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TT No.103: Richie Jennings - Saturday 27th October 2007, Kent County League Premier Division; Hollands & Blair v Sheerness East, Result: 3-0, Att: 15 (plus others near clubhouse) Admn: £2 inc. programme. |
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We had been waiting for the opportunity to visit Star Meadow Sports Club ever since my fellow 'hopper Russell had changed his 'local' to the H&B clubhouse from the Old Ash Tree in the summer. We decided to go to this game as Russell's father John, a 77 year old Chatham Town fan, had a free weekend and we both like to take him to a handful of games during the season. The ground is situated 3 miles off the M2 junction with the A278 (Gillingham exit). Head towards the Tesco roundabout and turn left towards Town Centre. Darland Avenue is after two roundabouts, turning left at the traffic lights at The Star Pub. The car park and ground entrance is past the pub on the left hand side.
The pitch is situated behind the club house, which has a good beer selection for the lager fraternity and in addition sells chocolate, snacks and filled rolls. There are 2 large screen TVs inside with the great Jeff Stelling keeping us entertained for the half and full time scores. There is a view (through netting) of the pitch for those who cannot bear to part with £2 for the admission including a 24 page programme.
The gate has the team line ups on the board and the entrance leads onto the left hand side touchline which is roped off and has a 25 metre hard standing area with a solitary bench. This, coupled with the 2 or 3 spectators on the opposite side of the pitch where the dugouts are situated, appears more than adequate for this level although there is no cover anywhere around the ground. Thankfully a crisp, dry autumn afternoon ensured we did not get wet. See Paul Roth's excellent report (TT No. 239 from the end of 2005/06 season) for some ground photos.
The match itself was an honest, well contested affair, being marshalled superbly by Brian Smith, the referee whom we had seen in September at Coney Hall. 10 out of 10 again from the referee who was clear in his decision making and tried to let the game flow, not resorting to frantic waving of yellow cards. H&B went in at half time 1-0 up due to a Paul Robinson-esque error from Steve Holpin, the Sheerness East keeper who allowed a bumpy low mishit shot from Cliff Eldridge to roll through his hands and legs and crawl into the back of the net. Sheerness battled back in the second half but went further behind after our Man of the Match No 7 Eldridge, (who was causing havoc down the right hand side), cut in and tried his luck from the edge of the box and the Sheerness keeper gave an action replay of the first goal as the ball again trickled into the net. After this calamity, Sheerness changed things around by taking their blond number 6 off, who in my opinion was their best player. They tried to retrieve a point but Blair's number 9 made it 3-0 and the contest was over.
FGIF rating 4*
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