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Post by notsorecentconvert on Feb 3, 2015 22:41:12 GMT
Despite the cold, I decided to pop down to Vauxhall Road to see Hemel play Wealdstone this evening.
I arrived a couple of minutes before kick-off and there was a queue at both turnstiles. The turnstiles on the opposite side of the ground, which we used on New Year's Day, were not in use. Anyway, the chairman Mr Boggins, who is quite a character, was standing next to the gate and he said: "If you've got the right money, in ya go." I pressed a tenner into his palm and said: "Make sure you tell the tax man about that one."
Right from the start it was obvious the pitch was firm, with the studs clattering on the surface, but on the positive side it did mean the turf didn't cut up as easily as it usually does.
Hemel came out of the blocks very fast indeed and Wealdstone were shambolic at the back. Jonathan North had to tip over a long-range shot in the first minute. Hemel caused havoc from the corner and eventually crossed the ball back in for Moussa Diarra to head in. 1-0.
North made another fine stop a few minutes later but then he was beaten by a low shot after nine minutes. Hemel scored a third (Parkes) after 13 minutes and could have had a fourth on several occasions. Wealdstone offered very little, although towards half-time they had a couple of quarter chances. Calling them half-chances might be a bit generous.
It pains me to say but Hemel looked very good, almost as if they have timed a run of form to make a push for the play-offs. Apparently if Wealdstone had remained unbeaten they'd have set a record for the longest unbeaten run in Conference South history, which strikes me as remarkable given their level of performance. Who have they been playing? Six consecutive games against Staines Town?
Anyway, I was contemplating giving it 15 minutes at the start of the second half before heading home because it was bitterly cold and a bit of a no-contest. Just as I emerged from the warm bar for the second half I saw the players heading back in. It quickly became apparent the referee had become unhappy with areas of the pitch.
Someone in the tunnel said to Boggins: "The ref says it's two areas... That's all... just two areas are frozen and we can sort that out." I half-thought someone might stroll out with a kettle of boiling water to soften the pitch. To be fair to the guy, there were only two areas of the pitch that were frozen: Hemel's half and Wealdstone's half.
Hemel will no doubt be annoyed to lose a certain three points. I gather they have to replay the match from the start, rather than just complete the second 45 minutes. Wealdstone can't possibly be that bad again – and their chance to set the Conference South unbeaten record is still alive.
As we left, a few fans were asking whether they'd get a voucher for free entry. We hadn't been given any tickets on the way in so there's no way of proving we were at the match.
Someone asked Boggins if they'd have to pay full whack for the rematch. "Fraid so," he said.
Common sense says they'll do the decent thing and charge a fiver, but I wouldn't put it past Boggins to charge another tenner, which would make Hemel officially more expensive than Saints (!)
There must've been a good 700 to 800 in the ground – impressive, noisy travelling support – so that's a nice £8,000 for the fat envelope with more to come for the rematch, I guess.
Anyway, an entertaining 15 minutes of football and an amusing denouement to the evening. Saw a few faces I recognised from Clarence Park too, including Darren Locke, who has played for both Hemel and Wealdstone.
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Post by EFMTFTV on Feb 8, 2015 14:22:38 GMT
. Apparently if Wealdstone had remained unbeaten they'd have set a record for the longest unbeaten run in Conference South history, which strikes me as remarkable given their level of performance. Who have they been playing? Six consecutive games against Staines Town? Would been their 12th game unbeaten which they've managed to do pretty much under the radar, I had no idea they were on such a decent run But surely there is a better run than that? Newport steamed this league, I think they won about 10 on the spin once Incidentally if the record is 11 games unbeaten then we hold that record of part of it as we went 11 games unbeaten in 2005/6 after losing 4-3 to Cambridge on Feb 14th we didn't lose again until Weymouth on Easter Monday Wealdstone lost yesterday though so the record is safe EDIT: It's crap anyway, looking at wikipedia (which I should have done in the first place) Newport went 21 unbeaten and Welling once won 12 on the spin en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conference_South
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Post by notsorecentconvert on Feb 8, 2015 17:55:48 GMT
Yes... My mistake (well, my mate's mistake). He was under the impression it was a record for the division, which seemed implausible but then again I thought it might have been possible as the Conf South has only been around for a decade.
But yes, it could have been the longest unbeaten run of this season in this division, but they had a Weston-Night-Mare at home yesterday so it's irrelevant now.
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Post by citycentresaint on Feb 9, 2015 18:33:04 GMT
Does the Hemel bar have Special Brew on tap?
Heard that the Hemel fans were pushing for this.
Hemel have a poor play off record. So even if they were to scrape into the playoffs , I would predict they would bottle it.
The Gosport game springs to mind.
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Post by Hatboy on Feb 17, 2015 21:57:55 GMT
Hemel only managed a 1-1 draw tonight in the re-arranged fixture
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Post by PaperSaint on Feb 17, 2015 22:34:51 GMT
Wealdstone twitter feeds suggests there was trouble there tonight - apparently instigated by Hemel yoofs. Wealdstone fans questioning why segregation was not imposed for the game
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tudor
Saints Trialist
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Post by tudor on Feb 17, 2015 23:02:48 GMT
Tall tales from Wealdstone. Their fans piled into the end populated by home fans and a few from each side had a scuffle at half time. Not sure why they're painting themselves as innocent bystanders, perhaps they're hoping to take advantage of some naiveté.
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boojiboy
Saints Reserve Team Player
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Post by boojiboy on Feb 17, 2015 23:35:51 GMT
Their fans piled into the end populated by home fans . I wasn't at the game but was it possible that the Wealdstone fans wanted to stand behind the goal that their team was attacking (as is normal at unsegragated games) but some Hemel fans decided not to move to antagonize them. Only guessing but I've seen it so many times before.
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Post by citycentresaint on Feb 18, 2015 8:06:40 GMT
Bet that the Wealdstone Raider was involved with this.
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Post by notsorecentconvert on Feb 18, 2015 10:40:00 GMT
Having watched the first 45 minutes, I went along last night to see the conclusion, along with my Wealdstone-supporting mate, who couldn't make the original abandoned game.
It was a good, even game and Hemel paid the price for not scoring a second goal when they were on top. Wealdstone had a lot more possession in the second half and definitely deserved their equaliser. That's a poor week for Hemel – chucking away two points at Farnborough and again last night. Perhaps they are not on a charge towards the play-offs after all.
A trip to Vauxhall Road always offers some sort of entertainment and last night was pure comedy gold. If I owned a TV production company, I'd be pitching a documentary about a season in the life of The Tudors because there's an incredible story going on there.
As we walked up to the ground, Dave Boggins was outside the turnstile. My mate remarked that he looked like a cross between a long-retired fourth division footballer and an inexplicably popular 1970s end-of-the-pier comedian as he stood there with his walkie-talkie and welcomed people individually.
The bottom end of the ground was 'closed' because they've taken the decision to ruin a perfectly good covered terrace by putting in what looks like it will be two rows of seats. I know they are really under pressure to meet the ground requirements and it is better to do something about it now, rather than make the play-offs and find they are ineligible for promotion, but it's a shambolic state of affairs.
It meant that the Hemel and Wealdstone fans all headed towards the terrace at the top end as Wealdstone attacked that in the first half. It seemed a little bit tense but there was just some competitive chanting to start with, which made for a good atmosphere.
At half-time, the Hemel fans clearly wanted the Wealdstone fans to vacate the terrace but the Wealdstone fans presumably didn't want to lose face by just trooping out, so they stayed put and a hilarious game of pushing and shoving began. A handful of tubby stewards tried to calm things down. It looked like it might boil over but really it was all pretty pathetic – children, teenagers and grown men who should know better all got involved. The fact that just 60 yards away a load of kids were playing football on the 3G pitch lent a superb air of incongruity to the argy-bargy. This would have been a TV documentary maker's gold.
Eventually the Stones fans went down to the bottom end and stood on the terrace, which had all the wooden supports in place ready for the seats. Realising too late, the stewards wobbled down to the bottom end in their not-quite G4S security vests and told them to get down.
I sympathise with Hemel's predicament regarding their ground – they've developed on the pitch very well but the pitch and infrastructure are well behind. In some ways it's got some charm – the white, plastic front door with the No.14 on it on the far side that my mate jokes leads to Non-League Narnia, is funny and lends a certain character.
But there's so much rubble and junk about, and not just because they're doing the building work on the terrace. Bits of wood and old drain pipe are lying about.
And the final shot for my mini imaginary TV doc came courtesy of my other companion last night. There were two porcelain toilets just left near the exit.
A shot of Boggins next to those two bogs would have been the perfect closing shot.
PAN TO FLOODLIGHTS. FADE TO BLACK. ENDS.
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Post by westwalessaint on Feb 18, 2015 18:15:14 GMT
Having watched the first 45 minutes, I went along last night to see the conclusion, along with my Wealdstone-supporting mate, who couldn't make the original abandoned game. It was a good, even game and Hemel paid the price for not scoring a second goal when they were on top. Wealdstone had a lot more possession in the second half and definitely deserved their equaliser. That's a poor week for Hemel – chucking away two points at Farnborough and again last night. Perhaps they are not on a charge towards the play-offs after all. A trip to Vauxhall Road always offers some sort of entertainment and last night was pure comedy gold. If I owned a TV production company, I'd be pitching a documentary about a season in the life of The Tudors because there's an incredible story going on there. As we walked up to the ground, Dave Boggins was outside the turnstile. My mate remarked that he looked like a cross between a long-retired fourth division footballer and an inexplicably popular 1970s end-of-the-pier comedian as he stood there with his walkie-talkie and welcomed people individually. The bottom end of the ground was 'closed' because they've taken the decision to ruin a perfectly good covered terrace by putting in what looks like it will be two rows of seats. I know they are really under pressure to meet the ground requirements and it is better to do something about it now, rather than make the play-offs and find they are ineligible for promotion, but it's a shambolic state of affairs. It meant that the Hemel and Wealdstone fans all headed towards the terrace at the top end as Wealdstone attacked that in the first half. It seemed a little bit tense but there was just some competitive chanting to start with, which made for a good atmosphere. At half-time, the Hemel fans clearly wanted the Wealdstone fans to vacate the terrace but the Wealdstone fans presumably didn't want to lose face by just trooping out, so they stayed put and a hilarious game of pushing and shoving began. A handful of tubby stewards tried to calm things down. It looked like it might boil over but really it was all pretty pathetic – children, teenagers and grown men who should know better all got involved. The fact that just 60 yards away a load of kids were playing football on the 3G pitch lent a superb air of incongruity to the argy-bargy. This would have been a TV documentary maker's gold. Eventually the Stones fans went down to the bottom end and stood on the terrace, which had all the wooden supports in place ready for the seats. Realising too late, the stewards wobbled down to the bottom end in their not-quite G4S security vests and told them to get down. I sympathise with Hemel's predicament regarding their ground – they've developed on the pitch very well but the pitch and infrastructure are well behind. In some ways it's got some charm – the white, plastic front door with the No.14 on it on the far side that my mate jokes leads to Non-League Narnia, is funny and lends a certain character. But there's so much rubble and junk about, and not just because they're doing the building work on the terrace. Bits of wood and old drain pipe are lying about. And the final shot for my mini imaginary TV doc came courtesy of my other companion last night. There were two porcelain toilets just left near the exit. A shot of Boggins next to those two bogs would have been the perfect closing shot. PAN TO FLOODLIGHTS. FADE TO BLACK. ENDS. Brilliant, just brilliant. You're excellent with your reports notsorecentconvert.
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Post by Hatboy on Feb 18, 2015 18:31:16 GMT
I sympathise with Hemel's predicament regarding their ground – they've developed on the pitch very well but the pitch and infrastructure are well behind. I don't if you throw all your money at the team to try and go up before your ground or even pitch is up to the standard it needs to be I have no sympathy
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Post by Saint on Feb 18, 2015 19:02:16 GMT
The thing is though, they aren't chucking money at the team either,.. I had heard earlier this season that their budget was smaller than ours. It's just the fact that they're performing better on it at the moment than maybe even they had predicted.
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Post by citycentresaint on Feb 18, 2015 21:14:24 GMT
Well written CONVERT.
Article sums up Hemel well. A bunch of clowns trying to mix it with the big boys.
They wont make the playoffs and once Boggins goes they will sink down the leagues.
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Post by harpendenstone on Feb 20, 2015 11:00:20 GMT
Good stuff Recentconvert but you left out the only interesting part of the evening - the fact that Hemel had serious disorder on their hands at the end, of their own making. Allow hemel to remain at the 'wrong' end in the first half; allow free admission to the entire obnoxious teenage population of Hemel; why not give them free slush puppies too, and blue smarties? Wealdstone's demographic is 30s- 50s geezers and they were only going to take so much goading. Are you unaware of the trouble outside the ground? Around 30 20year olds were waiting on the roundabout for the stones fans to appear (having been held back: a comic example of stewarding only taking place after the final whistle) and then attempted punches and kicks before running off with bloodied noses. A car was damaged in the process. Boggins apparently defended himself by commenting; 'I'm just a publican, I just sell beer'. Hemel were advertising for a safety officer before the game and got this so, so wrong. They had a responsibility for public safety on Tuesday night and it could have been catastrophic.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2015 15:10:23 GMT
The thing is though, they aren't chucking money at the team either,.. I had heard earlier this season that their budget was smaller than ours. It's just the fact that they're performing better on it at the moment than maybe even they had predicted. do you believe everything you hear
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Post by Saint on Feb 20, 2015 15:30:57 GMT
No, but I had been informed of that by a few people associated with both ourselves, and also Hemel. Boggins is saving as much money as possible in terms of the squad, and their managers have admitted that themselves, as he knows they need to develop off the pitch first.
After yesterday's news, I think I'd much rather be in their position. At least they've had stability at the top of their club for a number of years. (I think he's owned them for going on for 18 years now? Impressive.)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2015 15:33:24 GMT
you'd rather be in there position?
wow
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Post by Saint on Feb 20, 2015 15:34:45 GMT
you'd rather be in there position? wow Unless we see a change over the coming weeks, months, we have a very unsure future ownership wise. At least they have the assurance of Boggins supporting them, and building them up. Things over at Hemel are definitely not perfect in any way, but is it that bad? Nope. Although, in some aspects off the pitch, they do treat the club as if they're still in the Southern League. I like to think we're a bit better in that aspect.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2015 15:38:39 GMT
and if boggins gets bored?
chairmen come and go
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Post by Saint on Feb 20, 2015 15:41:33 GMT
and if boggins gets bored? chairmen come and go After 18 years? Probably unlikely. If he did, you would suspect he would sell it to someone, instead of just 'walking' away which is what one of our owners is suggesting.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2015 15:43:39 GMT
if our owner doesn't get his own way - also presumably mcgowan would rather sell it to someone rather than just walking away - if that's even possible
more likely to get bored after eighteen years than on day one
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Post by Saint on Feb 20, 2015 15:46:45 GMT
if our owner doesn't get his own way - also presumably mcgowan would rather sell it to someone rather than just walking away - if that's even possible more likely to get bored after eighteen years than on day one It'd be interesting to see if McGowan might try to sell his ownership to Levy, or possibly Levy would attempt to get someone on board.
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tudor
Saints Trialist
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Post by tudor on Feb 20, 2015 15:57:57 GMT
I'd swap your pitch for ours in a heartbeat, but that's about where it ends.
I hope you find the stability you are looking for. Rivalries are good.
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Post by westwalessaint on Feb 20, 2015 16:31:24 GMT
Cheers tudor. Good luck in Conference North next season! Lol.
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Post by Hatboy on Feb 20, 2015 18:26:26 GMT
Ouch
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yellowalf
Saints Reserve Team Player
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Post by yellowalf on Feb 20, 2015 23:15:43 GMT
if our owner doesn't get his own way - also presumably mcgowan would rather sell it to someone rather than just walking away - if that's even possible Sell what - shares in a loss-making company? The problem with either owner is that they are sitting on debt and consequently they are only able to sell debt. Anyone know how much Levy and McGowan paid for the 630,000 shares they hold in St Albans City? I can't imagine john Gibson was holding out for very much money at all...
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Post by EFMTFTV on Feb 21, 2015 8:24:47 GMT
Probably the bog standard £1
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