After a long week in Walking Football land we offer not one but two Blogs for your weekend reading pleasure
Monday’s showcase event was disrupted by a sever case of dummy spitting Whilst in stark contrast Wednesday’s footballing feast was a great reminder why we all enjoy the beautiful game Read on dear reader
Statistics show that 99% of players believe that Referees get 66% of decisions wrong every time The other 1% are, of course part-time Referees and possibly just displaying blind loyalty to fellow Referees Just in case anyone is in any doubt, 100% of players wouldn’t be able to play their games without the Referee
Whenever we highlight that we’ve a Code of Conduct that we’ve all agreed to as part of our commitment to our Club, we get total agreement and acknowledgment that whilst the Code is sometimes over-looked it is by someone else they’re definitely referring to someone else
It ain’t me Babe
So it is a reminder before we delve into a big footballing week for all SHWFC members that you (Yes you) have a responsibility to yourself and fellow members to respect the Code that you’ve signed up to
Oh yes the football…Monday morning followed the recent pattern of mild, dry and pleasant Spring-like weather Conditions that encouraged another record attendance to Ruskin and the Arcoframe Arena 40 players took the chance to expand their lungs and minds El Presidente reminded players of our ethos of inclusion before Andy Man(anger) prepared the troops with a warm up routine designed to galvanise in readiness for battle
Bibs were distributed to the following teams
Pinks - Walter (John) Pidgeon, Chris Kelsall, Kirsty, Citeh Geoff, Anita, Amazon Prime and Harry the Hatchet
Black - Graham Bell (on debut) Steve the Honeyman, Haggis, Ralph Abbot, Charlie and Gonzalo
Orange - Tony Snakehips, Goldie, Les, Cockney Rebel, Tony Kenny and Enoch
Sky - Donal, Jeff Ches, Thatto Dave, Tom Stretch, Lord Rainford, Andy Knowles and Sheila
Green - Joe the Ghost, Robin, Tom Derby, Eamon, Grav’, Jill Thomo and Little John
Purple - Grazer, Robbie, Jane, Dave Seagull, Phil Moss (debut) and Paddy Kirk (also on debut)
Pink - John, Chris K, Kirsty, Anita, Geoff, Harry
Jeff Betty, Martin Chopper Williams and El Presidente were Referees as normal
In Round 1 There was something of an early goal drought as evenly balanced teams found it difficult to create chances
Pink v Black remained locked goal less after a tense game
The Sky v Orange encounter was settled by Tony ‘Snakehips’ Byrne finding the corner of the net in Orange’s narrow 1-0 win The game marked the return of Les Meldrew to the Inzaghi role (on the keeper’s toes) for much of the game Tony’s goal was marked by his providing Birthday Cake in the post match Slipper session
The remaining tie was a 4-0 runaway win for Green, goals by Jill Thomo 2, Joe the Ghost and Eamon The most emphatic result of the day
In Round 2 Sky and Green served up terrific contest with both sides creating chances before Donal hit the winning shot for Sky 1-0
Pink and Orange couldn’t be have been closer with neither side able to provide a goal despite lots of enterprising play
There was a flash point during the Black v Purple match, which tested Referee Chopper Williams After 4 minutes a player elected to walk off to leave his side a player short The enforced reshuffle and subsequent disruption was unfortunate but handled well by those remaining and with maturity by Chopper The final outcome was a narrow 1-0 win for Black with Gonzalo steering home
Round 3 in absolute contrast, produced the morning’s outstanding piece of sportsmanship as a scooped goal claimed by Haggis was sportingly conceded by Green The aerial trajectory of the ball was over-looked for the joy the scorer Green prior to that had taken the lead with an excellent passing move finished in style by Grav’ Chances at both ends but 1-1 the final result with plaudits to Green
Purple and Orange couldn’t be separated for much of a very tight match
But Cockney Rebel found the net to hand his Orange’s the 1-0 victory
Pink and Sky was a tight affair with bags of effort and enthusiasm but again no goals at the conclusion 0-0
The morning’s last fixtures included possibly the morning’s biggest shock as Purple surprised a strong Pink team 2-1 A penalty scored by debut boy Phil Moss, after Harry the Hatchet has touched a ball back to his keeper inside the area, gave Purple the lead Citeh Geoff returning after a spell on the touchline found a deserved equaliser With time running out Robbie Donohue latched onto a through ball to fire Purple to a shock 2-1 win
Orange pipped Green in a 3 goal thriller under Chopper’ direction on Pitch A Goals by Goldie and Cockney Rebel handing the Citrus boys the win Eamon appropriately claiming Green’s goal
On Pitch C Sky and Black fought out yet another close encounter with Gonzalo and Andy on the mark 1-1 There was a late net finder from Donal ruled out for Sky as Jeff Betty signalled the end of play with the shot on its way
The Slipper session included a tribute to Mr Snakehips now legendary cake supplying prowess The boy even thoughtfully provided a Vegan/Gluten free variant How thoughtful we all agreed
After a testing Monday at Ruskin, thankfully Sutton on Wednesday night was a heart warming smile fest A pleasure to be involved with
The SoccerDome was touching 90 degrees as the knotted hanky brigade took to the boards
Those teams for the doubting Thomas’s were;
Yellow - Gonzalo, Cockney Rebel, Les, Ray, Lord Rainford and Phil Doyle
White - Wickie, Andy Man(anger), Grav, Joe the Ghost, Steve Carine and debutant Frank Carson
Red -Enoch, Deggs, Robbie, Kirsty, Lee Thomo and Steve Honeyman
As usual the games came thick and fast with Yellow securing a 1-0 win in the first match with Red Cockney Rebel claiming the goal in a typically tight game
Next up Yellow were held to nil - nil against White The game was marked by a strange corner routine with Andy conceding a corner at the opposite end from his original effort
There was controversy (who could believe that?) in the White v Red game as Joe converted a penalty The penalty award was hotly contested with irate Reds sure that Lee Thomo had been pushed into the area to concede the foul
Undaunted Red matched Yellow in the next game as Les served up a peach of a pass (he reckons) to gift Gonzalo a chance he wasn’t going to miss Kirsty replied with a defence splitting pass that presented Robbie with golden chance he fired home 1-1 honours even Good reward for Kirsty who had a very impressive series of matches too
The night’s most one sided game provided Steve Carine with his first hat trick but also saw Steve Honeyman fall worryingly to the deck There was a prolonged delay before medical help arrived
Thankfully Steve recovered enough to drive home and report all was well the following morning
The fact that he was in a totally different address being looked after by Mr & Mrs Bonkers (94) of Billinge was neither here nor there
The outside warriors enjoyed an excellent session under the tutelage of Mr Jeff Betty Birchall 7 a -side proving a much better format than the previous week’s 11-a-side epic encounter
Blue - Mike Ox, Martin Mc, Chris Willo, Dave Markland Darron, Harry and Little John
Orange - Tom Derby, Ralph, Eamon, Tom Stretch, 13 year old Gaz Rabbit Fingers Clark, Haggis and Nigel
Gaz and El Presidente battled to be Coach of the night with constant encouragement throughout Orange defending well with Nigel and especially Tom Derby displaying good positional sense Blue employed Harry and Dave Markland as over-lapping forwards (never in their own half even for kick offs) Gaz left his goal keeping stint to move forward and was on hand to claim the games opening goal, powering onto a loose ball to find the bottom corner 1-0 to Orange Nigel’s original effort only partially cleared Darron became more influential as Blues found a rhythm Mike Ox was his usual all action self and was rewarded with an equaliser on the stroke of half time 1-1 Great to watch and apparently to play in too
Blues attacked the Thatto Far End as play got underway in the second stanza Well done, Well played echoed around the pitch and indeed there was much to enjoy Haggis almost found a gap between keeper and post Mike Ox recovered to clear the ball, after 5 minutes Orange retook the lead when Eamon rounded off a good move to claim his deserved goal 2-1 to Orange
Darron Walley produced two pieces of magic for Blues to turn the game on its head Firstly he found space on the left and fired across the keeper to score in the corner The angle and his determination to shoot on target surprised the Orange defence 2-2 Soon it was 3-2 to Blue as he snapped up the night’s best goal From a sideline restart he allowed the ball to travel across his body to then turn and hit an unstoppable shot past the Orange keeper
Orange wasted little time before drawing level again Gaz played a deft short pass from a free kick to Tom Stretch who placed a drive in to the distant bottom corner with 6 minutes remaining 3-3 On balance it was no more than either side deserved
The game was summed up in a moment of sportsmanship when Harry and Tom Derby helped each other to their feet having tangled in a genuine attempt to win the ball The spontaneous gesture summed up why we all play Great sportsmanship A true celebration
So after a tetchy couple of days We had a happy ending and a peaceful easy feeling glowed as the Boot Room crew dissected the night’s action
Walking Football the beautiful games elderly relative? See y’all on Monday morning
It Ain’t Me Babe - Bob Dylan
Peaceful, Easy Feeling* - The Eagles
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