29/10/16 Review: Cliftonville vs Glenavon

Cliftonville 3-0 Glenavon (Northern Irish Premier League)

Solitude

Day Two, Belfast. Last night's cracker in Dundalk was over now and after a couple of hours kip and a full Irish brekkie courtesy of the delightful Krakow B'n'B to soak up some of the Guinness hangover suffered from the celebrations of Dundalk's title-crowning victory, we were now headed for the train station which would drive us up to the capital city of Northern Ireland to seek out more football. Today's destination would be the oldest club in Ireland, Cliftonville.

The idea for the "quiet coach" was made in Dundalk according to folk-law

The journey from the top of the Republic of Ireland over the border was fairly swift, meaning that we would arrive with plenty of time to mooch around the city and maybe even drop off at a local pub- we were on holiday after all! It would then be time to jump on a bus out of town into the outskirts region of Cliftonville. The first signs when we drifted out of the centre were that this area of town was not particularly one for the tourists (apart from us, obviously!) and amongst the odd Celtic or Manchester United themed Barbers we passed, there was also a vast amount of stunningly artistic graffiti to show that Cliftonville were a bunch filled with pride for their beliefs and also the football club. Being the oldest and one of the most successful clubs in the country, the Reds have had their fair share of glory and even a few European ventures over the years and in a similar way to clubs like Milwall and Leeds United they have sometimes been given a bad name by other rivalling clubs/territories. Baring this in mind, we were somewhat cautious when the first sight after departing the bus was a heavy-duty armoured police van parading the streets an hour before kick-off.

Some people just hang a flag out of the window, not these guys

After stopping for a glance around the surrounding streets, we headed straight for Solitude to weigh up the situation regarding a pre-match pint in the clubhouse. From the outside, Solitude looks like a big red factory nestled in amongst a surround of houses, and the street which hosted the entrance door was only notable a the way in because of the security and police officers standing outside it. Knowing that we were early, we took a punt and asked if we could pop in to the clubhouse, to which a very friendly chap in his Reds tracksuit pointed us in the right direction. The very darkened clubhouse was populated by a couple of dozen locals who were enjoying the Arsenal vs Sunderland match that was coming towards an end. Scouting around we saw some folk in Celtic gear, a few Manchester United fans, the odd St. Pauli top and various Cliftonville and NI garments spread amongst. I also was quick to spot a TNS scarf pinned up behind the bar, which is quite nice as that would prove to be our destination for the next day.

Ready to cheer the Reds on

At this point, wearing our rucksacks and sporting odd, non-Irish scarves, we obviously stood out as Ground-hoppers, so much so that one chap approached Tom and without any greeting just asked "where are you lads from?" before having a chat with him. I think it's safe to say that many others have visited this relic of a ground in search of the beautiful game. Not everybody was in high-spirits though, and the chap who sold me a programme seemed very downbeat about his beloved side's chances- predicting that the away side would probably sneak a 0-1 win this afternoon. I, on the other hand, was feeling optimistic for the home side and had made a pre-match prediction of 2-0 to the home team. (Tom went for 0-0, just as he did last night and also for the TNS game- he loves a good bore draw!)

Time to get back outside to the foggy Belfast skies

From the inside we were instantly greeted by another 3G-pitch and with a nip in the air on this late-October evening you could see why teams would make the switch. Undoubtedly the main attraction of Solitude was the 60+ year-old two-tiered stand that formed a large section of the ground's seating. With faded multicoloured seats across the top-tier and a selection of further stalls underneath, this was the main stand which sits to the left of the Cage End stand and to the right of the away stand. A true thing of beauty in the eyes of football grounds.

It'll be sad to see it demolished

Anyway, enough of that- on to the football. With a 4th vs 6th clash on the cards for today's Danske Bank Premiership match and the game was underway. Well, not really. The game never really got going in the first-half unfortunately and crowd were as quiet as I'd seen for a long time. Other than Daniel Hughes crashing a shot against the post for the hosts and the away side whacking a free-kick on to the woodwork too, it was far from up to the electric pace that we'd seen in our game last night at Oriel Park. With half-time closing in on us quickly, the only real talking point amongst the fans was the often terrible refereeing decisions and the even worse calls from his linesman on our left-hand side. One fan summed up these actions perfectly as he screamed out "YA FECKIN' EEJIT!" and with that, it was half-time.

Closest chance of the half, 0-0

We had a bit of a walk around during the break, but did not venture too far on this occasion. Tom had already purchased a bobble hat and we had both demolished a burger before the match started. We instead spent the majority of HT admiring the now fog-ridden skyline that revealed a very nice backdrop over the away stand.

Lovely

The stand that we were sitting in behind the goal, Cage End, was a perfect stand in my opinion. With a steep rise allowing for a very good view about two-thirds of the way up, we were now just hoping to see a bit more decent football before rushing back to Dublin airport. And surprise, surprise, the game came to life. Within the opening 10 minutes of the second-half both sides came close on more than one occasion. Glenavon had a decent counter attack and they came close to the opener when a shot was fired at the Reds goalie. They then almost took another counter attack into the net as they looked likely to grab what would be a crucial opening goal in this tightly contested affair. Amongst the Gleanavon attacks there was a near-miss for the Blues at the other end as they almost crumbled at the back. A poorly weighted back-pass oh so nearly let the Cliftonville striker in and this moment obviously got the ground's tannoy announcer a bit too excited. As the ball was eventually cleared away from goal, the goal celebration music was prematurely blasted out which had us in fits of laughter- we love a good technical error! It would be Cliftonville though who would have the next laugh, with the opening goal. A set-piece came to the home-side and after a well-worked short-taken corner was eventually whipped into the box, it would be club captain Jason McGuinness who nodded home with a bullet header and finally gave us something to shout about. Cliftonville 1-0 Glenavon. This sparked the game into life, and within two minutes of the first goal we would see the lead doubled for the Reds. From 25-yards out, Ruairi Harkin hit an ambitious striker which took a very slight deflection off of a Blues defender before flying into the back of the net. Cliftonville 2-0 Glenavon.

Game, set and match for the Red Army?

The home-side were firmly in control now and when the substitute Davy McDaid came on he injected a final bit of energy into the game to complete a good result. He should have had a shot on goal in the 70th minute when he was found in good space from 20-yards out. On this occasion he fired over the bar, but this would not dampen his spirits as he looked the most likely to finish the game off. His next chance would prove to be one that came as a metaphorical "strikers dream" as he was handed a chance by the opposition. On 75 minutes a ball came in from the wing and Kris Lindsay simply chested the ball down without realising the McDaid was on the prowl. He swiftly waltzed in and popped in the crucial third goal that the Reds needed to gather up the eventually deserved three points. Cliftonville 3-0 Glenavon.

And that, as they say, was that

Cliftonville ended the game in a dominant fashion, playing some stunning football into the final 10 minutes. There would to be no more goals, though, and the ref called time on the day's action. With a flight to catch in just under 5 hours, we scooted off straight away and made a dash for the bus back into town. Despite a poor first-half we walked away very happy to have seen a Wonder of Northern Irish Football in Solitude's Main Stand, and also a few goals in a decent second-half. Two games, two 3-goal margin victories for the home sides so far, and with TNS up next we were pleased at the two games we'd seen so far. Stay tuned for my account of Park Hall tomorrow.

28/10/16 Review: Dundalk vs Galway United

Dundalk 4-1 Galway United (Irish Premier League)

Oriel Park

And so it begins! With the much anticipated Ground-hopping team-up between Pint of Football and Partizan Bristle finally here, day one of four would start with us waking up in Stoke-on-Trent, driving to Birmingham, flying to Dublin and then bussing it to Dundalk in search of Oriel Park.

Lads, lads, lads on tour!

Having previously smashed out a two-day trip to Stafford Rangers and Aggborough, and then observed a three-day tour of the Western League at Cribbs, Welton and Hengrove, this time around we were going to go one day further and attempt four games, in four days, in four countries! The first, in the Republic of Ireland, was admittedly the one that I was personally most looking forward to. Oriel Park, home of the Lilywhites, is a ground that I had my eye on for a while and with the chances of a trip to see them in Europa League action off the table (because of them playing their European games away from Dundalk) a domestic fixture would just have to do. It is worth noting at this point that when we planned the trip, we were not aware that this would be the last fixture of the League campaign for the two sides in action.

Dundalk have not slipped up too much so far this season

By the time it came to the day of the fixture, Dundalk had already secured a third League title in a row and tonight's game would actually turn out to be the best opportunity to see a very rocking Oriel Park. With success in Europe this season, an FAI Cup final to look forward to and another Trophy making it's way to Dundalk, tonight was going to be a proper Irish party atmosphere and we could not wait to get involved and see if the champs could give their fans a performance to fit the season they have so far sustained.

The whole town looked to be out for a party tonight

Upon entering Oriel Park we were instantly hit by a wall of people, which started by the entrance and formed a clockwise formation around the ground, into the seating and over to behind the opposite goal. Over 3,000 had crammed themselves in for this Friday night fixture against Galway United- who also brought 20 of their own loyal fans. Tonight's away side, nicknamed the Tribesmen, were here for a fixture that did not really have much baring on them. Sitting in a far from glamorous 9th place in the League, today's result would not take them any lower in the standings, and a victory would only be able to see them climb to 8th if other results went their way. Nevertheless, I do imagine that deep down Galway would be more than satisfied if they could at least give the Champs a close game and do as much as they could to prevent a penultimate match pummelling.

Here we go!

From the first minute the atmosphere was nothing short of electric. Everywhere we turned there was happy Dundalk fans smiling from ear to ear, youngsters kitted-up ready to cheer on their heroes and club oldies wrapped up in Lilywhites scarves who watched on with the familiar look of pride for what is arguably the most successful Irish club ever. With a star-studded line-up including one of the League's Top Scorers, David McMillan, as well as ex-Rangers midfielder Dean Shiels and wing wizard Daryl Horgan- who is tipped to be the Player of the Year- you could see why there was a buzz in the air both at home and across Europe for a team that is developing a constantly growing reputation.

Dundalk looking to take an early lead- a familiar sight for the locals

Kicking off in white and black, Dundalk pressed hard from the off and it did not take long for the chances, like the weather, to start raining down on the field and within 12 minutes the home side had already rattled the bar through McMillan, but only after Sava had denied the opposition scoring an early goal themselves. I had stuck my neck out and predicted that the champions would record an almighty 4-0 win at the end of the season, and this seemed likely to come true when Northern Ireland international Dean Shiels scored the opener before the 15-minute mark with a deft finish following a slick attack from Dundalk. Dundalk 1-0 Galway. The mass of fans went into fits of celebration and the atmosphere was raised again in a season that just keeps on getting better.

This is what we came for

They often say that to have success, you need the perfect formula of skill, passion and fortune, and the second Dundalk goal certainly proved that. With the ball in his feet from some way out, Paddy Barrett found himself some space and punted the ball into the mix with the optimism of finding the net. United's keeper seemed to collect the ball, but then unfortunately juggled it between his gloves before eventually releasing it into his own goal. It went down as a Barrett goal, but I would have said it was a rain-assisted OG. Dundalk 2-0 Galway. By this point Horgan was running the show for Dundalk and both myself and Tom stated that surely Dundalk will struggle to hold on to him when he is putting in displays like this one- especially if he's been playing 3 games a week at that pace!

Don-dalk

With half-an-hour approaching there was to be a third goal in the game, and it would be for the Champs again. A good save from Winn left Benson with an easy finish, unfortunately for him it was ruled out for offside. This wouldn't stop the rampage though, and before half-time it would prove to be Shiels who'd score the finest goal of the game. He started off the move through the centre, before playing a perfect one-two with Benson which landed back in his feet and therefore allowed him to dink a perfect chip over the out-rushing Winn. Dundalk 3-0 Galway. In fairness to Galway they were showing some decent passages of play themselves but on a night that was written in the stars for Dundalk there was only going to be one result. Half-time blew with the home-side well ahead, which meant only one thing. Time for a mooch to the bar.

After a bit of Bagpipe antics

Once we had finished ploughing our way through masses of folk into the ground's innards, only to be hit by further people. With a pessimistic view on getting past tens of thirsty Irishmen to squeeze in a half-time pint, we instead headed back out to the ground after a key moment of the evening. "I've just elbowed a small child in the face, maybe we should leave" said Tom, as we scurried out. As the second-half started, Galway came out with a fair amount of fight, which was admiral considering the conditions. The first 10 were pretty end-to-end and the action was as good as the opening half, and with a goal certain to come at some point it would be Ryan Connolly for the visitors who would tap home a rebound after his initial shot was parried by Gabriel Sava. Dundalk 3-1 Galway.

Did it stop the singing from the stands? What do you think?

Despite this minor blemish on an otherwise perfect night for the home side, the party was edging closer and closer for the champs and we even managed to spot one fan walking out with a beer which he offered to share with a steward. A swig was taken from said steward before he dished out a warning about drinking in the grounds. Classic! Back on the pitch, the clock was running down and the feel of a fourth goal was building for Dundalk. As kids lined up along the touchline ready for the final whistle to blow, the inevitable pitch invasion would be instant after the referee ended the match. However, this was not the case and the ref would be unable to even end the game after an injury-time fourth goal was scored by the home-side. Ciaran Kilduff was the man to spark the riot as he ran clear and just about snuck the ball past Winn. Dundalk 4-1 Galway.

WOOOOOOOO!

And that, as they say, was that. The scenes were phenomenal as the whole ground was flooded with the cheers of Dundalk-folk who were ready to celebrate another notch in the history books. As the fans celebrated we used the opportunity to sneak into the bar and grab a pint before we were eventually joined by the rest of the party. The bar was a full-on old-style Irish pub with so much memorabilia covering the walls. Alongside trying my first ever Guinness, I then also swigged some Champagne directly out of a bottle that was being shared with other fans- what a time to be alive!

Thank you Dundalk- a top night!

Needless to say that with a trip to Belfast the following day to see Cliftonville (Blog to follow tomorrow) on day two of our venture, we were making the most of it and we drank the night away like a couple of locals. I mean, we definitely stuck out like a sore thumb when it came to belting out the Irish tunes, but that didn't make a blind bit of difference amongst the friendliest of environments. Spot on!

11/10/16 Review: England U21 vs Bosnia and Herzegovina U21

England U21 5-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 (EURO 2017 U21 Qualifier, Group 9)

The Bescot Stadium

Enjoy England Football? Hate disappointing results and ultimate failure? Want to watch a competitive game of football for a quid?! If the answer to these questions is yes, an England Under-21 fixture is a must for any football fan.

And what better excuse to tick-off the Bescot on my Ground Maps list?

From a football fan point of view, there are few perks in working a job that isn't Monday to Friday 9 til 5. Whilst other fans are prepping for the weekend days out to Woking, or a midweek evening jaunt to Carlisle, I am at work merely pressing refresh on the BBC Football page when I get a spare few seconds. Alas, this is no sob story of the woes of the working man, because today was the day that would prove to be a chance for me to catch some Under-21 international football. Yes, it was in Walsall, yes it was filled with school kids, elder-folk and the odd hooligan, and yes it was at a stadium where parking is a nightmare, but when tickets are just £1 you can't really moan too much (aside from all that moaning I just did back there).

Come on Young Lions!

For those of you who have travelled around the grounds, you'll know that the Bescot Stadium, home to League One's Walsall, is perfectly located just off the M6 and is about as generic a football ground as you'll see. An ideal location for an international fixture, the Bescot is a classic all-seater stadium which is just a stone-throw away from St. George's Park in Burton. Having visited Crewe's Gresty Road last year to view the only other International Fixture I've seen to date, Qatar vs Northern Ireland, the Bescot certainly had a similar look to it. I took my usual, albeit not-planned, walk around the stadium as I searched for the ticket collection office and then joined the shorter of the two queues to collect my ticket. Having pre-booked, I was able to waltz over and grab my ticket fairly easily, although I was approached at this point by a few members of Birmingham City's youth set-up. One of the lads spoke up to the rest and said "these are away fans." and before I could correct him, another shouted out "do they look Bosnian to you?" and therefore muting any attempt at a witty response I might have come out with.

Ground number 46, The Bescot

The fixture itself was the final Qualifier match for the Young Lions, who had already secured the top spot in Group 9 thanks to last week's win away in Kazakhstan. Bosnia meanwhile were sitting bottom of the heap with zero wins and just two goals throughout the campaign. On paper, this was likely to be an easy run-out for the England side bursting with talent, however when the sides met in the reverse fixture back in November 2015 the score was 0-0. In front of a 5,000 plus audience this afternoon, I expected a good win for our boys and I stuck my neck out with a pre-match prediction of 3-0.

With no bar in sight, I guess a brew will have to do

For those of you who aren't in the know about our Under-21 side, it really is a promising squad with Premier League starlets and Football League hotshots crammed into the fold, which includes the likes of Bristol City's loanee phenomenon striker Tammy Abraham as well as fellow Chelsea youngsters Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nathaniel Chalobah. Elsewhere, the squad boasts promising Gunners defender Calum Chambers and even Saints regulars Nathan Redmond and Matt Targett are in there too! Like I said, hotshots galore! Today's opposition weren't quite so star-studded and it is fair to say that the majority of the squad was made up from Bosnian clubs young guns rather than household names. If you were to hold a gun to my head and ask me to select "one to watch" for the opposition, I'd probably have named Riad Bajic who plays for Turkish Premier League club Konyaspor. The lad was the top-scorer in the Bosnian League back in 2014/15 at the ripe old age of 20 and he has managed to grab a handful of goals at Konyaspor too as the number 10 for the club.

National Anthems at the ready..?

Following the usual display of fans passionately half-heartedly mumbling through the national anthems, today's Iraqi-born Swedish official, Mohammed Al-Hakim, got the game underway. England started off kicking from right-to-left (from where I was) and from within the first 5 minutes or so I was amazed. Considering my usual standard of viewing are either watching Kidsgrove Athletic and the likes of the Evo-Stik divisions at their grounds, or watching the often terribly dull England senior team's displays from the TV or radio, today's game started with a stunning blend of skillful possession play and fast-paced attacking. Abraham, who was starting his first match for the Young Lions, looked to possess cat-like movements in the area and from first whistle he was causing the defenders all sorts of issues. Needless to say that the opening goal was fairly SWIFT in arriving this afternoon, and it was just before the quarter-hour mark when the deadlock was broken. Reading's 21-year old box-to-box midfielder John Swift took the ball in his stride and unleashed an absolute stunner from about 25-yards out, which swerved in the air before resting in the back of the net. England 1-0 Bosnia. You don't see goals like that at Rushall Olympic, I can tell you that much!

The start of things to come

Even though England had started ferociously, I'd be keen to see whether they would find it easy enough to defend against a weaker side in Bosnia, as that is one area we've all seen England struggle in over the past few years. It's not that the senior squad concede a lot of goals, but they certainly don't seem too confident at the back and with the days of Sol Campbell, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand long gone, I was hoping to see the next solid centre-back on display here. The stand-out tackler for me throughout the afternoon was Newcastle's Isaac Hayden, who has already had game time for Arsenal and Hull City prior to his move to the Toon. Any time the Bosnian attack rallied, they were soon sent packing by Hayden's assertive slide tackles and his powering defensive midfield display. One lad who stood out for me in the opening 45 was Marin Popovic, currently of Bosnian side NK Celik Zenica, and the number 23 was making some good runs down the right-hand channel in an attempt to give the away side a morale-boosting goal. Meanwhile, at the other end, it was time for a second goal. Still behind the 20-minute mark in the match, Spurs winger Josh Onomah had a go at the back-line of Bosnia and when his shot was well-saved by Kenan Piric, it would be the man of the moment, Tammy Abraham, who would be acrobatically on-hand to pop home the goal to double England's lead. England 2-0 Bosnia. With nothing to play for but pride, this second goal seemed to push Bosnia's team into upping the tempo, and through Popovic they had their first chance around the 25-minute mark. England were defending well though against any threat and with Dominic Iorfa looking like a young Micah Richards in the right-back position, the opponents often hit a sturdy England brick wall.

Bosnia getting more into the match, despite being 2 down

The remainder of the first-half was 50/50, with England creating a few more half-chances. The promising Duncan Watmore glided a shot over the bar before the break, and there was even a half-claim made for an England penalty. Despite the ref turning it away, the hundreds of school kids around the ground began to chant "penalty" repeatedly in an attempt to turn the referees mind. On top of this, when Bosnia won a corner at the other end, the kids in that corner began to comically boo taker Armin Cerimagic, which left me feeling like I was watching some sort of matinee showing of a pantomime! Before the crowd burst into "oh no he isn't, oh yes he is" chants, the ref called the game to a halt for half-time. England 2-0 to the good, and looking very good indeed.

Lovely to see such great support

Half-time dragged slightly without the classic half-time bevvy, but surely enough the game recommenced and the crowd gathered for another half of the beautiful game. Not long after the start of the half, and the first chance was forged by England. Onomah, who had almost scored earlier on, won the ball from a defender in the area who was trying to rid the danger, and he took a snapshot within a couple of touches and found the net for another England goal. England 3-0 Bosnia. With the result secure, some fans started to leave in an attempt to avoid the inevitable horror-show that would be trying to exit the car park. Meanwhile other fans got the part started, kind of, and with the thanks of the drummer and trumpet player it was time to get a Mexican Wave going. Regrettably, I was just outside the reach of the fun and could only admire the efforts made by the few who tried to get it going. Sorry trumpet man, I would've joined in if it made it over to me.

"Three Lions in the crowd, Walsall's going mental!"

One player I haven't probably mentioned enough is Duncan Watmore. Within the hour he'd been on, he looked pretty good going forward and alongside Abraham and Villa's Jack Grealish the three were far the superiors of their opponents. For a third time, Duncan was sent through in a one-on-one situation and with 61 minutes played he this time delivered a cool finish into the corner of the away team's goal. England 4-0 Bosnia. And to add the final topping to a slick England performance, Watmore was again on the ball as he this time slid in Abraham after a sizzling run and when faced with an on-rushing goalkeeper there was only ever going to be one result. Abraham dinked the ball over Bosnia's number 1 to get his number two and England's fantastic fifth. England 5-0 Bosnia.

By now I couldn't see England's goal, not that I needed to

With 15 minutes left, Bosnia looked shattered and out of ideas. The long-ball game was being gathered up promptly by England defenders and the away side must've already been thinking about the flight back to Sarajevo. And then to throw in a final bit of punishment to the opponents, Aidy Boothroyd decided to throw on his subs, Demarai Gray and Nathan Redmond. When you are 5-0 down, that is not who you want to see coming on! With the attendance announced at 5,263 and Jack Grealish offered the Man of the Match Award, the clock ran down with England in full control. Redmond and Gray, of Southampton and Leicester City respectively, looked so pacey, full of confidence and between them they almost created a sixth. With not enough time for the players to grant the fans' requests of "we want six", the ref blew for the end of a firm England victory. Knowing, what was to follow, the ground erupted into pacey 70-something year-old's diving for the exits, school kids sprinting out of the fire doors and the non-driving folk holding up the way by standing at the front to cheer off the players. Foolishly, I stuck around to see the lads off the pitch too and all I can say is that after 75 minutes of sitting in the car park afterwards, I would be making a mad dash too next time!

I bet these lads didn't have to wait 75 minutes

Joking aside and forgetting the horrific traffic, I really enjoyed my time at the Bescot and it was nice to feel happy and pride-filled after seeing England play. Hopefully the Young Lions will do us proud in Poland next summer, and in the meantime I'm sure they'll be continuing to shine with their clubs. My next outing will be in Dundalk (WOOOO!) in just over two weeks, as Tom (Partizan Bristle) and I embark on the Groundhopping bonanza across 4 countries in 4 days. Look out for some great times as we do what we do best.

Until next time...