There’s A Ghost In My House*

Just over a week into FIFA’s Moneyball extravaganza in USA, USA, USA and there’s a deathly hush in the corner of so many living rooms The world has voted with their feet, instead of the joyous celebration of the beautiful game we have a TV network’s flatulent offering of too many games being ruined by American chicanery If you speak to football fans there’s a creeping malaise of “can’t be arsed with the whole thing” FiFA might come to regret this daft decision USA isn’t a football country and now certainly isn’t the time to allow to be hosting the global showpiece We can but hope

SHWFC Club Executive met in that temple of football, the Turks Head boot room with France v Senegal as the entree Instead of a smoky room with Gitane smoking tyros sipping Pernod and flicking insults at the brightly attired Senegalese opposition support, instead the room was deathly quiet Not the raised temperatures of SHWFC discussions or the even louder local chapter of the Proud Boys appraising their Bank Holiday Cross Burning could break the disinterest

Meanwhile in the real world SHWFC mustered 2 sessions with great gusto No teams were denied entry No credibility issues were experienced Ruskin Sports Village passed off with the sssembled teams contributing to some great Walking Football

The teams were;

Green - Aldo, Phil the Cat, McSpeed, El Presidente, Eamon & Trish

Black - Robin, Beach Boy, Mike Bates, Triallist, Cockney Rebel and Little John

Blue - Kerry, Honeyman, Snakehips, Mark NR, Chris K & Lord Rainford

Red - Roy, Andy Man, Les H, Cornelius, Haggis & Michelle Monday

Old Gold - Enoch, GRAV, Colin, Barry Wizz and Gonzalo

Purple - Wickie, Phil the Moss, Sheila, Mike Thomo, Girvan and Chris Gilmore

The Refereeing team for the session including Head Boy Betty, a welcome return to action by Les Lomax with Phil the Power taking charge of Old Gold v Purple a session long sizzler

Old Gold and Purple took their game to the outer limits of the stadium (OK the far end if you prefer) Old Gold took a grip on the early exchanges with a Gonzalo hat trick plus goals by Colin and GRAV handing the initiative Purple stuck to their challenge and scored regularly to close the advantage Purple goals by Chris Gilmore 2, Thomo and Girvo with 3 each changed the match narrative As time moved closer to noon Purple seized the chance to turn tables on Old Gold and were able to claim the 8-5 victory deep in the contest Old Gold inexplicably throwing away the game by simply forgetting how to defend

Les Lomax’s return to action saw Blue and Red face off in a very close affair on Pitch A Chris Kelsall steered his side to a narrow 3-2 win scoring all his team’s goals Roy and Michelle claimed a goal each There were plenty of ‘not walking’ team fouls but both sides dug deep to retain their remaining discipline No penalties incurred but it was close at times

Red were comprehensively beaten by Green in their second match The only surprise was that Green could only find a single Eamon goal to seal the victory Green strangled Red of possession for long periods of the game Red unable to find a single shot on target Green were thwarted by wild finishing and some excellent saves by a succession of Red keepers 1-0 Green on top

Ref Jeff takes up the story

Game 1 Pitch B

Black 0 v 2 Green

McSpeed 1 Eamon 1

“Good game Green  passed the ball about well and took their chances Black had a couple of chances but couldn’t convert them mostly due to some solid Green defending from El Presidente in particular

Game 2

Black 3 v 2 Blue

Black Cockney Rebel, Little John 2

Blue Chris K 2

Black recovered well from their first game defeat and suddenly found their scoring boots with Cockney Rebel & the energetic Little John

Blue managed to get back into the game with a well placed long range shot from Chris K that nestled into the top corner giving Robin in goal no chance He then scored again to give Blue hope of snatching a draw but Little John's brace had proved enough to give Black the win

Two great games on Pitch B

played in good honest spirit with some nice banter from all the players”

An excellent morning with some very close games

The untimely fixture clash of SHWFC at the Sutton SoccerDome and Engerland v Croatia might have proved too much for lesser Clubs, but our Members are nothing if not resilient So Wednesday’s session pressed ahead to upstage plucky pundit Emma Hayes kitchen sink drama

Two very bright and positive matches set the scene for the later gallant attempt by Tuchel’s tormentors

The team’s were;

Yellow - Les H, Ian Harding, Chris 10P, Eamon, Lord Rainford, Kirsty & Cornelius

White - Joe the Ghost, Phil the Power, Midweek Michelle, Cockney Rebel, Citeh Geoff, Darron & PJ

Orange - Deano, Chris 4G, Les Meldrew, Andy Man, Haggis, Jason & GRAV

Red - Little John, Eileen, Deggs, Mike Thomo, Steve Carine, Doug & Ian Hilton

Our session Referees were El Presidente and Ref Jeff (resisted any temptation to play) thankfully he did wax lyrically so we are happy to deliver his verdict on the matches in his tender loving care

“White 1 v 0 Orange

Darron scoring the decisive goal as White peeled and pipped a zesty Orange team

An excellent close game with both teams respectful of the rules

Game 2

White 2 v 3 Yellow

White PJ claimed both goals

Yellow Ian Harding with 2 plus a typical Chris 10P effort

another good game with one Yellow goal being disallowed due to a quick corner being taken when Michelle had been injured and White had all downed tools This did not stop Yellow from going on to win even though the White team put up a brave fight”

Elsewhere Red roared into a 3-0 lead over Yellow, thanks Chris 10P and an Ian Harding brace Some seriously good teamwork creating these chances Doug finally shook off the attentions of the Referee (if only briefly) and his insistence on walking only to claim the first Red goal 3-1 was soon 4-1 as Chris Prout produced another bit of magic to restore Red’s advantage

There was a revival prompted by a smart finish by the Hutton hitman Deggs and Steve Carine finally getting some reward 4-3 Yellow firmly back in contention Ian Harding powered in his third goal before Eamon tucked away a great through ball 6-3 and not quite game over Another rash run was penalised for the 4th Team foul Cornelius calmly fired home Yellow’s 7th

Tough on Red who showed some great teamwork at times, but Yellow home and hosed to a fabulous 7-3 victory

The evening’s final game was an intriguing contest with Red facing Orange for the wooden spoon (or possibly plastic in this sustainable age) Ian Hilton caught the eye with Red’s opening goal, calmly finishing off a brilliant breakaway But Orange hit back in fine style with a brace by Haggis, his second goal a cool side foot into the corner The build up included an audacious nutmeg, for the sake of good order the unfortunate victim will remain anonymous Deano added another and Orange were 3-1 to the good

As the shadows lengthened Red found a renewed vigour and retook the lead thanks to goals by Steve Carine, Mike Thomo and Ian Hilton again 4-3 Red ending the game strongly As play stretched play Orange exploited a gap left by the gung ho Red rearguard and Les Meldrew measured his strike calmly past the keeper to tie up the match at 4-4

Despite at times frantic attempts to claim the win neither team could find a way through It ended 4-4 a worthy draw Some sumptuous football at times, some diabolical defending at times But great entertainment to whet the appetite for the Moneyball game to follow, after the adverts obviously

There’s A Ghost In My House* - R Dean Taylor (legendary Canadian born Motown songwriter & artist - much loved by the Northern Soul community)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HstnfzyN8E