Match Report
The customary and always welcome New Year visit to the Geoffrey Hughes Memorial Ground was tinged with apprehension with the mid-week announcement that the game had been switched to Astroturf. Pollença aside, no-one could remember the last time this team won on that surface. That may be because it never had.
Nothing in the first fifteen minutes suggested a change in fortune was likely. Although the Vets played well, Lewis hit the post, Mornington hit the next field and Convocation attacked with vigour. Timely interceptions, notably by Pointon, kept the game alive and then out of nothing, Mornington mocked the critics (there were many) and produced a quick hat-trick which provided much needed breathing space. The hosts struck back with an emphatic finish from Simon Holder, but just before half-time a sweet move culminated with a Chester-Lewis 1-2 and a clean finish from the latter.
Mornington had been despatched pre-match to Tesco Express and had selected oranges with a pre-Christmas sell by date, but their soft juiciness was well received nonetheless. That proved to be his last meaningful contribution as the pack was shuffled a little. Bodey, having heroically moved his end of ski flight forward to 4am to make it to the game, was introduced along with Rushie, and when Lewis scored the fifth, he made way for the lesser-spotted Crutchley, making a welcome return to the fray. With Chester performing his usual prima donna limp off, a forward line of Crutchley and Pointon played out the remaining twenty minutes with verve and guile, a certain goal cruelly prevented by an offside whistle which was cruel if not inaccurate. The elder statesmen in the form of Yates and McGuckin looked on in disbelief. Or maybe belief. The host’s Ritchie suffered a rather more serious injury, and we wish him all the best for a speedy recovery.
Convocation’s Ref and Captain both agreed on the Vets’ Man of the Match, but modesty prevents this report revealing he outcome; but Crutch was kind enough to say “Yesterday you were reminiscent of the famous polish keeper Jan Tomaszewski v England.” Our younger readers will need to go back to 1973 to work that one out.
All in all a pleasant day out and a ninth successive win. Stern challenges lie ahead. But you never know …