No.60 - Fri. 2nd May 2008; Bedfordshire Football League                             6.30pm at The Jubilee Playing Fields, Bedford Road, Wilstead, Bedford, Beds. (Att: 16; Admn & Prog: NA)

View matchday images  01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08  Wilhamstead (1) 3  Riseley Sports (0) 0  Mistaken identity changes course of game  'Just because there's a game, it doesn't mean to say that you've got to go to it!' This was definitely sound advice from my hopping mate and FGIF legend Paul Roth who had just sent me one of his topical and thoroughly entertaining E-Mails. The fixtures listed inside the trusted pages of my Football Traveller magazine seemed to be getting a bit thin on the ground (pardon the pun) now, clear evidence that the end of the season is for most competitions almost over. But with only a handful of matches remaining Paul and I are still keen to go to games before the bitter end. In fact we both seem to be trying harder than ever to swap the sofa for yet another  roped off field in the middle of nowhere. Why? Surely these venues would all be there come next August when  the new season kicks-off once again? We agreed that being obsessive types was probably the reason for our compulsive and totally irrational behaviour that kept driving us on to visit new grounds. Perhaps it really was time to hang up the anorak for a few weeks and enjoy a bit of rest and relaxation. This thought had entered my mind as I left the Jubilee Playing Fields in the Bedfordshire village of Wilstead. The game I had just seen was totally uninspiring to say the least. It offered little by way of excitement and I must confess to glancing at my wristwatch more than once during the second half. Was I being a bit over critical here though? Maybe. I was expecting too much. After all my attention was probably more focused on the forthcoming weekend action with visits to Soham Town Rangers (v Needham Market in the Eastern Counties League title decider) and Ipswich Town (v the mighty Tigers in an important Football Championship fixture)  coming up over the next two days. In all fairness this game was not going to come anywhere close to these gems. For the record, Wilhamstead beat Risely Sports by three goals to nil in front of a handful of spectators which included well known hopping legends Messrs. Buck and Woodings (sounds like a firm of accountants - no offence fellas). After a difficult season both teams had finshed at the wrong end of the league table and it really wasn't  too hard to see why. Neither side found it easy to keep possession and resorted to a long ball game which  prevented any decent midfield passing play. Not nice on the eye I assure you. The first goal of the game came midway through the opening forty-five minutes. Without the team line ups to guide me (what a part-time hopper I hear you say!), I couldn't identify the scorer and believed that Riseley (the away side dressed in white) had taken the lead. I came to this conclusion by deciding that the four corner flags (all pale yellow) would match the colours of the home team shirts. Nothing wrong with that, surely? So for the rest of the half it was Riseley in white leading against Wilhamstead in yellow. No problem. Well not until half-time there wasn't! During the interval a couple of players (in white shirts) came over to chat with some of their friends by the side of the pitch. Ear-wigging into their conversation I heard one of the spectators remark that the away team were poor and that his team should score a few more goals in the second half. Daughter Jo looked at me and laughed. I suddenly twigged that it was the home team, Wilhamstead, who were in fact wearing white shirts and not Riseley. It also meant that they were leading 1-0. Surely other 'hoppers must have made a similar mistake like this before? What a real plonker! After the re-start I quickly worked out which team was shooting which way and settled down to watch what I hoped would be a better game. Sadly not. More kick and rush. Mind you Wilhamstead (definitely in the white!) managed to score twice more in the fading light to win the game by a comfortable margin. It had been one of the poorest games I had seen this season. One game too many perhaps. 'Just because there's a game, it doesn't mean to say that you've got to go to it!' Paul's advice had been spot on. The club is based at the Jubilee Playing Fields in the Bedfordshire village of Wilstead. This is just a few miles  south of Bedford and can be reached by coming off the A6 as if travelling towards Luton. A bumpy driveway leads you from the main road in the village down to the playing fields on the right hand side. There is no cover on site. A small, drab-looking, brick built pavilion is set at angle in the top corner of the fields. It is some distance from here to the main (roped off) pitch on the opposite side of the field. Hedges border the far touchline and the narrow strips of grass behind both goals. I found to my cost that a ditch runs behind one of the goals and almost came a cropper whilst trying to retrieve a stray shot in the first minute. The four foot drop was hidden behind some overhanging tree branches. After this we hastily moved over to watch the game from the half-way line. Our new vantage point was not ideal either as a swarm of horse-flies soon descended on us no doubt in search of nourishment. Scratch...scratch. The trials and tribulations of hopping continue!!                                                                    FGIF Rating: 1*

edited on 30/05/08