Right Back Where We Started From*

We had a return of decent weather to herald our latest Monday morning sWalking Football session at Ruskin Sports Village After an indifferent weekend of mixed conditions, there was no rain or wind but a very pleasant mild temperature for hacking a ball about the AstroTurf acres

Thirty Five made the eventual starting line aided and abetted by Referees Betty, Presidente and Andy ‘Enoch’ Powell who is on the injured list at present

A seven a side match was sent to the extremes of the Far End whilst 3 teams of 5 plus a team of 6 faced off in the usual Round Robin

The Sevens were;

Pink - Tom Derby, Tomo, Barry Wizz, Lee Jenko, Citeh Geoff, Charlie and Snakehips

Sky - Steve J, Julie, Les H. Chris 10P, Eamon, Geoff P and Kirsty

Sky won a tight contest by 3 goals to 2 with Eamon on the mark for Sky

Orange played Purple in the first tie

Orange were Mika, Aldo, Eileen, Wickie and Little John

Purple - Brian, Steve Honeyman, Chopper, Thatto Dave and Roger

El Presidente after an eventful journey presided over the game with an iron grip on any errant play and so had little to do after early reminders Purple played a very passive game content to be mostly difficult to beat than full on offensive Orange were more fluid and adventurous but it was close throughout The opening goal was an unfortunate diversion from Little John, who couldn’t get out of the way of a Thatto Dave effort Purple ahead and soon demonstrating their willingness to waste time (or game manage as it is sometimes generously called) Brian showed great willingness to test the Pink rearguard Purple taking the honours with the narrowest of victories 1-0

Black and Yellow was tighter still with both sides unable to break the deadlock 0-0 the result A hard fought stalemate to open

Purple v Black was quickly underway with McSpeed netting for Black after a touch of midfield poaching by Colin the Late to set up the chance 0-1 to Black There was a slight numeric advantage in Black’s favour but Purple settled and made a real game of it Andy Man, Monday Michelle and Robin were well in evidence for Black whilst Thatto Dave and Brian grafted for their opponents The Honeyman enjoyed an impressive spell as Purple keeper Michelle doubled the lead with a smart finish Black taking their chances and exploiting their extra player to stretch the Purple Brian scored from a rising shot that Grazer palmed over his head 2-1 to Purple Roger had to leave the game with Robin switching to Purple to level In an epic counter attack Purple soaked up a Black foray before feeding Brian who steered home for 2-2 Thatto Dave produced a fantastic double save to keep the Black at bay Time elapsed with the scores locked at 2-2 Terrific contest

Orange crushed Lemon (Yellow) in the Citrus Derby with Aldo claiming the only goal of a tight affair

And so to the last games of the morning Black 3 a McSpeed hat trick prevailed over Orange Aldo with a brace 3-2 to Black

Yellow raced into a 3-1 lead with Amazon amongst the scorers Gaz directed the Yellow throughout with Sheila leading the line and showing some great hold up play Gaz hit a fourth from some distance for 4-1 Purple now struggling to keep up the pace Purple over egged their passing when on possession Honeyman hit the post to sum up their lack of luck Yellow 4-1 to the good

The morning was a timely reminder of the contribution that all members make to our sessions An inclusive satisfying session for all involved The arrival of Liz with a generous supply of cake options was much appreciated The fact that there was cake left unopened at the conclusion of the post match celebration said much about our missing covid- hit hero Mr Tom Stretch There’ll be other Monday mornings of course

Wednesday night’s Sutton SoccerDome session was a well populated affair with Herr Betty relieved of whistling duties to instead ply his trade as a player

Two games with the continuing recuperating Andy ‘Enoch’ Powell standing in as official and the continuing tyro El Presidente as the night’s referees

The teams were;

White - Citeh Geoff, Tom Derby, Eamon, John C, Midweek Michelle, Roger and Deano

Yellow - Barry Wizz, Jeff Betty, Jason, Gaz, Haggis, Chris 4G and Gonzalo

Blue - Little John (or is he far away?) Joe the Ghost, Les H, Grav, Steve C, Kirsty and Will

Red - Roy, Deggs, Andy Man, Wickie, Eileen, Tom Stretch and Chris 10P

Play got underway with the floodlights evident from the first minute Blue played Yellow with early goal -mouth action but no goal (largely due to a smart save by Gaz from a Steve Carine shot) at the other end Gonzalo went close There was a huge amount of good fortune about the opening goal with a Gonzalo strike hitting the post before rebounding off Kirsty into the net 1-0 to Yellow

Blue then exerted a greater measure of control with their defence solid and passing improved Haggis battled well on the Yellow left well supported by Jason A long period of stalemate followed with both teams competing for the upper hand Kirsty grabbed an equaliser for Blue with a great strike from some distance Yellow pushed to regain their lead with Jason grabbing the winner 2-1 the final score

Yellow and Red was a titanic match with both teams going for the win from the first minute Gonzalo took full advantage of a great set up pass from Gaz to fire Yellow ahead Deggs put in a great shift for Red with some great passing

End to end with opportunities at both ends - the game had it all Yellow just about shading the play Chris 10P dropped deeper to try to steer his side from the Quarter Back position

The volume and sheer amount of talking and encouragement was testimony to the overall quality on view Both teams going all out for the win In a previous unheard moment Barry Wizz was instructed to slow down by his team mates Less than a minute remained before Haggis steered a straight pass into space from Gonzalo through the Red keeper to make it 2-0 Deep in added time Jason applied a further goal to seal the victory 3-0 a sensational score to ensure Yellow’ win

The grand finale featured Yellow v White Whilst Blue beat Red in the other match with Little John claiming the only goal in a 1-0 win

Michelle Midweek was unlucky to have an early goal ruled out as there had been an overhead flick that disrupted the White attack The setback was soon forgotten as Michelle applied a calm finish after some good approach work by John Cousins 1-0 White ahead Eamon missed a decent chance and Deano was a handful too as White appeared to be wresting control Yellow struggling to cope with the White attacking energy

Gonzalo claimed the equaliser with loads of space opening before him, a typical early strike into the far corner 1-1 The goal seemed to reenergise the Yellow who were now on top pushing for the advantage John Cousins was penalised for 4 touches when a White goal seemed possible Then the appearance of a Blood Moon signalled the end of another excellent game Some magical football, loads of great endeavour and smiles on faces Let’s do it all over again next week

Right Back Where We Started From* - Maxine Nightingale (a spot of disco for y’all)