CHANGE OF MIND
I hadn’t intended to bother you this week but I have changed my mind. So here goes – if a little more briefly than usual!
1. Congratulations to
a) Cherry Seaborn on winning a bronze medal with the England team in the Volvo European U21 Championships in Den Bosch. England reached the semis after wins over France and Belgium and a narrow defeat by Spain before losing 4-1 to eventual champions Holland in a hard fought game. For the bronze they had the satisfaction of beating Germany 3-2 with a golden goal winner in the dying seconds of extra time. All very promising for the future. Apologies to Cherry for my typo over the spelling of her surname last week.
b) Eddie Thorne on his enviably calm organisation of last Saturday’s very successful and enjoyable Club Day. He also found time to cook the sausages on the BBQ kindly provided by Philippa Taylor. Thanks to Eddie and to all members who supported the day in preparation for the start of the new league season on Saturday week.
c) Kathryn and Paul Bullen on the arrival of their second son last week. Ryan Edward weighed in at 7lb 8oz and it is good to know that mother and baby are doing well.
d) Club VP Graham Ramm for surviving his recent hip op! Joking apart it is pleasing to know that Graham is making good progress. Will we see him umpiring again? You never know!
2. Own goals
I confess to being in favour of the rule change allowing ‘own goals’ but we need to be clear on what constitutes one. There is no doubt an ‘own goal’ is scored when a ball is hammered into the circle and deflected into the net by a defender as happened when Angie Wheelhouse crossed for the 1sts’ friendly winner against Chelmsford last Saturday. But what about an attacker’s shot from within the circle which is deflected in? Unless the shot was clearly going wide the goal must surely be credited to the attacker. If not defenders, and in particular goalkeepers, will be on the score sheet a lot in future!
3. Other comments
a) Last Saturday’s match between the Men’s 1sts and 2nds was notable, amongst other things, for four sets of brothers taking part. Namely, Sam and Elliott Ashurst, Lawrence and Tristan Baynes, James and Tom Graham and Andy and Simon Hipwell. In addition we also saw Quentin Baynes and Charlie and Murray Graham in action in other matches.
b) I understand David Ling is claiming the ‘correct end’ goal I credited to Leigh Sitch last week. Sorry David. On occasions life just isn’t fair!
c) Please note that the mobile number for David Blackmore (4th team captain) should read 07540 484717 and not as stated on page 13 of the handbook.
d) Please also note – and for your diary – that a Club Quiz Night is being held in the clubhouse at 7.30pm on Saturday 13 October. I will be setting the questions which I guarantee will be testing but fair!
4. This Saturday (8 September)
Most teams have vital practice matches this coming Saturday – please see the Home Page of the website for details. If you have not yet indicated your availability to play this season please contact, asap, a team captain (please see website) or your relevant Club Captain, namely Kristina Smyth (07952 630231) or Tristan Baynes (07799 790445). They will be pleased to hear from you.
With kind regards
Mike Denham
5/9/12
