After twice crossing the border last week, I thought I will make it a hat trick and visit Wrexham as they faced Ayr United in the Scottish Challenge Cup. I wasn’t originally planning on visiting the North Wales based side, but it came up for Opta and I took the job on shortly after visiting Cardiff.

I was looking forward to my trip to the Racecourse Ground as I had never been before and it looks like a lovely ground from pictures and videos etc. The match itself was an interesting one.

Wrexham made 10 changes and scored first through Jake Bickerstaff in the second half. Sam Roscoe of Ayr equalised late on so the match went to penalties. A different Jake, this time Lawlor, scored the winning penalty for Wrexham who go through to the fourth round. So how was the experience?

Atmosphere:

Going in to the game, I wasn’t sure how serious the Wrexham faithful were going to treat this game. I knew the Scots would be eager to get one on the English/Welsh and boy did they show it.

The 421 Ayr fans that made the journey were brilliant throughout. Their vast amount of noise was helped by a loud drum that they smuggled in. The Wrexham fans on the other hand, barely batted an eyelid all game.

It was disappointing but understandable to hear the lack of noise, but I bet the stadium gets a good atmosphere for games they care a bit more about.

I will rate the atmosphere 3/5

Cost:

As I was working on the day I didn’t have to pay for a ticket but if I wanted to it would’ve been £10 which is what I what I would’ve expected. The train to and from the stadium was £50 which sounds a lot but I am coming from Bristol so that is a 7 hour round trip. Luckily it was covered by Opta so I didn’t have to fork it out.

For the cost I will rate Wrexham 3/5

Entertainment:

By the introduction you may not have thought it was the best of game, given it was 1-1, but that’s only half the story. The game was end to end for the majority of it, and even though there may not been a chance at the end of it, it was still exciting.

A penalty shootout is always exciting, no matter who is playing and I saw 12 penalties taken, with just one missed. The fans would’ve certainly got there moneys worth and enjoyed an entertaining encounter.

For entertainment I will rate it 3.5/5

Facilities:

As I said, I was looking forward to seeing the Racecourse Ground and I wasn’t let down. The ground is known as the official oldest international ground in the world, which is quite a feat. Unfortunately, the huge terrace behind one end is permanently shut barring any renovations but I won’t let that cloud my judgement.

Facilites I will rate 3/5.

Food:

Breaking News: I didn’t actually consume any food or drink inside the ground. I actually grabbed a meal deal from a nearby Sainsburys. There were some complimentary hot beverages in the media room and I did take a look at the food that Wrexham provide and it did look nice and reasonably priced. I can’t offer a stronger opinion than that so will have to rate the the food based solely on looks

For food I will rate Wrexham 3/5

Man of the Match:

There were a few decent looking players out there for both sides that could definitely do a job at a higher level but I am going to pick Dawid Szczepaniak as my man of the match. The young keeper was making his senior debut and made some good saves during the 90. He ultimately won the game for them with the penalty save and impressed on his first outing.

So what does this mean?

Wrexham score 15.5 which ties them with a couple of other clubs and sits them in mid table. It also puts them in between the two Welsh clubs, being ahead of Newport but well below Cardiff. Overall I enjoyed my time in Wales for the three matches but we will almost certainly be going closer to home for our next games.

After a double header of Bath and Bristol City on the opening weekend, we started the new game-week with a trip to Huish Park to visit Harry’s beloved Yeovil Town in their first home game since their relegation from the football league last season.

Me and Harry hail from two contrasting ends of the footballing spectrum, whilst I’m preparing myself for a trip to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium this Saturday, my eyes were opened to the sight of Huish Park for the first time beforehand.

My first experience of Yeovil Town was a fortunate one, as The Glovers sealed a first home win since March as Courtney Duffus’ early strike gave the Glovers all three points over fellow promotion hopefuls Eastleigh.

Atmosphere:

After being condemned to a third relegation in just six seasons, the latest demotion would have been the most cutting for the Huish Park faithful as they drop into non-league.

It would not be surprising to see a decrease in attendance, yet last night over 2,800 supporters turned out to see Yeovil secure their first three points of their National League season.

The atmosphere before kick off and during the first 15 minutes was very loud and impressive however the noise died down as the first half grew older and didn’t pick up to the same level until around the 70th minute mark.

As Eastleigh began to throw more men forward and assert more pressure on Yeovil’s backline, the Huish park faithful grew in voices and got behind their team during the nervy closing stages of the game.

The atmosphere was impressive for the numbers in the ground but was very patchy in stages, for me I will rank this as a 3.5/5.

Cost:

The tickets came to a total cost of £10 each, and with a lift down from Harry’s dad our travel and matchday experience came to just £10.

Whilst this price could be found at some football league clubs, it has become the standard rate for a game at this level due to the inflation of ticket prices.

For me I will give Cost a 3/5.

Entertainment:

This was your classic early season promotion six-pointer, both teams not giving not too much away and adopting a somewhat pragmatic style of play.

The early goal allowed Yeovil to sit back and not take many risks, and with Eastleigh failing to create many clear goal scoring opportunities, action at either end of the pitch was few and far between.

The final 20 minutes of the half consisted of many nearly moments from an Eastleigh perspective and squeaky bum time for The Glovers.

For me due to the way the match played out I am going to give entertainment a 2.5/5.

Facilities:

As we travel to more and more football grounds, it becomes evidently clear that each division has contrasting facilities (obviously).

Huish Park is your archetypal League Two ground, the majority of the capacity is standing and is a compressed small ground.

However, I was a fan of Huish Park whilst it may not be the most glamorous nor biggest stadium it serves a purpose for the level its at. It’s the type of ground where locals can come down to the terraces and create atmosphere by bashing the back walls of the stand to get the team going.

For this I will give facilities a 2.5/5

Food:

Now, Harry isn’t the most optimistic fan of Yeovil Town and this trip came with many precautions from him and most notably the food. Whilst I took his precautions with a pinch of salt I have to say I should’ve listened when he said about the food.

Whilst being priced at £2.20 the sausage roll would seem like a bargain, it left me with a sour taste in my mouth (quite literally) and in spite of a good trip down to Huish Park,

I must say that the food scores a measly 2/5 for me.

Overall Yeovil scored a total of 13.5 points, putting them tied with Bath City, to see the leaderboard in all its glory you can find it by clicking the link here

Man of the match: In a game void of any real clear outstanding quality, it was hard to look past new Yeovil striker Rhys Murphy as man of the match.

Murphy was poached from Chelmsford City where he had netted 28 times last season, and whilst it was his striking partner Courtney Duffus who will steal the headlines with his winner, Murphy was the best player on the pitch for me.

He held the ball up very well as well as defending from the front, his creativity and passing was very good and just needed a goal to cap off an excellent home debut.

Next up is a trip to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium for the first time on Saturday for me, whilst Harry ventures up to Fratton Park.

After three mind-numbing months without football, the football season got back underway today with everyone from non-league to EFL kicking off their season hoping for a season of glory whilst others will inevitably be condemned to a season of disappointment.

Today we started our football season at Twerton Park for Bath City’s opening game against recently relegated Braintree Town in the National League South.

After missing out on promotion with a play off semi-final defeat last season, The Romans kicked off their campaign in style as two excellent goals from Bath’s Tom Smith and Ross Stearn made it a perfect start for Jerry Gill’s side.

Atmosphere:

After 94 days since Bath City last took to the fields of Twerton Park for a league fixture, the atmosphere was expected to be quite lively ahead of the new season. However throughout the game, the atmosphere was somewhat patchy.

With the attendance standing at just 786 people there was simply not enough numbers to generate an electric atmosphere, there were certain segregation’s of the Bath support willing to urge their team on and let their voices be heard, yet were slightly inconsistent with their support.

For me I would give Bath City a 2.5/5 for atmosphere.

Cost:

With Bath City being situated in the sixth tier of English football, an opening day game was never likely to be too costly and with tickets prices at £7 for under 18’s/students this game was sensibly priced for a day of football.

A train ticket from our native city of Bristol to Bath alongside the match day ticket saw our spending come to just £9.70 before we’d even seen a ball kicked.

This represented excellent value for money, as alternative options shortlisted this weekend would have saw our travel and match day ticket rise to potentially £35.

I would give Bath City a 4/5 for cost.

Entertainment:

Ahead of the opening weekend of the season Bath was perhaps not the most glamorous option to explore in comparison to a number of potential EFL destinations, however Twerton Park did not disappoint.

After a cagey first half of nick and tuck, clear cut chances were few and far between. The highlight of the half was a speculative effort from inside the Braintree half rattling Ryan Clarke’s crossbar, just inches away from one of the goals of the season just minutes into the new season.

The deadlock was broken minutes into the second half, as on loan midfielder Tom Smith made it a debut to remember with a fine volley from inside the box to open the scoring at Twerton Park.

Half time substitute Ross Stearn then doubled the lead with a stunning effort from the edge of the box to seal an opening day win for Jerry Gill’s side.

Chances may have been hard to come by, but the quality of both goals made up for the lack of action and made it an enjoyable experience.

For this I’m going to give Bath a 3/5.

Facilities:

Twerton Park is a throwback to grounds of yesteryear, with the majority of the ground standing it is not your archetypal modern football stadium.

However, expectations can not be raised to an unrealistic level for a game in the sixth tier of English football.

The lack of seating in the stands allowed for the Bath fans to display flags and banners to help add their own touch of sentiment towards the stadium that they call home every other Saturday.

For that, I will give the overall facilities a 2/5.

Food:

Now for the decider, food. Twerton Park was somewhat unorthodox in allowing a food van inside the stadium, situated between the home dugout and corner flag. In fairness, the food can more than warrants its place inside the ground, with hot food priced at £3.20 the food more than warranted it’s price tag with the overall standard of food somewhat higher than then price displayed.

For that I will give it a 4/5.

Man of the Match:

There was a number of impressive candidates to pick up the man of the match award at Twerton Park, but for me it would be hard to look past debutant Tom Smith.

Smith was often found doing the dog-work in midfield, breaking up play whilst also being integral to counter attacks, a fantastic volleyed goal was a testament to the Cheltenham loanee’s debut in front of the Bath faithful.

So what does this mean?

Bath City jump straight to the top of our leaderboard automatically as our first trip scoring 15.5 marks out of a total 25.

Scoring an average of 3.1.

Whilst there is somewhat of a stigma around non-league football from fans of elite clubs in England, I would thoroughly recommend watching your local non-league side when you can as it gives a different perspective to the modern day money-mad heights of the Premier League.