Lost Chord*

Our first November Monday morning outing at Ruskin Sports Village was held under dark leaden skies but thankfully without the deluge of rainfall that threatened to wash out proceedings

There was a healthy attendance of people who looked at our last Blog and declared that disappointing attendance numbers at the Quiz night and last Wednesday’s Sutton SoccerDome session wasn’t aimed at me! 36 declared runners (that’s a foul straightaway) and riders made the journey from home to the near touch line In addition we had a number of spectators some with ear defenders along to watch listen and learn We are still in the throws of the extended holiday season, of course, so some members were absent with just a note from their carers to excuse their absence

The Teams selected were;

Green - Andy Man, Robin, Sheila, Barry Wizz, Les H, Wickie and Enoch

Black - Liz, Tom Stretch, Phil the Power, Phil the Moss, Ashy and Mike Thomo

Blue - Tom Derby, Citeh Geoff, Geoff Ph, Beach Boy, Mark NR and Steve Jones

Purple - Rick, Thatto Dave, Les Meldrew, Mike Bates, Monday Michelle and the Honeyman

Red - Big Tony, Mika, McSpeed, Phil the Cat, Lefty Bridge and Snakehips

Old Gold - Donal, Grav, Billy, Haggis, Julie and Chris K

Referees for the session included Ref Jeff Betty, Charlie and Aldo In the event they were pressed into first aid action rather more often than we’d expect but more of that later…

Purple and Blue started as a real contest with both sides eager to impress At the break the score 1-1 with goals hard to come by In the second half Purple took their chances thanks to The Honeyman with two, Thatto Dave and Michelle Blue’s only score came courtesy of Mark No Relation with his usual economy of effort 4-1 the final score Purple’s second half purple patch securing the win

Red and Green was another lose call decided by a tidier finishing Snakehips and Lefty Bridge for Red, whilst Barry wizzed in with the Green reply

Red next faced Old Gold but could not tarnish the gleaming finish supplied by Chris Kelsall with a brace plus strikes by Grav and Eamon Big Tony and Lefty were the Red scorers But Old Gold shone with a final 4-2 scoreline

On the pitch adjacent Black needed just a solitary Mike Thomo goal to grab the narrowest of verdicts over Green 1-0 a reflection of how tight the game played out Quite how Old Gold won two games played at the same time But in their other second game Old Gold beat Black thanks to a solitary goal scored by Julie

This was to be Julie’s last hurrah, as she suffered an unfortunate broken wrist taking her turn as keeper soon after She is pictured in her fashionable sling and footwear combination

Barry and Mika had an unfortunate coming together with Mika incapacitated following a clash of heads We are advised that Sheila was also injured during this feisty session No details of her injury yet, but we wish her and all our combatants speedy recovery There was a fitting tribute convened by the strolling troubadours Ref Jeff, Wickie and Phil the Cat to speed recovery Serenading injured colleagues whilst strumming the chords of 60s classic Hi Ho Silver Lining

Work to do boys

Wednesday Sutton SoccerDome sessions remain something of a mystery at present Our policy of providing indoor and outdoor options, done with the purest of intentions, is in danger of becoming a lost cause The indoor Sports Hall portion has to be limited to just 10 players for safety and comfort Outdoors we’ve 2 pitches and the potential to field up to 28 players without any major playing space concerns The cost of indoor provision is disproportionately higher than truly necessary, so switching to add the final third pitch outside would save money and allow higher numbers to play The other consideration is the relative ease of team selection were we to adopt an all-outside approach

Presently we struggle to raise adequate numbers for the indoor option, without comprising the overall number of members who are happiest playing outdoors This week we happily could resolve that by including 14 year old Benny in the game Outside one game was played minus a Referee with Ref Jeff Betty and El Presidente playing then refereeing a half game each For the record Jeff was having so much fun he decided to continue his refereeing stint for the whole session El Presidente played outfield and did a stint as keeper expecting to take up whistling duties for the 2nd half An emergency oxygen supply was on hand just in case

The indoor session produced some great performances from the teams;

Orange - Gonzalo, Benny, Grav, Citeh Geoff and the Honeyman

Yellow - Gaz, Les Meldrew, Phil the Power, Joe the Ghost and Wickie

Orange took the lead through Gonzalo but were promptly blitzed by a flurry of goals Gaz with a brace, plus strikes by Joe the Ghost and Phil the Power By half time Yellow were 4-3 ahead After the turnaround Orange took a firm grip with Citeh Geoff and Benny stemming the Yellow peril whilst Gonzalo with 3 more plus strikes by Grav and The Honeyman sealed a well deserved 8-4 victory The match was played in good spirit with great discipline and some superb goals Despite the absence of a formal Ref the presence of Executive members ensured the safety of all was respected and treasured

The Outward Bounders lined up;

Red - Tom Stretch, John Cousins, Mark Dav, Neil Stretch and Steve Carine

White - Chris 4G, Ian Harding, Sully, El Presidente and Chris 10P

Blue - Deggs, Lord Rainford, Andy Man, Mike Thomo and Ian H

Yellow - Little John, Haggis, Simon, Deano and Martin Mc

White played Red in the first round of games with some excellent passing a feature of a terrific match Somewhat against the odds, Mark Dav found the opening goal for Red rounding off a sharp counter attack to punish absent defenders White had earlier peppered the Red goal but a combination of wayward shooting and great keeping had thwarted their domination Finally Ian Harding poked a lose ball home for the equaliser 1-1 the final score Memo to self Take your chances when you’re on top

White next played Blue with Ref Jeff still enjoying himself too much to wrench himself from the whistle The game was very compelling with Blue punishing White with goals at key moments to leave the score 4-1 before White really turned up the pressure Goals by Chris 10P with 4 including a penalty and Ian Harding turned the tide with White eventually triumphant 5-4 Mike Thomo with a hat trick and Andy Man with well directed shot accounted for the Blue goals 5-4 the game so close that Ref Jeff only discovered the real score after he checked back post game Playing in the game to all the world it felt like a draw ‘but we will take the win every time when it’s that close’ said nobody at all

Elsewhere Yellow outshone Blue by 5 goals to 3 Andy Man scored and supplied details of the game Ian Hilton and Mike Thomo grabbed the Blue goals but were unable to prevent Yellow seizing the prize thanks to goals by Haggis with an absolute screamer and Deano Good to see Martin Mc enjoy his first outing in a while in the win In the other fixture Yellow were no match for a rampant Red who romped to a 7-2 or 6-3 victory depending on who you listen to What isn’t in doubt is that Red beat Yellow to conclude another enjoyable thrash for the Outward Bounders

Lost Chord* Jools Holland or if you prefer The Lost Chord* Gorillaz featuring Leee John