A Day at the Seaside with Aveley FC

A Day at the Seaside

Felixstowe & Walton United vs Aveley FC

Sat 1^st September 2018

The day has finally arrived – we’re off to follow the Millers on their first away fixture of the season and Sam and I’s first ever journey away from Parkside.

The sun is shining so it is a perfect day for a trip to the seaside.

So, scarves in hand and the Satnav set for Suffolk we left home at 11:15 .

As soon as we left home we learned of an accident on the A12 which would add around 30-40 minutes to the journey but the journey planner did its job and routed us through Chelmsford reducing the delay considerably. Hope it doesn’t disrupt the team’s preparations

We arrived at the Goldstar ground at 1pm and with still 2 hours to go before KO decided to head off to the town to have a look around.

Had a nice chat with the two delightful stewards on car park duty who were keen to find out about where we had travelled from and gave us directions to the town and seafront.

A 10 minute stroll brought us to the town where there were a mixture of local shops and national chains. Plenty of charity shops for the wife to browse around.

We stopped off for refreshment at a small coffee shop on the high street before heading back to the ground just before 2pm.

We bumped into James Webster and Chris Smith as we walked over to the turnstiles and both stopped for a quick chat and were looking relaxed and optimistic.

Admission prices were £8 Adult and Free for under 16’s. The programme was priced at £2 and looked to be quite a hefty tome running to 52 pages but I later learned that this was 50% adverts, although still a nice publication. No details about the Aveley players were included but this is the first edition since their programme editor was replaced with a new media team.

Loads of Aveley fans inside the ground that made us feel instantly part of the community with handshakes all round and we learned that the accident had held a few up including a couple of players which has disrupted the starting eleven.

Time to sample the food from the snack bar so I ordered chips for Sam and Jean and a cheeseburger for myself. Total cost £5 although I think I may have been undercharged when I looked at the prices a bit later on. Chips were standard frozen crinkle cut but were quite tasty. The burger was plain and no onions were offered. Service was a bit slow so I’m glad we decided to eat early.

Sam bought a Felixstowe & Walton metal pin badge for £3.50 to add to his collection from the club shop.

Love the ground, lots of space to move around and it looks beautiful in the sunshine - whether it looks and feels the same on a Tuesday night in January I wouldn't like to say. Limited seating considering there was a crowd of 405 there today. The club seem to have a sponsor for almost everything including individual seats and also the added time at the end of each half, but if it brings much needed funds into the club then I'm all in favour. 

Chatting with the fans it seems that Connor Witherspoon and Alex Akrofi were delayed by the traffic jam and didn’t arrive in time to be included on the team sheet for the starting 11.

Millers Line Up:

1. D.Hughes
2. G.Kelly
3. S.Mvemba
4. J.Love
5. H.Gibbs
6. S.Cross
7. A.Freeman
8. G Doyle
9. T.Richardson
10. S. Ngandu
11. A.Teniola

Subs B.Sampayo, C.Witherspoon, T.Martin, M.Milner, A.Akrofi

As this was our first foray into ‘away’ supporting we followed the rest of the Aveley fans round behind the goal and helped to roll out the flags.

Kick Off.

The Millers started brightly and the Seasiders keeper dropped a Richardson cross in the first minute although not in a danger area – sadly this was the last error he was going to make throughout the game. Several chances wasted in the first 20 minutes and then Sam Mvemba had a shot tipped over the bar followed by an excellent save from The Terminator’s goal bound shot around the 25 minute mark.

Despite looking dominant for most of the opening half an hour it was the Seasiders who took the lead with their first shot on goal following some poor defending in the Millers penalty area. Jordan Matthews (34)

More dominance from Aveley led to George Doyle having a shot punched away in added on time at the end of the first half.

Half-Time

Having already eaten and in possession of plenty of drinks we wandered around to the opposite penalty area and prepared for the onslaught on the Felixstowe goal with the wind and the sun behind the team for the second half.

Straight away we go on the offensive and Richardson has another shot saved by the keeper.

Despite the dominance and wave after wave of attacks we just can’t get past the Seasider’s goalie

Just before the hour mark James makes a couple of changes – Witherspoon on for Shad and Akrofi replaces Gibbs.

It is all Aveley but we still cannot find a way through.

Final change for the Millers sees Milner replacing Teniola with 15 minutes to go.

PENALTY to the Millers – Akrofi taken out near the touchline and it’s going to be Tom ‘Rambo’ Richardson to take the resulting kick.

Agony as the shot is saved by the keeper and what should’ve been a very well deserved equaliser comes to nothing. Ten minutes plus stoppages to go

Another chance goes begging when their keeper makes yet another fingertip save.

90 minutes are up and five mins of added time is announced – A home fan behind us tries to delay the restart by throwing a spare ball on to the pitch and then wants to fight the travelling fans who point out what an idiot he is.

A glimmer of hope as Ben Clarke is sent off for something he said to the referee but it all looks a bit late for us.

A poor back pass to Hughes causing him to try to control a waist high ball leads to him being dispossessed and the Seasiders finish us off in added time with just their second or third shot on goal.

Final Score F&WU 2-0 Aveley FC

Disappointing result but a good performance from the lads – only thwarted by a top display from the home keeper.

Respect to the boys for coming over to thank the travelling support and apologise for the result although no apologies are required for the performance. On another day or with a different keeper it could’ve been a romp in the sunshine beside the sea.

To cheer ourselves up before the journey home we set off for the sea front for an ice cream and a wander along the beach before spending a couple of quid in the arcades.

Thankfully all the holdups were cleared on the A12 so we made it home in no time.

All-in-all despite the result we had a fantastic day out and this will be just the first of many away days with the Millers and the Sons Of Aveley supporters group

Next up is the Velocity League Cup tie at home to Cheshunt on Monday week.