SC UNION 06 BERLIN (Poststadion)

Tuesday 18th May 2011
Berlin Bezirksliga
SC Union 06 Berlin 2-1 Weißenseer FC
Attendance: 35 (h/c)

SC Union are one of two clubs that were formed from the original ironworks team SC Olympia 06 Oberschöneweide, who were based in the East of the city.

This club was a reasonably successful outfit until things came to a head when they reached the regional league finals in 1950. The team was refused permission to travel by the Soviet authorities, so the team fled to the West to take part in these finals and then became known as  Sport-Club Union 06 Berlin.

This club was successful until the building of the Berlin Wall, actually playing in front of healthy crowds at the Olympiastadion, but the decline was such that today the club plays in the regional Berlin Bezirksliga (step 8) in front of paltry clouds (today was no exception as I counted 35 hardy souls present). The club that remained in the East eventually became known as 1.FC Union and are now an established Bundesliga 2 side.

SC Union play their home games at the Poststadion, which is also an athletics stadium and is only a 15 minute walk from the main Berlin Hbf. This evening was their penultimate home game of the season, where they are mid-table, and they were playing bottom of the table Weißenseer FC.

Weißenseer took the lead after 11 minutes when Grunow scored direct from a corner. ‘The Eisern’ were level after 28 minutes when Albers fired a shot from 20 yards which the ‘keeper let squirm away from his grasp.

There was plenty of neat football played but both teams wasted loads of chances. The homesters got the winner two minutes from time when a corner fell to Yüksek Schober in the six-yard box and he made no mistake, firing through the ‘keepers legs.

An enjoyable evening and a bonus game for me, as I only found out about this on the Friday before I departed. Admission was 3 euros, but no programme was produced, however they do usually issue and were happy to give me some copies from earlier in this season.

The ball is about to drop into the net,
direct from a corner, to give Weißenseer the lead.

The local 'nick' behind the goal

"Avoid that bloody wedding" weekend!

BRIDGEND TOWN and ROMAN GLASS ST GEORGE

Friday 29th April 2011
Welsh League Division One
Bridgend Town 2-0 Barry Town
Attendance: 85

After working in the morning, thus completely avoiding any coverage of William and Kate's happy event, it was to South Wales I headed in the evening for a mid-table clash between Bridgend and Barry Town. Bridgend now play their home games at The Brewery Field, which is also the home of Bridgend Rugby Club.  

  

The football club moved to the Brewery Field in 2009 after the consortium that the club was part of purchased the ground. The club had been homeless since leaving Coychurch Road in 2007, which was sold to make way for a supermarket. They had played at Porthcawl and Treforest in the interim. I have to admit the ground is an absolute gem!

The homesters easily won an insipid encounter, which was typical end-of-season fayre. The only thing missing was flip flops and sandals! Richard Ryan gave Bridgend the lead with a penalty after 10 minutes and Michael Walters doubled the lead with a low shot after 61 minutes.

There were a few other hoppers present in a crowd of around 85. A nice evening was rounded of by a quick visit to the Mountain Hare in Brynnau Gwynion, where a swift half of Bullmastiff Welsh Gold went down a treat.

Richard Ryan scores from the penalty spot to give Bridgend the lead.

Saturday 30th April

Western League Division One
Roman Glass St George 3-0 Calne Town
Attendance: 35

The choice of game for the Saturday was a pretty straightforward one, as RGSG were playing their penultimate game at Bell Hill before moving onto to pastures new for the forseeable future. As of next season the first team will be playing their home games at the Gloucestershire FA ground, until floodlights can be installed at Bell Hill.

I was speaking to someone at the club and he said the reason they cannot be installed at the moment is that the ground is too close to the houses, so the pitch needs to be moved 20 or so yards. This will then encroach on the adjacent cricket pitch, so whilst the cricket team is still going it’s a no go. However, within 3-4 years he said he expects the cricket team to have either merged with another local club or possibly to have folded due to dwindling interest. He said they will be back at this ground at some point.

The ground is pretty basic with a small covered terrace hard standing down one side of the pitch. The game was played in baking hot sunshine, but with a very strong breeze, which made flowing football rather difficult.

Although Calne were never out of the game, having good periods of pressure, it was a Paul Coles hat-trick that sealed the points for the homesters. His first effort was a dink over the keeper on 31 minutes after a great through ball. His second came on 49 minutes with a three-yard tap in, after the winger produced a mazy run and crossed in for him. He completed his hat-trick in stoppage time when he bundled the ball in after another good piece of wing play.

Also, just to let you all know I found the ground 1st time as it is well hidden behind the houses BUT if I hadn't been given the heads up by various hoppers i'm not sure I would have!!

UWIC (Cyncoed Road)

The beauty of the Welsh Cup is the occasional oddities the draw throws up. Today was one of those occasions. The University of Wales Institute Cardiff are a team made up of first and second year students and they play in the the fourth tier of Welsh football, the Welsh League division 3. Their home ground is within the Cyncoed Road University Campus.

They are coached by former Welsh International Christian Edwards, who combines this role with a similar one at Aberystwyth whilst also continuing his studies. The opponents today were Bala Town who play in the Welsh Premier, the top tier, and although are having a difficult season results wise they are a team brimming with experience. On paper it seemed a bit of a mis-match.

I booked my train to cardiff back in November, as soon as the draw was made, but it was with some trepidation I left a frost bound North Wales and headed south. I just couldn't see the game being on so I was contemplating chucking my tickets in the bin and looking for a certainty closer to home.

I spoke to the UWIC secretary on the friday evening and he was pretty confident there wouldn't be any problems (last week when South Wales was covered in frost, theirs was one of only two games that went ahead). His confidence was well founded and the game was never in doubt.

It was well worth the trip as, in a major upset, the students stunned the premier league side by dumping them out of the cup.

Bala took an early lead through a Chris Mason shot from the edge of the box (9) before the students came back to lead 2-1. Lewis Murray (13) prodded home before Sam Carrington (18) doubled the advantage. Bala were then reduced to 10 men when left back Mike Thompson was dismissed (35) for an elbow. Bala did continue to press and were unlucky not to be level at the interval when the hit the bar and had two efforts kicked off the line. However the students held firm and were superbly marshalled by skipper Donal Roughneen.

Bala won a penalty within a couple of minutes of the restart, but this was saved by Chris Willis, the UWIC goalkeeper. As the game went on Bala became more frustrated and their challenges became more robust however the students continued to play their football and picked Bala off on the break with two further goals in the last 15 minutes.

An an attack was broken up by the Bala defender, but the attempted back pass was intercepted by Ed Jones (75) who rounded the keeper to slot home.  A superb strike by Murray (88) sealed the win for the students. Bala's misery was further compounded when they were reduced to 9 men in stoppage time Mark Connelly, on his debut, received his second yellow card.

Overall though Bala can have no complaints with the final score. This result puts UWIC into the draw for the last eight and, speaking to a club official, the £12,500 prize money they will recieve for today's victory will keep the club ticking over for a good four seasons. It also leaves the students only three games away from the Europa League...what price for that?

Bala's John Irving shields the ball from UWIC striker Ed Jones.

For the match highlights, courtesy of S4C, then follow this link...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxK8RjtB2dQ&feature=player_embedded

Saturday 29th January 2011

FAW Welsh Cup 4th Round

UWIC 4-1 Bala Town

Attendance: 163