Sun Fail To Shine - Sun Postal Sports vs. Cockfosters

The stand at Sun Postal Sports

I took a break from non stop cup action to take in the Spartan South Midlands Division One game between Sun Postal Sports and Cockfosters. As with Chalfont St Peter, the name interested me and I've been meaning to visit Sports for a long time. The hosts were bottom at the start of play and had only won one game at home all season. Cockfosters were in the top half and had quite few games in hand over the teams around them. The last time I saw Cockfosters play in mid week the game was abandoned at half time due to an injury to the referee. I was hoping for a full game this time round!

The delayed kick off.

I had a train I wanted to catch and so I was hoping for no delays. The match started five minutes late and two players went down injured in the first five minutes! Cockfosters have most of the ball but Sports look dangerous on the break. The Cockfosters winger is full of tricks and has the full back in a tangle several times. The game becomes quite end to end but neither keeper is really tested. Cockfosters score from the first shot on target in the game. The referee harshly penalises the Sports defender on the touchline for a foul on the winger. The free kick is whipped in the Cockfosters player controls the ball and lashes it home. The Sports keeper makes a good save a few minutes later and the visitors go in at half time one up.

The ball is pumped in to the Sun Postal box. Clubhouse is in the background.

The second half starts openly with both teams attacking. The referee unfortunately breaks the flow of the game with a lot of soft free kicks. Sports manage to break through the Cockfosters back line several times but seem panic and they fail to trouble the keeper. There are no real chances for a lot of the second half and Cockfosters eventually put the game out of reach by adding a second late on.

The open end of the ground.

The nearest train station to the ground is Watford Junction. I walked to the ground and it took around half an hour and I got a taxi back which cost just over a fiver. Trains leave Euston to Watford Junction on a regular basis and the quicker trains take about twenty minutes. On the way to the ground I stopped off at The Flag (which was very very cheap) and The Essex Arms. I also past at least four other pubs on the walk to the ground. The club house is huge and has a good choice of drinks and food. It has Sky Sports and a good collection of match programmes on the wall.

The dugout side of the ground.