Onsala

Ground: Rydets Idrottsplats

Visits: 1

Date: 1st September 2018

Match: Onsala - Stafsinge 2-3 (Division 3 Sydvästra Götaland)

Attendance: 181

Having completed seven leagues in Sweden it is becoming a bit difficult to find new grounds in southern Sweden for me to visit. The first Saturday of September it was possible to do a double in Division 3 Sydvästra Götaland though. Onsala hosted Stafsinge at 1pm and at 4pm Lerkil hosted Snöstorp Nyhem and with the driving between the grounds only taking 15 minutes this was of course a no-brainer for me. The first game was 1st v 2nd making this an interesting game at the top of the table. Onsala and Lerkil are both situated on the Onsala peninsula which is 30 minutes or so by car south of Gothenburg. From where I live it takes 2h 45min to drive to Onsala but with two games planned I was in a good mood as I left Kristianstad shortly before 9am. I had a coffee stop in Laholm and shortly before noon I parked my car at Rydets IP in Onsala. Upon arrival I was impressed by the recently built clubhouse and many top clubs in Sweden would be proud to have something similar. There are two pitches at Rydets IP but the game today was to be played at the grass pitch. Because of the drought this summer the recent derby vs Lerkil was played at the artificial pitch (in front of 1 200 spectators) though but the grass pitch is where most games are being played. No running tracks and a small seated stand makes this a decent ground for this level. As I was taking pictures of the stand one of the locals started to chat with the and he was a bit surprised to hear I had come all the way from Kristianstad for this game. He told me about the club and its history and it is moments like this that makes this hobby enjoyable!

After 16 rounds (out of 22) Onsala are 8 points clear at the top and if they would beat Stafsinge promotion to Division 2 would be almost a certainty. The seated stand was almost full and home fans could watch a good first half performance by Onsala. 1-0 at half-time and at the moment 11 points clear with only five games remaining. Maybe Onsala entered the comfort zone and as Stafsinge came out as a new team the visitors took control of the game in the second half. Stafsinge scored three goals to win 3-2 and are now only 5 points behind Onsala. This was, for this level, a very good and entertaining football match but despite losing today I would be surprised if Onsala don´t win the league. After the final whistle I went back to my car for the short drive to Ledets IP in Lerkil.

View of Rydets IP

Clubhouse

Entrance

North End

East Stand

Welcome to Onsala BK

South End

Onsala fans

Players and officials entering

Kick-off

View of play

West side

View of play

Penalty, 2-3

East Stand

Boule

Dogs

Pano