England (17-11-2015)

England 2 - 0 France (Tuesday 17 November 2015), International friendly

Ticket £37-50
Coach £45
Hotel £42
Provisions £2-35
Service food £7-39
Papers £1-90
Pie and tea £7-10
Programme £6
Snacks £1-94
Breakfast £7-95
Total £159-13

Cards on the table. I planned this game in primarily to gain more caps/points for next year's European Championship. A mid week international in November is not something I'd normally relish.
Events on the preceding Friday - while we were en route to Horsham - meant the game took on a different complexion. The match became a symbolic act of defiance and unity against terrorism, so I was anticipating this more than before.

I took half a day's leave and caught the coach down from Manchester Chorlton Street. As it turned out there were only 6 passengers alighting! The driver was buoyant and had a rather eccentric sense of humour - one of his jokes was 'here's a rubbish bag...actually it's not rubbish it's quite a good bag'.
We arrived around 6:30, and after nearly leaving my ticket on the coach I headed straight in. As I had no plans for food I ended up forking out for a chicken balti pie and tea inside. A rare change from tuna sandwiches!

After the stadium attempted to sing Le Marseillaise pre KO, the game got underway. France are something of an unknown quantity at present, with several lesser known players. They are one of the favourites for Euro 2016, despite having only played friendlies since Brazil. Immediately the big names stepped forward, with early runs and efforts from Martial and Cabaye. England's best early chance came when Rooney squared to Sterling, who again misfired. Delle Ali initially looked a bit nervous on his debut, losing the ball a couple of times. Rooney - now on 50 goals - then fired over with a rasping drive. Then Ali rifled in a superb and accurate effort into the top corner to make it 1-0. I was impressed that he'd overcome initial nerves to score on his debut.

If I'm honest the second half fell a bit flat. The early emotions of the game seemed to have left France a bit drained. England doubled their lead when Rooney scored on 47 minutes. We then continued to dominate the midfield, with Ali in particular producing great passing and tackling.

France to be fair carved out the best goal scoring opportunities. First Pogba's long range strike found the roof of the net and then Jack Butland foiled Martial when he sauntered clean through. I heard more than one person around me say that Liverpool should go in for Butland in the transfer window. Pogba then had another half chance on 89 minutes, firing over again. So 2-0 to England, on a night when football was secondary to politics. This may well be my last Wembley game before the Euros next year. 

Horsham YMCA (14-11-2015)

Horsham YMCA 4 - 0 Shoreham (Southern Combination Premier), Saturday 14th November 2015

Entry £6
Programme £1
Tea £1
Raffle £1
Bovril £1
Total £10

This weekend we were visiting friends in Sussex, so I delved into my Non League Directory for grounds local to Horsham. I plumbed for the local option of Horsham YMCA, with nearby grounds including Crawley, Brighton, Three Bridges and Dorking.

Truth be told I am not that familiar with Sussex, so it was with some curiosity that we set off on Friday night. As it turns out the county is best characterised by a sprinkling of smaller towns, with Gatwick Airport to the north east, and Brighton to the south.  Horsham itself is reportedly the best of the bunch, with rows of independent shops, and trendy bars/restaurants aplenty. The town also has a rich heritage - before lunch we visited the museum, which has a miscellaneous collection of paraphernalia to do with the town. Some links were a little tenuous - particularly these section on 'Horsham dinosaurs' - but I liked the pride in the town.

After lunch I sauntered off to Gorings Mead, leaving Mrs Hopper to catch up with her friend over a hot chocolate. The ground is at the end of a long cul de sac just to the east of the town centre, and I parted with £6 at the entrance, where the woman proclaimed 'shocking weather!' It was indeed pretty shocking with constant rain exacerbated by wind and dark skies.

Gorings Mead is apparently regarded as one of the best grounds in the league, and I could see why. There are 3 covered areas. To my right on the long side was a row of 3-4 terraces with the club's name painted in red on the roof. Directly opposite was the main seating area - the Victor Gladwish Stand - with rows of blue seats. The most distinctive feature of this was that it the roof was held up by concrete girders, which emerged from the clubhouse directly behind it. To the left of this was another seating area, clearly a recent development. Not a bad set up at all.

The match - in the newly named Southern Combination (effectively the old Sussex County League) - was a bit of anticlimax. Horsham - in a blue kit - played the better football from the start, and were happy to get the ball on the floor and play it through midfield. The first thing I noticed was the vocal reaction of the Shoreham players to the award of a corner to the home side - it was as if it was the biggest injustice in the world!

Horsham took the lead when Sam Schaat slotted in after comfortably evading the away defenders. It was far too easy and Shoreham's defence was too soft and ineffective. The home side's Ash Dugdale was looking particularly sharp on his surges forward. They then made it 2-0 when Dean Wright tapped in after the away keeper pawed away a cross. Horsham's Dave Brown then fired fractionally wide after a neat one-two. The only threats from Shoreham were some innocuous efforts from Craig Goodsil and Okwute Izuchukwu.

Half time brought a welcome Bovril (thankfully they do it down South too!) and I headed back out for the second period. For a few minutes it looked like Shoreham could put on a game here and at least match their opponents. Horsham's Donaldson drilled low and wide before Shoreham's Liam Hunter's speculative shot drifted just over on the roof of the net. Hunter was then booked for a nasty late tackle, and from that point on it was all Horsham. Dean Wright screwed wide after a fumble by the keeper and Dave Brown made it 3-0 with a low free kick which somehow dodged the wall. The same player then exacted some revenge on Hunter with a crunching challenge - with another yellow card the result.

I then shifted my position and stood behind the away goal where most of the action was now. It was well worth it as I had a fantastic view of Horshams 4th when Dan Evans cracked a great lob over the hapless keeper. Horsham's Luke Donaldson then had a near post drive saved to stem the flow. So it had been a poor showing for Shoreham. The only bright spot was their sub Jason Edwards who made some excellent runs through and carried the most threat for the away side. The game was not the greatest but I've seen a lot worse. Horsham looked like a competent side who should finish in the top third of the table and maybe they will sneak into eligibility for Step 4 promotion.

Liverpool (08-11-2015)

Liverpool 1 - 2 Crystal Palace (Premier League), Sunday 8th November 2015

Tea £1-80
Tea £1-90
Parking at Sheffield £7-25
Bus to Anfield £4
Pasta £3-75
Match ticket £50
Train £15-85
Total £84-55

After my 13th new game/ground this year, we headed back to Anfield for Liverpool's clash with Crystal Palace. Again utilising advance tickets we sat in exactly the same seats on the train as for our previous 2 trips here this season! When we arrived on Merseyside, the wind was picking up now but it was still relatively mild. The most noticeable thing about today was the Main Stand, which is really taking shape, with the roof starting to jut out over the skyline. Palace came here as a decent Premier League outfit, and one of the teams who are performing unexpectedly well this season. They are also Liverpool's bogey team, so today should be an intriguing one.

It didn't disappoint. This was actually the best game I've seen this season, played at a frenetic pace and with some fantastic counter attacking from both sides. Palace were highly organised, and seemed well equipped to withstand the home attacks and break at pace. They took the lead in front of the Kop when Bolasie ruthlessly took advantage of another defensive lapse. Liverpool responded well, and saw the best of the ball in midfield, attacking with real verve through Clyne, Coutinho and Lucas. Lucas in particular looked like he was pulling all the strings in midfield again. They deservedly levelled when Coutinho fired in from close range. Perfect response to going behind. Play got even better in the second half, with the Reds looking fired up by the animated Klopp on the sidelines. Lucas again looked excellent, and at times they kept Palace in their own half. But under Pardew the Eagles are a well organised team, and withstood the spells of pressure admirably. For once there was actually no nervousness around the ground - rather a positive anticipation. So it was massively disappointing when the away side took the lead to make it 2-1. From a set piece Mignolet again flapped and couldn't hold the ball, allowing the Liverpudlian Dann to head in from close range. Liverpool continued to pour forward but to no avail.

Again they were let down by some lazy players - Benteke and Origi the culprits today. This was perhaps the best performance under Klopp thus far but it was his first defeat. Such is the craziness of English football. Based on that second half performance in particular things are looking good for the Anfield side. They just need to score more goals and find a way to handle tougher sides like Palace. Due to our location right on the edge of the Main Stand we got straight onto the bus and were back at Lime Street in plenty of time for the train. My next game here should be Boxing Day. By then we'll know a bit more about this new Klopp Liverpool side.

Brighouse (07-11-2015)

Brighouse 1-1 Trafford (Evostik Division 1 South), Saturday 7th November 2015

Train (Sheffield-Brighouse) £19-20
Tea £1
Entry £7
Programme £1
Tea at Huddersfield £1
Total £29-20

Not too long ago Brighouse and Trafford were in feeder leagues - the NCEL and NWCFL respectively. Today they faced off in an Evostik Division 1 South match, with both in strong positions in the league.

Ahead of another trek to Merseyside I'd opted for a slightly shorter Saturday trip to Brighouse, which is about 5 miles from Huddersfield. There is a fairly frequent service from Leeds and the ground was only a half hour walk from the station, so this was a contrast to the epic journey of Barnoldswick.

I'd actually set off today with no map, no address and no phone data, so it was a wonder I managed to locate Brighouse's St Giles Road ground. I located a footpath running behind the housing estates nearby, with plenty of brown, red and orange leaves underfoot.

The ground was a gem. On the long side to my left was a long covered seating area, with 2 rows of seats, and a single terrace just behind this. I like it when seating and terracing are combined. On either side of this structure were some newish rows of terracing. On the opposite side of the pitch was a cameraman perched on top of some scaffolding, just behind the two dug outs.

So to the game. It wasn't a classic to be honest, but was another hard fought Evostik game. Brighouse, in orange and black, carried most threat early on - Ernest Boafo had two early headers caught by the Russell Saunders in the away goal. What most attracted my attention was Brighouse's bearded left back, who looked like he would fit well into z Viking film. Trafford looked surprisingly ineffective up front, with their first real shot materialising when 11s effort was blocked by a home defender. At the other end Ryan Hall was nearly clean through and couldn't quite connect with the ball to lob the keeper. The funniest moment of the half was when Ryan Ledson deliberately hand balled in an effort to stop Brighouse running clear - it was so obvious and cynical that it was laughable. Trafford did carve a couple of chances towards the end, brushing the post with a looping header, and then forcing the away keeper to parry at the near post.

The second period was thin on chances but still dripping with effort and desire. Daniel Caldecott's left footed daisy cutter went just wide of the upright, and the Manchester side looked a bit stronger. However, from a long ball on 55 minutes, Brighouse took the lead. Boafo capitalised when a loose ball wasn't cleared, and the keeper hesitated. It was maybe half a second hesitation and that's a long time in this game unfortunately. Trafford were utterly determined to respond but struggled to create many clear cut chances. Their right back Simon Woodford was most impressive on his forward runs. Brighouse's Daniel Facey was busiest at the other end, skimming the crossbar with a deflected shot and trying a bizarre overhead kick from the centre circle. A rare Trafford chance came when Jack Dorney could only shoot down the keepers throat with a snap shot inside the area. Then, just as it seemed Brig would grab the win, Trafford were awarded a penalty - looked like a handball. Dorney stepped up and made it 1-1 with the ball bouncing off Hagreen's toes agonisingly into the top corner. For Trafford perhaps this was just reward for their efforts, but I felt a bit for Brighouse who had come so close to a handy win.