Match Information
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Hedge End Rangers 1-4 Colden Common
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When: Friday 16th September 2022
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Kick-off: 7.45pm
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Where: 3G Pitch, Deer Park School, Sika Avenue, Hedge End, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire, SO30 2HT
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Competition: Southampton Divisional Football Association Senior Cup First Round
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Attendance: 134
When I was younger and I repeatedly failed my driving test, my groundhopping trips were restricted to public transport. So I just went directly to football and straight home again afterwards without seeing any of the surrounding areas.
But when I eventually learned how to drive, I wanted to take in neighbouring tourist hotspots before or after the football.
Matters became more prolific once I got married as my wife started joining me for days out to explore parts of the country she had never been to.
Accordingly, we embellished football matchdays with detours to tremendous places including the Eden Project, Cadbury World, Wells Cathedral. Blackpool Tower, Stonehenge and the Black Country Living Museum.
My wife has also set foot on numerous beaches ranging from the Fylde Coast, Skegness, Norfolk and down to the South Coast supplementing her football diet.
Whilst all this escalated, I bought a giant map of the United Kingdom which is currently pinned to the wall in one of our spare bedrooms. I then deployed a colour sticker system.
In effect, my good lady receives a red sticker for visiting a football ground, a purple sticker for a tourist attraction and a yellow sticker for a beach. It is like a supermarket reward card scheme and my wife loves it!
Result of my Southampton Senior Cup tie tonight@HedgeEndRangers 1@ColdenCommonFC 4
— Tony Incenzo - my 50th football season (@TonyIncenzo) September 16, 2022
Attendance 134 (my headcount), programme £2. Football grounds visited - 2,465@nonleagueshow @NonLeagueCrowd @HantsLeague @HampshireFA @ryan_manship @888sport @sholingfcsec @90MinutesMore pic.twitter.com/jrsf3BkZy5
Indeed, her father popped over one day and he was extremely impressed by all the stickers on the map.
Furthermore, now that we have a daughter at nursery school I have been researching days out for children. A major setting I discovered was Peppa Pig World at Paultons Family Theme Park near Southampton.
Therefore I had to source a nearby Non-League fixture and this Friday evening kick-off at Hedge End Rangers FC seemed perfect.
It was a first round tie in the Southampton Divisional Football Association Senior Cup - a prestigious local competition featuring the final being played at St Mary’s Stadium, home of Southampton FC.
Consequently we set off early on our 240 mile round trip and spent three hours at Paultons. I tweeted a picture of myself during the afternoon meeting Peppa Pig herself and asked my twitter followers to guess which match I was en route to.
Some 23,000 people viewed the photo and only one person correctly replied in identifying Hedge End Rangers. Anyway, my daughter had a truly great time.
From there, it was a drive-through dinner followed by the remainder of our 15 mile journey to Deer Park School. This is located within the historic Hampshire village of Botley which houses 5,100 residents.
Ground Description
A 3G synthetic pitch inside tall cage fencing beyond the fairly new school buildings. Parking was tight due to youth football training taking place prior to the main match.
A wooden tea hut served refreshments outside the cage. There is designated spectator provision extending down two-thirds of one touchline plus a prefab 50 seater grandstand on halfway.
More than adequate facilities for Step 8 football in the Southampton Saturday Football League.
Programme Details
An excellent production on sale from the tea hut at £2. All 30 copies completely sold out an hour ahead of kick-off.
Twenty pages with a nice front cover colour photo of the grandstand. Extensive editorial notes explained Hedge End Rangers’ ambitions of ultimately attaining Step 6 status in the Wessex League.
The Match
Jake Gould put Rangers ahead on 11 minutes.
However, visitors Colden Common from Step 7 in the Hampshire Premier League Senior Division rallied courtesy of strikes by Lewis Nash, own goal (27 mins), Leon Course (39, 65 mins) and Joseph Ryan (51 mins).
*Credit for photos in this article belongs to @TonyIncenzo*
