On And On*
Like a relentless metronome marking time with machine-like regularity SHWFC has continued throughout August with unwavering dedication and determination With some committee members over-enjoying summer holidays whilst our members slave away at twice weekly sessions The tireless graft of those remaining grandees (without whom our sessions would be chaotic) has ensured all players are rewarded; with time to play, in teams, with kits, in fair contests, at decent venues and referees wherever possible
This blog is offered therefore as melange for the month, with a usual Blog (published late due to a lack of adequate wi-fi in Portugal) plus a bonus Blog penned by Football Manager Andy
Our thanks to Andy and everyone’s patience We hope next month will be more timely and just as enjoyable
SHWFC has all manner of members in its numbers; old & young, big and small, famous and infamous One of our ‘celebrated’ members Brian Wilson, fell foul of transgressing the Laws Of Game on Monday morning Our very own Beach Boy was shown a Blue Card, for a DOGSO offence (denying opponent of goal scoring opportunity) his trip on Green’s Phil Moss was punished by a penalty and three minute spell off the pitch His indiscretion signalled a change in his Team Black fortunes but more of that later
There was a misty start to the session, parts of Ruskin Sports Village reporting a sprinkle of rain, whilst the bigger parts reported dull, muggy conditions No rain yet again!
Thirty Eight souls were treated to a new pitch setting up regime in an effort to maximise playing time One doubting Thomas (well ok Barry) questioned the wisdom of this particular cunning plan, and promptly wasted three or minutes before agreeing that “it just might work”
The teams paraded in their colours were photographed for posterity and the dispatch cones & markers at the ready to mark out their portion of the greenery Did it work? Well yes it did Play got underway promptly with a lusty blast from El Presidente’s Acme Thunderer
Old Gold - Ste Harding, McSpeed, Cornelius, Roy, Brian, Rita & Les H
Purple - Big Tony, Ian Connor, Trish, Chris K, Ricky, Little John & Peter O
Played each other for the session’s duration in a tight game that flowed back and forth throughout Former WFA (what’s that?) Official,Les Lomax was entertained by the honest endeavour and application of all players
The game ended 3 v 3 thanks to goals by Old Gold’s McSpeed and Les H 2 one from the penalty spot Peter O’Mara also found the net twice with Chris Kelsall the other marksman A good contest and fair result
Blue faced Green in the opening match on Pitch 1
Blue - Barry Wizz, Haggis, Enoch, Mark NR, Citeh Geoff and John Carroll
Green - John Hayes, Mika, Snakehips, Mike Bates, Cockney Rebel & Phil Moss
The game played in a noisy (maybe too chatty) atmosphere produced plenty to admire but just a solitary goal to decide the outcome Barry wizzed on to good pass to drill the ball past John Hayes The keeper produced a string of fine saves over the course of the morning Green top dogs going into their final game with a very decent Red outfit
That finale ended with Blue claiming the honours with a comprehensive 3-1 win Red unable to derail the morning’s strongest outfit
Goals by Barry, Haggis and Mark NR sealed the win though Red did claim a consolation to perk up their challenge
The remaining teams;
Red - John Hill, Ashy, Andy Man, Colin, Monday Michelle & Phil the Power
Black - Beach Boy, Jan, Honeyman, Lee Girvo, Tom Stretch and Phil the Cat
Red played Black in the other tie, Red producing some excellent performances; team work, passing and organisation far too much for Black to cope Colin was first to find the net rounding off the game’s first real passing interlude Midfield domination by Andy Man and Michelle an indicator of the game ahead Michelle grabbed the second goal another product of fine passing
Black were off the pace all game But were given little space or time by their opponents Phil the Power fired a shot that struck the inner frame of the post to make it 3-0 Tom Stretch struggled to exert a real influence on his team’s game but in truth Black struggled in every aspect John Hill fired a fourth goal, a demonstration of a team brimming in confident intensity The final goal was turned in by Phil the Power 5-0 a one-sided demolition
The last match of the morning was a bit of a cliff hanger with the previously dismal Black looking to improve their record facing Green
Black took an early and surprising lead thanks to Tom Stretch, who cemented his hero status soon after with a fine full ‘stretch’ save to deny Cockney Rebel an equaliser
In a chaotic game the need for someone to put their foot on the ball was most apparent Green improving went close to levelling but incredibly Black doubled their advantage with Steve Honeyman sweeping a low shot into the corner Black enjoyed a spell of dominance Green keeper John Hayes called upon to make some sharp saves to keep his side in the contest Mika intercepted well Black on top against the odds
Green did eventually find some inspiration, Phil Moss picking off a loose clearance to make it 2-1 in Black’s favour Phil Moss levelled minutes later to give the score a truer reflection of the game
Black retook the lead after a pathetically weak back pass was picked off by Phil the Cat 3-2
As play moved to the other end of the pitch, Beach Boy was left to make a professional foul on Moss The proximity to goal meant a penalty and 3 minute one man advantage for the now rampant Green Cockney Rebel crashed the penalty low into the corner 3-3 but could Black now hold out? Inevitably Green took command with Mike Bates next to find the net 4-3 Green ahead now Green went further ahead with Moss taking full advantage to make 5-3
Cockney Rebel claimed his second penalty conversion after Lee Girvo wandered into the area The spot kick was less authoritative this time A rising shot into the net but too powerful for the keeper to save 6-3 The whistle blast ended the Black punishment Amazingly the game had been nicely poised until the first penalty Green took full advantage of the extra man 3 goal whilst Black were a man light A morning to forget for Black?
The session was played in good spirit, plenty of tales of derringer do in the Wicket post session
This week’s Blog will only focus on the Monday session due in no small part to the fact the Editor and Production team being in Portugal for a Family break See y’all in September
Tuesday 1st September (Bank Holiday Monday delaying regular action)
Surfs Up - Beach Boys
A massive thanks to everyone for turning out, making it, by my recall, the 2nd best turnout we've ever had. 46 finely tuned athletes showed for an hour playing the beautiful game.
We normally put a ceiling on 42 for 3 pitches, 6 teams of 7, which was the number at 10:00 when I left home, and the number that I based the teams on.
By the time I arrived at Ruskin, the number had increased to 45. After a bit of jiggling and Donal offering to Referee (many thanks to Donal) ufreed Eamon up to play, we ended up with 46. This meant we had 4 teams of 8 and 2 teams of 7.
Still with me??
The teams...
Blue - Haggis, Ian Connor, Chris K, Brian, Trish, Honeyman, Phil the Cat & Cornelius
Old Gold - Beach Boy, Meldew, Chris 10P, Lefty Bridge, Kerry, Mark NR, Enoch & Julie
Purple - Ste’ Harding, Snakehips, Tom Stretch, Jill Tomo, John Hayes, McSpeed, Pete O & Phil the Power.
Green - Ashy, John Hill, Al Aldo, Mike Bates, Monday Michelle, Lee Gervin, JC, Eamon
Black - Dame Sheila, Citeh Geoff, Roy, Glen, Little John, Mika and Rita
Red - Jan, Andy Man, Wickie, Colin the Late, Les H, Eileen & Barry Wizz
Black v Red was the 7 v 7 game which finished 1-1. A great game graced by 2 excellent goals scored by Wickie and Roy
Blue v Old Gold..5-1 to Old Gold
The difference between the teams was the clinical finishing by glittering Gold
Blue - Honeyman
Old Gold - Mark NR 3, Chris 10P 2
Old Gold v Green..2-1 to Old Gold.
Top quality standards from both teams as reported by Aldo
Gold - Kerry Chris 10P
Green - Girvo’
I've been asked not to mention anything about an unfortunate miss by someone who will remain nameless so I won't (no prizes for guessing)
Purple v Green 3-1 victory for Green
Green - Eamon 2, Mike McSpeed
Purple consolation in reply
Purple v Blue a 3-1 Blue victory
Purple - Tom Stretch
Blue - Brian, Chris K and Haggis
Nothing reported about the last 2 games other than the constant bickering with the Referee
As we have often stated, this isn't acceptable . We all know that football is an emotional game, but our Referees ensure that the games can go ahead in safe and fair manner so no matter what any player may think these individuals deserve the utmost respect.
Let's finish on a high
Thanks to the guys who marked out the pitches; to Donal for stepping in to act as an emergency Referee and all 46 players for some excellent football.
Our midweek soirée went ahead and Andy’s blog started with a heartfelt welcome back for 2 of our long term casualties who came along to watch. Welcome back Margaret and Mark Dav
Now for Wednesday night
We had 20 players plus 2 referees (Jeff Betty and Chris 10P) and 2 spectators. This presented 4 teams of 5. We shortened the pitch lengths to appropriately reflect the numbers. The guys who set the pitches out were spot on with the sizes, well done. Great to see Midweek Michelle making her return as well
If goals are your thing then Wednesday night would have greatly pleased you with a total of 32 scored across the 4 games.
Teams were;
White - Les Meldew, Chris 4G, Jason( who actually made it upstairs a rare occurrence), Ian Hilton, Dougie
Sky Blue - Joe the Ghost, Phil the Power, Tom Stretch, Ian Harding, Les H
Yellow - Midweek Michelle, Cockney Rebel, Andy Man, Ste’ Smith & Eamon
Orange/ Red (nobody knows) - Haggis, Little John, Simon, Citeh Geoff & GRAV
The first round of games paired Sky v White.
Jeff informs me this was a pleasure to ref, with great respect and excellent football. It finished 3-2 to Sky Blue. Scorers were Ian Harding 3 for Sky, Ian Hilton and Chris 4G replying for White
The citrus derby finished 7-3 to Yellow
Scorers for Yellow - Ste’ 3, Michelle 2, Andy Man & Cockney Rebel
Orange - Simon 2 and Little John.
Yellow played well, but the highlight of the game was a flick by GRAV that sent the entire Yellow defence away in a taxi!
The next round of games paired White v Orange
Orange overcame White 6-2. This game featured 2 scorers that I had to check with Chris 10 P if he'd got it right. Mentioning no names...
White - Les Meldew and Ian Hilton
Orange - Simon2, Haggis 2, Citeh Geoff & Little John
The other game Sky v Yellow was a case of you score, we score too
The final score was a 5-4 victory claimed by Sky
Scorers Sky - Ian Harding another hat-trick, well done Ian, we owe you 2 match balls (best of luck getting even one!) and Tom Stretch with 2, one of them a fantastic strike.
Yellow - unselfishly spread the goals around’, Ste’, Andy Man, Cockney Rebel & Eamon.
Both Referees were impressed by the quality of the football and the clinical way the goals were despatched.
Well done everyone.
So a fine week for Walking Football packed with goals galore, some excellent performances and lots of smiling faces
On And On* - a classic yacht rock tune by Stephen Bishop now reworked by Aussie Country star Keith Urban on his latest album Flow State (an homage to Yacht Rock 70s music)
Also for any 90's Indi/Rock fans by the Longpigs
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