Our trip the previous weekend to Salisbury was the embodiment of an excellent hop. However, our latest trip to Sandhurst Town had a number of components which would tilt it towards the opposite end of the scale.
Sandhurst Town’s game with Farnborough Town, recently relegated from the Conference South had been one of the first friendly games I had noted down at the beginning of the summer. Even after Peacehaven & Telscombe pulled a plum friendly against Luton Town out of the bag, a trip to Bottom Meadow remained my number one choice. The visit represented something of a second chance. I’d read rumours on the Non League Matters forum in January that the club was resigning from the Combined Counties League but I’d not managed to fit in a visit before the end of last season. In the end, the club did not go down this route and will be taking up their place in the Combined Counties Division One for the 2015-16 season.
Despite some wet weather during the week, it was another beautiful warm, sunny day on Saturday so nothing to complain about on that front. It was also a later start than the previous two games we’d been to so I was afforded a bit of a lie in. Our train was just after midday so we weren’t in any particular rush to get ready and we walked to the station safe in the knowledge that time was on our side.
Our train took us up to Guildford and we made our way to Platform 8 for our 13:09 connection to Sandhurst. It was here that events took something of a nosedive. It was my phone that first alerted me to the issue. Looking at the train times on the National Rail App showed our connecting train as cancelled. This was not good news. Sandhurst is not a hotbed of activity and, as such, only one train an hour runs from Guildford. At this stage the display board still showed our train as ‘On Time’. However, there was still over 20 minutes until its intended arrival. It was a case of blind hope as we waited for the inevitable.
A glimmer of hope was offered, as the arrival time drew ever closer when an automated announcement was made to inform the gathering passengers that the train was on its way. But the arrival time came and went, and the train had not turned up. Across the rail on platform 4, disarray was setting in as a signalling problem at Liphook, where we’d earlier passed through, was sparking cancellations to trains towards Portsmouth and London Waterloo. Cancellation announcements were aired, and repeated but still no mention of our missing train.
20 minutes passed on the forgotten platform with no staff and no news of our train anywhere in sight. Then suddenly, ‘On Time’ changed to ‘Cancelled’ a mere 24 minutes after it was due to arrive. No announcement was made though. The board changed, people around us groaned and let out their frustrations and that was that as all record of the train quickly disappeared altogether to be replaced by the 13:44 train to Reading. The next train to call at Sandhurst wasn’t due until 14:09 and that was assuming it was on time.
Needless to say, with nearly an hour spent on Guildford station, Liam was getting a little restless. Faced with the possibility of skipping the time I’d promised him in the park before the game, he had focussed his attentions on telling me how he no longer liked me. In the end, I took evasive action. The 13:44 may not call at Sandhurst, but I checked the distance to the ground from the previous station, Blackwater. Fortunately, it was only 1.9 miles which was definitely walkable; albeit three times longer than the distance from Sandhurst station itself.
Naturally, the 13:44 train was late, so when it finally pulled into Blackwater at 14:15 it signalled a swift walk towards the ground. Thankfully it was quite a straightforward walk and we sped alongside the A321 in the direction of Bottom Meadow with real purpose. With the ground itself situated within Sandhurst’s Memorial Park, we were able to cut off the final leg of our journey by roaming across the fields and managed to arrive in good time with around 10 minutes until kick off.
Bottom Meadow was opened in August 1997 and is a spacious affair enclosed within the confines of Sandhurst’s Memorial Park. The tall trees help with the enclosed feel and there is hard standing all around the pitch with the exception of a small seated stand consisting of around 100 seats in the club’s red and black colours. Behind one of the goals is the clubhouse which is well decorated with the club colours. Even the two benches in front are painted in red and black.
Having walked past what looked to be a very decent looking playground on our walk through to the ground, Liam was again feeling irked. Inside the ground there was another cause of frustration form him in the form of a Football Table. A rather nice and quirky idea I thought, but Liam was hell-bent on playing on it despite it already being occupied. Some young lads were playing on it when he arrived and Liam made sure we were close by so that we could seize our opportunity as soon as it became available.
On the field of play, my number one fear of pre-season was being realised. Financially stricken Farnborough, who are still facing the threat of further demotion in the coming weeks, were fielding a team predominantly made up of trialists who could not be named, whilst the Sandhurst team was not announced either. A stickler for statistics and keeping records of the games I’ve been to, it was disappointing to be recording the scorers as ‘Trialist #10’ and ‘Trialist #?’. In 608 matches, it was the first time I’d not been able to list the names of the goalscorers. I tried tweeting Sandhurst to get their starting line up but never replied. Farnborough on the other hand, despite far more pressing matters going on behind the scenes, were quick to respond to my request with the names they could provide from their own starting line-up.
Farnborough were firmly in control throughout the game and were four goals up at half-time with the third goal from their number 10 being the pick of the bunch with a well struck shot from distance which beat the keeper low down to his left. Shortly into the second half, the same player missed a chance to register a hat-trick when he saw his penalty saved by the home goalkeeper. This was as good as it got for Sandhurst as a further three goals were registered by the visitors making the final score 7-0.
I’d not followed the second half as closely as I would have liked having received a text to tell me some fraudulent activity had taken place on my credit card. Some lowlife had somehow managed to make some lavish purchases with Irish Ferries, Travelodge, RyanAir and EasyJet which meant I spent a good 15 minutes on the phone to MBNA trying to sort it out.
The relief of sorting that worrying situation out with ease put things into perspective. It wasn’t such a big deal that I hadn’t got the players names or the goalscorers. I knew that this was likely when I made the decision to visit the ground so I have no real cause to grumble. In the end we watched an entertaining game, in nice weather at a pleasant little ground and despite National Rail’s best efforts; we’d made it to the game on time. What more could one ask for?
Liam got to have a run around in the playground after the game for an hour before we set off home, stopping off at the local chippy on the way back to the station for some dinner. The journey home was rather more straightforward than its outbound predecessor. Here’s hoping for more of the same when we’re back on the track next week.
Matchday Experience:
Welcome – Fair, but nothing to write home about. 6/10
Ground –Nice and spacious, plenty of room to walk around and find a good view. 7/10
Photo Opps – Some great signs and quirky features with benches and doors painted in club colours. 7.5/10
Programme – No programme on offer. N/A
Club Shop – Available from inside the clubhouse were a number of items including scarves and hats. 6.5/10
Food/Drink – Nothing really on offer other than drinks and some cold snacks. 5.5/10
Toilets – A bit cramped, no soap or paper towels. 5.5/10
Location – A nice little area which was close to the station. With Blackwater station also in walking distance, and Camberley not much further the rail links are pretty good. 7.5/10
Value – £4.00 entry, which is about right for a pre-season friendly. 7.5/10
Fans – Not a bad turnout, perhaps around 100 with a good number of travelling supporters enjoying the sunshine. 6/10
59/90 – 65.55%
About our Journey
(season total in brackets)
Distance Travelled: 48.0 miles (217.1 miles)
Journey Time: 3 hours 38 minutes (15 hours 28 minutes)
Distance Walk (station to ground): 2.4 miles (10.6 miles)
Train Delays: 1 hour (1 hour, 11 mins)
Hopper & Son 