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Down By The Riverside
Oct. 1st, 2023 10:10 pmAnother early start for London Seaward’s FAWNL Plate tie at Chatham. The ground was a fair walk from the station, but a very impressive set-up, nicely decked out in red and white with a spacious stand. The club bar was neatly set out with tall tables, with the Ryder Cup on a TV screen high in the corner. Dan, James, Gav and some of the girls were in the bar when I arrived; we said our hellos then they went to do pre-match prep and I ordered a Kopparberg. I read my Non-League Paper; looked up at one point to see Europe had won. By the time I finished the paper the TV was showing Blackburn v Leicester.
The bar is called Bobby’s Sports Bar, and the tea hatch is Bobby’s Snack Bar. Curious, I Googled and found Bobby was Bobby Harrison, one of Chatham Town men’s best ever players who was back at the club as a coach when he died in 1987 aged just 39.
The burger with onions, and chips, I got from the snack bar were first class.
Looked around the ground but didn’t see any of the usual Seaward crew. One guy, a manager with a long proud history in the women’s game who’s currently without a club, said hello to me; I went over for a quick chat then took a seat nearby.
Towards the end of the first half Sam Lanza made a great run and shot on goal. There was a scramble on the line and Shamoy Campbell bundled the ball in. Our joy was short-lived as a couple of minutes later Chatham caught our defence napping and fired an equaliser into the top of the net from close range.
Early in the second half Chatham scored again from outside the box and my heart sank, thinking it was going to be one of those days. Midway through, Seaward found Shamoy unmarked on the edge of the area, and she rounded the one defender in the box and coolly sidefooted past the keeper. 2-2.
With penalties looking likely, in the closing minutes Sam Lanza went on a mazy run and looped a shot into the centre of the goal to send Seaward into the hat for the second round. At the final whistle I went down to pitchside to clap the team. After doing a quick warm-down run the girls wandered over towards me, and some family and friends who were standing at the rail. I noticed Becca and a couple of the others clapping me. Jo gave me a wave.
On the way back I managed to catch a train to Clapham Junction a few minutes earlier than the one the Trainline journey planner gave me. It didn’t get me anywhere, as the train bound for Bournemouth via Southampton that I boarded at Clapham was jam packed with people and had us sweating buckets. Since a delay of just a couple of minutes en route would have left me stranded at Southampton, I played safe, left the train at Basingstoke, soaked up the joy of some cold air and waited for the Eastleigh train I’d been due to catch. Made it home on schedule.
The bar is called Bobby’s Sports Bar, and the tea hatch is Bobby’s Snack Bar. Curious, I Googled and found Bobby was Bobby Harrison, one of Chatham Town men’s best ever players who was back at the club as a coach when he died in 1987 aged just 39.
The burger with onions, and chips, I got from the snack bar were first class.
Looked around the ground but didn’t see any of the usual Seaward crew. One guy, a manager with a long proud history in the women’s game who’s currently without a club, said hello to me; I went over for a quick chat then took a seat nearby.
Towards the end of the first half Sam Lanza made a great run and shot on goal. There was a scramble on the line and Shamoy Campbell bundled the ball in. Our joy was short-lived as a couple of minutes later Chatham caught our defence napping and fired an equaliser into the top of the net from close range.
Early in the second half Chatham scored again from outside the box and my heart sank, thinking it was going to be one of those days. Midway through, Seaward found Shamoy unmarked on the edge of the area, and she rounded the one defender in the box and coolly sidefooted past the keeper. 2-2.
With penalties looking likely, in the closing minutes Sam Lanza went on a mazy run and looped a shot into the centre of the goal to send Seaward into the hat for the second round. At the final whistle I went down to pitchside to clap the team. After doing a quick warm-down run the girls wandered over towards me, and some family and friends who were standing at the rail. I noticed Becca and a couple of the others clapping me. Jo gave me a wave.
On the way back I managed to catch a train to Clapham Junction a few minutes earlier than the one the Trainline journey planner gave me. It didn’t get me anywhere, as the train bound for Bournemouth via Southampton that I boarded at Clapham was jam packed with people and had us sweating buckets. Since a delay of just a couple of minutes en route would have left me stranded at Southampton, I played safe, left the train at Basingstoke, soaked up the joy of some cold air and waited for the Eastleigh train I’d been due to catch. Made it home on schedule.
