Seven matches in the last five days have brought me up to 65 for the season.
One was in The FA Trophy and one in The FA Sunday Cup, both of which had their opening round at the weekend.
The results, with attendances in brackets, were: Sporting Bengal United 1 FC Romania 6 (35), Kentish Town 2 Regent Rovers 5 (6), Primrose Hill 1 Regents Park Knights 6 (18), Crown & Manor 3 Westway 3 (15), Redbridge 1 Whyteleafe 2 (57), KPMG 3 Ernst & Young 0 (1) and Willesden WMC 1 NLO 5 (14).
The Barber was one of a crowd of 14 at The Sunday Cup match
The weekend stayed dry but it was windy, particularly on Sunday.
After standing in a gale in Regent’s Park to watch a London Accountants League fixture in the morning – not surprisingly I was the only spectator.
I took the tube for a 15-stop journey from Baker Street to Sudbury Town, changing at Green Park, for an FA Sunday Cup First Round tie at Wembley FC at 2pm.
At some point the venue had been changed, because Wembley’s Vale Farm HQ was locked up.
There are several other pitches nearby, so I had a look round to see if any football was being played or about to be played.
I found out quite quickly that my Sunday Cup match was being played at South Kilburn FC’s ground which, fortunately, was only a few yards away.
Willesden WMC lost 5-1 at home to NLO
It was now 1.40pm and with people on the phone giving directions to players, the kick-off was clearly going to be delayed.
In fact, Willesden WMC (all dark blue) and NLO (red shirts and black shorts) emerged in lines behind the match officials at around 2.30pm.
I began under some cover near one corner, out of the wind, and then took up ball-boy duties at one end.
It turned out to be an eventful tie, with six goals, two penalties and a red card.
NLO were awarded a controversial spot-kick on 27 minutes.
It could have been ball to hand rather than hand to ball – and the No10 blasted it into the corner for the lead.
NLO swarmed forward with the wind behind them and were 3-0 up at half-time. It was 5-1 at the end and they could well in the competition.
Saturday’s FA Trophy Preliminary Round tie between Redbridge and Whyteleafe was one that could also have gone either way.
Again the wind was a factor at Oakside Stadium, with the Motormen having the upper hand in the first half.
The game was The Barber's 65th of the season
But they only scored once, direct from a free-kick on 36 minutes that crept in at an unguarded near post, and Whyteleafe levelled in stoppage time with a strange goal.
A Whyteleafe player raced into the box and fired a blistering shot that could have gone anywhere. It hit a defender and spun into the air.
I thought the ball was going over but it bounced down and away from the angle of post and bar. The No10 returned it into the goalmouth and it seemed to go into the net via the retreating goalkeeper legs.
The Surrey side won the tie with a storming free-kick from their No.6 and skipper with 15 minutes to go that the ‘keeper didn’t get close to. It’s The FA Cup this weekend and I may be staying in the Birmingham area, taking in two ties at Kidderminster Harriers FC.
David Barber, aka ‘The Barber’, joined The FA as assistant to Sir Alf Ramsey after the Mexico World Cup in 1970 and has been its historian for the past 35 years.
He has attended nearly 7,000 football matches at all levels but has lost none of his enthusiasm!
Follow him on Twitter @thebarberfan
