Sleepy Saturday in South London… Hampton and Richmond Borough v Tonbridge Angels

It’s Monday evening and I’m only just writing my blog from Saturdays game, so that probably says all that needs to be said about the game. 

In truth the build up to the game had far more stories than the action on the pitch. 

Anyway this weeks ground hopping installment came in the form of a National League South relegation six pointer between Hampton and Richmond and Tonbridge Angels. 

It was also the first appearance of the season for my mother, who was ticking her 20th ground today, not bad if you ask me. 

So the day started with neither me or Debs (my mum) having any cash, and non league clubs obviously don’t take card.

No worries though as we were going to be driving past a Co-op and two petrol stations on the way so there would be ample opportunity to get some out. 
2 stops later we were still looking for cash as both machines were out of order which is just splendid. Luckily we managed to spot a cash machine and it was working, yay! 

The next debacle came in the form of Google Maps. My relationship with this app really goes up and down, it can be an absolute life saver when you have no idea where you’re going but today it had other ideas. 

The app tried to take us down a private road that we clearly weren’t allowed to go down and then just dumped us on a residential road. At this point we could see and hear the ground but we had no idea where the entrance was. 

It seems as if the theme for my groundhopping in September was walking. Last week we walked miles to and from Corinthian Casuals, this week we were trudging around trying to find the entrance. 
To be fair at the end of the game we might have been better off if we didn’t find it… 

We missed about two minutes of the game but I can literally only remember one thing that happened in the first half. 

A Tonbridge player received a red card after a dangerous foul and this gave us hope that it might open the game up a bit.

In some ways it did, the second half saw the away side hit the post twice and the home side probe for a winner. 
However after 89 goalless minutes I resigned to the fact that this might be my first 0-0 of the season, not doing my seasonal goal tally any good. 

But thank god for Sam Deadfield, because he was the one who headed home in the 92nd minute to win the game for Hampton and Richmond, sending the home fans into delirium (kind of). 

We were relieved at the final whistle because it signalled the end of a boring 90 minutes of football and it also meant we could get away from the most annoying kids I have ever experienced at a football game. 

I will be back to the Beveree stadium with the Chelmsford ultras later on this season, and I look forward to going back because it is a nice ground with good facilities. 

• GROUND: Beveree Stadium
• GAME: Hampton and Richmond Borough 1-0 Tonbridge Angels
• COMPETITION: National League South
• GROUND NUMBER: 57
• WOULD I GO BACK: Yes
• TICKET PRICE: £8 (Student)