by Probably Shirts » Thu Jun 04, 2015 6:02 pm
Final fixtures for season 2014-15
The Many Shades rounded off their inaugural season (seasons run 1st July to 30th June) with a friendly at home to Pompey ITC, who brought two teams along to South Downs College this morning to play us.
Today saw a debut for our new red shirts, white shorts and red socks outfit – very “England ‘66”! The others (the Blues) stuck to the navy and gold training gear we arrived in. Pompey wore their white shirts and maroon shorts, with a variety of socks.
Right, sartorial elegance out of the way, let’s get on with the footy!
A big thank you to two of the lads from Hawks in the Community, Chay Robinson and Josh Young, who came along to referee for us. The Special One helped them with interpretation of some of the more complex decisions, and after some teething problems with cries of “I wasn’t running!” and suchlike roaring across the pitch, things settled into a steady tempo. Running is the new offside.
In spite of the heat of the day, the Many Shades were slow to warm up for the first two matches, and we lost them both. The Blues went down 2-0 to Pompey A, and the Reds by 1-0 to Pompey B (who included yet another lady player - this is getting to be a theme across walking footy, anyone can play!). As part of our FA Licence, we keep records of certain incidents during the matches, and in those two games – only 12 minutes of football each – there were an astonishing 53 tackles/challenges made! And we were playing 3-touch, so weren’t dribbling with it.
After a short break, the Blues took on Pompey B, and gave them a bit of a thumping. Although only 1-0 at half-time, rather like Arsenal in the cup final, we turned it on in the second half and came away winners by 5-1. Goals came from Dave “SBD” Richards (2), Matt “the Miss” Bartolo (2), and new boy Derek “the Subtle” Jepson. Their goal came when Stewart “the Voice” Russell was checking with our stats-keeping students that they had got the 5th goal recorded. Concentrate on the game you plonker!
Meanwhile the Reds were making a good job of holding Pompey A to a creditable 0-0 draw. The game was marred by Derek “the Wok” Trapp getting injured when he collided with one of the Pompey players, collecting a bang on his head. Fortunately our new first aider Dave “the Limpet” Hall was on hand to try to give him the kiss of life; that got him moving pretty quickly. Derek had to miss the next game though, as he was still a little groggy. Paul “the Surf” Sealey stayed with him to make sure he was OK, as Paul himself was carrying a bit of a knock.
Finally the two Pompey teams played each other, where Pompey A beat Pompey B 1-0, but we weren’t interested in that as the Blues and Reds were facing off in yet another of our traditional blood-fests. It finished 0-0, and just for a change we played it as unlimited touch. Unfortunately some of our players (on both sides) are a bit hard of hearing, and also have memory issues. This meant that after about 5 minutes there were cries across the pitch of “four touches!” as some of the Blues blessed with slightly better memories and hearing moved the ball up the pitch. Four touches is the new offside.
Anyway, the Blues woz robbed as, vaguely reminiscent of Brazil’s disallowed goal in their 1978 World Cup match against Sweden, the final whistle blew just as Dave SBD’s shot hit the post – and crucially just before it subsequently rolled into the net. Half a second, that’s all it was.
The full squads were:
H&W Blues: Paul Sealey, John Hicks, Stew Russell, Rob Kelly, George De Ste Croix, Dave Richards, Matt Bartolo, Derek Jepson.
H&W Reds: Dave Hall, Mike Blakey, Baz Carter, Mo Hill, Joe Mair, John Morgan, Derek Trapp, Pete Dolamore.
Our next game is on Friday 3rd July at Goals (Eastern Road) 12.00 - 2.00ish, when we will be taking one team to the Portsmouth College 30th Anniversary Festival.
, but that usual session fees will apply to the players! 
