...
Had intended to get to my first "elite" football since March at Braintree but first the Council refused to sanction any supporters and then the pitch failed the morning pitch inspection.
Didn't have to wait much longer (just the 269 days 3 hours and 45 minutes from the final whistle of my last elite match) until all was set fair (apart from having to scrape ice from my windscreen before setting out!) for:
Concord Rangers 3 Bath City 2
Referee: Aji Ajibola (Erith)
Assisted by Luigi Lungarella (London) and Howard Collins (Kent FA but would have had a very short journey from his place of work).
(Luigi Lungarella's last running the line at Concord turned out to be refereeing half the match when the referee got injured against yes, Bath back in January.)
Could have done without the 50 minute delay caused by an accident on the M25 but worth waiting for.
A good competitive match played at pace throughout. Mr Ajibola had a good match and got about the pitch well for a big guy. He started off by blowing for everything and having got control let things flow rather well. His decisions were sound (i.e. I agreed with most of them) and he kept cards to a manageable level. He should be pleased with his extended evening's performance. The Assistants appeared pretty decent too.
Co-incidentally this was the ground where I saw my last elite match back in March. In that match Concord conceded a stoppage time equalising goal from a header from a corner costing them 2 points. With a nice symmetry, last night Concord scored a stoppage time winner with a header from a corner to gain them an extra 2 points.
As an added bonus, despite the 10:30 finish, it was several degrees warmer at the end and I didn't have to re-scrape the car.