A certain tranquility and harmony has returned to our Walking Football sessions People are less frazzled and combative, have we rediscovered the mojo that helped to build and sustain our ‘best of all possible’ Clubs?
Dodging the showers on Monday (raining in Rainford, rein forth?) at Ruskin - 30 players (with the usual 2 Luddites not voting on WhatsApp ☹) gave Andy Manager less headache inducing maths to sort teams out than has been the norm of late. He came up with the right answer of 6 teams of 5, lining up in the following selections;
Orange - Haggis, Amazon, Chopper, Little John and Jeff Betty
Red - Tom Stretch, Wickie, McSpeed, Geoff P and Tomo
Purple - Grazer, Barry Whizz, Snakehips, Andy Manager and Wor Eileen
Green - Cockney Rebel, Phil the Power, Roger, Mark NR and Les Meldrew
Sky - Jim, Phil the Cat, Eamon, The Honeyman and Michelle Monday
Blue - Liz, Aldo, Phil the Moss, Harry the Hatchet and Lord Rainford (unusually camera shy)
There were some strange colour combinations as someone who will remain nameless (but his team used to play at Love Street) forgot the bibs. Blues were robbed of their image rights for the week, as our Cub reporter/photographer couldn’t take a selfie! Multi-tasking awareness course application has since been approved
To the action. Only a partial report here, thanks to the assiduous record keeping of player/RefJeff Betty and your blogger’s own memor (not too unreliable this week I hope).
Note that the memory in question forgot to add the final letter ‘y’ to the statement Y indeed?
Red started with a handsome if narrow 3-2 win over Orange, with Tom Stretch scoring twice and McSpeed adding the 3rd Haggis and Amazon Prime replied for Orange. Meanwhile On pitch A (nearest the grandstand) Blue, with Aldo in the joint player/Ref role, started what would be an unbeaten morning with a narrow 1-0 win over Purple, thanks to some heroics from Grazer in goal. After letting in a soft one from Phil the Moss he vowed to do better and did so defying Phil once more; then Lord R and Aldo with a string of saves leaving Blues to have to protect their single goal lead in another close game.
Game Two and Orange earned a point
with a 1-1 draw against Purple, Amazon Prime and Barry Wizz the scorers. Blue notched up their 2nd win with another tight affair against Sky although there was a good deal of fortune with both their scores with Phil the Moss and Liz claiming goals which a less generous blogger might have put in the OG column after keeper fumbles. That 2-0 lead didn’t last as Eamon hit back after a nice bit of passing interplay; yet again, Blue relieved to hear the final whistle.
Blue now moved over to Pitch B for their third game under the control of player/Ref Jeff Betty with yet another ‘was it an own goal or not?’ moment from Aldo got them on their way. No dispute about who got their 2nd and Phil the Moss claimed his 3rd of the morning with no last-minute panics this time, Blue relaxed with a comfortable 2-0 win.
Into the final game and on the far reaches of Pitch C Blue failed to complete a 100% morning thanks to a cunning new defensive tactic applied by that cheeky chappy Cockney Rebel. Seeing Phil bear down on him, nostrils flaring and sensing his 4th of the morning; Martin decided now was the exact time to go and retrieve that ball from the far corner of the Ruskin arena, leaving Phil in confusion and the game temporarily stopped. Grrr! 😊. It was a competitive goalless draw though with chances on both sides and keepers managing to remain in their areas for the remains of the contest, despite balls whistling narrowly wide of the post
In the final showdown Orange failed to register a win again, losing out to Sky in a much tighter game than 2-0 suggests, Michelle and Phil the Cat (in a rare sortie up-field) we’re on target for the Azurri
The Slipper Salon’s sumptuous surroundings offered a choice of two cakes, a Victoria Sponge with sugary bits on top from Eileen and Roger plus some chocolate brownies supplied by Lord Rainford’s estate
Its not a Stretch to say that this made at least one player’s morning!
Wednesday night’s Sutton SoccerDome session witnessed some excellent football for purists and pundits to enthuse over Twenty Four players (including player/Ref Herr Betty) presented themselves for photographs to bear witness to their participation El Presidente (returning after recent cosmetic surgery and a complete change of finger prints) showed his mastery of photography, refereeing, coaching and blogging with some quirky but correct decisions
Those midweek teams were;
Yellow - Eamon, Chris 10P, Joe the Ghost, Cockney Rebel, Little John and Midweek Michelle
Blue - Gonzalo, Steve Smith, Deggs, Lord Rainford, Les Meldrew and Simon
White - Haggis, Kidda, Citeh Geoff, Barry Wizz, Andy Man and Roy Fielding
Red - Chris 4G, Jason, Gravy, Steve Carine, Wickie and Jeff Betty (Ref too alledgly)
El Presidente took charge of the Red v Blue opener with Jeff Betty throwing his weight about with occasional whistles and declarations of foul play
Jason had fired Red ahead after 90 seconds but the game was all level after 5 minutes of frenzied action The pace was a result of quick and accurate passing rather than running Gonzalo found the equaliser, set up by a Deggs back heel that actually worked (collector’s item) A good drive from Huyton’s finest was swatted away dismissely by Chris 4G Blue on top but always wary of the goal threat of Red and Steve Carine in particular As time elapsed Simon and Steve Smith combined to give Steve a chance he didn’t waste 2-1 to Blue with the result wrapped up in the last 20 seconds
Blue played White in game 2, Haggis explained his disappointment with the Refereeing in their first game against Yellow A volunteer Yellow not meeting the expectations of St Mirren’s southern-most supporter
The game was open and end to end with both sides trading chances until Simon finished a good team move from a Deggs keeper’s clearance wide to Gonzalo and square to the score 1-0 to Blue Barry and then Deggs were close but it remained just 1-0 until Gonzalo turned a close in ball to fire home 2-0 White had chances but lacked the clinical edge in front of goal
In the other match Yellow hit Red for 5 Red with just an Eamon consolation for Red to show Grav 2 Jeff Betty, Michelle and Jason 2 claimed the goals as Yellow clicked in their rhythm
The final round of games pitched Blue, impressive and unbeaten against Yellow in top form having notched 5 goals in their last match
Blue applied early pressure and took the lead when a fierce drive by Meldrew was parried into the path of Simon who volleyed home a difficult chance 1-0 to Blue Three successive corners by Yellow came to nothing, before Gonzalo swooped to illegally head the ball away Lots of pressure by Yellow but no goals to show for their efforts Eamon grabbed an equaliser pivoting to level 1-1 Simon produced a great pass for Deggs to steer a great effort home 2-1 to restore Blue’s lead A defensive blunder by Meldrew presented a chance that Chris 10P gratefully converted 2-2 A great game on offer now for Refs and Ball Boys alike
Gonzalo conceded a Walking a football goal by parrying a shot from Eamon over his head into the net, in the ensuing confusion Yellow were now 3-2 ahead Blue immediately piled pressure on the Yellow goal with six minutes left A superb snap shot by Simon brought parity 3-3 Some excellent goals to match the game There was a controversial moment when Michelle lashed a corner into her own net Under the WFA Laws as we understand El Presidente ruled this out 3-3 it remained Blue incensed by the decision, pressed for the winner Another corner was cleared away as Yellow continued to hang in Gonzalo and Simon produced some acrobatic volleys defending a rare Yellow foray, before Lord Rainford seized the day with a smart non-Sussex sweep 4-3 to Blue and time to dominate possession and play out the time remaining Great match and great credit to both teams
In the last game Red beat White 3-1 goals by Jason, Gravy and Steve Roy capped a good night’s work with White’s consolation
The Boot Room in a return to almost full attendance debated the two controversial moments Both were adjudged to have been correct decisions (of course) by El Presidente However, the talk was that perhaps we need to reappraise whether both were truly in the spirit of SHWFC El Presidente’s belief was that the keeper in attempting to clear the corner had inadvertently scored and natural justice should recognise that rather than blindly following the WFA LOTG dictat Further discussion and probably more beer should be examined before we determine SHWFC own Rule Watch this space
Back In The Groove* - Tiffany (a rare soulful tune from the 1987 hit maker of I Think We’re Alone Now; who later posed for Playboy magazine, appeared with Hulk Hogan and on Australian I’m a Celebrity before embarking on a film career of sorts)
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