One Of The Best - Crockenhill vs. Thamesmead SC

The fantastic Wested Meadow 

One of the good things about pre season is being able to visit you really enjoyed previously and Wested Meadow falls well in to that category. It was almost five years ago to the day since my first visit and I enjoyed it as much second time around. You can see from the first picture why I love the ground so much with it's unique wooden stand and leafy surrounds. Today they were playing Thamesmead SC. I had visited the club in their previous guise of Seven Acre and Sidcup at Oxford Road and I visited their current ground before it was redeveloped for a Thamesmead Town game.

Thamesmead on the attack

Thamesmead are ruthless and are three up at half time with the Crockenhill keeper making some great saves to keep his side in touch. Thamesmead add a fourth in the second half to seal the win. The closest station is Swanley which is just under a half hour trip from Victoria. The walk takes around a half hour with the last bit being unpaved with high sided hedges enclosing the road. Half way between the ground and the station is Chequers which was a great pub and had it's Covid routine well set out. There were two hand pulls, one being from Timothy Taylor and the other one was White Rat from The Rat brewery which went down very well. The clubhouse had the usual selection of drinks and is worth checking out for the scarves adorning the celling. They also produce a printed programme which could sadly become less common this season.

Last bit of the walk to the ground

Crocs Beat Rain But Not Visitors - Crockenhill vs. Orpington

Fans stood next to the fantastic stand at Wested Meadow

In a repeat of the previous season, I was scrambling around the Kent Invicita League looking for a game which would beat the Bank Holiday rain after going to The Challenge Cup Final on the Saturday. I hedged my bets and headed to Swanley as there were two games scheduled there and waited for any news. After hearing from the Orpington Twitter account that the Crockenhill pitch was playable I headed south and this proved to be a good decision as I heard shortly afterwards that Sutton Athletic's pitch had failed an inspection. Crockenhill won their first two games of the season and had lost and drawn the next two so they had made a decent start to their league campaign. The visitors had made an almost identical start and they had a slightly poorer goal difference. Crockenhill won the corresponding fixture two nil last season and so were hoping for more of the same.    

Derby day kick off at Wested Meadow

Orpington have a couple of half chances at the start of the game. Firstly the forward is nearly played in but the pass is just cut out and then a shot is blocked at the last moment at the back post. Crockenhill's first chance of the game is free kick from the edge of the area which lacks the power to seriously trouble to the keeper. Orpington continue to attack and the Crockenhill keeper makes a decent save from a volleyed effort following a lofted free kick into the area. Crockenhill then have their best chance of the half as the winger gets in on the left flank and his pull back finds the man at the edge of the area and the Orpington keeper does well to hold on to the deflected effort.

Orpington attack in the first half

Orpington have the first chance of the second half when they are played in via a defensive mistake and they fail to take advantage despite having two goes at a shot on goal. Crockenhill are unlucky not to equalise when the winger gets to the byline and the shot is deflected wide and from the resulting corner a header is blocked on the line. The opening goal comes following a long ball forward which the Crockenhill defence fails to deal with and the attacker ghosts past the defender and slots the ball home to put the away side one up. Shortly afterwards Orpington go two up. A free kick from out wide is drilled towards the back post and thunders off the back post and into the net. Crockenhill still go looking for a goal to get back into the game and the Orpington keeper does well to punch away a free kick under pressure and Orpington see out the rest of the game to seal a two nil win.

Just after an Orpington chance in the second half.

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, the closest station to Crockenhill is Swanley. Trains to Swanley depart from Victoria and the journey takes around half an hour. Crockenhill itself is then a steady fifteen minute walk from the station. In the centre of the village is The Chequers Inn which is an excellent village pub and had a good selection of beers. From there it is another fifteen minute walk to the ground. A fair proportion of this walk is along unlit and unpaved roads so I would not recommend making this walk in the dark. Wested Meadow is an absolute gem of an non league ground. The stand is fantastic and the clubhouse is adorned with football memorabilia all over the walls and the ceilings. Despite being a bit of a tricky walk, Wested Meadow is a ground which is really worth a visit.      

Collection of scarfs in the clubhouse