Post by Dave on Nov 17, 2012 10:13:54 GMT
Southwest Peninsula League Division One East
Stoke Gabriel V Exmouth Town. 29/09/2012
I think my choice of game to watch today, would have just about met the criteria that Barton Downs sets himself. I had to pay to watch the game, got a programme and was able to buy refreshments in the ground.
It has been two years since I was last at Stokes ground and back then the foundations of their new club house had been laid, but work for some reason I can’t remember, had stopped on actually getting the building built. Well I’m pleased to say it’s all finished and what a wonderful club house it is and stoke should be very proud of it.
The old club house has had the algae scrubbed off it along with the old dressing rooms and both have been given a coat of white paint to freshen up the buildings. They are planning to turn the portacabin into a classroom to be used by the ShearSoccer for FA coaching courses and as a SGFC shop. In time and money permitting the club want to convert the old dressing rooms into a gymnasium. The club also want to see the rest of the ground maintained to a higher standard and soon all the weeds, hedges and banks will be worked on.
Stokes programme is very good for a small club, unlike other clubs in the same division, theirs have new pages added to it for each home game and there is just enough reading material to get you through the halftime break.
Three was a very interesting letter in it that I thought made very good sense and it was asking the question if the Peninsula League was starting too fray at the edges. Five clubs have recently left the league with only one team joining from Cornwall. One of the reasons given is the amount of travelling that takes place in this league and the huge cost involved. The writer suggests it might be better if the number of clubs was culled from 51 to 40. There could then be only two divisions, one for Devon and one for Cornwall each comprising of 20 teams. The top two teams would play-off for the title of champions of the SWPL. Could that work? Is it the way forward for the SWPL?
On to the game itself.
I have to say it was a very enjoyable game to watch and there were seven goals in total and while I thought Exmouth played well in parts of the game, I do feel Stoke were a tad unlucky to end up losing.
Exmouth did start slightly the better of the two teams, but never created anything in the third half of the field and never forced a save on any note for much of the first half. In fact it was Stoke who nearly took an early lead and Mark Newbould maybe should have done better with his headed chance.
Stoke did score the first goal after some very good work by their left winger, The ball was played in his direction out wide but a bit to far in front of him. He looked second favourite to win the ball but he did and sent the ball into the box where Jordan Hopkins was waiting to drill the ball home.
They say in football when you do get the chance to score, you should take it and while Exmouth’s Kerry Butler put his shot just past the post, Rico? (That’s what his team mates called him) put his first chance of the match away.
Very soon after this Exmouth took the lead for the first time in the match. The ball was in their area and when the keeper grabbed it he punted it long up field. Exmouth’s Ben Shephard got on the end of the long ball and found himself faced by two Stoke defenders. He beat them both and coolly passed the ball past Grant Fisher in the Stoke goal.
So at halftime the score was two one to Exmouth, but they soon found themselves under a great deal of pressure at the start of the second half. Stoke started to find their passing game and for a good while were well in control of the match. They went onto equalize after Kris Davis? (I think it was him but I might be wrong) hit a low hard shot from the edge of the area. To be honest I think Lain Jones should have done much better and made the save.
Stoke came close to taking the lead again when player manager Gary Fisher hit a good clean shot at the Exmouth goal following a corner taken from the right, but sadly his shot just went past the left hand post.
Exmouth made a substitution and his first touch of the ball was to play a good ball into the box for Andrew Thompson to fire past Grant Fisher. Just after this the game was stopped while Lewis Robinson received treatment after coming down hard on his ankles; He had to be carried off back to the dressing rooms on a stretcher.
Dave Worthington for Stoke had a great through ball played to him and looked certain to score, but he put his chance past the post. But did get back on level terms again thanks to the player manager Gary Fisher who scored the goal of the match belting his shot into the top left hand corner of the Exmouth goal.
The Stoke fans let out a loud noise thinking that Stoke had taken the lead near the end of the match, but Mark Newboulds header had hit the side netting, but from that new viewing platform on the new club house, it must have looked like the ball had gone into the net.
While I would have wanted Stoke to have won, I was happy that the match looked like it was going to end in a draw. But Adam Fowler for Exmouth made sure it was his team that took home all the tree points with a well taken goal near the end of the match.
All in all a very enjoyable afternoon at a smashing well run local football club. The only one thing I would say about the new club house is that as the sun starts dropping as the afternoon wears on; it casts a large shadow over that side of the pitch.
