Some weeks just flow smoothly Other weeks might need a helping hand along the way
Monday’s Ruskin Sports Village session suffered somewhat of a bottleneck with almost forty members frustratingly hanging around waiting for access to set up for our games It’s difficult to try to keep warm in the chilly conditions but SHWFC people are made of sturdy stuff and undaunted the fun was soon underway
The teams were assembled, adjusted, warmed, photographed and ready to rumble as follows;
Purple - Harry the Hatchet, Margaret, Phil the Power, Wickie, Steve Jones and Citeh Geoff
Sky - Chris Gilmost, Ian Lefty Bridge back in action at last, Kirsty, Les H, Cockney Rebel and Haggis
Pink - Les Meldrew, Liz, Enoch, Willo, Barry Wizz, Ashy and Tom Stretch
Orange - Michelle Monday, Roger, Gaz, Mika, Andy Man and Lord Rainford
Yellow - Sheila, Chopper, Thatto Dave welcome return to action, Amazon Prime and Tomo
Black - Phil the Cat, Julie, Tom Derby, McSpeed, Joe the Ghost and PaulF
Pink and Orange produced a cracking game with little to chose between the sides despite Orange playing with one player less than their opponents The newly anointed Ref Jeff kept a tight hold on ‘not walking’ and Mr Wizz was frustrated to have a goal chalked off for ‘not walking’ in the opening encounters Play continued with both sides contributing to a close hard fought match With less than 8 minutes left Pink finally broke the deadlock as Orange eventually wilted Goals by Barry Wizz, Tom Stretch and Liz secured a 3-0 victory with some excellent goals but they were pushed to the limit before their extra player finally took its toll on Orange resistance
Eamon marked his ascent to Refereeing Officialdom with a mature handling of the game pitching Black and Yellow together at the far end The game was very tight and good test for the man in the middle Black scorers were Tom Derby and Joe the Ghost but Yellow claimed the victory thanks to goals by Thatto Dave (who ended his comeback game picking up an injury in the dying minutes) Amazon Prime and Snakehips
Dave ‘Grazer’ Clark appeared for his first visit of the year complete with crutches He arrived carrying 2 arm crutches and a fine collection of cakes to mark his birthday last Friday He watched the action in the company of Geoff Prout, the two discussing their current injuries and looking forward to a return to action in the near future Fine cake too
El Presidente was the man in the hot seat for the last game of the morning with Purple and Sky thrust together in another close contest The game swung from end to end with some marvellous moments as both sides fought for the upper hand Purple took the lead with a goal created by Margaret (who had an outstanding game) and converted by Steve Jones Jones took a half chance at the near post to double the Purple lead 2-0 tough on Sky perhaps? Sky were soon back in contention when Chris Gilmost of his chances to fire home 2-1 Purple still ahead Sky enjoyed a spell on top with some crisp passing a feature Chris Gilmost equalised in controversial fashion stretching his long legs to move past Citeh Geoff and fire home 2-2 Wickie produced one of the finest goals volleying home from a corner taken by Phil the Power The resulting shot was too much for Harry the Hatchet (or indeed most keepers) to save Purple ahead 3-2 in fine style
The goal was a fitting way to decide the game Terrific football served up by both teams
Wednesday night’s Sutton SoccerDome session continues to puzzle Some weeks we have real issues with players declaring their unavailability early in the day or dropping out during the course of the day There’s never an expectation that people are obliged to play, but we’ve two outdoor and one indoor pitch reserved for the session, a cost that we struggle to justify when numbers are low The other issue is the difficulty of trying to select teams as early as possible to maximise playing time, when the final number of players is unknown right up to kick off time We’d welcome feedback of members opinions on our midweek session Do we need to reduce the number of pitches booked in advance? How important is the traditional Wednesday night 7pm session to members? Should we examine other timing options? Afternoons? Different day? Look out for a Poll to try to determine other Midweek options
Twenty Eight players plus Officials and Spectators did venture to the newly named Couch to 5K car park arena in chilly but dry conditions The usual split between the Carpet Slipper Crew (the Innards) and Rough Tough brigade (the Outward Bounders) meant a 5v5 indoor game plus a full fat 9v9 game on the AstroTurf wastes
The Innards under the divine guidance of El Presidente lined up;
Blue - Steve Honeyman, Disco Deggs, Phil the Cat, Lord Rainford and Les H
Yellow - Steve C, Les Meldrew, Grav, Phil the Power and Chris 4G
Lots of chances given up by the laissez-faire defensive attitudes of both teams Why defend when you can simply out score your opponents? Except that both sides were rather wasteful in front of goal but there was plenty of decent play to acknowledge too
The first goal took over 15 minutes to arrive and followed the night’s first ‘ave it’ clearance by Lord Rainford and an open goal miss by the Ghost When Grav eventually found the net from the edge of the Red Zone the ball broke kindly for him to hit a crisp shot past the Enobled One 1-0 Yellow ahead at last Phil the Cat hit the post but the ball squirmed free as Blue searched for a leveller The equaliser followed a period of pressure with The Cat extracting a measure of revenge after 23 pulsating minutes 1-1 Lord Rainford produced an exquisite Sussex Sweep in off the far post to give Blue a 2-1 lead Then just before the break Les Hewitt prodded a loose ball home to push Blue 3-1 in front thanks to some dogged work by Steve the Honeyman
A fine ball by Deggs was the first meaningful action of the second half From the resulting corner Lord Rainford almost squeezed home a cheeky shot Blue mounted a campaign of questionable gamesmanship to keep Yellow at bay Grav made a smart double save as Blue broke away Then in a defining moment Deggs wrestled to prevent a clear goal scoring opportunity and was guilty of the infamous DOGSO ploy He was promptly dismissed for 3 minutes and Les Meldrew crashed the resulting penalty in the net 3-2 game on Blue a man down for the prevailing minutes Yellow exerted real pressure but somehow Blue held out Les Hewitt eased the pressure with a fine goal 4-2 Blue ahead
Chris 4G made it 4-3 with Deggs still pacing the line waiting to return
With less than 10 minutes left Deggs fired home from out wide 5-3 Shortly after Lord Rainford sealed victory with a shot from the narrowest angle that struck the keeper’s ankle before dribbling beyond the goal line 6-3 Blue resorted to some agricultural clearances to preserve their advantage through the final whistle A good game punctuated with fine goals Grav hit a Yellow 4th goal but the game was effectively over 6-4 the final score
Meanwhile in weather zone far far away Andy Man kajolled two sets of 9 into a typically feisty frenzied game Ref Jeff Betty transitioned from Ref to player under the guise of ‘oh well if you want me to play to even up the numbers then!’ This was made possible due the thoughtful intervention of Chris 10P Prout who is currently out of action due to injury Our playmaker-starlet volunteered to referee and made a fine job of it according to our sources
The Outward Bounders were split along the following lines;
Yellow - Ian Hilton, Deano, Jason, Midweek Michelle, Subbuteo Dave, Steve C, Eamon, Robbie Hamilton on debut and Little John
Blue(ish) - Mark Dav, Andy Holland, Andy Man, Simon, Cockney Rebel, Gonzalo, Neil Stretch, Ref Jeff Betty (plain clothes) and Haggis
The game was a tense affair with so many squeezed into a smaller than ideal space Blue showed a greater intensity and were more clinical in front of goal when on top Gonzalo produced his usual goal threat well supported by Dav and the Andy’s When the game was stretched Yellow posed serious threats but found Haggis in particular hard to beat in the nets Midweek Michelle was superb during her spell between the sticks but was too often left alone to prevent the Blue onslaught The final result was 6-2 Blue had just too much fire power for Yellow
Gonzalo claimed four, Dav and Andy Holland one each - Subbuteo Dave and Little John hit the Yellow consolations Stand-in Ref Chris 10P was given a vote of confidence by Ref Jeff Betty, and seemed happy to have survived ordeal by ‘not walkers’ and the ‘appeal for everything’ crew If his injury is going to be problematic it’s reassuring to know he can still contribute to sessions in a very positive manner
The Boot Room was entertained by the Geordie partial eclipse of the perennially underachieving Arsenal There was talk of European Walking Football tours and forging links with overseas Clubs Good time enjoyed by all A reminder to all readers that the Boot Room is available to all on Wednesday evenings no reservation required
Rumour has it there will be yet more cake at Ruskin on Monday
It’s A Beautiful Morning* - The Rascals ( New Jersey blue eyed soul boys 1968 US Hit)
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