Route 66 - A Blog by Peter Butcher: October 2009

ROUTE 66 HOME | CONTACT ROUTE 66 | SUBSCRIBE TO ROUTE 66 BY EMAIL | TGS HOME

Route 66 - Peter Butcher's Blog

Wednesday, 21 October 2009 | | | << Route 66 Home | << TGSPHOTO Home

Of headers, rooftop finishes and beaches

Another busy couple of weeks has brought me to within 40 of my route 66 target. Latest to be knocked off the wants list were Boreham Wood, Walton Casuals, Tilbury, Leyton and Worthing.

Of those games, far and away the best was at Worthing last night.

They thrashed Ashford Town 5-1 and it was fairly clear why Ashford had the worst defensive record in the Ryman League (though, oddly, they shared that dubious honour with Kingstonian who are seventh in the Premier Division).

Having said that, the quality of the goals was outstanding, including Ashford's consolation by Joe Fuller. That was a terrific header from a great cross, as were goals by Ben Williamson, Ben Johnson and Ross Treleaven for Worthing (you might quibble and mention that Johnson's header may not have crossed the line, or at least that's what some of the home supporters behind the goal reckoned. Still, the linesman was perfectly placed to give it).

Top-class headed goals seem to happening in profusion in the games I see, including Kayan Kalipha's decider for Tilbury against Thamesmead last week.

Tilbury would have lost at Leyton on Saturday had Walid Matata's chip over advancing keeper Andy Hall, six minutes from the end of a goalless draw, been as good as it initially looked. It was when it landed on the roof of a neighbouring house that I began to suspect that my first judgement may have been faulty.

Worthing, of course, is by the seaside, which leads me to think of the beach. Thinking of Worthing beach reminds me of some merry Friday nights in the long-gone Old England bar on the seafront. It was always exceedingly crowded and if you were sitting towards the front the beach was much more accessible than the gents. That, however, was a hazardous proceeding when the tide was high and the night stormy, as quite a few bedraggled customers were able to attest.

The other thing that goes with beach is ball, which brings us to the referee who displayed his ignorance of the laws of the game at Sunderland. Why is it that, when a Premiership referee is punished for a blatant error, he is sentenced to take charge of a Football League game? Doesn't that display a great deal of contempt for the Football League among the game's authorities (no surprise there, I guess)? Shouldn't they be sent on a training course instead?

Come to think of it, that might not help. The last time I saw an incident where the ref showed that he didn't know the laws of the game (as opposed to making an error of judgement), he did come off the Football League list at the end of the season. I think that was an age thing, however; he was then put in charge of training referees in his home county.

Generally, though, aren't you sick of managers whining about referees? Wouldn't it be interesting if the national media made an agreement not to use any quotes at all for the rest of the year? It might be tricky for some of the tabloid boys who would have to think up their own stories, but ten weeks without Fergie, Wenger and the rest would be blissful.

On the speedway front, meanwhile, there is eager anticipation for this week's two finals. Lakeside travel to Coventry on Friday for the second leg of the Elite League Cup final and have a suitably massive lead that they should have few problems lifting their first-ever trophy at the top level. I'm hoping for a decent weather forecast so it's worth making the trip.

Then, at the weekend, it's Rye House v Workington in the final of the Young Shield. Rye won both their quarter-final and semi-final by a single point on aggregate, and this could be another cracker. One slight problem; the first leg at Rye House (which is near Harlow, for those who don't know) will finish about 9.30 on Saturday night. Then men and machines have to find their way to Workington for a 3pm start on Sunday. I fear I may miss the climax of this epic competition (and let's not make too much fuss about the fact that it's for teams that finished between 5th and 12th in their league).

posted by Anonymous at 5:18 pm 1 Comments

Thursday, 8 October 2009 | | | << Route 66 Home | << TGSPHOTO Home

21 down, 45 to go

On Tuesday I watched Romford lose 2-0 at Enfield Town. Romford's Remi Nelson was sent off.

I mention this because I fancy that in the prevailing conditions (poor lights, heavy rain, unexciting match) even such a talented snapper as Gav might have struggled to get any decent pix apart from when the unhappy Mr Nelson walked past him. We shall see.

That was stop no.21 on Route 66 which, for any newcomers, is the attempt to produce a book on my visits to all 66 Ryman League clubs this season. Much interesting material has surfaced so far (I hope). The tally so far is eight clubs apiece in the Premier Division and One North, just five in One South.

The balance will adjust itself soon; as long as the Rye House speedway season continues I have to be north of the river on Saturday afternoons. Once that's over my evening attention will switch to ice hockey at places like Slough, Bracknell and Basingstoke, and Div 1S will come into its own.

The past few days were frustrating. I had planned to do Croydon Athletic v Walton & Hersham on Tuesday which, from what I've seen of both teams, could have been a scorcher of a game, followed by a pleasant outing to Eastbourne Town on Wednesday. But both games were wiped out by FA Trophy replays, as was every other league game this week apart from the aforementioned Enfield Town match. Why I decided that Route 66 had to be accomplished entirely in league matches I have no idea, but I'm stuck with it now.

It was, by the way, the fourth time I've seen Romford this season. P4 W0 D0 L4 F0 A16. And, Boro fans, I haven't done my Route 66 visit to one of your home games yet. Be afraid . . .

Anyway, 45 clubs to go with, by my reckoning, 35 full or fairly full Saturdays and Tuesdays left. It shouldn't be too difficult to finish the task. Should it?

This, I hope, will be the last long gap between blogs. Apart from anything else, Gavin deserves better for the time and effort he's put into setting it up. Considering I'm only working part-time, I'm still puzzled by the lack of hours in the day.

Apart from more Route 66 stuff, there will soon be a look back at what I found to be a fascinating speedway season, despite all the sport's off-track problems, much of them of its own making. This blog, after all, was intended to be mainly about speedway until events overtook me. And I'm still basking in the glory of correctly forecasting the first four, in the right order, at the recent National League Riders Championship - during which, incidentally, a few of us had a lengthy grammatical discussion. Should Riders have an apostrophe? I thought so but I was persuaded otherwise. We're not dumb, us speedway fans.

Labels: National League speedway, Ryman League

posted by Anonymous at 7:44 pm 0 Comments

Route 66 articles are copyright Peter Butcher. All the images seen on this site are copyright TGSPhoto.

Football League and Conference Football images are subject to Licencing agreements with Football DataCo and Conference Football. TGSPhoto makes no guarantees, representations or warranties regarding names, trademarks or logos appearing in the images.