No.30 - Sat. 24th January 2009; Middlesex County League Premier Division 2.00pm at The Rose, Rosedale College, Wood End Green Rd, Hayes, Middlesex. (Att: 15; Admn: N/A; Prog: £1)
Matchday images (10) >view> Hayes United (1) 3 Kodak (Harrow) FC (0) 0 The name of the game!
This is for David. Or should that be Steve? Ignorance is bliss as they say! One of my all-time favourite sit-coms has got to be Only Fools and Horses. The show is without doubt one of the blackest comedies ever televised and is testament to script writer John Sullivan. Each episode featuring the bungling exploits of lovable characters Del-Boy and Rodney Trotter, played by David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, contributes to a series of timeless classics. Whenever we play a recording of the DVD at home each programme is just as funny as the very first time we ever watched it. As I write my Ramblings notes this week I must confess to sharing an affinity (or perhaps that should be an affliction) with another star of the show and that’s Trigger. How we split our sides when he continuously refers to Rodney by his wrong name. After today I really do sympathise with the poor old chap. You see we both suffer from the same condition. We both have trouble remembering names! Ground hopping is not just about ticking off football grounds. It’s about all the people who make it such a great hobby. There’s nothing better than bumping into some old (and not so old) acquaintances as we travel up and down the country each week. We make new friends and many form long lasting relationships. For a couple of hours we spend the time sharing football stories, catching up on the latest gossip and putting the world to rights. Take this Saturday when we on our trip down to Hayes… Today we decided enough was enough and swapped grass for plastic! Fed up with postponed fixtures in the last few weeks we went for a game that would hopefully beat the recent spell of rain and frost. Our chosen match, the Middlesex County League Premier League clash between Hayes United and Kodak FC, was to be played on a new 3G all weather surface. After a quick check call before midday the fixture was given the thumbs up by a most helpful official. On hearing this terrific news, daughter Stephanie and I quickly gathered our stuff and left a gloriously sunny racing HQ for our West London destination, Rosedale College in Hayes. From the A1M, M25 and A40 we arrived with plenty of time to spare before the scheduled 2pm kick-off. Unusually for us the game started twenty minutes late. As the teams were leaving the changing rooms the visitors from Harrow discovered that they had mistakenly brought a yellow and black strip similar to the one worn by their hosts. How could a team with a name like Kodak have a problem with their colours? Whilst changing their shirts, United prepared for battle with one of the longest team talks I’ve ever heard! The game turned out to be a rather one-sided contest. In the end United, the current Premier Division leaders, looked the better side showing some excellent ball control and passing skills on the playing carpet. The flambuoyant front runner Fernandez Da Silva opened the scoring after only five minutes with a well-taken shot from close range. This was enough to give the men from Hayes a 1-0 lead at half time. The tireless Mohammed Abdulkadir added a second (65) with a deft touch to double his side’s lead. This was overshadowed five minutes later though when the referee’s assistant on the near side touchline flagged vigorously for help after seeing something untoward in front of him. After consultation, dreadlocked referee Reid decided that United’s Grant had pulled down one of the visiting mangers and was given a straight red card. It was all much ado about nothing really. However the ten men soon rallied round and Nathaniel Zbowyou, a diminutive striker, sealed victory for Hayes with only five minutes to go after latching on to a dipping cross. On this showing United should feature in the title race come May. In contrast Kodak may find the going more of a challenge...perhaps if they achieve the right balance, use more depth, speed, focus...sorry! Along with the other dozen or so spectators, I found it was quite difficult to watch the action from the only section of hard standing on the near side of the ground. With the sun facing you for most of the afternoon it was almost impossible at times to follow the path of the ball without shielding your eyes from the bright rays. This was especially so in the later stages of the game as the sun dropped significantly in the sky. Come on, stop moaning Martin, you should be grateful to get in a match at all! I won’t duplicate Paul excellent ground description of The Rose after he attended a game here back in November (see www.footballgroundsinfocus.com/TT89103.htm). To get an accurate feeling of the texture our esteemed reporter mentions rubbing his forehead on the pitch. Not to be outdone I took off my shoes and socks and went for a short stroll instead! And a lovely feeling it was too! I'd certainly recommend it to all travellers... I must confess howver that I really do enjoy watching games played on this new style 3G pitch. I also gained a favourable impression after taking in a superb game of football at The Hitchin Town Arena before Christmas. The players appear to adapt well to the new style pitch and find that their ball control and passing definitely benefits from having a flat surface. As expected the number of sliding tackles still remain low. It’s certainly an improvement from the old plastic material used back in the early 1980’s when a sand base left you scarred for life if you dared to slide across it. In fact my only broken bone to date came courtesy of playing on Astroturf at University when I fractured a scapula after landing with my whole body weight down on my arm. Ouch! So bearing in mind the number of games lost to the bad weather during the winter months, is this the way forward for football clubs? It would certainly reduce postponements and significantly increase much needed income. The facility could be used by for club training and at a cheaper rate for community use without damaging the surface. This must be seen as a suitable alternative (or as near as possible) to grass. For some expert hopping views on this very topic I suggest that you visit Tony Kempster’s excellent Message Board. It has a superb discussion forum and simply rocks! With programme production compulsory in this division of the MCL watching matches in this competition can be a real bonus. Today a superb 16 paged photocopied edition, priced £1, was issued for the game. This covers plenty of club news, reports and stats. Sadly little effort is made to promote sales of match day magazines and travellers are advised to track down their copies from the changing rooms. As Paul mentions the club do not provide refreshments for spectators. Before ending I would just like to say a big thank you to David (or Steve) for making our afternoon such an enjoyable one. This brings me back to my opening paragraph. There have been many times over the last few years when our paths have crossed at various remote footballing outposts: Mountnessing; Harlow Town; Skegness; Oakley Sports Football Clubs are just a few venues in recent times that spring to mind. For some unknown reason I have referred to my hopping friend (from Harlow) as Steve. And this has happened every single time we have bumped into each other. He has politely reminded me that his name is in fact David but totally oblivious I still continue to call him Steve. Being the perfect gentleman he had probably accepted that I had completely lost my marbles and would never ever refer to him by his correct name again. Even this afternoon when we renewed our acquaintance he introduced himself once again as David. Despite this I still continued to call him Steve during the proceedings. Realising he had tried verbally to correct the error of my ways and failed he then pulled off a masterstroke. As the final whistle approached he very kindly leant over and asked to borrow my notepaper and pen. He then proceeded to write a short note on the front of the page. As we drove away after the game Steph chuckled as she read out the beautifully written entry. It read: David Hattersley (Harlow)… At last the penny dropped! I felt a right walrus I can tell you. What must I have put him through? It obviously goes without saying now that I am totally indebted to my hopping pal for putting me right after all this time. When we meet again I will have to think of poor old Trigger and hope that this helps me to call him by the right name. Perhaps an opener like ‘Alright Dave?’ would be appropriate. Or should that be David? The joys of hopping in blissful ignorance! With the prospect of attending a match in poorer weather, watching a game played on the new 3G surface and the opportunity to pick up a programme, hoppers are strongly advised to make a visit to Hayes United FC. FGIF Match Rating: 4. edited 27/01/09
