Steve B the Groundhopper

6.30pm 24 April  2024 Wigan and District Amateur League, Division Two White Lion 0 Bolton Young Boys 2 (att 18) Bolton Young Boys went into this fixture needing four more points to secure the league title, and got three-quarters of the way there thanks to two second half goals. Given their league record so far, failing to win just one match, I'd expected them to have an easier evening, but they made hard work of overcoming White Lion. The home side almost scored in the opening moments. Bolton Young Boys hit a post not long later, but a scrappy first half finished without a goal. The visitors broke the deadlock early in the second period, despite a suggestion of handball. Ten minutes into the half they scored again, and White Lion never looked like changing the outcome. This was a Bolton derby in the Wigan League. White Lion play at Queens Park, not far from the town centre. It's a pitch on the edge of a pleasant public park, with changing rooms and a car park.

6.15pm 23 April  2024 Huddersfield and District League, Division Two Wooldale Wanderers 1 Grange Moor Saints 2 (att 14) There's no shortage of scenic rural venues in the Huddersfield and District League, and Wooldale's West Fields Park is up there with the best. It's also up on a hill above Holmfirth, so even on on a relatively mild spring evening there was a cold wind to contend with. I imagine it could be a challenging place to watch or play football in the depths of winter. The pitch is surrounded by lanes so narrow it's best to take advice on where to park (on a grass verge by the track behind the top goal), and the final approach is easier if you don't meet another vehicle coming in the opposite direction. The players change a short walk away in the village of Wooldale, where the club have a base that doubles as a community facility. The ground itself is just a pitch, with a steep slope. Grange Moor Saints have enough games left to turn a more likely mid-table

6.30pm 22 April  2024 Chester and Wirral League, Premier Division FC Farndon 1 Chester Nomads III 3 (att 25) Chester Nomads' third team went into their final league game of the season in a relegation position. By winning it they leapt a couple of places and left hosts Farndon possibly facing the drop instead. FC Farndon now need three points from their final two fixtures to climb back above Nomads, with Shaftesbury Youth also likely requiring points to be sure of preserving their top flight status. The away side deserved their win. They took an early lead, and doubled it shortly before half time. It then took them until a couple of minutes from the end before they got a third. Farndon's consolation was a great strike in the final minute.  It was a mostly scrappy encounter, although to be fair to the players they weren't helped by a poor pitch. Apparently it was the first league game Farndon have been able to play at home since last autumn. Their home is at Farndon Community

3pm 20 April  2024 Cheshire League, League Two Wigan Town 1 Hartford 2 (att 35) Other commitments morning and evening meant a 3pm kick off close to home was ideal, so it was the perfect opportunity to visit a club coming to the end of a debut season in the Cheshire League. It's fair to say it's been a tough baptism. Going into this game they were bottom with just three points from 25 matches, thanks to a solitary victory in March. But, with visitors Hartford being only a single place and five points clear of them, Wigan Town would have had hopes of adding to their points tally. I was hoping for a match that'd be competitive. Hartford started well, and with better finishing would have established an early lead to set themselves up for a comfortable win. But they failed to take their chances and it was the home side, against the run of play, who opened the scoring. They couldn't hold onto their lead though. It was 1-1 by half time, and Hartford got a decisive winning goal

6.40pm 19 April  2024 Manchester League, Premier Division Walshaw Sports Club 1 Govan and University of Manchester 2 (att 45) The second time I've seen Walshaw play a home game at Bury's Elton High School, but whereas last time, in August 2022, it was on a 3G pitch , this match was on grass. I'm not sure if the move is a permanent one or due to unavailability of the artificial surface, but for me the chance to visit a 'new' ground close to home on a Friday evening was welcome. The pitch is next to the car park, in front of the school buildings, and is fully enclosed, although there was no rope or rail to separate spectators from the playing area. A grass bank along one side provides a decent view. It was a feisty game between well-matched sides. Govan had the better of the first half and deserved their half time lead. But after the break Walshaw were more in the ascendency, and were good value for their equaliser, even if it came thanks to a soft-looking penalty. A

3pm 13 April  2024 Middlesex County League, Premier Division Feltham 1 London Tigers 1 (att 25) I've mentioned in previous blog posts that my first experience of non-league football was watching my then local team at Feltham Arena back in the 1980s. As I moved away I saw them less often, with new grounds becoming my main motivation for choosing matches. After a merger with Bedfont the old club effectively disappeared a few years ago, before being reborn at adult level this season. I watched their first game, a 4-0 thrashing at Larkspur Rovers , but it's taken until near the end of the season for me to finally get to a home game. By my reckoning the last time I saw Feltham FC at home was in February 1989, although a couple of years later I did see them at home under the short-lived name of Feltham and Hounslow Borough. It's been a tough debut season for the revived club. That opening day defeat was the first of many, and they went into this fixture adrift at the bottom of th