Preston North End 2 Gillingham 0

Ground 62

Match 66

Venue Deepdale

FA Cup 2nd Round

Preston 2 Gillingham 0

Amission £10

Programme £3

Attendance 5,271

Distance Travelled 7 miles

Preston always looked a step above the Gills and went into an early lead - followed by a second after a defensive error . PNE had to rely on a solid goalkeeping display from their keeper Stuckmann who made two class saves in each half to keep North End in the driving seat . A low drive accross the goal line was inches from being converted ' Gazza Euro 96 style ' as the Gills crept more into the game .
The men from Priestfield let the men from Priest Town off the hook after the restart when Burton fired wide with a penalty kick . North End had a shot come back off the post and a goal ruled out for a foul on the Gills keeper .
The outfit from Kent pushed forward and were caught on the break several times but The Lillywhites failed to capitalise . A World class striker like Van Persie would have scored three for Gillingham with the few but quality chances they created , at this level North End got out of jail . Burton is hard working and takes up some good positions - a few years ago he probably would have scored twice but he's lost that extra bit of pace for todays higher levels .
Last year Preston sacked their manager when in a similar position in the league . One year on and with a completely different team the jury is still out .

Lapu Lapu Shrine Mactan Cebu Magellan

On April 21, 1521, a Portuguese sailing under the flag of Spain reached the shores of Mactan Island of Cebu Province. The Portuguese known in history as Ferdinand Magallanes (or Ferdinand Magellan) planned to subdue the locals who did not bow down to the Spanish rule. It was unfortunate of him since he was met by a strong resistance from the chieftain of Mactan Island, the very first Filipino national hero, Lapu-Lapu. A shrine was then put up in the area said to be the exact place where the Battle of Mactan is said to have happened.

Fort San Pedro Cebu City

 FORT SAN PEDRO - The smallest, oldest tri-bastion fort in the country. This served as the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines. It has a total inside area of 2,025 sq. meters. The walls are 20 feet high, 8 feet thick and the towers are 30 feet high from the ground level. Work was first started on May 8, 1565 with MIGUEL LOPEZ DE LEGASPI breaking the ground. After the battle of Manila Bay, Commodore George Dewey turned the fort to the local Cebuanos, then it became an American Warwick Barracks during the American Regime which was later converted into classrooms where the Cebuanos received formal education.
During World War II, from 1941 to 1945, it served as fortification for Japanese soldiers, when the battle for liberation was fought, the fort served as an army camp . After 1950, Cebu Garden Club took over and fixed the inner court into a miniature garden.

Chocolate Hills & The Tarsier Philippines

 

The  Chocolate Hills can be found on the island/province of Bohol in The Philippines .
   The island located southeast from Cebu Island and southwest of Leyte Island in Central Visayas region. This oval-shaped island is the tenth largest of the Philippine archipelago.
Bohol is full of natural beauty. The coastline of the island is skimmed by gentle coves and white sand beaches. Bohol is not as internationally famous destination in Philippines as nearby Boracay, but is well-known locally as a heaven for divers and snorkelers. The most popular activities in Bohol are Dolphin watching and whale watching. The best season is from March to June, but dolphins can be seen year-round. In addition to white sand beaches and dive spots.
One of the most famous tourist attraction in Bohol and in whole Philippines is The Chocolate Hills.

The Chocolate Hills look like women’s dress, or giant mole hills, or a place something like a child’s drawing. The unusual thing about it is that it is a natural phenomena! Geologists believe that the hills were formed from marine limestone on top of a clay layer. The Chocolate hills are uniform in shape, some standing from 30 to 50 meters high. They are usually covered with grass the year around, but turn brown during the dry season, thus the name. You can see the magnificent view of The Chocolate hills by climbing 214 steps to an observation outpost above the hills.

Located at the top of the steps near the viewing area is the Wishing Well Bell .

After taking in a river boat trip with lunch i visited the home of the rare Tarsier .

The Philippine tarsier, (Tarsius syrichta) is very peculiar small animal. In fact it is one of the smallest known primates, no larger than a adult men's hand. Mostly active at night, it lives on a diet of insects. Folk traditions sometimes has it that tarsiers eat charcoal, but actually they retrieve the insects from (sometimes burned) wood. It can be found in the islands of Samar, Leyte, Bohol, and Mindanao in the Philippines.

Lytham Town 4 Haslingden St Marys 1

 

Ground 62

Match 65

West Lancs Division One

Lytham Town 4 Haslingden St Marys 1

Att 30 est

Admission Free

Distance Travelled 17 miles

Lytham ( St Annes )  is a conurbation in the Fylde district of Lancashire just South of Blackpool and North of Preston . It's better known as a seaside resort  , for its open championship golf  and cricket . If you approach along the coast road you will notice a restored windmill , close by is a Lifeboat museum . Fishing and shrimping were the main source of employment until the advent of tourism . The nearby BAC systems in Warton has helped sustain Lytham as one of Lancashires wealthiest areas .
The Football ground is located off Ballam Road just outside the Town Centre . A small car park leads to a covered terrace , bar .and spacious playing pitch . I had to park further up the road in another car park and walk the short distance down the main road ..

As you can see from the photo they're a cheeky lot in a friendly way - thought the Ballam Road End sign was worth the visit in itself . As for the match - both teams are near the bottom and the first half was very tight . Lytham punished St Marys after the restart and ran out easy winners in the end .

Theres a narrow entrance - far side -  leading from the car park .

It's going in the net !

Wigan Athletic 2 West Ham United 1

Ground 64

Match 61

Venue The DW Stadium

Nickname The Latics

Wigan Ath 2-1 West Ham Utd

Founded 1932

Capacity 25,133

Attendance 19,090

Ticket £20

Distance Travelled 14  miles

Wigan is in Greter Manchester - nearest rivals are Bolton Wanderers but in their non league days , Chorley were their main rivals . Since Wigan became a league club in June 1978 , replacing Southport , they have not played Chorley .

Wigan Athletic share the DW Stadium with Wigan Warriors Rugby League .Despite having lower attendances than most in the Premier League the Latics average home cowds  are higher than The Warriors . Wigan moved to the stadium in 1999 and were the first away side to win there , against Cambridge City in the FA Cup .  Orrell RUFC also rented the stadium for one season in 2003 .
The stadium design is based on cantilevered, prefabricated steel roof and terrace structuring . Four separate stands are of roughly the same height and are all single tiered. They are also quite steep meaning that fans are sat quite close to the playing action, although this is mitigated a little by the fact that the stands themselves are set back a fair distance from the pitch perimeter.

Both the side stands have large supporting steel frameworks visible above their roofs, whilst oddly both ends are different, having the steel framework located below the roof line. Unusually for a modern stadium, it does seem to be lacking in the number of corporate areas and executive boxes. There is an electric scoreboard above the Boston (East) Stand, on one side of the ground. 

West ham played the first five minutes and last five minutes . Wigan were far superior and deserved their win , dominating the middle of the park . The Hammers will have to improve their away performances ,  in particular , against sides like Wigan who are more likely to be in and around them in the league come the end of the season . The huge following from East London were unusually quiet for most of the game . The vocal chants included ' This grounds too big for you .' ' You're only here for the West Ham .'

In the distance you can see the Robin Park Arena - current home of Wigan Robin Park who play in the North West Counties League .

 

The Boston Stand + Electronic Scoreboard

 



The South stand Home Supporters

 

Springfield Stand

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