Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Lingfield FC

Lingfield 3 Southwick 0 - Sussex County League, Division Two



Lingfield is a village in Surrey. It lies to the west of the A22 which runs between Bletchingly and East Grinstead. Lingfield is famous for its racecourse with race days every month, including turf, National Hunt, all-weather racing and harness racing. On the Haxted Road towards Edenbridge, is Haxted Mill. The double-fronted mill was built in two halves, the first around 1580 and the other in 1794. It has been fully restored and is a unique combination of a working watermill and a museum of mill machinery used for water-power.


This was a relatively easy venue to reach, with regular ‘rush hour’ services from Victoria and London Bridge taking about 45 minutes to reach Lingfield. From the railway station, a brisk 20 minute walk will get you to the Sports Pavilion, located on Godstone Road. The route takes you via Town Hill and the High Street, where there are a couple of decent looking pubs. The aroma emanating from Dave Dove’s Fish & Chip shop proved too much for the Pieman and his journey was temporarily delayed. Just chips mind but they were superb.


Once again I paid less than the price of a West Ham match programme to gain admission to the match. A programme was also included in the price, although it was restricted to a four page folded sheet containing team line ups but no other text.


The only covered accommodation is a veranda in front of the clubhouse. Tables and chairs are located thereon and the match can be watched from there.


A closely contested first period saw Lingfield edge in front, courtesy of Louis Perkins (35). His back post header from a corner certainly livened up the match which improved during the second half. Two further strikes from Chris Arrow (72) (a piercing shot? - Ed) and Danny Gillard (82) settled the affair but Southwick contributed and were not outplayed.


The 22:14 got me back to Victoria for just after 23:00 and via Tottenham Hale, I was back at Cheshunt for 23:50 and in bed not long afterwards. I appreciate that Manchester United v AC Milan was live on terrestrial TV, but I was more than happy with my selected Tuesday match.


Attendance: 44
Admission: £3.00
Programme: 4 pages, free with admission
Tea: 50p
Cheeseburger with Onions: £1.50
Fare: £3.10 from Zone 6 with Gold Card discount


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