In an act of wanton disobedience and in defiance of normal protocols this week’s Blog is offered to you in reverse order No special reason other than the desire to be different, a little less run of the mill Why not!
Our adventure this time will start with the splendid session that celebrated all that’s good about our midweek gathering Sutton SoccerDome is very much the place to be for those in the know Perfectly mild weather ensured those dispatched to the steppes outside weren’t greatly affected Whilst the indoor soft-shoe shufflers had an hour’s uninterrupted play without the need to pressgang a bin into consideration
Thirty players plus Referees; Jeff Betty, El Presidente and Lord Rainford were granted the privilege of an hour’s Walking Football
The Teams outside were;
Blue - Deano, Little John, Mark Dav, Cockney Rebel and Haggis
Lemon - Eamon, Barry Wizz, Peter T, Eileen and Andy Man
White - Roger, Will, Jason, Simon and Ian H
Red - Subbuteo Dave, Chris 10P, Roy, Midweek Michelle and Tabo
The indoor teams were;
Red - Chris 4G, Les Meldrew, Grav, Steve Honeyman and Triallist
Blue - Gonzalo, Citeh Geoff, Les H, Ellen and Wickie
Despite the best efforts of selector Meldrew, he couldn’t manufacture a winning team for himself Goals by Chris 4G, the Honeyman and Grav might have been adequate on another occasion but Red included goal machine Gonzalo who claimed all but one of his team’s goals The other Red goal was a cruel deflection from the 4G rear 8-3 the final score The reason for the Gonzalo avalanche was possibly the news that he has, on health grounds, foregone any alcohol for the immediate future We might pray for an end of his drought sooner rather than later May the Dry spell end for the sanity of those defenders likely to be facing him any time soon
The games outside were remarkably close for those rough, tough members who opted to ply their wares on the AstroTurf wastes
Yellow faced Blue in the first game and from the start it was clear that this was going to be a thriller Chances came from the off, but remarkably it was almost 4 minutes before a mistake presented Deano with a chance to tuck away Blue’s opening goal Chances continued to be created, sometimes the pace just too frantic when an additional touch would have been more profitable Eileen produced some excellent defensive work denying Haggis, who has developed his own play steadily over the Summer
Pete Teeling fired a great goal for Lemon to level 1-1 Cockney Rebel showed great anticipation to intercept a loose ball and fire Blue back in front 2-1 Eamon was close to rescuing a draw but Blue held out for a deserved win
Elsewhere Red faced White in a titanic game befitting the stage Chris 10P then Tabo fired Red into a strong position at 2-0 But Simon and then Jason were on hand to level the match and provide a grandstand finish Try as both sides might no further goals were scored and the result a 2-2 draw gave the game a result that both teams could take great pride from
Red faced Blue in game two, the sides on paper at least the strongest outfits Tamo claimed the first goal before Blue had mounted a serious step into their opponents half When they did venture in Red territory immediately they created a chance which Deano narrowly missed Chris 10P found his customary accuracy to fire Red 2-0 ahead Blue did recover thanks to some sharp play by Mark Dav for 2-1 That change of fortune was summed up when Haggis read a square clearing pass to divert the ball into the corner 2-2 Blue level having seemed out of contention just minutes before Red went 3-2 thanks to Tabo’s determination, holding off an attempted foul to steer home Roy claimed the Red fourth to push his side in sight of the win their general command probably warranted 4-2 When Little John struck from distance to make it 4-3 Red were on the rear foot once again The game finished with Blue almost snatching a draw, a strike that found a post rather than the net Red victors 4-3 after another gem
Peter Teeling was to take the second round match featuring his Lemon team against White by storm with a quick fire hat trick before Eamon added a fourth goal Simon grabbed the White consolation in a 4-1 demolition
Blue took the lead thanks to a fine pass from Barry finished in style by Deano in the final round White shell-shocked after started with the upper hand White hit the post but Blue riding their luck 1-0 ahead Blue continued to ride their luck but went 2 up thanks to Little John White did find a goal with Simon on target Undeterred Deano struck again, his rising shot helped on its way by an unlucky deflection off Simon 3-1 to Blue It was soon 4-1 Barry holding off a challenge to score Jason found a way back for White and 4-2 with 5 minutes left Jason repeated the feat for 4-3 Mark Dav seemed to find an extra gear to chase down a forward pass and squeeze a shot in 5-3 to Blue A fitting end to the night’s matches
The Red v Lemon finale was yet another epic encounter Eamon & Peter T, hit back after a Chris 10P opener for Red Peter found the net once more to push Lemon into a 3-1 lead before Chris 10P closed the advantage to 3-2 Peter T fired a fourth for Leon before Subbuteo’s own Dave M converted a tricky chance for 4-3 Red now on the front foot but unable to find the net again despite some great approach work Lemon prevailing to draw a veil over the night’s proceedings
Monday meanwhile had the first bout of half decent weather in ages, good enough to tempt thirty eight along to sample the newly named PSD Group Solutions Arena’s AstroTurf The teams lined up as follows;
Green - Snakehips, Phil the Cat, Little John, Chris K, Tom Derby and Phil the Moss
Orange - Steve J, Deggs, Les H, Citeh Geoff, Roger and Colin the Late
Black - Sheila, Andy Zac, Chopper, Mark NR, John C and Gonzalo
Purple - Cockney Rebel, Donal, Amazon Prime, Andy Man, Grazer and Tom Stretch
Red - Robin, Les Meldrew, Wickie, debutant Paul Ashy Ashworth, Brian, Spiro and Glen
Sky - Mika, Lord Rainford, Steve Honeyman, McSpeed, Eamon, Eileen and Haggis
There was a seven a side match featuring Sky and Red which was won in fine style by Sky
Eamon, Honeyman, Lord Rainford McSpeed and Haggis found the net for Sky in a 5-3 victory Red replied with three of their own but no record of those netting has survived the post match celebrations or lap of honour Honorable mentions have been given up for keeping displays by Eileen and Robin Ashy marked his debut with a steady confidence- building performance for Red
The remaining games were played in the usual Round Robin format
In the first games Green were beaten 2-0 by Purple both goals by Tom Stretch Black claimed a narrow 1-0 over Orange with Gonzalo firing the winner
Round two saw Black repeat the 1-0 win with Green losing out John Cousins enjoying his first foray at Ruskin Orange and Purple were shot shy and scoreless after their match on the adjacent pitch
The final round of games Purple dented the Black record with a one-all draw Tom Stretch and John Cousins hitting the goals in a very close game Orange held off the Green challenge to record a 2-1 win Goals courtesy of Steve Jones and Les Hewitt for Orange and Phil Moss for Green
Black with two wins and a draw held off Purple with a win and two draws Orange won one and drew and also lost matches whilst Green found it a very difficult morning indeed
The dry spell a very welcome return for SHWFC and it’s on off relationship with the Weather Gods
Dry County* - Bon Jovi
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