2007-11-13
Weekend Match Reports 10th November
Whitchurch (D) 0 – 1 Cardiff (C)
Whitchurch High School, 10/11/2007.
As dusk settled in the twilight hours on the Saturday of Remembrance weekend, a young Whitchurch team tried their best to emulate the hero’s from a small mission station in Natal, South Africa on the 22nd-23rd January 1879, better known as Rorke’s Drift. Fortunately for the Cardiff massive, the deadlock was broken in the last two minutes by a short corner from Neil Mace.
Whitchurch started brightly and had Cardiff on the back foot for the first 15 minutes. Once Cardiff found their feet though, this match soon turned into a turkey shoot. This was a game that could easily have ended up 10 – 0 but with Whitchurch happy to put 8 men behind the ball at all times and Cardiff being wasteful in front of goal, fingernails were well chewed by full time. Although a challenge in it’s own right (and a great test of heart) games like this are a bit like playing Bolton under Big Sam; everyone behind the ball, camp in your own half and hope for a long ball goal on the break………..yawn!!!
Trying to understand the umpires explanations for decisions that went against us was akin to reading Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky; complete nonsense and the badgering from Mark Shelton only left the Cardiff skipper even more discombobulated. Still, today was a perfect example of perseverance and determination.
As always, credit must go where it is due. The Whitchurch keeper had an outstanding game and pulled off at least 5 saves that any other keeper in the league would have had no chance of getting to. If that is the standard of their 5th XI keeper, they must have a goldmine of keeping talent there. I look forward to facing him again in the return match………..
As an aside, a bill will shortly be sent to Whitchurch HC for 11 new sticks as ours now seem to have massive chunks missing from them. Not since the bygone days of the WWF’s infamous Canadian cerebral heavyweight Hacksaw Jim Duggan ™ have I seen sticks wielded with such careless abandon. On a serious note though, you can have a brilliant youth set up but you need to teach kids the right and wrong way to do things (and reign in the arrogance too!!!). Other less charitable clubs in the South Wales leagues may respond in a more inappropriate manner.
I’m now off to chateau Riddle tonight with Shelt’s and the wives for a homemade Mexican. I’m particularly looking forward to the salsa and guacamole. Report to follow.