies (76) put the game beyond Machynlleth but they did grab a consolation in stoppage time through Jim Johnston.
 |
| Machynlleth's Jones (stripes) begins his leap to head home the equaliser |
 |
| Machynlleth's number one saves once again from Turf's Abberton, but the Tregaron striker wasn't to be denied, scoring soon after |
2.30pm Saturday 27th August 2011Mid Wales League Division Two
Bont 2-3 Llanfair United
Attendance: 244
Next it was onto the village of Pontrhydfendigaid or rather, more specifically, Pantyfedwen Park where Bont play their home games.
The ground is railed down two sides of the pitch, but no hard standing, and has a small covered stand. This was absolutely rammed today as the hoppers took shelter from the rain.
The final scoreline makes the game look closer than it was, as the visitors missed a sackful of chances. Llanfair were 2-0 up inside 11 minutes with goals from Andrew Hughes and Ross Frame and were absolutely cruising. Bont pulled a goal back on 25 minutes through Mike Lowe but Llanfair continued to press. Geraint Jones restored the visitors two goal lead on 57 minutes and it seemed the victory was secure.
On 72 minutes they let Bont back into the game once again when Dewi Evans scored and Llanfair were, unbelievably, hanging on from this point and it did appear that Bont were going to grab an unlikely draw. However Llanfair did manage to hold on to move up to second in the table and leave Bont still searching for their first win of the season.
The ground is railed down two sides of the pitch, but no hard standing, and has a small covered stand. This was absolutely rammed today as the hoppers took shelter from the rain.
The final scoreline makes the game look closer than it was, as the visitors missed a sackful of chances. Llanfair were 2-0 up inside 11 minutes with goals from Andrew Hughes and Ross Frame and were absolutely cruising. Bont pulled a goal back on 25 minutes through Mike Lowe but Llanfair continued to press. Geraint Jones restored the visitors two goal lead on 57 minutes and it seemed the victory was secure.
On 72 minutes they let Bont back into the game once again when Dewi Evans scored and Llanfair were, unbelievably, hanging on from this point and it did appear that Bont were going to grab an unlikely draw. However Llanfair did manage to hold on to move up to second in the table and leave Bont still searching for their first win of the season.
6.15pm Saturday 27th August 2011Bow Street 1-2 Tywyn/Bryncrug
Attendance: 285
The final match of the day took us north of Aberystwyth to Bow Street and the quite delightful Cae Piod. The best ground of the day and the Lamb pasties that were on sale were absolutely gorgeous. Not sure if that influenced my perception of the ground!
This was another good advert for Mid Wales football as both teams produced a decent game with a bit of an edge to it. It did threaten to boil over at some stages but the referee manged to keep on top of it. Just.
The game itself was won by the visitors, leaving Bow Street still searching for their first win of the season. Stephen Washbrook gave Tywyn the lead just before half time but 'The Magpies' thought they'd pinched a draw when Clive Morgan equalised on 81 minutes. However just 60 seconds later Nick Williams scored what proved to be the winner.
 |
| Bow Street players mob Clive Morgan after his goal, but their joy was shortlived |
That concluded the days entertainment and what a great day it was. All that was left to do was to head back to base in Aberystwyth , where it was then a quick stoll into town, then a quick sample of a few ales in the superb Ship and Castle and then finally getting some shut eye ready for another day in paradise!!
No comments:
Post a Comment