Match Report

Following the recent Arctic conditions there were a number of late e-mails and last minute calls to determine if this game was going ahead but this did not dampen the enthusiasm of Farnborough’s “senior” players who again turned out in force once we had all managed to locate the bleak ice rink in Barnehurst that was the new home ground of the Diamond geezers.

Continuing the theme of lame excuses a certain Mr Smokes Too Much (name withheld to avoid further embarrassment but we all know who is top of the Farnborough smoking league) turned up at the club Sunday morning to drop the kit off nice and early but when he was informed that the game was going ahead he came to the conclusion that he was not mentally prepared for this game and promptly scooted off home before anybody else turned up to take the pee!

So having squeezed into the tiny changing room the Vets trooped out into bright sunshine which had had little or no effect on the Arctic tundra that was the pitch and lined up as follows:

Gary Rosslee (GK)
Pat Mongelard (RB)
Steve Blanchard (CB)
Chris Webb (CB)
Matt Wright (LB)
George Kleanthous (RM)
Chris Ponulak (CM)
Neil Connelly (CM)
Colin Ebdon (LM)
Paul Tanton (CF)
Pete Harvey (CF)

Subs: Paul Smith, Chris Bourlet, Simon Harvey, Roger French, Trevor Stewart, Darren Mace

Manager: Toby Harlow

After much discussion regarding the state of the pitch it was decided that the ref would see how it went for the first 15 minutes and so the game kicked off and soon resembled an audition for Dancing On Ice. A comment from the sideline from Simon Harvey to a fellow sub summed it up after a slip by one of our midfielders went “if players who can normally control the ball are having problems what chance have we got?”.

The game continued for about 25 minutes and we had the better of the chances but it was Diamond who probably came closest to scoring when Gary did his best impression of Krusty The Clown by juggling with the ball and crossbar to keep out a decent shot. Half the subs got on in that time but Toby the Tinkerman had seen enough to call it quits and nobody really disagreed.

Half the team made the long trip back to the clubhouse for an early drink and discussions turned to the size of the Vets squad and the potential for running two teams next season. I think this would a good solution so long as players stick with it for this season and provide the same commitment next year – I might even get a game on that basis so I would definitely back this idea.

The other talking point was organising a Vets night out possibly on Friday 27th February. A couple of players seemed to be very knowledgeable of the Grab A Granny night at The Grasshopper in Westerham which seemed rather appropriate for an over 35’s team – thanks to Darren and Toby for their extensive input. This would cause problems for Gary “The Cat” who has yet to reach the regulation age but it is out there as a suggestion.

Hopefully the weather will revert to a more normal pattern in time for next weekend’s home against new opposition in Red Barrel.