A blonde gets a job as a teacher.
She notices a boy in the field standing alone, while all the other kids are running around having fun kicking a ball.
She takes pity on him and decides to speak to him.
"You ok?" she asks.
"Yes" he replies.
"You can go and play with the other kids you know?" she says.
"It's best I stay here" he responds.
''Why?' says the blonde.
The boy says:
'Because I'm the goalie'
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Coledale Cup Round 2
And on to more important footballing matters than the World Cup.
Next week sees the second leg of the Coledale Cup, with the Maroons miraculously holding a slender 4-3 lead. Do away goals count double? If so, a 1-0 victory for the Whites will be enough to claw the cup from the grasp of the Maroons.
Although the game is officially scheduled for 3pm, I believe it was agreed we'd switch it to 1pm?
Both sides go into the match on the back of some form, albeit atrocious form. Whilst the Whites have a slender goal difference advantage over the last three games, amazingly the Maroons have better (read less poor) form over the last six games.
The Whites need a win to keep their ever increasingly slender hopes of a top 4 finish alive - however according to 'when I'm away' they're going to be missing Alex Kocatekin, Andrew Huckstepp, Doug Hamill, Glen Cahill and Glenn Paull, whilst the Maroons only have Graeme Phillipson absent. So the plan is to put all the remaining 20 players on the pitch at the same time. (The reality is that the Maroons will probably have 8 missing). Of the 11 that do take the pitch it has to be hoped that they'll do less of a headless chicken impersonation than England this morning.
The only consolation of England's demise? Fergus doesn't win the sweepstake!
is it that obvious I'm bored at work?
Next week sees the second leg of the Coledale Cup, with the Maroons miraculously holding a slender 4-3 lead. Do away goals count double? If so, a 1-0 victory for the Whites will be enough to claw the cup from the grasp of the Maroons.
Although the game is officially scheduled for 3pm, I believe it was agreed we'd switch it to 1pm?
Both sides go into the match on the back of some form, albeit atrocious form. Whilst the Whites have a slender goal difference advantage over the last three games, amazingly the Maroons have better (read less poor) form over the last six games.
The Whites need a win to keep their ever increasingly slender hopes of a top 4 finish alive - however according to 'when I'm away' they're going to be missing Alex Kocatekin, Andrew Huckstepp, Doug Hamill, Glen Cahill and Glenn Paull, whilst the Maroons only have Graeme Phillipson absent. So the plan is to put all the remaining 20 players on the pitch at the same time. (The reality is that the Maroons will probably have 8 missing). Of the 11 that do take the pitch it has to be hoped that they'll do less of a headless chicken impersonation than England this morning.
The only consolation of England's demise? Fergus doesn't win the sweepstake!
is it that obvious I'm bored at work?
City 1 Maroons 0
Pete saved a penalty amongst a host of other shots. We had a couple of chances. Tight game.
---------------
I'm English. I play better at the back than bloody Cole, Terry, Upson and Johnson.
I think England are the only team the Maroons would beat with ease. Bye Bye Fabio
---------------
I'm English. I play better at the back than bloody Cole, Terry, Upson and Johnson.
I think England are the only team the Maroons would beat with ease. Bye Bye Fabio
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Hogs 1 Whites 0
Our fourth 1-0 loss of the season. We deserved something out of all of them, but thats football.
With only 12 players available due to injury,suspension, overseas holidays and moving house, this was a huge effort, made all the more heroic after goalie glen succumbed to his troublesome calf after 10 minutes. Most of us played 90 mins, including our two close enough to 60 year olds at left and right back. The hogs had control of the match, especially with 4 subs, so we defended our best and tried to counter attack. We held out for 75 minutes before they bumbled in a scrappy goal. We had maybe 4 or 5 chances. Jon "lost keys" O'Neil, playing up front found space in the first half for a crack, Andres tried a few long rangers that werent bad. The second half saw eco-warrior hit the bar with a thunderous free kick from 25 metres out and AB displayed some nice touches to beat 2 defenders and hammer just over the bar after chasing an Andres through ball.
The defence was outstanding. Handball got the refs player of the match (probably because they looked alike), Rocket Rod was a colosuss at the back. The midfield of Slugger, Laid Back Phil Lally, Eco-warrior and Scarface had nothing left in the tank at the end. A match played in the right spirit, was quite enjoyable except for the fact we lost.
With only 12 players available due to injury,suspension, overseas holidays and moving house, this was a huge effort, made all the more heroic after goalie glen succumbed to his troublesome calf after 10 minutes. Most of us played 90 mins, including our two close enough to 60 year olds at left and right back. The hogs had control of the match, especially with 4 subs, so we defended our best and tried to counter attack. We held out for 75 minutes before they bumbled in a scrappy goal. We had maybe 4 or 5 chances. Jon "lost keys" O'Neil, playing up front found space in the first half for a crack, Andres tried a few long rangers that werent bad. The second half saw eco-warrior hit the bar with a thunderous free kick from 25 metres out and AB displayed some nice touches to beat 2 defenders and hammer just over the bar after chasing an Andres through ball.
The defence was outstanding. Handball got the refs player of the match (probably because they looked alike), Rocket Rod was a colosuss at the back. The midfield of Slugger, Laid Back Phil Lally, Eco-warrior and Scarface had nothing left in the tank at the end. A match played in the right spirit, was quite enjoyable except for the fact we lost.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Hogs 0 Maroons 1 and Maroons 0 Makos 2
Two reports in one - firstly cos I'm not well, secondly cos I didn't see all 90 minutes of either game, thirdly cos I'm lazy, fourthly cos someone (who's too chicken to put his name to his whinge bagging me out for not writing a report and fifthly cos I'm rather to single out anyone!
So..on to the brief reports. If England and Australia (v Germany) had put in half the effort the boys in Maroon put into their two games, they' have been getting much better results.
The Hogs match is always a bit of a grudge game, but like the first match at home, seemed to be played in a pretty good spirit. With the wind in our favour, Dave C's corer flew straight into the net, but from then on it was hardly backs to the wall stuff. As in the game against the Azzurri the week before, passes were being played mostly to feet, Pete was hardly troubled in goal and from the 45 minutes I saw, I don't think the Hogs could have been too upset by the scoreline.
For the makos match I arrived just in time to see Pete make a blistering save, but at that stage we were already 1-0 down. What i did see was the ball being predominantly in the makos half, although admittedly shots were few and far between. As the match progressed and we through everyone forward, makos caught us with a swift break in virtua;;y the last minute. 2-0 flattered them but a few more performances like that will see us very soon on the whites coattails.
Sorry for the brevity of the report, feel free to flesh it out in the comments section.
Kev
So..on to the brief reports. If England and Australia (v Germany) had put in half the effort the boys in Maroon put into their two games, they' have been getting much better results.
The Hogs match is always a bit of a grudge game, but like the first match at home, seemed to be played in a pretty good spirit. With the wind in our favour, Dave C's corer flew straight into the net, but from then on it was hardly backs to the wall stuff. As in the game against the Azzurri the week before, passes were being played mostly to feet, Pete was hardly troubled in goal and from the 45 minutes I saw, I don't think the Hogs could have been too upset by the scoreline.
For the makos match I arrived just in time to see Pete make a blistering save, but at that stage we were already 1-0 down. What i did see was the ball being predominantly in the makos half, although admittedly shots were few and far between. As the match progressed and we through everyone forward, makos caught us with a swift break in virtua;;y the last minute. 2-0 flattered them but a few more performances like that will see us very soon on the whites coattails.
Sorry for the brevity of the report, feel free to flesh it out in the comments section.
Kev
Whites 2 Uni 1
On a sparkling winters afternoon, it was good to return to familiar territory after the 12 players vs 10 fiasco at Oak Flats on saturday. St James Park is unfortunately looking more like Coledale cow paddock at the moment, taking me back to my junior playng days in Kempsey where it was quite common to actually have cows on the paddock.
The match, won courtesy of a Les Coleman double inside 15 minutes, was another example of the Whites making the easy look excruiatingly hard. The first of Mr 21's goals was a sumptuous penalty that took 3 bounces to cross the line and was hit with such force the goalie nearly got to it after diving the wrong way first. This occurred in the first 3 minutes of play after the Uni defender thought he was playing for Serbia. The second was a miss-kicked pass that found the goalie off his line who couldnt back pedal enough.
From there on it looked like the Whites were having a competition to see who could come up with the worst (or best?) miss. Steve B and Jon M missed sitters, AB had his usual 5 chances and didnt bury any, all the midfielders tried their luck, Les could have had a hat trick when he air swung unmarked at a corner from 2 metres. Uni pulled one back through a superbly taken free kick from their 47 year old 5'3'' 14 stone right back. Another day at the office.
Other highlights:
The match, won courtesy of a Les Coleman double inside 15 minutes, was another example of the Whites making the easy look excruiatingly hard. The first of Mr 21's goals was a sumptuous penalty that took 3 bounces to cross the line and was hit with such force the goalie nearly got to it after diving the wrong way first. This occurred in the first 3 minutes of play after the Uni defender thought he was playing for Serbia. The second was a miss-kicked pass that found the goalie off his line who couldnt back pedal enough.
From there on it looked like the Whites were having a competition to see who could come up with the worst (or best?) miss. Steve B and Jon M missed sitters, AB had his usual 5 chances and didnt bury any, all the midfielders tried their luck, Les could have had a hat trick when he air swung unmarked at a corner from 2 metres. Uni pulled one back through a superbly taken free kick from their 47 year old 5'3'' 14 stone right back. Another day at the office.
Other highlights:
- Dennis shows up with a hot water bottle for his leg, but more probably to keep warm. This might start a trend.
- "Sicknote" Seddon was seen drinking what looked suspiciously like Midori from his water bottle. Whatever gets you through the game.
- Eco-warrior with a candidate for best non-goal of the year, a 30 metre bomb from the right touch line in the side net. Shame play was halted for Uni to make a sub.
- Maroon opinion seemed to be Doug had his best match of the year.
- Local Historian owns the worlds smallest drink bottle. Probably scotch in that one.
- Slugger ditched the glamorous tracky dacks brought by his mum for army fatigues. Bring back the shiny pants Mike.
- Jono nearly played with a "mini me" running behind him crying the whole time.
- the halftime entertainment of a skydiver landing on the pitch got the biggest cheer of the afternoon.
- the WAGS turned out in force, great to see such wonderful support. Kids everywhere, a real family atmosphere. Time to turn on the razzle dazzle for our supporters boys.
Off to the burg next weekend, scene of a 1-1 draw last year. Hopefully we can go one better.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Shell City 1 Whites 0
our third 1-0 loss this year. Enough to give you the sh*ts.
Shellharbour man of the match: the ref. I'll leave it at that.
Shellharbour man of the match: the ref. I'll leave it at that.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Azzurri 2 Maroons 6
Azzurri ...the mere name conjures up images of past great world cup Italian teams, Rossi, Maldini, Zoff...of flair, suaveness, glory (and diving if you're of Australian ancestry).
So it was quite appropriate that we were scheduled to play the fabled Azzurri during the World Cup. The game was scheduled to be played at Guest park, but at late notice was moved to the San Siro* (Dapto version). Hundreds, nay thousands of fans were making their way to the ground, blocking the view of all but anyone driving a double decker bus. At least that was the excuse Ian stood by as he drove past both myself and Pete, parked by the side of the road, looking suitably lost.
The pitch was in fine condition, akin to the Juventus pitch at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino! OK, slight exaggeration, but it was a nice flat, wide pitch, nice little stand and surrounded by advertising hoardings. The hoardings weren't quite the electrical abominations that catch your eye on televison but nonetheless, it was all very professional.
And the Maroons rose to the occasion. Boosted by the return of Shakey we rapidly took a grip, Trevor firing in a lovely long range shot. Fortunately we were using a 4 year old, only partially inflated ball rather than a Jabulani, else it would still be soaring into space.
Ant then had a goalbound shot saved, but by a defenders hand rather than the goalkeepers. The Azzurri's stand in referee declined to send his own player off but did award the penalty. Fergus, still reeling at the use of hands in the penalty area, hammered the ball straight down the middle. The keeper dived left and it was 2-0.
Shortly after, a goal of sheer brilliance followed, pass after pass interchanged, opposition players dribbled past both on the inside and outside, a driven cross and Dave C flung himself vertically a good 5 feet before firmly planting a header into the net. So I was told anyway. From my vantage point at the back, it looked like a mishit cross lobbed into the box, missed everyone and bounced in off Dave's head. However, in keeping with the grand Azzurri theme, I'll go with the first description.
Half-Time 3-0. Knowing our previous record in the second half of games, we were confident, but still aware of past failings. Two minutes into the new half we were 4-0 up. Five minutes later it was 4-2! A goal from a corner, yet another unmarked player punishing us, followed by a breakaway goal and all our demons returned. We were still two goals to the good, but the attitude reeked of panic. It seemed more likely they would make it 4-3 than us wrap the game up.
However some desperate defending saw us through, and two late goals were the icing.
The World Cup it wasn't, but I suspect it was a darn sight more entertaining than watching South Korea humble Greece!
*useless piece of information, the San Siro's real name is Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
So it was quite appropriate that we were scheduled to play the fabled Azzurri during the World Cup. The game was scheduled to be played at Guest park, but at late notice was moved to the San Siro* (Dapto version). Hundreds, nay thousands of fans were making their way to the ground, blocking the view of all but anyone driving a double decker bus. At least that was the excuse Ian stood by as he drove past both myself and Pete, parked by the side of the road, looking suitably lost.
The pitch was in fine condition, akin to the Juventus pitch at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino! OK, slight exaggeration, but it was a nice flat, wide pitch, nice little stand and surrounded by advertising hoardings. The hoardings weren't quite the electrical abominations that catch your eye on televison but nonetheless, it was all very professional.
And the Maroons rose to the occasion. Boosted by the return of Shakey we rapidly took a grip, Trevor firing in a lovely long range shot. Fortunately we were using a 4 year old, only partially inflated ball rather than a Jabulani, else it would still be soaring into space.
Ant then had a goalbound shot saved, but by a defenders hand rather than the goalkeepers. The Azzurri's stand in referee declined to send his own player off but did award the penalty. Fergus, still reeling at the use of hands in the penalty area, hammered the ball straight down the middle. The keeper dived left and it was 2-0.
Shortly after, a goal of sheer brilliance followed, pass after pass interchanged, opposition players dribbled past both on the inside and outside, a driven cross and Dave C flung himself vertically a good 5 feet before firmly planting a header into the net. So I was told anyway. From my vantage point at the back, it looked like a mishit cross lobbed into the box, missed everyone and bounced in off Dave's head. However, in keeping with the grand Azzurri theme, I'll go with the first description.
Half-Time 3-0. Knowing our previous record in the second half of games, we were confident, but still aware of past failings. Two minutes into the new half we were 4-0 up. Five minutes later it was 4-2! A goal from a corner, yet another unmarked player punishing us, followed by a breakaway goal and all our demons returned. We were still two goals to the good, but the attitude reeked of panic. It seemed more likely they would make it 4-3 than us wrap the game up.
However some desperate defending saw us through, and two late goals were the icing.
The World Cup it wasn't, but I suspect it was a darn sight more entertaining than watching South Korea humble Greece!
*useless piece of information, the San Siro's real name is Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
Whites Mid Season Review
It is that time of year again. We analyse the highs, the lows, the good, the bad, the stars, the duds and preview the rest of the season in the Whites mid season review. As Im too lazy to do my own, I have completely plagiarised Tony’s from last year.
Overall
Obviously better than last year. Talk of the Whites being contenders for the flag this year after 4 wins in our first 6 games are pie in the sky. A few of us are still eternally grateful for every point we get, after the horrors of last year. Five wins, five losses and a draw, with three defeats by a single goal shows the Whites aren’t the pushovers of last season.
Best Win
The first is always the best. To beat Shell City, who gave us two footballing lessons last year, was particularly sweet. Our best game in football terms was versus Jamberoo. Slick passing, strong tackling that never let them into the game, two cracker goals, great match.
Lowest Point
Against Azzuri. The harder we tried the worse we got. Best just to forget about it.
One that got away
Hogs. For all the hype, they didn’t impress. Scrappy goal, should have at least been a draw.
The New Boys
All are fine additions and have fitted in nicely. Dennis has proved his transfer from hockey was worth the money, with the first 2 clean sheets in White history and a string of fine saves to keep us in many a game. Keith has added speed and skill to the midfield, anyway I think its him, I cant tell him apart from Phil on the field. A few nice goals in his first season as well. Rod has added composure to the backline and is a deadball specialist. He also knows all the stats of each opposition, handy for talking ourselves into believing we can win sometimes.
Best goal
Hmmm lets see, which one of mine.... I’ll let the fans chose. Mr 21’s two goals have been quality, and SteveB’s chip against the Maroons was a goodie (so I’m told, was looking somewhere else).
Best blast against the timber
SteveB vs Fernhill (both posts), Phil vs Jamberoo, Dougie vs Figtree, Eco-warrior vs cant remember.
Worst Miss
It has got to be Kirk vs Jamberoo. A metre out with no one in front and misses the ball completely. Honourable mentions AB vs IFS and Keith vs Azzuri.
Best Dive
Slugger vs Uni. Tripping over his feet, then the ball, just in the box without a hand laid on him. Goes down pleading for a penalty, not a Uni player within 5 meters. Lucky he didn’t get a card.
Best Tackle
Dougie’s on Maroon Trev. All ball.
Hoodoo Award
Mitty. Comes to watch the derby, leaves at halftime with us trailing 2-0. We win the second half but still lose. Thanks a bunch. No wonder we didn’t win a match last year.
Luckiest Win
Fernhill. When we rely on a header from the man with the head shaped like a 50 cent coin to win, the gods are definitely smiling on us.
Worst excuse for not playing
Handball and his line about having to go to Cowra to pick up a couch his wife “won” on e-bay. He was spotted by numerous people swanning around Thirroul at the seaside festival in his trademark funky little hat.
Best Fan
Maxie Charles. At every home game he plays in the lantana until materialising at halftime and at the end of the game to show he kicks the ball twice as hard as dad.
Best Linesman
Jose Phillipson. He correctly kept the flag down in the dying seconds to allow the winning goal to stand vs Shell City amid a torrent of abuse. Well done.
Most improved Old Boy
I may be biased as he spends most of his time on the left where I am, but Laid Back Phil Lally just gets better and better. Looks to be completely over the knee injury that stalled his season last year, he has have picked up a yard of pace, mixing precision passes with strong defending. Hardman Doug Hamill and Goalie Glenn are proving their worth with some fine games in defence.
Best lead up to a non-goal
Without a doubt Hucky’s marathon weaving odyssey at Towradgi. Well documented previously in Mr 21’s match report.
As you were
Glen Cahill (Local Historian). Still playing 80-90 minutes a game, still playing right back, still the quickest player in the team, still rarely makes a mistake. Still has the hip bone density of an 85 year old.
Best Referee
The young fella vs Azzuri. Made only one mistake that I can remember, and that was in the Maroons game before.
Best haircut
Keith recently turned up to the Balgownie match with a stylish bob that makes him look like one of the beatles. It probably cost him $50 but looks like Rachel put a bowl on his head and cut around it. At least I will be able to tell him apart from Phil and Handball now.
Best Quotes
“Aargghyylll grrrrummh gggffluuwww” Handball rallying his troops in the heat of battle. I have no idea what he says half the time.
“Why don’t you shut up mate” Andres in his best strine last weekend against Bally. The bally forward was actually abusing his own players.
“Stick it up your arse can head” Bally dude to Andres.
Wish he was here
Seems Alex has moved to Tassie to complete his ship captains ticket so will not be back this season. As Les commented, life cannot be that bad to make yourself move to Tasmania. We haven’t seen much of Trev and big Al yet either. Kirk has already played twice as many games as last year.
The rest of the season
A tough 6 weeks started against Bally with the Whites playing the top 5 plus the Maroons. This run will really sort us out. If we repeat our 5 wins from the first half in the second half of the season there will be some very happy boys at the end of the year.
Thoughts turn to player of the year. Will Dennis be the second goalie in a row to take the coveted prize? Will one of the new lads come through strong in the second half of the year? Will an old boy make enough of an impression to accumulate enough votes? Will a certain striker get to double figures and figure in the running? Will Alex be last year’s Mick Scanlan?
Overall
Obviously better than last year. Talk of the Whites being contenders for the flag this year after 4 wins in our first 6 games are pie in the sky. A few of us are still eternally grateful for every point we get, after the horrors of last year. Five wins, five losses and a draw, with three defeats by a single goal shows the Whites aren’t the pushovers of last season.
Best Win
The first is always the best. To beat Shell City, who gave us two footballing lessons last year, was particularly sweet. Our best game in football terms was versus Jamberoo. Slick passing, strong tackling that never let them into the game, two cracker goals, great match.
Lowest Point
Against Azzuri. The harder we tried the worse we got. Best just to forget about it.
One that got away
Hogs. For all the hype, they didn’t impress. Scrappy goal, should have at least been a draw.
The New Boys
All are fine additions and have fitted in nicely. Dennis has proved his transfer from hockey was worth the money, with the first 2 clean sheets in White history and a string of fine saves to keep us in many a game. Keith has added speed and skill to the midfield, anyway I think its him, I cant tell him apart from Phil on the field. A few nice goals in his first season as well. Rod has added composure to the backline and is a deadball specialist. He also knows all the stats of each opposition, handy for talking ourselves into believing we can win sometimes.
Best goal
Hmmm lets see, which one of mine.... I’ll let the fans chose. Mr 21’s two goals have been quality, and SteveB’s chip against the Maroons was a goodie (so I’m told, was looking somewhere else).
Best blast against the timber
SteveB vs Fernhill (both posts), Phil vs Jamberoo, Dougie vs Figtree, Eco-warrior vs cant remember.
Worst Miss
It has got to be Kirk vs Jamberoo. A metre out with no one in front and misses the ball completely. Honourable mentions AB vs IFS and Keith vs Azzuri.
Best Dive
Slugger vs Uni. Tripping over his feet, then the ball, just in the box without a hand laid on him. Goes down pleading for a penalty, not a Uni player within 5 meters. Lucky he didn’t get a card.
Best Tackle
Dougie’s on Maroon Trev. All ball.
Hoodoo Award
Mitty. Comes to watch the derby, leaves at halftime with us trailing 2-0. We win the second half but still lose. Thanks a bunch. No wonder we didn’t win a match last year.
Luckiest Win
Fernhill. When we rely on a header from the man with the head shaped like a 50 cent coin to win, the gods are definitely smiling on us.
Worst excuse for not playing
Handball and his line about having to go to Cowra to pick up a couch his wife “won” on e-bay. He was spotted by numerous people swanning around Thirroul at the seaside festival in his trademark funky little hat.
Best Fan
Maxie Charles. At every home game he plays in the lantana until materialising at halftime and at the end of the game to show he kicks the ball twice as hard as dad.
Best Linesman
Jose Phillipson. He correctly kept the flag down in the dying seconds to allow the winning goal to stand vs Shell City amid a torrent of abuse. Well done.
Most improved Old Boy
I may be biased as he spends most of his time on the left where I am, but Laid Back Phil Lally just gets better and better. Looks to be completely over the knee injury that stalled his season last year, he has have picked up a yard of pace, mixing precision passes with strong defending. Hardman Doug Hamill and Goalie Glenn are proving their worth with some fine games in defence.
Best lead up to a non-goal
Without a doubt Hucky’s marathon weaving odyssey at Towradgi. Well documented previously in Mr 21’s match report.
As you were
Glen Cahill (Local Historian). Still playing 80-90 minutes a game, still playing right back, still the quickest player in the team, still rarely makes a mistake. Still has the hip bone density of an 85 year old.
Best Referee
The young fella vs Azzuri. Made only one mistake that I can remember, and that was in the Maroons game before.
Best haircut
Keith recently turned up to the Balgownie match with a stylish bob that makes him look like one of the beatles. It probably cost him $50 but looks like Rachel put a bowl on his head and cut around it. At least I will be able to tell him apart from Phil and Handball now.
Best Quotes
“Aargghyylll grrrrummh gggffluuwww” Handball rallying his troops in the heat of battle. I have no idea what he says half the time.
“Why don’t you shut up mate” Andres in his best strine last weekend against Bally. The bally forward was actually abusing his own players.
“Stick it up your arse can head” Bally dude to Andres.
Wish he was here
Seems Alex has moved to Tassie to complete his ship captains ticket so will not be back this season. As Les commented, life cannot be that bad to make yourself move to Tasmania. We haven’t seen much of Trev and big Al yet either. Kirk has already played twice as many games as last year.
The rest of the season
A tough 6 weeks started against Bally with the Whites playing the top 5 plus the Maroons. This run will really sort us out. If we repeat our 5 wins from the first half in the second half of the season there will be some very happy boys at the end of the year.
Thoughts turn to player of the year. Will Dennis be the second goalie in a row to take the coveted prize? Will one of the new lads come through strong in the second half of the year? Will an old boy make enough of an impression to accumulate enough votes? Will a certain striker get to double figures and figure in the running? Will Alex be last year’s Mick Scanlan?
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Whites 0 Bally 1
The change in starting time reduced the whites to 14 players, and with Hucky (knee) Dougie (leg) and AB (some think small heart muscle, but actually a groin niggle) picking up injuries during the match, the 11 who played the last 30 minutes did a damn fine job.
The Whites started like a house on fire, and could have easily been 2 up after 15 minutes. Then, like a switch had been turned from "Coledale play" to "Balgownie play", the game changed and we went to sleep for the rest of the first half. The ball rarely left our own half, and we spent the remaining 30 minutes defending. Bally scored from a free kick 25 metres out that went through the mass in the goal box untouched and in the bottom left corner. 1-0 at halftime, we were definitely still in this one.
Second half, role reversal. Bally started the strongest, with a few surges through the middle, Dennis again coming to the rescue. Then the Whites came to life for a period, AB with the best chance with the goalie coming off his line leaving a emtpy net, but the high bouncing chip drifted wide.
The rest of the half was a good old-fashioned arm wrestle. Dougie picked up a yellow fending off a rain of elbows and punches from the resident Bally psycho. Slugger offered Dougie some tips in self defence (from 50 metres away). We had chances to snatch a draw, just as Bally had opportunities to extend their lead.
So ends the first half of the season.
The Whites started like a house on fire, and could have easily been 2 up after 15 minutes. Then, like a switch had been turned from "Coledale play" to "Balgownie play", the game changed and we went to sleep for the rest of the first half. The ball rarely left our own half, and we spent the remaining 30 minutes defending. Bally scored from a free kick 25 metres out that went through the mass in the goal box untouched and in the bottom left corner. 1-0 at halftime, we were definitely still in this one.
Second half, role reversal. Bally started the strongest, with a few surges through the middle, Dennis again coming to the rescue. Then the Whites came to life for a period, AB with the best chance with the goalie coming off his line leaving a emtpy net, but the high bouncing chip drifted wide.
The rest of the half was a good old-fashioned arm wrestle. Dougie picked up a yellow fending off a rain of elbows and punches from the resident Bally psycho. Slugger offered Dougie some tips in self defence (from 50 metres away). We had chances to snatch a draw, just as Bally had opportunities to extend their lead.
So ends the first half of the season.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
The sweep
Some serendipitous pairings
Diving TH10 gets Italy.
Pom Les gets to cheer for Diego.
Shane IS MR Australia
Tommmy the step over king gets Ronaldo
Kev has France...
Argentina
Les
Australia
Shane
Brazil
Keith
Cameroon
PaulE
Chile
Graeme D
Denmark
Jon Stanfield
England
Fergus
France
Kev
Germany
PaulE
Ghana
Ant
Greece
Dave Mc
Holland
Ian
Italy
Tony
Ivory Coast
Gary H
Mexico
Rod
Nigeria
Phil
Paraguay
Graeme P
Portgual
Tommy
Serbia
Graeme P
Slovenia
Gary H
South Africa
Fergus
South Korea
Jon O Neill
Spain
AB
Switzerland
Tony
Uruguay
AB
USA
Jon Stanfield
And the odds….
Diving TH10 gets Italy.
Pom Les gets to cheer for Diego.
Shane IS MR Australia
Tommmy the step over king gets Ronaldo
Kev has France...
Argentina
Les
Australia
Shane
Brazil
Keith
Cameroon
PaulE
Chile
Graeme D
Denmark
Jon Stanfield
England
Fergus
France
Kev
Germany
PaulE
Ghana
Ant
Greece
Dave Mc
Holland
Ian
Italy
Tony
Ivory Coast
Gary H
Mexico
Rod
Nigeria
Phil
Paraguay
Graeme P
Portgual
Tommy
Serbia
Graeme P
Slovenia
Gary H
South Africa
Fergus
South Korea
Jon O Neill
Spain
AB
Switzerland
Tony
Uruguay
AB
USA
Jon Stanfield
And the odds….
Friday, June 4, 2010
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