Somer Valley Sport

Melksham Town made it two from two as they visited Paulton Rovers for their first away trip in the Southern League First Division. After a goalless first half, Neikell Plummer scored his second goal in as many games to help Melksham to all three points in a victory that was much more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.

My World Radio Day interview with goalkeeping legend, Steve Phillips, covered a number of subjects, including his big break at Bristol City, his current role at Yeovil Town and his involvement with the Seniors World Cup.

Cllr Paul Myers talks to me and Luke about opportunities for people in Midsomer Norton to lead healthier, happier lives.

The Somer Valley Sports Breakfast presents 2 hours of sports inspired news, views and music. Focussing on grassroots sport and community partisipation, Luke Barnes and Ian Nockolds celebrate what the Somer Valley has to offer local people interested in sport and healthy living.

On Saturday April 22nd I made a brief return to the Somer Valley airwaves, to talk about the Roger Stone Memorial Cup Final. I very much enjoyed my interview with Richard Burgess and it was good to have a chance to reflect on last weeks Radstock Town performance, putting into perspective their defeat at the hands of Clevedon Town. I'm also grateful to Richard for giving me the chance to plug the Toolstation Western League Podcast!

Midsomer Norton Rugby Club met Chippenham Rugby Club in the Final of the Bath Combination Cup on April 19th. Norton have narrowed the gap on their Wiltshire rivals in recent years, now playing at the equivalent level in the league pyramid.

Second half action from the Woodspring Stadium, with the scores locked at nil all at half time. Who will brake the deadlock? Who will take the Roger Stone Memorial Cup?

Full match commentray of the Roger Stone Memorial Cup Final featuring Radstock Town and Clevedon Town.

Football Association Chairman, Greg Clarke, has described the football child sex abuse scandal as one of the biggest crises in the history of the FA. I spoke with Jon Pike, Chief Executive of the Somerset Football Association and Shirley Needham, the FAs Welfare Officer in Somerset & Wiltshire, to understand more about how this scandal is effecting grassroots football in the county and what those affected can do to get support.

As part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations of the day Welton Rovers played Bournemouth & Boscombe in the FA Cup, I was lucky enough to speak with Bournemouth Club Secretary, Neil Vacher, about their memories of the game and how the Club has evolved since the 1960s.

Saturday the 26th of November marks the 50th Anniversary of the day Welton Rovers played Bournemouth and Boscombe, now known at AFC Bournemouth, in the FA Cup First Round. The Somer Valley Sport Show produced a special programme to celebrate Welton's hero's of that day - the Class of 66.

After 8 years and 300 Shows, the equivilant of 12 and a hlaf days broadcasting, I left the Somer Valley studios at 7pm on November 15th. Forgive me for breaking down twice on air! Thanks for the memories.

This weeks Bath Rugby Press Conference was a hurried affair, with Bath beating Exeter on Sunday only to play Leicester Tigers in the LV Cup this coming Friday. I spoke to England U20 International Zach Mercer who was looking forward to taking the field against Tigers under the Friday Night lights! We also had a chat about Zach’s pathway from schoolboy rugby to Premiership Rugby.

Second half action from Southfields Recreation Ground where the young Moners had a mountain to climb against a rampant Exeter City side the lead 4 nil at the break.

Could Radstock Towns's young Miners keep their FA Cup dreams alive as they enetertained Exeter City in the 1st Round proper of the FA Youth Cup at Southfields, infront of a bumper crowd.

I talk to Matt Denning from Midsomer Norton Rugby Club and Elinor Evans from Bath Rugby Ladies about the state of grassroots rugby.

In the wake of the FA's latest Grassroots Football Survey, I enjoyed a really disvussion with Ian Lanning, Manager of Radstock Town's Under 18s, Martin Cox, Manager of Farrington Gurney FC and Bryn Hawkins Chairman of the Mid-Somerset League.

Fog stopped play at Paulton Rovers last night, although the visitors enjoyed the better of the early exchanges. Stay tuned for an enjoyable exchange with Paulton's Ibrahima Diallo and Joe Chandler.

Its been a while since we had a musical compilation to shout about, I think Radstock Towns Under 18s victory at Woking probably deserves one!

The second half may have started without the fireworks of the first, but the game was still end to end, with Morgan Skipp’s long range effort only narrowly missing the target after two minutes and the impressive Delan Appau going close for Woking, four mutes later. Radstock took the lead for the first time in the game on the hour mark, when another long range effort from Skipp managed to sneak into the bottom left hand corner. Woking were looking increasing troubled at the back, with a series on lengthy cramp related stoppages involving centre half, Charlie Hester-Cook, finally leading to his substitution after 65 minutes. Two minutes later Radstock had their fifth goal, when Sobers turned provider with a wicked cross from the left, that was smartly put into the net by Lewis Blannin. With only five minutes to go, Woking’s frustrations finally boiled over and an ill-tempered exchange between both sets of players resulted in both sides being reduced to ten men. As the seconds ticked by Radstock manager, Ian Lanning, emptied his substitutes bench, packing the defence to hold out until full time. Woking threw everything they had at the Miners, but could only find a consolation goal with the last kick of the game, Radstock securing a famous victory by five goals to four.

Radstock’s young side were well supported on their trip to Surrey by a vocal Miners contingent, yet their pre-match optimism turned to trepidation within seconds of the kick-off when a high ball over the top of the Radstock defence left goalkeeper Jack Scrivens in no man's land, gifting Josh Greenleaf the opening goal. Matters went from bad to worse when Woking scored their second only two minutes later, Greenleaf cutting in from the left wing and beating Scrivens with a shot from the edge of the area.It looked like the Miners were in awe of both their hosts and their surroundings, the Laithwaite Community Stadium every bit the stage for a National League football club. Yet Radstock showed a resilience that belied their years, Morgan Skipp conjuring a thunderbolt from 30 yards that the Woking keeper, Sam Mason, could only pick out of the back of his net. With less than five minutes on the clock the game had already produced three goals and the fireworks decorating the nights sky behind the Chris Lane Terrace, were being more than rivalled by the action on the pitch.Having got themselves back into the game disaster struck again for the Miners on 22 minutes when Radstock Captain Tyler Bryant brought down Greenleaf for a penalty, which he duly converted for his hat-trick. Greenleaf could have had a fourth on the half hour, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag.Yet Radstock weathered the storm and on 35 minutes snatched a goal back through the excellent work of Olav Haugerud on the left wing, conjuring up a defence splitting pass that found a smart finish from Rico Sobers. Woking were visibly rattled by Radstock’s unlikely fight back and failed to deal with an excellent move between Skipp and Sobers that saw the latter net his second goal of the game on the stroke of half time.

Radstock Town's Under 18s prepare for a historic game in the FA Youth Cup this Thursday, away to Woking. No Miners side has made it to the 3rd qualifying round of this competition before and hopes are high that Radstock's young guns can make it to the 1st Round proper.I caught up with Ian Lanning, Manager of Radstock's U18s, and asked him what the game means to the Club as well as getting his take on the state of Youth Football in this country.

This week I caught up with Bath Rugby second row, Charlie Ewels. We looked back at a big win against local rivals Gloucester and Charlie's inclusion in the England development squad.

Last month the Football Association launched the 2016 Grassroots Football Survey, gathering much needed feedback from players, coaches, referees, staff and volunteers on the state of the grassroots game. At a time when the professional game is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, grassroots football continues to represent what is pure about our National game, but is it getting the support it deserves?This is the second year the Football Asscoiation has run a survey collecting feedback from the general public on the work that it does, primarily through its County Associations. Last years survey was completed by nearly 30,000 people involved with football, across the country. Facilities, the state of pitches and changing rooms, were the focus for many respondents.If you are involved in football in anyway then the Football Association want to hear from you. Visit http://survey.euro.confirmit.com/wix/7/p1852894827.aspx and have your say.

On Tuesday we chatted to Timsbury Athletic first team manager Dom Eatherden. As well as talking about how the team are doing this season we also talked about the close relationship that exists in the village between the football and cricket club.

With the score still level at nil all the second half was perfectly poised. The visitors had had the better of the cahnces in the first half, but Paulton were still in the match. Full second half commentary brough to you by myself and Paulton Press Officer Tony Walsh.

Paulton Rovers entertained Evesham United at Winterfield Road in the Southern League Division 1 South and West. After an equally indifferent start to the season, both teams were looking for a win the would reinject much needed momentum back into their respective campaigns. Belated first half commentary brought to you by Paulton Press Officer, Tony Walsh and Ian Nockolds.

Somer Valley FM’s Sports Show is named the national Sports Show of the Year.The show, which has been led by Ian Nockolds for eight years, was given the Gold award for sports broadcasting at the Community Radio Awards. The inaugural awards took place at Birmingham City University, on Saturday 10th September, to a sold out gala with over 35 community radio stations being recognised for their broadcasting excellence.The Somer Valley Sport Show has broadcast weekly, promoting the news and fixtures of sports clubs across North East Somerset. Ian Nockolds has been involved with sports broadcasting on Somer Valley FM since the station was piloted at Somervale School in August 2006. He said, “As the Sport Show has evolved, it has been our mission to provide local sports coverage, focusing on participants and clubs overlooked by commercial and public service radio, produced by amateur broadcasters to a professional standard”. The Sports Show has engaged volunteers across the generations, not only those involved with the Clubs they cover, but everyone from school students to retired former players. Today, the Sport Show team includes Allan Trinder and Evan Dando, with Saturday Live produced and presented by Richard Burgess.The awards were hosted by Somer Valley FM’s manager Dom Chambers, “As I was hosting the evening you can imagine my pleasure at the announcement and welcoming Ian on to the stage to collect the award. Ian’s work with our Sports programme has been a considerable personal achievement. It is exemplary community broadcasting from empowering local clubs with a voice, to the skill building of young volunteers and the live match commentaries. Ian has brought local clubs together on the central platform of the Somer Valley FM studio. This recognition is richly deserved and my hearty congratulations to Ian and the team.On receiving the award Ian Nockolds thanked all the volunteers who have been involved with the Show since it began, before making special mention of the Clubs, without whom there would be no content. “This award isn’t just about the quality of our sport coverage, it’s about recognising the hard work and commitment of the volunteers at every Club we cover including Midsomer Norton Rugby Club, Welton Rovers Football Club, Radstock Town Football Club, Paulton Rovers Football Club, Midsomer Norton Cricket Club, Writhlington Tennis Club and many more. They support us to support them and now we are all on the Gold medal team. Looking to the future, the Somer Valley Sports team are hoping to build upon their success and encourage more local Clubs to get involved so that even larger audiences can celebrate and support local sport.Broadcasting every Tuesday at 6pm, the Somer Valley Sport Show is available online and at 97.5FM. Somer Valley FM is the community radio station serving the people of Midsomer Norton, Radstock, Paulton and the surrounding villages.

We don't normally do book reviews on the Sport Show, but I made an exception for Nige Tassell, author of The Bottom Corner: A Season with the Dreamers of Non-League Football. Nige told about his love for non-league football and his expereinces researching his book.

On Tuesday, September 6th I had the pleasure of meeting Bath Rugbys new Director of Rugby, Todd Blackadder for the first time. We looked back on a historic win over Northampton and considered what it meant in the context of Baths season.

Second half action from Radstock Town against Roman Glass St George where the Miners find themselves 4 - 2 up at half time. With the weather playing its part in this entertaining yet error strewn match, the next goal will prove crucial in setting up the momentum of the second half.

Non League Day 2016 saw a Western League First Division encounter between Radstock Town and Roman Glass St George, at a rainswept Southfields Recreation Ground. The Miners were still looking for the first home win of the season, but would it come against Roman Glass?

Midsomer Norton Rugby Club travelled to Trowbridge to continue their pre-season preparations. Despite the balmy August climate, it was rainy season in Wiltshire, making it difficult for rugby players and commentators alike!

Second half commentary from the Southern League clash between Paulton Rovers against Wimborne Town. With the score locked at nil all at half time and nothing to seperate the two teams of the field, who would take the advantage in the second 45 minutes?

Paulton Rovers played their first home game of the new Southern League season against Wimborne Town. Match commentary brought to you by Tony Walsh and myself.

Midsomer Norton Greencaps entertianed Timsbury Miners in Somerset Under 19 T20 tournament. Ball by ball coverage brought to you by myself, Club Captain Nick Potter and first team stalwart Alex Davis.

English World Cup winners are few and far between, so to find one in Midsomer Norton is a rare treat indeed! Steve Phillips, the former Bristol Rovers and Bristol City goalkeeper, currently plying his trade at Bath City, told me about what it was like to represent his country at the recent Seniors World Cup tournament in Tailand.

Second half action from West Clewes, where Welton find themselves one nil down. However, the Green Army can take some comfort from the way their team started the first half. What sort of a perfromance would we see in the second half of this Western League pre-season friendly.?

Welton Rovers entertained local rivals Shepton Mallet at West Clewes, as their preseason build up gather pace. I was joined in the commentary box by Welton match reporter, Bob Allard.

Second half action from Southfields with the Miners three one down, but still putting in a good account of themselves against Southern League Paulton Rovers.

Radstock Town entertained Southern League neighbours Paulton Rovers in their first friendly of the season. First half commentary is brought to you by myself and Tony Walsh.

On Tuesday, June 28th, I met up with an old friend of the Sport Show, Malcolm Tucker, one of the great characters of Timsbury, to talk about the fortunes of the village cricket club. We talked about Malcolm's role at the Club, as well as some of the teams recent results as well as their aspirations for the season.

Summer is here and what better way to spend an evening that going out for a bike ride. Robert Weeks from Somer Valley Cycling Club, joined us in the studio for a chat about the Club, the variety of activities they organise and the range of abilities they cover.

Celebrating its 40th season, Mendip Hockey Club welcomed over 60 members to celebrate its annual awards evening, recognising many of the years contributions from the 3 ladies teams and 2 men’s teams.We were joined by Mike Bristowe in the studio, who told us about his time at the Club, his love for the game and explained the “Back to Hockey” initiative, designed to get people of all abilities interested in the game.