No.38 - Sat. 27th March 2010; Leicestershire Senior League Division 1;                        3pm at Judgemeadow Community College, Marydene Drive, Evington, Leicester, Leics.

 

Matchday images (15) >view>

 

FC Khalsa (0) 0  Narborough & Littlethorpe (2) 3

Tales of the unexpected!

Amazingly our journey up to leafy Leicestershire today was totally unplanned. Up until midday we were all set to take in the mouth-watering Middlesex County League Premier Division fixture between leaders Interwood and FC Deportivo at Memorial Park in West Ham. In fact we had just finishing packing the car with all our matchday essentials (map; flask; picnic chairs; camera; FGIF Match Stats Card etc) when the phone rang. Fran answered the call and relayed the news to me that it was 'Twin Two,' our daughter Jo, at the other end. From what I could glean it sounded that she was not feeling too well (possibly the result of a viral infection or more probably through the after effects of excessive partying in the pubs and clubs in Lufbra): her term had just finished and more to the point she was desperately in need of a lift home. 

With the deadline for her 10,000 word dissertation (entitled: "The Terror of Suspense: The Nature of Obscurity in Ann Radcliffe's Novels") looming ever closer, she suggested that it would be far better to convey the weighty mass of necessary reading material by car rather than juggle it precariously across several railway platforms en route back to racing HQ. Being a soft touch I instantly capitulated and in the time it takes to say: 'Football Grounds In Focus Links page', I had browsed through the Leicestershire Senior League fixtures and decided that the 3pm kick off at struggling Division One club FC Khalsa (v Narborough) was do-able in the time available. We explained that the Wraymobile II would pick her up after the game at some time before 6pm. Incredibly the recent programme of weekend roadworks at Huntingdon had now finished and we arrived, stress free for once, at our hastily arranged new destination with eager anticipation. As the younger generation would say, LOL!!

FC Khalsa play their home games at the Judgemeadow Community College. The extensive landscaped 65-acre site, located some five or so miles to the east of Leicester city centre, is based along Marydene Drive in Evington. A huge redevelopment, completed only eight months ago by the Leicester Miller Education Company Ltd (a public private partnership which delivers a £235 million Building Schools for the Future (BSF) - programme in Leicester), provides a wide range of multicultural, educational and learning opportunities for 11-16 year olds at what is now a Specialist Language College maintained by the security firm G4S.

 

Visitors here will be impressed by the facilities on offer. Amazingly there are no less than 17 full size football pitches marked out on the expansive site. In addition the latest floodlit 3G 'Rubber Crumb' astroturf (designed by the Italian company Mondo) multi-use games area can host soccer and hockey being hired in its entirety, or alternatively divided in to thirds. It is open from 6am - 10pm making it the ideal training venue for local clubs providing much needed revenue at the same time. A yet to be opened netball and tennis area is in the final stages of completion.

 

JCC received Football Foundation support back in 2004 to fund a £1.2 million Community Football Development Centre. The project was developed in partnership with Leicestershire and Rutland County F.A. and the Local Football Partnership who identified the site as a much needed priority area for football within the County. The Centre which began operating in 2005, was officially opened by Sir Trevor Brooking, FA Director of Football Development.

 

The key partners in the project include the college; its board of governors; Leicester City LEA and the local football club FC Khalsa.  Also supporting the project are a number of other partners including the County FA, Leicester City FC and Bushby United as well as many other clubs who access the facility. Clubs, teams and players take part in numerous activities with opportunities for women and girls football, disability programmes, local community groups and coach education courses. It is intended for the Centre to host local and national football tournaments; 7 a side leagues; Holiday Schemes; Football in the Community coaching activities; Leicester City FC Development Centres and the Leicester City Academy. Indeed the Leicester City Ladies Football Club now play all of their home matches at Judgemeadow.

 

FC Khalsa play on a fully railed off pitch at the back of the college. From the top of a wide undulating grassy embankment next to the changing rooms there is a cracking view of the playing area and rural backdrop beyond. In fact at one point I could hear gunshot in the background from one of the estates closeby. I really do love these panoramic photo opportunities and cannot get enough of these images captured regularly and so expertly on camera by all of the members of our photographic team - keep em coming guys!!). You will find two smaller pitches marked out on an area of land behind the goal to the left. The long narrow driveway, which turns and twists alongside the Rubber Crumb, leads down to a car park situated behind the opposite goal. A narrow strip of grass separates a ditch that runs parallel to the far touchline. Although there is no dedicated spectator cover on site there are two permanent perspex dug-outs close to the halfway line for players and coaching staff. The downside of having such a steep grass embankment often means that this side of the pitch becomes more prone to waterlogging - travellers should as a result aim to attend games here in better weather conditions.         

 

FC Khalsa (pronounced Kaesla, from the Punjab, an order of the Sikh religion, founded by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699) joined the Leicestershire Senior League (Division 1) in 2007-2008 after gaining promotion from the Leicester City League. In their first season they finished a creditable 8th (out of 16 clubs) but disappointingly could not match this last term and struggled late on, falling away to 11th place (out of 14 clubs). This campaign has also seen the club battling in the lower reaches of the league having won only five out of their twenty games played so far. By contrast their opponents Narborough looked to have performed much better (particularly at home recording only one defeat in all games) and they sit comfortably just above mid table.  

 

Despite the sunny but increasingly cold conditions the game attracted less than a handful of spectators - apart from Fran and I only two others stood pitchside. This was my lowest recorded 'attendance' so far this season: previously this distinction had notably been the seven hardy souls who turned up to see Wilberforce Wanderers play FC Baresi in a nine goal thriller at the White Hart Lane Community Centre back in February. 

 

The word thriller certainly could not be applied to the game today. In all honesty it was pretty poor fayre with very little for the neutral to get excited about. Unsurprisingly the result went according to the form book and somehow you could have predicted this even before a ball had been kicked. The visitors dressed in black and white striped shirts definitely seemed to be more up for it as they were all out on the field a full forty minutes before kick off being put through their paces by a young, enthusiastic female fitness coach who certainly meant business. At one point I wondered if this was a bit OTT as a couple of her charges looked slightly worse for their exertions! It didn't help matters when the punishment for stopping was having to complete twenty press-ups! Ouch!! 

 

Sadly the game was littered with petty fouls and a mindless two-footed tackle by Aman Singh (29) saw the hosts reduced to ten men. Narborough, who looked marginally the better side throughout, opened the scoring when Chris Page (32) cut inside his marker on the left side of area to fire home beyond Sukhjit Singh with a neat right foot strike. With two minutes the visitors grabbed a second after Louis Finney (34) latched on to a through ball and beating the offside trap neatly slotted the ball home. The end to end wind gathered in strength after the break and conspired against the prospect of watching a decent passing game. Again Narborough took control and added a third after Patrick Banks met a low cross with an opportunist shot that found the back of the net leaving Singh flat-footed on his line. Inevitably lacklustre FC Khalsa now looked a comprehensively beaten side and despite a late strike from Michael Line that hit the left hand post, the contest was over. The 3-0 victory now elevates the visitors to fifth place in the Division 1 rankings but agonisingly they find themselves some thirteen points adrift from promotion-chasing clubs above them, to give (1: FC Dynamo played 21, 57 points; 2: Kirby Muxloe Res - 21:51; 3: Desford - 23:49 and 4: Barlestone St Giles - 21:47).

 

As expected programmes, as for most clubs in this division, are not issued by FC Khalsa. Although refreshments were not available we did partake in a tasty half-time cup of Earl Grey prepared earlier before setting out on our journey. On the plus side we managed to obtain copies of the team line-ups from the helpful match referee, Dave Smith, just before the game started. As Fran remarked the only thing that was missing from our matchday records were the names of the other two spectators who had joined us for the game today!!

 

As the messages came flooding in to the new FGIF E-Mail message Inbox the following morning it appeared that Leicester was certainly the place to be for other members of our dedicated team of correspondents on Saturday. Andy and Emma had been rewarded with a record-breaking eleven goal scoreline following their trip to watch Anstey Nomads FC where visitors Dunkirk ran riot in the East Midlands Counties League encounter and ace snapper Gary who visited Loughborough FC for a North Leicestershire league fixture against Sutton Donnington managed to pick up a programme. How cool is that! It certainly had been a most eventful weekend. The joys of unexpected hopping outcomes continue. Thanks Jo!

                                      

FGIF Match Stats

Scorers: (H) N/A and (A) C Page (32); L Finney (34); P Banks (57)

Attendance: 4; Admission: N/A; Programme: N/A; Match rating: 1/5; Ground rating: 4/5.

 

edited 02/04/10