Breaking the mould

Last Tuesday’s friendly was ‘Kent v Sussex’. It featured Sevenoaks Town from the Kent League and Westfield from the Sussex County League.

Sevenoaks is where my sister Kathy lives and between the shepherd’s pie and the trifle I called the ground to make sure the game was on. I knew there’d been problems with the pitch.

A year or so ago I’d made the same call and the man in the clubhouse had answered with, “Hello. Real Madrid.” This time a different man told me yes, the game was on and the kick-off was 7.15. Then he said he thought the game had already started. When we got there, my brother-in-law having kindly given us a lift to ‘Greatness Park’, we found the action about to start at 7.30 on an adjoining pitch, i.e. not at the main ground, where there was no floodlighting.

So it was a first for ‘The Barber’ in his 5,677th match. A 7.30 kick-off without lights. Fortunately there was a ‘red sky at night’ effect that just about kept it bright enough for a 9.15 finish.

We sat on a park bench near a corner flag, umbrellas up in the drizzle, as a young purple-stripped Oaks side went down 2-0. The crowd (of 12) saw a classic own goal, a defender blasting a hard cross from the right past his bemused ‘keeper.

In the first half that same goalie, sporting a white head-band, rushed out to the edge of the box to tackle a Westfield forward in the clear and his lunge sent the ball spinning freakishly into the air and thudding against the face of the crossbar behind him.

No admission. No programme. A cheap evening out for superfan and sibling.

Saturday’s fare was a friendly at Walton Road, the home of Molesey FC, where the Combined Counties League side had an intriguing local derby with Walton & Hersham from the Ryman League’s Division One South. It was £6 to get in, a little more than I was expecting, and I counted just over a hundred people watching as the game kicked-off in warm sunshine.

They included a dad with his two young sons behind one goal. He told them they should cheer for the home team and the smaller of the two responded with a cry that sounded like ‘Come on, Mouldy!’ 

Well, ‘Mouldy’ put in a strong performance in the first half and it was 0-0 at the break. Walton’s goal five minutes into a second period, a looping header from one of two No.17s playing up front for the visitors, proved to be decisive.

I’ve seen five friendlies so far this pre-season. They’ve all resulted in away wins and the five home teams have managed just one goal between them.