So on the occasion of our 200th Blog its time to reflect on some fantastic contributions to the promotion of our Club our Website and er literature in general
We've shared some magical moments, some inspired writing and especially some dubious descriptions of the contributions made by our authors
Most Blogs have a signature song headline to loosely hang the thread to We've served up song memories from Soul, Motown, Rock, Pop, Jazz, Country and even Punk Artists as varied as Aztec Camera to Zappa (Frank)
Our contributors have included Martin Cockney Rebel Briggs, Phil the Power Middleton, Nigel the Bard Smith, Lord Rainford's Butler, Lord Rainford himself, El Presidente's evil henchman Gonzalo and El Presidente (for it was he) himself
We salute you all or y'all as some of us prefer
Monday morning was a most pleasant Autumnal celebration with a mild weather aspect welcoming the throng along to Ruskin's verdant AstroTurf pasture 32 declared themselves available for selection and as Clarkie led the tight formation dance sequence in warming up
El Presidente crept amung us distributing bibs with wreckless abandon The ploy generally seemed to work with the ensuing games predominantly even until the last round up
The teams carefully selected were;
Black
Dave Prime, Steve Goldie Goldthorpe, Harrison Haggis Lovell, Margaret Mills, Eileen Nicholson, Gaz Clark, Little John Penders and Citeh Geoff Painter
Purple
Tony Kenny, Daz Samo Samson, Kirsty Stockton, Tony Snakehips Byrne, Jeff Betty Birchall, Martin Cockney Rebel Briggs, Chris Gonzalo Fitzpatrick and Norman Ball
Green
Andy Zac Zachariades, Paul Moore, Eamon O'Donnell, Dave Thatto Barrow, John Lord Rainford Hawkins, Sheila Darwin, Sharon Hands and Phil the Power Middleton
Pink
Chris Willo Wilson, Charlie Bowers, Les Victor Meldrew Brack, Tom Stretch Parr Andy Manager Houghton, Steve Honeyman Forshaw, John Pidgeon and Andy Powell
In addition to the 32 player/members we were blessed with the presence of DaveGrazer Clark, who continued his 'walking back to fitness regime' with a further stint of ball retrieval Martin Chopper Williams wandering minstrell and part-time Ref and El Presidente ace Referee/Reporter/Editor and petty Dictator
El Presidente officiated the first round game between Green and Purple, a tense often tetchy affair with most of the angst directed at team mates rather than the Ref There was lots to admire, both teams determined to impose themselves on the opposition Passing that didn't meet the high standards required were greeted with groans
There was plenty of encouragement too Purple played well with Kirsty wide on the left Daz and Gonzalo benefitting from excellent link up play from Tony Snakehips and the Cockney Rebel Norman stayed wide on the right showing a different side to his normal game by trcaking back to help out his defence Tony Kenny looked comfortable too with Jeff Betty roaming around the park to great effect Green played a more direct style with no nonsense defending personified by our local nobleman and Thatto's finest Eamon, Sheila and Andy Zac linked well, Sharon was her usual energetic self, with Phil powering as only he can Full marks to Paul Moore who was solid all morning In a very even opening it was no surpise that it took a mistake to gift the first score, Dave Thatto Barrow seizing a loose clearance to steer home 1-0 to Green
Purple had a constant goal threat however and went close before stealing a draw with a late goal scored by Daz The work between Kirsty, Cockney Rebel and Gonzalo led to the decisive chance and Daz swept home a well deserved leveller 1-1 at the death
Time called just moments later There was an equally close game under Chopper's watchful eye Black difficult to break down with their wealth of defensive strength but lack of cutting edge cancelled out by Pink 0-0 despite Pink's firepower advantage
In Round Two Pink took an early lead over Green courtesy of a slice of good fortune Steve Honeyman hit a drive from wide out left that hit the near post and deflected onto the body of Dave Thatto and into the net 1-0 barely a minute gone Moments later there was another chance involving the same two players, but Dave had the measure of this chance and made a fine diving save Andy Zac almost restored parity but Pink held firm with Charlie, Chris Willo and John Pidgeon to the fore Les produced a point blank save from Phil who was excellent between the sticks
Andy Man and Tom Stretch rallied their troops in the dying moments to see Pink to a hard earned 1-0 victory
Elsewhere Black cancelled out the goal threat posed by Purple to serve up another 0-0 draw but with no goals scored and none conceded it was not the most entertaining match to watch
So into the last stretch of matches played over a slightly longer period to see out the session
Black finally broke their duck with a one-sided win over Green Goals by Dave Prime from distance plus a repeat from Clarkie set the Black on their way The final goal was scored from ouch closer by Margaret to seal a fine 3-0 win on their Home pitch (avoid those tiring away games!!)
The game of the day was the last hurrah between Pink v Purple an epic struggle served up with a fine measure of sportmanship thrown in
Purple swarmed all over the Rose in the early moments Gonzalo forcing a superb save from the Honeyman Daz hit the post shortly after but against the run of play
Andy Powell was on target to convert a fine move that had started with a defensive intervention by Andy Man 1-0 up despite being under the cosh Pink had ridden their luck with Andy Man & Les working hard to hold out Purple found a way back when Jeff Betty unleashed a fine shot that was blocked off by shear numbers of Pink defenders, he stayed alert however and picked off a weak back pass by Victor to poke home the equaliser 1-1 Pink enjoyed their best spell of possession and regained the lead when John Pidgeon advanced to power a drive into the bottom corner 2-1 Pink
Soon afterwards it was 3-1 when Steve Honeyman pounced on some fine inter-passing from Andy Man Andy Powell and Tom Stretch to extend the Pink lead
Purple had enjoyed their spell on top but had been wasteful Steve almost put the game out of Pink's reach but for 2 point blank saves by Gonzalo The Pink fight for another goal was very evident but having held out, then conceded a careless penalty which the Cockney Rebel dispatched to bring Pink right back into contension 3-2 with time almost up
Jeff Betty had a couple of efforts just off target Gonzalo enduring a rare goal less day was close too but Pink held out to claim a 3-2 win A fitting end to the morning
A reminder Race Night tickets are now available.... February 3rd at Ruskin's Persival Suite
Next week as the FIFA World Cup gets underway we hope to have a Club Sweepstake ready to rock and roll
Tony Snakehips Byrne is the Sepp Blatter of the Sweep - full details next Monday
It Aint Over 'Til Its Over* - Lenny Kravitz
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