FA Cup Skelmersdale United 0 Southport 1

After a pub lunch in one of Cains newer pubs in Southport we set off to see Southport start a new FA Cup campaign. On ariving in Skem we couldnt resista a tour of the famous roundabouts, before finally parking at Asda. There were plenty of cars around which promised a good turn out from the Southport faithful.
There was a queue to get into the ground, so we went straight in rather than popping into the social club. The ground is certainly adequate for the their level of football in the Unibond. There was some concern about the amount of cover, if it had rained as the clouds threatened there would have been a scramble for the covered seats. But as it turned out the rain held off and the sun made a second half appearance. Most of the 700-odd fans were Southport supporters.
The first half was poor, the only highlight being Tony Grays goal. Southport were bad and there was little difference between the two sides and not much sign of the difference in leagues. In fact sometimes Skem looked the better side.
Half time came, I hoped and expected for goals in the second half. Southport should beable to beat teams like Skem 3 or 4 nil. The second half was an improvement on the first but still pretty bad. The ball spent most of the time in the air, but when it did stay on the pitch there were some flashes of good football. But only flashes.
The only highlight of the second half was the fracas which saw the players and managers in a scuffle. Dav was sent to the stand, about 5ft from his dug out.

It was a bad match which ended 1-0. Thankfully no need for a replay.

Southport 2 Hyde United 1

Tonights game on a cold Tuesday night at the start of Autumn was exactly the type of game that keep me coming back. It was the perfect example of English non-league football. On a night when many fans chose to stay at home and watch Liverpool on the tele I didnt envy them once.
The first half saw Hyde attacking down the wings with little resistance, luckily Hyde had no centre forwards to take advantage. Hydes defence were solid, including the Southport legend Steve Pickford. Hyde took the lead and held it up to half time.

The second half was a bit moreequal with Southport attacking more. There seemed to be an endless amount of corners. At times things got a bit fraught on the pitch as passions ran high. It looked like Hyde were going to hang on to the 3 points and weather the Southport storm. But Southport substitute Karl Noon equalised with five minutes to go. Had the game ended there I would have been relieved but with 5 minutes of extra time Kevin Lee did it again and scored from a corner to make it 2-1 and steal all the points from Hyde. The whistle blew and the smiles on the faces of the hundreds of Southport fans who had turned up showed why we all do it.

Man of the Match: Kevin Lee.

Southport 3 Solihull Moors 2

A gloriously sunny day at Haig Ave today. I was confident we would get a win today against the "new" team Solihull Moors. The game started well with Kevin Lee heading home a goal from a corner. The defenders could teach our strikers a thing or two at the moment as the second goal came from Mike Powell. There was then a inexplicable Solihull goal which meant the sides went in at half time with the score 2-1.
Solihull looked better in the second half but it was Southports player of the season (so far) Kevin Lee who scored again giving himself a headache and the team a two goal lead.
There were some hairy moments for Southport as some of the old bad habits came back. Southport lost control of the game and conceded another goal and there then followed a very panicy few minutes which could have seen Southport either get another goal or lose the points. But Southport held out and the game finished 3-2.

It was a very entertaining match and a good performance all round. At times Southport look like they need some more experience to keep things calm when things are going against them. Solihull weren't great but carried on playing to the last whistle.

MOTM: Kevin Lee

Popular Side Pundit Comment: "Stand on your feet you prune!"

Southport 4 Hinkley 0

It was a windy day at Haig Ave today and there was no sign of the new striker that was rumoured to be playing this weekend. Luckily he wasn't missed. Southport took the lead when Chris Lever scored from a Mark Duffy corner. It all went a bit quiet on the pitch after that but sadly the same could not be said for the moaning gits on the terraces. Despite the fact Southport were winning at Haig Ave they said we looked more likely to lose the match. Even when Mark Houghton scored a wonder goal the moaners went happy. The third did quiet them down for a few seconds and the fourth got them changing the subject to something other than football.
It was great to see Mark Houghton score for Southport especialy such a well taken goal. The club have said he has great promise and he certainly showed it today. The third goal was cored by Mike Powell and the fourth was an own goal.
It will be a long ride home for Hinkley.