August 10, 2024
Today saw the start of the new seasons for the leagues in the top 4 tiers of non-league football, with Didcot Town vs Larkhall in Step 4 chosen for this afternoon’s entertainment. This would be the first competitive game for both sides as they had both received byes from last week’s FA Cup qualifying round.
Didcot Town
Didcot won the FA Vase in 2004/05 and are managed by Jamie Heapy, who played over 900 matches for the club. Their nickname is The Railwaymen but are often also referred to as Diddy.
Today marked these diaries’ third visit to Didcot’s Loop Meadow, having previously reported on a 3-1 victory over Harlow Town in November 2022 and then a 1-1 with Chesham in January earlier this year.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/01/didcot-town-1-1-chesham-united-att-287.html
Two seasons ago Didcot won promotion from Southern League Division One Central to Premier Division South via the play-offs, but then finished bottom with only 28 points and just six wins to be relegated. That match against Chesham was a meeting of bottom against top, and despite being reduced to 10 men, Didcot battled to a 1-1 draw against a side that went onto the win the league.
Rather than returning to Division One Central, Didcot have been handed a bit of a poisoned chalice by being placed in Division One South, with a vast increase in mileage, three journeys to Cornwall with one-way distances of at least 240 miles each, and three more to Devon at over 150 miles each.
Seven of the side that started in the game against Chesham are still with Didcot this season, with five of them having made over 200 appearances for the club; centre-backs Adam Learoyd ( 372 apps ) and Luke Carnell ( 261 ), keeper Leigh Bedwell ( 330 ), midfielder Sam Barder ( 245 ) and full back Cameron McNeill ( 205 ). Midfielder Jim Glover has played over 100 for The Railwaymen.
Of the others, young forward Partick Osborne has returned to Oxford City after a season long loan, 19 year old striker Robbie Gallagher and full-back Josh Grant have both joined Southern Premier South side Basingstoke Town, midfielder Ben Putland has moved away from the area due to work commitments, and midfielder Seth Humphries has signed for Step 5 side Milton United.
New arrivals at the Loop for this season include ex-Wantage and Highworth Town forward Josh Davis, ex- Newcastle Blue Star, Wallingford and RAF forward Luke Preen and midfielder Josh McConnell, on loan from Oxford City. 17 year-old defender Kyron Webb joined after being released by Oxford United and 18 year old midfielder Dylan Conlan steps up from Abingdon United.
Didcot’s pre-season results have been mixed, with the only two victories coming against lower level sides Wallingford & Crowmarsh ( 4-1 ) and Witney Town ( 6-1 ) but a draw was achieved against step 3 side Winchester City. Other matches against higher ranked opponents resulted in defeats to AFC Totton ( 0-4 ), Oxford City ( 2-5 ) and Hemel Hempstead ( 1-4 ), whilst there were also losses to step 5 Fairford Town ( 2-5 ) and Reading Under 23s ( 0-7 )
Didcot’s average attendance last season was 320.
Larkhall Athletic
Larkhall is a residential district in the north-east of the city of Bath. Its football team, known as The Larks, were founded in 1914 and played in the Western League for many years. Promotion to step 4 was earned in 2013/14 after being champions of the Western League, and they have played in a variant of Southern League Division One ever since.
The Larks reached the promotion play-offs in their first season in Step 4 but after a 5th place finish they lost to Stratford Town. In 2019/20 they were third in the table before the season was terminated due to the Covid Pandemic. In the other years Larkhall were mid-table, although last season they finished in 6th place, missing out on the play-offs on goal difference. Their average home attendance last season was 192.
Ex-Cleveden striker Archie Ferris scored 16 goals in the league and 22 in all competitions but has now moved to Taunton Town in the Southern League Premier Division South. Alex Lambert and Dawid Regula each scored 9 league goals.
Keeper Arthur Nasta signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the close season, and with replacement James Walker getting injured in the last pre-season friendly, 17-year-old Isaac Finch was signed on loan from Bristol City Academy.
All of Larkhall’s pre-season friendlies were played away from home due to an artificial pitch and a new stand being built at their Plain Ham ground, and their home league fixtures in August have been reversed and will be played as away games.
Larkhall’s last three friendlies were played against higher level sides, including a Bath derby at National League South Bath City, where despite a goal from Lambert, the Romans ran out 3-1 winners. Prior to that Larkhill had won 2-1 at Step 3 Dorchester Town with Regula grabbing both goals but they lost 0-2 at Chippenham Town, another National League South side. They started their pre-season with victories over Odd Down, Bristol City Academy and Bradford Town but lost at Roman Glass.
Previous Meetings
These two sides played against each other for four consecutive seasons between 2014/15 to 2017/18 until Didcot moved to the Division One Central division. After Larkhall did the double in 2014/15, winning 3-2 at home and 3-0 at Didcot, they only took one point from the next six meetings. Didcot won at home 5-1 in 2015/16 and 4-2 in 2017/18 and won three times in a row in Bath.
Matchday Information
Larkhall’s journey to Didcot is just under 75 miles, down the M4 and up the A34, and should normally take an hour and a half. The Larks were running a coach for supporters, with the cost £15. Larkhall are one of Didcot’s closest opponents in the division !
Ticket prices for the game were £12 for adults, £8 for OAPs ( over 65 ), £3 for Under 16s, with Under 5s being allowed in free. The matchday programme was £2.
The weather at the 15.00 kick-off local time was cloudy and windy, but 22 degrees.
Didcot played in their usual all red kit and Larkhall were in their first-choice kit of all blue.
Match Report
Larkhall made the early running with Jake Hicks running past his opponent, but his cross was headed away for a corner by Learoyd, from which Carnell made the clearing header.
Didcot full-back Conor McGrath then saw his cross from the right headed away for a throw-in. Barder’s long throw was headed away, and this was repeated a minute later.
Larkhall won the first corner of the match in the 6th minute. A long raking cross-field ball found Spencer Dymond-Hall and the ex-Warminster left-sided player’s cross deflected off McGrath and Bedwell just failed to keep the ball in play. The corner was driven across the six-yard box for Hicks to slide onto beyond the far post, but his attempted was blocked.
Dymond-Hall received another long cross-field ball in the 9th minute but this time his cross was poor and sailed out for a goal-kick to the home side.
Didcot’s Davis made a promising run down the left-hand channel but a good tackle from Sam Boulton won possession for The Larks. However, keeper Finch’s clearance from the back-pass was poor, but fortunately for the young keeper it went to a Larkhall player and the danger was averted.
Didcot’s first shot in anger came from Glover in the 14th minute, but his long-range strike from a bouncing ball was straight at Finch, who clung onto the ball.
The visitors fashioned a flowing move involving Regula and Ethan Cannings, who played in Dymond-Hall. However, the flag was raised for offside, and the referee went back to award a free kick for a foul by McGrath as Cannings played the pass. Regula took the 25-yard free kick but Bedwell was able to push away and dive on the loose ball ahead of Cannings.
Larkhall should have opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Conlan gave away possession inside the Larkhall half, passing straight to Regula, who ran at the exposed Didcot back-line and released Dymond-Hall. With only the keeper to beat, Bedwell was able to block the shot, and the rebound was cleared.
At the other end a Didcot free-kick was just a fraction too high for Carnell to get onto the end off, and Larkhall quickly broke through Eben Mortimer-Taylor, who ran down the right-wing but his ball into the penalty was ahead of his team-mates and went-off for a goal-kick.
The game entered a quiet phase with neither side able to keep hold of the ball for any length of time, but in the 29th minute Barder ran onto a throw-in to get to the by-line but his ball across the 6-yard line evaded Davis.
Five minutes later Preen and Boulton went for an aerial challenge which left the Larkhall defender rolling on the floor injured. The referee spoke to Preen but no card was issued. It was starting to get niggly and some of the Larkhall players were critical of the ref as a couple of decisions went against them.
Josh McConnell was showing plenty of nice touches in a defensive midfield role for Didcot and sweeping up the loose balls.
Glover then won possession on the half-way line and put Davis into space, but the Didcot forward’s control was poor, and the chance was gone.
Larkhall won a corner with three minutes of the half remaining but Canning’s curling delivery to the far post was met with a great defensive header under pressure by Learoyd to clear.
As the game entered first half added time, Didcot had a throw close to the Larkhall corner flag, but the long throw was cleared, and Harvey Pritchard broke down the right wing. His low ball across the face of the goal reached Regula. His shot beat Bedwell, but McGrath made a sensational clearance off the line. Dymond-Hall latched onto the rebound, but his second attempt produced and even better stop by McGrath, diving to make a close-range block.
It remained goalless at the interval, and although the overall balance of play was even, Larkhall had spurned two gilt-edge chances to score.
The first chance of the second period came for Didcot. Barder’s long throw fell to Preen who turned and shot but a Larkhall defender made the block. Preen then laid off for Glover to take a shot on the slide from 20 yards but this was also blocked.
Larkhall’s Regula became the first player to receive a yellow card for some dissent after the referee failed to play an advantage after a foul by McGrath. Shortly after, a quick free-kick by Didcot hit Regula on the back, who was making no effort to retreat 10 yards, and although the referee awarded the free-kick to be retaken, he decided not to show a second card to the Larkhall forward, who was perhaps fortunate to remain on the pitch.
Didcot’s good spell continued as Davis won a free kick close to the corner flag after being bundled over, but Barder’s delivery to the back post was athletically claimed by keeper Finch. Barder then played a ball behind the Larkhall backline for Davis to run onto, but good defending by Lewis Graham won possession for the visitors.
Larkhall hit back when a lovely ball over the Didcot right-back by Graham released Bradley to the by-line, but his dangerous cross was headed away by Carnell. A minute later it was Mortimer-Taylor who reached the left-hand by-line and again Carnell was on-hand to get an important touch to divert the ball away from Regula.
Larkhall made the first change of the game in the 60th minute when Regula was replaced, and the forward headed straight to the dressing rooms rather than go around the pitch to the bench.
In the 65th minute McConnell played Learoyd into space inside the Larkhall half, and the Didcot centre-back put Preen clear, but after taking too long to tee up his shot, Graham was able to get across and make a block. Didcot were able to rework possession, and Davis crossed towards the far post, where Glover on the stretch was able to get his head to the ball but it was blocked at close range. He may have been better off leaving the ball for Preen who was well placed to bury the chance !
McNeil and Hicks were both shown yellow cards for something after the referee awarded a foul against McNeil but I didn’t see exactly what the issue was !
With 20 minutes left to play, Larkhall won a free-kick in a promising position on the right, but Dymond-Hall’s set-piece failed to beat the first defender and McNeil headed away. It was then Larkhall’s turn to needlessly gift possession to the other side with a stray pass in the wrong direction, and Glover burst towards the Larkhall goal. He could have taken a shot himself, but unselfishly opted to play in Preen, but unfortunately for him his attempted pass was appalling, far too far ahead of his team-mate and the chance was gone.
The game’s pivotal moment came two minutes later. Barder’s corner was met by Carnell beyond the far post, and his header found Preen 6 yards out, who turned but in the act of shooting was brought down by Hicks. There didn’t look to be much doubt it was a penalty. Although Finch went the right way, the spot-kick from Davis was well placed into the corner. 1-0 after 73 minutes.
Larkhall had half-a-chance in the 79th minute but Lambert’s shot from just outside the area flew a couple of feet over the bar. The visitors were now having the lion’s share of possession but rarely looked like creating anything. Indeed, it was Didcot who looked more likely to score the second goal on the counter, and Barder put Preen into space inside the Larkhall area but again Graham made an important block, and the ball rolled gently through to keeper Finch. Barder then sent a free-kick a few yards wide.
Another half-chance came for Larkhall six minutes from time. After Sonny Passco did well to cross from the left-wing, Carnell headed the ball away as far Hicks, but under pressure the ex-Mangotsfield United midfielder could only shoot well wide. Passco then chipped over the Didcot back-line, inviting a runner to get onto the end of it, but Bedwell was off his line quickly to claim.
A decent cross from Keegan Morgan was headed away by Learoyd, and Glover helped the ball further away from the Didcot goal.
Six added minutes were to be played, and when Boulton was caught in possession, Preen was sent clear with a 1 on 1 on Finch, but the finish lacked conviction and the keeper made a good save.
At the final whistle, Didcot claimed the three points, which was probably deserved. However, they looked poor going forward, but their defence mostly looked rock solid, with McConnell playing an important role as the shield in front of them.
Larkhall looked a decent side in the first half but created very little in the second half. Chatting with three of their supporters, they didn’t understand why their best players had been taken off ( Regula and Dymond-Hall ) and they were playing without a recognised forward as a result.
Overall, it wasn’t a game of great quality, and on this showing neither side are likely to be setting the league alight, although I expect Didcot will be hard to beat and probably won’t be conceding too many goals. Larkhall also looked solid at the back but need to show more up front and create more chances.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlLDOn009Do
Didcot Town : Bedwell – McGrath, Carnell, Learoyd, McNeil – Conlan ( Smith ), Barder, McConnell, Glover – Davis ( Rouse ), Preen
Larkhall Athletic : Finch - Goodall, Boulton, Graham, Bradley – Hicks, Pritchard ( Beckinsale ), Mortimer-Taylor ( Morgan ), Cannings ( Smolka ), Dymond-Hall ( Passco ) – Regula ( Lambert )
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