Spending the day with Richard, an old friend of mine, saw us both travel down together to Minster, to watch a Kent County League Division 1 (Central and East) match. This was a trip to clock up the 300th ground I had visited.

The Minster Recreation ground has decent changing and clubhouse facilities, along with a high quality (if slightly sloping!) grass pitch. Parking is free in Minster and despite it being wet and grey today, there were around 30 visiting fans for this game.

Minster FC Reserves sat in eighth place at kick off, with four wins and three defeats from their opening seven matches. A win today would see them push towards the promotion spots, and help them build some momentum as they moved towards the quarter way mark in the season. Goals have come this season from Scott Roddam, Oliver Sexton, and Harry Hobday (all 3 goals).

Woodnesborough FC have played this season like the girl with the curl in the nursery rhyme. When they are good they are very, very good, with 6-2 and 1-6 victories against Whitstable Town U23 and Cinque Sports FC. However when they are bad they are, just as the rhyme states, horrid, which is evidenced by defeats such as the 7-0 mauling at Chilham and a capitulation to Aylesford, 1-3, after leading 1-0. The Woodnesborough defence needs to tighten having leaked 21 goals in eight league games, but their saviours this season have been Mitchell Harman (6 goals) and Callum Whittaker (3 goals) who have found scoring comes easily.

The game started with both sides clearly committed to attacking football. In the eighth minute it was the visitors, Woodnesborough FC, who took the lead, when Mitch Harman showed goal poachers’ persistence to follow the ball past the keeper and over the line, making it 0-1.

Woodnesborough FC then dominated form much of the first half, before Minster FC Reserves came back into the game just before the break. Despite a wealth of chances being created at half-time the sides went in still separated by the solitary goal.

The second half saw the home side come back really strongly pushing in wave after wave towards the opposition goal. Woodnesborough FC were left playing counter attacking football, although they were unlucky not to do better with a penalty shout midway through the half.

Chances were created but missed and as the game moved into the final fifteen minutes, you could sense the Minster FC Reserves’ players becoming more and more desperate.

With twelve minutes left, Minster FC Reserves’ number 11, found himself free on goal and was confident and able enough to slot the ball home to deservedly tie the match at 1-1.

The home team continued to push for a winner but at full-time the teams had to share the points. This result did little to ease the mid table mediocrity of the season so far for either side, but the players had clearly given their all today and it was an entertaining match.