Of time, cycling and high Summer...

The penultimate Friday of the 2013-2014 Coram Fields football season saw my first game in two weeks, following an illness and Black Sabbath-related hiatus, and a very enjoyable six-all draw. Apparently I missed a mild contretemps the other week; it seems that it’s always when I’m not around that these fracas occur. 

Although it was nearly a week ago now, I’ll take advantage of a rare day off to try and recall what happened last Friday

Simon’s two teams were roughly as follows:

Yellows: Andy, Chris, Yev, me, Nick, Mario, Simon Ink

Blues: Liam, Alan, Mick, Daniel, Bristol Paul, Danny, Simon Gas, Ian Gooner

There were some twelve goals to report, so I’ll have a bash at remembering at least some of the action. Liam and Alan formed a highly potent two-man front line for the Blues, although they were stymied to some extent by the careful marshalling of Chris in defence and in the crude yet effective defensive style employed by Andy. Yev’s tardy arrival did lend the Yellows greater bite in attack and the Yellows’ game play revolved around trying to get the aforementioned Ukrainian and the Genoese Mario into the game as much as possible. Along with Nick and Simon Ink, they both got on the scoresheet, as the Yellows came from behind to equalise at 5-5 and then take the lead. 

For the Blues, as well as the celtic forward line of Alan and Liam, Ian lurked dangerously wide on the left as he sought to arc his shots into the far corner, while Mick had an effective  (and productive game). There was also that rare thing, a Simon Gas goal, struck unerringly with (what else?) his favoured left peg. The most memorable piece of play came when Nick handled the ball to prevent a cross from reaching its target and the Blues played an advantage as Mick proved that cheaters never prosper by scoring.

As no-one was due to come on after us, we had the luxury of playing on. And on. And on, until around twenty past eight when Chris had to leave to catch a train and Andy had to leave to catch the pub, while Simon Gas had to leave to let them both into the changing rooms. This left Yev apoplectic with rage, as he was incensed that anyone should do anything as unmanly as leave the pitch after an hour and twenty minutes in mid-Summer heat. As more than one person pointed out, if he’d arrived on time – he and Alan both arrived at around 7.20 – he might have felt more content to call it a day with the score at six apiece.  

And so to the Skinners, where Ian, Yev and Simon Ink planned their Saturday morning bike ride from Liverpool Street to Southend-on-Sea, cycling through the places of my childhood. Despite saying several times that they’d have to leave as they needed to be up early the next morning, the majority of the cyclists stayed on until around 10.00 pm, desperately trying to recruit more members to their ranks. I hope Saturday morning wasn’t too painful.

And in a few hours’ time, we play for the final time this term in what absolutely, definitely counts as a Heatwave. I’m predicting a slow-paced game, with plenty of drinks breaks. Oh, and apparently there’s sandwiches in the pub afterwards. Here comes the Summer....