Match Facts   

           No.55 - Sat. 31st March 2007; Kent County League Premier Div             2.45pm at the Ladywell Arena, Catford, London  (att: 17; prog: No)

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Lewisham Borough (Community) FC (0)  Bearsted (0) 2

Bears leave it late to nick points

At last! After a frustrating wait I finally managed to visit the club on the last Saturday in March. Since FGIF's ace reporter and photographer Paul Roth attended a game at the Ladywell Arena back in September, I had been keen to get there especially when I found out that the Borough were issuing programmes (see TT No.27). The dreadful weather over the winter months had led to several enforced postponements and so scuppered any chance of ticking the reigning Kent County League champions off my shortlist of clubs 'to do'. With only a few weeks until the season the club now finds itself in the unenviable position of having to play a lot of games in a short space of time. I know it's great for us ever eager travellers but we should spare a thought for the lads who have to get out there and do their stuff! 

An early morning phone call to the Arena proved unhelpful. After consulting her diary the young girl in the office reported that although the club did have a game she was unsure about the kick-off time. My efforts to contact the club secretary from both clubs were limited to a barely audible and garbled answermachine service which told me to leave a message. No chance. My last resort was to phone another club in the league and check out their match arrangements - after all this it seemed more than  likely that the kick-off would be at 2:45pm!! 

After crawling through the 'urban jungle that is Catford' (as Paul quite rightly cites in his article) we arrived at the ground with plenty of time to spare. Well ten minutes until kick-off to be exact!  As the players came out of the pavilion and onto the pitch I had just enough time to track down the highly sought after matchday programmes. Horror!! "Sorry mate there isn't one!" came the reply. Realising my disappointment the secretary went in search of some old copies but unfortunately could not oblige. Sadly I trudged back over to pitchside like a schoolboy who just had lost a full bag of his favourite sweets!  After several expletives I reluctantly composed myself ready for the afternoon's fare.

The KCL Premier Division match against Bearsted was played in beautiful sunshine on what was a very hard and bumpy surface. A strong wind made conditions feel colder than theyactually  first appeared so we sought shelter behind a large metal high jump landing area storage unit (if you can imagine one) which was situated behind the furthest goal!  Unlike my previous trip to Bly Spartans FC a few weeks earlier, the game was not the best advert for the KCL with neither side capable of stringing together more than five consecutive passes. Needless to say chances in front of goal were few and far between with little meaningful action around both penalty areas. It looked like a goalless draw was on the cards when the visitors netted late on to set up an exciting final ten minutes. Lewisham pushed up in an effort to equalise but as is often the case were caught out by a fast break giving Bearsted a second goal and with it all three points.

The Ladywell Arena is home to the Kent Athletic Club and the football pitch is surrounded as you might expect by a six lane running track and associated throwing and jumping paraphernalia (circles, cages, sandpits, that sort of thing). The club offices and changing rooms are situated closest to the main entrance off Doggett Road. Dug outs are positioned along the far side but there is no other cover on site unlike at some of the more illustrious athletics stadia that I have been to in the past. Several wooden benches around the track provide some permanent seating but spectators can stand pitchside to watch the game (indeed some even chose to occupy the top step of the timekeepers' stand and no doubt obtain quite a different perspective of play altogther!).

Travellers can buy a hot drink from the tea bar opened for business at half-time. This was quite welcome and possibly offered some consolation for missing out on a matchday magazine.

After consulting my Travellers' Notebook later that evening I realised this had been my fifth visit to an athletics stadium to watch watch football this season!  The joys of hopping at track and field venues!     

FGIF Rating: 2*

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