Harry Oakley and Samuel Durham set Sandhurst Town on a course marked ‘mid-table’ in Hellenic League Division 1 East on Tuesday night with a 2-1 victory at Wokingham & Emmbrook’s Lowther Road.
There had been some bemusement on social media prior to the game with the fixture ‘switched’ to Sandhurst to ensure a later kick-off before switching back again to Wokingham after the league refused the change (more on that later).
Clive McNelly’s Wokingham side played for at least an hour after Dan Carter was sent off in the first halfand captain Harry Oakley (in his own words) scored ‘a delicious pen in the bottom right corner’.
Sam Lawrence levelled things up shortly after to send the sides in level at half time but Durham got the winner late on as he did in the Fizzers previous win against Rayners Lane.
Twitter user @redlegtudor shared a some pics and video from the game:
A nice 🌞 evening for @wokingham_sumas + @Sandhursttownfc to #stroll to 6.30KO for @hellenicupdates @NonLeagueCrowd 👍 pic.twitter.com/CooTHPB61K
— andyf (@redlegTudor) April 11, 2017
FT @HellenicLeague D1E⚽ @wokingham_sumas 1-2 @Sandhursttownfc ..the @hellenicupdates @NonLeagueCrowd thank #ALL 👏 pic.twitter.com/5ZNuj7cxjO
— andyf (@redlegTudor) April 11, 2017
Why wasn’t the game allowed to switch?
We asked the Hellenic League General Manager Brian King why the match wasn’t allowed to switch to Bottom Meadow and make use of the floodlights and a later kick off time when Bracknell Town’s switch of their cup tie on 20th April at Headington Amateurs had been allowed to switch to Larges Lane.
Here’s the response:
A request was not made for a change of venue until last weekend. This was disallowed on three counts;
- The request was extremely late and could have caused other problems regarding match official assignments and possibly spectators intending to visit
- This is a league match and many are scheduled midweek this month, as has been the case in past seasons
- I was only made aware formally yesterday morning
With regard to the cup-tie involving Headington and Bracknell due to be played next week, discussions have been ongoing with the clubs and the fixture co-ordinator for approximately a week and with the possibility of extra time and penalties due to the nature of this match the change of venue was authorised.
We usually have many midweek non-floodlit matches in April that kick-off at 6.30pm. The Wokingham vs Sandhurst match wouldn’t be considered any different and a change could cause potential issues with other scheduled fixtures. Cup ties have to be viewed somewhat differently due to the potential for extra time and penalties.
Main image: Sandhurst Town vs Wokingham & Emmbrook in the reverse fixture at Bottom Meadow. Photo: Mark Pugh.
