“Excuse me, how do I get in?”
Not the most auspicious start to my first visit to the Combined Counties League but there we go. Turns out I was just a bit early and once the turnstile was manned all became a lot clearer. In the intervening period I adjourned to the clubhouse and watched a very fuzzy and colour cross-processed BT Sport as Celtic beat Hamilton and the commentator tried to sound interested.
Godalming’s ground is constructed from bits of other teams. It was the home of Godalming & Farncombe until they went bust and the stand was purchased from Addlestone & Weybridge after met a similar fate. The floodlights were funded by people in Guildford and so, for a dozen years, the team was called Godalming & Guildford. There’s a lot of ampersands in that history. And so, today, they welcomed Chessington & Hook United. It was Chessy versus the Gees.
And a good time was mostly had although probably not when the final whistle blew and the home faithful, following two relegations in two years, were staring at another home defeat. Their boys in yellow and green had shown some purpose but too often lacked anything clinical, or anything at all, in front of goal. Good movement on the wings does not not get a reward when the box is empty. Chessington (& Hook) were a little bit more together and when the chances came they always looked more like scoring. They led 1-0 at the break and, having been pegged back to 1-1, scored late on to take the match away from the hosts. 3-1 at the finish. A competitive and evenly matched game but another defeat for Godalming.
It’s a decent set-up here even if the ground is ramshackle. There’s a glossy, colourful programme to be read whilst imbibing a very fine Bovril. They could just do with a team that doesn’t lose so much. Oh, and they need to retune that clubhouse TV. No way should Hamilton Academical *and* Celtic both be wearing dark blue.
Jon's Place 