Wednesday’s blog title is offered in tribute to a mighty coming together of two cool, calm and determined members of SHWFC’s outdoor squad
In the Green corner Gonzalo, goal-poacher extraordinaire and in the Blue Gaz, powerhouse defender, leader and mean keeper too
The ball has ricocheted back off Harry the Hatchet, following a typical Nigel thunderbolt and arrives just outside the keeper’s area at the same moment as our protagonists Gonzalo reacts slightly quickest and lashes his shot into the net Gaz arrives slightly later and propels Gonzalo into Row Z (or he might have done if evading action hadn’t been taken by both)
The moment is the game changer it’s now 1-1 but Green have seized the initiative from this point onwards whilst Blue struggle to regain the advantage they’d enjoyed since the 15th minute
Good friends and great competitors their tale sums up a terrific night under the lights at Sutton But I’m giving away the plot!
16 Members new and old trooped out to the wastelands known as the AstroTurf to enjoy a quiet night in the gathering gloom We started in twilight and ended basking in the floodlights
After a vigorous warm up the teams selected were;
Blue - Gaz, Thatto Dave, Haggis, Chris 4G, Willo, Harry the Hatchet, Little John and Joe the Ghost
Green - Gonzalo, Michelle Dunning, Roy Fielding (impressive debut), Barry, Eamon, Mark NR, Dave Martland and Nigel
Chris 4G operating in midfield caught the eye in the early exchanges with some decent touches and insightful passing Blue seemed to settle quickest with a disciplined approach to their formation Unsurprisingly Green struggled to find the defensive line up that could negate their opponents Green finally settled their uncertainty but not until Joe had rattled the cross bar with a shot that ended over the fence onto the athletics track, incurring a Llandudno fine (£2 for shot ending up outside the arena)
Joe had better luck soon after with a shot that beat Michelle all ends up after 15 minutes 1-0 to Blues who were solid at the back, competitive in midfield but perhaps a little less effective in their attacking options
Green weathered the storm and created the odd chance in reply Roy went close and Nigel from long range posed a threat At the break Blues were on top but not totally comfortable
The second half hinged on the incident described earlier At 1-1 Green now had a greater confidence Eamon had dropped into a sweeper role, Barry toiled to ensure Green had a growing control on matters Mark occupied the left and Michelle the right flanks to great effect With there ever-willing out ball options Green offered a more measured passing game, Thatto Dave and Little John were all action but Gonzalo now operating in a deeper role ran the midfield show Green took the lead when Gonzalo held off Gaz to set up Eamon wide on the right to pick his spot in the far corner 2-1
Green now finally on top and further ahead soon after when Gonzalo steered home after a swift free kick 3-1 Blue clearly rattled having bossed the scoreboard for much of the match Michelle, who had her best game outside for some time, linked well as Green finished the stronger side The final goal was a fine move ended with Mark feeding a defence-splitting pass to David Martland who claimed his maiden SHWFC goal in some style 4-1 and Blue from ahead and looking in control were finally eclipsed
All agreed it was an epic night for walking football superbly controlled by Referee Jeff Betty with El Presidente as his point man
Brave* - Ella Henderson
Don’t Let It Go To Your Head** Searching To Find The One (Pass)***This additional Blog contribution provided by Lord Rainford’s Butler
As most readers may know, usually at SHWFC we play three touches. This may present another headache for our Referees as they have to count to 3 as well as judge whether people are running or not. But it has its advantages. It does give players who may be less skilful the chance to be more involved in the game, it prevents one or two billy-big-boots from hogging the ball and just dribbling round in circles but it also helps in terms of honing your passing and decision making skills
Now tournaments don’t play three touch, but unlimited touch – or ‘all-in’ as locals call it ... erm locally (Landed Gentry apart)
Each spring we switch from three touch for a while….but this had unintended consequences for the indoors players at Sutton on Wednesday….as you are about to find out!
For their last night of sheltering from the elements until October, twelve mardy members lined up indoors.
The White featured Kenny, Grav, Les Meldrew, Lord Rainford, Andy Manager and Dave Bates
Opposing them in Red were Steve Carine, Enoch, recent recruit Geoff Prout, Pat Kirk, Wickie and Phil the Power
Referee and sometime songbird Chopper brought a calming influence to bear with his trusty whistle.
Two evenly-matched teams, pundits might think. But a scoreline of 5-2 to Red says something a bit different.
Despite that, Red didn’t really dominate They had the goalkeeping prowess of Andy (‘Enoch’)Powell plus Phil the Power to deny
White but also didn’t let the loosening of the ‘3 touch rule’ dominate their thinking. All too often White were in good positions, but rather than pass to a team mate they fell into temptation, took another touch, then another, and eventually got blocked off or were pressured into full panic mode to surrender possession
Red on the other hand might have taken an extra touch when needed, but resisted the temptation to be dribbling wizards. Hats off to them.
Now to the gory details. Red took an early lead when first a goalkeeping error and then some robust play (Reds were….err…possibly the more physical side?) prised 2 goals for M’Lord and Enoch before the first water break (Pimms surely?)
For the next 20 minutes there was complete stalemate with White having most of the possession, but nothing to show for their trickery
Eventually Kenny was able to reduce the deficit to 2-1 but Red clinically finished the game off with 2 further goals, before adding a fifth with a penalty when the White keeper left the arc in an attempt to stop a goal.
Grav eventually got a 2nd for the Whites to add some respectability to the scoreline but lets learn some lessons folks!
Use the rule relaxation to give yourself greater control, but you are never going to dribble through a whole team, especially on a cramped pitch with 6 a side playing!
Thoughts and prayers for our Social Secretary Martin Cockney Rebel Briggs, who missed Wednesday’s session on a scouting mission checking out Tenerife as a potential social occasion for the future
We’ve attached a photo showing him hard at work scoping out a possible venue and sampling the local refreshments for your benefit Greater Love has no man
Don’t Let It Go To Your Head - Jean Carn(e)**Searching To Find The One (Pass) - Unlimited Touch*** (very appropriate!)
Le Tournoi our infamous internal competition starts at Ruskin this week with a revised schedule that features our Over 60s taking on Cup specialists our Over 65s
Wednesday night and Sutton will feature the Pool B game with our Over 40s taking on their elderly rivals Over 50s Regular sessions will run (walk surely?) in parallel
Some great games ahead Something to tell the kids about in the years ahead if they need any further frightening
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