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No.4 - Sat 20th August 2011; Herts County Senior League Division 1; 3.00pm at the Moneyhole Lane Playing Fields, Sylvan Way, Welwyn Garden City, Herts, AL7 2RT. |
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Matchday images (37) https://picasaweb.google.com/footballgroundsinfocus/PanshangerFC
Panshanger (4) 8 Bedmond Sports & Social (0) 0 Together Everyone Achieves More... After taking in our first Herts Senior County League action at London Colney Blues exactly one week ago it's more of the same today as we head over to Welwyn Garden City to attend another Division One fixture in this excellent competition. Our destination is the unusually named Moneyhole Lane Playing Fields where, ironically, new boys Panshanger FC (beaten opponents at London Colney) are playing their first home fixture of the season. It would not only be intriguing to see if they could improve upon last week's performance but also to perhaps witness their first win of the new campaign. As it turned out the game had everything to lift the spirits of the Park Football Obsessive - apart from the new ground tick we saw plenty of goals; a decent game of football and a result none of us standing pitchside expected beforehand: get in there!! Panshanger Football Club play on a large recreation ground found off Sylvan Way, an arterial road that snakes its way through and around the expansive local housing estate. Close to the Panshanger golf club it is easily reached from the main A414 Welwyn to Hertford by-pass by taking the first right hand turn off the B195 (on Black Fan Road). A large colourful sign fronts the impressive Panshanger Pavilion and a short driveway leads visitors to a small car park and the main brick-built changing rooms at the back. A short two minute walk from here leads players and officials onto the adjacent tree-lined playing fields. The main (and only) pitch used today was fully roped-off on all sides by some thin blue twine supported through a row of metal stakes arranged at regular intervals around the perimeter. Interestingly for this level two bold technical areas (also roped off) are marked out along the far touchline with a row of chairs in situ for the playing squad substitutes to take their places. On the near side another (dotted) white line is painted parallel to the main sideline as a reminder to fans to not encroach upon the playing area. I was told that this local FA initiative has been used to great effect recently, paricularly at many junior and youth football matches, as a way of preventing some frustrated parents and coaches who often 'lose it' by entering the field of play and challenging the referee or his/her assistants!! In keeping with the club colours the corner flags have been printed with the club name in striking lime green lettering which contrasts vividly with the black synthetic material. Travellers may be interested to know that there are currently no spectator facilities at pitchside so come prepared in the event of bad weather! The match was played on a beautifully manicured surface in mostly dull and overcast conditions punctuated at times by some very heavy rain showers. A crowd of just over twenty spectators was in attendance including at least eight southern-based hoppers who had travelled independently to the game. It was great to meet up and have a brief chat with non-league officianados and avid park pitch collectors David and Tom Hattersley; (Sir)Dave Garrow; Bob Powell and Geoff Coombs (thanks for letting me share your brolly when the heavens opened during the first-half mate, nice one!). Since moving up from the experimental and rather ill-fated Intermediate Division of the HSCL(1) at the end of last season the young Panshanger side has not found life particulary easy in the First Division of HSCL this term. It's been what you would call a bit of a baptism of fire. After watching the club lose heavily (5-0) to an impressive London Colney Blues side at the Morris Paying Fields last Saturday they followed this up with a second defeat losing 3-2 at Lemsford during midweek. Today the Greens saw the visit of Bedmond Sports & Social FC to the Panshanger Pavilion. The Kings Langley based outfit also found themselves pointless after their opening two games with defeats to AFC Hatfield Town (3-0) last weekend and to Belstone in midweek (1-0). To call this a relegation battle so early into a new season seems of bit OTT but the results for both sides did seem to underline their current predicament. For the neutral it was an incredible game. From the first minute Panshanger completely dominated possession and looked a totally different side to the one that played last week. By the break they had chalked up only four goals (it could have been more) with the best strike coming from Simon Braine whose long range effort was a contender for HSCL1 'Goal of the Season'. It was all one-way traffic in the second half with the hosts adding four more goals to make it, unbelievably, by full-time, a terrific 8-0 winning scoreline. Notably both young forwards Dan Hedgers and Stuart Gilroy each scored hat-tricks to make it a truly memorable day for the new boys. As the Home page on the Club Website states it had been a cracking team effort. What a difference a week in football can make! Enjoy your travels wherever you decide to go!! FGIF Match Stats Scorers: (H) Simon Braine; Stuart Gilroy (3); Dan Hedgers (3); Russell Lynch and (A) N/A Attendance: 21; Admission and Programme: None; Match rating: 5/5; Ground rating: 3/5. Note: (1) For 2010-11 the HSCL operated an inaugural Intermediate Division set up to bridge the gap between junior and adult football. Within weeks and just a few games the original eight team competition had been decimated, following a number of resignations. Links |
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edited on 21/08/11 |
