Walking football for the over-50s

[Probably Shirts]

Squad for next Friday (3rd JULY, 12:00 to 1:30/2:00)

Following today's training session (how sore are your thighs tonight lads?) - good to have the Special One back and showing off his tan - we have a short-list of 9 players up for the Portsmouth College 30th Anniversary Festival at the Goals complex at Tangier Road/Eastern Road:

Mike the Defector
Baz the Sober
Pete the Fast
John the Hat
Mo the Assassin
Tony the Wall
Rob the Fit
John the Nipper
Stew the Voice

There were a few maybe's:
Matt the Miss
Robbie the Yeti
Derek the Wok

And there were those who were off on hols this week who might have been available next week, specifically Dave the Limpet.
However we realistically needed 16 definites to put two teams in, so I've let them know we'll just be bringing the one team along.

I'll confirm team and meeting arrangements at next week's Thursday training.

[Probably Shirts]

Great news for all Hawks Fans

Today saw the first appearance in a Hawks training shirt of our illustrious Chairman Derek Pope at the Walking Football session.

As you will all be aware, Derek was taken seriously ill recently, so his recovery and commitment to medically advised regular exercise is welcome news.

Derek proved himself to be a wily old fox in the box with a neatly taken header to open the scoring, as well as producing some silky one- and two-touch football illustrating his footballing pedigree. Hopefully he'll be a regular on the Many Shades' scene for a long time to come.

Just to remind you, Derek's joining us is also a great advert for the reason Walking Football exists - to promote the wellbeing and health of the over-50s whose overall quality of life may be jeopardised without regular exercise.

[RKelly]

Very well said Stew. Welcome back Derek great to see you out there on the pitch yesterday!!

[Probably Shirts]

Match Report: Portsmouth College 30th Anniversary Walking Football Festival
3/7/15
Unfortunately for the organisers, just the two teams showed up for this event, our hosts and recent opponents Pompey In The Community (ITC), and the Many Shades. Both teams had 9 players available, although another turned up later for Pompey, so it was re-arranged as a three-team, 5-a-side, with squads of six, event. Three of our players joined the four from Pompey to make up the third side – playing in pink bibs, so now known as The Pinks.

The festival opened with the Many Shades playing Pompey ITC, which was a closely contested 0-0 draw. The squads played “rolling substitutes” so players were able to go on and off for breaks during the very hot weather. On this occasion John “the Hat” Hicks came off after a heavy fall when he collided with another player.

The Many Shades were then straight back on against The Pinks, and not surprisingly for a team that hadn’t met until they walked onto the pitch, The Pinks were unfamiliar with each other’s play and so the slick practiced passing of the Many Shades edged them out in a 3-2 win, goals coming from in-form striker Pete “the Fast” Dolamore (2) and the unexpected source of Stewart “the Voice” Russell.

The Pinks then went down 4-3 to Pompey ITC, before the Many Shades returned against Pompey ITC. This was another really tense game rather like the first, but was decided 1-0 in the Many Shades’ favour by a last kick of the game penalty from Pete the Fast following a Pompey player clearing a Rob “the Fit” Kelly shot off the line – not normally a problem, except that only the goalkeeper was allowed in the “D”, and this particular player making the clearance wasn’t the goalkeeper!

A tiring Many Shades then immediately faced up to the improving Pinks, but their momentum carried them into an early 2-0 lead, once again through Pete the Fast and Stewart the Voice, although the Pinks pulled one back at the end to finish 2-1.

In the final match the Pinks lost 2-0 to Pompey ITC, although one of the Pinks players said afterwards that he thought they’d lost 6-1, such was the effect of the heat and effort in an intense session of occasionally very high quality walking football.

Many thanks to all of our supporters for coming along to watch – Matt the Miss, Derek the Wok, Dave the Limpet, George the Safe, and others I may have missed!

The festival-winning (p4, w3, d1, l0, f6, a3) Many Shades squad was Tony “the Wall” Jewell in goal, Rob the Fit and Mike “the Defector” Blakey at the back, Stewart the Voice and John the Hat in midfield, and Pete the Fast poaching up front.

The Pinks were lent John “the Nipper” Morgan, Mo “the Assassin” Hill, and Baz “the Sober” Carter.

[RKelly]

Great fun at the tournament this morning, great to be on the winning team (for a change)! Well done everyone who turned out and 'put a shift in', shame more teams didn't turn up!! Onwards and upwards to our next event The Great Summer Tournament on 19th July!!

[happyinspain]

Went along to support and encourage our guys today, and they surpassed themselves. Great all round communication, and feet to feet passing, good awareness and some clinical finishing. We played Pompey (who we have encountered a few times before) they are a great crowd of guys, but they do have a couple of sprinters! Namely Nick the Sprint who also trains with us and of course who could forget Gary the Smug on loan from the infamous Cheatleigh Dampbusters. On an extremely warm day the matches were played at an amazing tempo but the skills and dedication from our boys shone through with them playing 4, drawing one and winning 3, our boys can certainly hold their heads high.

And now to the Referee (who was Pompey's coach) he was spot on and very fair in ALL his decisions, thought he had a cracker of a match.

And so here are a few mentions, lets applaud the enigmatic and diverse Pete the Fast who was moved from his normal defensive roles into attack and scored some great goals, our as always virtually perfect defence of Rob a'la Fit and Stewart the Voice a great pairing any team would be envious of, the hugely diligent work rate of Mike the Defector he was all over the park, we love the commitment and highly dangerous presence of Mo the Assassin, a couple of new boys both huge talents on the pitch we have Smoky John the Hat and the incredible footwork of Big Bazza the Bomber, our team is never complete without our in house giant of a keeper Tony the Wall resplendent today sporting aqua blue , we love the balance and panache of John the Nipper.

Well done boys, you are a credit to the club.

And as for the supporters, well yes they were there in their droves as always, but a few special mentions, The Wok turned up not only to support the team but to abuse his arch enemy Mary the Smug, Dave the Limpet was there wearing a rather fetching off the shoulder number in cerise edged in fuchsia, George the Safe offering his ultra professional opinions and the ever enigmatic Matt the Miss with his constant vocal encouragement and advice.

So, back to the old days with news from Westleigh Park, The Special One was absent today from the matches, unfortunately after his return from his recent holiday in Lanzarote he was in QA today having his Mankini surgically removed, we wish him all the best and of course our thoughts are with the poor medical staff who have to perform the operation.

As for Lord Bradders apparently he has been on a ‘at one with nature’ course which takes in deep spiritual bonding, beaver stroking and long sessions of naked tree hugging, he also opted for the additional extra course of ‘talking with tomatoes’ according to sources at Thursday night training he is looking fully relaxed and ready for the promotion push.
Lost and found;
LOST; The club would like to encourage all pub, club and bar owners to please search their premises as we have lost Barry the Booze, last seen 3 weeks ago last Thursday propping up the bar at the Westleigh, an award has been offered for his safe return.

Well it’s been good to write a bit of drivel, please enjoy

Regards from the Editorial team at Tena Towers

[RKelly]

Brilliant, thanks for the words Matt. And thanks to you, The Wok, George, Dave for coming down and giving us some much needed support! Shame The Special One couldn't make it, as he would have seen that we actually listened to his advice on Thursday and put it to good use in the tournament!!

I bumped into Mick Caitlin (Gosport assistant manager) today whilst dog walking (not DOGGING!!!) and we are trying to get Gosport to bring a team along to our tournament on 19th July!!! Watch this space!!!

[RKelly]

After the success of our spring tournament at Hordean college, a summer event has been arranged for Sunday, 19th July. The venue is South Downs College, Waterlooville (PO7 8AA), the event will run from 12:30 to 14:30.

Due to great interest, we have expanded the number of teams taking part from 5 to 8!! The teams are:

H&W Blues
H&W Pinks
Portsmouth ITC
Southampton DNA
Emsworth
Hayling Is
Eastleigh Hub
Worthing

Teams will be 6 players plus rolling substitutes.

If you are interested in Walking Football, then this is a great opportunity to come along and see what it's all about and enjoy a fun day out!!

Looking forward to seeing everyone there on Sunday.

[RKelly]

H&W Walking Football Summer Event - please note that due to unforeseen circumstances, the start and finish time has been brought forward one hour - the event is now from 11:30 to 13:30, Sunday 19th July.

[Probably Shirts]

Hawks 50+ Walking Football Summer Festival results:
19/7/15 at South Downs College, 11:30 start.
The Hawks’ second 50+ Walking Football festival was held at South Downs College on Sunday, and as well as the hosts bringing two six-a side teams - Blues and Yellows - (plus substitutes) along, five other teams turned up to participate. Eastleigh Hub, Emsworth Seniors, Hayling Old Boys, Pompey In The Community, and Southampton District FA joined in on a blisteringly hot and sunny day.

The plan was to play six matches each, but the breaks in between games got longer as the heat began to take its toll, and recovery and rehydration became significant factors. As a result because of the limited time available the last round of matches had to be abandoned unplayed. The health and wellbeing of participants are important factors, far more so than sticking to a timetable.

Most players (and their fans) retired to the lounge bar at the Westleigh, where a convivial buffet was enjoyed, and the prestigious trophy was presented. The worthy winners on the day were Pompey ITC, who edged Eastleigh Hub into second place.

It was a terrific advert for Walking Football, with a broad range of ages and abilities on display, and with two of the teams including women players among their number – it truly is an inclusive sport for anyone over fifty who thinks they can kick a ball. Thanks go to Dan Kelly who refereed throughout, and all of the other volunteer refs who helped the festival go so well. Thanks also to George De Ste Croix for keeping the records of the results. Special mention must go to Elaine (and to a much lesser extent, husband Pete) Dolamore for organising the buffet.

Full results from the day were as follows:

Eastleigh Hub 0 Emsworth Snrs 0
H&W Blues 0 H&W Yellows 0
Hayling OB 0 Pompey ITC 0

Emsworth Snrs 0 H&W Blues 0
H&W Yellow 0 Hayling OB 0
Pompey ITC 1 Soton DFA 0

H&W Blues 1 Hayling OB 2
H&W Yellow 0 Pompey ITC 3
Eastleigh Hub 3 Soton DFA 0

Emsworth Snrs 1 Hayling OB 0
H&W Yellow 0 Soton DFA 2
Eastleigh Hub 0 Pompey ITC 1

Eastleigh Hub 3 Hayling OB 0
Emsworth Snrs 0 Pompey ITC 0
H&W Blues 0 Soton DFA 1

Eastleigh Hub 2 H&W Yellow 0
H&W Blues 0 Pompey ITC 3
Emsworth Snrs 2 Soton DFA 0


The Hawks Teams’ performances were far from their best, with neither of the sides making much of an impression. Plenty of work ahead for The Special One, I’m afraid, as we let the club down pretty badly. Thanks to Bradders for coming along to watch, needless to say he didn’t wave any signing-on forms under any of our noses. Thanks also to the Special One’s young son who acted as a very enthusiastic ball boy.
Guilty parties for the Blues were: Rob Kelly, Dave Hall, John Hicks, John Morgan, Dave Richards, Steve Talman, and Derek Trapp. Their solitary goal was scored by Dave Richards.
For the Yellows there can be no excuses from: Stewart Russell, Mike Blakey, Robbie Brown, Barry Carter, Pete Dolamore, Tony Jewell, and Derek Pope. It would be unfair to mention which of them missed a penalty against the Blues.