Captain White sticks ground hopping adventures

at valley parade, for football league division 4 play off semi final  action.   bradford city vs carlisle united.  this is 5th vs 4th upon final league standings.  the resurgent bantoms under the stewardship of mark huhes are attempting to  climb back to the 3rd tirr from where they were relegated in 2018, whilst paul simpson's cumbrians are having their best season since 2014.  winners to play stockport or salford in the wembley show piece at the end of the month. 21000 tickets already sold.  a very european style 7 pm sunday evening kick off for this one. ft from valley parade and the hoasts take a slender 1 nil lead into next saturday's 2nd leg tie.  first half goal from andy walker, in a half devoid of chances.  but the longer  the game went on, the more carlisle grew into the game, and always looked threatening on the break. a draw would have been a fair result in truth. crowd a superb 20571

at street lane, guildersome sports club  for bradford premier cricket league 4th division action. guildersome and farnley hill vs cross bank methodists.  7th vs 8th but with only 2 games completed due to the inclement weather.  As the name would  suggest, the home team are a murger between  farnley hill and guildersome cricket clubs, which took place in 2018 Due to dwindling playing numbers. Although thus far, They have been unable to climb their way out of the basement division.cross bank methodists, hail from battley, And have  also been continually in the bottom tier since joining from the now-defunct central Yorkshire league in 2016. Home team, batting first and 86 for three 29 overs gone out of 50 on a glorious summers day. no excellent sledging here at guildersome and fh, however, a tight, low scoring attritional game goes the way of the hosts, with a ten run victory.  16 points, and 6 to cross bank methodists. guildersome, posted 148 all out, a seemingly pitiful total, with top

at a sweltering lune road. for palace shield premier division action. 2nd placed Lancaster vs 4th placed mawdesley, who hail from close to southport and who were promoted last year. in stark contrast to the hosts, who were relegated on the last day of last season.    this is the 2nd tier of cricket in this part of lancashire, with 2 promotion spots up for grabs to the northern league. hosts 10 points behind euxton, with carnforth in 3rd, a further point back in 3rd, and mawdesley in 4th a further 2 points back. game of the day in the shield.  Lancaster batting first and 5 for no loss after 3 overs.  lovely picturesque ground with Lancaster castle the glorious backdrop. result from  lune road,  and an easy 8 wicket romp for mawdesly.  they skittled lancaster for 101 with the home side committing the cardinal synn of failing to bat out their overs. and knocked off the runs inside 20 overs. no individual scores available due to issues with the play cricket scoring software, which has been

forget the rain sodden edgbaston, and the supposedly cut and thrust of the ashes.  today's live action came from albert   terrace, home of the all conquering bradford league champions and yorkshire club champions woodlands, who took on doncaster town from the yorkshire premier league south,  in the 3rd round of the national e c b club knock out competition.    for teams who had won an e c b national league title.  woodlands, batting first amassed 258 all out with top scores from kiwi legend brad schmeulian, 66, Kieran collins, 48 and tim jackson 36, with a pair of 22's from the lower order.   jo Gallagher carrying the town bowling with a herculean effort of 6 for 32. but mohammed bilall ripped through town's top order, with 5 for 24 to leave them reeling on 28 for 6. but james Dobson, 42, added some semblance of respectability to the town total, but they eventually capitulated for a paltry 103 with 17 overs remaining,  to lose by 155 runs. woodlands will now play richmondsh

at o'connor park, tullamore, county offaly in the midlands of ireland, for this all ireland preliminary quarter final clash between the Lilly whites from kildare, vs the farney army from monaghan.  gaelic football. the biggest sport in ireland, with 2000 clubs, and almost every village having its own team.       the winner will advance to the quarter finals, whilst the season ends here for today's unlucky loser.  this is division 2 vs division 1 in the alliance league standings, the league campaign that proceeds the all ireland championships. 32 counties in ireland.  the teams who end up in divisions 1 and 2 of the winter competition, the alliance league will contest the all ireland championship, whilst the 3rd and 4th division teams contest a lesser competition.  monaghan, whose main county town is clones, close to the border, home to barry mcguiggan.  gaa football not being dissimilar to aussie rules, with players able to kick and throw the ball, but players can only play for

on the atlantic coast, at salt hill, for all ireland preliminary gaa quarter final  football action. where bitter rivals the tribesmen from galway and mayo do battle. as with yester"day's action, this is do or die for the loser. these foes are bitter rivals and neighbouring counties. galway last won the all ireland champ in 2001, whilst mayo's last one was in 1951. mayo are the archetypal bridesmaids, being losing finalists an incredible 11 times since, and are rumoured to have a gypsey's curse over them, and these stats would seem to back this up. a 26000 sell out here.  galway hoping that some of their hurling counter parts success will rub off on them, as they were victorious over limerick yesterday. yesterday's full time result from pearse stadium, and mayo's dream of an all ireland crown, the sam maguire cup   is still alive, at least for now, with a 1 goal and 11 points to 12 win over galway. in  a game where the Atlantic breeze was critical, galway with

at tallaght stadium, for game of the day in the league of ireland premier division. 1st vs 2nd. shamrock rovers vs derry city. the hoops vs the candy stripes. rovers are going for their 4th title in a row, whilst derry finished runners up last year. rovers have ex bristol rovers roary gaffney in their ranks, joint top scorer with 7 goals this term, and also trevor clarke too, although currently sidelined due to injury.  4 points between the 2 sides and roughly half way through the season.  ft from tallaght stadium and a one nil win for the hoops from shamrock rovers sees them extend their lead over derry city to 7 points, at the half way point in the league of ireland premier devision. a game largely devoid of chances sparked into life in the 27th minute when the legendary roary gaffney turned and blasted into the roof of the net following some incisive build up play. thereafter, rovers largely semed content to sit on their one nil lead. crowd 5824, including an impressive 200 from der

at the old spotted dog ground. for my first football  action of the new season. pre season friendly  between clapton c f c and fc united of manchester. these 2 fan owned teams warm up for the new campaign and will today contest the supporters direct trophy. home side formed in january 2018 by disenchanted fans of clapton fc, unhappy about how the club was being ran.  they won  step 7 middlesex league last year and will compete in the south eastern counties step 6 division 1 this season. whilst the rebels from manchester narrowly missed the step 3 premier devision 1 north play offs last term. Full time from the old spotted dog ground, and 3 one victory for the hosts. fc United took the lead on the 21st minute, but were pegged back just  before half time.  united then wasted the Opportunity to take the lead as they saw a penalty saved by the home keeper. And the home side made the visitors pay with too late second-half goals. No official attendance, but 900 tickets sold. Pre-match, so at

at royal porth call golf club, for the seniors open championship, comp for players over the age of 50. my first live golf action. final day. a hoast of golfing legends from yesteryear on show here today. podraig harrington, 4th, paul laurie, 9th, v j singh 5th, bernard langer, comin montgommery and darren clarke to name but a few. the latter being the defending champion. although, a few stars from the past sadly failing to make the cut too. ian woosnam, mark mcnaulty, and jose maria olazabol being 3 of them. a soggy but enjoyable day at royal porth call.  the 2nd green was literally 50 metres from the bristol channel.  it appears that some of the veterans take this competition more seriously than  others, despite the 2,7 million prize fund.  last year's defending champion darren clarke, constantly chain smoking through out, whilst the more sophisticated  spaniard miguel jimmizez was on cigars from 9 am this morning whilst navigating the south wales course.

my long, winding and adventurous road to wembley starts here. at the wellfare ground, for fa cup 1st qualifying round replay. emley afc vs widness.  emley's most famous moment came in 1998 when they lost 2 1 to west ham at upton park when they were a step 2 non league team, with frank lampard scoring the winner for the hammers. they have since reformed in 2005, due (difficulties in meeting ground grading requirements and the financial implications this would have caused. this is step 5 north east counties league vs step 4 northern premier league west division. 3rd in step 5 vs 17th in step 4 on last season's final placings. and 11th vs 5th thus far. emley 8 points from 5 and widness 9 also from 5 played.  winners to play step 4 ranked mosleigh on 16th september. extra time and penalties required to decide this one if scores finish level at full time.  the pewetts vs the Whites. The wayside also being a newly formed club, having been established in 2003, and steadily  worked the

at the white swann ground, in the shadow of leeds bradford airport. for the priestley shield final. this is the knock out cup for 2nd teams in the bradford league and sees yeadon take on favourites jer lane.  yeadon have home advantage by luck as venues were decided for all league finals in february. strict rules  regarding who can and who cannot play, as there is a stand alone bradford league 2nd team comp, so no chance for ringers to infiltrate. jer lane are gunning for their 5th 2nd team trophy, having won all 4 2nd division comps since joining  the set up in 2018 from the halifax league but have never won the priestley shield.  and are about to retain their 1st div title too. yeadon also in top flight of 2nd team cricket. home side batting 1st, 46 for 2 on another glorious day in this indian summer. an interesting foot note being that yeadon have 2 brothers and their father all playing today, with dad lifting ! trophy in 2005, and his son simion the home side captain.  dad is also

at longfield avenue for step 5 north east  counties premier division action. mid table clash in the fledgling league table between gulcar united, 14th, vs rossingtom main, 13. home side finished 9th last year, whilst main, from south yorkshire secured promotion by finishing 3rd in n e c l div1 and gained promotion  through the play offs. gulcar located 3 miles north west of huddersfield, and are averaging crowds of 460 this season.  '    whilst main is located close to doncaster.  Result from Longfield avenue, and    the rossies go marching back to south yorkshire with all 3 points.    2 chances apiece in the first half, with  main forcing gulcar defender to clear off the line,  and hitting the cross bar with a header.    home side failed to test visitors keeper until 52nd and 57th minute, both parried to safety. main took lead on 61 mins and the 2nd arrived on 73.   they played keep ball to see out the game. and move up   3 places up to 11th whilst gulcar drop one to 14th. crowd 2

At the Wilton Pavilion, for Western league division, one action. aek bocco,  8th vs bradford town, 12th.  home side 9 points off the 5th placed play off birth occupied by bitton, with radstock  town, 2 points clear, but portishead with 2 games in hand. the table rather skewe due to teams all having played a different number of games. £6 entry on a still and cloudy night. Perfect for a bit of midweek football action under the floodlights.  ft from the wilton pavilion, and a 2 all draw, just about deserved for the away side.  bocco took the lead on 12 mins, before an away equalizer on 22. the hoasts retook the lead on 40 minutes and produced a stunning save from the bradford town keeper on 61 minutes. but the visitors clinched a battling away point and leveled on 84 minutes. attendance 78. bocco still in 8th, whilst the bob cats move upto 10th.

at post office road, for more sunday evening rugby league action. play off semi final to to to decide who replaces relegated wakefield trinity in su per league.  featherstone rovers vs the london broncos.  feathe spectacularly came a cropper at this stage last year, when they lost to part timeers battley.  they'll play toulouze, in next sunday's £1 million game for a place at rugby league's top table if they can dispose of the broncos, who won their play off eliminator 42 0 over sheffield eagles last sunday. Full time yesterday from post office Road. And, once again, when it really mattered, Featherstone Rovers came up short Going down  36 points to 26 to the London Broncos. They were huge Favourites coming into this one, and finish the regular season 12 points clear at the top. Having won 25 out of 27 games. including  beating the Broncos 90 points to 16 on aggregate over the two seasons encounters.   Broncos raced into a 12 nil lead with  two converted tries. But feathers

at the sycamores.  for rugby union national 2 north action.   4th tier of rugby union. leeds tykes, 6 wins from 6 vs preston grass hoppers, 2 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats in 9th, in a 14 team division. the tykes golden years were from 2001 to 2014, when they bounced between the premiership and the championship, but lack of investment saw them in gradual decline. to that end, they were relegated from national 2 last year, but are seemingly finding their feet again. their currently playing at the home of west park r u f c in north leeds. hoppers have had a rather inconsistent start to the campaign, but incredibly scored 2 converted tries in the last 2 mins to salvage a 30 all draw with hull last weekend. a cold, crisp and sunny autumnal day here. Final score of Leeds Tykes 53, Grasshoppers 21. First half saw Hoppers struggle to make ground, but penalty kicks kept them within touch until a yellow card and a late try on half time gave Leeds a 29-14 advantage. The second half was more oneside

at the community park arena. new teritory for davis.  british basketball action between the sheffield sharks and the calidonian gladiators.  4th vs 5th in the fledgling league table with 6 games being played.  the sharkes formed in 1991 are the 2nd most successful Bbl team behind the newcastle eagles and their golden period was during the late 90s, early 2000s.  their opponents were formed in 1998 as edinburgh  but controversially their franchise was bought by an american who moved them  to glasgow, and they have had several name changes over the years. this is the sharks permanent home and only their 2nd game here, with a 2500 capacity sell out for last week's 1st home game at their new home. yesterday's   full-time from the community Park Arena. And a 96 points to 78 win for the Sheffield Sharks over the Caledonian gladiators. The sharks were always ahead  in this one, and the closest the gladiators got to them was within about 10 points midway through the second quarter. For

at the barbican theatre, york. for uk snooker open 2nd round action. this being the 2nd most important tournament in snooker behind the world championship. today's action sees rocket ronnie o'sullivan take on the milkman, robert milkins from gloucester on table 1, and john higgins vs yen njou from china on table 2.  1 pm start. £25 admition.  best of 11 frames. my 1st live snooker action. full time from the barbican theatre. and a cracking match on table 1 goes the way of world ranked no. one, ronnie the rocket O’Sullivan. 6 frames to 5. the milkman from Gloucester stormed into a rather lucky 2 nil lead, but his dodgy safety play, along with his inability to sink the pressure pots eventually did for him. the rocket roared back to take a 4 2 lead,  but this sparked the milkman into action.  they traded frames to leave ronnie leading  5 3, but milkins won 2 on the trot to  set up a nervy decider. milkins missed a crucial pot,  and the rocket showed all of his experience and knowh

at plough lane, for fa cup 2nd round action, underneath the Monday night floodlights.  afc wimbledon, 10th in division 4, vs ramsgate, top  of step 4 isthmian league 1 south, east. 10 wins 1 dra and a defeat from 12 games. the wombles have returned to their spiritual home in 2020, and are 3 points off gillingham in the last play off birth, and have won 5 of their last 7 home games, scoring more than 2 goals on 5 occasions.  ramsgate disposed of national league woking in the last round. winners away to Ipswich in the 3rd round.  ft Wimbledon 5, Ramsgate nil. a one sided encounter from the outset as one might expect, with 3 first half goals and 2 in the second. attendance 6984.

Wednesday 27th December (Kick Off 7.45pm)  At The Gerard Buxton Sports Ground for ROYAL WOOTTON BASSETT TOWN vs HIGHWORTH TOWN in Hellenic Premier.  A big Wiltshire derby with only 12 miles between them.  Potential title challengers Bassett are only seven points from the top of the table having played one game more.  Highworth are six points from the playoffs with four games in hand.  Bassett are unbeaten at home (Won 6 Drawn 2) and have conceded only 7 goals in those 8 games.  Both sides have the same goal difference.  Highworth won the reverse fixture 1 - 0.  step 5 in the non league pyramid.  still basking in the glorry of rovers 2 1 win over pompey Result from Wednesday evening. Royal Wootton Bassett Town 1 Highworth Town 3  The 1st half was even until Bassett scored a beautiful 25 yard free kick into the top corner 25 mins.  Highworth were on top thereafter, applying good pressure and equalised 34 mins.  They were the better side in a scrappy 2nd half, deservedly winning it with t

at the mem for friday night football under the floodlights. football league division 3. bristol rovers, 10th vs charlton athletic, 12th. its 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats since matty taylor took charge of the gas, who will be in boyant mood following boxing day's injury time win over top of the table and previously unbeaten portsmouth. charlton are only 2 points behind the gas, who themselves are still 12 points from the last remaining play off birth, occupied by stevenage.  the addics however have only 2 away wins to their name this term and have only won once in the last 7 matches. late late drama at the mem, and for the 2nd game in a row, rovers snatch an injury time 2 one victory. an open entertaining first half saw charlton hit the bar after 75 seconds, but rovers became more dominant as the half progressed. charlton had the better of the 2nd half chances before sub chris martin gave the gas the lead on 68 minutes. high level turn and shot into the top right hand corner. but ch

In deepest darkest Somerset. Western league, football division, one action. Step Six on the non league pyramid. at the aerodrone.    middlezoy rovers, 11th vs gillingham town from dorsett, 18th. in case you weren't already aware middlezoy is located 5 miles from bridgwater. its the zoy's first season at this level having won promotion From the Somerset County league last term. A possibility of encountering some rather strange country folk today, possibly with more than one head each. Yesterday’s result from deepest, darkest Somerset. And a two nil victory for the  zoy.   an incredibly wind defected game from the outset. Settled by two second-half goals, the second being a wind affected shot from 35 yards out, which the keeper, flat at  and the ball sailed into the top left-hand corner. Headcount, 85.

Wednesday the 17th of February, 2024.  at de campo municipal tahiche, for regional preferente de las palmos action. otherwise known as the 5th tier of spanish football, where football is regionalised. game based on lanzarote, with this being the Canary Islands, regional league. 18 team division, with the league winners playing off with other regions for promotion to step 4. cd tahiche today taking on cd brenamen. 4 euros entry. 4 45 pm kick off. About 23° and the crowd in excess of 150. ft from the de campo nunicipal tahiche, and a 3 nil win for the home side with goals on 5, 67, and 92 mins respectively. roughly...  A hardcopy paper souvenir match ticket to.

Saturday the 17th of February 2024.  at running lane. for rugby union regional north division 1 action. 5th tier of rugby union. game of the day pits 3rd placed harrogate against top of the table york, who   have a record of 13 wins and 4 defeats from 17 games. their 5 points clear of heath, and today's  opponents, who have 1 and 2 games in hand on them respectively.  with driffield, a further 5 points back in 4th. champions automatically promoted to  national 3 north,  where harrogate were relegated from last year, whilst 2nd place plays off with 2nd place in regional 1 north west. a mild and cloudy day, with a distinct spring like feeling in the air. and at running lane,  the game finished all square, with a 14 all draw. 4 converted  tries in total,  1 in each half for either team.  no rain here, at least not until the final whistle.   although the pitch was in dreadful condition, and incrediblyo heavy underfoot, meaning lots of lethargic and laboured play from both sides through

Sunday the 18th of February 2024.  at bramall lane, for football league division 1 action. sheffield united, rock bottom and 7 points from safety vs brighton, 9th, who could go 7th with a win today. the blades realistically need snookers now if they are to stay up, although their form and performances have  improved since chris wilder returned to the helm as manager.  they will be buoyed by last weekend's victory over luton.  the seagulls recently beat the blades here in the fa cup 3 weeks ago by 5 goals to 2.   they also  reached the fa cup semi final last year, and are in the last 16 of the europa league, or what ever its called. Roberto deserve having improved on graham potter's tremendous work to establish them amongst the top flight big boys.  2 pm kick off and a mild and cloudy day in south yorkshire. where, of course, everyone is refered too as " love " by both women and men alike.   full time from bramall lane and a 5 nil victory for brighton. the game started