A busy couple of weeks....

has seen me take in 3 games, 1 new ground and a beer festival!

With Dulwich Hamlet out of the FA Cup Saturday 29th September was left free enabling me to pick a game at a new ground. After some deliberation I decided the game would be St Albans City vs. Arlesey Town in the FA Cup and this would also allow me to take in the St Albans beer festival on the same day...double result!

I left home just after 10am and after changing at London Blackfrairs I disembarked at St Albans station bang on 11am. A short walk into town brought me to the Alban Arena where the 17th St Albans Beer Festival had been running since the Wednesday. Free entry was obtained due to me being a member of Camra, my first use of my membership and it saved me £4.00. The hall was relatively empty which gave me a chance to study the programme and seek out the beers I wanted to sample more than others. After sampling 9 new beers from a mix of breweries including Alecraft, Tring & Blue Monkey. I was asked to do a brief interview for the new series of The Apprentice that they were filming on the day as one of the tasks they had was to brew, market and sell a real ale. Their effort was called A Bitter This and was brewed with using a Terry's Chocolate orange, different but not bad at all.

As the clock approached 14.20 I made my way to Clarence Park for the match.

A 10 minute walk later and I was at the home of St Albans City FC. The ground sits right next to a park is hemmed in on 1 side by the railway but it's a very pleasant setting with an interesting main stand and open terracing at the 2 ends.



Having seen Arlesey beat Dulwich in the FA Trophy the week before I knew what to expect and with them sitting one place below St Albans in the table the game promised to be entertaining.A bright but slightly chilly day had brought the St Albans fans out in large numbers and the game started with the hosts pushing for an early goal. That goal duly arrived on 18 minutes courtesy of David Ujah who stabbed the ball home following a ball into the box. Arlsesy then went up the other end and when the diminutive Drew Roberts was tripped in the box he got up and dispatched the penalty home on 22 minutes. The score remained this way until half time.

The second period started slowly but with some St Albans pressure and a good move saw the ball fed back for Shields to fire in a shot on goal which required a good save from Nathan Abbey in the Arlesey goal.
The visitors were then awarded a free kick about 30 yards out as Roberts was again fouled but he put his free kick just over the bar.
The evergreen Barry Hayles was replaced as the hosts tried to break the Arlesey defence down and regain the lead. However a few moments after the change Arlesey made a swift break and a ball forward found Roberts on the edge of the area in space, this allowed him to send a low cross past the keeper for Dillon at the far post and duly smashed the ball into the roof of the net to give Arlesey the lead.

As the game wore on the hosts pushed for an equaliser but it just wouldn't come enabling Arlesey to hang on for the win and a place in the next round.

A decent game played at a good pace in a cracking venue, why Clarence Park has eluded me for so long god only knows. From the ground I walked back to the Alban Arena for another few new beers before boarding the 7pm train back to London. After sampling a total of 14 new beers I arrived back home for 8pm and another good day watching non league football.

Saturday 6th October saw Dulwich back to league action and hosting the current league leaders Folkestone Invicta. A cagey first half saw both team leave the pitch locked at 0-0 but Erhun Oztumer scored a screamer on 54 minutes to put 'Hamlet in the lead then he grabbed he's 2nd on 76 minutes when Delo in the Folkestone goal brought down Nyren Clunis for a soft penalty, duly dispatched with aplomb by the small Turkish forward. This was Folkestone first league defeat of the season and was a good 3 points for Dulwich to bring a run of 3 defeats to an end.

Tuesday 9th October and my last game of the of a 10 day period saw me arrive at King Georges Field for Corithian Casuals v Dulwich Hamlet. A halve of many chances saw another incredible miss from a Casuals player as the half ended when faced with an open goal after good work down the right saw the ball squirm after and off the pitch. 0-0 at HT. Dulwich continued the 2nd half the same way but just couldn't force a goal, a superb save from the Casuals keeper when he clawed the ball away when it was almost in the net kept the game goalless, this was until the 82nd minute when the ball was header over Dulwich's makeshift keeper, a young lad drafted in last minute from Tottenham's youth team and into the net for the only goal of the game.
A disappointing defeat when it should have been 3 points but a draw would of been okay as well.

I trudged back to South East London to prepare myself for Saturday's visit to Maidstone Untied for my first game at their new stadium.

Til the next time....