A decent Ryman South game where some excellent match reports are already online.
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/carshaltonafc/teams/109282/match-centre/1-1608057
A few photos from an end to end encounter on a blustery day.
Some weeks in football terms are best forgotten. Simply a bad week in the life of Brentford football club. A free saturday afternoon meant that I could go in search of a non league football game that might restore my sanity and belief in football as a game.
My first choice for a game is nearly always Carshalton Athletic who play in the Ryman South league and are assembling a young and enthusiastic side who are not paid the kind of excessive wages that some non league sides have resorted to in an attempt to buy success. Their season is a good one so far and they sit on the edges of the play off positions.
The ground is on the outskirts of Carshalton with a decent amount of parking at the ground. The terracing would grace many lower league grounds and a crowd of 257 gave a decent atmosphere.
The first thing one notices is that it is easy to walk around the whole ground so you not trapped in one zone all game. The food is generally better quality than league grounds and generally cheaper. One also has to mention the 3G pitch of which I am a fan and the ability of games to go ahead in often highly inclement weather.
The football played could be described as robust, a few tackles flying in which on a different day might have led to a few yellow and red cards. But the game and the result mattered to the 22 players out there. The physique and fitness may not be a league standard but these guys ran, well mostly, for 90 minutes.
Local builders did not seem to be doing much building during the game from their high perch behind the goal.
Away support at this level is varied but I had an excellent conversation with the seemingly sole South Park fan standing behind the goal.
People come for different reasons and many nowadays bring cameras, including myself, and some excellent photos end up online post match.
This football is real, played by amateurs and watched by genuine football fans who in many cases have followed their clubs for years or even decades. Those fans who only watch league football at higher echelons could do worse than spend around 10£ or sometimes less to occasionally watch non league football. It does restore your belief that football is a game, that fans of all teams can stand together and chat, and that the complaints over the referee and officials do not stop at a league level!
As a photographer I also enjoy the ability to bring my camera in and get all kinds of photos from different angles that would never be possible at a league game.
With all the insanity that surrounds professional football it made a nice change to watch a competitive if somewhat bad tempered affair at the lovely War Memorial Ground in Carshalton. There are ample match reports on this game so I will suffice to say that a penalty in the first 5 minutes by Carshalton was matched by an equaliser in almost the final minute. South Park also found time in the first half to have a penalty saved by the impressive Luke Colquhoun.
Here is the story of the game in photographic terms. Enjoy.
Carshalton AFC Juggling
Chasing Shadows
Leighton Town FC
Two headed monster
Almost a goal but not quite. Carshalton v leighton
Sam Muzarek
Hand ball
The great thing about non-league football is the ability to get up close to players and spectators alike. Stand where you want to and talk with whom you like. For me Carshalton is one of the friendliest places to watch football and always a good matchday experience. Decent burgers too. The new 3G pitch adds a little more interest to the visit. A few photos just to give a flavour.
Colston avenue Carshalton AFC
Colston avenue Carshalton AFC
Sam Muzarek
Colston avenue Carshalton AFC. Freds End
Colston avenue Carshalton AFC
Colston avenue Carshalton AFC
Alex Woodfine. Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Leighton Town FC
Two headed monster
A decent enough game with Carshalton unfortunate to lose this game with an own goal followed by a poor piece of goalkeeping. They then created enough chances to have at least drawn the game but luck was not on their side. Leighton looked the more physical experienced side and maybe that was what Carshalton lacked. They also had a scary goalkeeper , Sam Mazurek and a physical centre forward, Alex Woodbine. There already is an excellent match report from Chris Blanchard which can be accessed here, so enough about the game.
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/carshaltonafc/teams/109282/match-centre/0-3132424
An unfortunate own goal Carshalton v Leighton by Bobby Price
Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Sam Mazurek Leighton Goalkeeper saves.Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Adriano Moraes. Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Adriano Moraes. Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Sam Muzarek punches clear.Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
Sam Muzarek
Alex Woodfine. Carshalton v Leighton FA Trophy 2015
There are plenty of better match reports so I will leave you with the photos only. The game was an incredibly photogenic game with more jumping and lunging than I recall from most games. The result speaks for itself. Three decent goals. I remain confused about the goalkeepers position for the first goal. Excellent day out. Carshalton can be really recommended as a great club to go and watch football at.
Sam Conlon scores for Hythe past Jack Eden of Carshalton
If I published these photos with no captions, most of us could guess that these characters have something to do with football. Why is it that football folks have to look like football folks? enjoy
Rachel Rees. Physio at Bognor
Kingsley Aikhionbare
Cobham FC play in the Combined Counties league and it seems Mole Valley SVR also of the CCL play their games there. A real little gem of a ground. Proper non league football. One main stand and a fence around the pitch perimeter. Long grass surrounds the whole area. Small metallic structure behind a goal that could constitute the away end. Blue lines mark out the pitch, which I kind of liked and a banner from 2010 decorated part of the fence. This is a home of real football.
Cobham FC
Carshalton Away Fans 2014
Cobham FC
Cobham FC
Cobham FC
Cobham FC
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 