| A distinctly Autumnal feel pervaded Short Lane with a stiff breeze blowing across the car park as I arrived. The vagaries of London traffic meant I had a clear run from NW1 arriving in plenty of time for a nice pint and cheese roll in the carpetless bar! Plenty of time indeed as Stuart informed everyone that the other team hadn't turned up. Never mind, we can watch the cricket from Old Trafford while we're waiting. Wrong again. The Lancashire pitch had more sand on the run up than Blackpool beach. Eastleigh duly arrived at just after 7.15 and a delayed kick off was announced shortly after with the game eventually kicking off just before 8pm. My normal place in the stand was abandoned as a fox had left an unwelcome deposit on the floor in front of the seats so, after a short detour to purchase a cheeseburger, I sat near the refs assessor who seemed a decent bloke. Ah, the match. Well in truth as the assessor said, it was 100 mph with high levels of fitness on display but a foot on the ball was sadly lacking. It was certainly end to end stuff with a couple of lobs that could have been executed better being the main threats to the 0-0 scoreline.The game had been played in good spirit but Paul Burgess may be a bit sore today after an onrushing Eastleigh forward clattered into him resulting in him needing treatment. Nathan Turner was the first in the referee’s notebook after a rather reckless .though certainly not malicious, challenge. The first goal when it came was a result of a rare goalkeeping error from Beasley who had punched and caught well prior to then. He fell to the ground with the ball in his hands which then inexplicably extracated itself and Jon Palmer needed no 2nd thought before lashing a cross shot into the left of the net at the tank end (where we always score) Eastleigh had certainly deserved something out of the game and a few minutes later a partly cleared ball was hit through a cluster of players to give Burgess no chance. The game then ebbed and flowed to the end but a draw was a fair result. Plus points were some good performances from the youngsters especially Harry Wheeler who ran his heart out and some typical trickery from Ivo to set up a few chances though he may drive the coaching staff to distraction at times ! Special mention must go to the people, especially a couple of our older fans, who retrieved the stray balls from behind the main stand though a certain captain was not as keen to venture in !. Maybe we should count that all the spectators have returned instead of the balls in future ! Starting XI was Burgess, Wheeler, Hardy, Doyle, Hollis, Chukwudum, Ginev, Byron, Palmer, Turner, Baldock, subs Jones, Crockett, Aojepone-Akosay,Dar and Collins. Attendance was about 40 and the pre match and half time cheeseburgers were very nice, thanks for asking ! Finally, was a certain Mr B pulling my leg or has someone REALLY got swine flu? Alternatively, check out the view from the dugout.
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Wednesday, 08 February 2012
